(I know its been long awaited! And I'm sooo sorry for the major wait, but school, exams and homework have stopped me from updating, hope you leave me a review)
Nicky sat herself down on one of the outside benches in front of Kudos, waiting for the two who were supposed to meet her. Although the sky was dull and grey and there was a strong breeze about that ruffled through her dark brown curls, she enjoyed sitting despite the not so great weather. Glancing around, her eyes landed upon the gritty restaurant window. It was covered in a thick layer of grime, partly because of the lack of suitable staff. Inside the restaurant, leaning against the coffee machine was Courtney on her regular shift, flicking through a Vogue magazine and ignoring the few customers that were about. Nicky rolled her eyes; the girl got paid for not even working, and lately she was worse than usual. Whenever Callum was in sight, she would stroll off and leave Noleé to cover for her. As Nicky peered around in search of her companions a strong gust of wind caused her to pull her parka tighter around her body. Dozens of white sheets blew up the cobbled off-street and scattered about the ground. Running furiously behind them was the familiar swing of long ebony hair. Rei was hurriedly attempting to gather the papers that had blown away. Nicky nodded at the Chinese teen that had made a beeline for her. Casually she picked up the saltshaker and trapped a few white sheets that had landed on her bench refusing them to escape, it was one of the skills she had mastered after long hours in the arcade.
Rei walked over to the wooden bench and plopped himself down next to Nicky, who was busily scanning the fliers with interest.
"They're still doing those lame events! That'll ruin the band's slot, stupid mayor!" She commented, a little heatedly, half looking up at the amber eyes that were peering down at her.
In response Rei shrugged, "Check this flier out, they're planning to do this stupid beyblade tournament for amateurs, that'll be a load of crap aswell"
Behind Rei, the trio of boys approached. Johnny being his usual jerk-like self decided to damage a few of Rei's brain cells and attempted to whack the large folder he was carrying dead centre of the boy's skull. However Rei being highly trained in martial arts, shot out of the way, leaving Johnny sprawled over the table from the force.
"Hehehe, looks like the great McGregor's lying down on the job again!" Nicky mused; both her and Tala bursting into hysterical laughter and even Kai cracked a smile. As soon as Johnny stood up, his violet eyes flashed in humiliation and this seemed to make the group laugh harder.
"Gottcha!" Rei shouted, patting the flame haired boy on the back. This did not go well with the hot head and his humiliation soon turned into burning rage as he lunged forward in another attempt to get revenge on Rei. Rei reading his friend, quickly sprinted away, with Johnny tailing not far off behind him.
Watching the two boys run off down the street, Tala, Nicky and Kai set back to what they had called the meeting for.
"Let's get this done before McGregor gets back," Kai growled. He had a particular hatred for Johnny's authoritarian act and always enjoyed watching the boy fail in being the lead figure. The only reason he put up with him was because there was no better bassist in Brunei, except Nicky, but then she was the drummer so they were left with Mr-I'm-the-best-in-the-world.
Tala and Nicky stopped doing re-enacts of the scene that had occurred minutes before and turned their attention to the bluenette.
"So what are we going to be doing then?" Tala asked.
For a moment, the three went quiet, lost in thought but then surprisingly, Kai spoke up and gave an idea that led to excitement and nodding amongst the band members.
"Having fun without me then!" a raspy voice sounded from behind. Johnny had returned. He looked exhausted and very annoyed. Sitting down, he started to speak again, "So what are we going to be doing then?"
All three smirked, then Nicky spoke up, innocently, "Oh sorry Johnny, but we've already decided"
Johnny's face began to turn red and through gritted teeth managed to choke a, "It's ok, what are we doing then"
Again, Nicky spoke in a sweet voice, her head tilted to one side, penguin earrings shaking softly and yet her eyes glinting quite evilly "Actually Kai decided what we should do" emphasising on the word Kai.
Johnny's face washed over in pure hatred as he glared openly at the tall leader, although this seemed to amuse Kai even more. Immediately, Johnny stood up and muttered an angry response and walked off. Kai nodded his head, as though having accomplished something whilst Tala and Nicky high-fived in unison. As if on cue, Courtney placed a tray of shakes and cookies on the table but without a word, turned and left.
After a moment of silence, Nicky's eyes brightened with a new idea, it was no secret that her and Tala, although friends had made it tradition to tease and fight no matter what the situation. Cocking her head to one side, Nicky laughed out loud, receiving raised eyebrows from Tala. From what Nicky could see, Kai couldn't care less and was busy listening to his personal stereo, unaware of the conversation that was about to unfold.
"So Tala" Nicky started, her voice hinting a slight edge of mischievousness.
"What is it this time, penguin lover?" He taunted in return, his mouth twitching as though he knew the brunette was about to stir some trouble.
"Well since you've already brought up the topic…" she smirked, twisting Tala's own words to suit herself, Tala's face paled slightly, with a look of confusion in his eyes, seeing this Nicky continued, "Don't think I haven't seen you staring!"
Tala's eyes widened in surprise, "What…what are you talking about?" he asked, stuttering slightly, he hadn't been expecting that.
Nicky's lips curves to one side in superiority, not waiting any longer she spilt out the one word that killed all suspicions, "Faith"
The red head's jaw literally dropped in complete shock, he had been expecting his friend to have uncovered the secret he had been hiding from everyone all year, thinking that he had some crush on Faith was too far off the mark and he began to laugh, softly at first and then harder at the thought. Nicky's eyebrow quirked in confusion, she tugged at her black lace top, unsure of what the boy in front of her was laughing about.
"Uh…Tala, reality check? What are you laughing about?"
Tala, unwilling to answer the question got up and began to walk away from the table, which led to even Kai looking up from his book in wonder.
'If only you knew Nicky, if only you knew who I really was'
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A few hours later and the whole group except for Kai who was missing, were busily putting up banners and decorations around the stage that was to be used for the following day.
Faith looked around, watching everyone, she was sat on the stage not bothered to help the rest. Everyone had been caught up with their own issues, Johnny, had been plotting to get revenge but hadn't put anything into action, Tala had been avoiding talking to anyone the whole day, Nicky kept eyeing Tala suspiciously, Kai was absent and Rei and MC were probably the only two that were acting 'normal'
Just as the bored girl was about to get up and help, she caught sight of a tall figure walking towards them, it was undoubtedly Kai, yet no one had caught sight of him yet. He looked unusually different, his face was paler, and his mouth was set in a thin line and his expression more serious than usual. What surprised Faith most of all was that he appeared somewhat weaker; warily he stood to the side of the stage. It was just as Faith was about to look away that she caught the white patch stuck on his forehead, hidden under the mop of greyish blue hair.
"What happened?" she called out, barely above a whisper, but it wasn't necessary for it to be any louder because Kai turned around.
"Nothing, just forget it" he replied, and the jet haired girl was about to persist when Johnny interrupted the small conversation with his sneering.
"So Hiwatari, you actually managed to drag your sorry butt here then, why don't you just get on like a good little dog" the flame haired Scot mocked.
Kai turned his back and began to walk away, completely ignoring the boy taunting him.
"Did your little doggy friends hurt poor Hiwatari?" He continued talking at the boy's back. Faith watched the scene before her; she had assumed that Kai would keep walking, but the claret eyed boy stopped in his tracks, she saw his head slightly dip downwards, something she was used to doing herself at times of hardship. But Faith could not understand why it was affecting Kai of all people. He was the strong one. He was the one who had talked to her about her confidence. The boy turned around to face Johnny, but Johnny had done a Kai and had stalked off. Kai was left facing the worried girl looking down at him. She jumped down off the stage and walked up to Kai, without a second hesitation she pushed his hair up and touched the band-aid that covered part of his right forehead. Part of it was stained in bright red, obviously blood that had seeped through.
"Let go of me," he growled, his scarf blowing behind him from the wind around.
Quickly, the dark haired girl removed her hand, and his bangs fell back down upon his pale face, recovering the position it had before and hiding the white plaster. As soon as her hand reached her side, he had turned and walked away, finding some decorations to busy himself with.
Faith had not given up however, and followed Kai to where he was standing. Just as she was about to call him, MC bounced up to her, her blonde hair had been cut into a spiky layered bob, and was tied up loosely. Faith smiled, MC had been happier than usual in the few days that had gone past, Faith realised that it must have been something to do with Rei. After a few small questions about colour schemes, the girl jogged off to join her boyfriend across the stage.
Faith turned her attention back to Kai, he still hadn't noticed her, but something caught Faith's grey eyes which made her catch the words that were about to escape her mouth and instead remain silent. She watched him carefully, unsure if she had seen correctly, but then he bent over again and there it was, the whole way across his smooth pale back laid a deep cut slashed and marked, something that had to be done with a sharp blade. She remembered going to the hospital with her mother once, her mother had been a nurse, and she had experienced and witnessed the consequences of sheer violence. Could Kai have involved himself in a fight? It was unlike him, yet Faith could not feel positive that he hadn't had a fight. But first thing was first, Kai's cut needed to be stitched there was no doubt about it or she could just see the infection that would embody itself inside the cut.
Softly she called out his name, he turned around once more but turned back as soon as he knew it was her. "I don't mind if you don't tell me about what happened Kai, but its important, your cut it could get infected if you don't clean it and get some medical help, I should know! My mother was a…"
Sharply he cut her off, "I don't give a fuck what your mother was, just leave me alone. This has nothing to do with you"
Hurt by Kai's cruel statement, Faith turned and walked away. Her eyes blurred with the slight moistness of tears welling. She could have tolerated taunting, could have tolerated Mariah and her name calling, but her mother was a different matter. She would have expected Courtney or Mariah to say something so harsh but for Kai, her mentor, her guider to slice her heart with those mean words was too much. Slowly she walked away in slight despair, not seeing or knowing where she was going, almost like her first night at Brunei. Almost and yet not quite the same. Because strong arms found her waist and guided her back to Rockmore Drive. The few comforting words filtered through her ears, yet she wasn't listening, wasn't caring. She only wanted the comfort of her four walls and the comfort of pure isolation.
As she calmed down nearby her house, she looked up into the cerulean eyes of Tala, which were filled with warmth and caring. Caring for her. He took her into a tight embrace and her salty tears wiped onto his face. Impulsively she pressed her lips to Tala's as if believing that was what he wanted. Tala's face registered shock and he pulled back almost immediately.
"I…I can't…you don't understand" he stuttered, urgently looking at Faith's upset face, "Faith I shouldn't have kept it from you, but you have to understand no one knows, I never told them, they'll never look at me the same. I trust you, you're my friend, you have to know the truth…I'm gay"
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Well that's chapter 10, hope you enjoyed it and hope you're getting into the story now! ^__^ Leave me a review please, I'd be really really grateful, I don't mind constructive criticism either, so if there was anything you didn't like let me know, I like to hear both sides.
NOTE: I FORGOT TO SAY THAT ANY OF YOU YAOI HATERS, DON'T WORRY BECAUSE IT ISN'T MAJOR YAOI ITS JUST THE THEME OF HOMOSEXUALITY AND HOW TALA FEELS UNSURE OF WHAT HIS FRIENDS WILL SAY ETC.
I'd like to thank my reviewers,
Thanks to, Nicky (scarlet diamonds) especially (read her fics they're great) you have really kept me going with writing.
Elfy and all the people at TNK –new fanfics moderator too!
Tenma koneko, soza, AzN*PyRo*ArCaDa, CRL, whisper, coppelia, Arcia, Kai-Baby, keira, Ryoki, Mira, Faith 007, Dark Ice Dragon, CC Queen O Death Destruction, Jhaylin, F.A Star Hawk.
You all rule! Plus I'll be adding more Mariah etc. next chapter!
Woo! Leave a review! *Gives marshmallows out *
=dudems=