Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

-o-

A/N: Sorry, again, for the delay in getting this out!

-o-o-o-o-o-

He doesn't want me there.

That was the only thought racing through Yamato's mind, as the teen himself raced through the crowd.

Yamato didn't really know how long he had been running for. All he knew was that he was completely out of breath and sweat was trickling down his back and forehead. He was still in his school uniform, which was making him even hotter. He leaned his head to the right, wiping away the perspiration from his temple and onto the fabric covering his shoulder.

Glancing around at his surroundings, Yamato walked over to a swing set. He sat down, grabbing the chains and lightly pushing off the ground. The gentle swaying of the swing calmed his nerves somewhat.

It was the same playground he had been sleeping in before Jou had found him. Six days ago.

The swig stopped moving abruptly.

Had it really only been six days?

Yamato brought a hand down from the chain, staring at his palm. Yes, it had indeed been less than a week. Why did it feel like he had known everyone for so much longer? How did he already feel happy? Not even a month had passed since his father's passing.

His hand went up to grab the chain again and the swing started moving.

It wasn't fair.

It wasn't fair for Taichi to make him feel like he belonged, only to rip that away from him.

The swing picked up pace.

It wasn't fair.

It wasn't fair for Taichi to make him feel so many things, only to have those shoved back in his face like they meant nothing.

The swing kept climbing higher.

It just wasn't fair.

Yamato had literally been carried into the home and made to stay—

But wait.

The swing slowed and stopped.

Hadn't they said that Yamato could stay until he found somewhere else? Hadn't they said that he could stay until he'd decided about his future accommodations?

Yamato's hands fell from the chains.

Hadn't one of the first things Taichi asked him been about when he'd go back?

Had Taichi deliberately forgotten to make a spare key for him? Had Meiko? The woman didn't strike Yamato as forgetful or irresponsible, so had it been on purpose?

Yamato continued staring at the ground.

A father and his child passed by, but didn't enter the playground. In the few nights Yamato had spent there, no one had ventured in. The emptiness had been what had drawn Yamato to the playground in the first place. He had figured that no one would bother him if there were no visitors to the area.

Yamato would have lived alone under the slide. He would have stayed there until he either froze to death or found accommodation he could have afforded.

Instead, Taichi had dragged him out of there.

Yamato pushed at the ground, starting the swing in motion again.

It came back to Taichi, didn't it?

Jou had been the one to find him, sure, but Taichi had bodily moved him out of the playground.

Taichi had worried about Yamato. Taichi had shared his bed with Yamato. Taichi had promised to 'provide' for Yamato.

Why was Taichi shoving it all in his face now, and telling Yamato to move back?

Yamato almost fell off the swing as the one next to his rattled and he heard a quiet "hey."

Yamato's head swivelled to look at the newcomer. Blue met brown.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

The words triggered something in Yamato's memory. It had been an hour or so since he had last heard a statement like that. Taichi had surprised him after Takeru had left. And he had apologised with more-or-less the same phrase.

"Yamato? Did you hear a word I just said?"

The blond was startled out of his thoughts and his eyes returned to the brown ones of his friend.

"Sorry, I was…" He didn't know how to finish that one, so his eyes fell to the ground again.

A gentle hand fell on Yamato's shoulder.

"Please talk to me."

"…I don't know what to say…"

"Tell me what's hurting you!"

The other swing rattled and soon Yamato found himself staring upwards at the figure standing in front of him.

"Daisuke…"

"Please tell me what's hurting you this bad." Daisuke's eyes were teary. "I want to help, but I can't unless you tell me how."

"I'm not hurting—"

"Bullshit! I know you are. I can see it, Yamato. So cut the crap and talk to me. I'm your best friend, for fuck's sake, and I—" Daisuke cut himself off, forcing his emotions under control. He took a deep breath. "I care about you and I want to help. I know talking about it will help. I know it doesn't seem like it would, but a problem shared really is a problem halved. Please, Yamato."

Yamato bit his lip, still staring up into the face of his best friend. "I'm sorry, Daisuke—"

"Is it your mother? I know you don't like her, so is that it? Is she treating you badly? Do you want to spend a few nights at my place? You can come over whenever you want. Even in the middle of the night. Anytime."

Daisuke's eyes were full of such sincerity that Yamato had to look away. He didn't say anything.

With a barely audible sigh, Daisuke kneeled down, placing his hands on Yamato's knees.

"Is it school?" Daisuke continued his guessing, though with a much gentler voice. "I know you never planned on taking the vocational route. Is that what's bothering you?"

At last, Yamato shook his head.

"Okay," Daisuke said, nodding. "We're getting somewhere."

Yamato's lips turned up in a slight smile. This was the Daisuke Yamato knew; always throwing a speck of humour into even the tightest situation.

"So is it a family problem?"

Yamato hesitated. He wasn't ready to tell Daisuke about his current living situation. Not yet.

Yamato nodded.

"Good, good." Daisuke was nodding again, glad he was getting somewhere with Yamato. "Are you being treated unfairly?"

"I'm not wanted there."

It was the truth, but it also wasn't all of the truth.

All traces of humour vanished from Daisuke's eyes and he gave Yamato's knees a squeeze. Yamato had gotten so used to the warmth of the hands that he'd forgotten about them altogether.

"Like I said, you can come over to my place anytime you want. Or just call me if you need anything. Even if you just want someone to tell you that you're wanted. I'll never push you away."

Yamato let his hands fall from the chains and onto Daisuke's. He gave the tanner hands a squeeze.

"Thank you." It was meant to come out as sincere, but it sounded quite choked to Yamato's own ears. He hoped Daisuke got the message.

Daisuke smiled and stood up. He stretched his arms above his head. "Do you want me to walk you to the bus stop? Or do you want to spend the night tonight?"

Yamato shook his head, also getting up from the swing.

"Sure?"

"Yeah, thanks, though."

"Anytime. And I really mean that."

Yamato wasn't sure why, but he leaned towards Daisuke and kissed the corner of his mouth. "Thank you," he whispered, pulling back.

As Daisuke walked off in a daze, Yamato had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep a huge grin from splitting his face. It was nice to feel wanted.

"I thought he wasn't your boyfriend." Came another voice from behind Yamato.

With a roll of his eyes, Yamato shoved his hands into his pockets and started towards one of the gates out of the playground. "I can change my mind, Taichi."

Taichi frowned and took a few running steps to catch up to Yamato. "Sure you can, but you were so adamant abou—"

"Shove it."

There was a grin in Taichi's voice: "Where and how hard?"

Yamato stopped walking, glaring at Taichi. "I thought you were straight," he mocked.

Taichi just shrugged, continuing to walk, past Yamato, towards their home. "You know, I looked everywhere for you. I was actually worried, and all along you were here fooling around with your boyfriend."

Yamato still didn't move, crossing his arms. "I wasn't 'fooling around,' as you put it. And he's not my boyfriend."

"I thought you changed your mind," Taichi mimicked Yamato's earlier mocking tone. He, too, had stopped walking. Taichi let out a sigh. "Come on, everyone's waiting for us."

"You go ahead."

Taichi's eyes narrowed. "Don't make me drag you home. I've carried you out of this playground once, I can do it again."

Yamato's arms fell to his sides, fists and teeth clenched tight. His eyes were shimmering in the fluorescent light of the lamps. "Would you just make up your fucking mind?" He gritted out, trying to glare and blink the tears away at the same time.

Frowning in concern, Taichi took a few steps back towards Yamato. "What are you on about?"

"You!"

"What about me?" Taichi near-shouted back.

"Do you want me there or don't you? Make up your mind!"

"The fuck are you on about? Want you where?"

"At home—your place—Mimi's house—whatever. You carry me there, then you ask me when I'll be leaving, then you treat me like I'm part of the group, and now you're asking when I'll be moving back in with Takeru. How am I supposed to underst—"

"What. The. Hell?" Taichi stomped forward, standing face-to-face with Yamato now. "Why is this a fucking problem? Why would it even matter what I think and where I want you? It's your life and I couldn't care less—"

"See?" Yamato's face was turning a darker shade of red by the second and his fists were clenched so tight his fingernails were cutting into his palms. "This is what you're doing constantly! You keep giving me signals—"

"What 'signals?' I'm not giving you any damn—"

"Yes, you are! I ran away from my brother's because I'm not wanted there! I'm not fucking going to live in yet another place I'm not wanted! Do you have any idea how it feels to not be wanted? To not have a place to call 'home.' To be a fucking nuisance to every fucking person you meet. To never—"

Taichi cut Yamato off by wrapping him in a hug. He didn't know what to say.

Yamato buried his face into Taichi's shoulder, breathing strained and heavy.

"I," Taichi started, but left it at that. He only squeezed harder and started rubbing at Yamato's back. "Let's just go home, okay? We'll talk about this later; the others are probably worried." Taichi released Yamato from the hug, but kept a hold on the other's wrist. He gave a light tug, but waited for Yamato to take the first step.

Together, they left the park and took the shortcut home. It really was getting late…

-o-

"I really am sorry," Yamato was saying for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. He was in the kitchen with Jou and Sora, Taichi having retreated to their room after inhaling his dinner.

"I keep telling you it's fine;" Jou assured, "we ate the leftovers from the freezer. We don't expect you to be home early every single day. You are allowed to have fun with your friends and do other things after school."

"We have managed before you, you know," Sora added with a smile, "I can also cook, as long as I'm not late like I was today."

"But that's the thing," Yamato butted in, "we were both late on the same day."

"And we survived," Jou pointed out, "if worse comes to worst, we can just have snacks until one of you gets back. It's really not the end of the world."

"I suppose," Yamato admitted, "but I'm still sorry. I should have let you know in advance."

"Well, it would be nice if you did," Sora said, "but you can't always know these things in advance." She laughed. "I didn't even know I'd be late today, so I'm in the same situation."

"See?" Jou asked, placing a warm hand on Yamato's shoulder. "You don't have to earn your place in this house or anything like that."

"Right," Yamato said, though still slightly uncertain.

"Exactly," Sora said, moving to give Yamato a light hug. "All we expect from you is for you to be happy. And to finish your schooling," she finished with a wink.

Jou gave a yawn, moving his hand from Yamato's shoulder to Sora's. "Bedtime?" He asked them.

Both gave nods in response, wishing the others a 'good night.'

Yamato made his way to the bathroom, stalling for time. He really wasn't eager to be near Taichi right now. He had, for a brief second, contemplated sleeping on the couch, but then promptly remembered that they didn't have one.

Yamato spent an extra minute brushing his teeth and an extra minute washing his face. He spent the next minute staring at the mirror, cursing himself for not having a longer before-bed routine.

With a defeated sigh, Yamato walked out of the bathroom and through the door on the other side of the hallway. Maybe Taichi was already asleep.

"What took you so long?"

No such luck, apparently.

Yamato released a long breath and walked over to the bed, climbing in. He kept his back to Taichi. "Just talking to Jou and Sora."

"They went up a while ago," Taichi pointed out.

"Yeah, well, I was thinking about what they said."

"And trying to avoid me?"

"A bit."

"Harsh."

"You were the one that said it." Yamato's tone held a hint of amusement.

"True." Taichi shifted. "You'll fall off the bed if you don't come a bit further back. I promise I won't bother you in the middle of the night."

Yamato moved back a centimetre.

Taichi rolled his eyes. "Really?" He moved back so that he was touching the wall. "Come on, I want to get some sleep. We both have to be up tomorrow morning and I don't want to be waking up in the middle of the night to you falling out of bed. Properly now."

Unknowingly Yamato mirrored Taichi's eye-roll. He moved to his usual spot and felt Taichi move away from the wall.

"That's better," Taichi said, snuggling into the mattress. He kept his distance from Yamato, though.

It took both men longer than usual to fall asleep.

-o-o-o-

Yamato groaned as his alarm sounded the next morning. He shifted enough to reach the floor and turn it off, but, for once, he didn't get out of bed immediately. Next to him, Taichi turned from facing the wall to onto his back, having woken up to the alarm, too.

Sluggishly, Yamato dragged his body out of bed and into the bathroom, hoping that splashing his face with cold water would help. It didn't.

Taichi was in the kitchen when Yamato walked in, looking just as tired as the blond felt.

"Coffee." Was all Taichi said as he walked past Yamato and into the bathroom.

With a thankful nod that Taichi missed, Yamato poured himself a mug of the black drink. He took a whiff and already felt a bit better.

It was raining outside, Yamato noted, as he leaned against the counter and looked out the kitchen window. Dreary, grey clouds hung low and it didn't seem like it would clear up all day. Did they have umbrellas in the house?

Yamato sipped his coffee, staring at the raindrops sliding down the glass.

"You'll be kinda wet by the time you get to school," Taichi stated as he walked back into the kitchen rubbing his hair dry with a towel.

"We don't have umbrellas?" Yamato asked, wondering where the time had gone and when he had finished his drink. He gave his mug a quick rinse and stuck it into the cupboard.

"Nope. Well, we have one, but it's not very good at keeping the rain at bay. We haven't really bothered with umbrellas, since we have some rain ponchos—you know, the flimsy, cheap ones."

"Oh, well I suppose that's actually kind of better than an umbrella."

"Yeah, they tend to be, especially if it's windy."

An awkward silence followed. Neither had forgotten about their argument last night.

Taichi said 'hey' at the same time Yamato said 'listen.' Both paused for yet another awkward silence.

"Taichi, you're going to be late if you don't get going now," Jou announced, rushing into the kitchen, throwing rain ponchos left and right—one for Taichi and one for Yamato. Then he grabbed his mug from the cupboard and poured himself a coffee. He turned to lean on the counter where Yamato had been not two minutes ago. He regarded Yamato. "You might want to reserve a bit more time for walking to school, on account of the rain."

Yamato nodded and turned abruptly, walking back to his and Taichi's room. He could hear Jou scolding Taichi again, who apparently took heed and dashed into the room, throwing on some clothes; he had to change into his uniform at work, so it didn't much matter what he wore on the way there.

Taichi paused at the door on his way out, gripping at the doorframe, his back to the room and Yamato. "We'll talk later." With that, he was off, accidentally slamming the front door, hard, in his hurry.

With a heavy sigh, Yamato changed into his school uniform and grabbed his book bag. He didn't have much reason to loiter around at home, so he might as well head to school.

A bit over half an hour later, Yamato was at school, swapping his soaking outdoor shoes for his indoor ones. He also had a change of socks, so he wouldn't freeze to death during his first class.

"Good morning, Yamato! You're here early."

Yamato froze, but not from the post-rain coldness that was starting to set in.

Yamato cleared his throat gently and turned. "Good morning, Daisuke."

"Miserable weather, isn't it?" Daisuke shoved his shoes into his locker, a few lockers to the right and down from Yamato's. "Well, I do suppose it is already October. So it should rain by now, shouldn't it? Doesn't mean I have to like it. Good thing we got through September without rain, isn't it?"

Yamato didn't think Daisuke was expecting an answer to any of his questions, so he chose to change the topic: "How come you're here so early?"

"Oh, my sis left for her classes this morning and gave me a lift so I wouldn't have to walk in the rain, but she had to be at uni earlier, so I'm here early."

"Right."

The two stood at the shoe lockers a bit awkwardly for a few moments, looking anywhere but at each other.

Daisuke cleared his throat at which Yamato stiffened slightly.

"Um," Daisuke started, "about yesterday…" He scratched the back of his head nervously. "We should probably move somewhere a bit more private."

Yamato glanced at the students filing in through the doors behind Daisuke. He nodded and the two started towards a more secluded section of the school.

"Hey guys!" A female voice called out and the two males turned to see Miyako running their way, waving exuberantly. "What's up?" She asked, flinging her arms about both their shoulders.

Daisuke lifted her hand gently from his shoulders. "Actually." He threw a quick glance Yamato's way. "We were kind of hoping for a more private chat. So if you don't mind…"

Miyako gave him a weird look. It wasn't his style to be so smooth about these kinds of things; normally, he would have snapped at Miyako to leave. That would have started a spat.

"Sure," Miyako replied, flashing a smile and turning around to walk back the way she'd come. That left the two boys alone in the corridor.

"Would you be my boyfriend?" Daisuke blurted out. "Sorry," he continued at Yamato's shocked look. "But I just wanted to get that out before we're interrupted by something else cliché like the bell or a teacher, you know? I know it's kinda sudden, but I've liked you for a while and, yeah… I don't know how you feel—you're pretty good at not letting anything show, so I have no idea, but after last night… Well, I was kinda hoping you, you know, that you'd return those feelings..? Or, at least, you know, give it a try or something? Maybe?"

"I…" Yamato paused, half-hoping that the bell would indeed ring. It didn't; they were too early today. He licked his lips and noticed how Daisuke's eyes caught the movement. His tongue retreated into his mouth. "I—" He looked into Daisuke's hopeful brown eyes before closing his own briefly. "Yeah, sure, why not?" He smiled at Daisuke, who had the biggest grin on his face.

"Really?"

Yamato felt his own smile grow at seeing his friend so happy. "Yeah, sure."

"Really, really?"

This time Yamato actually laughed. "Yes, really."

Daisuke reached over to grab Yamato's hands in his. "You honestly mean that? You'll really be my boyfriend?"

Yamato flinched slightly. Right. Boyfriend. He had been so intent on making Daisuke happy that he had kind of lost sight of what their conversation was about.

"You have no idea how happy that makes me," Daisuke announced, not waiting for a response from Yamato. Then he leaned in and pecked Yamato on the lips. "Thank you."

Only then did the bell ring. Daisuke flashed Yamato a grin before dashing off towards his first class. Yamato started the trudge towards his own classroom. Had he done the right thing?

Yamato sat down in his seat, staring at the wooden table. Was he okay with being Daisuke's boyfriend? Daisuke was clearly happy, but was Yamato? Not that there was any going back now; Yamato couldn't hurt Daisuke like that...

The teacher walked in and Yamato stood and bowed on autopilot. He sat back down with his thoughts.

He didn't like Daisuke like that. Could he start? Was it possible to fall in love with someone after starting a relationship with them?

Yes, of course it was possible.

But did Yamato want to do that?

The answer to that wasn't as obvious. Sure, Daisuke was great. Last night had been... It had been a new side of Daisuke. A side that Yamato had known was there, but had never seen before.

Daisuke was great. He would make a great boyfriend. But...

Yamato let out a sigh and allowed his thoughts to fixate on the one thought—the one name—he had been trying to avoid throughout this internal debate: Taichi.

Yamato had a crush on Taichi, which is why it felt so wrong to say 'yes' to Daisuke.

There.

Yamato felt his posture straighten. He had admitted it. Finally. He allowed a small smile to appear on his face. He felt lighter. He had finally admitted it to himself! It was a relief. Yamato almost let out a laugh at how free he now felt. Like the world had somehow righted itself with that one thought.

Yamato managed to pay attention for the rest of the class.

It wasn't until the 10-minute break between classes that Yamato remembered his dilemma: he had agreed to be Daisuke's boyfriend. And he liked Taichi. Shit. It didn't take a fortune teller to know that this was not going to end well.

Yamato walked over to the window and stared out at the courtyard. He let his forehead hit the glass, causing a few of his fellow classmates to stare at him. He ignored them.

Suddenly, Yamato's head snapped up.

Taichi was straight.

Taichi would never feel the same way and Yamato should just forget about his stupid crush on the man he shared a bed with—and that was going to be awkward to explain if Daisuke ever found out...

'If Daisuke ever found out.'

Great.

Yamato closed his eyes and lightly headbutted the windowpane again.

Just great. Their relationship hadn't really even started yet and Yamato was already planning on keeping secrets from Daisuke. Keeping a big secret from him.

Yamato ran both hands over his face and trudged back to his seat. He pulled out the notebook for his next class and turned to the last page. He grabbed his pen. He needed to jot down notes. He couldn't keep everything in his head at the same time. He needed to organise his thoughts and see them all before he could sort through them.

So, Taichi. Yamato wrote the name down. He didn't elaborate in case someone saw the notes.

And Daisuke. Whom Yamato couldn't hurt by rejecting him only a few hours after agreeing to date him. Yamato wrote the second name on the same line as Taichi's, only on the other half of the page. Was he really going to do a comparison?

The bell rang, signalling the start of the second class of the day. Yamato flipped his notebook back to the class notes page. Again, he stood and bowed with the rest of the class as the teacher walked in.

-o-

"Hi, Yamato!" Daisuke called as he walked with Miyako to the table Yamato was sitting at for lunch.

Miyako sat down next to Yamato, leaving Daisuke the seat across from the blond. "Did you two fight or something? Daisuke's been more, like, excitable than normal and he refuses to tell me why and I figured it was the talk you two had this morning. Did you two have a fight and now make up?"

Yamato threw a quick look at Daisuke, but the other male was focussing on his food. He looked a bit more tense than usual, which made Yamato suspect he was listening in on Yamato's answer.

"Uh, no, we didn't have a fight..." Yamato said, eyes still keenly on Daisuke.

"Then what was it?" Miyako prompted Yamato, digging into her own food. "I know your existence as a person and what you, like, do or say has a big impact on Daisuke and what he does or says, or, like, his mood. So I know it has something to do with you and I can't think of anything except from you two making up after a fight or something like that." Miyako paused to slurp on her noodles. "Apart from that, the other option would be something like you agreeing to let Daisuke come over, but I figured it can't be that because of your mother, so it has to be you going round to his place or you finally agreeing to spend massive amounts of time with him."

Yamato quickly slurped down some of his noodles. How would he reply to that? Although, the look on Miyako's face told him he didn't have to.

"Aha! So you have agreed to spend limitless time with him, like with no time constraints on your time to—" she suddenly stopped, eyes widening, flicking from one male to the other. "You two haven't..." Her mouth was hanging open as she looked from Daisuke's barely-contained grin to Yamato's red face. She let out a squeal, covering her mouth quickly to try and contain it. "Ohmigodohmigod, are you two serious?!" She was still looking from one to the other, though fixated on Daisuke as his eyes lifted to hers. "You two are together?" Miyako half-whispered, half-squealed.

Daisuke's eyes flew briefly to Yamato, who was still staring at his lunch, now red to the tips of his ears.

Daisuke licked his lips. "Yeah," he admitted and Miyako squealed again, reaching over to give Yamato a one-arm hug.

"Ohmigod, I'm so happy for you two!" She gave a super-hard squeeze and Yamato was left to wonder whether she worked out or if excitement just gave her superpowers.

After lunch was over and Miyako was done bombarding the new couple with questions, Daisuke pulled Yamato aside.

"Listen, I'm sorry for telling her and answering her questions without checking with you first."

"That's alright, Daisuke," Yamato reassured, "she was bound to find out soon anyway and she is our friend. It's alright."

"You sure? You didn't seem okay with it a while ago..."

"I'm fine with it," Yamato reiterated, "you know me, I get embarrassed easily and don't talk a lot anyway. And I figured you could take one for the team and answer all of her questions." Yamato smirked and Daisuke laughed.

"Alright, I'll handle Miyako for today, but you owe me."

"I do," Yamato agreed.

Daisuke looked over their surroundings then leaned in to steal a kiss. "We're even now." Then he was off before Yamato could reply.

Yamato just smiled and shook his head as he made his way back to his classroom.

-o-o-o-

The house was oddly quiet when Yamato walked in after school. Hikari and Koushiro should be upstairs, but no one else seemed to be in. Taichi hadn't picked him up from school and Yamato figured that meant they were still fighting.

With a sigh, Yamato toed off his wet shoes and walked towards his and Taichi's room. He needed to change his clothes, then start cooking. Now that he was Daisuke's boyfriend, he might not be home after school every day; the others would need leftovers in the freezer.

Yamato paused at the closed door.

He had spent the whole day occasionally jotting down notes about Daisuke and Taichi. 'Pros and cons' wasn't exactly the right term; he wasn't comparing the two as potential boyfriends. Taichi would never be his boyfriend.

Yamato squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. There was no need to feel depressed about his and Taichi's current relationship. And what it would never be. He had already come to the decision that he would ignore his own feelings and continue to date Daisuke.

With a steadying breath, Yamato shoved thoughts of Taichi to the back of his mind and proceeded to, finally, change his damp clothes.

"Taichi!" Yamato took a sharp step back as he spotted the brunet in their room, sitting in the patio chair at the desk, holding a piece of paper.

Taichi stood and shoved the paper into the drawer.

Yamato cleared his throat and walked further into the room, fishing out a fresh set of clothes. "I didn't think anyone was home," Yamato muttered as he removed his damp blazer. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"You didn't," Taichi pointed out, "how was I supposed to know you came home?"

Taichi's tone had held the hidden message of: 'how was I supposed to know you weren't out with your boyfriend?' Not that Taichi knew Daisuke was actually Yamato's boyfriend now, but that was beside the point. Yamato cleared his throat again and chose to change the subject anyway:

"So how was work? You weren't late, were you?"

Taichi seemed to realise that he had been slightly snappy and took a deep breath. "Sorry."

There was a pregnant pause and Yamato awkwardly finished getting changed.

"We needed to talk," Taichi reminded, though he had been the one to propose it in the morning.

"Yeah."

Taichi let out a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. "I still don't know what your problem is, to be completely honest."

Yamato gritted his teeth, but he didn't want to start yet another argument when they had yet to resolve the previous one. "My problem is that I don't know where I stand with you. With everyone." Saying it out loud calmed Yamato more than he had expected.

Taichi cocked his head. "What does that mean? Where do you want to stand? And where do you currently stand?"

"That's the thing: I don't know!" Yamato could feel his anger rising again, but he forced his voice calmer. "I don't know where I stand in terms of whether I'm wanted living here or if you want me to go back to my brother's or find somewhere new."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Yamato sat on the bed, staring at his hands in his lap. He felt Taichi sit down next to him.

"I kind of now see what you mean," Taichi started, "I mean, I haven't exactly given a direct opinion on the matter. But I'm not going to."

Yamato's head snapped up at that. Taichi met his shocked face with seriousness.

"I don't want to influence any of your choices with my opinions or anything of the sort. You need to decide what you want and what's best for you." Taichi stood and looked down at Yamato, whose eyes had followed his movements. "You're more than welcome to stay here and you are wanted here, but don't feel obligated to stay if you don't want to." Taichi chuckled. "Sorry, I'm doing it again. But now you know why."

"Yeah," Yamato repeated, also standing and walking past Taichi to the door. "Thanks for... Well, yeah. And... sorry."

Taichi smiled and slapped a hand on Yamato's shoulder. "I'm sorry, too. And I'll also stop calling that friend of yours your boyfriend."

Yamato didn't correct Taichi about that.

"Now come on, I'm starting to get hungry."