Lalilaaaa…

Disclaimer: They ain't mine.

.oOo.

Twilight Gaze

Chapter 9: Admission

.oOo.

The sun was especially bright the next morning, waking Tidus as it shone into his room. Without realizing it, Tidus rolled over the edge of the bed, collapsing in a heap on the floor of his room. With a start, he grunted and sat straight up.

Tidus stood up and stretched. The sunlight was bright in the room, so his eyes were squinted shut. He turned around, away from the window, staring at the wall that his bed was set up against. Opening his eyes a little wider, Tidus looked down and saw another figure lying in his bed. It was as if he'd just drunk sixteen cups of coffee. The blonde's eyes were wide open and adrenaline had flooded his system.

Lying in Tidus' bed was the figure of Chappu.

Tidus' heart was racing. Why? What…

Chappu stirred and groaned, smacking in sleepy euphoria. The mere sight of it sent chills down Tidus' spine. Chappu was very cute. As Chappu turned, his rolled onto his back and Tidus noticed that the sheets near the center of his body were straining. At that time, something else became apparent, as well, reminding Tidus of what else Chappu had to offer. Tidus' face burned as the thoughts of yesterday flashed through his mind, and his grin spread.

A knock at the door shot adrenaline through Tidus' system. He quickly slipped his side of his bed to a neat position and lay himself in Chappu's bed, across the room. "Who is it?" Tidus asked in a fake-sleepy voice.

"Naomi." Naomi was Chappu's cousin. Evidently some of Wakka's extended family was in town.

"Hold on," Tidus called back. He got out of Chappu's bed and slipped on some shorts before nudging Chappu. He made his way to the door and peeked out.

Naomi stood on the other side of the door in a tank top and shorts, her left hand fiddling with her long, straight red hair. "It's eleven in the morning, Tidus. Get up. And get Chappu up, too." She turned away from Tidus and headed down the hallway, muttering something about "crazy teenagers." Tidus snorted, as Naomi was a year younger than Chappu.

Tidus closed the bedroom door and moved over to his bed, where Chappu lie sleeping. He sat down and put his hand on Chappu's shoulder, slowly stroking the redhead's shoulder. "Hey. Chappu. Wake up."

Chappu grumbled and shifted a little, turning onto his other side. Tidus smacked him in the shoulder and Chappu jolted up onto his elbows, his eyes half-opened. He looked around in a daze before looking up at Tidus and blinking. A smile crept onto the redhead's face. "Morning," he said groggily.

"Get up," Tidus repeated. "Naomi and her folks are here, for whatever reason."

Chappu moaned and buried his head into the pillow. He didn't have the greatest of histories with Naomi.

"C'mon, Chappu, get up," Tidus growled. He pushed on Chappu's side and rolled the redhead up against the wall. "Get up or last night will never happen again." Tidus grinned in his threat.

Chappu sat up and gave Tidus a worried look on his face. "You wouldn't!" he cried.

Tidus jerked his hand up to his mouth. "Shh!" he whispered harshly. "Do you want Wakka to hear you?"

Chappu's eyes widened. "What?" He was silent for the longest time, staring straight into Tidus' eyes.

Tidus suddenly realized what Chappu was worried about. A look of sympathy spread across the blonde's face as he hugged Chappu close to him. Stroking the red hair before him, Tidus whispered. "It's okay, Chappu. Wakka and I aren't together anymore, remember?"

Chappu was silent. Tidus lifted his face to look him in the eyes, but Chappu's eyes were averted. Tidus' brow furrowed and Chappu turned away from the blonde. Tidus rose from the bed in silence and made his way to the dresser to put on a shirt. Chappu slowly climbed out of Tidus' bed, wrapping the bed sheet around his waist before making his own way to his side of the room and finding some clothes to slip into.

Neither of them spoke as they dressed and headed out into the living room. Naomi and her mother Tahula were sitting on the couch with Chappu's mother Neliku. Tidus roamed into the kitchen as Chappu found a spot in a nearby armchair. An uncomfortable silence between the two of them seemed to permeate the room, despite the heated discussion Tahula and Neliku were having about shopping. Naomi stared at Chappu, bored.

A knock on the front door came as a blessing to Chappu, who leapt up from his spot in the living room to charge for the door. He opened it and immediately wished that he hadn't.

Kairi stood standing on the front porch, a single daisy in her clutched hands in front of her chest. Her eyes were puffy and her face was tear streaked, but a smile was on her face. Chappu felt his face grow red as he backed away from the door.

That was someone he'd forgotten about in the past twenty-four hours…

Kairi's smile disappeared and her eyes saddened as Chappu wordlessly stepped away from the door. "Chappu?" she called quietly. "Are you going to invite me inside?"

Beet red in the face, Chappu shook his head and stepped outside, closing the door quickly behind him. The two of them stood alone on the front porch, although half the neighborhood could see them.

"Chappu? What's wrong?" Kairi asked in a whisper. Tears were already welling up in her eyes.

Adrenaline began to force its way through Chappu's system. "It's nothing you need to worry about," Chappu said, an obviously fake smile spread across his face. Yet, he added silently to himself.

Kairi smiled weakly. "Chappu, I have a favor to ask you."

Intriguing. "What?" Chappu asked, feeling the adrenaline filtering out of his system.

"Can you…" Kairi faltered. She was nervous, Chappu could tell. Something was very obviously bugging her.

Chappu put a hand on Kairi's shoulder and looked her in the eye. "It's okay, Kairi. Ask me anything."

Kairi almost burst out in tears, but somehow restrained herself. "Tell me you love me again."

Chappu blinked in astonishment. She wanted what? "Kairi, what's wrong?" he asked.

"It's like you aren't you lately," Kairi muttered, tears finally coming to fall down her cheeks. "You haven't told me that you love me in weeks, Chappu. Nothing's wrong with me. What's wrong with you?"

Words escaped the redheaded teenager at that point. He opened his mouth to say something, but something stopped the words halfway up his throat. It was rather uncomfortable. But what could he do? Did he want to lie to her? If he told her the truth, then there would be no stopping Wakka from finding out.

A flash of blonde appeared in Chappu's mind. Tidus had been holding him, telling him that he and Wakka were no longer together. Well that may have made it all right for Tidus, but Chappu frankly did not want to suffer the wrath of his irate brother for stealing his boyfriend. And now Kairi comes along, a catalyst to the entire equation.

What should I say? Chappu stood there a moment, his mouth hanging open slightly, as Kairi waited for a response of any kind. Any kind at all would have been better than just standing there in total silence.

Chappu hung his head. "I can't say it, Kairi," he whispered.

Utter terror spread across Kairi's face. The tears stopped completely. Her mouth was hanging open now, astonishment dancing through her being. Chappu was afraid to look her straight in the face.

There was silence for a moment before Kairi finally whispered, "There's someone else, isn't there?"

Chappu didn't say anything at first, but eventually he gave a very minute nod. Very minute it may have been, but it was affirmative. Kairi's fears had been realized.

"Who is it, Chappu?" Kairi asked quietly.

This time Chappu didn't say anything at all. No body gestures or general movement at all. If Kairi hadn't known better, she would have believed him to have died standing up. He had frozen up completely.

Just then the front door opened, revealing Tidus' sparkling blue eyes and blonde hair. "Hey, Kai," he said with a grin. Chappu's heart stopped. He felt as if he couldn't breathe. What if Tidus told her? He was so fine with their little fling last night, whereas Chappu couldn't stop thinking about how angry Wakka would be if he found out.

Kairi looked at Tidus and the blonde let out a gasp. "Kairi, what happened to you?" he cried. "Come inside! Sit down. Let me get you something to drink." He reached out and grasped Kairi by the wrist, but she jerked her arm out of his grip.

"Thanks, Tidus, but no thanks," she said quietly. "I'm not really in the mood for tea and cakes. Not today." With that, she turned and headed off the porch. She stalked across the front lawn and burst into tears the moment she hit the pavement of the street. Turning towards her house, Kairi broke into a tear-soaked run.

Chappu could hear her sobs until she entered her house one street over.

"Rough morning?" Tidus asked Chappu in reference to Kairi. Chappu just shook his head.

"Close the door," Chappu whispered. Confused, Tidus did so.

"What's up?" Tidus asked.

The redhead rounded on Tidus and growled in his face. "You seriously don't see anything wrong with this little thing we have going?" he cried. "You and Wakka can't possibly be over each other yet, and now Kairi is broken-hearted because you and I –"

The door launched itself open and Chappu choked on the last few words of his sentence as Wakka appeared in the doorway. The man wore a thin-strapped tank top that clung to his muscular torso and wind pants that did nothing to hide his built legs. The eldest of the three raised an eyebrow. "What are ya doin' on the doorstep?" he asked.

Tidus and Chappu both ripped their eyes away from Wakka's chest at the same time before stumbling back off the porch so that Wakka could pass by them. Wakka gave each of them a look of suspicion as he walked by, but not another word was said between them until Wakka was safely out of earshot.

Tidus closed in on Chappu. "Excuse me for acting on my feelings. Wakka and I are through, thank you very much. How would you know if we were still pining for each other, anyway? And as for Kairi, you knew that it was only a matter of time before she found out that you weren't interested in her anymore. That was completely your fault, not mine."

Chappu felt his face burning as he opened his mouth to reply. "And what about you? You forced this on me without taking into consideration my feelings for Kairi and my brother. I didn't want to hurt either of them! And now one's sobbing in her bedroom and the other is giving us looks that the government gives international spies."

Anger was welling up inside of Tidus to the point of visibly shaking. "I didn't force you into anything, Chappu. You could have said no. You could have pushed me away. Did you? No. Why not, Chappu? Why the fuck didn't you say no, if you were so worried about Kairi and Wakka?"

Something conveniently found itself lodged in Chappu's throat, making it impossible for him to speak. He tried and tried again, but always to no avail – the words he had in mind just wouldn't vocalize.

Tidus shook his head in disgust. "I don't know what I saw in you to stab me like this, Chappu."

Stabbing. How appropriate. Chappu felt a pang of guilt run straight through his heart as if he had been stabbed. Someone twisted the blade inside of him as Tidus turned and walked away, shaking his head. Chappu didn't follow the blonde. Instead, he turned back to face his home and entered through the front door, doomed to be bored into oblivion with his cousin.

That evening, Tidus sat on Duelist Island, his legs hanging over the edge, his bare feet reflecting in the calmed ocean waters. He loved the sea at night. The stars in the sky were reflected perfectly in the ocean's waves, making it look and feel like he was surrounded entirely by stars. It was as if the island itself was floating through space with no definite destination. Tidus loved the freedom that such a thought instilled inside of him.

Footsteps behind Tidus made him turn away from the beautiful sight before him. He saw Riku walking up to him, silver hair waving in the wind. "Hey," Tidus called, leaning back and looking again into the starry sky.

Riku sat down next to the blonde, mimicking his stance and gaze. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" he asked.

Tidus nodded in response. There was a somewhat unpleasant silence, followed by the blonde's discontent. "Did someone tell you to come to me?" he asked Riku.

Riku chuckled. "Kind of. But part of it was my own keen instinct. Something's up, isn't it?"

The silence of the twinkling stars was nothing compared to the silence coming from Tidus. The two sat there for what seemed like eternity, simply gazing up into the twinkling night sky.

"You can tell me, you know," Riku told the blonde, finally taking his eyes off the stars above to look Tidus in the face.

Tidus sighed. That was true. Riku had been able to keep a secret better than anyone on the island, save perhaps Kairi. "I know."

"So what's the deal?" Riku asked. "You, Wakka, Chappu, and Zell have all been acting weird lately."

Tidus sighed again. "Well, you know that Wakka and I are finished. The whole island knows that by now."

Riku shook his head. "That's not entirely true. I had to tell Sora. Man, was he shocked." The silver-haired teen laughed and Tidus found himself blushing. Riku looked back at Tidus and smiled knowingly. "But trust me, Tidus, it's not as bad as you think."

Tidus rolled his eyes as Riku continued to stare him down. "That's not even the point. Now I've put Chappu into a little situation."

Riku didn't laugh at all, but a smirk appeared on his youthful face. "You and Chappu?"

Riku's answer was a single nod.

Riku leaned back onto his elbows and directed his view back up into the sky. "Hoo-boy. That is a bit of a situation, isn't it?"

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Riku was the next to speak:

"So what is he afraid of? Wakka?"

Tidus cringed, his eyes shutting tight. "He's afraid that Wakka and I aren't actually over. And he doesn't want to give up on Kairi, either."

"He hasn't told her that he loves her in weeks," Riku mentioned. "I think she already knows something's wrong."

"I caught them out in front of the house today," Tidus admitted. "Chappu seemed really angry." Tears were beginning to well up in Tidus' eyes. "We weren't far from swapping blows."

"Does Wakka know yet?"

"No."

"Are you planning on telling him?"

"I don't know yet."

"He'll find out eventually. We both know that, and so does Chappu. That's probably why he's so afraid."

Silence.

Riku sat up and rose to his feet. Brushing off his jeans, he turned away from Tidus. "Just remember that you are the one who makes every decision in your life. I should know," he added dryly. Tidus raised an eyebrow in confusion, but Riku didn't say anything else about it. Instead, the silver-haired boy started walking away, leaving Tidus alone in the star-lit sea of black that seemed to encompass the entire island.

- - -

Knock.

A single knock resounded through Tidus' ears as his knuckles wrapped on Wakka's bedroom door. The blonde was already in a cold sweat. He heard the doorknob turn on the other side of the door and adrenaline flooded his system.

Wakka opened the door, his bulky frame filling the doorway completely. His bedhead was splayed out in every direction, and Tidus couldn't help but smile upon seeing it. The sleepy look on Wakka's face made him look less than intelligent, but Tidus knew otherwise. The redhead raised an eyebrow and Tidus realized that he'd been staring.

"Oh, sorry," Tidus said lamely, scratching his head in embarrassment. "Can we talk?"

"Can't it wait, man?" Wakka asked, glancing at a clock that read eight in the morning.

Tidus shifted nervously. "No, Wakka, it can't wait."

Wakka sighed and allowed Tidus into his room, closing the door behind him. Tidus was too nervous to even take in the sights of Wakka's bedroom. The mere click of the door being set into the doorframe made the blonde jump.

Crossing his arms across his naked torso, Wakka leaned against the door and peered at Tidus. "So? What's this about?"

Without even facing the redhead, Tidus stared down at the floor. It seemed to take hours for him to mutter a simple, "I'm sorry."

Wakka raised an eyebrow. "Eh?"

Tidus still refused to turn towards Wakka. "I'm sorry, Wakka. Ever since Zell showed up…"

Wakka rolled his eyes. "Not this," he muttered. The blitzer leaned forward, allowing his bodyweight to roll forward onto the balls of his feet so that he was no longer in contact with the door. Wakka walked up behind Tidus and put a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Look, brudda, we've been through this, haven't we? It's not your fault and it's not my fault. We just need a little time apart, ya?"

Tidus turned his head away from Wakka as the bigger teen tried to move into his line of sight. He really didn't want to look at Wakka when he said this…

"Sorry, Wakka. I'm…" Adrenaline. Why the hell did there have to be adrenaline?

Wakka stood back, realizing that there was something else. "You're what?"

A tear formed at the corner of Tidus' eye. Why was this so hard for him? Wasn't he the one who had been so angry when Wakka was caught with Zell? That thought crossed the blonde's mind and his tear choked back. All's fair in love and war, as they say.

"Tidus?"

"Chappu and I are together," Tidus shouted, not caring who heard through the door or the open window.

Despite his nervousness of telling Wakka, Tidus had not been prepared for the redhead's reaction. Silence permeated every inch of the room as Wakka merely stared at the blonde in total and utter shock. Not horrified shock, like Tidus had expected, but Wakka merely seemed surprised.

"How long has this been going on?" Wakka asked quietly.

"Since two days ago," Tidus admitted sheepishly. A blush came to his face as he remembered what had happened on the island.

Wakka never said anything, but he slowly rounded his way to stand behind Tidus. Tidus stood there, facing the far wall of Wakka's room. He heard the door open and close, issuing a silence to set in. Tidus had been left in Wakka's room, completely alone, and without a word.

The world suddenly seemed so very dark…

.oOo.

Holy shnaps, it took me forever to write this chapter. I'm really sorry. Read and review if you're into kinkiness like that!