A/N: Here's the second chapter. Forgive me if you think it's moving slowly. I still don't quite have a plan for this fic...I'm sort of letting it write itself for the moment. I'm sure something will come to me sooner or later.


Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or the characters I'm using. I don't own JTHM. If you don't know what that is, I feel sorry for you.

I went with them to eat ice cream. I was feeling a little better. Sora offered to pay for me, so I ordered something that wasn't too expensive. We got a booth and Sora and Dai sat across from me. I stared at my ice cream, starting to feel guilty about leaving Matt back at the restaurant.

"Oh, don't you go doing that depressed thing again," Sora said, slapping my hand to get my attention.

I looked up at her, my eyes a little wide.

"I told you, it just doesn't suit the happy Taichi I know so well," she continued.

I laughed wickedly inside myself. Of course she would think that. When I get depressed, no one is around to see it, because I always lock myself up in my room so I can be alone. It had been happening more frequently now.

I made myself smile for her.

"Sorry, Sora."

"You gonna eat the rest of that?"

I narrowed my eyes at Daisuke. "Yes."

He withdrew his hand. I dug into my ice cream with my spoon and shoved it into my mouth. Sora had ordered a small cone and was delicately licking it. Daisuke kept asking her if she wanted another one, and she kept politely declining.

"You know the whole idea of this thing is to get you to pig out?"

"I don't want to pig out on ice cream. I'll pig out with you tomorrow, for dinner."

"You guys having dinner together?"

They gave me small grins. I rolled my eyes.

"Don't tell me you have a date."

"It is not a date!"

"Sure, you're just taking her out to eat for fun."

"You're one to talk. Didn't you go out to eat with Matt earlier today?"

That shut me up. After a while, I mumbled, "It's not the same."

They just laughed at me.

We finally got out of there around nine, and I decided to call Matt as soon as I got home. I raced through the house to my room, shut the door, grabbed my phone, and hit speed dial. He picked up on the third ring, like he always does.

"Hello?"

"Don't hang up. It's me. Tai."

I heard him sigh and his bed squeaked, like he was rolling around.

"You know me better than that."

"Still mad at me?"

"I answered, didn't I?"

I remembered he had caller I.D.

"Want to do something tomorrow?"

"Maybe."

"Matt, stop being bitchy. Just for one minute, stop it."

I heard him sigh again, but he didn't say anything.

"Matt, I'm really sorry for not showing up on time, and I'm even sorrier for leaving you there, but you have no idea what I went through to get to you. I'll explain everything if you want me to."

"No, don't. I don't care anymore. Listen, I'm not mad, okay? Let's just forget about today."

"Yes, I totally agree. Hey, have you noticed Daisuke and Sora getting closer lately?"

"Sort of. I haven't talked to them or seen them in a while, but I always thought there was something there. Why?"

"No reason. Just that they're having dinner tomorrow night."

Matt started laughing. "Daisuke and Sora, having dinner together? Now I never thought that would happen. I mean, could you imagine them? 'Sora, honey, could you please be a dear and pass the salt?' Could you imagine Dais saying that?"

I laughed. "No," I said truthfully.

We laughed together awhile, and things felt normal again. I smiled a real smile again. We talked for another half an hour or so, and then my mom came into my room and told me to take a bath. I reluctantly hung up with Matt and went to shower.

~ ~ ~ ~

That night I had a weird dream. I dreamt that I was making out with Sora, but something felt weird about it. I had dreamt about doing that before, but before it was sort of blank, like I didn't feel anything at all when I was kissing her. Now, I just felt uncomfortable. She stopped and smiled at me awhile.

"It doesn't feel good?"

I shook my head truthfully. I watched as she morphed before my eyes into someone even more familiar. He smiled, blue eyes swimming with something I'd never seen before.

"Better?" The voice was deeper, more passionate, and it made me feel relaxed.

I didn't reply, so he started kissing me. This time, I felt something that wasn't uncomfortable. It wasn't exactly comfortable either, because I wasn't used to it, or to thinking like that, but it didn't feel wrong. It felt like something I could learn to like doing. I made out with dream-Matt for a while longer, and then I woke up.

I opened my eyes and saw the light of my alarm clock. I leant closer and saw it was three in the morning. I touched my forehead and noticed it felt a little damp, and then I sighed and covered my eyes with my arm.

"Well, that was unexpected," I whispered to myself.

A little voice in my head whispered back that I was still lying to myself. I turned to lie on my side and pulled the blanket up over my head. After a while, it got hot, so I pulled it off again and let the cool air from the ceiling fan cool me down again.

My foot started itching, so I pulled my leg up and reached down to scratch it. After I started, it started itching even more, and soon I was scratching frantically at my skin. I turned the bedside lamp on and pulled my sock off to look at my foot more closely.

It had started to bleed.

I frowned, pulling my sock back on. I had to get athlete's foot powder to cure that. I had run out the week before. That was a downside to playing sports. You had to deal with stuff like athlete's foot.

I stared at a little drop of blood I had gotten on my finger. I sighed and pressed my face against the pillow, letting my hand droop over the side of the bed. I turned the light off and tried to drift off back to sleep, the mental picture of me kissing Matt never leaving my mind.

~ ~ ~ ~

I was sitting in the park again. I went there when I needed to gather my thoughts. I was also there because someone had sent me a note telling me to go there around three o' clock. It only said one other thing.

Follow the white rabbit.

It was not signed.

If I wasn't in a very wondering and curious mood, I'd probably have thrown the note in the trash and shrugged it off as a practical joke. Due to the certain mood I was in at the time that I received and read the note, I was there, sitting on my favorite park bench, looking for any sign of a white rabbit. I felt a little stupid doing that, but it was better than letting my mind wander to other things I didn't want to think of at the time.

I saw a glimpse of white on pink out of the corner of my eye and a girl's purse caught my gaze. It had a white rabbit on it. I stared, unsure if this was my sign or a mere coincidence, but then the girl carrying the purse glanced back over her shoulder straight at me, caught my eye, and then looked forward again.

I stood, shoving the note into my pocket, and followed her.

After about two blocks of following her I got fed up and ran up to walk beside her.

"Excuse me, but are you the white rabbit?"

She turned and smiled at me.

"So, you're Taichi?"

I nodded. She just smiled and looked forward again. I guessed that was her way of answering me yes.

"Uh, who are you, and where are you taking me?" I asked bluntly.

"My name is Mimi. Takeru sent for you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Takeru sent for me?"

"Didn't I just say that?" she asked in a singsong voice. She turned and smiled at me to show she was playing.

"Okay, why did he send for me?"

"Did you get the note?"

I gave her an odd look. "I was at the park, wasn't I? I followed you, didn't I? What does Takeru want?"

She held her hand out, I guess for the note, so I took it out of my pocket and placed it on her hand. She closed her hand around it and put it in her purse.

"Will you please answer me?"

"We're here."

I glanced at the house we'd gotten to. I guessed it was Takeru's house. It was not big, but not small, a light blue house with white trimming. There was a small garden in front. It practically screamed Takeru.

Mimi went right up to the door, opened it, and went in without knocking or ringing the doorbell or anything. I followed her in, closed the door behind me, and took off my coat.

She had begun walking through the house so I skipped to catch up, and followed her to a room. This time, she knocked on the door.

"Come in," I heard his voice call.

We entered and my eyes widened at the place I'd just walked into. Takeru's room was dark, with heavy dark blue drapes over his window, and three candles spread about the room providing the only light besides the cracks of light around the drapes. There were books on his floor and on his bed, and his carpet was dark gray. There was a dark spot on the carpet in the corner of his room, and I resisted the urge to go over and inspect it. I noticed among the books were comics, and I turned my head to read the title on one of them. JTHM. I wondered what the letters meant, but then Takeru cleared his throat and I looked up at him. He was sitting on top of his black bedsheets, smiling at me, a candle on his lap illuminating some of his face and making his appearance seem eerie.

"Stop being so dramatic," I said, grinning.

He stopped smiling and motioned to Mimi, who turned the lights on, making the room seem less odd. I noticed the posters hung around his room now, and I took time looking at each one. Takeru began talking to me, knowing I was still listening.

"I guess you're wondering why I called you here. I just wanted to tell you that you are invited to a get-together tomorrow night."

"Haven't you heard of the telephone?" I asked him dryly. "Do you have to make everything seem so damned dramatic? Is this the way you're inviting everyone?"

I stopped looking at a poster of a rock band and turned to face him. He was still grinning at me in that knowing way that annoyed me sometimes. He was too perceptive for his own good. He seemed to know everything before anyone else did.

"No, only you. You're so special to me that I need to lure you into my dungeon to give you this special invitation." His voice dripped sarcasm. I got the message. He was doing this with all of our friends, probably.

"Who's going?"

"Everyone." Ah, of course, everyone. It's always everyone, isn't it? Why can't people just list names when you ask them who's going somewhere? They just feel the need to say 'everyone', to make it seem like a bigger party than it really is.

I remembered there was someone else in the room. I turned to look over my shoulder at the girl called Mimi.

"Are you his girlfriend?"

"Don't you think I'd tell you if I got a girlfriend?" Takeru's voice reached me.

I looked back at him. He was still grinning that same damned grin.

"No," I answered, only half-lying. He shifted on his bed and leant down to poke his finger into the candle wax that was melted into a small puddle around the flame of the candle. I realized I wasn't going to get a straight answer from him anytime during the next century. I stood up and slid off of the bed.

"Well, if that's all you were going to tell me, I'll just be leaving."

He shrugged, not looking up from his candle. I shook my head, walking past Mimi, who followed me with her eyes, grinning. I left his house only slightly more confused than I was when I entered.