Disclaimer - Let's see. . .Nope, still don't own Digimon. But, Taichi and Daisuke are my personal slaves. ::wriggles eyebrow::

A/N: Yes, it's been a couple of weeks. . . School has taken over my schedule completely. I haven't really had time to write, but hopefully everything will settle down. ::shrugs:: If any of you are interested, I did start writing that sub/side-story to this, you know, the Daiken. It's called Treading of the Heart, and all the Daiken fans should go read it. . . Since you all seem to care so much about Dai. ^^;; Well, sorry for the delay, enjoy chapter 14! ^_~

Behind The Curtain
Chapter Fourteen

"What's wrong with him?" Hikari asked giving Taichi and Daisuke a suspicious look. Daisuke held his hands up in defense.

"I didn't do it," he said, then pointed at Taichi. "He's the one who went ballistic." When the sentence left his mouth; Taichi's hand made contact with the back of Daisuke's head. "Ow," he said afterwards, rubbing the spot Taichi had smacked.

"I kind of. . . Punched him," Taichi told him mother. There was no use to even lie, his mother would see right through it. His mother looked at him in surprise. "Not. . . Hard. But, do you think we should take him to the doctor?"

"I wouldn't think so," his mother replied, looking down at the man laying on the sofa.

The brunet let out a sigh of relief. "So there's not any. . . Like, internal bleeding?" The woman looked up at Taichi and laughed.

"Of course not, honey. If it's anything bad, probably just a black eye; it could possibly be a broken nose, but probably not."

Taichi glared at Daisuke, and the boy looked at him innocently. "Told you there wasn't any internal bleeding, moron," he said, and Daisuke's eyes widened.

"Oh, don't even, Tai! You're the one who was freaking out, so don't try to blame it on me."

"Have you two been arguing all this time?" asked Hikari, giggling at the two's antics.

"No," the boys said simultaneously, Taichi glared at Daisuke; then continued, "He was being stupid. . . Talking about internal bleeding."

Daisuke opened his mouth to protest, but Taichi's mother cut him off, saying, "He should be fine, anyway. You should really get some ice on it though, otherwise it'll swell." She paused for a minute, then looked at Taichi. "Why did you hit him anyway? I thought--"

"He's not. . . I'm not. . . We're not. . . involved," Taichi said cutting her off quickly.

With a snort, Daisuke muttered, "Involved?" Taichi glared at him, and the boy just stuck out his tongue. The brunet sighed.

"I hit him. . . Because. . ."

"Because he wouldn't calm down," Daisuke muttered under his breath before Taichi finished. When the brunet glared at him once again, he just gave a sweet smile.

"I don't know why I punched him, it just happened," Taichi said finishing his sentence that Daisuke had interrupted. His mother nodded; she stared at him for a long while. Taichi shifted from foot to foot under her intense stare. Finally he looked at her and said, "What?"

His mother sighed and shook her head. "Nothing, honey. I just wished you were with someone, it makes me worry less," she said with a sigh. Taichi stared at the woman. What was he supposed to say to that? Don't worry, mom. I'm fine by myself. Or, I wish I were with Yamato, but that's not going to happen. For some reason neither sounded right to say. Instead he just let out a steady sigh, or at least he hoped it was steady.

When Taichi's mother and sister finally left, he collapsed in a chair in the living room. He let out a sigh and stared at Yamato, who was still on the couch. Daisuke was sitting in front of the television set watching some television show. He turned around and looked at Taichi. "What do you think he'll do when he wakes up?" he asked. Taichi shrugged.

"How should I know? Hopefully he won't get upset. . . It was an accident after all," the brunet replied, his eyes not leaving the blonde's face.

Daisuke snorted and laughed. "An accident? Didn't look like it to me," he said, he received a glare from the older man. "I bet he's going to be really mad and freak out again."

"You know, Dai," Taichi started, and Daisuke arched an eyebrow. "Would you like to be punched in the face too? 'Cause you're asking for it. . . Plus, it would make me feel much better." A look of disgust washed over Daisuke's face, he stuck out his tongue at the brunet.

"Taichi, you're so--"

"Shut up." Daisuke's mouth shut abruptly and he stared at the blonde laying on the couch; his eyes wide. "You're giving me an even worse headache." Taichi and Daisuke watched the blonde sit up slowly. He held his head with his hands, and groaned slightly. He looked at Taichi and sent him a glare. "Dick," he said after a moment.

Taichi almost snapped back about how he wasn't the asshole, that it was Yamato. The blonde was the one who was ranting on about hating the brunet, after all. Instead Daisuke spoke up, "What?" he exclaimed. "Who was the one blabbing his fucking mouth about hating Tai!? Tai isn't the dick, you are!" Taichi smacked his forehead and rolled his eyes.

Yamato expression was blank as he stared at Daisuke. The younger man shrunk back as the blonde's stare intensified; Daisuke swallowed thickly under it. The mahogany haired boy decided that he'd keep his mouth shut from now on. He gave Yamato a half-smile, attempting to call it a truce - even though the blonde had actually won.

The whole time, Taichi just stared at the two as they exchanged stares. Finally he cleared his throat, "Yama, maybe you should go to the doctor to make sure nothing is broken. . . ?" The blonde shook his head.

"No," he started. "I'm fine, just take me home."

"You should really get checked out though, you could really have problems if it is broken." Yamato glared at Taichi, and the brunet shut his mouth quickly. "On the other hand, taking you home sounds good too."

Okay, maybe taking Yamato home wasn't the best idea either. Taichi should have known how tense it would be, and that it was. The air was thick, and neither men said anything. Out of the corner of his eye, Taichi could see Yamato staring out the window. He looked down at his hands on the steering wheel. His knuckles were white from gripping the wheel so hard; he loosened his grip instantly and winced at the pain zapping through his knuckles.

When Yamato's apartment complex was in view Taichi sighed. "Look, Yama. . . Yamato, I'm sorry. . . For what happened." The blonde just shrugged and didn't look at him. Taichi clenched his teeth, wanting to say a snarky remark.

"Me too. . ." Yamato muttered back, but Taichi knew they weren't talking about the same thing. It hit his heart hard, he looked over at him as they pulled into a parking spot. He felt a little winded, like he'd been punched or kicked in the gut. What was Yamato's problem? Taichi should have known the night before when they were in bed that this was going to happen, but then he had thought that maybe it'd be different. He was wrong.

"I'm not sorry for that," he snapped. "You know what though?" Yamato didn't acknowledge him, but he continued anyway. "Why did I even waste my time on you? I can't do anything without thinking you'll have a conniption fit and freak out on me. . . But, then I start having these feelings for you, and now I can't figure out why. You're an asshole." Taichi stared at Yamato, the man was staring straight ahead.

"Are you done?" he asked finally, and Taichi noticed Yamato's hands were balled into fists at his side. Taichi nodded.

"Yes," and they both knew it meant two different things. Taichi was giving up, it wasn't worth it. If this was what he was going to have to deal with; it wasn't worth his time. Everything else that happened didn't matter anymore. This was it, Yamato was going to take advantage of Taichi's feelings and he wasn't up for that. Taichi was exasperated with the blonde, and he'd just crossed the line. Yamato nodded and got out of the car. He shut the car door and walked away from Taichi; never looking back.

Taichi watched him go, no emotion what-so-ever on his face. Even after Yamato disappeared into the building, Taichi sat there. He felt numb from head to toe. He couldn't move, he couldn't do anything. This was for the best though, it had to be done. Taichi jumped abruptly, his eyes finally blinking. He put the car in reverse and pulled out of the parking space.

When he walked into the apartment, Daisuke stared at him as he sat down on the couch. "I need to do some laundry," the man said after a few moments of silence. "I need to clean, it's filthy in here."

"What happened, Taichi?" Daisuke asked finally. "What'd he say? Are you okay?" Taichi looked numb to Daisuke, which he guessed was how the brunet felt. His eyes were dull and barely blinked.

"It's over," Taichi said, finally looked at Daisuke. The boy nodded slowly, letting out the breath he didn't know he was holding. "I ended it, I had to." Daisuke nodded again.

[tbc]

Aero: I'm thinking only a few more chapters. . . Like three, maybe? I don't know, but it'll be wrapping up soon. Well, please review? -Ciao