Bzzzzzzz...

"Wha…ngh…" Tai mumbled, flapping his hand about in an attempt to switch off the alarm clock. He hated Mondays. Each week it brought with it the dreaded return to normality, such as early mornings, uniform, and school – three of the deadliest enemies known to teenage kind. In short, Tai and Mondays didn't co-exist very peacefully. Still, he eventually managed to drag himself out of bed and into the bathroom to have a quick shower, before getting dressed into a pair of grey trousers, a long sleeved white shirt and a green, buttoned up jacket.

As the minutes went by, and the grogginess began to diminish, something dawned on Tai. He was happy. Not because he was forcing it, not because someone was there to cheer him up, but just because he felt that way. He thought about it, and came up with three possible causes. Maybe it was because he had actually eaten properly over the weekend, giving him the energy to stop moping around. Maybe it was because he'd spent so long with his Yama, and was still in a bit of a leftover loveable mood. Maybe it was because Tai and Kari had talked through everything that was bothering him after Yamato had left yesterday. His smile grew even wider; maybe it was a mix of all three, but it was definitely the latter that had made the greatest impact. He had finally let out how much he loved his best friend, how he would never dare to tell him the truth and how, even if he did, Yamato would never love him back. Kari had listened intently, and eventually argued that, infact; it was more likely to be the other way around. Much to Tai's pleasure, Takeru had recently revealed to Kari that he thought his brother might be gay.

There was one thing confusing Tai, though. Takeru had told him that he thought Yamato was the same way as Tai; meaning that Takeru thought Tai was gay. As no one had mentioned his sexuality to Takeru before, it left Tai wondering how the kid had come up with such information in the first place. Was it just a lucky guess? Or was there a more sinister source of information lurking in wait, ready to pounce at the right time? It was a scary thought, but either way it couldn't get in the way of Tai's good mood. "Nothing can take the smile from my face today!" He shouted out in his head as he put on his school shoes, threw his backpack over his shoulder and exited the apartment. The sun was shining brightly; a fleet of clouds lurked somewhere in the distance, though, slowly moving in Tai's direction.

It wasn't until Tai reached the school entrance that he realised something; somehow, he was late. Very late. There wasn't a student in sight, and they were probably all in their first lessons by now. He rushed through the corridors, remaining oblivious to the fact that his locker had been vandalised, and hurried into his science room.

As soon as he entered he felt everyone's stare rest on him. He scanned the room and noticed that he was almost completely right. Everyone was staring at him; everyone but Yamato, who appeared to be asleep at his desk with his head buried in his arms. Slowly, but surely, students began whispering, fidgeting and, every now and then, sniggering. Still, Yamato didn't move.

Tai suddenly became aware of the fact that he was still standing, and so made his way towards the wooden stool beside Yamato. On his way he tripped; Shuu, a muscular, black haired boy had stuck his foot out and, simultaneously to Tai hitting the ground, had stood up. He was laughing, and pointing, down at the brunette. Tai tried to stand up and, for it, received a heavy kick to the chest – lifting him into the air for the tiniest split second, before sending him to crash down onto the floor, face first. Tai had a high tolerance for pain, but that hurt. Something along his ribcage had cracked. Still, though, Yamato didn't move.

Tai rolled himself onto his back to face the attacker; he'd known him for years, and for the first time noticed a rather distinct feature about him, which, of course, he decided to voice. "Wow, Shuu…I never realised before, but your head is huge…" For that he received a stomp to the face, causing blood to trickle down his chin and drip onto his shirt. He wasn't even going to attempt to fight back physically, but didn't mind bantering for a little longer. Surely the teacher would save him soon? "For someone of your size, I was expecting better." Shuu raised his foot above Tai's face again, this time holding it in the air so that he could reply first.

"For someone of your sexuality, I was expecting you to take the fucking hint and go somewhere you belong – fag!" He never actually completed the last word, though, for he was sent soaring backwards into the teacher's desk at the front of the room. Yamato had finally moved, and with him he'd brought Tai's stool and arced it towards Shuu's face in an uppercut. He ignored the screams, the blood spatter and the rush of adrenaline pumping through his body and looked down at Tai, offering a hand.

"Sorry Tai. I chose a bad time to doze off, I guess." He pulled Tai up from the ground, and turned back towards the crumpled heap that was Shuu. He was slowly getting up again. Yamato had expected this, as Shuu was extremely strong. He wasn't going down in one hit. Then again, Yamato had hoped that would be the case. He dropped the stool; Yamato was going to do this the fair way. "Stand back, Tai."

Tai complied; he was too shocked to question the order, and was frozen in awe by the confidence that Yamato was exuding. He wasn't in the slightest bit scared. This obviously didn't phase Shuu, as he moved forward, aiming his punch towards Yamato's head faster than anyone could have anticipated. However, it wasn't fast enough. The blonde stepped back, whipping his left palm down against Shuu's fist, and sent his own right hook towards Shuu's face. It landed squarely against the bridge of his already broken nose without fail, resulting in a screech of agony. He doubled over in pain; Yamato took this as a sign that the fight was over and grabbed him by the neck, forcing him out of the room and into the corridor, before slamming the door shut. Shuu didn't even think about coming back in.

The rest of the class were staring, jaws wide open, at Yamato. A couple cheered quietly; a couple more muttered congratulations, as they'd "always hated that bullying prick", and a few more stared, in fear for their classmate, at the man standing behind Yamato. The teacher had slipped back into the room silently. Meanwhile, Tai was still standing in the corner, only now he held a sheet of paper in his hand. He gave Yamato a teary eyes look, and whined "Y-Yama…" before passing out in a pool of his own vomit.

Tai was asleep; he laid on a bed in the school's medical office with his thumb in his mouth. His jacket had been removed as it was covered with vomit. Yamato thought he looked like an angel. A tired, very cuddly angel, but an angel nonetheless. The nurse had cleaned up his face, and his nose had been mended as best as possible. It wouldn't take long for it to fully heal. Also, no lasting damage had been received. Even the damage to his ribs wasn't major. Yamato had sighed appreciatively when he heard this, and since then had been left alone to sit with his friend.

Yamato was supposed to be getting some kind of punishment apparantly, but the teacher said he'd seen the photocopies that had been stuck around school and shoved into everyone's lockers, so wasn't surprised that Yamato had become so 'excessively defensive' when his best friend had been attacked. He was aiming to get Yamato out of it without any consequences, but had told him not to cross his fingers. In this kind of situation everyone involved tended to receive punishment. The likelihood of that changing was slim, at best.

He sighed, and stroked a strand of hair away from Tai's face. "After all this time, how did I not know what was going on inside your head?" He'd been so naive; he'd thought Tai liked someone else – even though they'd spent the weekend, and most of their time together as friends, acting like a couple. Thinking carefully, Tai had never really shown an interest in anyone else. Even when he was going out with Ami, Yamato had always come first - no matter what. "Well…" He thought to himself, finding the glaringly obvious answer to his question. "I love him. Love does strange things to people; it makes you paranoid, possessive and insecure. Thanks to that, I got the wrong end of the stick completely." He smiled, and rubbed Tai's cheek whilst muttering. "Love's a tricky thing, Tai...but it's worth it." Tai's face twitched, but he seemingly remained asleep. Yamato pulled a piece of paper from out of his pocket, and read it once more. It had been Tai's ultimate downfall, in a sense. Yamato, however, was happy to have it. It had finally revealed how Tai felt about him.

Things have been different, recently. I mean…y'know, as in really different. Ha! I can't believe I'm struggling to tell my journal something! You must think I'm pretty damn stupid. Then again…everyone else does. You'd be no different. Although you're just a notebook, I guess. You won't hold my intelligence against me. Anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah. Different. I wonder where to begin…

Yamato had already read that section on Saturday, and it revealed very little about what Tai was going through. The next entry, though, was a complete contrast.

…Well, I think I know where to begin now. Ahem...Yama! The best guy in the world! I mean, I hit my head today and what does he do? He comes and finds me, puts me in bed and searches the entire apartment building for an ice pack. Then he wastes his Saturday night away by staying here to take care of me! I mean, come on. You're just a book, and I bet you're falling in love with him already. Oh, yeah, that's what I forgot to mention. I'm madly in love with him. Yes, Yama. My best friend. My completely straight, kick my ass if he found out about my feelings, best friend.

Yamato sniggered at his own crude thoughts; he could imagine a couple of things he wanted to do with Tai's ass, and kicking wasn't one of them. He continued reading, oblivious to the fact that Tai was stirring.

Over the last month I've avoided people as well as I can from the fear that, somehow, they'll know what I'm thinking. You know what I mean? It's like they'll sense the 'gay aura' floating around me. I've stopped eating, too – No, I'm not stupid! Well, I am…but that's not the reason. I've just lost my appetite for food. Completely. One look at it and I wanna throw up. I know! Me, Tai, has lost his appetite. The world's gone nuts!

By this point tears were welling up in Yamato's eyes, and occasionally dripping onto the sheet of paper he was reading from. "Tai…" He whispered, inhaling in short gasps. "How could I not see what was happening?"

Anyway, Yama bought me this journal so I could write all this stuff. Y'know, to let everything out so it'd stop eating me up from the inside. He's great, right? And who knows, maybe he's planning on reading this when I'm not here, so he can understand what's wrong. He just wants to help me. He's so amazing...aren't you Yama? Just in case I'm right, and you are reading this, please don't hate me. I hate myself enough for the two of us, ok? I love you. Even more than soccer! No lie! A part of me wants to say that, someday, we'll be together. The rest of me wants to scream "get real, Tai." Ha! Get real…I guess I'll have to get used to that one.

Yamato rubbed his eyes, knowing that a more powerful wave of tears was on its way, and quickly read the final entry.

…Don't be mad, Yama.

"How could I ever be mad at you, Tai?" He said, hugging his friend tightly as he cried into his shoulder. He wasn't expecting Tai to hug him back.

"I thought that I'd ruined our friendship, Yama." Tai whispered into Yamato's ear, weakly, before bursting into tears himself. The two of them laid together, and cried together for at least 5 minutes, before Yamato finally responded.

"Tai, I need you to understand something. I love you more than anyone can ever be loved. You're not only my best friend, you're the guy I want to spend the rest of my life with." He sat up, and stared into Tai's beautiful, chocolate brown eyes before continuing. "I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at me. Mad, because I stood by and let this stuff happen. I didn't act quickly enough. I-I…I failed you, Tai. And I want to spend the rest of our time together making it up to you. I…I love you so damn much."

"H-how about we call it even?" Tai replied, smiling. Yamato giggled. "I love you, Yama. I just wish I'd had the strength to tell you sooner."

"You and me both, Tai. You and me both." Yamato replied, stroking Tai's fluffy brown hair. Tai sat up and placed himself next to Yamato, comfortably resting his head against his friend's shoulder. He'd had his fair share of trouble recently; the bump on his head, the fractured rib, and the broken nose were all proof of that. In the end, though, it was all worth it for the journey he could finally embark upon with the one he loved. Tai raised his hands to Yamato's face and turned him to the side, so that they were staring into each other's eyes. Slowly, they leaned forward until their lips met, and they held their soft, tender kiss until they'd both managed to express what they were feeling, without ever having to speak the words. Finally, after all this time, they were complete.

Sounds like the end, doesn't it? Well, it kinda is...except I'm planning on wrapping up everything soon in one, final chapter. It'll probably be shorter, and there won't be any major events or plot lines. I simply plan on skipping ahead a week and showing you what's happened with everyone. I'll get it done as soon as I can. =)

Ahem...THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO'S READ THIS! THANKS EVEN MORE TO EVERYONE WHO'S READ THIS AND ENJOYED IT! THANKS EVEN FURTHER TO EVERYONE WHO'S READ THIS AND REVIEWED IT! You've been a great help. =D

I don't own the digimon characters...(shifty eyes)...

Anyway, thanks people! R+R? =)