OMG, I totally almost forgot that it was time to update this. This chapter is by far the longest, too! I don't really have much to say, so, enjoy!

Chapter 5: Rikku

Tidus held his door open with his foot to allow Gippal to enter his house first, and then followed. Both of them had their arms filled with bags, which they quickly dumped on Tidus' kitchen counter.

"Yeah, this party will totally be cooler than the last party," Gippal said, nodding at the amount of groceries and alcoholic beverages they had bought.

"Definitely," Tidus agreed, only to suddenly jump as he felt his vibrating cell phone in his pocket.

He pulled it out and smiled.

"Hey Gip, get a load of this," he said, "Tidus, I'll try to make it to your party tonight, but I can't promise I'll be there. I really want to go though!"

"Who's it from?" Gippal asked.

"Rikku," Tidus said, "Should I call her back?"

"Rikku?" Gippal just said, "How'd you get her number?"

"Yuna gave it to me," Tidus said, "So, do I call her back?"

"Ti, I really don't think we should mess with them," Gippal said, looking at the ground, "It's not nice."

"Since when have you cared about nice?" Tidus asked, looking at his friend, "I'm already getting to Yuna. She came over last night, you know."

"Yeah right," Gippal said.

"I'm serious, Gip," Tidus just said, still gazing at the text he had received, "She came over here to tell me to turn my music down."

"You're an ass."

"Shh," Tidus said, hushing his friend, "I'm gonna call her."

Gippal shook his head, and Tidus couldn't help but notice that Gippal didn't appear happy with him at all.

Tidus gave Gippal a "What?" kind of look, but then turned back to his phone as he heard a female voice say, "Hello?"

"Hey, Rikku?" Tidus said.

"Yeah! Is this…Tidus?"

"Yeah," Tidus said, although he couldn't take his eyes off of Gippal who was giving him a very dirty look, "I was just wondering if you were coming tonight."

"Um… I really want to and stuff, but you know how Yunie feels about that kind of stuff."

Tidus laughed and said, "Well, you're number one on the guest list, so if you don't show, I'm going to be kind of disappointed."

Rikku didn't say anything to that, so Tidus continued, "I actually talked to Yuna today. I think she's getting more used to the fact that my parties aren't as bad as she seemed to think."

"Really? I haven't been able to talk to her all day. She volunteers at the library."

"Oh," Tidus said, deciding to pretend to be interested, "She told me she was a really busy person."

"Yeah," Rikku said, "She takes pride in the fact that she's so well-behaved despite the fact that she's always home alone."

"Ah," Tidus said, "Well, I can assure you, my parties are totally PG-rated, except for a few crazy drunks here and there. But you know, Gippal and I don't even drink half the time!"

"Really?"

"Yeah," Tidus said, "Well, I gotta keep getting ready for the party, and I just really wanted to let you know that Gip and I hope to see you here."

"Okay," Rikku said, "I'll try to come."

"Great," Tidus said, "See you tonight then, maybe."

"Yeah, maybe. Bye."

"Bye."

Tidus hung up, and Gippal said, "What'd she say?"

"Gip, what's up with the glare?" Tidus just asked, as he stuck his phone back in his pocket, "You gave me the same death glare that Yuna gives me."

"I don't think you should mess with them. I already told you."

"You afraid of Yuna? She hates me, not you."

"I'm not afraid of Yuna," Gippal said, "What'd Rikku say?"

"She said she'll try to come. She doesn't want to disappoint Yuna."

With that said, Tidus flipped out his phone again.

"What are you doing now?" Gippal asked.

"Texting Rikku. How's this sound: Rikku, just wanted to tell you again how much I really hope to see you at my party tonight. I think you'll really have fun. Besides, you don't want to make me sad, do you?"

"Give it a rest, Tidus," Gippal said, "Do you like her or something? Because if you do, maybe I can let you do this. But if you're just playing her, I have to draw the line. She's naïve and innocent, Tidus! Not like the club girls you usually go for!"

"Gip, Gip, Gip!" Tidus said, shaking his head, as he hit the send button, "Relax. I already told you. I just want Yuna to get mad."

"Why are you so interested in making Yuna get mad? You said she was too much of a challenge."

"Gip, I did some thinking," Tidus said, then, as he stuck his phone in his pocket one more time, "And I decided that I have the entire summer. So maybe I need a challenge."

"So you're using Rikku to get to Yuna?" Gippal asked, "I can't let you do that."

"Why not?" Tidus asked, shaking his head at his friend, "It'll be fine. I promise that no one will get hurt."

"You can't toy with these girls," Gippal said, "They'll be crushed."

"Relax," Tidus said again, "Do you need a beer or something."

"No thank you," Gippal just said, "When does the party start, anyway?"

"Any second now," came Tidus' response, "Any second now…"

Sure enough, people started to come. As always, the party practically started instantly, and people just made themselves at home, and the party began.

-

Yuna tried calling again, but there was still no answer.

"That's odd," Yuna mused to herself, as she stuck her bookmark back in her book, "Why isn't she answering?"

She was of course trying to call Rikku, but Rikku had yet to answer.

Yuna looked at her phone as if it was the phone's fault that Rikku wasn't answering, and then suddenly jumped as she heard a large noise, and realized that it was the music starting next door, signaling that Tidus' party had started.

"Just what I need…" she said, and she stood up. She walked over to her balcony and looked across at the people who were running outside, hooting and hollering.

"Why can't they just be quiet?" she asked herself, as she leaned her head on the railing. It was going to be another long, loud night.

-

Tidus stood by the entrance of his house with a satisfied smile across his lips.

"How much you wanna bet that she comes?" Tidus asked his friend.

"Rikku?"

"Yeah."

"I bet ten gil she doesn't show."

"Cheap ass."

"Hey, it's more hopeful," Gippal said, "I really think you should just leave her alone."

Tidus gave his friend a suspicious look, and he said, "Gip, you want her to come, don't deny it."

"I'm not going to deny it," Gippal said, "But I don't think I can just watch you walk all over her."

"Why not?"

Gippal didn't say anything. He just shook his head and said, "I need a beer."

"It's not drinking night," Tidus said, "Remember?"

"I don't care. I need a beer."

"Fine, go ahead," Tidus said, and then he smiled and said, "Look who's coming to the door!"

Gippal turned around to look, and sure enough, there came an incredibly nervous looking Rikku.

"Damn you, Tidus," Gippal said, shaking his head.

"I'm too good," Tidus said, laughing, "Hand over my ten gil!"

"Not yet," Gippal said, shaking his head.

Rikku came into Tidus' house then, and her eyes darted nervously from side-to-side, until she saw Gippal and Tidus.

"Hey, you made it!" Tidus said, walking away from Gippal, who looked at the ground.

"Yeah!" Rikku said, "But I don't think I know anybody here…"

"Me neither!" Tidus said, although he did know a few people, "I'm sure you'll meet some of them though."

Rikku gave him a smile, and then looked behind him at Gippal, and said, "Yeah, so far I only recognize Gippal and you!"

Tidus laughed and said, "Hey, is Yuna going to show?"

Rikku bit her lip nervously and said, "I doubt it. Um…Don't tell her I came, alright?"

Tidus laughed and said, "Alright, I won't tell her. But hey, you gotta stop letting her hold you back from having fun! Come out back, that's where the real party is!"

He led her through his house and out to the backyard, the yard that Rikku had been spying on just days before.

"Um," Rikku said, "What if Yunie sees me?"

"Don't worry about it!" Tidus said, "Wanna dance?"

Gippal followed the two out there, only to stop as he saw Tidus leading Rikku onto what had become the dance floor.

Coincidentally—or not coincidentally, as Gippal knew—a slow song began to play. Tidus gave Rikku a shrug, as if to say that while they were out there, they may as well dance, and then the two began to dance rather close, but not as close as Tidus usually danced with the girls.

Tidus had it all worked out. He just gave the DJ a head nod, and the DJ threw on a nice, slow song. Despite his attempts to get rid of the feelings, Gippal couldn't help but feel…Well, jealous. Why, he didn't know. He'd never been jealous of one of Tidus' girls before.

Dancing just a ways away from Gippal, Tidus looked at his friend, and gave him a quizzical look.

"Can you excuse me for a minute?" he said softly by Rikku's ear.

She nodded, and stepped away from him, her eyes large and round, as if she was very unsure of what she was doing.

Tidus threw on an unhappy look, and marched up to his friend.

"What is wrong with you, Gip?" he asked his friend, "Do you want to dance with Rikku or something?"

Gippal swallowed and said, "Tidus, I asked my dad about her. It turns out that Rikku's grandma and my grandma were best friends in school. Isn't that weird?"

"Yeah," Tidus said, although he wasn't going to act interested, "So that gives you reason to stand there shooting me death glares while I dance with her?"

"I don't think you should mess with her," Gippal said again, crossing his arms, "It's not right, and Rikku's like…"

"Like what? You barely know her!"

"Look, you really wanna know?" Gippal asked then, "I kind of like her."

Tidus laughed, and said, "You kind of like her?"

"Yeah. It's weird Tidus, but I can't get her off of my mind! Ever since that time I saw her leaving Yuna's house, I haven't been able to get her off my mind. And now this stuff about our grandmas…I just…I like her, Tidus. It really bothers me to see you play with her, while I stand here and watch."

Tidus laughed and said, "Whoa Gip, if you really like her, you can have her. Why didn't you just tell me earlier?"

Gippal shrugged, and said, "I thought you'd make fun of me."

Tidus laughed again and said, "Dude, I'm still going to make fun of you. But you know I don't mean it. Look at her stand there all alone. Go ask her to dance!"

"She obviously likes you," Gippal said, looking at the ground.

Again, Tidus laughed, and he said, "Dude, she doesn't know me."

It was Gippal's turn to laugh, and he said, "You're way too right."

"Go ahead, she's all yours," Tidus said, "But now that I have no goals for the party, I have a feeling it's gonna be pretty boring."

Gippal laughed and said, "There are a ton of girls here worth playing. Go for one of them."

"Right," Tidus said, and he gave his friend a girly little wave, "Goodbye Gip! Good luck!"

He winked then, and slipped into the crowd, leaving Gippal to himself.

Tidus wandered back toward his house and turned around to look at his party. Gippal had walked up to Rikku, and although they stood in the middle of the dance floor, they didn't dance. Instead, they stood there and talked, and it seemed as if Gippal had said something funny, for Rikku was laughing.

"Yevon, he better not actually fall for her," Tidus mused to himself, "What a long and boring summer this will be if he spends all his time with her."

Suddenly finding himself feeling down, Tidus took a seat on the step to his deck, and leaned his head into his hands. If Gippal and Rikku hooked up, his nights would probably be just like this one was—him sitting there, staring at them.

Tidus shook his head. So Rikku was out of the question. That wasn't that big of a deal. He never was planning on doing anything with her anyway. He just wanted to irk Yuna, since she was definitely irking him.

Thinking of Yuna, Tidus found himself turn his head toward her house, just in time to see her walk out onto her balcony and shake her head in disgust.

Smiling to himself, Tidus jumped up, and quickly darted to her house—just out of her sight—and around the corner to where the balcony was.

He looked up, but Yuna was no where in sight. Slowly he began to back up, until he was far enough away from her balcony that he could see her. She wasn't looking at him, but instead past him a ways.

Taking a deep breath, Tidus walked into the moonlit area in front of Yuna's balcony and said, "Hey there, Yuna!"

Yuna looked down at him and appeared quite shocked to see him, but she regained herself and said, "What are you doing down there? Don't you have a party going on?"

"What?" Tidus asked, "I can't hear you over the music!"

"Go turn it down then!" Yuna cried, and she started toward the door.

"Wait!" Tidus cried up to her, "Can we talk about something?"

"No," came Yuna's response, "You can't hear me, remember?"

"I know!" Tidus yelled, being sure to be extra loud, "So can I come up there?"

"No," came Yuna's response.

"Aw, come on!" Tidus cried, "If you don't let me up there, I'll just climb!"

"You're going to climb my balcony?" Yuna looked skeptical.

"Sure, why not?" Tidus said, and to prove his point, he jumped and managed to cling onto a windowsill. He pulled himself up it, and then jumped to the one right above it. Yuna watched him with a look of disbelief spread across her face. Eventually Tidus made it to her, and he climbed up, with a sheepish smile across his face.

"Told you I could!" he said as he swung himself around and onto her balcony.

"I cannot believe you just did that," she said, and she did not seem happy at all to see him on her balcony.

Tidus shrugged and said, "It wasn't hard."

"Get off," Yuna said in response, "I'm going to attempt to go to bed."

"Great, that's where I was hoping we'd head!" Tidus said, and he couldn't help but smile.

"Get off," Yuna said again, slower and louder this time, as if Tidus simply hadn't heard.

"Now Yuna," Tidus said, "I just wanted to come and have a little chat with you, you know, about this whole party deal. It is really loud here, isn't it? I can't believe how well my music travels!"

"What's to talk about?" Yuna asked, "You're lucky I didn't call the cops!"

"Yuna, Yuna, Yuna!" Tidus said, shaking his head, "How many times do I have to tell you? They wouldn't do anything!"

"Tidus," Yuna said, "They would have to!"

"No," Tidus said, shaking his head, "And besides…That would suck for Rikku. It would suck to have the first party you ever go to get busted."

Yuna's face dropped and she said, "What have you done with her?"

"Me? Nothing. Gippal stole her away from me."

"What has he done with her?" Yuna asked, appearing very shocked.

"I don't know," Tidus said, "Last I knew, they were headed toward my room, which gives me nowhere to sleep…"

Yuna started toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Tidus asked.

"To get Rikku," she responded.

"They're just talking!" Tidus said, "Turns out they're family friends."

"I don't believe you!"

"It's the truth! Their grandmothers were friends, or something like that. Dude, Gip seriously likes her. He was all over me for being a jerk and stuff."

Yuna shook her head and said, "I still don't believe her. I'm going to get her."

"And break up true love?" Tidus asked, "Just let 'em be, Yuna. They'll be fine."

"Tidus, I don't trust you, and I don't trust your friend," Yuna said, crossing her arms.

Tidus laughed and said, "Trust me, Gippal is a lot more trustworthy than I am! That guy has morals."

"Didn't you tell me you had morals?" Yuna asked, rolling her eyes, "Although I know you don't."

Tidus laughed again and said, "Allow me to reword that. Gippal has more morals than I."

"That's not saying a lot though," Yuna reminded Tidus.

Tidus nodded and said, "You may have a point there."

"You're not supposed to agree with me," Yuna said, glaring at him.

Tidus smiled and said, "Yuna, look…I'm tired of fighting."

"Oh really?" Yuna said, sarcastically of course, "Well, me too. So no more parties. There. Everything is fixed."

"Yuna, you don't understand!" Tidus said in a whiny voice, "If I don't have parties, my whole house is empty. Completely and utterly empty. What am I supposed to do in my spare time?"

"Read a book," Yuna said, flashing him the book she held in her hands.

"I'm not smart like that!" Tidus said, "I get bored way too easily!"

"So sit around and be your alcoholic self in quiet," Yuna said, smiling, "Have your girlfriend over and do what your perverted self does best."

"Yuna, you don't understand!" Tidus said once again, "I need people. Telling me not to have parties would be like telling you not to read."

"Yes, but reading is not distracting."

"It is to me," Tidus said, "Do you know how annoying it is for me to sit out there all by myself and look over here only to see you reading?"

Yuna's eyes rolled, and she said, "Why would you find that annoying?"

"Because I'm over there," Tidus said, pointing to his yard, "Bored out of my mind, and I look over here, and there you are. You have no interest in hanging out or anything. You just want to sit there and read those damn books. Don't you think Rikku gets tired of that too? That's why she came to my party! Face it Yuna, you're boring."

Yuna looked at the book in her hand and simply shook her head, saying, "You don't know anything."

"Don't you ever get lonely?" Tidus asked, "I mean, you're here all day all by yourself!"

"I'm used to it," Yuna said, "And you should get used to it too."

"I can't!" Tidus said, "Trust me Yuna, I've tried. It just doesn't work."

"Then go to blitz camp like you normally do!" Yuna said.

Tidus laughed and shook his head, saying, "This is my only summer that will be without blitz for my entire life. That's the last thing I want to do right now."

"Well, we can't stop fighting until you agree not to have parties anymore. Or at least have less! Or make them quieter, or…"

"Or have a massive one combining both of our places so that I can never have a party again because that one was simply too grand?"

"No," Yuna said, shaking her head.

"Why not?" Tidus asked, his voice growing whiny again.

"Because I don't party," Yuna said slowly, "And I never plan to."

"Just this once. You can hang with me, and I promise we'll be completely boring."

"No, I don't trust you."

"Why not?"

"You are an arrogant blitzball player, Tidus. A stereotypical jock."

"Not necessarily."

"Yes, you are."

"No, not always."

"Yes, always."

"I promise you, I'm not. You have yet to see the real Tidus."

Yuna laughed and said, "Oh Yevon, I'm pretty sure I've seen the real Tidus plenty of times running around his yard drunk out of his mind. I'm pretty sure I've seen your girlfriend making babies right in the yard. I'm pretty sure—."

"Those aren't the real Tidus!" Tidus interrupted her, "The real Tidus is sweet, and innocent and…"

"And a total manipulator," Yuna cut in, "But your skills don't exactly work on me. Goodnight, Tidus."

"Wait!" Tidus cried, "I'm not trying to manipulate you! Really Yuna, I just want to be friends. Who knows, maybe if we hung out like friends or something, I wouldn't need to party."

"Don't act sweet," Yuna said, "I have no interest in being your friend. I know what you're like, Tidus. I watch you out there every night."

"Ha, I knew you watched me!" Tidus said.

"Yes, I do. But only because I attempt to figure out how I can ruin those darn speakers you have!"

"Nice, aren't they?" Tidus asked.

"No."

"Okay, Yuna," Tidus said, "I think we have a ton in common."

"We have nothing in common."

"Just hear me out!" Tidus said, and he cleared his throat, "Both of us are wealthy. We'd have to be to live in the houses we live in. And both of us are left alone all summer long. I'm not sure how your father is, but he obviously trusts you to leave you. My old man doesn't trust me, but he doesn't need to. Because he doesn't care about me…"

Yuna shook her head and said, "My father does care about me, so how are we similar? Just because we're rich and our fathers leave us alone all summer?"

"…Yeah."

"Wow Tidus, we have two things in common!" Yuna said, "Now goodnight, I'm going to bed."

"Yuna really," Tidus said, his face completely serious, "I only have parties because I get bored. I just want something to do."

"Well, sorry Tidus, but I'm not the one that you're going to be doing."

"Yevon Yuna that's not all I think about!" Tidus cried, "You act like I'm a man whore!"

"You are!" Yuna said, "Just…Do me a favor and let me go to bed, and we'll talk tomorrow."

"So you're going to leave Rikku?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Yuna said, shrugging, "It's late, Tidus. Go home."

"You know, I think we actually got somewhere tonight," Tidus said, looking proud of himself, "We had a normal conversation!"

"Um…Whatever," Yuna just said, giving him a confused look. Had it been a normal conversation? In a way, it kind of had been…

Tidus smiled and said, "I guess I'll see you later then. Oh, hey, you should definitely leave that door unlocked. There's probably some baby-making going on in my room, if you know what I mean. I'll need a place to sleep."

"You're not staying here," Yuna said, rolling her eyes, "Goodbye, Tidus."

"See ya!"

Yuna rolled her eyes and shut the door quickly, leaving Tidus alone on her balcony. A small smile crept upon his lips. Whether she had meant to or not, she hadn't locked the door.

With that smile still spread across his lips, Tidus climbed down from the balcony and made his way back to his party.