Disclaimer: this is purely for entertainment. Digimon isn't mine… yadda yadda…

A/N: this chapter contains some lemon/lime-ish content. If that sort of stuff makes you uncomfortable, I suggest you leave. However, it's nothing TOO explicit… if my mother ever decided to snoop through my files (which she has done before) damn, all HELL would break loose. With that explained, read on!

I could never have asked for more, could never have been happier. Yama and I, well, we were a couple and had mutually decided that we wouldn't share our status to anyone at the present moment. He wasn't ready to tell his following that he was gay and I wasn't ready for what I assumed would happen: that his fans, outraged that I had "stolen" Yama from them, would come after me. We didn't do anything, hadn't gone past kissing and hugging, Yama wasn't ready for the intimacy of sex and, to be quite honest, neither was I. It was just like old times, just like back when we were younger, except that we kissed. And we were happy with that. Of course, sometimes it got a bit frustrating but it was nothing too bad.

I was sitting at my desk, writing a term paper and Yama was lying on his stomach on my bed, studying for an upcoming final exam. One leg lay limp on the comforter but the other was held in the air, moving aimlessly. His hair flopped into his face and every so often he would shake his head to get it out of his eyes but it always fell back. He was resting on his elbows, one hand tucked under his chest and the other touching the book and turning the pages when needed. I was doing more Yama-watching than I was my homework and all I could think about was how cute he looked when he was concentrating. His nose would scrunch up and his eyebrows would contract and he would bite his bottom lip in a way that made him look as if he was faintly puzzled.

"Tai, honey? We're leaving now! You be good okay? And make sure you and Yamato get all your homework finished!" My mother called, knocking on the door. I jumped and so did Yama. I opened the door.

"Where you going, mom?" I asked and she rolled her eyes.

"Kari and I are attending that mother-daughter conference, remember? I've been reminding you all week." She sounded exasperated but ruffled my hair affectionately.

"Ah, mom, gerroff." I ducked under her reach.

"There's food in the fridge but I left some money on the counter if you want to order in or go out or whatever. Just make sure it lasts the week." Her eyes got all soft and she hugged me. "I'm going to miss you two. But behave, all right?" she blew a kiss to Yama and then bustled out the door with Kari. We watched them leave. Once they were gone, Yama turned to me.

"I don't wanna study anymore. Let's go out." and he grabbed the money and my wrist and dragged me out the door before I could even answer. We ended up watching a completely horrendous movie and after, grabbed a quick bite to eat at a local diner. At home, we sat on the couch and somehow, ended up making out. I pushed him and he lay on his back with me on top and I was lost in the taste of his mouth. It never ceased to amaze me how incredible he tasted. Like chocolate and mint and strawberries. We broke apart but only because we had completely run out of air and I looked into his eyes and he stared back. I leaned over as he was sitting up and we traversed to my room. Still kissing, I fumbled with the door and managed to lock it and we tumbled onto the bed. I pressed Yama against the wall and kissed him without abandon. One of my hands was on his other side, supporting me and the other was tangled in his hair. His hands were alternately roaming down my back, clutching at my hair, running up and down my chest and it was sweet and torturous at once.

I pushed him on his back and he went willingly, so I was lying on top of him. His hands tugged my shirt upwards and I lifted my arms so it slid right off. He pulled off his own shirt and I ran a trail of feathery kisses down his jaw and along his neck, working my way to his collarbone. All he had to do was moan. All he had to do was arch his neck toward me and sigh and I very nearly lost it right there. My hands went to his waist and my fingers fumbled with his belt, the zipper, slid my pants down until he was only wearing boxers. I ran my hand over him, he was tense and hard and suddenly, I couldn't wait anymore; I had to feel him.

So I slid off his boxers and he froze, his cerulean eyes stared up into mine and I could see lust and fear battling within him.

"Yama? Yama, I'll stop now. Just tell me and I swear I'll stop." But in my mind I was praying with all my heart that he wouldn't stop me. He placed a finger to my lips and smiled hesitantly and he looked so beautiful, so angelic. I loved him so much it felt like I would burst apart, as if even the universe wouldn't be able to hold all the love I felt for him at that moment or at any time. And our eyes met, sky and chocolate meeting and melting together until they could no longer be told apart and he pulled me towards him as we were lost in the beauty of each other's love.

"I love you, Tai." I whispered the next morning when I awoke to his beautiful face, his sweetly smiling eyes looking directly at me. He bit his bottom lip, smiling, looking almost embarrassed. We were lying close to each other in the bed and the morning sunlight was bursting through the curtains. "I love you."

"I love you too." He murmured and kissed my forehead. I stretched, still a little sore from what happened last night but he had been surprisingly gentle. "You okay? I didn't- hurt you last night, did I?" he was watching me worriedly.

"No. No, you didn't. Not at all." I pulled him up and kissed him soundly on the lips.

"You are perfect, you know that?" he said, running his hands through my hair. "You are perfect and you are mine. All mine." I couldn't help it, I blushed. I was so used to hearing that I was a failure, that I was ugly and miserable and despicable that my first instinct when being complimented was to not believe it. But with Tai, I felt it. With Tai, it was so natural, so loving and I felt perfect and beautiful with him. It was as if love and tenderness were oozing out of every pore on his body and whenever we were near, or even when we were far apart, that love was being transferred to me. I loved him with everything that I had and much more. Words fail to describe all the emotions that swirled in my brain and in my heart whenever his eyes captured mine. He affected me in such a way that no one else could. I had never received so much care, had never given so much love to anyone before. This was something entirely new and entirely different and I was enjoying every waking, and sleeping, moment that passed.

I rolled off the bed, pulling him down with me and we fell to the ground in a heap of once-sweaty limbs, heaving chests shaking with mirth and tangled bedsheets. He looked down into my eyes, chocolate brown mixing with a cerulean blue, swirling together until one could not be told apart from the other. We stopped giggling, our heartbeats stilled and all I could think about was his breath hitting my lips, spreading to my cheeks. My lover—how I relished calling him that-- got closer, lips slightly opened and I closed my eyes and tilted my head to receive his gesture of affection. I could sense him getting closer, his bare chest pressing against mine, could almost taste his breath on my mouth—and then the phone rang. Startled, we jerked apart and both of us cast a glare around the room at the offender.

"Damn, fucking, stupid phone," Tai muttered under his breath. If looks could kill, the phone would have been blasted apart the second he laid eyes on it. I punched him on the arm and not trusting him to pick it up, I answered for him.

"Hello?" I asked, none too politely myself.

"Ishida, you bloody idiot! Have you forgotten that today's our big day?" Ryu's voice assaulted my ear (1). "You do realize that you've skived off practices for over a month? And tonight, in exactly eleven hours, we have a concert to attend? A concert where we are not the audience but the performers? Huh? Where the fuck have you been?" he demanded and I opened my mouth to give him my reasons but he continued on, "Anyways, we're going to be practicing at our usual spot so be there or else." He growled and then the phone clicked; he'd hung up.

"Who was that?" Tai stood, letting the dirty sheets stay on the floor. "Takeru? Or mom?"

"No. It was Marco." I mumbled, running a hand through my hair.

"From your band?" I nodded glumly. No matter how happy I was at the moment, I was in no mood to be in front of thousands of screaming fans singing for them while they worshipped me. "Well? What'd he say?"

"We have a concert tonight. I totally forgot, Tai, and I haven't been practicing lately. Not with what happened." My voice was tinged with the panic that was wreaking havoc on my brain. "I forgot. How could I forget?"

"Hey, calm down." He moved behind me and kissed my shoulders. "You're a natural at this and no matter how long you go without practicing you know as well as I do that as soon as you pick up that guitar of yours, you're gonna sound as if you haven't skipped a day. Just be calm about it." He knocked me upside the head. "Besides, even if you blow, you'll still have me. Of course, I wouldn't want to be seen with you in public, since you'd completely screwed up and made yourself the laughingstock of Odaiba…" his voice trailed off and he looked thoughtfully at me. "Then again, I guess we could always dress you up as a girl. No one would ever recognize you in that getup. You could borrow one of Kari's dresses." I used one of his pillows to smack him square on the face. He was impossible sometimes, doing everything in his power to irritate me and he did it so well and even though he was aggravating, there was nothing in the world that could tear me from his side.

"Shut up, you wanker." I laughed at his mock-furious expression. "You KNOW I won't make a fool of myself just as soon as all my adoring female fans will stop chasing after me, trying to rip off all the clothing I wear."

"There it is!" he shouted triumphantly. "There's the ol' Yamato pride that we've come to know and love. Just be your proud, calm self, Ishida, and the thing's in the bag." He clapped me on my back.

"Whatever. I have to get to the garage. Marco's about to rip off my head as it is so I can't afford to be late." I playfully shook him off and took a hot shower. Once I was finished, I found something that I figured was suitable for practice. There would be more clothes backstage at the stadium. I picked up my "pride-and-joy" from it's new home, a corner in Tai's closet and prepared to leave. Meanwhile, he had also taken a shower in his mother's room and came out, billowy hair still a little damp, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.

"Can I come with?" he asked, leaning nonchalantly on the wall but I could hear the eagerness in his voice.

"I dunno if the rest of the band'll really appreciate that," Tai's face fell, "but how 'bout I get you some front row seats? Maybe even a backstage pass? You don't think I'm going to leave you out of it, do you?" I leaned in and winked in a way that I hoped was sexy; the grin on his face told me what I wanted to know.

"No," Tai shook his head, "I just wanted to-" but he never got the rest of his sentence out for I had just planted a firm kiss on his lips and we spent the next ten minutes with our mouths full so there was really no talking and after that, I rushed out, waving to Tai and shouting,

"See you!" He closed the door behind me and I was off.

Minutes later, I skidded into our practice hall. Everyone was there and when I ran in, everyone stopped talking. I could tell that they were angry with me and I felt bad for having ditched them but circumstances had proved that impossible.

"Sorry guys." I said nervously, taking my guitar from its case. Tomirou snorted.

"Where the bloody hell have you been, Ishida?" he snarled, ready to punch my lights out. I stared him down.

"Look, I said I was sorry. Things have been a little—wild lately and I haven't been myself. It just hasn't been too good for me lately but I'm really, really sorry." My bandmates calmed down. "Now, what say we get me caught up with whatever you've been working on, eh?" and our practice session commenced.

(1): i don't know the names of Yamato's band mates so i used the names that keiji used in her fanfic "the real thing." so if she made up those names herself or whatever, the credit goes to her.

A/N: Whew. Nothing too explicit… one of my longer chapters, eh? This was, I think, the hardest chapter to write. Writer's block and a lack of inspiration… not to mention, my muse went on vacation. Little bastard. Anyways, the story is coming to a close… I dunno exactly how many more chapters I'm going to write but this is very near the end. I hope I've tied up any loose ends by this point but if I haven't, just let me know. Until next time…