Sorry it took me a while for this update! I've been so busy. Ugh…But I hope to get done with this story soon, so I guess that's exciting, huh? Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 12: To Be Forgotten

Tidus sat at the edge of his pool, with his face buried in his hands. He had been sitting there for hours.

After the party, he had simply allowed himself to fall into the pool, clothes and all. Probably to hide the tears that were falling.

He had let himself sink to the bottom, pulled down by his clothes, and had stayed there, at the bottom, for the longest time. It was probably a good thing he played blitz, for he had remained down there for quite some time.

When he finally came back up, he went to the edge and sat there, where he was now.

Stars shined ahead of him, despite the many lights from the buildings in Bevelle. Mostly, he thought about Yuna. Rejection had hit him pretty hard, for it was something he had never felt before.

She had rejected him. Sure, his proposal was rather outrageous, but something in him told him that had she said yes, he would have rushed right out to marry her. But he doubted she would have wanted that.

Marriage? Where the hell had that even come from? His thoughts were jumbled, and they jumped from one subject to the next. Yuna…Bickson…Dona…Gippal…and then back to Yuna.

She said she was afraid. Afraid of what? Her father was dead. She knew that, he knew it…Dona knew it. What was to fear?

And Gippal. What had he been doing with Dona? Wasn't he on Tidus' side?

Sighing, Tidus leaned back and let his head lean against the cement that was wrapped around the pool. The summer wasn't supposed to go the way it had gone. There wasn't supposed to be cliques. There wasn't supposed to be rejection. There wasn't supposed to be Yuna.

Had it happened for a reason? Was it some greater force that was acting on them? Tidus scoffed at the idea, but something told him that in a way, it was this way.

The force was love.

His lip went out in a pout. He was heartbroken. As he left her father's room, and shut the door to muffle her sobs, something tore deep within him. Something he didn't even know he had, was torn.

He had always assumed that he was heartless. He was the guy that went out with whatever girls he could, did what he wanted, broke hearts of others. He wasn't supposed to be the one heartbroken.

When his father left him, years ago, he'd felt nothing. It made him happy, actually. Gippal had been there, telling him not to feel as if no one wanted him and that sort of thing, but that wasn't how Tidus had even taken it. He had taken in happily, gleefully. So why was he so upset when Yuna told him she didn't want him?

Again, his thoughts went to Gippal. His best friend was gone, too. For the first time in his life, he was completely and utterly alone. Unwanted.

Tidus sighed. Perhaps it had been his fault. Of course it was his fault. He had no one, and it was all because he had spent so much time on Yuna. But had he spent that much time on her?

Gippal obviously wasn't his friend anymore. He couldn't be. He'd been with the enemy, after all. Now that Tidus thought about it, Gippal hadn't even been very supportive. He hadn't been supportive at all…

"We were best friends," Tidus mused out loud to himself, "But I guess I ruined that…And Yuna. Could she be considered my first girlfriend? But we never officially went out…"

At that moment, Tidus' phone rang. It caused him to jump, since he had been in such deep thought.

Shakily, he pulled it out and answered it.

"…Hello?"

It was Gippal.

"G-Gippal?" Tidus sputtered into the phone.

"Yeah…Hey, I wanted to apologize."

"Apologize?"

"For what I did with Dona," Gippal said, slowly, "After you barged in on us, I…I couldn't really do anything. So I left. I just wanted you to know. Did you find Yuna?"

Tidus swallowed, and he said, "Yeah, I found her."

"You sound really bad," Gippal said, "You okay?"

"Gippal," Tidus said, "I thought you…I mean, I figured you didn't want to be friends anymore."

"What? Over a girl? 'Member back in the ninth grade when you stole my girlfriend? And we promised never to let a girl come between us? Well, I…Forgot that promise. Until you barged in on us. The reason I was with Dona was because I was jealous of you."

"Jealous?" Tidus asked, and he swallowed loudly again, partially in an attempt to swallow the lump in his throat.

"Yeah. You were going out with Yuna. And spending more time with her. I…I couldn't accept the fact that you were there with one of the coolest girls, and you weren't even there just to get something. I was jealous that you actually cared for someone. Because, no one cared for me."

"Gippal?"

Gippal swallowed this time, and he said, "So when I ran into Dona, we started to talk, and the next thing I knew, things were getting out of hand. But I wanted it to be that way. But when I saw you, I realized how selfish I was being."

"Well, I accept your apology," Tidus said, not really wanting to hear much more about it, "I figured you were just doing it to get back at me, or something."

Gippal laughed and said, "Get back at you for what?"

"For being a jerk," Tidus said, his voice cracking.

"Nah, I was the one being a jerk," Gippal said, "I couldn't accept the fact that you'd actually found someone. Like I said, I was jealous."

"Well," Tidus swallowed hard again, as his eyes misted over, "There's nothing much to be jealous of now."

"What happened?"

"Yuna…I proposed to her."

"As in marriage?" Gippal cried, his voice growing louder.

"Yeah."

"What? What the hell made you ask that?"

"I saw her, and I thought…I thought the only way we could ever actually be together—the only way she could be happy—was if she married me."

"What did she say?" Gippal asked.

"She told me to leave," Tidus said, "She never wants to see me again. I was so shocked, both at my own actions and her's, but I…I left her, and I told her I wouldn't be back."

"Hey man, it's okay," Gippal said, and he forced a laugh, "And just when I was getting used to the fact that you two would be together…"

"Gippal," Tidus said, "I know I'm acting like a baby, but I can't stop crying."

It was the truth. Large, hot tears were spewing out of his eyes, and running slowly down his face.

"…The girls are supposed to be the ones to cry," Gippal said softly.

"I know."

There was silence then, as both of them seemed to just stand there.

"Should I come over?" Gippal finally asked.

"No, I think I should be alone," Tidus said.

"Maybe you should go to sleep or something."

"Maybe."

"If you need anything, just call," Gippal said.

"Thanks," Tidus said, "I'll talk to you later."

"Bye," Gippal said slowly, and then hung up.

Tidus pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it. Then, mostly in his desire to be lonely, to feel the full extent of the pain, he tossed the phone gently into the pool, and watched as it sank to the bottom.

-

The next morning, the feelings he was feeling weren't gone. He laid there, in bed, for a good hour or two after waking up, when usually he would jump right up, swim some laps, and just hang around.

But now, he didn't feel like it. He didn't feel like doing anything. His mind wouldn't stop running. Was there something else he could do? Or should he just accept defeat? Should he call her and apologize? Or did that make him too needy and too obsessed? Was he obsessed?

What would she think of him if he did call her? Would she just tell him to get lost again? Would she apologize? Was there a chance for that? Or maybe she could at least talk to him…Tell him something. Anything. Something to make him feel like them being apart was a good idea.

Sighing, he went to find his phone, only to remember that it was lying on the pool bottom. He groggily moaned, and then went to find his normal phone, which he finally found tucked under the cushion of a couch.

He attempted to remember her number off the top of his head, and after three tries, finally felt that he had the right number. Only when he heard an answer, he found that it was a man's voice, and not Yuna's.

"Hello?" the man said.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I must have the wrong number," Tidus mumbled, "Um, is this where Yuna lives?"

"Oh yes! I'm her realtor."

"Her realtor?"

"Yes. She just listed her house today."

"She's moving?"

"Yeah. She's in Luca right now."

"Oh. What's she doing there?" Tidus realized he probably sounded too noisy, but this realtor was friendly enough.

"She's there with her fiancé."

Tidus' heart skipped a beat.

"Her what?"

"Her fiancé. She's getting married."

Tidus let the phone drop to the ground. The realtor's voice could be heard coming from the phone, but Tidus just ignored it.

She didn't accept his proposal because she already was getting married.

With that, he let himself plop to the couch and he wrapped his face in his arms.