a/n: Here is where things between Kai and Carlos get a bit interesting... And the next chapter holds a twist that even I didn't know about until yesterday... heh heh, more on that next chapter...
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They arrived home a little while later, Carlos' arm still draped around Kai's shoulders. About halfway up the lawn, he looked at her.
"So, am I not going to see you for the next two weeks, or what?" he asked.
Kai laughed and shoved him away. "Shut up," she said.
Carlos grinned and came back at her, grabbing her wrist and swinging her around into the oak tree. He pinned her there and watched her a moment as she laughed. His heart pounded with anticipation, knowing that even if he had wanted to, he wouldn't be able to stop now.
Kai's laughter faded as she noticed the odd way he was looking at her. "What?" she asked, confused. Her head throbbed slightly to let her know that this was what she had felt earlier and her heart started to race. She tried to back into the tree, but couldn't escape his hand that went to her face.
Becoming nervous, she put her hand on top of Carlos' and avoided his eyes. "Carlos... w-what are you doing?" she asked, looking at him.
He said nothing, but lowered his lips to hers. Kai froze a moment, her heart pounding in her ears. Whatever was making her do these strange things had told her about this, but she hadn't let the information into her conscious mind. She hadn't wanted to know.
Now panic was flooding through her and she managed to find the strength to push him away. She stared into his eyes a moment, then moved past him.
"Kai..." Carlos tried, feeling his heart shatter.
"I... I have to go," she interrupted, backing away a few steps. Then, she turned and ran back to the house.
Carlos leaned back against the tree, crushed. His throat tightened and he put his hand over his face to hide any tears that might show themselves. Slowly, his pain mixed with anger at both Yami and himself. If he hadn't waited so long... if Yami hadn't ever come...
He punched the tree with the side of his fist, his teeth clenched. With one look back at the house, he started home with his hands in his pockets.
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Kai ran to the front door and hurriedly pulled it open. She closed it behind her and leaned against it, her hand over her mouth.
Yami and the gang looked up, surprised.
"Are you all right?" Tea asked.
Kai snapped her head in their direction, her heart pounding. Without saying anything, she bolted to her room, shutting the door.
"Kai?" Tea asked, watching as her friend made a fast exit.
"What's with her?" Tristan asked.
"I wonder what's wrong," Bakura said, confused.
"She looked pretty upset," Tea said, standing. "Come on."
The gang went to her door and Tea knocked. "Kai, are you all right?" she asked. There was no answer. "Kai?"
Tea put her hand on the doorknob and turned it, swinging the door open. Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked inside. The room was empty. The breeze blowing in through the window made the curtains billow eerily.
"Where'd she go?" Joey asked.
"Joey, look," Bakura said, pointing to the window. "She must have climbed out."
"But why?" Tristan asked. "And where'd she go?"
"I know where she is," Yami said, leaving the room.
The gang followed as he went to the front door.
"Where?" Tea asked as he pulled it open.
He paused a minute. "I can't tell you. You just have to trust me," he said, looking at them.
"Huh? Why can't you tell us?" Joey asked.
"I promised her I wouldn't. Kai may need my help, so I have to go. I'll be back in a little while," he replied. He left, leaving the gang staring after him in confusion.
Yami started over to the woods by the side of the house, looking for the marks Kai said she had made on the trees. he found the first one shortly and followed it in. The trees were denser here than at Elaine's house and he had to untangle himself from thorns multiple times.
He reached the clearing about five minutes later and he saw that he had been right. Kai was sitting on the log, her back towards him, staring out over the water.
"Kai?" he asked gently, stepping forward.
She jumped and looked over her shoulder at hem briefly. She quickly snapped her head back around and wiped her face with her sleeve. "Yugi... what are you doing here?" she asked quietly.
If he had had any doubt in his mind that she had been crying, he was sure now. He climbed up onto the log and scooted over next to her.
"What's wrong?" he asked, noting the way she was deliberately staring ahead to avoid his eyes.
"Nothing," she said quickly, turning her head away from him.
"Kai, you're upset and I can see that," Yami said, looking at her. Remembering the note she had left for him and the gang, he asked, "Is it Carlos?"
Kai looked down at her hands and sniffed. "Yeah," she said softly.
"What happened?" Did you get in a fight?" he asked.
She shook her head. "No," she muttered.
"Then what is it? I won't tell anyone if that's what you're afraid of," he said.
"No, I know you won't," she said.
"Kai..." he said, touching her shoulder.
"He... kissed me," she said, looking at her hands and fiddling with them.
Yami stared at her in surprise. He hadn't expected /that/ to be the problem. He managed to find his voice after a moment and said, "I take it you don't have feelings back."
Kai looked up at him. "Yugi, he's my best friend! He's /been/ my best friend ever since I can remember! I can't /date/ him! I can't believe he wants to date /me/!" she said, looking back over the water. - No wonder he was asking me about Yugi, - she thought.
Yami stared at her, unsure of what to say. He had seen the fact that Carlos was attracted to her a long time ago, but he hadn't expected him to do something like this. He didn't strike Yami to be the type to do something of this sort just out of the blue. He had obviously had feelings for her long before Yami had met him, so why would he choose now to act on it? Unless... unless he felt threatened. Yami recalled how Carlos had acted towards him and suddenly understood. Carlos was nervous that Kai was attracted to Yami and was pressured into kissing her for fear of losing her.
Yami felt a slight bit of anger at Carlos. He had made Kai cry because he let his jealousy get the best of him. He had now endangered the friendship they had had for years.
"I don't know what to do now," Kai said, staring at her hands.
"I'll talk to him," Yami said and Kai snapped her head up to look at him.
"That's not a good idea," she said. Carlos knew how she felt about Yami and he would be less than thrilled to see him.
Yami was aware that his presence would be unwelcome, but he had made up his mind to do whatever he could to save their friendship. "It'll be fine," he said.
"Yugi..." she tried, but fell silent when Yami touched her shoulder reassuringly. "Thank you," she muttered, looking back at her hands.
Yami nodded, though she couldn't see him. "Are you all right now?" he asked gently.
She nodded and looked at him. "Yeah, I'm okay."
"Why don't we head back?" Yami asked.
"All right," she replied.
Yami helped her off the log and she smiled gratefully. He gave her a warm smile in return and she almost forgot about Carlos as their gaze locked. She had never noticed how stunning his violet eyes were until now. As he turned and started back through the forest, she couldn't help thinking that if it had been Yami instead of Carlos who had kissed her, she might not have pulled away.
She quickly shook herself out of it and followed Yami. She saw him following the marks on the trees and smiled internally. She wasn't exactly sure what about this made her smile, but she didn't mind.
They said nothing to each other as they made their way through the forest. Kai had to untangle him from several thorn vines and she couldn't help but find him cute when he got slightly frustrated with the plants.
"It might help if you used your eyes," Kai joked and he chuckled.
"How do you manage to get through her?" Yami asked, moving a vine out of his way with two fingers.
She giggled. "I just know where they all are, I guess," she said as they left the forest.
Yami walked her to the door, but didn't enter the house with her. "I'm going to talk to Carlos. I'll be back in a little while," he said and Kai stared at him.
"What, now? Are you mad?" she exclaimed. "Even /I/ don't..."
Yami interrupted her. "I'll be all right. I'll see you later."
He turned to go and Kai ran after him. "I'm coming too," she stated.
"Kai, you'll only make things worse. It's best if I do this alone," Yami said, looking at her.
She stared at him, trying to decide what to do. She was aware that her presence would make Carlos uncomfortable, but if Yami went alone, Carlos was libel to beat him up. When Carlos was jealous, it practically took over and he did things he wouldn't usually. If Kai was there, at least he wouldn't hurt Yami.
But, she just nodded. She figured Yami could take care of himself. "Just... be careful, all right? When Carlos gets like this... well..."
"I understand," Yami replied. He turned and headed down the lawn to the road, Kai on the front steps looking after him.
She sighed as she opened the door and entered the house.
"Oh, here she is," Tea was saying into the phone. She covered the mouthpiece and held the receiver out to Kai. "It's Elaine," she said.
Kai had a sinking feeling in her stomach as she took the phone. "Hello?" she said reluctantly.
"Kai, what did you do to Carlos?" Elaine asked. She sounded as if she was trying to keep her voice even.
"Elaine... I didn't..." Kai tried, but her friend cut her off.
"He looked like he had been crying, Kai! He was out with you all day! What did you /do/?" Elaine cried.
"I didn't do anything!" Kai exclaimed. "He's the one who kissed /me/!"
Everyone sitting in the room stared at Kai. There was even a silence on the other end of the phone for a moment.
"He... what?" Elaine choked out. "No way..."
"He did, all right? But I... I don't like him like that! He's my best friend, not my boyfriend!" Kai said, on the verge of tears again.
"I... I had no idea..." Elaine said softly. "I'm sorry, Kai, I shouldn't have yelled..."
"It's... it's all right. Yugi's on his way over to your place now. He said he was going to talk to Carlos," Kai explained.
Yeah... yeah, okay," Elaine said, slight concern in her voice. "I'm sorry... really I am..."
"It's fine. I have to go, all right?" Kai said, rubbing her forehead.
"Okay, bye," her friend said.
"Bye," Kai muttered, hanging up the phone. She'd have a bit of explaining to do with the gang and she wasn't looking forward to it.
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Yami arrived at the Trevino's a little while later. He breath deeply before knocking. Elaine opened the door a few seconds later.
"Hi. Kai said you'd be here," she said softly, letting him in. She looked sort of down; not her usual perky self at all.
"I take it you know," Yami said and she nodded.
"I had no idea he had a /crush/ on Kai. I just thought..." she stopped and sighed. "Carlos is in his room," she said, jabbing her thumb in the direction of the hall.
Yami nodded and started to Carlos' room, when Elaine touched his shoulder.
"Please, do your best to keep their friendship in tact. They've been best friends too long to split up now," she said when he turned.
He nodded, suddenly feeling rather pressured. He reminded himself that he /had/ offered to do this and he would keep to his promise. He would do his best to save their friendship, even though he wasn't sure yet how he'd do it. He hoped Carlos might be a little reasonable. He knocked on Carlos' door, prepared for whatever the Italian would throw at him.
"Elaine, just leave me alone!" Carlos said through the door.
"I'm not Elaine," Yami said.
Carlos didn't reply, but flung open his door. He glared at Yami and snarled, "What are /you/ doing here?"
"I have to talk to you about Kai. She told me what happened," Yami said, looking up slightly at Carlos.
Carlos' eyes blazed. - Now she's confiding in /him/? - "That's none of your business," he snarled.
"You had her in tears, Carlos. You've had feelings for her for a long time; anyone can see that..." Yami started.
"Why does it matter to you?" Carlos cried.
"Because if you don't do something this will be the end of your friendship!" Yami replied.
"Why do you care?" Carlos yelled. "That's our business, not yours!"
"Carlos, you have some crazy idea that there's something between me and Kai and I don't know where you got it from, but it's not true! You're going to lose the best friend you've had for years because of your foolish jealousy! Yami cried.
"Get out of my house," Carlos growled.
"You have to talk to her! She's willing to forget if..."
"Get out!" Carlos interrupted.
"If you don't do it for you, do it for Kai! You were the one that was there for her in her time of need! She doesn't want to go out with you because you're her best friend! She thinks of you as her brother! She needs your friendship!" Yami exclaimed.
"How would you know?" Carlos cried.
"She told me!"
- She barely knows him and she's confiding everything in him! - "Just go," Carlos said, his voice a low hiss. "I will take care of Kai's and my relationship on my own terms."
"I hope, for your sake, that your terms don't take too long," Yami said before turning back down the hall. As he passed Elaine, he said, "See to it that he calls her soon."
Elaine nodded and watched as he left, starting back down the street.
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When he got back to Kai's house, the sun was beginning to set, casting a soft red glow over the sky. He opened the door and headed into the living room to meet the gang.
Kai immediately stood up as she heard the door shut. When Yami came into view, she breathed slightly in relief that he was still in one piece. "What happened?" she asked as he came over.
"I did the best I could. I strongly suggested he call you and I asked Elaine to make sure he does," he replied. "I hope everything turns out all right."
Kai nodded and sank back onto the couch, Yami beside her. "Me too," she said.
Yami put his arm around her and pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder, letting silent tears fall.
The prospect of losing Carlos' friendship after so many years tore her apart. She couldn't see how they could still be friends if he had feeling for her. Every time she got a boyfriend, he'd be jealous. Why did this happen to her? Didn't she have enough going on already? Why did Carlos' friendship have to be added to it?
Now she understood why he had been acting so weird. He was jealous of Yami. If she wound up going out with him, how would Carlos take it? he was already jealous of him. Why was her life suddenly so complicated?
She pulled away from Yami and dried her face. She found herself looking into his deep violet eyes and had to smile slightly. His eyes had such a comforting sense about them, especially when added with his warm smile.
Before it could be considered staring, she looked away from him. "Maybe I should call him," she said, reaching for the phone.
Yami grabbed her shoulder and she stopped, turning back to him. "No," he said. "Let him call you. Let him get over his embarrassment."
Kai nodded, leaning back against the couch. Why were things suddenly so complicated?
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a/n: I have nothing to say except REVIEW!! And if some of you don't like Carlos, I know why. He does get kind of jealous, but I personally feel sorry for him. Anyways...
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They arrived home a little while later, Carlos' arm still draped around Kai's shoulders. About halfway up the lawn, he looked at her.
"So, am I not going to see you for the next two weeks, or what?" he asked.
Kai laughed and shoved him away. "Shut up," she said.
Carlos grinned and came back at her, grabbing her wrist and swinging her around into the oak tree. He pinned her there and watched her a moment as she laughed. His heart pounded with anticipation, knowing that even if he had wanted to, he wouldn't be able to stop now.
Kai's laughter faded as she noticed the odd way he was looking at her. "What?" she asked, confused. Her head throbbed slightly to let her know that this was what she had felt earlier and her heart started to race. She tried to back into the tree, but couldn't escape his hand that went to her face.
Becoming nervous, she put her hand on top of Carlos' and avoided his eyes. "Carlos... w-what are you doing?" she asked, looking at him.
He said nothing, but lowered his lips to hers. Kai froze a moment, her heart pounding in her ears. Whatever was making her do these strange things had told her about this, but she hadn't let the information into her conscious mind. She hadn't wanted to know.
Now panic was flooding through her and she managed to find the strength to push him away. She stared into his eyes a moment, then moved past him.
"Kai..." Carlos tried, feeling his heart shatter.
"I... I have to go," she interrupted, backing away a few steps. Then, she turned and ran back to the house.
Carlos leaned back against the tree, crushed. His throat tightened and he put his hand over his face to hide any tears that might show themselves. Slowly, his pain mixed with anger at both Yami and himself. If he hadn't waited so long... if Yami hadn't ever come...
He punched the tree with the side of his fist, his teeth clenched. With one look back at the house, he started home with his hands in his pockets.
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Kai ran to the front door and hurriedly pulled it open. She closed it behind her and leaned against it, her hand over her mouth.
Yami and the gang looked up, surprised.
"Are you all right?" Tea asked.
Kai snapped her head in their direction, her heart pounding. Without saying anything, she bolted to her room, shutting the door.
"Kai?" Tea asked, watching as her friend made a fast exit.
"What's with her?" Tristan asked.
"I wonder what's wrong," Bakura said, confused.
"She looked pretty upset," Tea said, standing. "Come on."
The gang went to her door and Tea knocked. "Kai, are you all right?" she asked. There was no answer. "Kai?"
Tea put her hand on the doorknob and turned it, swinging the door open. Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked inside. The room was empty. The breeze blowing in through the window made the curtains billow eerily.
"Where'd she go?" Joey asked.
"Joey, look," Bakura said, pointing to the window. "She must have climbed out."
"But why?" Tristan asked. "And where'd she go?"
"I know where she is," Yami said, leaving the room.
The gang followed as he went to the front door.
"Where?" Tea asked as he pulled it open.
He paused a minute. "I can't tell you. You just have to trust me," he said, looking at them.
"Huh? Why can't you tell us?" Joey asked.
"I promised her I wouldn't. Kai may need my help, so I have to go. I'll be back in a little while," he replied. He left, leaving the gang staring after him in confusion.
Yami started over to the woods by the side of the house, looking for the marks Kai said she had made on the trees. he found the first one shortly and followed it in. The trees were denser here than at Elaine's house and he had to untangle himself from thorns multiple times.
He reached the clearing about five minutes later and he saw that he had been right. Kai was sitting on the log, her back towards him, staring out over the water.
"Kai?" he asked gently, stepping forward.
She jumped and looked over her shoulder at hem briefly. She quickly snapped her head back around and wiped her face with her sleeve. "Yugi... what are you doing here?" she asked quietly.
If he had had any doubt in his mind that she had been crying, he was sure now. He climbed up onto the log and scooted over next to her.
"What's wrong?" he asked, noting the way she was deliberately staring ahead to avoid his eyes.
"Nothing," she said quickly, turning her head away from him.
"Kai, you're upset and I can see that," Yami said, looking at her. Remembering the note she had left for him and the gang, he asked, "Is it Carlos?"
Kai looked down at her hands and sniffed. "Yeah," she said softly.
"What happened?" Did you get in a fight?" he asked.
She shook her head. "No," she muttered.
"Then what is it? I won't tell anyone if that's what you're afraid of," he said.
"No, I know you won't," she said.
"Kai..." he said, touching her shoulder.
"He... kissed me," she said, looking at her hands and fiddling with them.
Yami stared at her in surprise. He hadn't expected /that/ to be the problem. He managed to find his voice after a moment and said, "I take it you don't have feelings back."
Kai looked up at him. "Yugi, he's my best friend! He's /been/ my best friend ever since I can remember! I can't /date/ him! I can't believe he wants to date /me/!" she said, looking back over the water. - No wonder he was asking me about Yugi, - she thought.
Yami stared at her, unsure of what to say. He had seen the fact that Carlos was attracted to her a long time ago, but he hadn't expected him to do something like this. He didn't strike Yami to be the type to do something of this sort just out of the blue. He had obviously had feelings for her long before Yami had met him, so why would he choose now to act on it? Unless... unless he felt threatened. Yami recalled how Carlos had acted towards him and suddenly understood. Carlos was nervous that Kai was attracted to Yami and was pressured into kissing her for fear of losing her.
Yami felt a slight bit of anger at Carlos. He had made Kai cry because he let his jealousy get the best of him. He had now endangered the friendship they had had for years.
"I don't know what to do now," Kai said, staring at her hands.
"I'll talk to him," Yami said and Kai snapped her head up to look at him.
"That's not a good idea," she said. Carlos knew how she felt about Yami and he would be less than thrilled to see him.
Yami was aware that his presence would be unwelcome, but he had made up his mind to do whatever he could to save their friendship. "It'll be fine," he said.
"Yugi..." she tried, but fell silent when Yami touched her shoulder reassuringly. "Thank you," she muttered, looking back at her hands.
Yami nodded, though she couldn't see him. "Are you all right now?" he asked gently.
She nodded and looked at him. "Yeah, I'm okay."
"Why don't we head back?" Yami asked.
"All right," she replied.
Yami helped her off the log and she smiled gratefully. He gave her a warm smile in return and she almost forgot about Carlos as their gaze locked. She had never noticed how stunning his violet eyes were until now. As he turned and started back through the forest, she couldn't help thinking that if it had been Yami instead of Carlos who had kissed her, she might not have pulled away.
She quickly shook herself out of it and followed Yami. She saw him following the marks on the trees and smiled internally. She wasn't exactly sure what about this made her smile, but she didn't mind.
They said nothing to each other as they made their way through the forest. Kai had to untangle him from several thorn vines and she couldn't help but find him cute when he got slightly frustrated with the plants.
"It might help if you used your eyes," Kai joked and he chuckled.
"How do you manage to get through her?" Yami asked, moving a vine out of his way with two fingers.
She giggled. "I just know where they all are, I guess," she said as they left the forest.
Yami walked her to the door, but didn't enter the house with her. "I'm going to talk to Carlos. I'll be back in a little while," he said and Kai stared at him.
"What, now? Are you mad?" she exclaimed. "Even /I/ don't..."
Yami interrupted her. "I'll be all right. I'll see you later."
He turned to go and Kai ran after him. "I'm coming too," she stated.
"Kai, you'll only make things worse. It's best if I do this alone," Yami said, looking at her.
She stared at him, trying to decide what to do. She was aware that her presence would make Carlos uncomfortable, but if Yami went alone, Carlos was libel to beat him up. When Carlos was jealous, it practically took over and he did things he wouldn't usually. If Kai was there, at least he wouldn't hurt Yami.
But, she just nodded. She figured Yami could take care of himself. "Just... be careful, all right? When Carlos gets like this... well..."
"I understand," Yami replied. He turned and headed down the lawn to the road, Kai on the front steps looking after him.
She sighed as she opened the door and entered the house.
"Oh, here she is," Tea was saying into the phone. She covered the mouthpiece and held the receiver out to Kai. "It's Elaine," she said.
Kai had a sinking feeling in her stomach as she took the phone. "Hello?" she said reluctantly.
"Kai, what did you do to Carlos?" Elaine asked. She sounded as if she was trying to keep her voice even.
"Elaine... I didn't..." Kai tried, but her friend cut her off.
"He looked like he had been crying, Kai! He was out with you all day! What did you /do/?" Elaine cried.
"I didn't do anything!" Kai exclaimed. "He's the one who kissed /me/!"
Everyone sitting in the room stared at Kai. There was even a silence on the other end of the phone for a moment.
"He... what?" Elaine choked out. "No way..."
"He did, all right? But I... I don't like him like that! He's my best friend, not my boyfriend!" Kai said, on the verge of tears again.
"I... I had no idea..." Elaine said softly. "I'm sorry, Kai, I shouldn't have yelled..."
"It's... it's all right. Yugi's on his way over to your place now. He said he was going to talk to Carlos," Kai explained.
Yeah... yeah, okay," Elaine said, slight concern in her voice. "I'm sorry... really I am..."
"It's fine. I have to go, all right?" Kai said, rubbing her forehead.
"Okay, bye," her friend said.
"Bye," Kai muttered, hanging up the phone. She'd have a bit of explaining to do with the gang and she wasn't looking forward to it.
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Yami arrived at the Trevino's a little while later. He breath deeply before knocking. Elaine opened the door a few seconds later.
"Hi. Kai said you'd be here," she said softly, letting him in. She looked sort of down; not her usual perky self at all.
"I take it you know," Yami said and she nodded.
"I had no idea he had a /crush/ on Kai. I just thought..." she stopped and sighed. "Carlos is in his room," she said, jabbing her thumb in the direction of the hall.
Yami nodded and started to Carlos' room, when Elaine touched his shoulder.
"Please, do your best to keep their friendship in tact. They've been best friends too long to split up now," she said when he turned.
He nodded, suddenly feeling rather pressured. He reminded himself that he /had/ offered to do this and he would keep to his promise. He would do his best to save their friendship, even though he wasn't sure yet how he'd do it. He hoped Carlos might be a little reasonable. He knocked on Carlos' door, prepared for whatever the Italian would throw at him.
"Elaine, just leave me alone!" Carlos said through the door.
"I'm not Elaine," Yami said.
Carlos didn't reply, but flung open his door. He glared at Yami and snarled, "What are /you/ doing here?"
"I have to talk to you about Kai. She told me what happened," Yami said, looking up slightly at Carlos.
Carlos' eyes blazed. - Now she's confiding in /him/? - "That's none of your business," he snarled.
"You had her in tears, Carlos. You've had feelings for her for a long time; anyone can see that..." Yami started.
"Why does it matter to you?" Carlos cried.
"Because if you don't do something this will be the end of your friendship!" Yami replied.
"Why do you care?" Carlos yelled. "That's our business, not yours!"
"Carlos, you have some crazy idea that there's something between me and Kai and I don't know where you got it from, but it's not true! You're going to lose the best friend you've had for years because of your foolish jealousy! Yami cried.
"Get out of my house," Carlos growled.
"You have to talk to her! She's willing to forget if..."
"Get out!" Carlos interrupted.
"If you don't do it for you, do it for Kai! You were the one that was there for her in her time of need! She doesn't want to go out with you because you're her best friend! She thinks of you as her brother! She needs your friendship!" Yami exclaimed.
"How would you know?" Carlos cried.
"She told me!"
- She barely knows him and she's confiding everything in him! - "Just go," Carlos said, his voice a low hiss. "I will take care of Kai's and my relationship on my own terms."
"I hope, for your sake, that your terms don't take too long," Yami said before turning back down the hall. As he passed Elaine, he said, "See to it that he calls her soon."
Elaine nodded and watched as he left, starting back down the street.
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When he got back to Kai's house, the sun was beginning to set, casting a soft red glow over the sky. He opened the door and headed into the living room to meet the gang.
Kai immediately stood up as she heard the door shut. When Yami came into view, she breathed slightly in relief that he was still in one piece. "What happened?" she asked as he came over.
"I did the best I could. I strongly suggested he call you and I asked Elaine to make sure he does," he replied. "I hope everything turns out all right."
Kai nodded and sank back onto the couch, Yami beside her. "Me too," she said.
Yami put his arm around her and pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder, letting silent tears fall.
The prospect of losing Carlos' friendship after so many years tore her apart. She couldn't see how they could still be friends if he had feeling for her. Every time she got a boyfriend, he'd be jealous. Why did this happen to her? Didn't she have enough going on already? Why did Carlos' friendship have to be added to it?
Now she understood why he had been acting so weird. He was jealous of Yami. If she wound up going out with him, how would Carlos take it? he was already jealous of him. Why was her life suddenly so complicated?
She pulled away from Yami and dried her face. She found herself looking into his deep violet eyes and had to smile slightly. His eyes had such a comforting sense about them, especially when added with his warm smile.
Before it could be considered staring, she looked away from him. "Maybe I should call him," she said, reaching for the phone.
Yami grabbed her shoulder and she stopped, turning back to him. "No," he said. "Let him call you. Let him get over his embarrassment."
Kai nodded, leaning back against the couch. Why were things suddenly so complicated?
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a/n: I have nothing to say except REVIEW!! And if some of you don't like Carlos, I know why. He does get kind of jealous, but I personally feel sorry for him. Anyways...