A/N: And so we meet again for the third time! Good, good. Thanks so much for the reviews! It lets me write just that much faster, my friends. (grin) Thanks again! I wrote this chapter quite a while ago (I think I actually started this weird story in the summer), so it's pretty strange. Teehee. Which translates to ignore the bandmates: I think I was sleep-deprived when I wrote this chapter.

Disclaimer: I wish I could WATCH that episode where Matt babysits Kari. But that has nothing to do with this spot. I don't own Digimon.

Beating Hearts

Chapter Three

"Separate we come, and separate we go, And this be it known, is all that we know." – Conrad Aiken

Mom! Mom! MOOM!

What is it, honey?

I had another dream…

Another one? Kari, you should be lying down; you know what the doctor said.

But I'm not tired! Look at my throat! And I'm not hot anymore!

Tiny hands grab larger ones and place them on a small forehead. It's as cool as water.

Yes, well, the doctor said to sleep until the…the people leave you alone.

They're not bad, you know.

I believe you.

No you don't! I can tell!

Kari, don't—

How come no one believes me?

Kari, you tried to follow one off the balcony once!

It said I'm supposed to leave…

Kari…

How come I couldn't go on that camping trip with Tai and his friends?

Because the doctor told you not to.

The doctor isn't the king of the world, though!

Kari, this is enough. I don't want you being rude to all of us because of the people you hear, all right? If you're mad, go be mad in your room.

But the dream! I have to tell you about the dream!

Small hands tugging on a flowery skirt. Tug. Tug. They don't let go.

All right. Let Mommy sit down and I'll listen to your dream.

Okay.

Feet patter after larger ones. They sit down in a small bedroom, pink and girly with butterfly stickers adorning the walls.

They tell me a lot of stuff, you know. I'm not actually sick. It's the only way they can talk to me, when I'm sleepy and hot and stuff.

What about the dream, Kari?

Oh yea! Well, they said I should've gone on the trip.

Kari, please don't use this as an excuse to go with your brother and his friends…

It's not an excuse! I promise! It's really, really true!

Kari, time to get some sleep.

Mooom…

Sleep.

"Matt? Matt? MATT!" The sharp voice of Matt's drummer, Mee (it was a strange nickname he had never really explained) awoke Matt out of his half-asleep stupor.

"Huh?" he asked thickly, turning to face his somewhat friend. Actually, Matt usually felt like beating Mee up more often than not, but thinking about the band snapped him out of it all of the time.

"Three hot chicks are totally digging you right now."

Another nerve gone. That annoying way he talked, it just—

Matt's eyes wandered until he saw three blonde girls in the cafeteria table beside them. They were eating tiny salads, drinking water, and had a cookie the size of button to share between the three of them. They were giggling and watching him with nervous, flickering eyes. Matt resisted the urge to throw something at them. Instead, he just gave them one of his winning smiles, which sent them all into giggles and harsh, hurried whispers.

"Why're you so out of it, man?" The bassist for the Teenage Wolves, Lee (why was he seeing a pattern here?) stuffed a piece of whatever the lunch was into his mouth. "The past three days you've been—like—outta here."

Matt shrugged. "Just…stuff."

The two friends were used to his vague answers, so instead simply took it in stride and went on to talk about other things. More than ever, Matt craved to just sit with his old friends and laugh at Tai, talk to Sora, maybe even flirt around with Mimi a little. Scanning the crowd, he saw them all scattered about; Tai with his soccer friends, Sora with her soccer friends, Mimi with the acting kids, and Izzy was probably off in the computer lab.

Seeing all of his friends separated at something as small as lunch made Matt feel very empty inside.

And no TK made him feel just as nauseous. He knew he was at Kari's, hounding her every breath whenever he could get a spare moment. Lunch, for instance.

Kari's parents had exploded, as Matt heard from Tai. They had completely lost it, calling all sorts of doctors and psychiatrists, even though Tai continued to lie and say it was just physical this time. But Kari had basically been put under house arrest, being unable to take even a step out of her room (not that she really could) without being interrogated by her mother or father. They had even taken off work to stay and watch over her. Sweet, in a way, but also irritating. Matt wanted to go see how she was doing, but Tai's parents had always scared him. In fact, all parents did. Especially his own.

And just to add to his new frustrations, Kari hadn't been to school for three days.

This was what Lee and Mee had been talking about: Matt completely zoning out and thinking about other things totally irrelevant to one another. It made him sick to realize he was turning into some kind of dreamy boy with hopes and wishes or something like that.

"Hey, you guys going to that bogus charity dance the school's having?"

Matt rolled his eyes at Mee's voice. "Of course we are, you idiot. We're playing at it."

"Oh yea! Dude!"

Matt finally did get to throw something (at Mee: his spoon) and stalked out of the cafeteria without even bothering to put his tray away.

"So, you're getting better?"

Kari grinned weakly at TK's words; she was sitting up, a book in one hand and an apple TK had forced into her grasp in the other. "Loads," she reassured him. "My parents don't think so, but at least I can breathe normally now."

"That's great," TK said sincerely, relieved. Kari smiled at him. He was so sweet.

"When do you have to be back at the school?" she asked, regretting the feeling of being alone again. Her parents were always outside, but they rarely came in to talk, scared that they might catch whatever mental disease she had.

"In a few minutes," TK responded vaguely. Kari accepted it and asked a question instead.

"Where's everyone else?"

The young boy hesitated before shrugging. "Oh, you know, here and there…" He shrugged again. "They're all really busy."

Kari smiled. "Oh, okay. Well, if you see anyone tell them I miss them, okay?" Where's Matt? Why isn't Matt with you? She felt like accusing him, although she had no idea why. Well, obviously. It was that little crush she had adopted, and in Matt's absence it seemed to have ballooned just a little; not to a TK crush proportion though. She didn't think it ever could.

"Definitely."

"Thanks…"

"Maybe some of us can come visit tonight, since it's Saturday!" TK's voice was so excited that Kari had to smile, even though she knew everyone was busy with their own lives.

"That would be nice," she replied neutrally. And then TK smiled and had to leave, and Kari was left in the heavy silence once again.

"Matt!" The squeaky voice of Mimi echoed in Matt's ears. He was standing at his locker, a rarity for him. Usually he just carried around…oh…nothing, but today he was grabbing some old music he had scribbled on the back of his notebook months ago. It had occurred to him during Japanese class that he should try working on it.

"Yea?" he asked, looking behind his open locker door to see her standing there, beaming from underneath her pink hair. He couldn't help but feel a small smile tug at the corners of his lips. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing! Just that all of us are visiting Kari today. Wanna come?"

Matt felt his stomach drop. "Oh?" he asked, hearing his voice come out a little choked up. He coughed into his hand. "Uh—sure. If I'm not busy."

Mimi's face grew dejected. "Oh, okay."

"But—ah—I'm pretty sure I have nothing going on."

A smile immediately appeared on her features once more. With a wave and a goodbye, Mimi was racing down the hall, leaving Matt to growl at his stupidity.

There was one very large reason he didn't want to go to Tai's house: parents. He hated parents. He really didn't want to see his parents. But maybe, with everyone else there, things would be all right.

"MOM! DAD!" Tai bellowed as the troupe of children skittered quietly into the home as if someone had died. The only loud one was Tai, who dropped his bag unceremoniously on the ground and dashed for the kitchen for food. TK immediately took off down the hall, and Mimi and Sora followed Tai to go talk to his parents. Izzy may have gone with TK, and Joe had arrived earlier than all of them; Matt could hear him talking from the kitchen.

Feeling awkward and a bit empty, Matt walked aimlessly around the entrance area of the apartment. Not wanting to face Tai's parents (for some reason he felt they would blame it all on him), he walked slowly down the hall to Kari's room. The door was open a crack and instead of going inside, he leaned against the wall with his hands stuffed into his pockets and his head leaning to the side so he could listen.

"Feeling better?"

"A little." Faintly. "You don't have to worry so much."

"It's just been so long…"

Silence.

"Is it like the events that occurred during our time in the Digiworld?" came Izzy's voice, crisp and to the point as usual.

Kari let out a heavy sigh, as if she had discussed this topic many times. Thinking about it, Matt assumed she had. "No, it's not. I don't hear the voices." Simple, as if it were normal. And yet, Matt felt a chill crawl up his spine. "But the others don't believe me."

"I believe you," TK said reassuringly, his voice warm. Matt felt irritation poking at the back of his mind. Had his brother always been so passive and agreeable? It was annoying. Deciding it was time for Matt to make his entrance, he opened the door lightly, taking in the scene of TK sitting at the end of Kari's bed with Izzy taking the unoccupied chair. Kari was sitting up in bed, her arms wrapped loosely around her hunched in legs. All three smiled at him, particularly Kari. She must have been socially deprived lately.

"Hey," he greeted lazily. "Good to see you sitting up now."

Kari's face turned a tinge of pink. "Thanks," she mumbled. Matt shrugged off her strange behaviour and plopped down on the other chair that was amid the clothes and homework scattered over Kari's floor.

"So do you just have a fever then?" he asked simply again, trying not to look at TK, who was watching Kari with the bizarre adoration of some lovesick puppy. "None of that stuff from a while ago?"

Kari frowned slightly and shook her head. "Nope. Just a fever. Everyone's been asking me," she added with a hint of exasperation.

"I know," Matt assured her, flicking some blonde hair out of his eyes with a finger. "I just decided I might as well join that list."

Kari let out a small grin, which felt to Matt like a good enough accomplishment. Wait. Since when had he set out to make her smile in the first place?

He shook such thoughts out of his head, instead listening dimly to TK, Kari, and Izzy discuss something or other he could honestly care less about. Tai, Sora, Mimi, and Joe all flooded into Kari's room, making it hot and stuffy and loud. But then Izzy had to dash to a computer club meeting, so he left early. Matt, feeling a headache coming on, slid out of the room, unnoticed.

Except by one girl, who watched him escape with a tugging heart.

"Leaving already?"

Mat stood up abruptly from where he had been bending down to tie his shoes, banging the back of his head on the shelf where the family hung their jackets. Matt grimaced, cursing silently as he gripped the back of his head and glanced up to see Kari weakly propped against the wall. He frowned.

"You should be in bed," he ordered. Kari smiled.

"I need to go to the washroom sometime, you know."

Matt felt his face heat up a little, but as always he kept it calm. "Of course." He flicked his gaze toward her, watching her carefully. She blinked quickly, as if trying to ward off his gaze. He felt it and looked back down at his shoes almost uncomfortably.

"How did you know?" he asked quietly.

"Because I saw you leave, and I just wanted to know why." Her reason was obvious, but Matt couldn't think of an identically obvious answer. He shrugged.

"It was a little crowded."

"But you always play at concerts! My room's crowded?" Her tone wasn't accusing, but merely curious. Matt finally managed to look up this time; Kari wasn't looking so great, but at least she could talk now.

"I just felt a little…weird, okay?"

Kari was watching him with unusual intensity. Matt scratched the back of his throbbing head idly. "Uh…are you feeling a bit sick again or something?" he asked.

"Wha--? Oh! No, I'm okay." She was blushing and looking down at her sock feet, the nice, normal picture of the Kari Matt knew. But…did Matt actually know anything about Kari? He wasn't too sure he did, after all.

"All right then." A heavy silence. "Don't you think they'll all be wondering where you are?"

Kari hesitated before nodding, still focussing furiously on her wiggling toes. "Yea, I guess so."

Matt didn't know what to say now. It seemed a bit rude to just say "Okay, bye then" or something. But he didn't want to go back either. Why not? Hadn't he just been aching for the old gang to meet up again?

"Kari! There you are!" TK's familiar voice jerked both of them out of their thoughtful reveries. Kari was too slow to turn around, and Matt watched as TK wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "We were starting to wonder!" he added with a nervous little chuckle.

"…Yea, I was just saying bye," Kari finally managed in a quiet whisper, looking up at Matt. He twitched anxiously at her gaze. There was definitely something different about her when she had a fever.

TK gave Matt a curious look, one that seemed surprised but was also mingled with protectiveness. Matt snorted.

"Something funny?" TK asked almost snappishly. Matt shrugged his shoulders.

"Nothing," he managed, although he found the idea of TK feeling the need to 'protect' Kari from him hilarious. She was just a little girl for crying out loud! "I'll see you guys later," he added nonchalantly. TK gave him a small smile; Matt gave his famous smirk back.

But all Kari did was bob her head at Matt's farewell and hobble fretfully down the hall back to her room. TK hurried after her, leaving Matt in the entrance feeling very confused.

Until he heard Tai's parents in the background, snapping him out of it and causing him to dash out of the apartment as if it were on fire.

"Mom, can I go to school tomorrow?" Kari's question was abrupt as she waddled into the kitchen, pale body seeking out some sort of nourishment.

Her mom, who had been sitting at the dinner table reading the evening newspaper, jumped out of her spot, surprised. "Kari! What are you doing out of bed?"

"I'm feeling loads better," Kari assured, although she knew that her argument would more than likely prove to be futile. "I'm even hungry now! The doctor said that would be a good sign, didn't he?"

"Well…" Her mom's prolonged silence scared Kari. She felt like a leper, hiding out at her home the entire week! She had felt so nice and peaceful when everyone was in her room; she had been especially surprised to see Joe. But strange circumstances would always keep them all together, she supposed. But most of all, she had been delighted as Matt sidled into her room. But he had left so soon! Kari felt like she had done something wrong, and it made her feel absurd.

"Kari? Kari!" Her mother's harsh voice brought her back to Earth. "Honestly! If you ask a question you should pay attention to the answer!"

Kari bowed her head hurriedly. "Sorry Mom," she mumbled. "I was just thinking…about school," she hinted not so subtly.

A sigh. "Kari, you can go to school as long as you make sure not to over-exert yourself. And don't eat any heavy foods! And most of all, don't—" Her mom hesitated, not looking her daughter in the eye. Kari pulled the milk out of the refrigerator and poured a glass. Slowly, she took a gulp.

"It's okay Mom. I won't act different."

Her mom smiled, relieved. "Don't be afraid to call home."

Kari inwardly sighed, annoyed at being kept in this cage her parents seem to set up whenever something happened to her. "I won't, Mom."

But deep inside, she felt elated. School! People!

And as soon as she thought that, her insides shrivelled. The dance was in ten days.

Ten days to learn how to dance. As if she could remember all of that crazy waltzing! She gulped.

It was just one thing after another, wasn't it?