Author's Note: Ok I give you my permission to hate me and kill me. I took forever with this! And I'm sincerely sorry. All I gotta say for now is... enjoy the last chapter! And don't forget to review! I love you readers! Warning: Major fluff throughout.

Weekend Nights

Friday night had been bliss for Mimi. It had been one of those moments when she could simply forget about her worries and just enjoy herself with the people closest to her. Now that she and Tai were on friendly terms (friendly being an understatement) her circle of close friends had been brought back to normal, and she was currently sitting on Tai's bed, while she listened to Sora reveal her middle school secrets as she, Tai, Matt, Sora, T.K., Kari and Izzy enjoyed a casual game of truth or dare; Joey being the only one absent because of the fact that he hung out with a different crowd nowadays.

The brunette was sporting an impromptu, small summer dress, consequently making her feel cold as she was exposed to the bedroom's AC, so she had to wrap herself with one of Tai's blankets. Said boy was also sitting on his bed next to her, and she occasionally noticed the way their hands touched tentatively every once in a while whenever Tai leaned forward in his sitting position to laugh at their jokes; or whenever she just happened to sway more to her left to rearrange the blanket around her.

Truthfully speaking, there was absolutely no point in playing truth or dare between themselves, since they already knew nearly everything about each other from either playing the game so many times, or for the simple fact that they had been friends for years. "And you know how boys were back then, so he stopped talking to me after that!" Sora, who was sitting on the wooden floor between Matt and T.K., finished her story about her middle school crush with a giggle before being tackled into an affectionate hug by her boyfriend. Mimi, along with the rest of the teens in the room laughed at their playfulness, but she was still able to notice the lingering smile Tai offered her, and decidedly leaned closer to him, reducing the distance between them.

"Your turn Matt, truth of dare?" Tai eventually asked his best friend as the laughter subsided.

"Uhh—"

"Let's change it up a little, no more dares for you, mister!" Mimi pointed an accusing finger at Matt, who all this time had been taking advantage of his dares to make out with Sora.

"Alright fine! Truth," the blond said with a shrug.

Mimi saw the question coming before it even escaped Tai's smirking lips. "How far would you be willing to go with Sora?"

Both teens blushed profoundly at Tai's daring question; Sora clasped a hand over her mouth to hide a smirk and Matt looked away while he scratched the back of his head, trying to avoid everyone's gazes.

"That's not a fair question…" Matt tried to avert the attention away from his burning face.

"Answer!" Exclaimed Kari excitedly.

"Allthewayhome," Matt whispered in a rush, hoping they wouldn't be able to catch it, especially Sora.

Oh Mimi heard all right, but she just felt like making her friend suffer. "Say what? I couldn't hear you," She leaned forward on the bed, allowing the blanket to slip down her shoulders, and was well aware of Tai's gaze on her cleavage.

"Home base, damn it!" Matt blurted in vexation, and the teens, with the exception of Sora, laughed in unison at his outburst.

Tai and Mimi exchanged glances while the rest were busy either jeering at Matt's disposition or having side conversations. "He won't feel so shy once they've done it," Mimi casually commented.

Tai raised his eyebrows playfully and finally asked as flashes of what they had done a week ago filled his mind, "Are you sure about that?"

The girl simply blushed and turned away just as Matt began to direct his retaliation at Tai. "Alright, you guys wanna play dirty? I guess we can turn the awkwardness in the room up a notch," Matt's thoughts trailed as he addressed Tai. "Your turn Tai, truth or dare?"

"No! More like dare or dare!" Sora quickly exclaimed with an evil look on her eyes.

The brown haired teen raised his hands in defense but eventually gave in, "Alright fine; dare."

Mimi saw T.K. whisper something into Sora's ear and feared for her life. The girl seemed to finally make up her mind and said, "Tai I dare you to kiss Mimi." Said girl's eyes widened, oh no she didn't, but it seemed as if Sora wasn't done. "And not just a normal kiss either!"

"French kiss!" T.K. cut in with an equally evil smirk.

"And I wanna see tongue!" Matt just had to put the icing on the cake, didn't he?

Mimi heard Tai laughing beside her and wondered if he had gone nuts. The boy sighed and turned his attention towards her before saying, "Do we have any other choice? They seem to want a spectacle." The girl crossed her arms and pouted indignantly. Her face was now flushed, but the reassuring look on Tai's eyes felt like they were drawing her in.

She struggled with the blanket around her, but Tai was quick to catch her when she stumbled in the bed. Her heart pounded hard as she sat next to him, and she felt how it skipped a beat or two when Tai's hand made contact with her burning face. The whispered giggles around her were drowned out as their faces inched closer together, and now all that mattered was that Tai had her once again mesmerized. The fact that they had done it before did not make the sensation any easier to handle. Her honey-colored eyes closed almost subconsciously, and she tilted her face to feel the most perfectly planted kiss Tai had ever given her. Their lips opened and intertwined, and Mimi half-mindedly grasped Tai's neck closer to her with her smaller hands. For the slightest moment time seemed to stop and they momentarily forgot that they were being watched; the only thing that mattered was that their bodies and lips were so very much in sync with each other and the heat between them was drawing them closer and closer until they couldn't tell north or south apart—

"Ahem! Guys!" Someone snapped from a foggy land far away and Mimi was forced to open her eyes. Her lips and face were throbbing as blood rapidly pumped through her, and the first thing she was able to spot were Tai's beautiful eyes looking back at her.

"Carried away much?" They heard Izzy's voice among the many giggles and whispers and the girl suddenly felt self-conscious of her disheveled appearance.

"Right…" Tai turned away from her and she could have sworn she saw him blushing as much as she was.

"That was an awful dare, Sora," Matt commented in annoyance that he had granted Tai a pleasure instead of embarrassment.

Sora sighed then said, "OK, your turn Mimi, truth or dare?"

"Please don't say dare," said Kari.

"I fold."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" T.K. asked angrily.

"I quit," Mimi laughed sheepishly, "you guys can play without me." She hated being the wet blanket, but she could still feel her heart pounding all the way up to her Adam's apple and she wasn't sure she could handle any more excitement.

Sora, this time in turn, jumped in to her aid; she stretched her arms up in the air and yawned, "Yeah I'm getting kinda tired."

"It's a Friday night!" Kari protested.

"I call sleepover at Tai's house," Izzy jumped in with a suggestion.

"Sounds good," Matt murmured among the nodding faces.

Mimi gracefully leapt from the bed and casually brushed them off, "I'll pass, my fashion show is tomorrow and I have to be at the club tomorrow morning for preparations."

"Oh I forgot about that…" T.K. mumbled as he too got up.

"We'll be there, Meems!" Izzy reassured her.

"You guys better be!" She pretended to give him an angry look then turned to Tai, "Can I get a ride home?"

The boy offered her one of his charming smiles and whispered almost only to her, "You didn't even have to ask." He took her hand and for the slightest second they held each other, until Mimi broke off and led the way out of his bedroom.

They walked out of the apartment in silence after Mimi said her goodbyes to Tai's parents, and they turned their direction towards the parking lot, and towards Tai's small car. They lingered outside of the car for a couple seconds in an unspoken comfort. Then suddenly and unexpectedly, Tai said, "Mimi, be my girlfriend."

The girl was caught off guard at first then her lips burst into a smile. She nearly jumped on him with an embrace and kissed his cheek several times before exclaiming, "Yes, yes, yes!" He held the ecstatic girl in his arms until she was able to calm down, and then kissed her lips roughly and possessively, as if they had always meant to be. Mimi pressed her chest against him and kissed him back, though in some ways lacking the intensity from their previous dared kiss.

Eventually yet hesitantly they broke off, and Tai was left with whispering—now satisfied—"Let's get you home then." She nodded enthusiastically and soon they were both inside the car and out to the Odaiba streets.

~i~

The following day felt a little too hectic for the soon-to-be model. The moment Mimi stepped in to The Pin, she had been continuously harassed (along with the other models) by the director, the producers, and Mason to give it a 110% at the fashion show. It turned out that Mason was a finicky perfectionist and was extremely hard to please, so he didn't exactly help to keep the stress levels at check. What annoyed Mimi the most, however, was that Akira was also around her a little too much, which was a bit of a distraction, since she had to deal with her role as a model, and also had to deal with Akira's 'attempts' to be friendly.

"I suggested to Mason that you should open the show with him, but he wanted a more experienced model to do that apparently…" Akira told her with a smirk as he leaned next to her dresser chair. Mimi almost jumped in surprise when he said this though (making her make-up artist slap her face back in place while he worked), since she obviously didn't feel experienced enough to open a fashion show either; she had to admit that Akira's helpfulness was beginning to become a nuisance.

"No—Akira—don't—OK, OK, I'm sorry I won't look anywhere else anymore," she blurted apologetically as her make-up artist shot her angry glares.

"Really though, I feel like you have enough potential for something like this. It could be a breakthrough for your modeling career."

What modeling career? She had no modeling career yet, and she was not about to mess up on her first opportunity. "There. Done." Her make-up artist nearly shoved her face away once he was done and hastily stepped out of their conversation. Mimi grimaced and gently massaged her jaw—making sure not to rub any of her make-up off—and gave Akira a stern look before saying, "Akira, you don't have to do anything else," she offered him a friendly, apologetic smile, "I think I have enough on my shoulders already."

"OK if you say so…" he sighed and stepped back in defeat.

"What's your role here anyways? I've seen you in and out but I'm not even sure what you do," Mimi punched his arm lightly, in a joking manner.

The eccentric boy just shrugged. "I'm here to annoy you, I guess."

Mimi was about to pout and reply when she was dragged away to the dressing rooms by an assistant to finally change clothes; it was 30 minutes until show time.

~i~

Despite her efforts to not stand out too much however, Mimi was after all assigned to wear Mason's last set of clothes, and consequently, had to close the show with him. By the time she was able to retreat to a messy, desolated corner backstage to take a deep breath or two, she already had migraine. Turns out that fashion shows weren't as gallant as she had imagined them to be; the backstage of the small club seemed to be too packed for some of the models, who now appeared to be hyperventilating as they rushed to take their wardrobes off; wardrobe and make-up assistants were going hither and thither gathering their things and helping out some of the other girls; and even those who organized the event were in a rush to get things packed up and leave.

Much to Mimi's delight, Mason told them that each of the models were allowed to keep an outfit of their choice, so the brunette, being in her annoyed state of mind, just resolved to keep the outfit she was currently wearing, this way she could just avoid everybody and finally leave once the club was empty. Next to her she heard her cell phone buzz and subconsciously reached for it to read her newly received text message. "You were brilliant Mimi :). Where are you now?" The girl couldn't stop the wide smile that graced her face after reading Tai's warm words and remembered the countless times Tai offered her thumbs up from within the crowd. She bit her lip excitedly and quickly typed a reply, "I'm backstage, hiding from the world for a little bit. Too stressed at the moment."

After sending the message Mimi let out sigh and reached over her feet to attempt to take her ten-inch platform stiletto heels off. She struggled and eventually gave up with a grunt. Her phone vibrated again and she eagerly read Tai's reply, "Is it OK if I come find you? Or do you wanna stay alone?"

Of course I want you to come, Mimi thought to herself imagining Tai coming backstage to sweep her off her feet, like he always did. She tried to stand up on her stilettos and at the same time began typing on her phone once again, this however, proved to be a costly mistake; her eyes were distracted on the cell phone screen and just as she was half way up to her full length someone staggered next to her as they tried to make their way across the crowded room. The perpetrator accidentally knocked her forward, making her stumble on her heels and before she even hit the ground, and before she could even feel any pain, she heard a sickening crack at the base of her—now twisted—right ankle.

Mimi crashed her phone and hands against the floor, and her head came in painful contact with the wall next to her as she fell. Her immediate reaction was to collect her whole body close to her as tears of pain watered her eyes. Her clouded eyes eventually opened to look for the person that had pushed her, but again all she saw were people coming and going, all minding their own businesses, not caring or aware of the defeated girl that was laying crumpled on the ground. Searing pain overwhelmed her leg and she had to fight back the tears; right at this very moment she felt abandoned and ignored. Mimi hastily grabbed her phone and punched into the keys "I'm backstage around wardrobe, in a corner. Please come. I need you."

With some difficulty, Mimi was able to shift herself to a sitting position against the wall while she waited for Tai. Just as she thought that things couldn't get any worse however, she spotted Akira waltzing in to the room with a smug smile on his face, apparently looking for someone, and she inwardly cursed under her breath; being around Akira at this moment of weakness wasn't exactly in her top ten list of things she wanted to do right now. The teen spotted her and hastily approached her with an annoyingly (in Mimi's honest opinion) concerned look on his face. "Mimi! What's wrong? You look hurt… your make-up…" He said as he crouched in front of her, a little too close for Mimi's comfort.

The girl grimaced before replying, "I must have sprained my ankle or something…"

"Let me help you up then! We gotta take you to a clinic," he began to reach over for her but she protested.

Mimi feebly tried to keep him at a distance while she breathed, "No, it's OK I'm fine—"

"Mimi! You're obviously not fine. Relax, you'll be alright," Akira gave her a warm look and she was able to calm down; maybe him helping her wasn't such a bad thing after all. Her appeased expression, however, must have hinted a whole different thing to him, for as she was beginning to lean forward into his arms for his help he seemed to have misinterpreted her actions, and he, too, leaned in forward and planted a clumsy kiss on her moist, tear-stained lips.

The brunette would have leaned back in shock had her head not been against the wall after Akira kissed her. Their lips remained locked for another split second and her widened eyes were able to spot Tai Kamiya standing by the door frame, staring at them with confusion, hurt, and ultimately, disgust.

"Mimi…" The girl would have heard his whispered words, but the noise in the room had drowned out Tai's hurt words. With a feeble push, Mimi was able to detach Akira off her, but it was too late. "It's this what you wanted me to come here for?" She heard Tai ask before he turned on his heel and left the room.

Every sensation was drowned out of her system except for the lingering ache in her heart at the sight of Tai's disappointed chocolate-brown eyes. She clasped her hand over her mouth as newly created tears began to trickle down her face. "Mimi? What's wrong?" The idiot of Akira seemed to also be in a daze—albeit a satisfied daze—so he was oblivious to the damage he had originated.

Once her tears had subsided though, a new emotion began to fill her very core; she was furious. Mimi finally found the strength to smack Akira's arm forcefully and exclaimed, "You dumbass! Why'd you do that for?"

He just stared at her blankly.

"Just take me to the goddamned hospital." Her word was final.

~i~

She felt like an idiot. She felt like she was a fool for letting things go so badly wrong, but she also felt that she wholeheartedly deserved what was happening between her and Tai. It was her punishment for not telling him that she loved him from the very beginning; before she had gone to any fashion show with Akira; before they had made love in Izzy's party. Sure, she deserved to have a sprained ankle and being unable to properly walk without crutches; she deserved to be heartbroken and Akira also probably deserved to have his heart broken, too, but Tai, he didn't deserve this. Tai was brilliant and honest and brave and everything she just didn't have the courage to be. And now he probably didn't even want to have anything to do with her.

This she understood and accepted, but if Tai really did want to sever their friendship for good (which he probably had every right to do), he also deserved the complete truth. This way, even if her heart was broken and she wouldn't be the same without him as a best friend or boyfriend or friend, she would still feel that she did the right thing for him.

After the incident at the fashion show, after Akira had taken Mimi to the hospital and her parents had shown up concerned and angry at her, after her ankle had been tightly wrapped and she had been given crutches and medications, Mimi had attempted to get in contact with Tai countless times. Of course he had not picked up a single one of her phone calls, and it was understandable. He was most likely angry and disappointed and hurt. They had just begun to go out and Mimi had to go mess things up, well scratch that, Akira had to go mess things up. Somehow, even though Mimi had accepted the reality that Tai might not want to be with her anymore, she felt cheated; cheated of the relationship they could have had, had Akira not shown up to ruin things for them. Maybe it was her fault? Maybe she led Akira on?

Well all things considered, Mimi had somehow summed up the courage and had asked her dad to drop her off at the communal pool Sunday night, when she was sure Tai would get off work, so that they could talk. She stood awkwardly at the front gates of the pool, one arm over a crutch while the other reached over to open the gate. She slowly made her way to the pool side while her heart beat hard against her chest. Mimi had gone over what she would tell him in her head countless times, but now that she was actually here, it seemed as if all her planned out words had flown away and out of her mind.

A chilly, night breeze caught her by surprise and the girl cursed under her breath, wishing she didn't have to carry a crutch so she could at least cross her arms if she felt cold. The pool was lonely, and she momentarily wondered if everyone had left, including Tai, but her worries were diminished once she saw a lone figure by one of the storage rooms, silently locking up a door. There was something about his usually composed posture that seemed sad, abandoned, and her eyes watered once she decided that she was the one that was causing him this suffering. The girl kept walking forward, not really paying attention to the fact that her feet were slowly taking her closer and closer to the edge of the pool. Tai's ears must have heard the slight disturbance around his otherwise lonely pool, because he turned around and Mimi stopped dead in her tracks, panic taking over her.

"Tai, I want to talk," the girl almost whispered.

He stepped forward in defiance and told her with sheer cynicism, "What, you're going to explain how being with only one person isn't enough for you?"

Her lips quivered, "No Tai… you don't understand—"

"Then make me understand." His tone was adamant.

"What you saw was a mistake, it was completely unexpected—"

"Well I'm sorry my timing was unexpected, maybe I should have waited outside while you finished making out with that guy." Though his pain was expertly masked, she knew him all too well, and couldn't help but notice the hurt in his words. Tai glared at her and then turned away; ready to leave her standing alone.

"Tai—" Across from him, Mimi clumsily began walking again, trying to reach for him, but she miscalculated the distance between her crutch and the edge of the pool, and as she took a desperate step towards him, her crutch made contact with the water, also forcing her to lose balance and fall awkwardly into the water. Her hands flailed in all directions as she tried to keep her body from sinking, and she found it too painful to kick and swim as she normally would, for her ankle still felt painfully sore from her previous injury. Every desperate breath she took was a mix between air and water, until she couldn't breathe anymore, and all that was left for her was to cough out the water that she was accidentally swallowing. Relief came when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap themselves against her torso, and she was quickly pulled through to the shallow waters and out of the pool.

Once on the safety of the solid ground, Mimi doubled over and coughed out water as tears of pain streamed out of her eyes; all that mattered now was to relieve the pain in her lungs and clear out the confusion in her head. Someone patted her on the back but eventually brought her whole frame against their arms in a comforting embrace. She felt graceful and stupid and sore and painfully in love.

"Tai, please," Her mind eventually cleared and she remember what she was doing, and she realized that it was his arms that were wrapped around her. Her arms then took hold of his body, as if to not ever let him get away, and with sobs chocking her voice she told him, "I promise you, what you saw was all Akira practically throwing himself onto me. I never meant to purposely hurt you. I—I—I don't know how I can prove this to you. Please, I'm giving you my heart."

Her heart jumped when she felt him hold her quivering, soaked body tighter and closer to him, and she somehow felt that he believed her confession. After a while her sobs subsided, and the scare of tripping in to the water faded away. Tai had saved her, and no matter how sore her ankle felt, that single fact was all that matter. Gingerly, they pulled away, and chocolate met amber. "You look so beautiful you know, ruffled and soaked like that," Tai told her.

"And puffy eyed and tear struck?" Mimi said with a pout.

"Yes," Tai answered devoid of hesitation. He leaned forward, taking her face in his hand, and kissed her lips gently and reassuringly, demonstrating that he was here for her.

"I love you—let me be your girlfriend," Mimi whispered without thinking once their lips had parted.

"Only if you let me beat the crap out of Akira," Tai whispered back as their foreheads touched, and they knew that in each other's arms they were at home.

The girl just nodded with a laugh, not really caring what happened to Akira.

"Then yes, you can be my girlfriend."

"I love you Tai Kamiya. Every word I say is true; this I promise you," Mimi leaned forward and kissed his cheek two, three, five times.

"Why does that sound so familiar?" Tai nearly already knew the answer.

She just laughed and snuggled her wet head against his neck, "Because I got it off a cheesy 'N Sync song, but it's so true; I really do."

Tai burst into genuine laughter, and Mimi followed right after, feeling drawn in by his charismatic personality. "I love you, too, Mimi. I've always had." Their fingers intertwined and they faced each other, their faces drawing nearer and nearer as their eyes slowly closed. Their lips were onto each other within instants, almost hungrily, and it was then that they knew that they were exactly where they belonged; in each other arms.

Fin

August 13, 2014:

Hello reader! I'm happy to see that you made it this far into my writing! I hope the story was entertaining to some extent and that you enjoyed it! Maybe you will enjoy this:

I am writing a novel, original fiction, and I am looking for a couple of people who will beta read it in its early stages. Now when I say "beta reader" I don't mean that I need help with spelling or grammar or plot elements or characters or writing or any of that stuff. I want to find beta readers who will be willing to start giving it a read (and keep on reading if it interests them) and tell me how they feel about it. Was it fun? Retarded? Boring? Would you recommend it? That sort of thing. I wouldn't want much, just some input here and there.

If you are interested, please let me know and provide a way for me to contact you back (email, PM, etc.) and I will happily give you more info on the story to see if it sounds like something you would like to do.

Thanks again for your time and attention, have a nice one :)!