Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: I actually started to cry halfway through this chapter. Seriously, I'm not kidding. It's a good thing that I'm a firm believer in happy endings. Oops, was that a hint?

My Best Friend's Girlfriend

Chapter 14: What Might Have Been

Sora Takenouchi

Sora slowly pulled away from Tai and gazed deeply into her friend's eyes. "Tai," she said softly. "I need to talk to you."

Tai's face turned pale, and he glanced anxiously down the hallway, as if searching for an escape route. "Um...maybe later. I...um...better go talk to Tomo. I'm sure he wants to discuss our-"

Sora grabbed his hand, and Tai immediately fell silent, his whole face turning pink.

"Come on," she said quietly, pulling him into an empty classroom.

"Sora, we're going to be late for class," Tai mumbled, avoiding her eyes.

The former Digidestined leader pulled his hand out of her grip, and she frowned as he started to back away from her.

"Class can wait. What I have to say is definitely more important."

"Really? I don't know, Sora. Class is pretty-"

"Why did you lie to Matt?" she interrupted.

Tai slowly sat down on a desk and sighed. "That's the third time that somebody has asked me that question. Why don't you guys just get together and ask at the same time? That way I'll only have to answer it once!"

"Are you mad at Matt?" she asked, ignoring his words.

"Yes and no," Tai replied, staring at the floor.

"Do you hate him?" she whispered.

Tai shook his head and smiled softly. "No way. Matt's my best friend. I could never hate him."

"Then why are you acting so horrible towards him?" she asked, frowning in confusion.

"He hurt me," Tai whispered, his eyes filling with sudden sadness. "I figure it's better to avoid him than to say something I might regret. That's why I lied to him. I can't have him getting to... close."

"Close to what?" she murmured, moving towards him and placing a hand on his arm.

"The truth," he whispered, his brown eyes sparkling with emotion. "If he does, he'll never forgive me."

"What could Matt have possibly done to hurt you?" she asked, frowning slightly.

She sat down next to him on the desk and wrapped her arm around his waist in a comforting gesture.

"He didn't hurt me intentionally," Tai said softly.

He turned towards her, and she let out a startled gasp as his hand came to rest against her cheek. "Listen, Sora," he said seriously, staring directly into her eyes. "I don't want you to think that Matt's a bad person or anything. I know he never meant to hurt me. That's what makes this so hard. I really have no one to blame but myself for what has happened."

Sora placed her hand against her friend's cheek, and she smiled at him. "You're not making any sense, you know that?"

He shrugged and gave her a weak smile. "I just don't want you to change your opinion about Matt, that's all."

"I won't," she said softly. "I know he's a good person, but so are you."

"No, I'm not," he mumbled, his eyes burning with emotion. "I'm not like Matt. He never would have acted like such a jerk if our roles had been reversed."

"You're wrong," she said quietly, gazing into his eyes. "You're not a jerk. It's obvious that you've been hurt pretty badly, whether it was intentional or not. I just hope that you and Matt can work things out."

"That might not be possible," Tai murmured, his eyes flashing with sudden pain and sadness.

The look on Tai's face made her eyes sting with sudden tears, and she hugged him tightly.

There had been a time in her life when she had truly believed that she would end up dating the former Digidestined leader. It was as if a part of her had known all along that they were meant to be together. She could still remember the day that she had first met him. Soccer was what had brought them together, and she had been attracted to him right from the start. He was handsome, talented, friendly, confident, courageous, and he never gave up when things got tough. There were so many things about him that she loved, but the best thing about him was the fact that he had a good heart. After their adventures in the Digital World, she had waited four long years for him to ask her out. That had never happened, and she had had no choice but to move on.

That had been one of the hardest things that she had ever had to do. After all, there had been times when she had thought that he really cared about her. After Davis and the others had joined the group, she had hoped that Tai would remember all of the things that they had been through together four years ago. He had saved her life several times, but she remembered the incident with Datamon most of all.

He came back to save me, even though he was afraid to. I know what I felt that day, and it was definitely something more than friendship. So why didn't he ever say anything?

After Davis and the others had started going to the Digital World, she had given the former Digidestined leader another chance to admit his feelings for her. Once more Tai had let the opportunity pass him by, and she had been forced to admit to herself that maybe he had never really had feelings for her after all.

That had been a bitter lesson, and she had suffered a lot of heartache and self-doubt.

I just don't understand. How could I have been so wrong about Tai?

She had been the Digidestined who had received The Crest of Love, and for the first time in her life, it had truly failed her.

It had taken her a while to convince herself that a relationship with Tai was utterly impossible, but finally her heart had settled on Matt. She loved the blond musician very much, but every so often she could not stop herself from thinking about what might have been...

"Tai?" she whispered, her head coming to rest against his shoulder. "Promise me that you'll find a way to work things out with Matt."

"I promise," Tai whispered softly into her hair. "You know that I'd do anything for you. All you have to do is ask."

She managed a sad smile and nodded. "I know, Tai. Thank you. It means a lot to me."

"Sora, listen," Tai said softly. "There's something I have to tell you. Matt's coming over to my apartment this afternoon."

Sora jerked her head up in surprise, and she stared at him with her mouth hanging open.

"Are you serious?" she gasped. "But-"

"I know," Tai interrupted, giving her a weak smile. "He's suppose to be angry at me! I think this is his way of testing me. You know what Matt's like. He'll never come right out and ask me what's wrong. He'd rather jump off a cliff than admit he's upset about something. I love my best friend, but sometimes he drives me up the wall! He always has to do everything the hard way. Trust me, Sora. The only reason he's coming over to my apartment is so that he can find out what's wrong with me without having to actually ask me!"

"Yeah, you're probably right," she said, nodding her head in agreement. "That definitely sounds like something Matt would do."

"Um...Sora?"

"Yes?" she asked softly, lifting her head and gazing into his eyes.

"I'm really sorry," he said quietly, avoiding her eyes. "It's my fault that Matt doesn't want to go to the movies with you tonight."

She smiled sadly and rested her head against his chest. "No, it's not. I was the one who decided not to tell him about your game in Shibuya. That has to be the reason why he's mad at me. I'm pretty sure he knows about the fact that I was keeping it a secret from him. I'm not exactly sure how he found out, but he definitely knows. I can tell. I bet he feels like he can't trust me anymore, and I don't blame him one bit. Maybe he's right. How could I have been so horrible to him?"

"Why?" Tai whispered. "Why didn't you tell him? You could have saved yourself a lot of grief."

"I didn't want Matt to be mad at you," she said softly, listening to the sound of his heartbeat. "I know you, Tai, and I know that you would never do anything to hurt Matt. You and Matt are best friends, and all I wanted to do was help you guys keep your friendship intact."

"Thank you," Tai murmured, his voice trembling with emotion.

He hugged her tightly, and she could feel the warmth of his skin surrounding her body. It made her feel a little dizzy, and she wrapped an arm around his neck to steady herself.

"Are you okay?" Tai asked, his eyes growing dark with concern.

She blinked and managed a shaky smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."

What is wrong with me today? Why do I feel so weird all of a sudden?

"You know what, Sora? I completely forgot about the fact that we have the same coach," Tai mumbled, looking a little embarrassed.

She let out a laugh and shook her head in amusement. "So that's what happened! I have to admit, I was a little bit confused about that! Um...Tai? Did Matt ask if he could come over to your apartment, or were you the one who asked him?"

"I asked him," Tai replied, smiling slightly. "I guess you could say that I'm keeping my promise. This might be the only chance I have to work things out with him. Besides, I feel really guilty about not going to his apartment yesterday, and this is my way of making it up to him."

"Good."

She hesitated and bit her lip.

I bet Tai knows where Mimi is.

"You haven't seen Mimi, have you?" she asked, avoiding his eyes.

Tai gave her a very suspicious look. "Why?"

"No reason," she mumbled, her face turning pink.

"Yeah right. The answer to your question is no. The last time I saw her was yesterday evening."

She opened her mouth to say something, but Tai cut her off.

"Yes, she was at my apartment yesterday. Matt wasn't. She tried to get me to tell her what was wrong, but I didn't say much. She doesn't know anymore than you do so, if I were you, I wouldn't waste my time asking her about it."

She let out a sigh and shivered as his cheek suddenly brushed against the side of her face. "Will you ever tell me what's wrong?"

Tai gently pulled away from her and slowly stood up. "I guess that depends on Matt," he said softly. "Right now all I want is to see him happy, and I want you to be happy, too. Sometimes that means sacrificing a little happiness of my own."

She gazed at him in silence and frowned.

What exactly is that suppose to mean?

"I better get to class," Tai mumbled, turning towards the door.

She quickly stood up and put a hand on his arm to stop him from leaving the room. "Thank you for not avoiding me," she whispered, kissing him gently on the cheek.

Tai suddenly pulled away from her, and his face turned pink. "Don't," he said softly.

"What?" she asked, feeling confused. She had kissed Tai's cheek tons of times, and he had never once pulled away from her like that before.

"Nothing," he said quietly, avoiding her eyes. "Just...never mind."

He quickly left the room, and she sat down hard on one of the desks. Being around Tai had made her heart feel like it was about to burst out of her chest. That was something that she had not felt in quite a while.

I thought that I had put all of my feelings for Tai behind me a long time ago, but what if I'm wrong? What if I never stopped caring about him after all...

She covered her face with her hands and let out a soft moan.

I can't deal with this right now, especially not with Matt avoiding me and Mimi acting like I don't even exist. What am I going to do?

The first thing she needed to do was talk to Mimi.

I need to find out why she's avoiding me.

The second thing she needed to do was forget about Tai.

Matt's the only guy I should be thinking about, and I would never dream of doing anything to hurt him. I care about him. I really do!

"I do," she whispered softly, her voice filling with sorrow. "I'm just not sure if that's going to be enough..."