A/N: How's that for getting the chapter out soon? Hmm...sorry for sneaking the Takari and Takeyako on you so suddenly, but it's one of those things that creeps into your fic without you noticing. I totally hadn't been planning on either. Then again, I hadn't been planning on adding Jyoushirou, and look how much I used it anyways.

For a disclaimer, look back to the first chapter, though you should know already I don't own a thing.

This chapter is dedicated to Katie. Thanks for all of your advice. I really do love you. ^-~ Who wouldn't?

"We're back!" Miyako chirped, feeling better now that she'd gotten her crying out of her system. She gave a hesitant smile to Hikari. "We got your chips."

Hikari grinned widely and held her arms out. Miyako placed the bag of chips in her arms and Hikari ripped it open, digging inside and pulling out a few to cram into her mouth. Takeru laughed and tried to work his hand into the bag without Hikari slapping it away.

"Come on, share! Sharing is caring!"

Hikari sighed dramatically and allowed the blonde bishounen access to the potato chip bag. His eyes lit up and he dug in. Miyako smiled again as she watched the exchange, and though her heart still wept for want of Takeru's love, she couldn't help but admit to herself that the two looked cute together.

Jyou and Koushirou ran and leapt onto the couch they'd left earlier, claiming it again and settling down in each other's arms.

Ken and Iori began picking up the cards that Iori had thrown at Ken earlier and started playing a different game.

Only Taichi and Yamato entered without a smile gracing their facial features. Yamato stalked over to the couch that Jyou and Koushirou were on and promptly threw himself next to Jyou, burying his head into Jyou's shoulder. Taichi watched sadly from the doorway as Jyou began turning to Yamato and asking him what was wrong.

"Taichi?"

He turned and looked at Daisuke and Sora, who were eyeing him with both curiosity and concern.

"What happened?"

"We need to talk," Taichi said shortly, and began leading them to Takeru's room.

Takeru watched them go out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help but wonder at the look on Tai's face. He glanced towards his older brother on the couch, noted his state, and frowned.

Uh-oh.

~ ~ ~ ~

"Why didn't you tell him?!" Sora asked, pulling at her hair frantically.

"I don't know," Taichi mumbled into the pillow on his lap. He lifted his head to look at them, sniffling. "I thought I needed more time to think about whether or not I truly like Yamato in that way."

"Then why didn't you tell him that instead of just leaving him hanging?"

"I was caught totally off guard, and I was having trouble getting my voice to work." He put his head back down on the pillow. "I'm so stupid."

"Putting yourself down and wondering why you didn't act differently isn't going to help the situation," Daisuke said evenly. "What happened is past, and you need to think about the present. The person sitting on the couch in the living room, crying on his friend's shoulder, could possibly be the love of your life. I think you had better start trying to figure out your feelings instead of whining about how confusing they are."

Sora and Taichi stared at him, already knowing about Daisuke's surprising moments of clarity, but not having expected one then. Sora turned to Taichi.

"He's right," she said finally.

"But how do I sort myself out? I'm so unbelievably confused right now. I can't think at all."

"You need to make your mind as clear as possible. Right now, you're way too tense to handle this problem. Do you want Sora and I to take you somewhere away from the party, so you can hopefully think better?"

Taichi hesitated, then shook his head. "I just came back to the house. I don't want to leave again...but can we maybe go outside?"

Sora and Daisuke turned to each other and smiled. They turned back to him and both rested a hand on a shoulder.

"I think you need to be alone when you do this, but you can go outside by yourself," Sora said gently.

Taichi took a deep breath, exhaled in a deep sigh, and stood. "Okay."

~ ~ ~ ~

Meanwhile, Yamato was trying hard to take control of his tumultuous mood. Jyou was trying to comfort him, having been briefed on the situation at hand, but he wasn't exactly sure how to soothe the blonde. Yamato had never been rejected before.

Thinking on that, he turned to Yamato. "But...it wasn't exactly a rejection, was it? He didn't say 'I'm sorry, Yamato, I don't like you in that way', did he?"

Yamato lifted his head from Jyou's arm and looked up at his friend. "Well, not exactly, but I know it was going through his mind."

"You know it was?" Jyou asked dryly.

Yamato sat up straight, sighing. "I'm trying not to give myself false hope."

"And at the same time, you're killing any true hope that could be there," Koushirou said, breaking the silence he'd kept for himself the entire time the other two had been talking.

They turned to look at him awhile, and then Yamato made an odd noise and ducked his head down again. Jyou sighed and patted his best friend's head.

"Maybe you should go outside and, like, clear your head," Koushirou suggested.

"You said 'like'," Jyou said, amused.

Koushirou turned and narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend. "What, I can't be a genius and a normal teenager all at the same time?"

Yamato stood and walked away from them, going towards the front door. He decided he did need fresh air, and a much clearer mind. Jyou and Koushirou watched him close the door behind him, turned to each other, and sighed.

"Were we that bad?"

"Hah. We were probably even worse."

Jyou smiled affectionately and ruffled Koushirou's hair. "It was so long ago I hardly remember anymore."

Koushirou smiled back and then turned serious. "Do you think Tai loves him?"

Jyou turned his head towards the doorway that led to the hall. "He does. I don't have a doubt in my mind."

~ ~ ~ ~

Taichi sighed and closed his eyes to the world, letting the light breeze swirl around him and slip through his fingers. Did he love Yamato? If he did, then why was he freaking out about it? Weren't you supposed to just know when you were in love?

He thought of Jyou and Koushirou. Did they know right away? Were they scared? What about Takeru and Hikari? He figured that it was no use asking those questions, since the people he was thinking about weren't present to give answers.

He let his thoughts turn to Yamato. Yamato was beautiful beyond belief. He had immaculate, seemingly untouchable hair that kissed his shoulders and the back of his neck. He remembered once finding a color that perfectly fit the color of Yamato's hair, but he couldn't recall the name right then.

He thought that Yamato was too skinny. He had once asked Yamato how much he weighed, but the blonde had instantly refused to give him that bit of personal information, claiming it was none of his business. Yamato's slender body didn't keep him from having good strength. He and Taichi enjoyed solving arguments over a round of wrestling, and Taichi had lost almost as frequently as he had won.

Taichi blushed when he thought of wrestling with Yamato. Sitting on his chest, pinning him to the floor, grinning triumphantly, breathing hard, and leaning down to cover the blonde's full, pouty lips with his own...well, maybe not the last one, but everything else.

He suddenly realized he had totally gone off topic and it wasn't helping him figure anything out.

He was about to smack his forehead when he saw something that made him stop in his tracks. On the other side of the fence enclosing the backyard, sitting in the middle of the paved driveway, was Yamato. He didn't know whether to embrace or curse the irony.

He watched as the moonshine bathed Yamato and turned his hair into a very light blue. He took a step back and heard what sounded like a crack. His eyes widened, his mind working enough to know that the thing under his foot felt like a stick, and watched as Yamato quickly turned his head around to look at Taichi. His eyes were full of tears and some streaked his face.

Taichi cursed himself for being the probable cause of those tears, but then Yamato slowly smiled at him as he wiped an eye and Taichi forgot everything for a while.

"Are you going to just stand there and gawk, or are you going to jump that fence and come and tell me why you have to be such an insensitive jerk?" Yamato asked, his voice shaking only slightly.

Climbing the backyard fence, Taichi couldn't help but wonder why everyone seemed to take such a fancy to calling him an insensitive jerk, but that thought soon withdrew into a corner of his mind as he sat beside the blonde beauty.

~ ~ ~ ~

A/N: THE END! Eh, no, I'm kidding. Please don't kill me. You know, I'm actually starting to like the way I'm writing this fic. Yes, I usually don't like my own writing. It's hard to satisfy me sometimes.

I seem to like the phrase "insensitive jerk" when applied to Taichi. I don't know, I think it's funny. XD