Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: I finally got back to this story! Please read and review!

My Best Friend's Girlfriend

Chapter 17: Broken Hearts

Tai Kamiya

Tai's mouth fell open, and he stared at Mimi in shock. He tried to say something, but he found himself unable to utter a sound and chose to remain silent instead.

How did she find out, and what about Matt? Does he know, too?

His heart filled with sudden fear, and he glanced nervously towards the school.

What am I going to do? I have to find a way to stop Mimi from telling Sora, if she hasn't already. After all, they are best friends.

Mimi managed to smile at the look of horror on his face and slowly shook her head.

"Don't worry, Tai," she whispered. "I haven't told anyone about your feelings for Sora, not even Sora herself."

His heart rate began to slow down, and he let out a small sigh of relief. He was glad that Mimi had kept his secret, but that did not stop him from feeling a little bit uneasy.

Why would she hide something like this from Sora? They're best friends! It doesn't make any sense!

"How did you find out?" he asked quietly, avoiding her eyes.

Mimi ran her fingers through her rosy coloured hair and bit her lip. "I overheard you telling Kari when I was at your apartment yesterday," she mumbled, looking embarrassed.

"You were eavesdropping on us?" he said in disbelief.

Mimi's cheeks turned pink, and she nodded. "Um...yeah...I guess you could say that."

Tai glared at her and crossed his arms. "First Kari, and now you! Remind me to keep my secrets to myself next time!"

"I'm sorry," Mimi said softly, giving him a weak smile.

"Don't worry about it," he replied, waving off her apology. "Next time I'll search my apartment for any unwanted listeners before I give something away!"

He sat down next to her on the picnic table and turned to face her. "Do Matt and Sora know?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly.

"No," she said softly. "I told you, I never said anything to them, and there's no way that Kari would ever give away any of your secrets. Besides, neither one of us has had much of a chance to talk to Matt and Sora today."

"Why?" he whispered, staring into her eyes. "Why didn't you tell Sora? She's your best friend."

"I could never betray you by giving away your secrets," she said quietly, giving him a warm hug. "What kind of a friend would that make me? Sora and I tell each other everything, but that doesn't give me the right to tell her secrets that aren't mine."

"Thanks," he mumbled, hugging her back.

"Tai, you know how much I want you and Matt to work things out," Mimi said softly. "I would never do anything to jeopardize your friendship with him. This is something that you have to tell him on your own."

"Like that's ever going to happen," he muttered.

Mimi put a hand on his shoulder and smiled sadly at him. "If you don't tell him, it might mean the end of your friendship. What if Matt finds out about your feelings for Sora and he realizes that you were keeping them a secret from him? I can't even imagine how that would make him feel. Trust me, Tai, he could end up finding out about what's really going on without anyone having to tell him. Secrets have a way of coming out no matter how hard you try to hide them. You should know that by now."

Tai studied her face for a moment and frowned. "There's something else, isn't there," he said quietly. "I can tell."

She stared down at her hands, and he wrapped an arm around her. "What is it? You're obviously upset, and I know it isn't really because of my secret."

Mimi slowly looked up at him, and she took a deep breath. "Tai, if I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone else?"

"Of course," he promptly replied. "You kept my secret. It's only fair that I do the same for you. Does this have something to do with what you had said earlier? You said that you feel the exact same way I feel because the same thing is happening to you. What did you mean by that?"

He stared at her for a moment and frowned in confusion.

How could Mimi possibly feel the same way that I feel? As far as I know, She isn't even interested in anyone right now. There's no way that she could know what it feels like to have your heart stepped on by your best friend and the love of your life.

Mimi looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out, but she managed to lift her chin, and her eyes filled with sudden tears. "Tai," she whispered, "I think I'm in love with Matt."

For a moment, he just stared at her, convinced that he had heard wrong, and then his eyes widened in shock. "What?" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Mimi's face turned pink, and she quickly lowered her eyes to the ground. "Will you please keep your voice down? Someone might hear us!"

"You're kidding," he sputtered, staring at her in astonishment. "When did this happen?"

Mimi remained silent, and he shook his head in disbelief. "I didn't think you were interested in anyone at the moment. How did this happen?"

"I don't know!" she wailed, covering her face with her hands. "It just did, and there's nothing I can do about it!"

Mimi's in love with my best friend. What in the Digiworld is going on here?

Maybe they were all going crazy. That was the only explanation that made sense.

"Mimi..."

Mimi wiped the tears from her eyes and turned to gaze up at the sky. "I think I may have felt this way about Matt for a while now, but I didn't really realize it until now."

"What brought about this revelation?" he asked quietly.

Mimi twisted her hands together and sighed. "I'm not sure. I spoke to him earlier today, and it was like something had just clicked inside my head. Do you understand now why I feel the same way that you feel?"

He stared thoughtfully at her for a moment, and then his mouth fell open in utter shock.

Sora's dating Matt, and she's Mimi's best friend! Mimi's in love with Matt, but she can't say anything because of Sora! This is exactly like what I'm going through! Matt's my best friend, and he's in love with Sora. That means that I can't reveal my feelings to her!

This sudden understanding made his heart ache with sadness, and he hugged Mimi tightly. "I'm really sorry," he whispered in her ear. "I know what it's like to be hurt by two people that you love, and it's not something I'd wish on anyone. You're right, Mimi. You do understand what I'm going through, more than I ever thought you would. Your situation is exactly the same as mine."

"What are we going to do?" she asked, her voice trembling.

He made a face and gave her a sad smile. "The only thing we can do. We have to keep quiet. You don't want to hurt them, do you?"

"Of course not!" she replied, her amber eyes filling with sudden emotion. "They deserve to be happy. If that means hurting myself, then so be it. If I told Sora about my feelings for Matt, I know it would hurt her, and I just can't bring myself to do that. Unfortunately I might end up hurting her anyway, if she finds out about my feelings without me telling her."

"Exactly," he murmured.

"Oh, Tai," she whispered, hiding her face against his shoulder. "It's so hard, and I don't know if I'm going to be able to do this. It hurts so much."

"I know, but if I can do it, then so can you," he said softly. "Um...Mimi? What made you decide to tell me this?"

"I knew you would understand," she mumbled.

He let out a sigh and nodded his head. "Do I ever!"

"Besides, it's not like I can tell Sora," she added, giving him a weak smile.

He stared hard at her face and turned to look back at the school. "You have been avoiding Sora, haven't you?"

"Yes," she whispered. "I know that seems a little childish, but I just can't face her right now. I have to get control of my emotions first before I even think about talking to her!"

"No kidding!" he muttered.

"I wasn't going to tell you at first because I thought that you'd be mad at me for eavesdropping on you and Kari," she said softly. "I was afraid that you might not want to speak to me."

"No way," he replied. "Kari did the same thing, so it isn't that big of a deal. Besides, I'm glad you did, otherwise you wouldn't have told me about your feelings for Matt."

"Tai, there's something else you should know," she whispered, avoiding his eyes. "Matt doesn't know what's wrong with you, yet, but he is aware of the fact that I know what's wrong with you."

Tai froze and stared at her in horror. "How?" he managed to gasp.

"I told him," she said simply. "Listen, Tai. You and I are going to do our best to keep our feelings a secret, but I have a feeling that they're going to come out anyway, and we have to be prepared in case that happens. Deep down inside, I think Matt knows why you've been acting so strange lately. He's your best friend, Tai, and he loves you. He's going to find out what's wrong with you, whether you tell him or not. It's only a matter of time before he starts to realize what's going on, and I know that's what you want. The same thing is going to happen to me, too. Sora's my best friend. She's going to be able to figure out what's wrong with me eventually. When they do find out, they're going to be very hurt, and we're going to have to make them understand why we kept quiet. Like I said earlier, if they find out that we're keeping this secret from them, then there's a good chance that we'll lose their friendship. We can't let that happen."

"Until then, you and I will support each other," he said quietly. "Mimi, Matt's coming over to my apartment this afternoon."

For a moment, she looked surprised, but then she nodded. "Obviously he wants to fix things between the two of you, even if he won't admit it. You want this, Tai. I know you do. If he finds out what's wrong with you, don't try to deny it. That will only make things worse. Your friendship with Matt is too important to give up. The same goes for me and Sora. Don't worry, Tai. Everything will be okay. I know it."

"I hope you're right," he whispered, giving her a nervous smile. Mimi was right. Deep down, he wanted Matt to figure out what was wrong with him, but that did not stop him from feeling uneasy about the conversation that was still to take place between them.

"I still can't believe you're in love with Matt," he said, staring at her in amazement. "I have to admit, I never saw this coming!"

"Neither did I," she said, smiling faintly.

He hugged her tightly and gave her a sad smile. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I don't know," she whispered. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Come on. Let's get back to the lunch room before Yolei starts to get suspicious."

"At least we have each other to lean on," he said, getting to his feet. "It's nice to know I'm not alone."

"I know what you mean," she replied, standing up and putting an arm around him. "We'll help each other out as much as we can."

"Hey, Mimi?" he said, giving her a hesitant look. "I suggest you take your own advice when it comes to Sora. You said it yourself, if Matt finds out about me, then Sora's going to find out about you."

"I know," she whispered. "Trust me, Tai, I'm well aware of the fact that I contradicted myself earlier. Honestly, I don't know what to do anymore."

"Me either," he murmured.

They started back towards the school, and he turned to gaze up at the sky with a heavy heart.

How are either one of us going to be strong enough to handle this?

They had to find a way because the loss of a friend was not something that either one of them wanted to face. In their eyes, friendship always came first, and that was going to have to be enough for both of them.