A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Im sorry for the late update. Im just so busy these days! No, truth be told, Im just lazy. But reviews do help me update sooner, otherwise Id NEVER update! SHOCKHORROR! Anyways read and enjoy, that's what its here for!

.:How Can I Not Love You:.

Yuna and Tidus sat alone in the quite house. They had moved inside and showered (together) and were now snuggled on the couch with the TV on, but on mute. Sitting in silence for about 10 minutes, just thinking about things, finally Yuna yawned. Tidus smiled and began to stand up.

"Come on. We should go to bed." He held out his hand to Yuna and she looked at it with a grin.

"Remember what happened last time u told me I should go to bed," she giggled.

Tidus flinched involuntarily and touched his cheek without even thinking. Yuna laughed at this and took his hand, using it to pull herself up.

"But things are different now, aren't they?" She asked him as she leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips. Tidus wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again.

"They sure are."

The next morning Yuna groggily opened her eyes. They felt as if they had bricks tied to them, pulling them closed and it took all her will power not to roll over and go back to sleep. She knew she had something to do today but for the life of her she couldn't remember what it was.

Sitting up, she heard herself grumble something in a throaty morning voice. Wait a minute…since when did I sound like a guy? She turned around and yelped when she saw a figure in her bed.

At the noise the body started and sat bolt upright.

"What? What'd I do?" Tidus blurted out, automatically thinking he'd done something wrong and still completely disorientated himself. The site of Tidus in the morning with bed hair brought Yuna back to her senses and she remembered the night before. She must have slept soundly all night. In fact she didn't really remember going to bed. It wasn't a hangover, because she hadn't drunk that much, she just wasn't used to another person, besides a drunken Rikku, sleeping in her bed.

"You're cute with bed-hair." She smiled at Tidus. All thought, both coherent and not, left her mind when he turned to her and ran his hand sheepishly though his blonde mass, trying hopelessly to neaten it up. "You're even cuter when you're embarrassed…" She laughed when he gave her an evil stare. She was about to tell him he looked cute when he tried to be evil, but his evil stared turned to a questioning look.

"What time is it?" He asked. Yuna turned around and looked at her clock.

"Almost lunchtime, why?" She turned back to face him.

"Aren't you supposed to be at Uni?" he asked as he continued to try to fix his precious hair.

Yuna's face went pale. Her eyes became the size of dinner plates and her jaw dropped.

"Oh shit…" She whispered. "Rikku is going to kill me. But its too late to go now, I've missed most of the day…" She sighed and plopped back down onto her pillow.

"Rikku? I thought it would be Paine giving you an arse whooping." Tidus leaned across and, leaning on one elbow, placed his hand on Yuna's stomach.

"Well, yes, but that's a given. Rikku will kill me because she would have gone today thinking I would kill her if she didn't… but instead it was me who didn't go… oh well… She'll be home at 6ish, so I have some time to prepare…. Or hide…" She laughed at this and closed her eyes when Tidus' lips came to hers.

"You're cute when you laugh." He said. Yuna smiled at this and reached up to ruffle his hair back to the way it was when he had just woken up.

"And you're lame when you steal other peoples complements…" She laughed again at the look he gave her. And then continued. "What about you. Do you have anything to do today?"

"Hrmmm" Tidus thought for a moment. "Well first…" he kissed her again, "I'm going to spend some 'quality time' with you…" Kissing her again, but with more passion to emphasise his intentions. "Then I have to meet someone." He stopped and a worried look slipped over his face. When he realised Yuna had seen it, he quickly masked it with an unrecognisable look.

"Someone? Should I be worried?" Yuna pushed her head back into the pillow to try to get a better view of Tidus face.

"Oh no. Its nothing like that…" he trailed off and Yuna looked at him expectantly. He really hadn't wanted to tell her about this part of his past and he wasn't ready for it. Not yet. He would have to give her something, though. Something so she wouldn't worry. And she really didn't need to worry. At least not about his fidelity…

"Its just something I have to do. I'd really rather not talk about it right now. I mean, it would spoil the moment. But I promise you the person I'm meeting with is of the male persuasion so you really don't need to worry." He leaned down and kissed Yuna's brow, which was creased with worry.

He looked down at her until her eyes softened and the worry all but left her face.

"Ok, Tidus. If you promise me. I trust you." She put her hand up against his cheek. Please don't let me down… She asked him silently. She knew he had had a strange past. She had seen hints of it ever since she had met him. But he would tell her when he was ready. She just had to wait. And wait she would. She was beginning to think that she would wait forever for this man. He just seemed so… perfect. It was almost like he had walked out from one of her dreams and introduced himself. The next think she knew, he'd be saving the world…

"So when do you have to meet this… male…." She asked sweetly, as she ran her nails gently down his back. Tidus shivered as Yuna continued to stroke his back. He moaned softly.

"Not for at least…" he looked over to the clock " 3 hours…" he smiled down at her and she smiled back. He leaned down and pressed his lips against Yuna's. She kissed him back and ran her nails though his hair. He gently ran his hand down her side, annoyed at the thin fabric of the nightgown she had insisted on putting on the night before. It just seems wrong to sleep naked. She had said. What if there's a fire and I have to run out into the street and I'm not wearing any clothes? Tidus had no argument to this so he had acquiesced.

Gathering up the fabric in his hand, he brought the hem up and ran his hand up the inside, skin touching skin, never once breaking the kiss and not once opening his eyes, again afraid that this might have still been a really wet dream…

Yuna ran her hands down the smooth skin of Tidus' back. She kept moving them all the way down until she reached his bum. She noticed that he had opted to sleep naked. She grinned at this and Tidus felt the grin through the kiss.

Tidus broke the kiss and made little kisses all the way to Yuna's ear.

"I'm not afraid of being naked in the street." He whispered. Yuna ran her hands down and around Tidus' legs to caress the inside of his thighs. She felt the reaction this caused as his whole body tensed then released as he moaned softly into her ear.

"Really?" She smiled mischievously, "I might just have to remember that." She leaned up and began to kiss his neck. Sucking gently on the soft skin. This seemed to push Tidus over the edge. He grabbed her hips, lifted himself up and placed himself over Yuna. He moved so that his hips we between her thighs and was looking down at her.

Yuna loved that face. The face he made that was a thousand questions in one look. She could see that he was asking if she was ok, if he had permission. She could see in that face that if she said no, he would respect that. She could see passion, desire, lust and something else. Something much deeper was hidden in those eyes. Something hidden behind a cool blue wall of ice that she could almost see but not quite make out. It was as if she was looking at something that had sunk to the bottom of crystal clear water and was hidden amongst multi coloured coral.

She was pulled from the blue coral cay water eyes by the sound of mobile phone ringing. She blinked a few times and heard Tidus curse.

"Don't answer it." Yuna said, almost pleaded.

"Yuna, I… I have to… its…" He recognised the personal ring tone, gently peeled Yuna's hands from his body and collapsed to his side of the bed. Reaching over he rummaged through his belongings and found his phone.

Looking at the name that was flashing on the screen for a few seconds, he flipped it open and answered.

"I told you I'd be there at 3:30." He said angrily into the receiver. "Yeah well I'm not going to be ready until then, so you'll just have to wait…yes I will take this tone of voice with you. Your not my fucking mother!" As he said it he threw his head to the side and cursed under his breath. "Alright I know, I'm sorry. Look, if it makes you feel better I'll leave now, but I still won't be there for at least half an hour." He put his hand up to his forehead and rubbed his eyes in annoyance. "Well it can't be helped. It's a physical impossibility, OK?" He was getting angry now and Yuna was so curious as to what was being said on the other end of the line. She could make out a voice but whether it was male or female or something in between was impossible to tell.

Yuna leaned over and put a caring hand on Tidus' shoulder. At this Tidus took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He reached up and covered her hand with his, but still not turning to face her. "Ok. I'll be there as soon as I can. But I don't know why we bother doing this shit anymore. All we do is argue and end up throwing shit around………I know we promised her, you don't have to tell me that, idiot… Whatever, 30 minutes. Ill be there, make sure your waiting." And with that he hung up.

Still not turning around, he clicked the phone shut and tossed it into his pile of clothes.

"Yuna, I have to go." He said sadly, finally turning around. Yuna could have cried at the look he gave her. It was so full of hurt and pain. A look she never thought he would see on his face. Not ever. She wanted to hold him until all the pain went from those beautiful blue eyes. It was funny how quickly roles could reverse.

"I know." She said quietly as she hugged him.

"Its just that…" He started to explain but didn't know where to begin.

"It's ok. You don't have to tell me. If you want to tell me, you'll do it when you're ready. And I'll be waiting." She hugged him tighter as she felt his resolve almost crumble.

He stood and dressed silently. It was a comfortable silence but it was filled with something Yuna couldn't quite put her finger on. Was it dread? At the complete lack of any kind of enthusiasm Tidus showed while he gathered his things, one could be forgiven for thinking he was going to a funeral, perhaps even his own.

"Are you sure you're going to be ok?" Yuna asked when she saw he was finished getting ready and was walking to her bedroom door.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. How about you? You are alright here?" He asked.

"If I'm not safe in my own bed I'm not safe anywhere." Yuna smiled.

"True, but you might venture to the kitchen, be careful with the stairs, they can be tricky sometimes." Tidus said sarcastically. Yuna laughed softly and then waved goodbye.

"Call me, ok? Just so I know you're alright," She said hopefully. "I put my number in your phone yesterday."

"You did? When?" He asked, looking confused.

"Secret…" Yuna smiled back.

"Ok…. If you say so. See ya, beautiful. I'll ring you tonight." He waved back and gently shut the door. She heard him walk down the stairs, and then go out the front door, closing it softly behind him. A few minutes later she heard his bike start up. She heard him rev it way to hard and then heard him take off way to fast down the street. She listened until she couldn't hear the bike anymore.

In the silence of her room, she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. She was so confused. She wasn't sure exactly how she was supposed to feel. She sat like this for almost an hour just thinking things over until she heard her stomach growl in protest.

Knowing she needed food, she climbed out of bed and made her way to the shower. Stripping off, she climbed into the hot stream of water and let it wash over her. As it pounded on her head she was still thinking. But slowly the hot water and white noise of the falling drops relaxed her mind. She stood like that for almost half an hour until the water started to go cold as the hot water ran out. She sighed, turned the taps off and climbed absentmindedly out of the shower and grabbed her towel. Dried herself and walked back to her room.

Throwing on some old jeans and a yellow baby doll t-shirt, she walked to the kitchen. She stared into the refrigerator for a good 5 minutes before she came to the conclusion that she was too lazy to cook or make anything for lunch. But he stomach was so empty it was probably eating itself. Grabbing her sunglasses and her bag, she decided to head to the fish and chip shop. Maybe Baralai was working and she could have a chat. She felt like she needed a friend right now. She felt kind of lost inside.

Making her way down to the shop, she walked though the door and pulled her sunglasses onto the top of her head. Keeping her hair, which she had hardly brushed, from looking too messy.

The shop was empty of people. As she entered, the buzzer went off to let whoever was there know that they had customers.

"I'll be right out." Baralai's sweet voice came from the back room.

"That's ok 'Lai, its just me." Yuna answered and took a seat at one of the small tables.

"Yuna?" Baralai's head popped around the corner. "Aren't you supposed to be at University?" He asked with a small smile.

"Yeah… I, uh, slept in…" She blushed and Baralai gave her a knowing look.

"Suuure you did… The girls are going to kill you." He said as he emerged from around the door.

"Yeah I know." She said as her stomach growled, interrupting the conversation.

Baralai laughed. "What would you like?" He asked.

"Surprise me." Yuna said and smiled at the look Baralai gave her.

"Woah, the new Yuna?" Baralai said as he went about making Yuna some food.

"Yeah well its not all cookies and cream." Baralai stopped what he was doing and turned around, giving Yuna a concerned look. "Oh its nothing really its just that…." Yuna proceeded to tell Baralai the story of the night and the next day and the phone call.

"Hrm. You should probably talk to Paine and Rikku about this. They are better at this sort of stuff than I am." He said, continuing with making the food.

"Is this before or after they kill me?" Yuna laughed and Baralai laughed too.

"But seriously, I have to get Paine from University when I finish, which is in," He looked at his watch, "30 minutes. It you would like to wait, you can come with me and talk to her in the car. I promise I wont listen. I'll be the mediator." He smiled.

"That sounds great. Thanks." She said as Baralai came around the counter and places a plate full of chips, crumbed fish, a pineapple fritter and some slices of lemon. "You're a lifesaver." She said as she tried to hand him some money.

"Yuna, how many time do I have to tell you it's on the house?" he smiled as he pushed her hand back towards her, money and all.

"But 'Lai, if we are your only customers, how does this store make any money?" She asked seriously.

"We sell porn under the counter." Baralai said without a hint of humour.

Yuna's jaw dropped and her eyebrows went up into her hairline. Baralai laughed at this.

"That was classic Yuna. You really are way to gullible." He laughed some more and went back behind the counter. Yuna pouted after him.

40 minutes later Yuna and Baralai were sitting in Baralai's car in the designated pick up area at the university. They saw Paine approaching and saw her look change when she realised Yuna was in the car too. When she got there, Yuna got out of the front seat to let Paine in. (the girlfriend always gets shotgun) Before Paine got in she looked at Yuna.

"You're missing from Uni for a day and then show up in my boyfriends car… Should I be worried?" She asked jokingly.

"Its funny you should say that…" Yuna said as she quickly jumped back into the car, followed by Paine. "Hey I got into the back so you could sit in the front!" Yuna complained as Paine put her seatbelt on next to Yuna.

"Yuna, I'm not a moron. I know when something's up. You need to talk. I can tell. So spill." Yuna was amazed. Paine really was a good friend. For someone who seemed to have little to no emotion herself, she sure could read other peoples perfectly.

So Yuna told Paine the story as they drove. Baralai told them he needed to go to the shopping centre quickly because he wanted to buy a new Playstation2 game. Paine rolled her eyes but said that was ok because she needed food anyway.

Paine listened to the story and sat thinking in the car as they pulled into the shopping centre car park. They drove to the top-level entrance, which was central to the food court and the games shop. The three of them walked towards the door when Baralai stopped dead still. Paine, wondering why he had stopped, turned to face him.

"What's the matter with you?" She asked. Baralai didn't answer but simply nodded in the direction of the centre entrance. Both girls looked the direction he had nodded. And there, standing in the entrance was Seymour having a friendly conversation with a group of his friends. His new girlfriend was there, standing silently to the side, waiting for him to bark an order at her.

Seymour was being particularly friendly with one guy in particular but they couldn't see who it was because the other people were obscuring him.

"…Seymour…" Paine growled. "Who is he being so chummy with?" but as she asked the group parted as they began to walk inside.

All three let out a gasp as they saw.

Baralai was the first to speak. "Was that…Tidus?"

A/N: Hope you liked it. Please review! Kind of a crazy chapter. Was all over the place with this one! Thanks for reading. Ill update at some point !