Hmm...I think this chapter might be the shortest one I have...It's about 2900 words, versus the 3000 I strive for. Oh well, 100 words off isn't that bad... Anyway, here is chapter 2! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you're liking it so far! Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Compromise

Yuna sat up in her bed and let out a long sigh. Even with all of the windows shut, she could still hear her neighbor's party as if it were inside of her house. She had gone to bed very early, all with the hope of at least getting some sleep before the party, but the party was now in full swing, and try as she might, she could not get to sleep.

"How much more of this am I going to have to take?" she questioned herself. Usually his parties went on after the end of school for a day or so, but then stopped as he went to blitz camp. If what Rikku said was true, though, there would be no blitz camp.

Yuna moaned loudly. Could she really take an entire summer of nothing but parties going on next door?

She had tried everything. She had tried sleeping the basement. She had tried ear plugs. She had tried turning her own music on. She had tried all three at the same time. Nothing worked.

Sighing in defeat, Yuna slid over the side of her bed, and sank her feet into her slippers. She threw on her robe and made her way to the third story, and out the door onto the balcony.

The warm wind greeted her as she walked out. It would have been an absolutely lovely night, if the ruckus of the party was not right next door.

She wandered to the edge of the balcony and looked across her yard and into his yard. Sure enough, people were everywhere, running around and screaming, in his pool, and dancing all around. There was a DJ and speakers everywhere.

Leaning against the railing, Yuna said softly to herself, "Tomorrow, I am going to go over there and ruin those speakers."

She smiled at the thought. She was against vandalism, but for the time being, she thought that it would be for a good cause. A very good cause.

For a fleeting moment, she thought about going over to his house to reason with him, but she threw that thought out of her head instantly.

Her neighbor was Tidus, the blitz star. Even though she'd only seen him a few times, she knew he was a spoiled rotten brat. There was no way he would reason with her.

She scoffed out loud and then found herself scanning the party grounds for her neighbor himself. She found his friend—Gippal was it?—dancing with not the blonde girl he'd been with earlier that day, but a different girl. Tidus, however, was nowhere to be found.

Her cat came slinking out the door then, which she had left open. He meowed softly, and she smiled and picked him up, and placed him on the wide railing.

"Hey Kimahri," she said, petting him softly, "I can't help but wonder what it must be like to be down there. Their lives must be so free and unstructured! Like Tidus…Does he even have morals?"

Kimahri simply began to purr, and then jumped down from the railing and walked slowly back inside the house.

Yuna sighed and turned to follow her cat, only to turn once again and look down at the yard next to hers. Once more, her eyes searched for her neighbor, but once again, he was nowhere to be found. Shaking her head, Yuna simply walked back inside her house, and decided to attempt to sleep once again.

It was no doubt going to be yet another long night.

Slipping into her covers, Yuna sighed and said softly to herself, "Tomorrow, I'll go talk to him. I'll tell him that these parties have to stop. I'm sure we can make some sort of compromise."

With that as her final thought, Yuna finally managed to slip into a very uneasy sleep.

-

Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

"Damn, did I forget to turn my alarm off?"

Ding-dong.

His eyes flashed open and he nearly sprang out of the bed. Just what was that annoying sound? And so early in the morning!

Tidus' eyes found their way to his alarm clock and he noticed that it was two in the afternoon, and that it wasn't his alarm making the noise.

Ding-dong.

It hit him then. It was the doorbell.

Tidus let out a groan, only to then come to the conclusion that he wasn't alone. Looking down, he saw Dona sleeping down a ways from him.

"Damn," Tidus said softly to himself, "What the hell happened last night?" Of course, he knew what had happened.

Ding-dong.

"Yevon, whoever it is won't go away," Tidus said, and slid out of the covers. He grabbed a pair of shorts that were lying on floor and threw them on and then went groggily toward the door, popping some Advil as he did so.

He peeked out the window, only to see a girl of about his age standing there, not looking very happy.

"Who the hell…?" he said softly, and then unlocked his door and opened it, saying, "Can I help you? Did you leave something here last night or something?"

"What?" the girl said, sounding confused, "Oh, you think I was at your party last night?"

"Yeah, why else are you here? Look, now's not a good time. Can't you come back around six or something?"

He started to close the girl, but she grabbed it, and said, "This will only take a second."

"Who are you?" he asked, trying to remember if he'd seen her before in his life.

"I'm Yuna," she said, "You know, from next door."

Tidus laughed and said, "You're the girl from next door? What are you doing here?" He almost didn't believe her. Where were her glasses? Where were her braces?

"I wanted to discuss your partying with you," she said, sounding sure of herself. She had on a knee-length skirt and a short-sleeved t-shirt, and a simple pair of shoes, with her hair done very simply. In fact, simple was the first word that popped into Tidus' head upon seeing her.

"Look, I have a headache," Tidus said.

"Well, I do too," she said, not seeming to want to budge.

"Well, then let's discuss whatever later, okay?"

"No, let's do it now. I'll get to the point," she said, placing her hands on her hips impatiently, "I haven't slept well at all since the beginning of the summer. I'm not saying you can't throw parties, or whatever, but can't you make them a little quieter and maybe only throw them on weekends?"

Tidus laughed. Was she serious?

She noticed his laughter and a look of annoyance spread across her face.

"I'm serious," she said, "Any other neighbor would have called the police by now. You're underage anyway, aren't you?"

"To drink," Tidus said, shaking his head, "So what, you're going to call the cops?"

"Yes. If we don't come to a compromise."

"Tidus, what is going on?"

Tidus looked behind him upon hearing the voice, only to see Dona standing there, looking incredibly groggy, and wrapped up in nothing but a short towel.

Yuna looked past him and at the girl and then back at Tidus, with a look of utter disgust plastered across her face.

"Dona, go get some clothes on or something," Tidus just said, sounding annoyed as well.

"Who's at the door?" Dona asked, walking up behind Tidus.

"No one," Tidus said, rolling his eyes so that only Yuna could see.

"Yeah, there's a girl there. Who is she?" Dona pushed her way past Tidus and then stopped and shielded her eyes from the light.

"Go get something on," Tidus said, pushing the girl behind him, "Anyway, Yuna, can you see why I'm a little busy now? We can talk about this later."

With that, he closed the door in her face, and turned around.

Ding dong.

"Yevon, won't she leave?" Tidus cried, and shoved the door open, and said, "Tomorrow, okay? I'm not having a party tonight. So I'll talk to you tomorrow."

The girl shook her head and said, "Fine. But if there's a party tonight, you can bet I'm calling the cops."

"There won't be," Tidus said, "See you tomorrow."

Without waiting for her reply, he shut the door again.

"Dona, couldn't you see I was talking to someone?" he asked, rolling his eyes this time so that she could see.

"Well, I was waiting for you to come back, and you were taking way too long!" Dona whined, "So I came to get you! Besides, I have cheerleading try-outs in just a few hours. I thought maybe we could have a little more fun before I had to go, but I guess not."

"No, not right now," Tidus said, "My head kills."

"Aw, did you drink too much last night?" Dona asked, putting her arms around his neck.

"Don't you have to go to your try-outs?"

"I can be a little late…"

"Well, I have…to meet Gippal."

"For what?"

"Um…We're planning my next big party. It's gonna be huge."

"Who was that girl?"

"My neighbor."

"She looked like she was our age! Go tell her we're having a double-yard party!"

"She won't go for it. She was here to tell me not to throw parties anymore."

"Yeah, she looked like a bitch," Dona said, and kissed Tidus on the nose, "I'm going to go get dressed. I have try-outs."

"Right," Tidus said, pulling himself out of her arms, "You go do that. I think there's a pre-game on today anyway, and that should be starting."

"What the hell is a pre-game?"

"Don't worry about it," Tidus said, turning his huge, plasma-screen sphere on.

"I thought you had to see Gippal."

"I do," Tidus said quickly, for he had forgotten about his lie, "But I'll watch this first."

Dona rolled her eyes and went back to Tidus' bedroom, where she emerged a few minutes later.

"I'll see you tomorrow night, Tidey-poo," she said, walking over and kissing him on the forehead, despite the fact that he had a look plastered all over his face that he wasn't in the mood.

She rolled her eyes again, and walked out the door, leaving Tidus in peace.

-

"Yeah, he sounds like a jerk," Rikku said, "But I'm not going to lie…I wish he would come outside."

"Rikku, weren't you listening? He had a naked girl running around his house!"

"So he's serious with his girlfriend, big deal. That doesn't mean I can't admire his looks from afar."

"He's a jerk," Yuna said for what seemed like the hundredth time, "He wouldn't even talk to me because he had a headache."

Rikku laughed and said, "He sounds kind of like a baby."

"Well, it's his own fault that he had a headache," Yuna said, flipping the page of the magazine she was reading.

"True," Rikku said, leaning against the railing, "But that really shouldn't keep him from coming outside. And that includes his friend. Yesterday when I was leaving your house, his friend was leaving his house as well. Oh my Yevon, Yunie, he was even cuter up close! I don't think he saw me though…"

"He's probably a jerk too."

"I think he was Al Bhed!"

"That doesn't mean he's not a jerk."

"I know that, Yunie!"

Suddenly, a bang was heard, and Rikku instantly turned her attention back to Tidus' house.

"Oh Yevon, there he is!" she cried.

Yuna looked up, and sure enough, Tidus had just exited his house and was apparently texting someone on his cell phone.

"Rikku, if he looks up, he's going to see you standing there like the moron you are."

"I don't even care," Rikku said, leaning forward, "How does a guy get that good looking?"

Yuna shook her head and said, "Remember Rikku, he's a jerk."

Rikku ignored her comment and said, "I mean, how did I never realize how amazing this guy is?"

"Rikku…"

"Oh Yevon, he just looked up here!" Rikku cried, and threw herself down, so that the railing was hiding her.

Yuna's eyes looked up from her magazine again, and sure enough, he was looking straight at her.

Yuna quickly covered her eyes with the magazine again, and said, "Rikku, now he's looking at us!"

Rikku slowly looked up, only to instantly go back down.

"Yeah, he is…" she said.

"Okay, way to act suspicious!" Yuna barked softly at her cousin, "Now he's going to think that I'm looking at him too!"

"Whatever, at least you weren't standing there swooning at him! Yunie, why didn't you tell me how stupid I looked?"

"I tried to!" Yuna said, "Come on, let's just go inside!"

"That'll look even more suspicious!" Rikku cried back to her cousin, "I'll just sit here until he goes back inside…"

Rikku was covering her eyes with her hands, as if she hoped that Tidus couldn't see her—even though he couldn't with the railing in the way—and Yuna was still covering her eyes with the magazine, hoping he didn't think she had been staring at him as well.

"Okay, this is ridiculous," Yuna said, although she didn't put the magazine down, "Maybe you were just looking over at his house."

"Yunie, I was staring at him!"

"Well, maybe you were wondering what he was doing!"

"Anyone could see that I was just texting!"

A male's voice. Rikku and Yuna both froze, and exchanged glances, although they did not emerge from their hiding spots.

"You girls still up there?"

Rikku slowly stood up, and Yuna slowly put her magazine down, and walked over to the edge of the balcony where her cousin was.

Standing straight down from them was Tidus, looking up at them.

"Oh, hi there!" Rikku said, giving him a little wave.

"Hey," Tidus said, just giving them a head-nod.

"Um, how are you?" Rikku asked, her voice cracking as she did so.

"Fine, you?" Tidus asked.

"I'm alright," Rikku answered.

"That's good," Tidus said, "Were you…Watching me by any chance?"

Rikku let out a ditzy laugh and said, "Um…Well, you know…"

"She was," Yuna answered, "Now if you don't mind, we were just leaving."

"Yunie!" Rikku said, but just continued her array of ditzy laughs.

"Oh, I thought maybe we could talk now," Tidus said, "My headache is gone."

"Well, um, mine's not," Yuna said, "So tomorrow will work out fine."

"Alright, suit yourself."

"Okay, see you tomorrow then!" Yuna said, and started toward her house. Rikku just stood there, gawking at Yuna's neighbor below her.

"What's your name?" Tidus asked, obviously directing the question to Rikku.

Yuna walked back up to Rikku and grabbed her arm saying, "We really have to go, Tidus."

"I'm Rikku!" Rikku said though, ignoring her cousin's attempts to drag her off of the balcony.

"Ah, you must be the girl Gippal said he saw yesterday. Are you Al Bhed?"

"Yeah!" Rikku said, although she gasped as she said it, "Your friend Gippal saw me?"

"Yeah, he said you were cute," Tidus said, "Which is true."

Rikku's cheeks flushed and she let out yet another ditzy-sounding-giggle.

"Yevon, come on," Yuna said through clenched teeth.

"You go to Bevelle High?" Tidus asked.

"No, I go to Lady Yunalesca High," Rikku answered.

"Ah…We kicked their asses in blitz."

Rikku giggled and said, "Yeah, we're not very good."

"Come on," Yuna said again.

"Hey, you ever come to one of my parties?" Tidus asked.

"No," Rikku said.

"I'm having one not tonight, but tomorrow night if you want to."

"Um, no you're not," Yuna said, crossing her arms, "We're making a compromise, remember?"

"Yeah, but I already have tomorrow night's party planned, so I have to have that one."

Yuna shook her head and said, "That's a Wednesday night!"

"So."

"So…So you can't! I said weekends!"

"Hey, we haven't discussed anything!" Tidus said, and then turned his attention back to Rikku, "So you going to be there?"

Rikku's smile faded, and she looked between Tidus and Yuna. Obviously she was quite torn at having to make the decision.

Therefore, Yuna made it for her.

"No, she won't be there."

"Yunie!"

"What would your father think?" Yuna asked, shaking her head.

Tidus laughed and said, "I'm sure he wouldn't be too disappointed."

"Do you even have a father?" Yuna asked, shaking her head at him.

"Of course I do," Tidus said, "He lives in Zanarkand though. How about you, do you have a father?"

"Yes," Yuna replied, "But he's away at a summer business meeting in Luca."

Tidus laughed and said, "Then why aren't you a little more wild?"

Yuna was disgusted at the question, so she simply shook her head and said, "I don't need adult supervision to be responsible, Tidus. Unlike you."

"Ah damn, that reminds me," he said, looking behind him, "I really need to get my yard cleaned!"

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number, and then waited before saying, "Hey, yeah, I need my place cleaned again. Yeah, tonight would be good. Okay, the pay will be in the usual spot."

He hung up then and smiled at the girls.

"Anyway," he said, "I'm not interested in making a compromise, I don't care if you call the police, and you, Rikku, should definitely consider going to my party."

Yuna shook her head and said, "I'm not kidding, I'll call the cops."

"Even if your friend Rikku is there."

Yuna looked at Rikku, who had suddenly clamped her mouth shut, as if afraid to speak.

"Yes, I would even if Rikku is there."

"Yunie!"

"Rikku, you can't go to that party!"

Tidus laughed and said, "Don't worry, Rikku, I'll show you a good time."

"Yevon, get lost!" Yuna cried.

"What?" Tidus said, "I can't hear you with all of the wind!"

Yuna rolled her eyes. It was a windless day.

Tidus just laughed and said, "Alright, I'll 'get lost'. Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow, Rikku!"

He waved at them and walked away, pulling out his cell phone and calling someone once again.

Yuna just shook her head in disgust, and walked off the balcony, leaving Rikku in a semi-shocked mode.

He was going to be harder to deal with than she had thought.