Oh wow, I came rather close to forgetting to update! Ahh! I was a little wrapped up in Gackt news...Heh, sorry guys. Well, other than the fact that it's an hour later than I usually try to update, here is chapter 10! Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Combined Yards

"No, no, no!" Tidus said, walking around her, "You are not wearing that outfit."

"Why not?" Yuna asked, "I didn't ask for your permission anyway. I'm wearing it."

"Fine, if you want to look lame," Tidus said, "Come on, let loose, Yuna!"

"No!" she said, shaking her head, "It's almost six. Shouldn't people be coming?"

"Anytime now," Tidus said, "Doesn't everything look perfect?"

Yuna looked around her and she had to agree. Were it not her party, and if she didn't believe that parties were bad, she would definitely want to go to this one. It was going to be awesome.

Well, it would be awesome, but since it was hers, and since she didn't believe in parties, it wasn't going to be awesome.

"Ah, the party is starting!" Tidus cried, "See you around, Yuna!"

"Wait!" Yuna cried, and grabbed his arm, which shocked both Yuna and Tidus. Yuna immediately dropped his arm, and she said, "Um, I don't know anybody here."

"I don't know too many people," Tidus admitted, "Just go dance or something."

"I-I don't like to dance," Yuna said, her eyes beginning to open in fear as people started to really start pouring into their yards.

"Then just eat," Tidus said, nodding toward the buffets that had been set up, "Or, take my advice and drink this." Tidus reached down and tossed Yuna a beer.

"Ick, no!" Yuna said, dropping it.

Tidus shook his head and said, "Okay, go lock yourself on your balcony and read." Yuna couldn't help but notice a tone of annoyance in his voice.

Yuna bit her lip and she said, "Is that what you want me to do? Just go lock myself away and read?"

Tidus looked at her with an expression that was hard for Yuna to read, and he then laughed and said, "That would be wonderful, Yuna."

Yuna looked around her and at all of the people and said, "You're right, that's what I should do. You just wanted my yard to double the size of yours."

"Yeah, and I figured your pool could use some use," Tidus said, laughing, "See you around, Yuna."

He walked away from her then, leaving her with her mouth agape.

"That's the only reason you did anything with me?" Yuna cried, "I thought we were friends, Tidus!"

"We are," Tidus said, "And friends understand when Tidus wants to get laid."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yuna cried.

"It means," Tidus said, his look of annoyance growing more and more, "That I'm trying to pick up a lady, and can't very well do that with you attached to my side."

"But Tidus—!"

"See that chick right there," Tidus interrupted her, pointing to a large busted girl with blonde hair, "She's the head cheerleader over at Bevelle University."

"She's ugly," Yuna said, although she wasn't, "Why would you want to go out with a girl like her?"

Tidus laughed and said, "You make me laugh, Yuna. No one wants to go out with her." He patted her on the head then, and said, "See you around."

"You're such a jerk!" Yuna yelled after Tidus as he started toward the blonde, "A big jerk and I…" Yuna trailed. It was no use. He was already sweet-talking the cheerleader, who had to be at least two years older than him.

Yuna crossed her arms and looked at the ground. She should have known that Tidus wouldn't exactly be hanging out with her at the party, but she hadn't. She hadn't even thought about it. She had instead thought about it as more of a housewarming party or something, where Tidus stood there, side-by-side, greeting the guests. Of course, it was nothing like that.

Yuna felt her eyes begin to grow moist, so she quickly gave her eyes a rub and started toward her house. She had been foolish. Tidus didn't even have interest in her as a friend. He had just wanted an excuse to throw a larger party than ever. For all Yuna knew it wasn't even going to be his last.

Bursting into her house, Yuna was shocked to see people all over her living room. She walked past them all and upstairs, only even more shocked to see couples making out on her couch and anywhere else possible.

Now completely disgusted, Yuna grabbed her book, after having to tell a drunk girl to get off of it, and marched out to her balcony. She swiftly locked the door behind her, glad that no one was out there, but she knew it would be impossible to concentrate. If she had thought having a party next door was bad, having one in her yard was twice as bad.

"What was I thinking?" Yuna cried, throwing her book on her chair. She marched over to the sides of the balcony and looked down at the party below her. She saw Tidus and the cheerleading grinding each other, which only upset her.

Why was she getting upset? It was just Tidus, her stupid neighbor, grinding some stupid girl. What did it matter to her? This was the real Tidus, the true Tidus. She had been stupid to even think that he had ever hung out with her to be her friend. He wasn't her friend. He was just her stupid neighbor, a lesson she had learned long ago, and a lesson that she shouldn't have forgotten.

Tears began to form in Yuna's eyes again. She knew that the option of Tidus not being her friend wasn't what was bothering her.

Yuna looked down at that cheerleader. What did she have that Yuna didn't have? What did Rikku have that Yuna didn't have? Yuna swallowed, and remembered that Tidus had said that she should be jealous of Rikku. But why? Why did he like them, but not her? What was wrong with her?

Yuna looked down at herself. Perhaps it was because she was overly conservative. Perhaps it was because she never let loose. She bit her lip in thought. Was it worth changing it? For what, Tidus? Closing her eyes, Yuna sat on her chair. The sooner the night was over, the better. At least that was for certain.

-

"Damn, where'd she go?" Tidus said out loud as he returned with two margaritas in his hand. He looked around him, but the cheerleader—whose name Tidus didn't even know—was not around.

"Maybe she went to piss or something," Tidus said, setting the drinks down at the table. He was about to simply target another girl when his eyes caught Yuna, up on the balcony, looking rather frustrated.

She was sitting in her chair with her legs up and her head in her hands. He squinted. Was she crying?"

"Who cares about her," he said softly, and then looked around him. This party was huge indeed, and he was sure Bevelle's entire college-aged population was there. Still, there was hardly a soul he recognized in the crowd, and the people he did recognize weren't exactly friends of his.

He noticed a few of his high school teammates, but they were all too busy with their girlfriends, and he noticed a few college players he'd talked to before, but they were all busy drinking as fast as they could. He sighed.

His eyes went back to the balcony, and he managed to catch Yuna just going back into her house. Without even thinking, Tidus started running toward the door of her house, deciding to catch her. He'd been a jerk, and he knew that, but he just needed to explain to her that when it came to parties, that was how things worked.

He ran into her house and up the stairs, and caught her just as she was about to go into her bedroom.

"Yuna!" Tidus called, running up to her. She turned to face him, and sure enough, Tidus could tell that she'd been crying.

"Look Yuna, I didn't mean to be a jerk, okay? I just—."

Yuna cut him off and said, "Where's the cheerleader?"

"I lost her," Tidus said, "She's like four years older than me anyway. She's probably a little out of my league."

Yuna just rolled her eyes and said, "I'm going to try to go to bed, alright?"

Tidus smiled and said, "Nah, come party with me!"

"No thank you," Yuna said, not smiling in return.

"Aw, come on Yuna! I said I was sorry."

"So you get ditched by the cheerleader and then I'm okay to hang out with?" Yuna cried, "I'm sorry Tidus, but it doesn't work like that."

"Yu-Yuna, I didn't ditch you for the cheerleader. We just couldn't hang out."

"Right," Yuna said, and she looked as if she could tear up again, "Because you have no interest in me."

"Right," Tidus said, looking happy that she understood, "Whoa, what, did you think I did? Y-Yuna, I…"

"No Tidus," Yuna said, shaking her head, "I didn't think you did. I just…Why not? What's wrong with me?" A tear slipped down Yuna's face and she said, "I know this sounds hypocritical, but I don't like you and I don't want you to like me, but why don't you? Is there something wrong with me? Is there a reason you'd choose Rikku or the cheerleader, or whoever, over me?"

Tidus laughed and said, "Yuna, there's nothing wrong with you!"

Yuna just shook her head and said, "There has to be."

Tidus laughed again and said, "Yuna, that's the reason I'm not all over you. It's because there's nothing wrong with you. Rikku was weak. She was an easy target. The cheerleader is a whore. Another easy target. Trust me Yuna, that's it. But you, you're strong and impossible to break. You stick to your guns, no matter what. Your self-esteem could kill mine, and I'm a pretty cocky guy. But the truth is, guys like me prey on weak girls." Tidus shrugged and continued, saying, "It's probably because I'm a jerk, but the truth is, I don't have the balls to seriously hit on a girl like you. You intimidate me Yuna, and trust me, it's not easy for me to say that."

Yuna couldn't help but smile. He was smiling an utterly sheepish smile, and he almost acted as if he couldn't stand still. He was rocking back and forth nervously to some music that couldn't be heard, and his eyes shone brightly, although nervously. Was she making him nervous?

Yuna smiled and said, "But the truth is, you intimidate me."

Tidus shook his head and said, "Well, don't let me intimidate you. I'm really not worth being intimidated by."

"So did you just throw this party with me to get a girl?" Yuna asked, shrugging, "And that's the only reason you hung out with me."

"Well, at first it was kind of that way," Tidus said quickly, "But I really like hanging out with you. It's the truth."

Yuna smiled and he did as well.

"Actually, the truth is—," Tidus started, only to suddenly get cut off by a voice behind him.

"Tidey! There you are!"

Both Tidus and Yuna turned around, only to see Tidus' 'girlfriend', Dona.

"Dona," Tidus said, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Wasn't this my idea?" Dona asked, and she pushed Yuna out of the way to stand right in front of him, "I can't believe you didn't call me to tell me that it was happening!"

"I thought you were at cheer camp," Tidus said, as Dona wrapped her arms tightly around him, "Uh, why aren't you at cheer camp?"

"I wouldn't miss this party!" Dona cried, "Besides, my entire cheer camp is here! It was totally my idea to take them here, too."

"Great," Tidus said, and his eyes went to Yuna, who was just standing there, watching the two.

"Oh, is this your neighbor?" Dona asked then, facing Yuna, "Nice house. Mind if we use your room?"

"Um…" Yuna trailed, and her eyes met Tidus', who was giving her a shocked look.

"Dona, we can just go to my room…"

"Don't be silly! There are probably already a ton of people at your place. But this place is like dead! This is your room right here, right?"

"It's alright," Yuna said, although her stomach was doing flips at the thought, "See you later."

"Yuna," Tidus said after her, but Yuna knew he wasn't going to turn away from it. She simply walked back toward her balcony, wondering where she was going to sleep for the night.

Surprisingly, she wasn't upset at Tidus anymore. What he had said about her had actually been…Well, rather nice and refreshing to hear. She smiled despite herself. After all, she shouldn't be happy with Tidus. He was probably having sex in her bedroom after all! But at least it was with his girlfriend, and not some older cheerleader he didn't know. Yuna knew that shouldn't make it all better, but it did. She took a chair and watched the party down below her. Then, with a small smile on her lips, she drifted off into a surprisingly nice sleep.

-

Yuna took a sip of her tea. It was going on eleven and she was sitting in her kitchen. For the most part, everybody was gone. She had come across a few people sleeping on her couch, and she assumed there were even more people at Tidus' house. Her yard was trashed with beer cans, but otherwise everything was in perfect order.

Yuna was still wearing her outfit from the night before. She had actually gone to shower, only to remember that her room was locked tightly. She stared into her tea. She was surprised that she had slept as well as she had, actually.

She heard someone come shuffling down the stairs, and soon enough, Tidus walked into the kitchen, wearing an urgent look, as if he had something important to tell her. His hair was everywhere and he was just wearing his shorts from the day before, and of course no shirt. Of course, that was a sight that Yuna was getting used to seeing.

"Yuna!" he said, walking up to her quickly and taking a seat next to her, "I can totally explain."

"Tea?" Yuna just asked him, and poured him a glass anyway, despite the fact that he hadn't had time to answer.

"Uh, thanks," Tidus said as Yuna slid the cup over to him and took a sip of her own tea, "Look Yuna, I'm sorry for what happened last night. I really would have taken it to my room."

"Just wash the sheets please," Yuna said, "Actually, go ahead and throw them away. You didn't use the quilt, did you? My grandmother made that."

"I didn't use the quilt," Tidus said, "Yuna, really, I'm so sorry. I'll—."

"Gippal called," Yuna said, holding up Tidus' phone that had been left there for reasons unknown to Tidus, "I told him the party went well."

"You talked to him?" Tidus asked, seeming shocked, "Uh, did you tell him…?"

"Tell him about what?"

"Dona," Tidus said.

"No, I didn't," Yuna said, taking another sip of her tea.

"Yuna, I really am sorry."

"It's alright," Yuna said, "Like I said, just throw the sheets away. Is Dona still sleeping?"

"Yeah," Tidus said, "Yuna, I don't like her or anything."

Yuna laughed and said, "You just slept with her, Tidus. It's alright that you like her."

"But I don't," Tidus said, "It's just that I don't know how to break up with her."

Yuna swallowed and said, "Just tell her that it's over."

"You're right," Tidus said, and he stared hard at his tea, "I'm really sorry…"

"I'm surprised you're sorry," Yuna said, shaking her head, "You seemed pretty anxious last night."

"Uh, yeah," Tidus said, and he stared even harder at his tea.

"Well, I hope you had a good time," Yuna said, standing up and taking her tea to the sink, where she rinsed out her cup.

"It was horrible," Tidus said, laughing slightly, "I couldn't…" He trailed then and stared back at his tea.

The two sat there in silence then, until they heard water running from upstairs.

"Dona must be up," Tidus said, sighing, "I'm going to break up with her."
"Really Tidus, don't feel bad for what you did," Yuna said, shocked at what she was saying, "At least you had the decency to go into a room. Usually you two just go at it in front of everybody."

"We haven't done that in a while, have we?" Tidus asked, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"It's been a little while I guess," Yuna said, shrugging.

The two sat there in silence again, until they heard another person come down the stairs, and sure enough, there was Dona.

"There you are!" she said as soon as she saw Tidus, "You know I hate to shower alone!"

Tidus gave Yuna an annoyed look and he said, "I know."

Dona opened her mouth to say something, but then stopped. Her eyes went from Tidus to Yuna, and then back to Tidus, and a small smile crept across her face.

"Ah, so you two have a thing going on now, am I right?" she asked, and she weaseled her way right onto Tidus' lap, "Well, Tidus' neighbor—I'm sorry, what was your name?"

"Yuna," Tidus and Yuna said at the same time.

"Right, Yuna. Well, Yuna, Tidus and I have been a couple for some time now. I was homecoming queen and he was my king, and we were prom king and queen. We're unbreakable."

"Actually, Tidus and I don't have anything going on," Yuna said, giving Dona a shocked smile.

"Don't lie, honey," Dona said, "It's alright. I know Tidus sleeps around."

"…You know that, and you're okay with that?" Yuna asked, her smile disappearing.

"Dona, you don't have to tell her that," Tidus said, shaking his head.

"No, really. It's okay. Tidus and I have what we like to call an open relationship. I sleep around too, and he knows that. It's okay."

"It is?" Yuna said, looking at Tidus, who just shook his head at her.

"Right, so even though Tidus may sleep with you on occasion, he's really still mine," Dona said, "Just so you know."

"I don't sleep with him," Yuna said, shaking her head.

"It's alright," Tidus said then, his voice shocking Yuna, "You can tell her. Yes Dona, Yuna and I sleep with each other all the time."

"Um, no we don't," Yuna said, shaking her head quickly.

"In fact," Tidus continued, ignoring Yuna, "Yuna is my number one. You're the side girl, Dona."

"Excuse me?" Dona cried, jumping off of his lap, "You're kidding me!"

"No," Tidus said, "Last night wasn't my first night having sex in that room, and it's definitely not going to be my last. Well, it'll be my last with you…"

Dona let out a little squeal and she slapped Tidus, but he just took it, and crossed his arms and said, "See you around Dona."

"You know," Dona said, her voice high, "You could do so much better than that little wench! Is she even a cheerleader?"

"I'm over cheerleaders," Tidus said, "Get lost. You didn't even give me a good lay last night."

Dona looked like she didn't know what to say, and she finally cried, "Whatever! I have plenty of guys I can go to. Forget you, Tidus!"

"Bye!" Tidus just called after her as she stomped out, "Ha, how was that?"

"You didn't have to tell her those lies!" Yuna cried, and she looked angry.

"What, it doesn't matter. It's not going to ruin either of our reputations. No one believes Dona anyway."

"Tidus, that's not the point! You lied!"

"It's not a big deal," Tidus said, "She's out of my hair now. You should be happy for me."

"No, I'm not!" Yuna said, "You were completely dishonest with her!"

"So I exaggerated a little," Tidus said, "Big deal."

"You didn't even exaggerate! You flat-out lied!"

"Look, I gotta get these yards cleaned."

"Don't change the subject!"

"I didn't lie," Tidus said, "You and I do have something going on."

"We do not," Yuna said, looking disgusted.

"We do too and you know it!" Tidus said, and he gave her a cheeky smile, "See you around. I'll have these yards cleaned faster than you can say Zanarkand Abes!"

"Zanarkand what?" Yuna just said, but Tidus was soon out the door.

Yuna was about to chase after him, but her phone rang. She answered it quickly, especially after noticing that it was her father.

"Hi!" she greeted him.

"Hello," he said, his voice sounding slightly hurried, "I okayed it for you and three friends to go down to the beach house if you want next week."

"Really?" Yuna cried, her eyes lighting up. Her father had a family beach house in Besaid, and Rikku and her usually spent a week full of fun down there.

"Yeah. So gather up four of you and head on down. I'm sure your Uncle Cid has the airship up and working?"

Yuna smiled widely and she said, "Thanks Dad!"

"Not a problem," her father said, "But uh, Yuna, I'm afraid I do have some bad news. You know how I promised to take you to your college orientation? Well, I'm going to have to set you up with my assistant, is that alright?"

Yuna's heart dropped. She should have known that his gift didn't come without strings.

"Yeah, that's fine," Yuna lied.

"And Issaru's parent-child garden party is going to have to be cancelled as well," her father said, simply continuing.

"That's fine," Yuna lied again, her heart dropping further.

"Anyway, I should be home in late August!" her father said, as if that news would cheer her up, "I'd love to chat more about how your summer is going, but I have a meeting in ten. Goodbye Yuna!"

"Goodbye," Yuna said, but only to the click, for her father hung up before she could speak.

With her heart still low, Yuna simply picked up her phone, and slowly dialed Rikku's number. At least going to Besaid would allow her to get away from everything else that was going on. Or so she hoped.