Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Never Like This ❯ The Up Arrow ( Chapter 5 )

It's 3:28 AM but I have the next chapter! Whoooo! This was mainly written from 1:30 on. Geez, I stay up late. Anyway, Daisuke is all post-black out and, er, just read it. => Disclaimer goes here. R&R please. Don't stay up as late as I do, ever.

Amazingly, when I woke up I wasn't hung over. I expected to be greeted with a splitting headache, but I just felt woozy. I don't remember a thing. "Fuck," I groaned.

A hand pushed itself onto my forehead. "Don't get up," a voice ordered.

"I wasn't planning on it," I opened my eyes and blinked up at the ceiling. I was back at Yamato's apartment. It was still dark outside. I hate blacking out because you never know what happened. I stayed there, staring at the ceiling for a few minutes before tilting my head to the side. I expected to see Yamato, but instead found myself faced with a different blonde.

I don't know what the fuck he was doing there. And I said so. Quite loudly, in fact, as I jerked up into a sitting position. That was a bad idea, too, because my head started spinning as soon as I moved too fast.

Takeru reached over and shoved me down onto the bed again. "Would you stay down? Geez."

"Well, I'm sorry but I didn't exactly expect to be faced with you," I grumbled.

And then I made another discovery. Hey! I wasn't wearing any clothes. Funny how something like that can avoid detection. I guess my mind isn't totally un-fuzzed yet. "Takeru! Why the hell am I not wearing any clothes!"

"Would you relax?" he folded his arms and frowned at me. "I'll explain everything if you just shut up."

"Fine. I'll shut up. Because you have a fuckload of explaining to do," I snarled. "Start with why I'm not clothed and follow up with what you're doing here, and we'll see how I feel about continuing."

He sighed. "You don't have to be so angry."

"Yes! I do! Just start explaining, okay?" All right, so I was being nasty. But I was angry. No, I wasn't angry. I was just hurt, but I'll be damned if I let him see that.

He turned away from me in the chair and stared at the wall. "Well, for one thing, you're not wearing any clothes because you threw up on yourself on the way home, and I had to put them in the wash. I would have put you into new clothes, but… well, I just didn't."

I leaned up on my elbows. "I threw up on myself? When?"

"When I was bringing you back here - which is also the answer to your second question about why I'm here."

"No, that doesn't answer it. Why'd you bring me home? Home from where?"

He turned his head and frowned at me. "Don't you remember anything? And lay back down."

"I'm fine like this. Remember any of what? Let me think." I stared up at the ceiling once more and pulled my thoughts back in. "Let's see. I was at… a club. And then I got sick and I left and… oh. Shit. Shit shit shit," I sat up.

"Lay back down," Takeru's voice was almost a whisper. "…He didn't do anything to you."

I buried my face in my hands. "Yes. Yes he did. I blanked out and I couldn't stop him, and… Oh God."

"Daisuke, listen to me. He didn't do anything to you. I didn't let him."

I jerked my head out of my hands, which made me feel dizzy all over again. "What?"

"You heard," he was whispering again.

"You stopped him?" I tilted one eyebrow down in confusion. "Wait, where do you come in on all this, anyway?"

He sighed and turned to face me again. "Hikari called and told me to come down to the club. She said you were… with some guy… and she demanded that I show up and everything."

Scratching my chin slowly, I tried to think. She probably called him after I told her to go away and let me have my drink. "Oh. But you didn't show up."

"Yes, I did. But I couldn't… say anything." He got out of the chair and started pacing the room, in the shadows where I couldn't make out more than his silhouette. "I saw you, and I saw the guy, and you were drinking and having fun and… it wasn't my place to step in."

"I wasn't having fun," I mumbled, still scratching my chin in thought. "Funny. I only had one drink but I got real fucked up. Also funny, I don't have a hangover. Very strange…"

"I don't think you were drunk. Was there ever a time you set your drink down, or stopped paying attention to it, or anything?"

"I never set my drinks down…" Did I ever look away from the drink? Not that I remember… "What does this have to do with anything, anyway?"

The shadow shrugged. "I think he spiked your drink with something."

"What, you mean with royphenol or something?"

"Probably not that, exactly, but something. I don't know, maybe he poured NyQuil in it or something. That knocks you out pretty easily."

I grinned slightly. "NyQuil doesn't make me puke," I pointed out.

"Well, no."

"Forget it. I don't want to talk about it anymore anyway. You were telling me a story. What happened?"

He started pacing again. "Like I said, I showed up and you were with this guy and having fun and all… and I just melted into the background and sat there feeling sorry for myself. And Hikari found me about forty-five minutes later and told me you were leaving and I had to hurry.

"By the time I drug up the courage to go after you, you were gone. But I figured you'd headed back here, so I started walking here hoping I'd catch up to you."

"And you found me while Nameless Guy was groping on me?"

"Yeah." He shrugged, or maybe he shuddered, I'm not sure. "Anyway, I yelled at him to get off you and, um. I kind of hit him. Hard."

"What?"

"He wouldn't back off so I punched him."

"You punched him?"

"What are you so indignant about? He was gonna fuck you!"

I bit my lip. "I wasn't indignant about it… I just… thought it was kind of funny."

"Yeah, well, ha ha." He returned to the chair and glowered at me. "Be more careful next time."

"There won't be a next time. I hate clubs. I'm never going to one again." I slumped back down to my elbows and sighed. "So what then, huh? Why'd you even come after me?"

He pushed blonde hair from his eyes and shrugged. God. So beautiful. "After I punched him, he grumbled and stalked off. I guess he wasn't going to fight for you or anything. And you, well, you were out of it, so I dragged you back here. On the way, you puked in a gutter and got a fair amount on yourself, and when I got you here I took your vomit decorated clothes off, put you in bed, started the laundry, and then came back here and waited for you to wake up."

I eyed him. "Is Yamato back yet?"

"Are you kidding? It's 2:35. He won't be back until at least 4."

Leaning back against my pillow, I sighed. "…You aren't done explaining yourself."

"No, I'm not. But I think I did a fair amount of explaining, and now it's your turn. Who the hell was that guy?"

"What does it matter who he was? It's not like we're dating anymore."

"It does matter. It matters to me."

"I don't know who he is, Takeru. I don't know his name. He bought me a drink. He groped me all night long. He wanted to fuck me and that's all he cared about. That's who he is, okay?" All this yelling at him wasn't helping my head, which was starting to hurt from all the spinning.

He got very quiet. "Sorry."

"No, don't be. Well, be sorry, but for another damn reason. That guy was my fault. I'm an idiot and I deserved it. Fucking forget it, okay?"

"Don't call yourself an idiot. And don't blame yourself, either."

"Takeru, I said forget it."

"Fine. God, you're so immature sometimes," he shoved out of the chair and started pacing around again.

"Immature? What the hell for? Because I don't want to discuss being practically raped? Who the hell cares what you think. Why don't you leave me alone and go fuck that goddamn Potato guy some more?"

"His name is Otayo! Not Potato! Don't be an ass." I growled, but before I could snap out a response, he added, "And I didn't fuck him, either."

"…You didn't?" I sat up again.

"No, I didn't."

Dammit. I chewed at my lip until it started to bleed. Now I really feel like a jackass. "Damn, Takeru. I'm… what the hell do you mean you didn't fuck him? What was all that I saw this afternoon?"

"You saw what he wanted, but I didn't go through with it, okay? I'm glad you came to the door when you did. Because if you hadn't I probably would have fucked him and I really didn't want to."

I stared at the black figure. "Come sit down again," I mumbled. He didn't move. "Takeru, come here. Sit down. Now."

This time he obeyed and sat down on the chair, leaning his elbows on his knees and burying his face in his hands. "I didn't… I didn't know what to do. You left and I didn't know where you were. Nobody did. I was so scared. And then Otayo showed up and I knew that he wanted to get with me, but I told him I wasn't in the market. You'd come back to me. Eventually, you'd be back. I knew it. And I told him to not even bother because I love you, and… he said we'd just be friends."

I wiggled over to the edge of the bed until I was sitting in front of him, curled up in the blankets. He said love. Not loved. Present tense. "Go on."

"…He didn't leave me alone. He kept hitting on me, no matter how many times I tried to make him stop. And finally… he kissed me… and I didn't know what to do. He kissed me and I left. I didn't want to talk to him. But then the next day he came over and I figured maybe he realized that I was serious, and I let him in… and I was staring at the wall and I looked at the calander and it was December 13th, and I said, 'That's Daisuke's birthday,' and he said 'Forget him,' and started kissing me… and I thought… why isn't he back yet? It's his birthday… his fucking eighteenth birthday, why isn't he here, or why hasn't he called or anything? And… I didn't fight back. I let him kiss me. I let him do whatever he wanted. I didn't care anymore."

I put my hands on his and pulled them away from his head. "Look at me." He lifted his head slowly and I saw all sorts of emotions in his eyes I didn't want to see. "Go on," I whispered again, holding his eyes with mine. My God. He was crying.

"He… then the doorbell rang and I almost didn't answer it, but I did anyway… and I saw you and suddenly I realized what I'd done. I'd given up and you were right there in front of me. I panicked. I was really scared. I was afraid of what you'd do if I explained and… I don't know. I thought you'd be mad at me."

"Well, I was. Christ. How could I not be?"

He dropped my gaze and stared down at his feet. "Daisuke, I don't know. I… I know you're angry and all but… I didn't mean it."

I exhaled a slight laugh. "You didn't mean it? …Go on."

"After you left… I… He tried to kiss me again and this time I remembered that I was supposed to fight back. And I yelled at him and I kicked him out. I almost went looking for you, but… I was…"

"Afraid," I finished for him, still whispering.

"Yes," Takeru sniffed. "I didn't… want to lose you again."

I took a deep breath and sighed slowly. "God, Takeru…"

"Please, please don't be mad."

I looked down and realized I hadn't let go of his hands from when I pulled them away from his face. I finally dropped them and put my hands on his cheeks, tilting his head up to look me in the eye again. "I'm not, Takeru." Carefully brushing the tears away, I smiled. "God. I'm not mad. How could I be mad? I practically did the same thing. It's… it's not your fault."

He frowned. "I'm sorry anyway."

I shrugged lightly. "All right. Apology accepted. I'm sorry for tonight."

"…Apology accepted."

"Good. Then we're even." I let go of his face and sat back. "I only have one last question."

"Go for it."

"Did you realize that your calendar was wrong?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Er. Yes."

"…I called you on my birthday." He blinked at me in surprise. "I called, and the phone rang and rang and no one picked up. You were out. With Potato."

"Otayo," he quietly corrected me.

"Potato," I corrected his correction. He didn't argue so I continued, leaving out the part about my nervous breakdown. He didn't need to know all the gloomy details of what went on while I was gone. Not yet, anyway. Not right now. "I called and you didn't answer, and I realized what a mistake I'd made because I didn't know where you were. And you didn't know where I was, either. And I decided to go home, except I was broke. And I finally called Yamato and begged him to come and get me… he drove all the way to the Tokyo prefecture to get me, and then dragged me back. Back here. To you."

His blue eyes locked with mine and I leaned forwards, putting a hand on his cheek. "Takeru. I love you."

Takeru nodded. "I know…" He reached up and placed a hand over mine, holding it to his face. "I love you."

His hand against mine… I missed that feeling. I missed his eyes. I missed… him. "Can I kiss you now?"

"Please do."

Finally. After a month of nothing, I finally got to taste his mouth again. Nothing is sweeter, not even nicotine. Everything melted in that instant. All the angst I had from the last month, everything I'd whined and cried about. I didn't care anymore.

I was home. At last.

Takeru crawled into bed with me and snuggled up. "I missed you so bad."

"I missed you," I brushed my fingers through his hair. My boyfriend. Mine.

"Dais…" he mumbled.

"What?"

"If we ever see Potato again… will you punch him for me?"

I grinned, at both his usage of 'Potato' and the request. "You punched Nameless Guy, why can't you punch Potato?"

"I punched your leech and you have to punch mine."

"Oh. Okay. I'll take immense pleasure in punching Potato, don't worry." I yawned, trailing my fingers through his hair and reveling in the touch. "Will Yamato mind if we sleep in his bed and he takes the couch tonight?" I wondered with another yawn.

"I doubt it."

"Good… because I'm not planning on moving for another several hours."

Takeru smiled at me. "Shut up and go to sleep."

I did. I remember how last night, I fell asleep feeling warm and full for the first time in a month, and I thought that would be the best sleep I ever got. Nope. This night… this was the best. It always will be the best.

One more chapter. We'll get to meet Potato again, don't worry. >=> Hmm. I'm actually satisfied with this chapter… amazing. (I'll probably hate it in the morning.)