A/N: Relatively short chapter tonight. Seemed like a good place to stop. Agh, now I can't get the image of Rei from Beyblade as a sexy-purry-kitten out of my mind. Oh, the daydreams...when will they stop? Rei and Kai and a cathouse (pun intended). Damn Sunfreak and her amazingly amazing fics. If you haven't read them, go read them right now. Wait, not NOW, I mean after you read and review this chapter. Yeah, that's it.
wormmonsoul, you reviewed! Yay! **Big hug** I was wondering what'd happened to you. ^-^ I've actually been thinking about Kenato (and Yamasuke, which I AM working on, but that's a different story). It would be...interesting. **Evil smile** Anyways, this chapter is dedicated to you!
Yamato sat close to his brother, resting his head on Takeru's shoulder, smiling through his tears as the ending credits of the movie rolled onto the screen. He brought a hand up to wipe his eyes and sat up straight. He and Takeru looked at each other to check for watery eyes, and they laughed when both of them were crying slightly.
"You cried," Takeru said playfully.
"So did you," Matt shot back, smiling.
Tai came into the room with a bowl of popcorn and then stopped when he saw the movie was over.
"Where's the movie?" he asked, raising his arms to the TV.
"It's over, Tai," Matt told him, grinning.
Tai sighed dramatically and plopped down on the chair, which happened to be occupied by a sleeping Ken, who abruptly grunted when Tai landed on him. Tai ignored Ken's protests and sulkily shoved popcorn into his mouth, staring at the blank TV screen. Matt raised an eyebrow at Tai sitting on Ken's lap, and soon Ken shoved Tai off and the popcorn went flying.
"No, my popcorn!" Tai cried, dropping to his knees.
Daisuke and Sora peered out from behind Takeru to point and laugh at Tai, and Tai was heard mumbling about some friends they were. Matt quickly got down on hands and knees and started helping Tai pick up the popcorn. Tai stopped what he was doing, his hand suspended in the air, as Matt grabbed for the kernel he had been about to pick up, and Matt felt a small tingling of pleasure in his stomach at the blush he thought he saw crawl over Tai's cheeks.
In the kitchen, Tai poured the spilt popcorn into the trash can and set the bowl in the sink, glancing up every once in a while to eye Matt, who sat on Takeru's kitchen counter, looking through the cabinets to his left.
"What are you doing?" he asked, once his curiosity had started bothering him.
Matt glanced up from what he was doing and shrugged, closing the cabinet he had opened. He slid off the counter and walked up to Tai until he was standing so close he only had to tilt his head up slightly to make his breath mingle with Tai's.
Tai's eyes opened wider and Matt realized that Tai had stopped breathing. He continued to stand there, making Tai feel nervous, and then Matt reached forward and pulled Tai's head down, arms fully wrapped around his neck.
"We never talk anymore, you know?" Matt said, as if they had been having this conversation for a while, and his behavior wasn't totally weird.
Tai didn't quite know what to say, or do, for that matter. His arms flopped uselessly at his sides, his back bending over awkwardly to let his head rest on Matt's shoulder.
"We never really hang out anymore. We need to make time to hang out together. I feel like our friendship is just...there. It makes me sad."
Matt's eyes darkened slightly.
"I've missed you, Tai."
Tai cleared his throat, feeling he had to answer to that.
"I've missed you, too."
Matt loosened his grip around Tai's neck and Tai adjusted himself so the position wasn't awkward. He liked the feeling of his head resting on Matt's shoulder, so he kept it there. He still wasn't quite sure what to do with his arms, since he'd never really done this with a guy before, and he was pretty sure he couldn't just rest his hands on Matt's waist, for fear that Matt would punch him.
"I've been having weird dreams about you," Tai blurted out.
Matt's eyes twinkled and a smile quirked his face. "Really?"
Tai's eyes went wide. Why did he just say that? Tai had practically just blurted out that he was developing some kind of habit of having sick-yet-so-sweet dreams about Matt. At first, it had just been the Sora-turning-into-Matt, but now it was just Matt. Kissing Matt by the river, making out with Matt under a twisted-looking bridge, Matt naked...what the hell was he doing telling Matt about his dreams?! Tai felt slightly panicked.
"Tell me about them," Matt said.
Tai practically broke out into a sweat. "Uh...why do you want to know?"
Matt let him go, his arms dropping to his sides. Tai immediately jerked up from his shoulder, trying to keep his face looking calm. Matt's eyes were dark and unreadable. A small frown played about his face.
"Don't tell me you dream of me and then deny me the right to know about them," Matt told him flatly.
Tai frowned slightly, realizing what it had sounded like. He hated it whenever people told him they had a juicy secret, and then didn't tell him what it was.
"I'm sorry," Tai said weakly.
Matt closed his eyes and hung his head a little. He stood like that for a second longer, then turned and walked out of the kitchen. The warm, fuzzy atmosphere that had been present a minute before vanished. Tai leant back against the counter and stared at the floor, almost thoroughly confused by what had just happened. Why had Matt come up to him and hugged him like that?
Just then, Koushirou walked into the kitchen, arms crossed, pouting. He saw Tai and turned to him.
"Jyou won't give me my rainbow bouncy ball back."
"What are you doing with a rainbow bouncy ball at a party?"
"Sleepover party," Koushirou corrected, smiling. "And why not?"
Tai didn't answer. He didn't even smile and laugh at Koushirou's typical-Koushy question. Something his friend had said struck him.
He was going to have to sleep over, and, knowing Takeru, was probably going to have to share either a bed or the floor with Matt.
How he would survive the sweet agony of sleeping next to the golden-haired fallen angel, Tai couldn't even begin to guess.
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A/N: Just to notify you all, I'm seriously thinking of doing a Beyblade fic. I've started watching it every morning and can't help but love it. Max captivates me. I don't know how else to say it...I think I've fallen for the blondie. =^-^= And Rei-kitty and Kai-meanie ARE soulmates, thank you very much. Anyways, back to Digimon, I'm not sure if it's just energy and her love for Koushy-kun or if it's just me, but Koushirou is suddenly becoming more and more endearing to me every day. As for the rainbow bouncy ball and Koushy-baby...don't ask. It's kind of an inside thing between me and...me.
Review and I'll kiss your feet. ^-^ Come on, bring on the love.
