A/N: Okay, I rewrote the last half or so of the last chapter. Or more. Mostly from where Yama tells Tai about what Luke does to him. So yeah, GO BACK AND READ IT! Because I really wasn't happy with the other version. I kept going back and reading it and regretting it. Now I'm satisfied and I've also rewritten this chapter majorly. Large chunks have been edited several times before I even half-finished this chapter. Or it would've been out long ago. And it would've been crappy. So the wait was for your own good.

DISCLAIMER: Don't own Digimon, etc. etc.

Beautiful Disaster
by: nEo-cHaN

"I'm home!" I called, kicking off my shoes and locking the door behind me. There was no answer, and I walked into the living room. Kari was sitting there watching TV.

"Where are mom and dad?" I asked.

"Dad's working late and mom went out with a old friend who came to town." Kari turned to me and grinned. "So how was your date?" she teased.

I glared at her. "It wasn't a date."

"No? Then why did I hear kissing noises coming from your bedroom?"

My face heated up and Kari smiled smugly. She held out the cordless phone in her hand.

"I already talked to Mimi, but I think she wants details."

I snatched the phone from her, stole a few chips from the bowl in front of her, then headed for my room. I closed the door and made sure I was speaking low enough so that Kari wouldn't hear me. But knowing Mimi, she'd probably go and tell Kari right afterward anyway.

I told Mimi everything, and she asked to hear what had happened in my bedroom about five times. I think she'd be happiest if I just gave her a video camera and told her she could follow me around and tape everything that happened between Yamato and I. Which I would never do, so she would just have to deal with getting the details second-hand.

Mimi and I were on the phone for a while, and when we finally got off the phone I ate a late dinner. My dad came home and my mom came home an hour or so after him. They both asked me how my day was, and I think they suspected something when I grinned widely and said it was great. Then Kari hinted that I'd been out with someone and my mom started trying to find out details. Luckily I escaped to my room, claiming that I was tired and going to bed.

I woke up on Thursday looking forward to seeing Yamato, and apparently he felt the same way. I was at my locker and had just finished putting the books that I needed in my bag when someone took my shoulder and shoved me against the locker. I would've thought that it was someone picking a fight if I hadn't immediately been drawn into a kiss.

"Whoa," I laughed, breaking the kiss Yamato had pulled me into. "Hello to you, too."

Then I noticed a new bruise on his face. My smile instantly turned into a frown and I touched his cheek.

"What happened?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it." Yamato tried to brush it off.

"Don't give me that bullshit. What happened?"

He frowned, but answered me. "Takeru. Luke told him that I was with you."

That made me feel partially responsible. "Fuck... Yama, this has to stop."

"What am I supposed to do about it?" he asked bitterly.

I didn't respond, partially because I knew he wasn't looking for an answer and partially because I spotted Mimi coming down the hallway. Her speed increased when she saw us and she was at our side almost instantly.

"Hi, you two!" she chirped. "How's life?"

I rolled my eyes. "Mimi, if you want to see a kiss just ask."

Mimi blinked, then broke into a grin. "Okay! Can I see a kiss?"

"No."

Mimi glared at me, and I couldn't help laughing. She opened her mouth to say something but the bell rang.

She pointed a finger at us. "I'll see you two in Photography! Don't think you're getting away with this!"

Mimi threw us one last "threatening" look, then began down the hallway.

The day went by pretty slowly, as usual. At lunch I was able to convince Yamato to stay at the cafeteria. We sat with Mimi, Jyou, and Koushiro. Mimi took that opportunity to ask about the kiss again.

"Just one kiss," she promised. "Then I'll leave you alone. How about it?"

That was a blatant lie. Both she and I knew she wouldn't leave us alone after seeing just one kiss. The longest she'd leave us alone for was the rest of the day.

"I don't know," I said, pretending to consider it. "You'll have to ask Yamato."

Mimi turned to Yamato and opened her mouth, but didn't have to ask. He put his hand on the back of my neck and pulled me towards him, bringing me into a kiss.

I grinned at Yamato when he broke the kiss and he gave me a little shrug. Mimi was still staring at us, probably replaying it in her head.

"That was hot."

"She made Kou and I kiss for her too," Jyou remarked, and we laughed.

I shook my head at Mimi. "Something's wrong with you."

She stuck her tongue out at me.

Yamato wanted to come over after school, but I told him to save it for Friday and then he could sleep over too. He caught the suggestiveness in my tone and responded by saying "it would be a pleasure" and winking.

The school day dragged by on Friday since I was looking forward to the after school part. When the bell rang signaling the end of the day, I nearly jumped out of my seat and cheered. However, I managed to hold back.

I waited for Yamato after Law and we went to his locker first, and then mine. Once I'd gotten the books I needed, we left the school and began walking to my house.

"Mimi would freak if she knew you were sleeping over," I said with a laugh. "Prepare to be harassed when she finds out."

"Why is she so interested?"

I shrugged. "We've stopped asking."

The conversation was light and flowing on the way to my building. When we arrived in my apartment, Kari was suprisingly home already. We go to the same school-she harassed me all the time during her first year-but she usually walks with her friends and takes a lot longer to get home than me.

She grinned when she saw Yamato's bag. "Are you sleeping over?"

He nodded, and Kari smirked. She opened her mouth to say something but I cut her off quickly.

"Why are you home already?"

"Kim's mom gave me a ride." Kim was one of Kari's friends. "Anyway, I'm going to a friend's house later. Mom said that she and Dad are going out to celebrate their anniversary."

"I thought their anniversary was next week."

"It is, but they're both busy or something so they're celebrating it now. Anyway, my point was that you two will have the place to yourselves." She smiled not-so-innocently.

I narrowed my eyes at my sister, nudging Yamato in the direction of the hallway. He headed for my room and I followed, mouthing 'you're dead' at Kari as we left.

Yamato and I put our bags down when we entered my room and I closed the door behind us. He sat cross-legged on my bed and I copied his position.

"So what do you wanna do?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Whatever, it doesn't matter."

"C'mon, suggest something."

"I don't care."

"If you don't give me an idea in 10 seconds, I'm gonna have to start kissing you."

Yamato laughed. I grinned and began counting slowly.

"One... two..."

I didn't even get to three before Yamato kissed me. Without delay I kissed back, looping an arm around his waist and pulling him into my lap. After a few moments I prodded his lips open with my tongue and slipped it inside his mouth. He responded by letting his tongue dance with mine. My fingers itched to explore Yamato's body, and I was about to give in when Yamato broke away from the kiss.

"You're not touching me." He spoke in a breathless tone. "Is something wrong?"

I blinked. "No, I just..." I let out a chuckle. "I didn't know you wanted me to molest you right away."

"It's not molestation if I want it."

That comment made me want to just jump him, right there and then. I pulled him into a deep kiss, running a hand through his hair. My other hand slid up his shirt, stroking the skin, and then crept down his back. My hand slipped lower and I gave his ass a little grope. Yamato jerked a bit and I let my lips part from his for a brief second to murmur "Relax", then went back to exploring.

I ran my hand along his thigh, caressing and rubbing. Yamato fisted a hand in my hair, deepening our kiss and making the blood rush to my groin. I massaged his inner thigh and was about to move my hand the short distance to his crotch when he broke the kiss, chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath.

"Wait, Tai," he said, breathing heavily. "Let's wait until later."

I raised an eyebrow. "Too much?" I asked with a smirk. "Nervous?"

"No!" he retorted almost instantly.

"No? Then why do you want me to stop?"

He narrowed his eyes at me a bit, then spoke through clenched teeth. "Because you're getting me too... worked up."

I grinned. "You're hard?" I looked down to find that yes indeed; he was becoming very hard.

My grin widened and I gave his thigh a little squeeze. "C'mon, let me feel."

"Tai!" His face was slowly turning red.

I laughed. "Fine. Later, then."

Yamato and I watched some TV, listened to music and talked, basically just hung around. My mom came home at around 4:00 and I introduced Yamato to her. After a while he and I decided that we felt like going outside. Yamato had his skateboard with him and I found mine under my bed so we headed out on them and decided to go somewhere and attempt tricks.

Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty good on a skateboard. But Yamato was way better. It seemed like the skateboard was glued to his feet. And, while trying to do all these tricks, he still managed to look ultimately sexy. I knew for a fact that I looked goofy trying to do the stunts. I've been told by many that I make funny faces when I'm concentrating.

I don't know how-I was probably too busy replaying an action of his in my head-but Yamato lost his footing and fell right on his ass. I didn't even see him fall, I just saw him on the ground. I stared for a moment and once I felt assured that he wasn't hurt, I burst out laughing.

Yamato stood up quickly, his face red, and brushed off his pants. "Shut up!" he exclaimed, half-glaring at me. I gave a snort and continued laughing. I couldn't help it. I'd just been wondering how he could do everything so perfectly, and then he went and fell. I found it pretty hilarious.

But even when he was messing up a trick, he was hot. Especially looking at me with irritation like he was at that moment. I eventually managed to stop laughing and he went back and tried the same trick again. I think even if his legs were broken, he'd still find a way to skateboard.

When we went back to my house, my dad had arrived. I introduced him to Yamato also. Kari was no longer home; my mom had dropped her off at her friend's house. My mom and dad left shortly after Yamato and I came back. My parents left money for us to order pizza, and both of us were hungry so we ordered it right after they left. I flipped through the channels and found something half-decent to watch. The pizza came sometime later and we ate, then sat in front of the TV and randomly talked. The time flew by and soon my parents and Kari had returned. I was surprised at how quickly the time had gone by. I couldn't even think of what Yamato and I had done to pass so much time. Soon it was past midnight and I realized that I didn't know where we were going to sleep.

I knew Yamato didn't have a sleeping bag or anything, and the couches in the living room were out of the question. Kari would pester us in the morning and besides, we'd have to keep things G-rated just in case. There was the choice of sharing my bed with him, but I didn't know if he'd refuse or not. Plus there was no lock on my door and I didn't exactly want anyone to accidentally see us in bed together. Not that we were actually going to do anything... unless he would let me.

I brought it up when he was about to go to the bathroom and change. "Hey, Yama?"

"Yeah?"

"Where do you wanna sleep?"

Yamato looked at me and shrugged. "Um... wherever I can?"

"Well, you can sleep in my bed." I grinned and waited to see if he would take it as a joke or not.

He looked at me for a moment, then smirked. "Thanks for volunteering to take the floor."

Yamato turned and left the room to change. I stared after him, then shook my head to myself. He was pretty good at comebacks.

I changed, then got some stuff from the hall closet and set up a sleeping area on the floor. Yamato walked in shortly thereafter, wearing black boxers and a grey tank top and looking as hot as ever. When he saw the space I'd set up, he spoke.

"You know I was just kidding, right?"

I shrugged. "I don't mind sleeping on the floor."

"Well, neither do I."

"I don't mind sleeping in the bed either."

"Neither do I."

"Then why don't we just sleep together?" I moved over to Yamato, wrapping an arm around his waist and grinning suggestively. "You can take that any way you want, by the way."

I don't think Yamato could come up with something to say in return, so instead he kissed me. I responded eagerly and when we stopped to breathe I reached over and pushed the door shut.

"How 'bout we take this to my bed?" I proposed in a low voice, running my hand down Yamato's back.

His eyes locked with mine. "How 'bout you take me right now?"

It was a bold suggestion, and I was slightly taken aback. "You mean that?"

"Maybe."

It suddenly seemed like too much effort to move to the bed. Instead I pulled Yamato to the ground with me on the sleeping area I'd set up and placed myself on top of him as we kissed intensely. Yamato arched his hips up and heat rushed through me. I parted my lips from his for a moment to remove my t-shirt and helped him do the same. Then I dove down and kissed his neck, his chest, and his toned stomach. I traced the path of his tattoo with my mouth and then moved back up to his lips. I manuevered one of my hands beneath Yamato and lifted his hips, pushing mine down to meet his. Yamato moaned and I became impossibly harder than I already was.

"You're so fucking hot," I breathed, then placed my lips back on his.

My hand was actively touching and groping him, though there was one place I hadn't ventured yet. Pulse heightening, I moved my hand between his legs and placed a palm on the slight bulge in his boxers. I let my hand move teasingly in that area.

Yamato tilted his head back, breaking our kiss. "Tai," he groaned.

I cupped and squeezed, making him bite his lip and exert a muffled moan. Bending down, I kissed and sucked on his neck a bit, then teased the skin with my teeth. Yamato's nails dug into my shoulder as I leaned forward and rocked my hips against him. He threw his head back, gasping and moaning.

"Oh God, Tai..."

Between active kissing and sucking, my hand hovered around the waistband of Yamato's boxers. After some moments, I began to manuever my fingers beneath it.

Yamato grabbed my hand. "Wait," he gasped out. "Tai, stop."

I frowned slightly, but stopped moving my hand and stilled my movements. "Why? What's wrong?"

He licked his lips and didn't respond for a moment. I took in his slightly swollen lips, messed up hair, and body glistening with sweat; then struggled to keep from yanking mine and his boxers off, plunging right into him, and fucking him until we both passed out.

"Yamato," I half-growled, getting restless, "what is it?"

"I just..." he trailed off.

His moment of hesitance was one moment too long. I started moving my hand again. Yamato didn't protest and I slipped my hand under the fabric of his boxers, taking hold of his naked member. I rubbed and massaged it, very much enjoying the noises that Yamato made.

"Tai..." he bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut briefly, then opened them and reached for my wrist again. Impatient, I managed to take his hand instead and place it on my own erection.

"Do you feel that? Yama, I can't fucking wait forever. What do you want? Do you want me to stop?"

"Yes," came the insant reply. I'd been half-expecting it, but I was still very disappointed. Not to mention sexually frustrated.

"Fine." I released Yamato and began to get up. He sat up and watched me pull on my shirt, biting his lip in what seemed like hesitance. I tossed him his own shirt and he caught it, then attempted to speak.

"Tai-"

"Either you want it or you don't. It's that simple." I didn't mean to sound pissed off, but at that moment I really didn't appreciate being deprived of sex.

"Tai, stop it. I just don't really want you to fuck me on your bedroom floor right now and wake up your parents."

"Whatever." I turned away, starting towards the bed.

Yamato's eyes narrowed and he got to his feet, walking over to me and grabbing me by the shoulder. He forced me to turn and opened his mouth, but I cut him off.

"Yama, let go of me right now or I swear, I will throw you on my bed and fuck you whether you want it or not."

His eyes widened and his hand dropped from my shoulder. I felt a flash of guilt, but I seriously didn't know if I could control my hormones anymore. I become quite moody and irritated when I get this worked up and don't get to do anything about it.

I moved past Yamato, turned off the lamp that had been on, then got into my bed. I laid on my side, glaring at the wall. Eventually I heard the rustling of the blankets and spare mattress I'd placed on the floor, then all was quiet. Several minutes ticked by. My anger slowly dissolved and regret washed over me.

I'm so fucking stupid. I wished Yamato had just punched me, or something. I shouldn't have talked to him that way. Recalling what I'd said, it sounded like I was threatening him. And threatening him was the last thing I wanted to do. After all, I wasn't Luke.

"Yama?" I said aloud.

There was no response. I didn't know whether it was because he was asleep or he just didn't want to talk to me. I wouldn't blame him for the latter. The first thing I was going to do when I woke up in the morning was apologize. And hope he would accept it.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Yamato was still asleep when I woke up. I laid in bed and just watched him for a few minutes. He was beautiful when he was sleeping. After a short bit, I got up and crossed the space between the bed and where he was laying. I sat down cross-legged and gently ran my fingers through his hair. He murmured in his sleep and I smiled to myself.

Some amount of time later, Yamato woke up. He blinked at me a few times, then half-smiled. I remembered my resolution and spoke.

"I'm sorry."

He furrowed his brow in confusion. "...sorry?"

"For last night." I felt bad just thinking about it. "I didn't mean to, you know... be a jerk."

Yamato looked confused for a moment or two, then seemingly clued in to what I was talking about.

"Oh, that..."

"Yeah. I honestly was just... frustrated. You know, sexual tension and all." I offered a little smile.

He returned it. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I kinda wanted to just jack off, but I figured you didn't want me to mess up your sheets." He laughed.

I pictured Yamato jacking off, then quickly shoved it out of my mind and wished that I hadn't.

"Hey, I wouldn't have minded as long as you let me watch."

Dammit! That wasn't what I meant to say!

Yamato grinned and I felt my face grow hot. If this kept up, I was going to end up attacking him. He was just too fucking hot!

"Why just watch when you could join in?"

Was he trying to kill me?

I tried to clear my mind of all dirty thoughts. It didn't work. I was growing very hard and I would be an idiot to think that Yamato didn't notice. However, he continued to pretend that his remarks weren't an invitation to pounce on him. If he kept this up, I would have to demand some sort of sex.

Which I didn't want to do. No, I wouldn't do that. That was something Luke would do. I wasn't Luke.

Yamato and I got up and got dressed, then headed for Yamato's. I didn't particularly want to, and neither did he, but he was supposed to get together with his bandmates and he needed his guitar. So we made our way to Yamato's apartment, stopping in front of the door and standing in silence as Yamato unlocked it. Only, it wasn't locked.

Yamato paused for only a second, then wordlessly opened the door and cautiously took a step inside. I followed behind him, though my dread was becoming greater and greater.

Suddenly we heard a cry. Yamato headed immediately in the direction it was coming from; one of the rooms in the hallway. He stood outside of it for a few seconds before more noises came from inside-quite explicit noises-and then shoved the door open forcefully.

I stood wide-eyed in the doorframe. Takeru was laying naked on his bed with an equally nude guy. But not just any guy. Luke.

"Oh my God." Yamato's hand flew to his mouth and his voice was so inaudible that I didn't know if he'd even said it or not. He was frozen, standing there as Luke lazily looked over while in the midst of fucking his brother.

It didn't take him long to snap out of it, though, and he completely freaked out.

"What the fuck are you doing!" he screamed. "Get off of my brother!"

Luke snorted and ignored him, turning his attention back to Takeru as he proceeded to finish what they'd been doing.

Yamato let out a scream and stormed out of the room, tearing into the living room and pretty much throwing a fit while cursing endlessly. He grabbed a vase and threw it against the wall angrily, hurled a few pillows around, and then nearly broke into hysterics, sinking to his knees and sobbing into his hands.

I watched in awe, still shocked, then snapped to my senses and knelt down beside him, putting an arm around him tentatively. I didn't know what to say or do.

Footsteps came from the hallway and I looked up. Luke emerged, doing his belt up and running a hand through his hair casually. He looked so nonchalant about it that I wanted to fucking kill him right then and there.

Luke sneered when he saw Yamato. "Aw, look at the little pussy cry. Upset that you're not the one getting any, bitch?"

"Shut the fuck up," I growled, and Luke let out a little laugh of disbelief.

"And who are you? His boyfriend?" His voice was taunting.

"Get the fuck out of my house," Yamato spoke up, looking at Luke with hatred. His glare was intense.

Luke laughed. "How adorable," he mocked. "You think you can tell me what to do. How very cute."

Takeru appeared beside Luke, looking slightly disheveled. Yamato looked at him and let out a little strangled noise. He got to his feet and faced Takeru.

"You can't do this. You have to stop! He's not... you shouldn't be with him!"

I didn't know how Yamato could still love his brother, even after all he'd done to him. But I knew he was trying to save Takeru from Luke. He didn't want that scumbag with his brother.

"You can't tell me what to do," Takeru snapped. "I can be with whoever the hell I want."

"Exactly," Luke said with a smirk, draping his arm around Takeru and looking at Yamato smugly.

Yamato lunged at Luke. He got a few good punches in before Luke hit him back, hard. He slammed Yamato up against a wall, about to hit him, then just stopped and laughed. He shook his head and let go, snorting.

"Stupid bitch. You're not the only boy toy in this city." He turned to Takeru. "Let's go."

And they left. I got to my knees beside Yamato, who had his knees pulled up to his chest. His shoulders were shaking and I found that he was crying again. I put my arms around him and remained silent, still unsure of what to say.

"He fucked my brother, Taichi," Yamato whispered. "He fucking..." He broke off into sobs again.

I just sat there, not knowing what to do and wondering how anyone could possibly be like Luke. I wanted to beat the shit out of him, if not just kill him off entirely for everything he'd put Yamato through. But instead I stayed with Yamato, watching as he fell apart in the front hall of his apartment. It wasn't fair.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

For a while after that, Yamato would constantly walk into his apartment only to find Takeru there with Luke. I knew it was on purpose; Luke was doing all of this in front of Yamato to get to him even more, to tear him apart as much as possible. But something was strange. Takeru had only hit Yamato once or twice in that week and a half. And he hadn't gone on one of his relentless beatings, he'd simply stopped after one hit. Instead of making Yamato feel somewhat relieved, instead it made him worry even more. He knew something was wrong.

One night, Yamato called me sounding shaken.

"Tai?" he half-whispered.

"Yes?"

"I... I think... I mean, I could swear I heard..." he trailed off.

"What?" I prompted him.

"I... I was walking through the hall, and I passed his bedroom and... but..."

"Yama, tell me."

"Tai, TK was crying. Crying." Yamato sounded scared. "He... he doesn't cry. He doesn't. And... Tai, I don't know what's going on."

"Why don't you ask him?"

"Are you crazy!" Yamato's voice went high for a moment. "If he knew I heard him crying, he would... he wouldn't be happy. And... and I'm not sure. I mean... God, Tai..."

That event really shook Yamato up. Not that he already wasn't a bit of a mess. Then, on Wednesday, May 23rd, the world turned upside down again.

It was almost midnight, and it was raining outside. Pouring. So I opened the door to find a soaking wet Yamato. A soaking wet, grave-looking Yamato. I grabbed him immediately and pulled him inside, shutting the door behind him.

"What were you doing out there in this weather! What's wrong?"

He reached inside his sweater and shoved a videotape into my hands. I blinked and looked down at it. The tape was labelled 'Takeru'. There was nothing else, just that.

"What is this?" I asked.

"I don't know," Yamato said shakily, "but if it's what I think it is..." he trailed off.

"What? What do you think it is?"

He wouldn't tell me. Instead he just said that he needed to watch it. Completely confused, I led him into the living room and put in the tape after giving him a towel to dry off with. He refused to accept my offer of clothing, wanting to watch the tape immediately. Everyone was asleep, so I put the volume very low and waited for the tape to begin.

It came on and I realized that Yamato was grasping my hand tightly. He let out a little sob and I looked up to see the image of his brother naked. Someone was talking and I strained my voice to hear. It was Luke.

Yamato was pale as a ghost, and I watched as Luke walked into view on the tape. He and Takeru began to get involved sexually, and I could see the pain on Yamato's face as he watched. It came to a point in the tape where Luke pushed Takeru roughly onto his knees and ordered him to give him a blowjob. It reminded me of what Yamato had told me about Luke and himself, and my stomach twisted unpleasantly. I could only imagine how Yamato felt watching it.

I was able to make out some of Luke's words in the next bit of film. He was growling in a controlling voice, a voice that conveyed that everything they were doing was meaningless; that Takeru was worthless. He slapped Takeru, and I heard Yamato gasp.

"Listen up, bitch," Luke growled on the tape. "I'm going to come in your mouth, and you're going to swallow it like a good little boy. Then I'm going to fuck your pretty little ass senseless and you're going to scream my name until you can't scream any more."

I felt sick. Yamato was crying. He was shaking with sobs as he watched the video. I knew he didn't want to. He didn't want to see his brother being forced into sex-being raped-by his bastard of an ex-boyfriend. But he had to. He had to see it to believe it. He needed to watch it, if only to work up the courage to do something about it. But I could almost see it ripping into his heart, tearing him in two. I could see the recognition in his eyes. It was even more painful because he knew exactly how Takeru felt on that tape. He'd been through the exact same thing.

I don't know how Yamato lasted through the video. But he was a wreck by the end. He was a complete and total mess, and I'd expected nothing less. However, I didn't expect his solution to be the one he came up with.

"I have to do something, Taichi," he managed to get out through tears, "I can't let him do this. TK..." he broke off, sobbing uncontrollably.

I put my arms around him, anger flaring within me. Luke couldn't get away with this. I wasn't going to let him, and I wanted to believe that people really did get what they deserved in the end. Because if that were so, Luke would die a long, horrible, cruel, torturous, excruciating death... but only after going through the same pain Yamato had been through.

Then Yamato spoke again.

"I have to go back to him."

I froze over. Then I spoke slowly, truly believing that I must have heard wrong. Because it made no sense.

"What?"

Yamato looked at me through red, puffy eyes.

"I have to go back to him," he repeated.

I've tried a thousand times, but I still can't understand what was going through Yamato's head. He explained to me many times: he felt that he had to save his brother, and to do so he had to return to Luke so that Luke would continue torturing him instead of Takeru. But to me, that was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard. That was the last possible solution in the world I could've thought of. I didn't see how it would help. I wanted to just beat the shit out of Luke. And-I mentioned this to Yamato-now we had proof. We had the tape, which was proof of Luke's repulsive behaviour. We could just submit it as evidence to the police and Luke would be thrown in jail- especially because of Takeru's age. But Yamato wouldn't do it. And to this day, I wonder why the hell not.

I was angry, of course. I yelled at him. Not in the house, seeing as I would've woken everyone up. But when I took him down to the lobby. I was furious. At the same time I wanted to take him in my arms and promise nothing could ever hurt him again, but he was out of his mind. Going back to Luke? I said some horrible things. Things such as "You like it! You like it when he fucking treats you that way!" and "Maybe Luke was right about you". But I was angry. And I had a right to be.

So Takeru was spared. And let me tell you, Luke must have been as smug as ever. He'd gotten exactly what he wanted. Yamato was playing right into his hands. It was disgusting.

One of the worst parts was that I didn't have anyone to talk to about it. I couldn't tell anyone how I felt because they didn't know the situation and I couldn't tell them. Obviously people(i.e. Mimi, Kari, and Koushiro)wondered why the hell Yamato and I were basically not speaking for a few days, but I wouldn't say anything about it. That Saturday when Mimi told me that it was obvious that we'd broken up, I replied that we simply needed our space. Of course, she didn't believe a word of it but I really could care less at that point.

Late Sunday night, Yamato called while I was in bed. At first I wasn't going to answer the phone, but something told me to so I picked it up.

"Hello?" My tone wasn't exactly friendly.

Silence for a moment, then, "Hi."

"Oh." My voice went flat. "Hi."

"Tai, I'm sorry," Yamato said quietly. "I want to be with you, you know that. But... I can't. Takeru... Tai, he stopped. He stopped... everything. He actually admitted to me-he said 'I can't hit you when I remember exactly how it felt'. He told me he was sorry-he said sorry-and called himself an asshole. Tai, I have my little brother back. Or I'm on the way to getting him back. How can I sacrifice that? How could I possibly let Luke take him again and do... those things?"

"Yamato, Luke's going to kill you."

There was a long pause. Then Yamato spoke again. And completely ignored my previous comment.

"I don't want to fight with you, Tai. Please... this is hard enough for me as it is. I need you to be here for me."

How could I deny him when I knew just how serious it had to be for him to draw strength from me? So Yamato and I "made up", so to speak. Though things still weren't settled between us in the least.

Takeru may have stopped hitting Yamato, but Luke sure didn't. Yamato began coming to school with bruises again, and with a deep pain in his eyes that I knew was slowly killing him from the inside. If Luke wasn't harming Yamato enough physically, he was definitely taking his toll on Yamato's emotional state.

I didn't have to fear going over to Yamato's house anymore-well, unless it was possible for Luke to show up at any time-, but I still didn't really go over. One of the times that I walked Yamato to his door, Takeru was home and he apologized to me. He even went so far as to say that Yamato probably couldn't be happier with anyone else in the world. That was an awkward moment, needless to say.

Another time when I was over there, Yamato got up to do something and Takeru and I were left in a room together. He revealed to me that he was worried about Yamato and that he wanted to get his brother out of the situation he was in. This re-assured me that I wasn't going crazy; that I wasn't the only one who thought Yamato was being an idiot.

June 5th was a Tuesday. It was also one of those rare days when I went over to Yamato's place. Our friendship had become a lot less strained, but things still laid unsettled between us.

We were talking about nothing in particular and listening to some music when Yamato pulled out a notebook and began to show me some songs he'd written. They were amazing. Each one was filled with meaning and I could tell he'd poured his soul into them.

"Wow," I murmured, reading one of the songs over. "These are beautiful."

Yamato didn't answer, and I turned to him. A second later, his lips were on mine.

I had already begun kissing back when I snapped to my senses and realized what I was doing. I pulled away quickly, pushing Yamato back firmly.

"What the fuck are you doing!" I exclaimed.

Yamato looked pleading. "Tai-"

"Fuck!" I stood up. "We can't do this! You know we can't! Unless you finally come to your fucking senses and realize that being with Luke isn't necessary-"

"Don't bring that up."

"It's kind of hard not to!" I shook my head. "Listen, Yamato, call me when you know what you want. I don't want to hear from you until then."

And I left.

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