SHE LOVES ME, SHE LOVES ME NOT Chapter 4
By: LeaMarie F. Metallium and Tiki E. Rocket

Disclaimer:
L: We don't own Digimon-
T: - but we wish we owned the boys!
L: I was getting to that...

Lea woke up to the sound of the phone ringing.
"If it's for me, I'm gonna kill them..." she muttered, glaring at her clock. It screamed in glowing, blood red numbers " 8:30".
"Lea, phone!" Called Tai's mother.
"Ugh... Coming!" Lea groggily pulled herself out of her nice warm bed and set her foot down on the cold floor. She dragged herself to the phone and picked up the extension.
"What?" she almost snapped into the phone.
"Morning!"
"I take it you spent the past few nights at Joe's," Lea said dully to her annoyingly cheerful sister.
She must've had caffeine already that morning.
"Yup!" Tiki cried happily. "He had fun, too, I bet!"
"If you're talking about me, you scared the hell out of me this morning!" Lea heard in the background.
"What'd you do to him?" Lea asked, waking up a little more.
"Oh, nothing too horrible..." Tiki said softly.
"WHADDAYA MEAN, 'NOTHING TOO HORRIBLE!" Lea heard Joe scream. "I woke up to find her sleeping in my bed, WITH ME STILL IN IT!"
"Oh, that's not bad," Lea commented. Tiki relayed this to Joe. "At least she didn't walk in on you in the shower."
"Quiet!" Tiki hissed into the phone. In the background, Lea heard Joe call, "Don't give her ideas!" at the same time Tiki said "Don't spoil tomorrow morning's fun!"
"Hey, Tiki," Lea started, changing the subject. "Wanna go clubbing tonight?"
"Oooh, that sounds like fun!" Tiki cried. "Hey Joe! We're gonna go clubbing tonight!"
A faint "Oh no..." floated through the receiver to meet Lea's ears. Lea giggled. "All right, it's settled, then!"
"Hooray!" Tiki cried. Joe sighed in frustration. "Why me?"
"Because we love you, Joe!" Lea called. Tiki told him.
"Coming from Tiki, that scares me!" He cried. Lea heard a door close.
"He's in his room now," Tiki said. "I think I heard him threatening to install a lock on it if I did that again."
"Are you going to do it again?"
"Well duh... and if he DOES put a lock in, I'll walk in on him in the shower. If he locks that, I'll start hiding the towels."
Lea grinned at her sister's lack of consideration for the privacy of others. "You know, one of these times, you'll walk in on him-"
"Hey Lea!" Tai called from the kitchen. "Breakfast!"
"What was that?" Tiki asked, though she'd already guessed the answer.
"I gotta go, talk to you tonight! Meet me over here at Tai's house!" Lea called, and hung up.
Lea hesitantly walked into the kitchen; unsure of whom the cook was this morning. It was a "damned either way" situation; If auntie was cooking, then it would probably be vomit inducing later; if it was Tai, it was probably a blackened breakfast.
Tai had cooked, but at least this time it wasn't black; it was slightly undercooked eggs and barely-cooked- enough- to- be- toast.
"At least he's being careful this time," Lea muttered through a mouthful of runny egg.
Kari wandered in and served herself some egg. "Did Tai cook this?" She asked.
"Almost!" Lea said.
"Almost?"
"It's a little less than fully cooked."
"At least it's not more than cooked," Kari said cheerfully.
"What is it with cheerful people today?" Lea muttered to herself. "Or do I just need caffeine?..."
"Oh, lay off my cooking!" Tai snapped. "At least it isn't black, you know?"
"Chichiri?" Lea asked.
"What?" Came the response from the siblings.
"Nothing..." Lea finished her breakfast in silence.

"Is Matt there?"
Lea had realized that Matt would be an optimal person to invite on their clubbing trip; If Tiki convinced Joe into it, she could probably get him to go along and make a double date out of it. Why not? she thought. It was worth a try.
"I'm sorry, Matt's not in; he's going to soccer practice and then to band practice. Do you want me to take a message for him, Lea?" Mr. Ishida asked.
"No, that's fine, I'll just call him tomorrow. Thank you anyway!" Lea replied. She hung up the phone and sighed. "Oh well..."
The doorbell rang.
"Coming!" Lea called as she made her way to the door.
It opened to reveal Tiki- dressed to the nines in black pants, a green sleeveless shirt held up by a neckband (Author's note: for those Lain fans out there, think Arisu's red shirt), and a black coat that went down to her ankles- and Joe, looking uncomfortable in a pair of black slacks and shiny blue shirt. His hair was pulled back into a loose pony tail at the base of his neck.
Tiki smiled. "I took him clothes shopping after you called."
"You paid for the clothes?"
Tiki nodded, looking pleased with herself. Lea's eyes widened in amazement.
"Wow, Joe, you ARE a lucky one... She even paid and everything!"
Joe blushed. "Great. Now I look stupid and I'm embarrassed."
"Oh, you're so good looking!" Tiki gushed. "I'd even go so far as to say you look handsome!"
Joe's blush deepened in color, but he didn't say anything.
"Well, you guys are a little early, so you'll have to give me a minute. Want to come in?" Lea offered. The odd pair stepped inside.
"Hey Joe!" Tai called. "Wow, you look great, man!"
"Leave me alone," Joe muttered sullenly.
"You seriously do!"
Tiki grinned to herself; she could see now that Joe was starting to believe it. A girl's opinion was nothing compared to the opinion of one of a guy's friends.
It wasn't long before Lea stepped out of her room. Her hair was pulled back by two large hairclips, giving an almost kitty-ear appeal. She was wearing a short, spaghetti strapped black dress spangled with red glitter, her nails painted red. Tiki whistled.
"Hon, if Matt could see you now..." She said. "Where is Matt, anyway?"
"He's going to be at band practice this evening," Lea replied. "It's just us, tonight. Otherwise, I'd have made it a double date."
Tiki and Joe were both silent, cheeks a matching shade of pink.
"Ooh, did I strike a nerve?" Lea asked teasingly. Tiki swatted her sister, grinning.
"Oh, Lea, you know me better than that!" She cried, teeth clenched.
Tai elbowed Joe. "You sly dog, you! Making moves on the new girl! That didn't take you long!"
"Hey Tai!" Lea called. "Did you know she's staying at his house?"
"Whoa ho ho! Wow, Even more sly than we thought! Go get'm, Tiger!"
"It's not like that!" Joe yelled.
"Oh, Joe, you don't need to hide it!" Tiki said, winking at Tai. "We've even been sharing a bed!"
"Wow, talk about fast..." Tai said, winking back. "Do you bring girls home often? Is that how you got her in bed so fast?"
"She sneaked in there in the middle of the night!" Joe hollered, having missed the winks passed between the two.
"Yeah," Lea threw in. "What if she'd walked in on him pl-"
"Lea!"
"What?"
"Don't say that, that's rude!" Tiki clamped her hand over Lea's mouth.
"HMAMUF!"
"What?" Tiki released her sister's face.
"Makeup!"
"Oh, oops, sorry."
Lea checked a mirror quickly. "All right, I'm still perfect."
Tiki rolled her eyes. "Let's go already, Oh Queen of Vanity."
"Okay, okay..."

The picked a dark club with lots of strobes and flashing colored lights. Lea picked a corner where a blue light lit up the floor and began to dance. Tiki dragged Joe with her to stand near Lea, and began dancing with him. He followed along as best he could, which was admirable, and the dark lighting hid his bright cheeks.
Lea smiled, watching her sister teaching Joe how to move on the dance floor. It was an endearing scene: Both of them had a faint blush on their cheeks, Tiki amused by the situation, and Joe looking more ready to hide in a more shadowed corner before doing any more damage.
Slowly, but surely, Joe's confidence in what he was doing rose, and he and Tiki were moving together to the music. As she watched, Lea could see Tiki was leading Joe further onto the dance floor and into the flashing light madness.
Lea sighed, moving after them at a small distance; she wished Matt were here to dance with her. She told herself to deal with it, but the dance floor seems a little calmer when you know who your dancing partner is...
"May I have this dance?"
It was one of Matt's Soccer friends, Tom.
"Hi! What're you doing here?" Lea yelled over the music.
"Just hangin' out. Where's Matt?"
"Band practice! I was going to ask him to come with us, but he couldn't make it."
"Us?"
"My sister is here-"
"You have a sister?" Tom looked momentarily interested.
"She's here with Joe Kidou!"
"Oh. Well, anyway. Want to dance?"
"Yeah, sure, but you touch me and I'll beat you within an inch of your life, and when you heal up Matt will do it again."
Tom nodded hard. "Noted!"
The pair stepped out onto the dance floor where Tiki and Joe were, and the group danced hard together, but the DJ stopped the music after a few minutes, to make sure everyone remembered to stop and take a breather. Most of the dancers went to the bar to get a drink, including Tiki; She returned with a tray she'd borrowed from behind the counter, carrying four brightly colored drinks.
"Chug-a-lug!" she said, smiling. "It's non-alcoholic Margaritas and Daiquiris!"
"I demand a toast!" Lea declared.
"To what?" Tiki asked.
"To good, clean fun!"
"Cheers to that!" agreed Tom and Joe. Tiki smiled at Joe, glad to see he'd lightened up a little.
After 10 minutes of no music, the DJ began to play again. Tiki drained her lime daiquiri, grabbed Joe, and dragged him back onto the dance floor. This time, he wasn't as resistant. "Let's go with them!" Lea called to Tom.
"Right!"
The four ran out into the middle of the dance floor before anyone else, and began to move with the rhythm, hips swaying and feet moving, rib cages feeling the beat pumping along with their hearts. Sweat beaded on bare flesh and soaked into dark fabric. Glitter flickered in the wild lights as they flashed, bathing the group in green and red and blue lights swaying over them. Bodies of strangers packed around them, but on the dance floor, the space-bubbles shrank to make a barely- there shield over the surface of skin and scant clothing. The blood coursed hard through their veins, and any humiliation felt earlier vaporized in the small crowd. Eyes closed, unable to focus on the bright colors and constant movement. People bumped into each other, and for once, they didn't care.
Lea happened a glance at her watch, then reached over to tap Tiki on the shoulder. "Tiki?" Tiki's eyes flew open, and she composed herself. Suddenly, neither of them were moving in the almost animalistic manner of the people dancing around them, but normal people again, caught in a mass of sweat, blood, and rhythm.
"What's up?"
"It's 11 o'clock."
Tiki blinked in surprise. "I guess we'd better go, then, huh?" Lea nodded. "Okay..." Tiki attracted Joe's attention. A few strands of hair had fallen loose while he was dancing, and now they hung in his face. Lea saw his eyes widen in surprise at the time.
"What's going on?" Tom asked.
"It's getting kinda late, so I'm thinking we've gotta go home," Lea responded.
"Oh, all right... Well, will you come here again sometime?" he asked.
"Yeah, and next time I'll bring Matt with me."
He nodded. "Good idea. I think Matt would have a lot of fun here." Tom turned to Tiki and Joe. "Catch you two later!" he called, and disappeared into the mass of people.

Lea returned home close to midnight, tired to the bone.
Tai poked his head out of his room. "Welcome home," he said, grinning at her. "Have a good evening?"
"Yeah," Lea said. "Did I get any calls?"
"Yeah, actually, about an hour after you left; Matt called."
Lea's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?"
"Yeah, band practice let out earlier than he expected."
"Oh... darn, I wish I hadn't missed him. Did you tell him where I went?"
"No, I said you weren't here, and we talked about stuff for a while and he said he had to do homework."
"Okay... I guess I'll call him tomorrow, then. Good night!"
"G'night!"

The first thing she heard when she woke up the next morning was the door to the apartment bang shut.
"I'm home!" Tai hollered.
Lea glared at her watch. Ten am. She sighed, thinking it was probably time to get up.
She wandered out of her room in her pajamas to find that Tai hadn't come home alone.
She smiled. "Hi Matt!"
"We need to talk" he said simply. Lea gave him a confused look, but motioned for him to come into her room.
Once both were in the room, she closed the door.
"What's wrong?"
"I heard you went to a club last night."
"Yeah?"
"Without me."
"I tried calling you, your dad said you were off at band practice and would be there for a few hours."
"You could've tried the band practice place."
"I didn't know the number!"
"You could've asked my dad!"
"I didn't know he knew!"
"Argh!" Matt hollered, punching the bed. Lea jumped slightly.
"Tom told me at practice today that you two danced together."
"I wouldn't say together; 'near each other' would've been more appropriate. Tiki and Joe were with us."
Matt blinked. "You got Joe to dance?"
"Actually, Tiki did."
"Wow... That's beside the point! The fact is, you went and you weren't with me!"
"Didn't Tom tell you!" Lea said, getting annoyed.
"About you two dancing and that you were a great dancer and looked really awesome on the dance floor! Yeah, I got an earful!"
"No! That's not it at all!" She yelled. "I told him that next time, I'd bring you with me!"
Matt fell silent, looking first into her eyes, then at the floor when he saw she looked about ready to cry.
"I told him that I had really enjoyed myself, and he said you would have fun if you'd gone with us too. I told him I was going to bring you next time. Did he even tell you that I threatened him into not touching me! Because I did, Matt. It's because I didn't want to get you upset... I couldn't do that to you, much less myself... not again..."
He heard her sniff and turn to face the wall to her left, her curly bed head hiding her face. She wiped her eyes on her pajama sleeve.
Matt glared at the floor, feeling a little stupid for getting so upset, and feeling mean for making her cry. He took a deep breath, and did something he tried to do never at all.
"I'm sorry."
Lea didn't look at him.
"I should've waited until I heard about it from you. I guess I got a little carried away. Tom has a bad tendency to omit parts of the story, but this time I jumped to a conclusion. I guess the whole Ken thing still has me a little unsettled..." He stood up and walked over to her. She moved to sit down on the bed. He followed her.
"Please don't be mad at me," he pleaded. "I'm really sorry..."
He took her shoulders, and tilted her chin up so he could see her face. She looked him in the eyes, expression not as unforgiving as he was afraid it would be, but still not pleased.
Then he kissed her.
It was a sweet kiss; Gentle, not a "face eating" moment, obviously an apologizing kiss, intended to cheer up a bad mood.
It was also the first real kiss the two had shared.
When he stopped, he pulled his face back a little, cheeks less than an inch away from each other. Both sat there with their eyes closed, bodies almost touching, reveling in the moment. "Thanks for hearing me out," Lea whispered. "You're forgiven."
"Thanks for letting me apologize," he responded. "A lot of girls won't give a guy even that much." He wrapped his arms gently around her.
Just then, the door opened.
"Hey, are you guys okay in there? Can I get into my room now?" Kari asked, swinging the door open. "Eep!"
Surprised to see Lea and Matt sharing a touching moment on Lea's bed, with Lea in her pajamas, she had squeaked.
"What's wrong?" Tai asked, walking up behind her. "Whoops! Uhm, maybe we should close the door..."
"Yeah, I think so..."
"Lea, make sure you keep your night gown on!"
"TAI!"
"Sorry, Kari!"
The two were left alone to apologize a little longer.

The two had planned a date for the next evening, and brought Joe and Tiki into it as well.
They'd decided on going to dinner at a moderately nice restaurant, and then to the club everyone (but Matt) had been to the previous evening.
When Tiki had mentioned it to Joe, Lea could hear him not resist quite as much as the last time.
"Well, I dunno, I was kinda worn out after the last time..." he said, trailing off.
"I can give you a massage when we get back!" Tiki offered.
"I- uhm... It's ok- I..."
Lea could hear the grin in Tiki's voice say, "I'll take that as a yes."
"Well, be over here at 6 tonight, all right?"
"Okay!" Tiki said.
"What are you agreeing to?" Joe asked.
"I'm agreeing to the idea of going on a double date."
"Since when are we 'dating'?"
"Since the other night, silly! Are you saying that everything we've done together has meant that little to you!"
"No! I mean- We haven't even done anything together, what are you talking about!"
Tiki sighed in mock exasperation. "Honestly, boys have such bad memories..."
Lea nodded, though Tiki couldn't have known that, and said "well, we'll see you tonight, then!"
"Yup! Bai sis!"
"Later!"
The hours flew by; when 5:30 rolled around, Lea ran into her bedroom and donned a one piece dance suit. The top was red, and had black straps holding it up around her neck, sleeveless otherwise. The bottom half was black pants that flare out at the ankles. It fit her form perfectly. She put on red, see through plastic bangle around her wrists and a larger one around her neck. As a finishing touch, she put red gem stoned earrings in her ears. She added a little make up to her face, narrowly missing stabbing herself in the eye with her mascara wand.
She had just left her bedroom when the doorbell rang.
"Coming!" she called.
She opened the door to reveal Matt dressed in black slacks and an almost see through, shimmering dark green shirt.
The two gave each other the once over twice.
"You look great!" They said simultaneously.
"I can see Tiki wanting that shirt," Lea said, grinning. "Personally, I'd want the whole package, shirt, pants, everything underneath..."
"You don't look too shabby yourself," he responded. "Good color on you."
"Wanna come in?" Lea asked.
"Uh, yeah!" He said, starting forward.
It was a strange transition; as soon as they were all dressed up, the two were nervous as cats around each other. They looked each other over out of the corners of their eyes, shyly pretending they weren't.
The doorbell saved them from any further awkwardness. Lea ran to answer it.
"Hey Lea! We're here!" Tiki sing-songed. "Are you going to leave your hair like that? The club's kinda humid, it'll look like a frizzball explosion."
"Oh, you know, I'm going for the Scary Spice look tonight," Lea said sarcastically.
Tiki was wearing the same long black coat, but this time she was wearing a black, skin-tight shirt without sleeves. It was a turtleneck, but the zipper going down the front was undone to be almost revealing; it appeared to go down past her bellybutton, but the end of the zipper was hidden by a black mini skirt that would barely hide anything if she were to sit down. The whole outfit was made of a shiny plastic material.
She must've taken him out shopping again, or bought more than one outfit a few days earlier; Joe was dressed in the same kind of material, only his shirt was as conforming as Tiki's; it wrinkled up, sending light off of him in all directions. Like Tiki's, it was sleeveless, and the neck came up high, but was unzipped partway down to expose his chest. His hands were tucked in the pockets of loose, black slacks.
Tiki watched Lea give them both a once over, and explained, "We decided that clubbing in black plastic pants would kill him, so we stuck with breathable material. I'm wearing a skirt, so I don't have anything to worry about."
"Yeah, well, as long as your boobs don't pop out, I guess everything's fine."
Joe's face turned red. Tiki giggled.
"No worries. I could unzip this thing down to my skirt line and all that would be exposed is my stomach. Double sided tape is some good stuff!"
Lea rolled her eyes, Joe tried not to think of how she was using it, and Matt stood up from his place on the couch.
"Are we ready to- whoa, my god, Joe, who took you shopping?"
"I did!" Tiki offered cheerfully.
"Wow, lookin' sharp, man, I think we should get her to take you clothes shopping more often!"
"We practically bought a new wardrobe," Joe muttered.
"No! Just half of one!"
"Anyway," Matt said, trying to stop an argument. "Are we ready to go?"
"Almost!" Lea said. She ran back inside, pulled her hair into a bun with a red scrunchy, and ran back out.
"Okay, let's go!" She cried.

At the restaurant, while waiting for their food, Lea pulled Tiki into the bathroom.
"Why do girls have to go the bathroom in groups?" Joe asked, puzzled.
"Because they probably want to talk about something they don't want us hearing," Matt said.
"What do you suppose that would be?" Joe pondered.
Matt glanced at the floor. "I'm guessing she hasn't told Tiki all of what happened yesterday..."
"What DID happen?"
"If you don't know, then Tiki probably doesn't either... I got upset with Lea because you guys went clubbing the other night-"
"We had a lot of fun, too!"
"Wow, if you enjoyed it, you must've! -and Tom didn't give me all the information about it, so I interpreted things wrong. It ended in me and Lea getting into a fight. I made her cry."
Joe's eyes widened. "You made a girl cry?"
"I didn't do it on purpose!... But yeah, she was crying. I apologized when she told me the whole story, though, and we kissed."
"First kiss?"
Matt blushed, and smiled a little. "Yeah." They fell silent for a few minutes, then Matt asked "Have you kissed Tiki yet?"
Joe looked up, startled. "I've only known her a week, what do you mean, 'have I kissed her'!" Matt shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, you never know, she seems to bringing out a more daring side of you, maybe you'd loosened up to actually get a little..." Matt grinned wolfishly at his friend.
"Matt, if it weren't for the fact that I know you are trying to mess with me, I'D go hide in the girls' bathroom too."
In the bathroom, Tiki and Lea were, in fact, discussing the events of the previous day.
"...and then he kissed me..." Lea finished, sighing happily.
"Oh that's so cute!" Tiki squeaked.
"Have you and Joe kissed yet?"
Tiki rolled her eyes. "What do you think? He's too scared."
"Well, your... I hesitate to call it charm... seems to be working at him. You never know..."
"Eh. I'm giving it another week, and then I'm kissing him first."
Lea giggled. "Is he finally admitting to being your significant other?"
Tiki blushed, and nodded slightly. "Ask him about it, and he'll try not to say anything- I don't think he wants to draw attention to himself- but he'll probably kinda nod..."
"Oooh! Tell me how it happened!"
"You're gonna embarrass me, aren't you?"
"Of course!"
"Fine... Well, the other day, after we got back from the club...

FLASHBACK

"Joe must've been bothered by your comment about making it a double date. We got in the door, and I went into the bathroom and changed into pajamas. When I came out, Joe was waiting for me. He'd changed too; he's got really cute jammies, too... anyway.
I could tell by the look on his face that he wanted to talk, but his voice was catching in his throat.
"Let's go to your room," I said to him, and he nodded. He closed the door behind us, and came over to sit on the bed with me.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Well... uhm... When Lea said that 'if Matt had gone along with us' she'd have made it a double date... It's kinda hard to double date when there's only one couple, isn't it?"
I nodded, hiding my smile from him, since I knew he considered this serious. Actually, so did I.
"Well... She said she wanted there to be a 'next time'..."
Joe got stuck again there. I could hear him trying to start the next part, but I guess articulacy isn't one of his skills. I don't blame him. I tried to help, at that point.
"Well, if there's a next time," I started, "She might want it to be a real double date instead of three good friends going out for some fun."
Joe nodded, and looked a little relieved that I knew what he was saying. I tried to hide the deep breath I was taking to start the next part.
"So... What do you think about it?"
"Well I... uhm... I wouldn't be... opposed..."
I felt my heart beat speed up a little as he said it. "Really?" I asked, trying not to sound too excited.
He must've heard it anyway. He looked at me from the corner of his eyes. "Yeah."
I smiled gently at him. "So we're a couple now?"
He nodded, cheeks coloring, and smiled back. I could feel the blush rise in my own cheeks, and nervousness rise in my chest.
"Well... I guess it's all settled now," I whispered.
"...Yeah..."
We sat there in silence for a few minutes, then I stood up. "I'm gonna go to bed, now. Sugar dreams." I winked and smiled at him.
I'm not really sure, but... I think, as I was leaving, I heard him take a breath as if to say something again, and I think I could see him start to raise his hand up in my peripheral vision. I'm not sure though...
I went to bed in his brother's room- since his brother isn't there right now- and fell asleep. I didn't sneak into his room again. It just didn't seem appropriate... Though I almost think he'd taken that breath to protest my leaving..."

END FLASHBACK

Lea sighed, half with longing, and half at the sweetness of the story.
"That's so cute," she said softly.
Tiki had been blushing the entire time she was talking. "I'm glad you're here, Lea. It's nice to have someone to tell stuff like that."
"Yeah, I can agree with you there..." Lea looked at her watch. "Shit!"
"What?" Tiki asked, suddenly alarmed.
"Well, dinner's probably set now," Lea said.
"Whoops! Let's go!" Tiki said, running for the door.
They had perfect timing; the waitress had just finished setting the plates on the table when they arrived back with their boys.
"Jeez, what took so long?" Matt asked. "You were in there for 15 minutes!"
"Yeah, I know," Lea said, "We were just making sure we were pretty for you guys..."
Matt laughed, and Tiki posed cutely.
"My guess," Joe said, "Was that you two were in there talking about us." He shot a mock- accusing look at the girls.
"Yep!" Both said cheerfully. "It was very romantic talk though," Lea added. "Nothing bad."
"Well that's reassuring," Matt said. "Now let's eat!"

After dinner, the group decided to walk to the club. It wasn't too far away, and as any good club-goer knows, you don't eat directly before dancing.
They stepped into the club and instantly, everyone took on their club attitude. Their conversation dissipated into nothing, and walks held a stranger, tougher attitude. Tiki slung her jacket over the back of a chair in the corner, and moved through the crowd into the center of the floor.
On the walk over, Joe had pulled his hair into a pony tail again. A few strands hung loose, but he either didn't notice or didn't care. He moved to follow in after Tiki, Matt and Lea not far behind.
Once she began to move, Tiki felt the beat pound somewhere deep within her, caught between her heart and spine, reverberating through her lungs, quickening her breath and focusing her movement. Like a trance, she moved to the beat.
The others felt it, too; their hearts pounded with the rhythm, all hypnotized to move to the same rhythm with different steps, moving with their souls, souls moving to the music, music the hypnotist controlling every body in the room like puppets on strings.
Matt moved closely to Lea, hands always just barely not touching her, body always centimeters from hers. She mirrored his play, pulling herself towards him and skipping back before they made contact, smiling enticingly but dancing away as he moved towards her, pantomiming a game of cat and mouse, but with different consequences for the mouse. Their eyes flickered at each other, different shades of blue with the same, bordering- on- lustful glint.
Tiki danced to her own rhythm, eyes closed, moving as the music demanded, but Joe had been watching the pair they were with. He wanted to do the same, but a certain fear held him back. It clung to his self restraint, screaming at him to think logically. "How long have you two been an item?" It howled at him. "How well do you know her? How did you get into this situation?"
"Don't deny yourself," the music said, calling him to act in a more primal manner. "Drink from the fountain of your own youth, enjoy what has given itself to you..." The music's poison eked through him, pulsing in his veins with his blood, possessing him to do the dangerous things he'd never risked before, telling him to look closer at the fairer sex.
Finally, want overpowering will, he moved towards her.
Tiki felt hands rest on her shoulders and turned to see Joe standing behind her. His dark eyes shone in the strobe lights and multicolored search lights that hung from the ceiling. She felt a thrill shiver down her spine and back up again from the look he was giving her. He ran his hands down her arms, feeling goosebumps starting to develop, despite the heat of the room. He watched her reach towards the zipper on her shirt and draw it down further, exposing the top of her solar plexus, making it look like her shirt was about to slip off. She stood up on her tip toes, leaning in just enough to make his breathing pick up but not enough to touch. "It's about to get a lot warmer," she whispered in his ear. She leaned back again, giving him a look that nearly froze him from the heat, then spun around. She tilted back against him, and he caught her, placing his hands back on her shoulders. They began to rock back and forth to the music together, bodies touching. He ran his hands down to her elbows, then onto her stomach and down to her hips, reveling in the motion of them moving in synchrony with his. She turned to face him quickly, stomach pressing against his, and wrapped her arms behind his head. She ran a finger over his shoulders and down his spine, resting it on his hips. She pulled him closer for an instant, then pushed back, sending herself backward into the crowd. Joe moved after her.
Lea and Matt had gone to sit down, tired from dancing for so long. Lea had ordered a pair of strawberry daiquiris ("Non-alcoholic, don't worry, Matt!") and now they sat watching Tiki and Joe.
"Wow," Matt said. "I didn't know he had moves, much less a sex drive..."
Lea grinned. "I think Tiki's doin' him some good."
"No kidding," Matt said. "I don't think he's been this loose EVER."
"Tiki'll be glad to know that."
The DJ stopped the music, just like the last time, to remind those who were dancing to go take a break. Tiki came running out of the crowd to the table, sweat making her short hair stick to her face and eyes sparkling like emeralds. A cherry-lipped smile adorned her face.
"Having fun?" Lea knew she didn't need to ask.
Tiki nodded emphatically, panting for breath. Joe came up from behind her, resting a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him. The pair giggled as they sat down.
"I haven't had this much fun in my life," Joe panted.
"I agree," Tiki replied similarly. She saw Lea's drink.
"Can you-"
"Just a minute," Lea said, guessing the question already.
"Thanks."
Lea got up and got two more drinks, blue and green in color, but otherwise unidentifiable. Tiki thanked her again when she returned, and lifted the glass to her forehead, pressing it against her still-pounding temple.
The next ten minutes were spent by the four sitting back and chatting. Tiki let her zipper down a little further and rested her drink in her shirt, which she said cooled her down very fast and suddenly couldn't wait to dance again. Joe had blushed, and almost nosebleeded, but the little that did slip out slid off his plastic shirt to stain his black pants. No one noticed but Tiki, who smiled wickedly at him and momentarily unzipped the shirt down to the skirt line to tease him. He looked down, trying to focus on something else, while Matt looked in the other direction.
Lea turned to whisper to Tiki, "So, you've been taming Joe's wild side, huh?"
Tiki nodded, grinning happily. "He's really beastly when you finally get him to open up a little. It's amazing!"
"I've noticed. He still seems to have no idea that his hair is falling loose from the ponytail again."
"If I mentioned it, he'd probably fix it..." Tiki said, "But I like it there." She cast a wild glance at him with a matching smile.
"I bet you two will pass out when you get home."
"Yeah, but... It'll be worth it." Tiki made the victory hand signal to Lea. Lea rolled her eyes.
Then the music pumped up again.
The four were the first on the dance floor, moving to the rhythm. Lea and Matt danced closer this time, touching each other everywhere but the most sexual of places, feeling each other's breath every now and then, sometimes feeling each other's heart beat, but whether they knew the difference between the other's and their own was debatable. The bass pounded beneath them, moving through their feet like electricity, enticing movement out of them. Even the simplest steps went with the most powerful of songs.
Matt held Lea's waist tight against his. In response, Lea rested a hand on his ribs and the other on his shoulder, pulling each other closer in a rhythmic motion, blood and bass pulsing together between them. Lea could almost feel his skin through the thin material of his shirt. She barely heard it, but the thought crossed her mind to see if they could get away with having him remove it. The thought bedded itself somewhere deeper in her, probably to be unearthed later.
A song Lea recognized began to blast through the speakers.
"Oh, I like this song," She said.
"Really?" Matt asked. "It sounds kinda cool."
"It IS. Great dancing song. Really fast paced."
"Yeah?" He stopped to listen to it, and at the same time, the music down-tempoed. The whole club fell quiet, and everyone stopped moving. Slowly, it rose back up, and as it rose, the movement began to flow, controlling them into a rocking motion. It up-tempoed quite suddenly, throwing everyone back into the groove.
They danced hard, pressing close to each other, Matt caressing Lea's bare shoulders, moving slowly down her back and back to her hips again. He pulled her close to him, their bodies lined up against each other. Lea rested her head against him, half snuggling, half doing it just for the feeling of being close to him. She could hear his heart beating in his chest, and feel his chest heaving from all the moving, from the exhilaration of the dancing, from being so close and so blatantly sexual with a girl.
Lea felt suddenly felt herself being pressed up against the wall. Matt wasn't against her anymore, but she could feel his hands still resting on her hips. She opened her eyes -she didn't remember closing them - and saw him looking at her, eyes hungering for something he couldn't express for words. His eyes implored hers, a mixture of innocence and something more beast-like digging into her.
She closed her eyes, listening to the music, waiting-
"...Am I sexual?" The song begged to know, but it was more than just the music.
She sensed Matt leaning closer to her, felt his cheek brush against hers-
"Am I everything you need?-" The song and Matt's unspoken feelings demanded to know. She felt his lips brush against hers, then become more insistent... "-You better rock your body now..." Joe and Tiki sat at the table, watching in surprise at the make out session that had started not five feet away.
"You know, I'm not a part of that at all, but that whole 5 seconds was strangely intense," Tiki commented.
"I think it was a little longer than that," Joe mused, "But I know exactly what you mean."
The two turned to look at each other, smiling, then the whole ordeal became too embarrassing and both looked at the floor.
"Let's go back to the dance floor," Tiki suggested.
"Yeah, good idea. Leave those two to their own devices."
The pair wasn't out there for more than two minutes when a sound "BANG!" reverberated through the building. The crowd of people froze and looked skyward in surprise, and Matt and Lea broke their kissing, looking around in shock.
"What's going on?" He murmured to her.
The music cut out suddenly, and the DJ's voice came on.
"Due to a serious weather emergency, the club is closing down early. Sorry folks, but in case you're wondering: That boom was thunder from about 20 miles away. That'll give you an idea of how serious this is."
There were gasps of surprise all around.
"I guess that means we should head home," Joe said.
"Yeah, sounds good to me," Tiki replied. "You guys coming?"
"Just a moment!" Lea called.
"Lea, I'm not gonna let you go all the way home from here," Matt said firmly. "Come back to my place for the night."
"Won't your Dad like, kill you or something, for that?" She said skeptically.
"He'll probably understand. Besides, chances are he'll be stuck at the station all night."
"Oh... Convenient!"
Matt nodded.
"All right, we're ready to go!" Lea called.

Lea pulled on an oversized tank top to replace her wet clothes. Shed hung the offending items in the bathtub to drip dry, and prayed they wouldn't shrink.
She stepped out of the bathroom, readjusting an arm strap to keep it from falling down. Matt was waiting for her, shirtless.
"I'll sleep on the couch," He offered.
"Nah, don't worry about it. I'll be fine on the couch, you take the bed."
"I couldn't do that to a girl! It's rude!"
"I'm not going to take it the wrong way, or anything," Lea responded. "Just take the darn bed and go to sleep!"
Matt sighed deeply. "I'm too tired to argue about this..."
"Good, Lea said, walking past him to get to the couch.
A hand on her shoulder stopped her.
"What?"
"Wrong."
"Huh? WHOA!"
Matt heaved her up over his shoulder and carried her into his room, rather gracelessly, and unceremoniously dropped her on his bed.
"I told you I would take the freaking couch!" Lea cried. "You can have the bed!"
Matt walked to the door.
"DAMMIT MATT, GET IN THE BED!"
Matt closed his bedroom door.
"I was getting to that," He said. He walked back, and Lea could see in the faint light from lightning outside that he was smiling at her.
"You dork," Lea said, smiling back.
"Well, we both want the other one to be in the bed, so why not be in it together?" he asked.
"You've got a point..."
He pulled himself onto the bed, holding himself over her with his hands, one knee on either side of her.
"First time you've stayed the night here, isn't it?" He asked. Lea nodded. He smiled at her, bent down, and kissed her lightly.
"Comfortable?"
"Yeah, your bed is really comfortable... but..."
"But what?"
"It'd be nicer if you were lying down!" She cried, reaching up and pulling him over so he was lying next to her. He laughed.
"Point made!" he cried.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing." He tried to dry up his laughter. Lea poked his ribs.
He burst out giggling again.
"Are you ticklish?" She squealed, delighted.
"NO! I'm not! I swear!"
She poked him again, and his body contorted away from her small fingers.
"You ARE!"
He tried to respond, but the tickling kept him laughing too hard to say anything.
"What? What's that? I can't understand you!"
Matt managed to get a moment's though in to realize he should retaliate. A finger struck out towards Lea's side, catching her between the ribs. She eeped, and sat up, tickle torture momentarily forgotten.
"So YOU'RE ticklish too!" Matt declared.
"So what!" Lea cried.
"Well... It means I can get revenge!" He launched himself at her, poking her ribs, tracing light patterns down the skin of her sides. Lea laughed, frantically trying to move away from him. Lightning illuminated their almost child-like play.
"Whoops!" Lea said suddenly.
"What?" Matt said, pausing before poking her again.
"Uhm, nothing," Lea muttered.
"What's wrong?"
Lightning flashed again, revealing Lea readjusting the strap of the tank top, the majority of her chest showing itself pale white in the flash of light.
Matt blushed, and barely kept himself from a bad nosebleed.
"Sorry," he murmured. Lea couldn't see it, but his face was almost cherry red. She could guess, though.
"Oh, don't worry. Nothing to be embarrassed about, right?" She said reassuringly. "I mean, my swimsuit exposes more than THAT..."
"Are you sure?"
"... Not really."
"Oh." He quickly grabbed a tissue to save his sheets from needing to be bleached.
The two fell silent. Lightning flashed, but it saw them only sitting in the same spots across the bed from each other, staring at the blankets.
"Matt?"
"What?"
"Have you ever seen a girl shirtless before?"
"Huh!"
"I'm just curious..."
"N-no..."
"Hnh..."
Matt was wracking his brain, trying to remember if he really had seen a shirtless girl or not, when another lightning strike flashed.
It was a long one, flickering like the strobes at the club that night. In the dark time between, she'd pulled off the tank top. She sat with her knees pulled up, her arms folded to hid half her bare chest, her knees holding them in place. Then it was dark again.
"Lea?" Matt whispered.
"Hm?"
He couldn't think of a response. Instead, he sat up and crawled towards her on his hands and knees.
Lightning flashed again. There she was, looking for him in the dark. Lea's eyes met his: nervous innocence and curiosity met in their gazes, though which was coming from who couldn't be answered. It might've been a combination from both.
He crept forward again once the lightning faded out, and froze again when it flickered, creating a strange stop motion movie for Lea to watch as he came closer.
Then it was nothing but dark and rain pounding on the window.
They could hear each other's breath sneaking closer, and Lea could hear Matt's hands and legs sliding across the sheets. Her breathing became shallow as he came closer.
Matt could hear her breath, faintly, as he moved nearer. For a moment, he thought he could hear her heart beat; this passed, though, when he realized it was his own, pounding loudly from his nervousness.
He reached out, fingertips brushing the bare skin of her legs. She took a small, sharp breath from the surprise of his contact. Lightning flashed again, exposing to each other the scared looks on their faces. She smiled faintly at him, fear and excitement and nervousness mixing in her expression. He pulled himself closer so he was sitting next to her on the bed, and reached a hand out to find where she was. He found her cheek, and traced his fingers against her. She unconsciously leaned into it, enjoying the feeling of his hand. He traced his way down her neck and over her shoulder, then slipped down her arm. his thumb unintentionally grazed the side of her breast, causing her to squeak faintly from surprise.
"Sorry," he whispered. He felt her body move as she shook her head.
"Don't worry about it... I don't think I mind..." White light filled the room, showing her looking at him, smiling faintly, cheeks pink. When the darkness returned, he heard her lay her knees flat against the bed, and felt her move closer to him. "I think I trust you," She whispered in his ear.
He felt himself relax, though he couldn't remember being tense. "Thank you," he whispered back. He reached his arms out, finding her shoulders again, then wrapping around her back to pull her close to him in an embrace.
Both of them held their breath for a moment, surprised at the sudden feeling of so much bare skin involved in holding another person this way, then released it, shuddering. Lea brought her arms up to wrap around his torso. With nothing more to support them, the fell back into the bed. Matt landed on top of Lea, bringing his head up to look at her face. He released her, supporting his weight again on his hands and knees; this time, however, the scene had lost it's almost -innocence from before. He was struggling not to breathe hard from the rush, and Lea looked unsure of whether she should leave herself exposed to the next burst of light from the sky or cover herself, hiding her body from both sky and the boy hanging over her.
She opted for not moving.
The next flash showed Matt what she looked like under her shirts and dresses, what no one but he had been able to see.
"Now you've seen a girl shirtless," Lea whispered. The pair snickered, relieved to have something to lighten up the situation.
Matt shifted his weight to his left hand, leaving the other one free. He rested it on her stomach, and lightly traced it over her porcelain white skin, over her sternum. He felt her breathing had become so light it had nearly stopped, but her heart was pounding her chest. He let his hand rest above the pulsating feeling, closing his eyes. After a few minutes, it gradually slowed, and Lea began to breath normally again. He brought himself down to rest on his elbow.
"I can feel your heart," he whispered.
"I know..."
"It's... strange... I've never really felt someone else's heart like this..."
"It sorta seems..."
"More personal," they finished together. Both smirked.
"We're speaking at the same time," Lea muttered.
"Just means we spend a lot of time around each other," Matt replied.
He felt Lea's hand reach up and touch his chest. He became aware that his own heartbeat was racing.
"What're you so excited about?" Lea asked in a false accusatory tone.
"Hmm... Not sure... It might have something to do with the almost completely naked girl underneath me..."
"Maybe..."
Lea began to trace little patterns across his chest and stomach. She felt him twitch.
"Does it tickle?"
"Mm... No... 'Tickle' isn't the word..."
"It just feels good?"
He nodded. "Yeah, that's a way to say it..."
She knocked him over again. He collapsed on the bed, arms and legs splayed out, eyes closed.
Lea continued to trace patterns over him, laying on her side, using his arm as a head rest. She felt his hand tracing similarly along her back.
They didn't go any further than that; ten minutes later found Matt asleep. Lea, deciding to follow in suit, pulled the shirt back on, snuggled against him, and slipped into unconsciousness, lulled by the still pounding rain.

Author's Note: show-eyed Tiki and Lea glare at the computer. T: FINALLY... It's after 3:30 am and I need to brush my damn teeth... Goodnight everyone, hope you enjoyed it, I haven't been home since that last fic was finished, so the Tiki side of the story has yet to be started. It's gonna be cute, though! Yawns
L: You know, if I close my eyes right now, I probably won't get up until morning...
T: Here's to that... Let's go to bed...
The idea conceiver, Lea, and Author of a quarter of ch.3 and all of Ch.4 save a final time... and crawl upstairs to go to sleep... Zzzzz... ZZ