Author Notes: I want to thank all the people who have taken time out of their lives to read this. Your reviews really are what keep me going on this story. Anyways, on with the other notes: I've been thinking a lot on this story. I hope it's coming out as good as I want it to. (I'm not good at finding flaws in my own work, because then, I wouldn't write any stories) Anyways, enjoy!

Nobody Puts Baby In the Corner

Chapter 6: Unsafe Encounters

Takeru woke up. What was supposed to be only a nap turned into an early morning. A very early morning. The room was turned a shade of blue from the almost rising sun. He searched for his D-terminal in the lightly lit room, and reluctantly found it. He flipped it open and looked at the time. The clock on it read, "5:38". He thought, then realized, Daisuke is probably still awake in Japan! He quickly went to check his messages, and Daisuke had written him back! He read Daisuke's note, which said, "I hope you don't have to move there. I'd miss you like crazy!"

Takeru smiled as he wrote back, saying, "I'd miss you like crazy, too. I already do though."

He sent it and then closed the device. He laid over on the table next to his bed. The table was located between his mom's bed, and his own. His mom was asleep on her bed, and she slept quietly. Takeru smiled a bit and felt his eyes slowly close as he drifted back to sleep.

Takeru woke up. He hadn't even realized he was asleep. He shook his head to help him get awake. He stood up and walked by the bathroom, where his mom was doing her make-up.

"I'm going for my second interview, this is my most important one," she stated from the bathroom. "When I'm done with it, do you want to go somewhere?"

"Oh, I would, but Mimi and I are supposed to go shopping," Takeru said as he sifted through clothes to wear.

"Oh, that's too bad, I guess we could do it tomorrow," she suggested.

"Okay," he replied. He got out an outfit just in time for his mom to come out of the bathroom. He walked in after she came out. He took his shower and then came out of the bathroom. His mom was gone by then, so he decided he'd just go meet Mimi. They had disclosed the last time they went shopping that they'd always meet in Prospect Park. Which was halfway between the both of them. Though, he never clarified where he'd meet Jesse at, he figured that they would probably meet him there.

Takeru sat in Prospect Park, no one else could be seen. The sun felt hot on his skin. He sat back on the bench when an expected person sat down next to him.

"Hey, stranger," Jesse greeted as he sat down.

"Hey, I'm meeting another friend here," Takeru explained.

"Oh really? That's cool, but I was kinda hoping we could be alone, ya know?" Jesse blushed. Takeru looked at him with a sense of pity. He knew Jesse liked him, but he didn't exactly feel the same way about him. He didn't want to tell him, but this could get a little out of control.

"Takeru!" Mimi exclaimed from far away. The two boys on the bench looked at the running girl.

"Is that Mimi Tachikawa?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah, why?" Takeru asked. "How do you know her?"

"I went to school with her," he explained.

They watched as Mimi's run turned into a walk as she approached them. "What is he doing here?" Mimi asked as she walked up to them.

"I'm on a date!" Jesse said in defense.

"WHAT!" Takeru exclaimed as he turned to the boy on the bench with him.

"Isn't that what this is?" Jesse asked.

"No, I, um, Mimi?" Takeru stumbled for words. He couldn't think of what to say.

"He's already got a boyfriend," Mimi stated hatefully.

"Well, tell him he's mine, now!" Jesse said as he put an arm around Takeru and pulled him close.

"Let me go!" Takeru said as he tried to squirm away from Jesse.

"Let go of him!!!" Mimi demanded. She ran over and tired to loosen Jesse's grip on Takeru.

"Fine!" Jesse said. He let go and stood up. "When you're done hanging with this bitch, then call me."

"He won't be calling your nasty ass!" Mimi called as Jesse walked away. She turned and looked at Takeru. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Takeru said as he gripped his arm a bit. It throbbed from where Jesse had a such a tight grip on it.

"He's a prick," she stated. "We should go, or he might come back."

Takeru stood up and walked with Mimi to the little stores on the streets of New York.

"They're going to call me if I got the job, they said it wouldn't be any later than Friday," Takeru's mom stated. The three of them sat around a table set for four in the dining hall in the hotel. "The guy" was with them; which Takeru found out that his name was Brian. He was about the age of Takeru's mom. He was beginning to get a little gray. He had laugh lines beginning to form on the sides of his mouth. He had black hair with a few grays, and brown eyes.

They sat there, as Takeru quickly ate his food. The sooner he got out of there, the better. The two "adults" chatted about everything; mostly their lives in the past. Brian had a kids, though he never specified on if they were either boy or girl, but he seemed proud of them.

Takeru was glad to get away from them both. They were grossing him out with their flirting. He only wanted to get back to the room and check and see if Daisuke had written him.

He took the elevator up and walked down the hall to the room. He walked through the door and sat down on his bed. No sooner than he opened up his D-terminal, there was a knock. He got up and opened the door. Shocked by who he saw.

"Hey," Jesse said as he stepped through the door.

"Um, hi," Takeru replied with confusion and shock.

"In case you're wondering, I followed you up here," Jesse explained.

'That's a little creepy,' Takeru thought in his head. Though, he said the complete opposite, "That's cool."

"So, nice room," Jesse complimented as he sat down on Takeru's bed.

"Yeah, I guess," Takeru replied. He was still a bit shocked, but less confused.

"Sit down, I need to talk to you about something," Jesse said as he patted the spot next to him on the bed. Takeru, not wanting to make him mad, sat down in the spot.

"What do you need to talk about?" Takeru asked impatiently.

"Well, Taker, I really like you," he began, "And I don't think you should be hanging out with bitches like Mimi Tachikawa."

"She's been my friend a lot longer than I've known you," Takeru responded defensively.

"Takeru, she's a bitch, and I don't think you want to become like her," Jesse explained.

"I'm not becoming like her, I've known her for almost seven years, I've known you for a day," Takeru stated.

"Takeru, look at me," Jesse began, "I think I love you."

Takeru was shocked when Jesse's lips met his own. He jumped back, almost falling off the bed. He looked at Jesse, who sighed and turned away.

"I'm sorry," Jesse said. Takeru was too shocked and angered to reply. "I think I'll go."

Jesse stood up and began to walk out of the room when the doorknob turned and entered Brian and Takeru's mom.

"Jesse, what are you doing here?" Brian asked.

'He knows him!' Takeru thought.

"Sorry, Dad, I was just hanging out with Takeru here," Jesse said.

'Dad!' Takeru yelled in his head. He was left speechless and even more shocked than when Jesse had kissed him! It took Takeru a minute before he could finally move.

"I'll be going," Jesse said. "Bye, Takeru."

Takeru waved to Jesse as he walked quickly out the door and into the hallway.

Takeru sighed finally being able to breathe. He looked over ah D-terminal still on the table, opened. He picked it up and saw he had two messages from Daisuke and Mimi. He opened Daisuke's message first. It said, "Takeru, I miss you, A LOT! Please come back."

Takeru replied, saying, "I hope I get to come back. I don't want to move here. Some of the people scare me."

Then he opened Mimi's message, it said, "I hope you're alright after your 'attack' from that Jesse kid."

Takeru wrote back to the message, saying, "I'm alright. He came over here and I got the biggest shock! His dad is dating MY mom! Plus he tried to kiss me."

Takeru closed the D-terminal when he realized he was alone in the hotel room.

He didn't realize at first, that it was pretty late, about midnight. So, he'd just go to sleep, he knew Daisuke would write him back while he was asleep.

Takeru woke up to the sound of a vacuum cleaner in the hallway. It was nine in the morning, and he didn't have any plans for the day. That was a bit of a surprise. He climbed out of bed and saw his mom in her bed, alone. She had an empty wine bottle on the table next to her bed. He went past her and started to go through his clothes. He got a clean outfit and went to go take a shower.

After his shower, Takeru went down to the dining hall and order a small breakfast; since he did know that he would have to pay for it himself. He waited patiently as a small stack of pancakes and a serving of orange juice was put in front of him. He instantly began to eat. It tasted like Heaven in the form of food to him. The breakfast in the dining hall was great!

After breakfast, where he returned to the room. His mom was still asleep. He sat grabbed up his D-terminal and saw he had a message from Daisuke. He opened it and it said, "Why do the people scare you?"

Takeru smiled and replied. In his reply he said, "I had an 'unsafe encounter'. I don't really want to talk about it."

Takeru felt a bit disappointed with himself for not telling Daisuke about anything that was going on in New York, but he didn't want to scare Daisuke.

He sat down the device in his hands and decided to go for a walk. He walked through Prospect Park, and thankfully didn't see Jesse. He didn't want to remember his encounters with the boy. It made him nauseous to think about Jesse. Takeru knew, though, he would have to tell Daisuke sometime.

Takeru walked through the door of the room at around three. He had walked all over New York City. Well, not everywhere, but he did walk a lot. Surprisingly, he didn't get lost. He looked around and saw the room was empty, and he was tired. He went to check his D-terminal and saw he had a message from Mimi. He read it and it said, "I'm glad you're okay, we should hang out tomorrow."

He wrote back, saying, "We should hang out. Though, tomorrow is my last full day here in New York, and my mom might want to do something, I'll check with her first."

He was going to ask his mom, but she wasn't there. He knew she was probably out with Brian. He didn't like Brian, and even more so because he was the father of Jesse.

Takeru decided he'd go to sleep. Not for the day, but a nap before dinner. He laid down and closed his eyes. He almost instantly fell asleep.

"Takeru, get up!" Takeru opened his eyes and saw his mom in the room. "You're going to be late for dinner, now come on."

"Okay," he replied. He put his feet on the ground and shook his head. He was so tired.

They walked down to the dining hall, but they weren't joined by Brian. Takeru was thankful that Brian wasn't there. They sat a table for two, which concluded Takeru's assumptions about Brian not joining them.

"So, where's Brian?" Takeru asked as they waited for their drinks.

"He's spending time with his kids," she replied.

"Oh," was all Takeru said. He didn't want to bluntly say, 'Jesse tried to kiss me!' That would be too harsh on anyone in the situation.

"I'm tired," his mom stated. She yawned causing Takeru to yawn too.

"Yeah, I'm going to sleep after dinner, if that's okay with you," Takeru said.

"It's okay, but tomorrow is our last day, and I want to spend some of it together, okay?" she said. Takeru couldn't say no, she would probably force him to go with her either way.

"Okay," Takeru replied.

After dinner, Takeru and his mom made their way up to the room and fell asleep. Takeru fell asleep wondering what his friends in Japan were doing.