Holy, an entire year! Jesus, what on earth have I been doing? I'm trying to make sure this is all right; If you notice anything to major from previous statements, TELL ME, I will fix it. I skimmed through the rest of the story, and am hoping everything is okay!

Yamato

By the time Friday comes around I can't wait for Taichi to come over. Besides the days I help Taichi with soccer, I only see him at school. And during soccer, we're too busy to talk. School doesn't end anywhere near soon enough. I head to my locker to get school supplies for the weekend, and plan to find Taichi after my bag is full.

"I'm still allowed to come over for the night, right?" Taichi scares the shit out of me, and I jump, dropping my backpack.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" I snap. "But of course you're still allowed over." I say gentler. Taichi's face had already fallen though.

"Ahh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He sounds on the verge of tears, and I decide today must be a bad day. Some days, like today, Taichi seems to be stuck in the past. They happen less often then a month ago, but on his off days, it breaks my heart. He flinches away from me if I get too loud, or move to touch him.

"I know you didn't, Tai." It soothes him a bit, but I know he's still going to expect me to flip out once we're away from others eyes. Taichi blows out his breath, and mumbles something I can't hear. Curious as I am, I don't say anything about it.

"Got your homework?" I ask, deciding this may be a safe subject. Taichi winces, but nods.

"Yeah...Will you help me?"

"If I can, sure." Taichi smiles. Not his vibrant smile, just a tiny, almost not there one. It's something, though. I give him a brilliant smile back.

On the way out of school, we're stopped a half dozen times. This person wants to talk to Taichi now that he's approachable again, someone wants to ask me this. I'm almost ready to kick something by the time we escape.

"Freedom!" I announce. Taichi giggles. Yes, giggles.

"Now you're stuck with me," He points out.

"Well," I say, throwing an arm over his shoulders. He tenses, but doesn't push me away, which I take as a good sign. "I'd take you over school any day."

"Yeah?" Taichi asks.

"Yep!" Taichi giggles again. I remove my arm from him, and we walk in comfortable silence. Okay, so maybe today isn't as bad as I thought it was. Taichi seems to be deep in thought, and I don't want to interrupt. Taichi's fingers brush against mine. Out of the corner of my eye I watch him check me for a negative reaction. I don't know why he'd get one though, because we've held hands before. Maybe not out in public, but..

As we reach my apartment building, Taichi lets out a sigh. I glance over at him, and he smiles. Brighter then any of seen yet today. We head up the stairs. Half-way there, a group of people meet us. As we pass, Taichi presses closer to me.

"Did you know any of them?" I ask after we've past the group. Taichi shrugs.

"I don't know. I didn't really look." He admits.

"Ahh, I see." I say, unlocking the door. I enter the apartment, with Taichi a few steps behind me. We both kick off our shoes.

"Food?" I offer Taichi, who grins.

"What kind of question is that?" He counters. I laugh.

"Good point. What do you want?" I ask him, as I head towards the kitchen. Taichi follows me.

"Hmmm!" He mock thinks. "Do you have stuff for cookies?"

"You want me to make you cookies?" I ask.

"Yep. I mean, you are my boyfriend, aren't you?" There's more in that question then just playful banter.

"Yes," I agree. "I think we have things for cookies, too." I begin looking through cupboards, pulling out ingredients. I feel Taichi's eyes on me. As I start mixing things together, Taichi moves to stand beside me. He doesn't say anything, so I ignore him.

"Yama," Taichi says as I finish putting the first batch of cookies in the oven.

"Hmm?" I ask, straightening up. My mind is mostly on the mess of my kitchen. But my attention is immediately drawn to Taichi when his fingers brush my jaw.

"It's fading." He says.

"Yeah," I agree. Taichi's eyes shift from the bruise to my eyes. And then I'm stumbling backwards with the force of Taichi's lips. I flail, reaching for the counter to support us. I hear a clang, and then a thwump of something falling over, but that doesn't matter. My fingers grip onto the counter, and I can actually focus on the fact that Taichi is kissing me. Kissing. Me. And then he's pulling away, cheeks flushed.

"Er..Sorry." He says, breathlessly.

"You don't look sorry." I counter.

"I'm not."

"Good." Taichi pulls away then. I glance at the counter to see what had fallen. There's milk and sugar everywhere. I wrinkle my nose at it.

"I'm sorry for making a mess." He says, as he watches me clean up the sugar and milk.

"Eh, that's okay. Was worth it." Taichi offers me a smile.

Taichi

I've been keeping my distance since I attacked Yamato's face in the kitchen. Even though he claimed he didn't mind, and at first I had believed him, that nagging feeling of dread had come back. What if he'd been lying? Two hours later, the feeling is going away. Yamato hasn't shown any sign of being upset with me kissing him yet, and my mind keeps telling me he won't. Yamato's playing a video game, and is sitting on the couch, I'm waiting my turn sitting on the floor near the other end of the couch. Yamato's yummy cookies sit on the table in front of us. I frown, and pull myself onto my feet, using the couch as support. Yamato's eyes follow me. I drop onto the couch right next to him, and snuggle against his side. His eyes move back to the screen. He plays his turn, and passes me the controller.

"I don't want to play anymore. Let's go outside?" I suggest. Yamato agrees easily. He always does. I wonder if he'll ever tell me no. Probably. But will I trust him the same after? I doubt it. I ponder this as we get ready to go out.

"What are you wanting to do outside?" Yamato asks as he looks the door.

"I don't know. Let's go to the park?"

"Okay." Yamato agrees. We take the elevator down. The ride is silent. Once we're away from the majority of people, I relax.

"How're things with your parents?" Yamato surprises me by asking. I shrug.

"I don't know. Apparently my dad is sorry and wants to come home. My mom won't let him." I say quietly.

"How do you feel about that?" I shrug again. I don't know how I feel about my dad. I'm having a hard enough time trying to decide how I feel about Yamato. We finish the walk in silence. Yamato suggests we go back for dinner once it starts getting dark. I don't argue.