Author Notes: This is my fifth chapter, and I like how this story is turning out so far, but it'd be great if you gave me some reviews. ENJOY!

Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner

Chapter 5: New Temptations

"So, you, Takeru, was dating Daisuke?" Mimi asked eagerly.

"Yeah," Takeru replied uncomfortably. They sat on a bench, as the sun set on the beautiful New York day. The sky was turning an array of warm reds and oranges.

"So, you're gay, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, I guess, I never really thought about it," he explained.

"I'm so happy for you!" she exclaimed. She gave a smile and then picked up her bags. I need to go home, or my mom will worry about me."

"Okay, I guess I need to, too" Takeru replied. He picked up the three bags he had, which was nothing compared to Mimi's eleven. They had spent half the day shopping and eating at a little restaurant. Takeru was happy he got to do this, it got his mind off Daisuke, anyway.

"Mom, I'm back!" Takeru called as he walked into the hotel room. He was surprised to see his mom on her be with a glass of champagne and a guy setting next to her. They gave small giggles, like school children as they drank.

"Hey, sweetie," she called back. She turned her head and looked at him. "This is my son, Takeru," she said, directing the man's attention from her to her son. Takeru stood there, helpless, while the man looked at him.

"That's a fine boy you've raised there," the strange man said. The two on the bed began to laugh. Takeru stared at them in disgust. His mom hadn't been like this in awhile.

Takeru decided to lay on his bed, in hopes that one or both of them would leave, and it worked. They both left and went somewhere that Takeru didn't really care. He laid on his bed, and then reached over and grabbed his D-terminal. He saw that Mimi had written him since, she said, "Hey, I had fun today, we should go shopping more often, love, Mimi."

Takeru closed the device and put it away. He then got under his covers and fell asleep.

He woke up the next morning, and found himself alone in the hotel room again. He knew his mom was probably still out with "that man". It really got under his skin that his mom would do such a thing. He knew, though, that his mom was probably lonely from not having a boyfriend in awhile.

Takeru got up and took a shower. Afterwards, he headed out to explore the place a bit. He walked down the street and saw a small little store. He decided he'd have a look at it, since nothing bad could really happen.

He walked inside the store and a little bell rang, signaling someone had come in. A person from behind the counter looked at him and smiled. Though, Takeru completely ignored it.

He looked around and saw practically nothing of interest. Then he found something. It was a international phone card. He could call anywhere in the world and talk to people. He knew he was going to need that if he was going to move to New York, even if he did have a D-terminal, it was always better to get to hear the voice of the person you're talking to. He picked it up and looked at it, then, he walked up to the counter and placed it there.

"Will that be all?" the clerk asked.

"Yeah," he replied. She took out a scanner and scanned the bar code on it and then typed in the minutes. She slid it through a machine and then put it in a bag.

"That'll be $32.89," she stated. She looked at Takeru as he pulled out the money. He handed it to her and she gave him back his change.

After he left, he decided it'd be nice to go and eat breakfast. He walked into a nice little café. It reminded him of Daisuke's and his first date. He then began to miss Daisuke, and lost his appetite. He left almost as soon ash e walked in.

Takeru walked down the street, seeing many people. They all looked so preoccupied with everything. There was nothing left for him to do, and he felt bored. He knew he had everything in New York to explore, yet, he didn't want to. It was better left undiscovered to him than well known.

He sat down on the same bench that Mimi sat on when he met her in Prospect Park. He sat there and just watched everyone living their own lives. He was barely living his today, and he didn't know what to do with it. He sat there, a little sad. He wasn't alone for long, though. A guy came over and sat next to him. The guy looked to be about sixteen, and he had dark brown air and chocolate brown eyes. He wore his hair short and had two ear rings in each ear. He looked at Takeru and smiled. Takeru gave him a half smile and looked down at the gravels on the ground. He didn't really know if he could talk to this person or not. He decided he wouldn't, and just let the guy set there, silent. Though, there wasn't much silence when the guy asked, "So, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine," Takeru replied. He began to feel uncomfortable talking to this guy. He didn't know anything about him, and it kind of scared him a bit.

"That's good, so, where you from?" the guy asked.

"Well, I'm from Japan, but I'm moving here soon, how about you?" Takeru explained.

"I live right across from this park," the guy replied, pointing to his left. Takeru just nodded his head. "So, what's your name?"

Takeru got a little surprised by the question, but responded by saying, "Takeru."

"Takeru? That's pretty interesting, I'm Jesse," the guy said introducing himself.

"Well, it's been nice talking to you, but I have to get home," Takeru said standing up.

"Oh? Then gimme your number and I'll call you," Jesse suggested.

"Um..." Takeru paused, he scratched the back of his head. "Um, just give me your number and I'll call you."

"Okay," Jesse said. He shuffled through his pockets until he pulled out a pen and a small piece of paper and wrote on it. After he was done, he handed it to Takeru.

"Thanks," was all Takeru said. He didn't really know what to say.

"Okay, I'll see you later," Jesse said as he waved.

"Bye," Takeru said. Turned from the boy on the bench and began to quickly walk away. He then just got what had happened. He got another guy's number! It was his second day in New York and he had already gotten another guy's number! "Wait, is he gay?" he asked himself. He didn't know the answer, but he must have to give Takeru his number.

Takeru sat on his bed that night. He looked at the number that Jesse had given him, and then he picked up the number. He was hesitant to dial his number, but what did he have to lose? He didn't have to go on a date with the guy. It was just a friendly phone call.

He dialed the number on the piece of paper and waited. IT rang a few times and then,someone picked up.

"Hello?" the person on the other line said.

"Hello? Is Jesse there?" Takeru asked.

"Yeah, hold on," they replied.

A few seconds later Jesse was on the phone.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hey, it's Takeru."

"Oh, hey."

"I, um, called you," Takeru said. He lost the words in his head and sat there.

"I guess you did," Jesse laughed. There was an eerie silence after that. Takeru uncomfortably held the phone to his ear. Sweat was beginning to form on his hands. Was he nervous?

"So, do you wanna hang out tomorrow?" Jesse asked.

"Sure," Takeru agreed.

"Prospect Park , again?" Jesse suggested.

"Sure," Takeru agreed again.

"Okay, I'll see you then."

"Okay, bye," Takeru said.

"Bye," Jesse replied. They both hung up the phone.

Takeru sat there, and then wiped the sweat from his hands on his pants. He sighed. "Do I have a date?" he asked himself out loud. Of course it wasn't a date, he had Daisuke waiting for him in Japan.

Takeru then realized, he had to message Daisuke. He picked up his D-terminal and checked his messages. He had three new messages. One of the messages was from Hikari, another was from Mimi and the other was from Daisuke. He opened Daisuke first. It said, "I miss you, please come back!"

He smiled but he felt sadness take over his heart. He then opened Hikari's message. She wrote, "Daisuke told me what's going on, I'm going to miss you."

That made Takeru feel sad, too. He then opened Mimi's message, it said, "We should go shopping tomorrow!"

He smiled, but still had the sadness in his heart. He started with Daisuke's message to write back to. He replied and said, "I miss you, too. I might not have to move here, if my mom doesn't get the job."

Then he moved on to Hikari's. In his message to her he said, "It's not exactly final, so we can only hope."

Then he got to reply to Mimi's message. In it, he said, "Sure, I met this guy, we should all three go shopping."

Takeru started to think. If Jesse would go with Mimi and him, then it wouldn't be a date, would it? He didn't want to date the guy, but he needed more friends; if he was going to be moving to New York. He didn't want to tell Daisuke that he was going to go hang out with a guy, because he might get jealous, but he felt a little ad for not telling him yet.

He knew there was no need in fretting about it, but he knew he was tired, so he just decided he'd take a nap. He fell back onto the bed and closed his eyes. He thought of what Daisuke might think if he knew that he was going to hang out with a guy. But, before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.