Alirght, I know that usually, I don't have a note at the beginning…or at least I didn't last chapter…well I just have to proclaim that this chapter is lacking some much need fluff….it's really depressing, so I'm going to have to satisfy my craving in this chapter….and not really get to the point, although I might…I haven't decided yet. So there, know you can be not confused…yes…unfortunately, when I say fluff…I mean very minor action…sorry, still working on the lemon…actually, the fluff isn't really even worth mentioning…you see, Tai and Tobias have a very strange relationship…which I have every intention of exploiting…later.

It just occurred to me…being as smart as I am, that everytime I refer to Tai as "the younger one"…or something along those lines….well, he's actually older than Tobias…sorry about that, but I'm going to keep doing it anyways to avoid confusion.

Chapter Eight

Dear Diary,

I've only been in this god dammed house for two days, and already lost my stuff, my rooms, and all my friends but one…or two; I'm still confused about Reid…

I guess Dan and Greg didn't realize how much more miserable my life would have been if I had to live them, or they might not have told Ms. Hift I was changing rooms. Thank god for dense assholes…

Good thing I hid this diary, or I would be starting over from scratch (again). But I'd better get out of this room before D and G get back from wherever the hell they are and see me here. I'll head upstairs in a moment probably.

I don't really know what to do, now that I'm going to be living with Tobias…he's really, I don't know…crazy? Intimidating? Well, it's something else too, but I can't figure it out. It'll be cool living with him; we have the whole enormous room to ourselves. (On second thought…should I be worried?)

Oh crap, I hear footsteps, I'd better get the hell out of here…wait, it's ok, it's only—

"What are you doing?" Alin was peering in from just outside the door.

"Just…nothing…"

"Why are you still here?"

"What?"

"Get out of here! When they get back…" His voice rose high and shrill, and he looked around nervously. "I'm serious, you'd better get the hell out of here."

Hurt that Alin was being so abrupt, Tai rose quickly and walked over to the door. "It's okay, I was just leaving." He could feel Alin's big blue eyes following his back down the hallway all the way into the stairway, and he heard a sigh of relief as he started climbing.

A few moments later, as he stood outside of Tobias's door, he wondered what he was going to say to him. Would he understand? Probably…

The door swung open before he could knock, and a worried looking Tobias looked out.

"There you are! I thought maybe they had—" He broke off his sentence when he saw Tai looking at him with an endearing expression. "What?"

"Nothing…"

"What?"

"…You were worried about me…" A secretive smile slipped up to Tai's face. Tobias grinned widely. "Not really, I just wanted to make sure…"

"No, don't make excuses, you know you worried!"

"Uh…uhuh, don't think so…"

"Yes you we—" His words were abruptly cut off as Tobias captured his lips, the older boy nibbled at his lower lip until he allowed him entrance to his mouth. Tai melted into the Tobias's body, clinging tightly to his shoulders, and trying get as close as possible to him. His hands crept up to run through the blond boy's hair, playing with the curls at the nape of his neck. Tobias eagerly explored the willing boy's mouth, taking his time, and then abruptly ending the kiss as quickly as it had started.

Tai stood there looking lost for a moment, looking as though he might grab Tobias back towards him. But he didn't. Instead, he cautiously touched a finger to his lips, and then dashed inside the room through the still open door. Tobias came in behind and shut it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Eiri stepped out of his five-star hotel and into the streets of New York. He took a long, deep breath, inhaling all the scents of his childhood. His nose wrinkled in disgust. It still smelled disgusting.

Somehow he hadn't managed the plane ride without having a complete breakdown, but there was a part of the trip when they hit some turbulence, and he freaked out. All he could think of was the sounds of everyone in the plane rattling as they were bounced around, and the horrible silence when the engines had quit. A shiver ran up his spine involuntarily, and he had to look around to reassure himself that he was safely on the ground.

The writer was headed over to the mall to begin his autograph signing sessions, followed by a conference after he had toured the areas of New York. At the moment, he was headed to a fairly big, multi-leveled mall around Manhattan. A cigarette hanging from his fingers readied him for the perilous task ahead, just thinking about it made him sigh.

As he had nothing else to do, Eiri immerged himself in his thoughts, and eventually was drawn back to one of his favourite memories of Shuichi.

Flashback

"Oh Yuki, I'm so happy! Thank you for bringing me out here; I'm having so much fun!" Shuichi paused his victory dance to beam up at his boyfriend. And they were a couple; Eiri had gruffly announced it about a week ago, and Shuichi had convinced him to take them out here, to the beach for a day.

"I love you Yuki!"

"…You too baka." Sand flew in the air as Shuichi spun around in the sand with his arms flung out, his head staring up at the sky.

"Yuki loves me." He laughed giddily, then turned and screamed at the sky. "Yuki loooooooves me!"

Eiri watched his boyfriend dance around, and couldn't help from smiling. A crazy feeling welled up inside of him, and he started spinning beside Shuichi, with his arms flung out too, grinning at the sky.

End Flashback

Eiri was jarred out of his thoughts by a loud, obnoxious horn beeping practically in his face. His foot, which was currently stepping off the crosswalk, onto the busy street was hastily retracted. His happy thoughts quickly evaporated and he looked around. Where was he? Had he gone past the mall without noticing? Looking back behind him, he saw the mall a few blocks back…great.

By the time he had made it back, his legs were sore, his head hurt from all the exhaust, and he was seriously sure that he was in great need of a shower. Everything seemed to make a loud noise, the door banging behind him as he stepped into the building, and everything was way too bright, with the fluorescent mall lights gleaming in his eyes.

Eiri wandered around aimlessly as he searched for the book store where he was meeting the manager who was organizing the book signing in this mall. Although he had been offered a guide, the writer, feeling that since he lived in New York for a while, even though he had never been in this particular mall, would be able to find his way.

Which turned out to be a big mistake. Eiri now faced six floors of over-excited teenage girls in skimpy summer outfits getting ready for going back to school. It was going to be a long day.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I'm bored."

"What, am I not interesting enough for you?" Up until now, the two boys had been lying side by side on the bed, staring at the ceiling while they sorted through their thoughts. Not many words had been passed between them, but it was not so much awkward as peaceful. Now, Tobias propped himself up on his elbow and looked over at the younger boy. With his hair spread around his face, Tai looked like a beautiful angel.

Tobias couldn't resist leaning over and placing his face right beside his angel's.

"You still owe me a kiss you know…if you're bored…" His husky voice ran shivers down Tai's arm, especially being so close to his face, but as much as he wanted to take the older boy up on his offer, he didn't think it would be such a great idea at the moment.

"Maybe later?" He tried to smooth over the words with a smile, but Tobias was obviously hurt. "Um…I'll owe you…two kisses then." The blond immediately grinned happily.

"Deal." He got up and jumped off the bed. "You wanna go out somewhere then?"

"Um…where can we go?"

"There's a big mall downtown, we can take a bus out and do some shopping…I know you need new stuff."

"Sounds good, but I have no money…"

"Oh, you do…parents always leave us money in wills, you just have to ask Ms. Hift for your monthly allowance."

About half an hour later, the two came out of Ms. Hift's office with their money, eager to leave for the day. She had seemed quite eager to get rid of them…

Tobias eagerly explained the bus, metro, and all around transportation system in New York, and Tai, who would have normally found this extremely boring, found himself hanging on to every word the other said. He loved the way the blond's eyes lit up when he was excited about something, how his graceful hands waved through the air, and little half grin on his face.

In no time at all, they had arrived at the mall. Tai looked up at the huge, six level building in awe. He clapped his hands together excitedly in a fit of delight.

"Weeeee!" The older boy grinned at his friend's happiness.

"Wow, you need to get out more often!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Eiri rested his heads in his hands for a moment, trying to catch a wink of sleep before someone else came by. He had finally found the store, after wandering around for a couple hours (eventually he just asked some simpering teens) but now regretted ever wanting to get there. The manager of the store had tried to yell at him when he got there an hour late, but Eiri took one look at the overexcited beet red man, turned around, and walked out of the store. It wasn't until he had been offered free coffee all day that he had come back.

So far, the only people that actually wanted his book signed were three uber-fans of his, who used to live in Japan or something, and the rest had been…you guessed it! Hyperactive teen age girls wandering the mall, who decided to flirt with the sexy blond man sitting at the book signing table. God he had the hugest migraine!

The frustrated writer got up from his chair and walked out of the store before the manager could say anything. He desperately needed a smoke…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tai ran through the mall at top speed, glancing over his shoulder at Tobias who was closely pursuing him. Giggles spilled out of his mouth as he tried to catch his breath while still running.

"Tai! Tai, wait, where are you going?" He looked back to see Tobias causally leaning against a table, with his hands in his pockets. There was no sign that he had even been exerting himself. He in turn admired Tai. A bright flush covered his cheeks, and his hair was going wild all over his head. His roots growing in gave him an extra crazed look.

"You passed the food court…I guess that means I win…"

"What? No way, I was way ahead of you!"

"Yeah, but I got to the designated spot first of all…"

"What? What kind of logic is that? Well, you know what—"

"I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back…" He then left poor Tai -who wasn't looking at Tobias, and therefore missed what he said - arguing with the empty space beside him.

"—and it's obvious that I'm right!" Tai turned around to see what he hoped would be a thoroughly beaten Tobias, but instead he saw the last two people that he wanted to see in the world.

"Hey there pretty boy, where's your boyfriend?" Tai's head spun. Where HAD Tobias gone? And when did these guys take his place? He decided not to say anything.

"This is boring, let's do something with our friend, Dan…?"

"Sounds like fun…but what could we do?" Even though he knew that they were having fun taunting him, Tai couldn't help trying to run away. No such luck, they had a tight grasp on his arm now.

"Well, he already LOOKS like a girl…let's dress him like one!"

"Wait! No, please let me go…Tobias! Ahh!" A hand clamped hard over his mouth, and they carried him off towards the clothing section of the mall.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The enticing smell of muffins drifted under Eiri's nose, making him remember that he hadn't eaten all day. He changed his direction, and headed down the flight of stairs to the foodcourt. He was just about at the third floor when—

"Hey there…" A scanitly clad female approached him, swaying her hips and trying to bat her eyelashes sexily. Unfortunately, they were fake, and one fell off and hung down from her cheek. She looked like she had a spider in her eye. Eiri choked back laughter.

"Do you know where I could find a store that sells…" Here, the girl paused and leaned over towards Eiri, showing her cleavage and stroking his arm, "Well…the bikini store?"

For a moment, Eiri considered giving her wild instructions, and sending her on a search around the mall, but he wasn't that mean…was he?

"I'm looking for a reaaaally small one…" Ok, he definitely was.

"Actually I do…" Eiri flipped down his sunglasses and gave her a smile over his nose. "Go down to the bottom floor, and follow the blue hallway until you get to the door closest to the parking lot. The store is right around there somewhere…" It was actually about three floors up, right near the store that he was stuck in for the day. "When you find one, how about you come show me, so I know you got there ok?"

The girl looked as though she couldn't believe her luck. "Uh…ok! Where's your place?"

"Right across from this mall. Go up to the seventh floor, it's room ten, ask for…Georges Leguim."

"Oh, I just knew you were French, I could tell by your accent!"

Eiri highly doubted that, but whatever this chick wanted to believe…

"Ok, well I hope to see you soon!" The writer flashed the girl one of his…more charming smiles, and continued to walk down the stairs.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hey get back here sexy!"

"Leave me alone! Help! Help!" The people who Tai ran by in the mall were unsure whether it was a game or not, and consequently did not make any move to stop the two boys chasing behind him.

The unfortunate boy in question, who looking more like a girl than usual, as he was running through the building with a pink dress, his hair tied back in a ponytail, and a small amount of badly applied makeup that was running all over his face.

"Come back here sweetie! We're not done with you yet!" Dan and Greg made taunting comments such as these all down the hallways.

"Go AWAY!"

Tai ran out around a corner, looking back to see how close behind his pursuers were. Sadly, they were about two feet away, close enough for Dan to reach out, and swing him into the condiments table as they ran by the food court.

"Ow!"

"Well, you shouldn't have tried to run away if you didn't want to get hurt…now you need to be punished…open up!" He picked up a bottle of vinegar.

Tai's eyes widened, and he clamped his mouth shut as hard as possible. Unfortunately, it wasn't his mouth that Dan was aiming for.

"Ahhhh!" His scream echoed off the walls. "My eyes! Shit!"

He could hear the bullies running away from him quickly, but he was really more focused on the intense pain in his eyes. Sticking out a hand, he staggered over to where he thought a table was…but instead found an empty space.

SLAM!

He rocketed right into someone else, and toppled over on top of them.

"Sorry! Sorry! I can't see anything…" His voice trailed off, and he tried to squint through blurred eyes to see who he had landed on. All he could make out was that it was a man, and he was a lot bigger than Tai. Also, said man was staring at Tai.

"Shuichi?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Author's note: I'm sorry, I couldn't resist adding in a part like that…I know you guys knew it was coming…so thanks for being such great readers, R&R! But do not fret my friends, there is plenty of angst to come! Muahahahahahhaha! I feel so evil…