Yay! I'm finally back with chapter 8! I'm so sorry for the delay! My dad wouldn't let me use the computer for two days because I talked back to him, (Yeah, I know, silly me!) and besides that tennis was CrAzY! (I lost today...:(...) Oh well...Anyway, I decided not to do my homework and update instead! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 8: No Use Hiding It

"Okay, Bickson's all yours."

"What? You went through all that trouble to get me back and now you just want Bickson to have me again?"

"Yeah."

"Whatever. I only went out with Bickson because you weren't giving me what I needed."

"Oh, to hell with that. You figured you'd be more popular if you dated both Bickson and me. You lying sack of–."

"Like it matters!" the brunette girl interrupted, fluffing her hair back behind her shoulder, "Bickson said he already had his eyes on a different girl. You didn't even have to go punch him or anything, he would have gladly handed me over to you." The girl laughed, "He said he wanted that girl you came with."

"What?" Tidus seemed taken aback, "You don't mean Yuna, do you?"

"I don't know," the brunette girl said, walking away from Tidus, "But anyway, it was nice of you to come and get me."

"Whatever," Tidus just mumbled, walking away from her. He'd only dated her once, and then she'd gone out with Bickson, and then Tidus had to steal her back, you know, for his image, and than he just kissed her for a little while, and then dumped her, and now, it was time to go find Yuna before Bickson got his slimy hands on her.

"Hey Yuna!" Tidus yelled, as he entered the dance floor area, only to notice that Yuna was no where to be found.

"Damn!" he cursed to himself, "I told her to stay right here. Now how am I going to find her?"

He went around, asking people dancing if they'd seen either Yuna or Bickson, and was beginning to grow somewhat worried. What if Bickson had already found Yuna?

"Great," Tidus thought to himself, "Yuna's so naive, and innocent...Now what? If Bickson's got her...Who know's what he'll do to her!"

"Hey, you seen Bickson?" Tidus finally asked a member of Bickson's team, someone who usually just warmed the bench.

"Oh yeah, he went that way," the man said, pointing toward the left hallways.

"Did he have a girl with him?" Tidus asked, almost desperately, not knowing what he wanted the answer to be.

"Oh yeah, he did," the man said, and before he could say anything else, Tidus sprinted off in the direction of where the man had pointed, hoping that Bickson hadn't done anything to Yuna.

He ran down the hallways, figuring he must look like a panicked mess, but that was how he felt. His mind was running around also, thoughts flying here and there, and he didn't even know what he expected Bickson would do to Yuna. Still, he didn't want to have to find out. He finally came across a closed door, and not caring what he found inside, entered.

"Tidus!" he was greeted, as he noticed Yuna was standing there, in the corner, looking quite frightened. Bickson turned was standing near Yuna, and turned around to see who had entered, only to be greeted by Tidus' fist, which properly hit him in the other eye.

The red-haired Blitzball player fell backwards, landing on Yuna, who let out a little yelp, and then jumped over his body and ran over to Tidus, tears streaming down his face.

"Did he hurt you?" Tidus asked, as he noticed Yuna seemed somewhat unsure of herself, as if she didn't know if she wanted to be near Tidus either.

"No," Yuna said softly, tears flowing down her cheeks, "But he tried."

"That damn flit," Tidus said, without thinking. He'd forgotten that Yuna's cousin was a flit. Deciding to just forget he'd said it, Tidus walked up to Bickson, who was sitting there cowering, and lifted him up by his hair, and then kicked him.

"Look, any other girl I would've let you have, but not Yuna! She's different," Tidus said, and then slammed Bickson back up against the wall.

"Come on Yuna," he said then, to the girl who just stood there, shaking, "Let's go."

Yuna just stood there, as if not able to make her mind up of something, but then she followed Tidus, although not to closely.

The two walked through the halls in silence, and finally, Tidus broke it just as they went outside.

"I'm sorry about all this," Tidus said, looking at the poor shivering girl, "I shouldn't have asked you to come along. I just thought...You know, after I took care of some things, that we could have some fun."

"You did," Yuna said in a small little voice, and she refused to look at Tidus in the face.

"What do you mean?" Tidus asked, confused. He hadn't had a single bit of fun.

"I saw you. You and your girlfriend," Yuna said, in an even smaller voice than before.

"Her? Oh, she wasn't my girlfriend," Tidus said, wondering when Yuna had seen him, "She used to be a girl I saw every now and then. I don't even know her name or anything. I just went here to 'steal' her back from Bickson, just to be like...Macho, or something. It's like, kind of a code of honor. Bickson stole my girl, so I stole her back. 'Cept for the fact that I didn't want her anymore."

Yuna didn't say anything, but silently climbed into Tidus' car, just wanting to go home.

"So, uh, I stole her back, made a little show out of it, and then went back to find you. Except you weren't there. You sure you're okay?"

Yuna just stared out the window, not answering.

"Can you just take me home?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"I guess we could," Tidus said slowly, "But you know, I kind of had something I wanted to tell you. I thought maybe we could go to this neat little park by the river..."

"So, you want to go there now?" Yuna asked, looking out the window again. It was dark, and late, now about midnight. She was usually in bed long ago, especially on a school night.

"Only if you don't mind," Tidus said, "It'll only take a moment. Besides that, it's such a nice night." He sounded dreamy, and looking out the window, Yuna could see what he meant. They were by now far from downtown, and the night was filled with stars and a full moon to brighten the night. A nice late summer breeze was blowing through Bevelle, and Yuna let out a sigh.

"Could we?" Yuna then asked, almost hopefully. He was right; it was beautiful out.

He nodded, and the two rode along in silence, until Tidus said, "Yuna...Um, I'm really sorry about what happened tonight. You...Uh...Do forgive me, right?"

Yuna was slow to answer, but she finally said, "Yes, I forgive you. As long as I never have to see that Bickson guy again as long as I live."

"Are you sure he didn't hurt you?" Tidus asked again.

"No, he didn't hurt me," Yuna said, "He tried to...Uh...Touch me, but I backed away into that corner, and was feeling, well, cornered, when you came in."

"I'm so sorry," Tidus just said, "You should have seen me, I was running around in panicked little circles. I don't know how my head functioned to find you."

Yuna let out a little giggle. She could just imagine him running around, all flustered and worried.

"How come you worried about me?" Yuna asked then.

"Because, I knew Bickson," Tidus said, shrugging, "Besides, we're friends, right?"

"Right," Yuna said, and the two gave each other little smiles.

The two drove along in silence again, and this time Tidus didn't even have any music playing. Yuna's eyes were feeling heavy, but at the same time, the night seemed so young to her.

"What do you want to tell me?" Yuna asked, interrupting the silence that had settled on the two.

"Uh..." Tidus seemed somewhat startled at the question, and he just said, "I'll tell you when we get there."

"Why there?" Yuna asked, hoping she didn't sound childish, although she figured it wouldn't matter, being that Tidus had a tendency to act childish every now and then.

"I don't know," Tidus said, shrugging, "'I like it there. I go there to think a lot. It's like this little park, right by the river..."

"How do you know of all these little spots?" Yuna asked him.

Tidus shrugged. "I've been around, I guess."

"And your father doesn't watch your every single step," Yuna said softly.

"At least your father cares where you are, and doesn't tell you to get lost," Tidus said, making Yuna feel somewhat bad again for complaining about her father.

"Here we are," Tidus said, after some more moments of silence passed. He drove into a little area, and then parked, and the two climbed out. It was chilly, so Tidus lent Yuna his jacket, saying he wasn't cold anyways.

The two walked in silence alongside the river, which reflected the moon and the stars so beautifully. Yuna could definitely tell why Tidus liked the place the way he did. She wanted to ask him some more questions concerning what it was he wanted to talk to her about, but he seemed so deep in thought, that she was afraid to pester him.

The two came across a bench, and Tidus sat down, and Yuna sat down also, feeling herself mesmerized by the beauty of the sky's reflection in the dark, murky river. The leaves on the trees were still full and green, obviously not feeling fall's affect yet, unlike some trees near Yuna's home. She could feel herself drift elsewhere, and knew that she could definitely see herself coming to a place like this to think.

"So," she asked finally, "What was it you wanted to tell me?"

Again, Tidus seemed startled at the question, and he began to blush slightly.

"Uh...You know how I said, 'let's be friends'?" Tidus began, leaning his arms on his knees and staring into the river, "Well, I meant...Something else, kind of. I don't know what came over me that night at the after-party. You know, when we...Er...Kissed. But...I...Liked it," Tidus finally belted out, and then sighed, before continuing, "But then I told myself I couldn't be around you, because...I just couldn't, and then...Er...I...Just...I had to see you again. So, I decided to play it cool, and just ask you to be...I don't know, friends, I guess. But...It was all just an excuse."

"An excuse for what?" Yuna asked, feeling clueless.

"An excuse...Because...I really liked you," Tidus said slowly, not daring to look at Yuna.

"Really? Like...Liked me...As..." Yuna couldn't seem to belt out what she wanted to say either.

"Love's something that's...Scary," Tidus said, "I mean, I've...Been with a lot of girls...But I've never felt the way I feel about...You..."

He loved her? For what had to be the hundredth time, Yuna's heart sped. Did she love him too? Of course she did...No, of course she didn't. She wouldn't fall for his charm. He had just been making out with some girl earlier! Then again, he had saved her from Bickson, and her heart did speed every time he was around her...

Of course she loved him! There was no doubt about it. But she barely knew him, and had only met him a few days ago. Was there such thing as love at first sight? No...She hadn't even loved him at first sight...Actually...

Finally, the confused girl just looked away from him, not knowing what to say. What could she say? She loved him, there was no doubt about it. And he obviously loved her. Were they both that timid about the matter?

After being locked in thought, the both of them, for what seemed like hours, they finally turned and faced each other, and, at the exact same time, blurted out three words that would change the course of their lives.

"I LOVE YOU!"

As if they had both gotten the heaviest thing off of their chests, the two began to giggle, obviously entertained that they had said the same thing at the exact same time.

Then the two just blushed feverishly, not daring to look at one another, as if they had never met in their lives.

Tidus was the first to interrupt the silence that had followed, as he said, "Okay then, uh, we're no longer friends, but...Better than friends."

"Okay," Yuna agreed it, blushing again. Why was it that she was constantly blushing whenever he was around?

"Oh, and by the way," Tidus said, wrapping his arms around her slender waist, "I didn't say it before, but you look beautiful."

Yuna could only blush again as his lips met hers, and for the third time, the two kissed, although this time, it seemed to be so much more.

Tidus was so aggressive with his tongue that it surprised Yuna, but only forced her to be aggressive in return, which then surprised Tidus. The two kissed, right there on the bench, for quite some time, forgetting that time even existed. The two were simply infatuated with each other.

The two broke for breath, but only for a little while, and then dove back at each other, their lips barely having time to meet before their tongues both tried to gain access to the other's mouth before the other one could.

After some time the two stopped, and, rather out of breath, simply stared at each other, doing their best to catch their breaths.

"I'm pretty intense, huh?" Tidus asked, after a while, with a silly smirk on his face.

"Whatever," Yuna said with an eyeroll, "I think it's me that the intense one."

"Oh, sure," Tidus said, "Although for someone like you, you're not too bad."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yuna asked teasingly, as Tidus' smirk just grew larger.

"How experienced are you?" Tidus asked.

"With kissing?" Yuna asked lamely.

"Yeah, with kissing," Tidus answered.

"I don't know," Yuna said with a shrug, "My old boyfriend and me used to kiss every now and then, but not nearly that...Uh...Much..."

"Are you a virgin then?" Tidus asked, causing Yuna to give a little jump.

Yuna could only nod at his question, blushing as she thought of the fact that it had only been about a year ago since she had even found out what a virgin was. She thought the question Tidus had just asked her was rather personal, but she wondered to herself if Tidus was one.

"Probably not," she decided.

"Anyway," Tidus said, looking at his watch, "It's kind of late, like one in the morning. And you have school tomorrow, and I have practice. Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Yuna replied with a smile, and, as if nothing had happened, followed him back to his car. It was late, and she was extremely tired, but at the same time, she didn't know if she was ready for the night to end. Sighing, she dreamily entered the car, looking out the window, she supposed with that same, dreary expression on her face. Things had happened so fast. Maybe too fast. She smiled however, deciding that no matter how life went, she was going to make the best out of it.