Author's Notes:  Hmm…just a Taito series I wrote a couple of months ago, but never typed up.  I guess it's not bad, just needs a bit of editing.  I know it's been done, but thought I'd like to see how my take on it would be.  Reviews would be greatly appreciated.

Disclaimer:  Yes, Digimon is not mine…yet.  I'm just waiting for the final planetary alignment.  *mad scientist laughter*

Cornered

Chapter 1:  Confessions at Bad Times

Yamato knew there was something wrong, and that there shouldn't have been.  It was his wedding day and everything was supposed to be perfect, and everything was, on the outside anyway.  The church around him was cavernous, the priest before him smiling benevolently.  A small group of friends and family were gathered behind him, brimming with happiness.  Sora was beaming in her wedding dress, watching him with eager eyes.  The bridesmaids semi-circled around on one side while his brother and Taichi enclosed the other.  It was the moment of anticipatory silence after 'Do you take this woman…?', and yet something wasn't right, nothing so tangible as physical crisis, more like the one puzzle piece that didn't quite fit.

Yamato hesitated, averting his eyes from Sora to try and spot the cause of his uneasiness.  His gaze landed on Takeru who promptly returned a reassuring smile, silent encouragement   He passed to Taichi, his best man, best friend, uncomfortable to the extreme in the confines of fancy dress.  Taichi cocked his head in typical fashion, lips lifting to smile.  Yamato knew then he'd found his source and narrowed his eyes.  Tai's mouth had frozen, fighting to stay up in a plastic grin, his eyes shining with something unrecognizable, a jumble of emotions.  Yamato fought to remember what he was doing.  "I…"  He darted his eyes to the right, falling on Hikari, bedecked in iridescent purple.  He found his confirmation in her diverted stare, watching her brother with a face that could only be described as pained sympathy.  Something was now extremely not right, the air suddenly sour and open church daunting like a breathless void.  He cleared his throat.  "I…' but found he couldn't finish the sentence.

There were whispers behind him, accusation and concern arisen from his prolonged hesitation.  Sora's face had creased in worry, anxious and questioning.  Matt looked away to the ground, feeling her interrogative stare boring into his head.  In a matter of seconds, anticipation was dread, confidence uneasiness.  He hastily raked a hand through his hair, careful arrangement into disarray.  Finding a steadying breath and momentary courage he started give his reply.  But he took another look at Taichi, the false smile was fading, his face muscles quivering in the exertion of retaining it.  Yamato let out a deep breath and met the priest's eyes.  "I can't.  Not yet."  Ignoring the confused gasps from around, he marched off into one of the side rooms, locking the door behind him.

Matt leaned heavily against the door, recovering his normal breath, waiting for the impact of what he'd just done.  And strangely, he didn't feel anything, not devastation, not joy, not freedom, just numbness which only served to confuse him more.

There was a discreet knock on the door followed by Takeru's voice, predictably concerned.  "Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"Let me in."

Yamato straightened himself, yanking open the door and allowing TK passage, unheeding of the many faces that lay beyond, including a panicked bride.

"What's wrong oni-san?"

Matt let a dry laugh escape.  "Actually, I don't really know.  But if you can get Taichi in here, maybe I can find out."

Takeru opened his mouth to ask why but promptly shut it, knowing his brother's stubborn 'not one more word' stance.  "Sure."

A moment later, Taichi's hesitant knock sounded against the door.  In response to Yamato's curt 'Come in' Tai warily stuck his head into the room, his rebellious hair winning the fight against gel and hair spray.  "TK said you wanted to see me?"  Matt nodded, back facing Tai as he stepped into the room and shut the door.

Matt watched summer play out outside the windows, waiting for Tai's predicable question, the burning question on everyone's mind.  He wasn't disappointed when Taichi asked 'What's wrong Matt?'  Yamato kept his answer short, flat.  "You tell me."

Tai sounded genuinely surprised.  "Me?  How would I know?"  He paused, taking a few steps closer to Matt.  "If this is cold feet, it's perfectly normal, Matt…"

Yamato whirled around, his face a foot from Tai's.  His eyes were burning, neither angry nor upset, only demanding, forceful.  "It's not cold feet.  It's you."  He allowed time for Tai to be taken back and swallow before pressing on.  "Something's wrong and I want to know what it is."

Taichi dropped his eyes, fingers playing nervously with a buttonhole. "I don't know what you mean.  I'm fine."

Matt let out a ragged breath walking past Taichi so that he was facing the door and away from his best friend.  His voice was even, would've been deadly if it had belonged to someone else other than Yamato.  "Cut the bullshit Tai.  There's something wrong and it's because of the wedding.  I saw it; Kari saw it.  Don't tell me it's nothing."

Tai turned, voice matching Matt's restrained emotion.  "It's nothing.  You were imagining things."

Again Matt spun around, challenging Tachi's definitive defensive stare.  "You're lying.  I want to know.  I'm your best friend."  He frowned at Taichi's stubborn silent face.  "Look, if our friendship means as much as it does to you as it does to me, then you'll tell me the truth.  No lies, no avoiding the question.  What the hell's wrong?"

Taichi fell quiet, still.  The tense silence flooded the room, an impossible eternity before Tai stirred with a sigh.  "Fine; I'll tell you what's wrong.  It's you."

"Me?  What about me?"

"It's how I feel about you."

Yamato's voice dropped low, childishly repeating the phrase just said.  "How you feel…?"

Tai's eyes had taken a sudden feverish quality.  "I love you.  I'm fucking in love with you!"  He ruthlessly tore through his hair, the carefully matted strands breaking and spiking out like springs.  His body jerked to movement, taking him to the window, his hands crushing the windowsill.  "Well, now you know."

Matt was silent, paralyzed with uncertainty.  He didn't quite know what he had suspected, maybe Tai having feelings for Sora, but this certainly wasn't one of those various half possibilities.  He made an attempt to speak, coming out with a pitiful "Tai" that failed to continue into a worthwhile sentence.

Tai had turned around to catch Yamato's eyes from across the room, a flicker of softness before they turned hard again.  He shook his head once, hard.  "No, it doesn't matter.  You have to go back out there and marry Sora.  Forget this.  This is your wedding; you should be with the one you love."

Matt let the two words slip involuntarily from fazed lips, slicing through Tai's words.  "Is she?"  He blinked, and in a flurry of rapid movement, yanked off his coat and tie.  Tai's questions were cut off by the loud rustle of Yamato's coat as it was crumpled and thrown it to the ground in a heap.  He looked earnestly to Tai, a flicker of indecision.  "I can't do this, not now.  I can't after all this.  Tell them I can't."  With that final vagueness, he flung open the door and pelted down the pews, disappearing into the white of the outside, unheeding of his name being called in his wake.

All eyes went from Yamato's back to Taichi, his form frozen in the doorframe.  He looked lost, unaware of all that surrounded him, the questions, the people, their voices.  The only answer he gave was Matt's two parting words.  "I can't…"

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Author's Note:  Yeah, yeah, really clichéd huh?  Though I promise I'm trying to stay away from soap opera plot twists and huge gushing moments of sappiness.  Realism is the key for this fic.  Anyway, since this fic's finished, it'll be uploaded every two days or so, maybe three…