After a while Clasko and Tidus slowly broke apart.

"So…? How was your fist kiss?" Clasko asked with a shy smile on his face.

"It was great." Tidus replied, returning the smile. "Yours?"

"Excellent. Everything I imagined."

"That's good."

"So…now what do we do?"

"I don't know." Tidus replied. "What would you like?"

"Is it…okay if we just stay friends?"

"Of course. I didn't expect anything but a first kiss from you, CJ."

"Phew. Good. But…could we like practice on each other if we say…lose confidence in ourselves?"

Tidus smiled, "Certainly. We'll be friends with kissing benefits. Sound good?"

Clasko chuckled, "Definitely."

The blonde released Clasko and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Clasko smirked and ruffled Tidus' hair gently. The two teens were making sure they had everything packed up and ready to go when Shuyin and Lenne came walking up the beach.

"All right. Are we ready to head home?" Shuyin asked.

"Yup. We're ready to go." Tidus replied.

"We'll say goodbye here since we're going separate ways when we reach town." Lenne said.

Shuyin nodded and gave Lenne a little wave, "Bye Lenne. See you in school on Monday if not sooner."

"Yeah." The girl replied with a smile. "Bye Shuyin. See you later Tidus…CJ."

"See you, Lenne." Tidus and Clasko said in unison.

Everyone climbed into their respective vehicles and buckled up. Lenne drove off first so Shuyin could follow her back to town. Clasko yawned and leaned back into his seat. He was already starting to feel sore.

"So did you two have fun?" Shuyin asked.

"Yup." Tidus nodded.

"M-hm." Clasko replied with another yawn.

The ride back was fairly quiet. Everyone was tired.

"Good thing it's Sunday tomorrow. I don't think I could make it to school tomorrow." Clasko said.

Shuyin chuckled softly, "Yeah. Just wait and see how sore you are tomorrow morning."

"I can't wait."

Shuyin and Tidus laughed. Clasko just smirked and snuggled back against the seat, closing his eyes lightly. Once they reached town Shuyin and Tidus waved as Lenne took her turn off. She waved back and drove off.

"You sure you know how to get home?" Tidus asked.

"Yeah. Is Clasko sleeping over?"

"Oh…" The blonde looked in the backseat where Clasko was fast asleep. "No. We'll have to wake him up and get directions to his house."

Tidus unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned into the backseat, shaking his friend's shoulder. Clasko awoke with a big yawn and even though he was half asleep managed to give them directions to his house. Shuyin pulled up in the Alastair's driveway. Clasko and Tidus said their goodbyes and Shuyin got out of the truck to help Clasko with his surfboard. Once the brunette got into his garage Shuyin bid goodbye to the brunette and returned to his truck. Tidus muffled a yawn behind his hand as Shuyin buckled up and drove off.

"Early bedtime for Tiddles…" Shuyin cooed.

"Oh shut up." Tidus grinned, giving his brother's shoulder a gentle shove.

The sun was nearly set and the porch light was on when Shuyin pulled into the garage. The blonde looked at his watch.

"9:31, not bad." Shuyin said.

Tidus nodded and yawned again. Shuyin turned his vehicle off and the two blondes got out. Tidus collected their picnic basket and gear while Shuyin put their surfboards away. They locked the garage up and went inside to find Auron and Rin sitting on the couch together. Rin looked up and smiled at them as they approached.

"Hey there. How was your day?" He asked, patting the couch beside him.

Tidus sat down beside Rin and leaned against him with a yawn. "Good…but tiring."

Rin smiled and gently petted Tidus' hair. "I can see that."

"Tidus is just a wuss." Shuyin teased, sitting beside his brother.

Tidus snorted and gave his brother a small kick. Shuyin just grinned.

"Any plans for tomorrow?" Auron asked.

"Not as of now." The older blonde replied. "How did your guys' vehicle search go?"

Rin sighed, "Found some nice vehicles but nothing we can afford right now…"

"Just wait until Luzzu moves over here and I finally settle in. Once we're not constantly moving the money supply should become more steady." Auron said, stroking Rin's hair.

Rin smiled and leaned over, kissing Auron on the cheek. "It's all right, Auron. I can buy a bus pass. There's no need to worry yourself."

"If you two are going to get all mushy I'm outta here." Shuyin said.

"Oh Auron! You're sooooo cute!" Rin cooed, pressing a bunch of kisses on Auron's cheek.

"Ugh. Gross." Shuyin said, getting up and walking off.

Rin laughed and Auron smirked, changing the channel. With another yawn Tidus moved to lie down and use his guardian's lap as a pillow. Rin smiled down at Tidus and stroked the teen's hair until he fell asleep. After that Auron turned the TV off and carried Tidus to bed before leading Rin off to bed.

-----------------------------------

Birds were singing. Tidus opened one eye to see Shuyin's bed empty and sunlight spilling in through the open blinds. With a huge, long yawn the blonde rolled over to look at his clock.

Oh wow. I slept in…

It was nearly noon. Tidus rolled onto his back and stretched his arms over his head. He was sore but not overly so. The teen got out of bed and dressed for the day. He walked down the hall to the kitchen and found two notes on the kitchen table for him. The first was from Auron:

Luzzu is going to be arriving here tomorrow so I've gone downtown to make sure his apartment is secured and waiting for him. Rin had a job interview not far from the apartment so he came with me. We'll be back around two or so. You and Shuyin looked so peaceful in your sleep…Rin wouldn't let me wake you.

Tidus chuckled and shook his head. He picked up the second note and read it:

Hey bro. I've gone to play skeeball with Wakka down at the docks. You can join us if you want, there's directions on the back of this note, but Lulu phoned around 11ish so your buddies might want to invite you out somewhere. Either way…I'll be back around four-thirty.

The blonde set Shuyin's note back on the table and pondered things over. He ate a quick breakfast/lunch then picked up the phone, dialling Lulu's number. After a few rings a man with a rather deep voice answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi. May I speak to Lulu please?"

"Yeah. One moment."

Tidus heard the man call for Lulu. A few minutes later she came to the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi Lulu. Shuyin told me you called."

"Hey Tidus! You're up finally. I was just about to give up on you."

"Yeah." The blonde chuckled. "Did a lot of surfing yesterday. So…what's up?"

"Gippal, Baralai, Chappu, Paine, and I are going shopping for Halloween costumes. Want to come?"

"Huh?" Tidus looked at the calendar. "It's only October first tomorrow. Isn't it a bit early?"

"Believe me Tidus, this town takes its holidays seriously. If you want to get the best Halloween gear you gotta go early."

"Well uh…" Tidus took his wallet out of his back pocket and opened it. He had $40. "Okay. Count me in."

"Great. Meet me at my house in half an hour."

Lulu gave Tidus instructions to her house and they hung up the phone. Tidus sighed and ran one hand through his hair. He didn't know what he wanted to be for Halloween.

-------------------------------

It took Tidus twenty minutes to find Lulu's house. When he approached Lulu and Baralai were sitting on the front porch having a smoke. Chappu was lazing in a porch chair nearby.

"Ah. You made it." Lulu grinned.

"Yeah." Tidus climbed up the porch steps.

"Paine should be here soon. Gippal is bringing Rikku so he'll probably be late if he has to pick her up from her place."

"Okay." Tidus nodded.

"Have a seat." Lulu said.

The blonde nodded again and sat in the empty chair beside Chappu. Baralai finished off his cigarette and threw the butt into a coffee can on the porch.

"So who did you go surfing with?" Lulu asked.

"Shuyin, Lenne, and Clasko." Tidus replied.

"Who's Clasko?" Chappu asked.

"A boy in my Chemistry class. He's in the tenth grade but he's trying to get a head start for next year."

"Clasko…" Baralai murmured. "That sounds familiar. I think we went to the same junior high. Is he rather tall with brown hair?"

"Yeah." Tidus replied.

"I think he was in a few of my classes in junior high. He was a quiet kid."

"Hey guys."

The group looked up to see Paine ride up on her bike.

"Hi Paine." Lulu replied. "Gippal's going to be late since he's picking Rikku up."

"All right."

Paine parked her bike and walked up onto the porch. She sat with Baralai and put her feet up.

"So have you guys decided what you're going to be?" She asked.

"Morticia Adams. I saw a wicked Morticia costume in the catalogue a few weeks ago." Lulu replied. "What about you?"

"I dunno. I was thinking Catwoman or something like that. Boys?"

"I don't know." Chappu shook his head.

"I don't know either." Tidus replied.

"I think maybe a vampire." Baralai answered.

"Weren't you a vampire last year?" Paine asked.

"No. I was James Bond last year."

"Oh right."

Ten minutes ticked by before Gippal's car drove up. He honked the horn briefly and Lulu waved at him.

"Come on. You guys can all come in Jaime's car." Lulu said.

They got up and walked to Jaime's car which was parked in the driveway. Lulu and Paine got in the front. Baralai, Chappu, and Tidus squished into the back. Gippal drove off and Lulu backed out of the driveway, following him.

"Did you have a Holiday Central in your old town Tidus?" Chappu asked.

"Nope. Is that where we're going?"

"Yeah. It's a really awesome store. It takes up two stories of this building. It's always got the best holiday stuff."

"What do you guys think of Rikku?" Paine asked out of the blue.

Baralai snorted softly and looked out his window. Tidus looked at him briefly and smiled sympathetically at him.

"Uh…I don't know. I haven't talked to her that much. She seems nice." Chappu replied. "Why?"

"Well Gippal has usually popped cherry and left them behind by now…but he's still with Rikku. I'm just wondering if there's something special about her that Gippal likes or if she's just holding out on him."

"The former probably." Baralai replied. "If she were holding out she'd be gone by now."

"Gippal is a jerk. Remind me why we're friends with him." Lulu grinned.

"Because he can be nice when he wants to." Chappu replied with a chuckle of his own. "And he wasn't a cherry hound until he hit high school so it's safe to blame his behaviour on late puberty or something…"

"Or maybe he finally realized my feelings for him and wants to show me, himself, and everyone around him how straight he is by boning every attractive female virgin he meets."

The car fell into silence. Tidus blinked and rubbed the back of his head, unsure of how to respond to that.

"Don't be such an emo bitch." Paine finally said. "Y'know that girl, Tifa? The one that had hair down to her ankles? Gippal didn't even notice when Tifa got most of her hair chopped off. The boy just ain't observant. I highly doubt he knows that you have wood for him. Chappu's late puberty theory is the best I've heard so far."

The corners of Baralai's lips twitched as he tried not to smile. Tidus and Chappu chuckled softly and the quiet tension in the car melted away.

"Here we are." Lulu said, making a right turn into a parking lot.

Lulu parked the car and everyone got out. Gippal parked a few spaces away and he and Rikku emerged from the vehicle.

"You know everyone here, right Rikku-baby?" Gippal asked.

"M-hm." Rikku nodded, blowing a huge pink bubble with her bubblegum.

The group made their way inside and Tidus looked around in awe. It was indeed a huge store filled to the brim with almost every Halloween goodie you could imagine. They made their way to the rows upon rows of costumes and started to browse. Lulu found her costume right away so she decided to help Tidus find one.

"Did you have anything specific in mind?" She asked.

"No. I've never thought about a costume this early before." Tidus replied. "Usually I just put on some of Rin's old, ripped clothes, put dirt makeup on my face, and call myself a hobo."

"How about a mummy? We could go next door to the drugstore, buy a few rolls of bandages, and wrap you up."

"I don't know…maybe."

The pair continued to browse. The next rack over Gippal picked out a Batman costume. Paine was right beside him searching for a Catwoman costume in her size. Chappu was in the makeup aisle, deciding if he wanted to be a zombie or not, and Baralai was looking for a "not too fruity" vampire costume. Rikku was running up and down the "girlie aisle" searching for the perfect costume. She was thinking maybe a belly dancer or a Playboy Bunny.

Half an hour ticked by. Everyone had their costumes picked out except for Tidus. Everyone was trying to help him but the blonde really didn't know what he wanted to be.

"Here…" Lulu grinned, pulling an adult-sized Dalmatian costume off the rack. "I think you'd make a cute Dalmatian."

Tidus looked at the price tag. It was one of the cheaper costumes there and the blonde wasn't really into Halloween so he didn't care about having a "cool" costume.

"Sure. Why not." He said with a shrug.

"Really?" Paine laughed. "You'll look so cute!"

Tidus and Lulu went down the makeup aisle and found a package that had both white and black face paint in it. The teens then took their purchases to the front desk and paid for them. Everything set Tidus back $20 but that was better than the elaborate $30-$40 costumes that they had suggested before. Once everyone paid and they were back out in the parking lot Lulu asked if everyone wanted to go out for an ice-cream.

"Nah. Rikku and I have a date." Gippal replied. "So long, guys."

"Bye." His friends replied in unison, though Baralai said it with less enthusiasm.

Gippal threw his and Rikku's bags into his trunk before they climbed into the blonde's vehicle. Lulu watched Gippal speed off before turning to her friends.

"What about the rest of you?" She asked.

"Sure. I just have to be home before four though." Paine said.

"I'm free." Tidus replied.

"I could go for an ice-cream." Chappu said, licking his lips. "Baralai?"

"Yeah sure…" Baralai murmured, looking out at where Gippal sped off.

"Where should we go?" Lulu asked, unlocking her car and getting in.

"The docks." Chappu replied. "There's a good ice-cream stand there and Wakka's there somewhere playing skeeball with…Shuyin I think."

"Yeah." Tidus nodded. "That's where Shuyin said he was."

Everyone piled into the car and buckled up.

"All right. To the docks we go." Lulu said.

The brunette started the car and drove off. Tidus was amazed to discover that the docks weren't far from his house. Probably only a half hour walk or so. The docks were also packed with teenagers. Lulu had to find a spot in the overflow parking area.

"Wow. This is a popular place." Tidus remarked as he exited the car.

"Yeah. The docks are lined with arcades, junk shops, food stands, music stores, surf shops…all that stuff. It's a really teenager-oriented place." Paine replied.

Chappu led his friends through the crowds to his favorite ice-cream stand. It was called "The Bee's Knees Ice-Cream" and it was run by a sweet elderly woman. Chappu swore that she never took a day off work and today was no exception. She smiled widely when she spotted Chappu.

"Chappu. Nice to see you again." She said.

"Lovely day, huh Mrs. Holloway?"

"Yes, very lovely."

The redhead took a hold of Tidus' wrist and pulled him forward. "This is my friend Tidus, Mrs. Holloway. He just moved here."

"Oh how nice. You'll love it here!" Mrs. Holloway exclaimed.

"It's a very nice town." Tidus replied with a smile.

Mrs. Holloway smiled at Lulu, Paine, and Baralai. "It's nice to see you all again. What can I get you?"

"Cherry mint swirl for me." Paine replied.

"Chocolate please." Lulu and Chappu said at the same time.

Lulu gave Chappu a semi-look, Chappu blushed, and Tidus chuckled.

"Vanilla pecan for me, please." Baralai said.

"And uhm…" Tidus looked the menu over. "I'll have…Peach, please."

Mrs. Holloway nodded and went about scooping ice-cream. When Tidus went to dig change out of his pocket Mrs. Holloway shook her head.

"Consider it my house warming gift to you." She said.

"Thank-you." Tidus replied.

"No problem, sonny. Now you and your friends enjoy this sunny day!"

"We will." They all chorused as they walked off.

"What a lovely woman…" Tidus remarked, licking his ice-cream.

"Mrs. Holloway is the best." Chappu said. "She's been working there since Wakka and I were young."

"Speaking of Wakka…where do you think he and Shuyin are?" Baralai asked.

"I don't know. Which place has the best skeeball?"

"Hmn… 'Mac's Arcade' I think." Paine murmured thoughtfully. "I seem to remember Wakka raving about that place's skeeball. Whether or not it was a good rave I don't remember."

"Mac's Arcade it is. Let's check it out." Lulu said.

The teens walked along the boardwalk slowly, enjoying their ice-cream, and the nice day. As they got closer to the arcade Lulu spotted Lenne and a few other cheerleaders standing outside the arcade. Tidus stopped short. Dona was standing in that crowd. Baralai noticed that Tidus had stopped walking and turned to the blonde.

"Tidus? What's wrong?" He asked.

Everyone else stopped to look at Tidus.

"Tidus?" Lulu walked up to him. "Are you ok?"

"Uhm…no. You know…I'm not feeling so good all of the sudden. I think I'm going to go home…"

"What? You can't walk if you feel sick. I'll drive you." Lulu replied.

"N-no. It's okay…" Tidus looked at the crowd of cheerleaders briefly. Barthello had come out of the arcade and was now standing beside Dona. "I need the walk."

Baralai frowned slightly. He glanced at the gaggle of cheerleaders then looked back at Tidus. "Did you have a run in with Dona and Barthello?"

Tidus' cheeks turned red and he didn't respond.

Lulu frowned, "What did that asshole do to you?"

"Nothing much." Tidus replied quietly. "Just pushed me against a car."

Chappu glared in Barthello's general direction before speaking. "Was that the day you and Shuyin gave Wakka a ride home? When I asked why he missed the bus he avoided the subject."

"Yeah…that was the day…"

Baralai walked up to Tidus and wrapped one arm around the boy's shoulders. "Barthello is an easily manipulated dingus and Dona is…well…she's just a bitch. Neither will do anything to you with us around. They might say some shit but they'll quickly learn to shut their mouths if they don't want to deal with me."

Tidus looked up at his much taller friend and smiled weakly. "Thank-you…but…I'd rather just go home."

"You can't let them bully you, Tidus." Paine said. "I know it's hard to deal with but if you let them push you around and run your life then you're letting them win."

"Come on. I bet Wakka, Shuyin, and the Aurochs are inside the arcade. They're really nice." Chappu smiled.

"And since Lenne is here I'm certain Yuna is here too. She's one of the nice ones too." Lulu added.

"Well…" Tidus licked some of his melting ice-cream off the cone. "Okay."

"Good boy." Baralai smiled.

With Baralai's arm still around his shoulders Tidus walked towards the arcade with his friends. Dona looked like she had something to say when she spotted them but quickly shut her mouth when Baralai gave her a really frosty look. Lenne was the complete opposite of Dona. When she saw Tidus she smiled widely and waved.

"Hi Tidus. Your brother is inside getting his ass kicked in skeeball." She giggled.

Tidus laughed softly, "Guess I better go help him out then."

Lenne nodded, "You better."

The girl waved again as Tidus and his friends went into the arcade.

"Let me guess. You're only being nice to the wussy twat so you can get into his big brother's pants." Dona said.

Lenne frowned, "You have a crappy attitude, Dona."

Lenne would've said more but her cell phone rang and her call display said it was her mother. She couldn't ignore the call or her mother would get paranoid and call the police. The brunette flipped her phone open and walked off to talk with her mother.

To be continued…

Awww. Baralai is protecting Tidus. How cute… :3 /sappiness. I'm fine. Really. I've just been living off of candy, Kool-Aid, and beef stew for the past few days :D;; R&R Please:).