Part Five: A Secret Exposed

Chapter Four: After the ordeal

Kari rolled over in her state of semi-consciousness, snuggling herself against the muscular torso of her boyfriend. His arm wrapped itself around her. There was nowhere in either this world or the digital one that she would rather be right now. Within Tai's embrace, she felt safe and content. She brought her hand up and intertwined her fingers with his. It was heart-breaking to think that soon they must part. However, their parents could be home any minute now and… Kari's brain suddenly woke up and realised that she had been asleep. Her eyes snapped open and found the green digits of her alarm clock; 9:03 am.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, struggling to keep her voice down. Frantically, she turned around. "Tai, wake up!" she hissed, giving him an unceremonious shove. There was no time to try and wake him nicely.

Tai raised his head up from the pillow and struggled to open his eyes. "Wah?" he uttered groggily, completely oblivious to the situation.

"Damn it, Tai," Kari cursed, "we don't have time for your cute clueless morning routine." Between her thumb and forefinger, she grabbed one of his nipples and twisted.

"Ow…mmph!" he yelled, but swiftly found a hand over his mouth. "Wha te 'ell, 'ari!"

"Keep, your voice down," she hissed firmly, lowering her hand from her boyfriend's mouth. "Tai, we fell asleep last night and now it's morning."

"Shit," he replied in a low voice, feeling a large bubble of panic rise up from his stomach and burst. "What do we do?"

"Well, since we didn't get woken up in the middle of the night by screaming parents, I think it's safe to assume that neither mom nor dad decided to check in on us when they got home."

Tai nodded in agreement, that seemed like a safe assumption. However, it still left them with the question of, "so what do we do?"

"Either hope that no one is awake yet, or get you into your room without anyone noticing."

Tai looked at the clock. "I like plan A, but suspect that we'll need to run with plan B."

"Probably. Let me put on some pyjama's and then I'll go see if anyone's awake," Kari said as she disentangled herself from the covers and sat up. When she stood up, she felt a slight stab of pain from inside her vagina. She winced. Well, that shouldn't have come as a surprise. Between her legs felt slightly sticky and a quick glance revealed a slight smearing of blood on her inner thighs. That probably meant she'd need to change the bedsheets and launder them before her mom had that chance to notice. She found her pyjamas and slipped them on.

Tai followed suit, got out of his sister's bed and found his boxers amidst their discarded clothing. Given that he couldn't be seen leaving her room, he'd be dead either way. However, if that were to happen, he'd rather go out with a shred of modesty. He pulled them on. Suppressing a fear he had not felt since Etamon's electric fences, he joined his sister at the door.

"Ok, I'll head out and see if the coast is clear. If it's not, I'll try and distract mom and/or dad until you can make it to your room. However, you might have to sit tight for a bit." Kari looked him up and down and couldn't help but smile. "You know, there's something quite delicious about you when your all nervous and clad only in your undies."

Tai gave her a sour look. "This is not the time for you to leer at me."

Kari flashed him a wicked grin as she opened the door and slipped out. In the hallway, she could hear the sound of running water coming from the bathroom, meaning that their parents were definitely awake, but that one of them was safely out of the way… for now. Heading into the main living area, she located her mother in the kitchen. Unable to offer Tai any sort of signal, she did the only thing she could think of, "morning, Mom," she greeted, hoping it was enough to indicate that the coast was clear.

Tai too could hear the sound of the shower coming from the bathroom. Sneaking a glance after his sister, he observed her stop in front of the kitchen and greet their mom. The woman's reply told him that she was in the kitchen. He was about to make a break for it when he caught sight of her head for the dining table. Hastily he pulled his head back inside.

"How was your night out," Kari asked, internally cursing the fact that the woman had chosen that precise moment to go and put a pot of coffee on the table.

"A few drinks too long," her mom replied with a half-smile and poured herself a mug of coffee. "This is the first time I've had any sort of hangover in…." she trailed off as she tried to recall.

"Did you at least have a good time?" Kari quizzed, skilfully taking the opportunity to shepherd her mom into the chair facing away from the hallway.

Her mom laughed as she sipped her coffee, "too good. Life lesson, Kari, always know when to call it a night."

"Sounds easier said than done."

Back in his sister's bedroom, Tai risked another glance down the hallway towards the main living area. Perfect, he thought as he watched Kari guide their mom into the chair. Creeping out into the hallway, he closed the bedroom door as quietly as he could, blissfully unaware that the shower had stopped. Taking care not to step on the squeaky board he tiptoed down the hall. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a doorknob rattling. He froze, eyes darting towards the bathroom. Shit! He only had one choice and would have to just run the risk of his mom turning around at the sound of his footsteps. He darted towards the bathroom door, pulling up just in front of it as his father opened it.

The man jumped, "bloody hell, Tai!"

"Sorry, Dad, but I really need the loo." He stepped out of his father's way and quickly darted around him the moment he had cleared the doorway; just for effect.

From the dining table, Kari had to stifle a laugh, having seen the whole thing. However, there was an overriding feeling of relief that she and Tai had gotten away with such a major screw up. There was a lesson to be learned here. They would have to be far more careful in future.