Well, I'm still stuck on Chapter 22, but I'm off to a boring family get-together tomorrow, and my laptop will be coming with, so hopefully something will strike! At least I finally finished chapter 20 & 21. I'm so excited to post them both! ...Wow, and I just realized that chapter 20 will be Saturday's update...Heh... In the meantime, please enjoy!

Chapter 19: Ice Cream Tension

"Zanarkand's gotta get a goal soon," Tidus said through clenched teeth. He was seemingly calm, but Yuna wondered if it was just because her head was on his lap, making it hard for him to move.

She pulled her book away from her eyes to look up at him, and she giggled at the intensity that his eyes had as they watched the sphere. They were sitting in his living room, watching the game on his big-screen sphere, on the couch, where Tidus sat straight, and Yuna laid down it, resting her head on his right knee. She was reading, and he was watching blitzball. They had made it work out perfectly.

"What?" Tidus asked, noticing her giggle.

"Your eyes get all intense," Yuna said, still looking up at him.

He looked down at her and smiled and said, "Do they?"

Yuna smiled and was about to answer, when a sudden vibrating from Tidus caused her to jump up.

"Sorry," Tidus said, jumping up as well and reaching into his back pocket, "My phone has a crazy vibration." He pulled his other arm around Yuna, pulling her into him, and flipped open his phone, holding it so that Yuna could see it too. And, since she was nosy, Yuna did read it.

It was from Gippal, and all it said was, "You going blitzing?"

"Am I?" Tidus asked, looking at Yuna.

"Why ask me?" Yuna asked, shrugging.

Tidus texted back, "Rikku watching?"

Before Yuna could ask Tidus about his message back to Gippal, Tidus' phone vibrated again, and Tidus checked the message to see that Gippal had written, "Yes."

"Wanna watch me blitz?" Tidus asked, smiling at Yuna.

"Yes!" she said, "But what about the game?"

Tidus glanced at the sphere, and said, "Zanarkand always owns Kilika. No big deal."

"Are you sure?" Yuna asked, "I mean, are you sure you want to take me?"

"Rikku's gonna be there," Tidus said, smiling, "It's just open-blitz. So basically it's Gip, a few guys from my high school team, some college guys, and some older guys. It's nothing too intense."

"Alright," Yuna said, "Are we going right now?"

"Yup," Tidus answered. He stood up and grabbed his keys. "Ready?"

"Sure," Yuna said, hastily standing up and following him.

-

Tidus slung his bag over his shoulder, and kissed her on the cheek. "Rikku's over there," he said, "I'll see you later!"

Yuna smiled and watched him head down toward the sphere. Her eyes quickly scanned the place. There was a sphere pool in the middle, and while the sphere was large, the arena wasn't nearly as large as the one she'd last been at.

She saw Rikku sitting on the bleachers a ways away from her.

"Hey Rikku!" she greeted her cousin, taking a seat next to her.

"Hey Yunie!" Rikku said in response, "Tidus is here?"

"Yeah," Yuna said, "Have you watched Gippal before?"

"Yeah, once," Rikku said, smiling, "You've never seen Tidus play?" Yuna's heart fell. Had Rikku seen Tidus play when she hadn't?

"No."

"Me neither," Rikku said, and Yuna's fears fell, "I'm pretty excited to see him! He's apparently amazing."

Yuna smiled, and turned her eyes to the pool. There were a few guys in it, passing the ball, and she quickly spotted Gippal. It wasn't long before Tidus swam in, high-fiving guys as he swam past.

"Oh, hey, Tidus is here!" Yuna heard a girl say then, and she looked over, to see a blonde girl and a few other come walking toward them, "I haven't seen him here in forever!"

Yuna found herself slightly shocked by the blonde girl's apparel. She had on a very short mini skirt, a low-cut top, and then huge stiletto heels. The other girls had on similar outfits.

"So," the girl's voice was suddenly very close to Yuna, and Yuna noticed she was sliding next to Yuna, "Which player are you dating?"

"Uh…" Yuna started, wondering how that girl knew she was dating a player.

The girl laughed and said, "Sorry, I'm Leblanc. I guess dating probably isn't the right word anyway. Which player are you currently seeing."

"She's with Tidus," Rikku said then, "And I'm dating Gippal."

Leblanc's expression was hard to read. First she eyed Rikku hard, and then she turned her attention to Yuna, and began to laugh.

"Wait, you are with Tidus? What's a goody-good like you doing with him?"

Yuna opened her mouth to say something, as did Rikku, but Leblanc cut them off.

"And you must be with Gippal just because you're Al Bhed?"

"Well, no…" Rikku said, but she looked confused.

"Take it from me, honey," Leblanc said, smiling sweetly at Rikku, "Gippal likes to make you think he loves you, but he doesn't."

"And you know this from experience?" Yuna asked, her voice full of disgust.

"Of course!" Leblanc said, her eyes on Yuna, "You don't know who I am, do you? I'm Dona, Tidus' ex-girlfriend's best friend."

"Oh," Yuna said, mouthing the word slowly.

"So you're the girl he dumped her for," Leblanc said, her eyes running themselves over Yuna, "I guess you're pretty enough. What school do you cheer for?"

"I'm not a cheerleader," Yuna said, shaking her head.

"What? Okay…" Leblanc said, "How the hell did you hook up with Tidus then?"

"They're neighbors," Rikku said quickly, "But enough about them. Are you Gippal's ex-girlfriend?"

"You could say that," Leblanc said with a shrug, "But I was never interested in him." Yuna noticed Leblanc's eyes were on Tidus.

"Wait, why not?" Rikku asked then, her voice somewhat whiny.

"Why have Gippal when you can have the real prize?" Leblanc just asked.

Yuna shook her head. "You would chase your best friend's boyfriend?"

"Ex-boyfriend," Leblanc said, giving her a challenging smile, "And I see my competition isn't too much."

"Tidus and Yunie are in love," Rikku said quickly, standing up for her cousin, "And Tidus isn't about to dump her for some slut like you!"

To this, Leblance laughed. "Oh, we'll see about that, honey." Leblanc gave Yuna one last glance, and then she stood up, and walked away, her posse following her.

Yuna glared after her, as did Rikku.

"I'm going to have to talk to Gippal about this," Rikku finally said, angrily.

"And I'm going to have to talk to Tidus," Yuna said, although her voice wasn't nearly as angry.

"At least it doesn't seem like she's ever been with Tidus!" Rikku cried.

"Yeah, but…"

A whistle blew then, and Yuna noticed that the game was going to start.

"Gippal and Tidus are on the same team," Rikku said, pointing to the shirtless team.

Yuna's eyes rolled. It figured Tidus would be on the shirtless team. Any chance to show off his abs and he was happy to do so.

"Tidus doesn't play center?" Yuna asked then, startled to see Gippal in the center instead, and Tidus off to the side.

"You didn't know that?" Rikku asked, startled as well.

Yuna shook her head, "I always…assumed he played center."

The faceoff started then, and Gippal grabbed the ball, and threw a long pass to Tidus.

"Did you see how fast he swims?" Rikku cried, her eyes wide as Tidus was already close to the opposite goal.

Tidus threw the ball backwards, and Gippal caught it again. Then, Gippal threw the ball hard at the goal, only to have it rebound. Tidus swam up fast, and kicked the ball by flipping backwards in the water, sending it straight into the goal.

"Wow, did you see that?" Rikku asked, "No wonder he has colleges after him!"

"Well, it was a nice set-up by Gippal," Yuna put in quickly. Rikku beamed at her words.

The entire game went like that. Yuna had a feeling that Tidus was holding back even. Yuna was sure he could take them all on, and still win. She'd never seen anything like it.

"After this," Rikku said then, "We should go get something to eat together or something!"

"Okay," Yuna said, nodding.

Soon enough, an hour went by, with the final score being Tidus' team with five points—all but one scored by Tidus—to three.

The guys all high-fived again, and then swam out of the pool.

"Come on, they'll meet us over here," Rikku said, standing up and leading Yuna toward the door.

"How long does it usually take them to get ready?" Yuna asked, after about ten minutes passed.

Rikku didn't have to answer, for Gippal and Tidus emerged then, both in a heated discussion about something or other.

"Dude, if we miss that party," Gippal was saying, "you know Bickson's gonna never let you forget it."

"Yeah but…" Tidus said, only to stop as they both noticed that the girls were standing there waiting for them, "We'll talk about it later."

Both Yuna and Rikku cast them suspicious glances, and Rikku said, "What are you two talking about."

"Just some stupid party," Gippal said, slipping his arm around Rikku, "Did you like the game?"

"It was great!" Rikku said, any hint of suspicion disappearing nearly instantly.

Yuna didn't forget so easily, and Tidus knew that. He wore almost a frown, and was uncharacteristically quiet.

"Gip, it's in Luca," Tidus finally said, his voice smooth, calm almost.

"Ti, shut up about it," Gippal said, his teeth clamped shut.

"Shut up about what? What's in Luca?" Yuna asked, narrowing her eyes at Tidus.

"Don't worry about it," Tidus said, "So, you guys want ice cream or something?"

"How often to do you eat that stuff?" Rikku cried, "Didn't we run into you two at the ice cream parlor just yesterday?"

"Gotta love that chocolate cake stuff," Tidus just said, "Come on."

Rikku shrugged and followed, and Gippal as well. Yuna sighed and followed as well.

As soon as she was in Tidus' car, she turned to him. He must have known what was coming, for he wasn't uttering a word.

"What's going on in Luca?"

"It's nothing," Tidus said, staring straight ahead.

"A party?" Yuna asked, "Are you two going?"

Tidus tapped his steering wheel, before saying, "I don't know."

"Well, I don't care if you go," Yuna said, looking out the window, "Why are you so uncertain."

"You don't care?" Tidus asked, "I'm trying to be on my best behavior, you know."

"Yeah, but if you want to go to this party, I can't really stop you," Yuna said, shrugging.

"You really don't care?"

"No."

"Not even a little bit?"

"No."

"Do you really trust me that much?" His question shocked Yuna.

"What?" she said, "Should I not trust you?"

"W-Well no, but…" Tidus pulled up to the ice cream parlor, "I wouldn't…trust me so easily."

"Who's Leblanc?" Yuna asked then, leaning back in her seat.

"Oh, you know her?" Tidus asked, "She's the one that told us about the party."

"That figures," Yuna said, rolling her eyes, "Who's she to you?"

"Some slut Gip slept with," Tidus said, "I swear Yuna, I've never slept with her. She may be the only cheerleader I didn't sleep with but…Oh, I guess you didn't need to know that…"

"She has a thing for you," Yuna said, choosing to ignore Tidus' last comment.

"Yuna," Tidus said, throwing her a smile, "Who doesn't have a thing for me?"

"Tidus, this isn't the time to be cocky," Yuna said, her eyes downcast.

"I'm not being cocky! I'm being honest."

"I know," Yuna said, leaning her head in her hands, "But I don't need your honesty right now."

"So you want me to lie?"

"I want you to deny it," Yuna said, staring at him.

"Deny it? Yuna, I swear I have no interest in Leblanc. None whatsoever. Even if you weren't around, I wouldn't. Okay? The only reason Gip ever slept with her was because he was wasted beyond belief."

"Is that what's going to happen at this Luca party? You two are going to get wasted beyond belief and wake up naked next to somebody?"

"Yuna," Tidus said, "That's never happened to me."

There was a knocking on the window then, and Rikku was standing there, looking confused.

"Why are you two sitting in there? What are you in such intense discussion about anywhere?" Rikku's voice said, her voice muffled.

Tidus looked annoyed, and he said, "Tell her we'll be right in."

"We'll be right there," Yuna said, also through the window. Rikku shrugged and walked off. Yuna noticed that Gippal was standing in front of Tidus' car, shaking his head.

Tidus waited until they were inside, before turning to Yuna. "What does Leblanc have to do with the party?"

"Well, she's going to be there, isn't she?"

"I didn't say I was going to the party," Tidus said, leaning back to show his annoyance.

"I know," Yuna said, "Come on, let's go."

Tidus grabbed Yuna's arm before she could get out of the car, surprising her.

"Yuna," Tidus said, "I'm not going to do anything…anything I'll regret at that party. Alright? Don't worry about it."

"Then why were Gippal and you all hush-hush about it?" Yuna demanded.

"I can't…" Tidus trailed, "Come on, they'll probably get sold out of the cake part of the chocolate cake ice cream…"

"Why can't you just tell me?" Yuna asked.

"Yuna, it has nothing to do with you," Tidus said, swallowing hard, "Just don't worry about it."

He opened the door then, signaling that the conversation was over.

"Tidus," Yuna cried, quickly starting after him, but she knew the conversation was over.

"Yuna," Tidus said, standing in front of the parlor's entrance, "Don't bring it up in here, okay?"

"Fine," Yuna said, "But as soon as we're back in your car, I'm—."

"I'll send you home with Rikku and Gippal," Tidus simply said, and he opened the door for her, "After you."

Yuna gave him a glare, but entered.

"About time you two came in here," Rikku said as soon as they entered. Gippal and Rikku were sitting by the door, already enjoying their ice cream.

"What were you talking about?" Gippal asked, and Yuna noticed that he shot Tidus a suspicious glance, as if to silently ask him how much he'd told Yuna.

"Nothing," it was Yuna who answered, and she sent Tidus her own silent message, telling him to get in line for the ice cream. Tidus simply shrugged at Gippal and went into line.

Yuna followed him, her arms crossed.

"What kind do you want?" Tidus asked her, his voice flat.

"Vanilla," Yuna answered.

"Anything on top of it?" Tidus asked, casting her a shocked look, "There's thirty choices, and you just want plain ol' vanilla?"

"Yes," Yuna answered, her voice as flat as hers.

"Fine, it's cheaper," Tidus said, ordering his chocolate cake ice cream with a million toppings.

"I'll pay for my own," Yuna simply said, and she marched over to the cash register.

"Knock it off, Yuna," Tidus said, following her, "I'll pay."

"It's alright," Yuna said, blinking a few times as if she was unsure of why he'd offer to pay to begin with.

"Come on Yuna, you're an old-fashioned kind of girl. You want me to pay."

"No, I don't," Yuna said, she then paid for her ice cream right then and there, and took it, and started towards the table Rikku and Gippal were at.

"Yuna, stop acting like this!" Tidus cried after her, and quickly paid for his own ice cream, and starting also to the table.

Tidus and Yuna ate their ice cream in silence, while Rikku talked about a play that Gippal and she had seen the night before. Yuna got the feeling that Gippal knew there was some tension between her and Tidus, for he kept glancing up at them every now and then.

"I have to pee," Gippal finally announced, interrupting Rikku's long story.

"Gippal, don't be so crude," Rikku said, casting her boyfriend and annoyed look.

"Tidus, do you have to pee?" Gippal asked, ignoring his girlfriend's comment. Yuna leaned back in her chair. She knew what Gippal was up to.

Tidus didn't, though. "Dude, don't be such a girl," Tidus said, looking at his friend with a confused look, "Go pee by yourself. What do you want me to do, hold your hand."

"I just thought after all that ice cream," Gippal said, staring hard at Tidus, "you'd have to pee."

"Go with him," Yuna said, drumming her fingers angrily on the table.

"Fine, I will," Tidus said, standing up. Gippal gave Yuna a suspicious glare, but Tidus and he started toward the bathroom.

"What's up?" Rikku asked.

"Oh, nothing," Yuna lied, and quickly turned back to her ice cream. Rikku shrugged, and continued eating hers.

-

"What?" Tidus asked as soon as they were in the bathroom.

"What the hell did you tell her?" Gippal asked.

"She's pissed 'cause I won't tell her," Tidus said.

"Well you're not going to, are you?" Gippal asked.

"Of course not," Tidus said, "I mean, I can't. She'll be totally against it."

"Good," Gippal said, "'Cause you know she'll tell Rikku, and I can't have that."

"I know, I know," Tidus said, "But she's being a total bitch about the whole deal."

"You guys will never make it to two weeks," Gippal said, shaking his head.

Tidus glared at his friend and said, "Dude, I'd rather have Yuna than go to this stupid party, you know that?"

"I know, I know," Gippal said, "Sorry man. Just don't tell her unless you're really desperate."

"I'll try not to tell her," Tidus said, sighing, "But are we really going to go through with it?"

"We have to, man. Especially if you ever want to be able to show your face in whatever university you end up going to."

"Yeah, but we could get hurt," Tidus said.

"Yeah, but we have to take the chance," Gippal said, "Come on, they'll get suspicious if we're in here too long."

"Yuna's already suspicious," Tidus reminded his friend.

"Well, Rikku's not, and I want to keep it that way," Gippal said, "Sorry if you let your girlfriend catch on."

"Sorry that your girlfriend is a dumb blonde," Tidus sneered.

Gippal pushed him a little, but mostly ignored Tidus' comment. As soon as the two returned the table, the girls were done, and chatting excitedly about Rikku's class schedule for the next year.

"Alright Rikku, ready to go?" Gippal asked, casting her a charming smile. She nodded, and said goodbye to Yuna, and the two left.

Yuna turned to Tidus and nodded sweetly, and said, "So what did Gippal and you discuss?"

"Yuna, guys don't talk while they pee," Tidus said, returning her sweet smile.

"Oh? So Gippal really did just want a pee-buddy?" Yuna asked, her smile remaining.

"Yes, he did," Tidus said, "I held his hand while he peed."

"You are such a liar," Yuna cried, "Let's go."

"I really did!" Tidus said in an almost sing-song voice. He grabbed his now-empty Styrofoam bowl and crushed it in his fist, before tossing it into the garbage. He didn't offer to throw Yuna's away.

"Tidus, look," Yuna said, sighing loudly, "I'm sorry, okay? It just bothers me that you can't tell me about this party."

"I swear Yuna, it doesn't have anything to do with you," Tidus said, "I probably won't drink. And I swear to Yevon, I'm not going to cheat on you or anything. There's just some unfinished business that Gippal and I have to take care of."

"When is this party?" Yuna asked, standing up and throwing her bowl away as well.

"Next week," Tidus answered, "Gip and I'll be gone for just a night. That's all."

Yuna shrugged and said, "And you won't end up with Leblanc or anything?"

To this, Tidus laughed.

"Yevon, is this about Leblanc?" Tidus asked, "Yuna, I won't even probably see her! Seriously, this is…man stuff. It has nothing to do with women."

Yuna gave him a small smile, but it was very fleeting. "I'm sorry to act like this Tidus. It's just…Leblanc seems so much more your type and…"

Tidus laughed. "Yuna," he said, shaking his head, and taking her hands in his, "You're the only girl I'm interested in, okay? I swear, Leblanc is the very last thing on my mind. Don't listen to a word she says."

With that, he leaned in and kissed her, causing the manager behind the counter to yell at them to go kiss somewhere else.

"Sorry!" Tidus said, shooting a charming smile in the manager's direction, causing all of the girls in the entire building to let out silent sighs of wonder.

Still holding her hand, Tidus led her back out to his car, and kissed her again in front of the door, despite the fact that she was blushing deeply. Then he waved back into the store at the glaring manager, and hopped into his car, driving toward their houses.