Man, going through the days trying to find time to write is a lot harder than I thought. But regardless, I enjoy the few spare moments I get to write. Here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy!

Day Three

With his alarm clock ringing sharply, TK groggily opened his eyes. Slowly and clumsily, he reached out his arm to turn off the blaring noise, smacking the alarm on the top, ending the buzzard. He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The events of the previous day all started rushing in his mind. He silently had hoped that maybe it was all a dream but TK knew such childish thoughts were not pertained to reality. The jealously, anger, bitterness, and pain he had felt the day before all felt so foreign to him; for a moment, he really tried to figure out if he had imagined all of it. For a couple minutes, TK simply laid in his bed, contemplating on his thoughts.

He wasn't sure how to go about his day, with everything that had happened the day before. Without a doubt, things would be awkward and different. Kari was probably still hurt and angry at him over his comments and their argument. The best thing to do was to apologize for his actions but even TK didn't know if Kari would accept his apology yet. The more he thought about it, the more he realized exactly how harsh and insensitive he was. If he were Kari, he wouldn't forgive himself so easily. With that thought in mind, the young blonde groaned under his blankets.

He checked the time once more only to find that he needed to get out of bed and rush to school otherwise he would be late. Grudgingly, TK rustled out of bed, stretched, and slowly made his way to the bathroom. As he brushed his teeth, he looked at himself through the reflection of the bathroom mirror. Suddenly, it dawned on him that he had homework last night that he didn't do. With the argument yesterday that completely took his attention, he had forgotten about his schoolwork. TK groaned once more; Wednesday was going to be a long day.

The bell rang sharply, ending TK's history class. The blonde quickly got out of his seat and made his way out to the main hallway of the school. Crowds of other students filled the area, busily preparing at their respective lockers for the next upcoming class. As TK opened his locker and switched books from his backpack to his locker, he couldn't help but desire for the day to just end. However, it was only half done and already he was having a bad day.

The homework he had forgotten to do was actually a pretty big assignment and he had gotten an extensive scolding from his teacher for not doing it. On top of that, he had just found out that TK had a test in a couple days that he did not study for at all. School was never his strong point in life but, regardless, the blonde was always a capable student that was on top of his academics. For him to be so absent-minded was unusual for him and left him nothing but a frustrated feeling. But even the struggle of his student life didn't compare to the other problems he had.

It was a little past lunch time and still, TK hadn't had a chance to see, let alone talk, to Kari. Normally, the two found time throughout their day to find each other and talk; for the two best friends to go on for so long without the presence of one another was very unusual. However, given what had happened the day before, TK couldn't say he was surprised. Even though he understood, the blonde still yearned to see Kari; not just to explain and apologize for his actions but just to be around her. He missed the sight of her, seeing the young brunette's cheerful and innocent attitude and the warm smile she always had whenever the two met up. He wanted his senses to be filled with the trailing sweet scent of Kari whenever he was around her, reminding him of subtle hints of strawberries. He missed hugging her, holding her slender body in his arms, even if the embrace was for just a brief moment. Like an addicting drug, being away from his best friend for so long had brought out a couple withdraw symptoms from him. While he never showed it, he found himself anxious, more easily annoyed, and upset throughout his day. His mind was constantly distracted from the moment which led to many times when TK would be confused and lost at school.

TK sighed as he slammed his locker shut. If he had known that the following day would be so terrible, he would have literally taped his mouth shut, mentally beat the crap out of the heart, and simply gone along with the role of being a best friend the other day.

But the blonde knew that he would eventually get a chance to at least see Kari. The following class was science, a class that the two shared. If anything, he could try to catch the brunette after class and talk then. He needed to do so; TK wasn't sure how much longer he could go on holding everything in and acting so casually. He just wanted to burst out with emotions, just to let Kari know how sorry he was.

As he walked to his next class, the young boy caught a glimpse of a girl with short brown hair not too far from him. A sudden surge of excitement and queasiness overwhelmed him but it quickly left when he realized that the girl wasn't Kari; it was just another girl with the same hairstyle as her. TK groaned at his imagination playing tricks on him; Wednesday was going to be a long and bad day.

Science couldn't have gone any slower that day. As TK found himself zoning out for the fifth time in class, he couldn't help but stare at the young girl who was seated not too far ahead of him. From what he could tell, she was attentively listening to the teacher who was writing school material on the main board. Kari had, essentially, ignored TK before class, quietly talking with her other friends while TK conversed with his. The blonde made no efforts to reach out to his best friend, partially out of the fear that she was still angry and out of understanding; if Kari didn't want to talk to him, which he didn't blame her for not wanting to, then he would respect her decision. However, the lack of communication was killing TK inside. All he wanted to do was just yell how sorry he was in front of everybody, make a fool of himself, if it meant it would make things better between them. But, he kept it to himself and simply went through the motions of attending class.

TK knew he should be paying attention in class. Science was his weakest subject and the teacher was going over some important information. But no matter how hard he tried, he just could not stop his mind from daydreaming or getting caught up in his thoughts. It was simply torture.

A slight movement from Kari's direction made the blonde glance over. The brunette was quietly stretching in her seat as she took a small break from writing. And then, as if she could feel someone was watching her, her eyes darted to the side and made eye contact with TK. It was a brief connection between the two, the first of the whole day, but that quick exchange made TK's stomach jump and made his heart rate go up. He could see in Kari's eyes the uneasiness and uncertainty that was built up inside of her due to the circumstance. But, before anything further could happen, the young girl broke off the connection and quickly looked away.

TK sighed. It was crazy to think how one fight could make things so awkward between two good friends. Maybe it was because it was their first real fight or because the two were simply introverted people who didn't know how to deal with the situation, but TK realized things shouldn't be so difficult. Normal friends either talked through their fights or simply got mad at each other for a certain time period and then made up. But, TK and Kari weren't doing neither of the two. They weren't speaking to each other, both unable to confront such a conflict, and, from what TK could tell, the two were not mad at each other; just uneasy and uncertain.

It was a frustrating predicament, especially for the blonde. He needed to sit down and talk with Kari before the day was over but opportunities to do so seemed slim. It wasn't even about professing his feelings to her; he just wanted to get their friendship back on track. And yet, while he knew what he had to do, he just couldn't bring himself to face the young girl.

TK started playing with his pencil absent-mindedly. The more TK thought about it, the more crazy it seemed that one girl would be the source of so much stress in his life. It seemed surreal that he was getting all worked up, nervous, and hesitant about her. But then again, it wasn't just any girl; it was Kari. TK had known the brunette ever since she was just a cute, naïve, and innocent little girl. He had watched her grow up, not only physically, but also mentally through their journeys together and watched her become a smart and beautiful girl. And in the duration he had known her, befriended her, and watched her grow up, never did it cross his mind how lucky he was to have Kari in his life. The brunette and what she stood for in TK's life were the source of his laughter, his cheerful attitude, throughout a normal day. If not for her, he wasn't sure how different his life would be.

TK stopped playing with his pencil and scowled slightly to himself. He just had to talk to her before the day was over. He needed to tell her how sorry he was. How grateful he was. Otherwise, he would be doing her and their entire relationship a huge injustice. Kari had to know exactly how important she was in the blonde's life.

Before his thoughts could transgress anymore, the school bell rang sharply throughout the classroom, signaling the end of the class. Full of determination, TK got up from his seat and made his way towards Kari, who was packing her things into her backpack. Her back was turned on him so she was unaware that the blonde was approaching behind her. But before he could greet her or have her acknowledge his presence, a tug from behind halted him in his steps. TK turned around only to be greeted by a blonde girl in his science class, Kat. She had a mischievous smile on her face.

"Hey TK." She purred in a seductive manner.

"Uh…Hey Kat." TK's momentum was suddenly thrown off. He lost his composure, his determination, by the distraction of his classmate.

"Oh TK!" Without any warning, Kat threw herself onto TK, hugging the confused young boy. "You have no idea how hard I tried to get your attention during class! But it's ok; all that matters is that you notice me now."

TK, shocked and unsure of the situation, tried to squirm his way out of the girl's grasp. "Kat! What are you doing???"

"Aw, you're so cute TK! Don't act like you don't know what's going on. I've noticed how you kept staring at me during lunch! And all I have to say is yes! Yes, I am interested!"

TK's mouth threw agape. He didn't recollect ever staring at Kat during lunch, let alone ever even noticing her. "W-What are you talking about?"

Kat gave him a small giggle. "Come on, TK! It was so obvious! You kept staring at me, not even blinking, with your deep cerulean eyes! I was like, blushing so much!"

Then, it hit him. During lunch, during most of the day actually, TK let himself zone off in his thoughts, unaware of his surroundings. He caught himself so many times just getting so warped in his mind that he lost function over his body and let his body go into auto-pilot. It was very possible that, during his daze, he had been lifelessly and accidentally staring at Kat. The realization made his stomach turn.

"Uh…Kat, I think there's a misunderstanding…" TK started but before he could continue, he saw Kari turn around and give notice to the blonde. Given his situation, with a young girl draped all over him, holding him affectionately, TK could tell Kari was getting the wrong impression. Definitely not the way TK planned to catch the brunette's attention.

"Wait! Kari, it's not what you think!"

Before TK could defend himself further, Kat budded in, "Oh TK…don't be so shy! I think people should know how much we care about each other!" Then, to Kari, she exclaimed, "He just couldn't stop staring at me during lunch! And now he's trying to cover up his actions because he's too shy. Isn't he just adorable?" The blonde girl held onto TK harder. "Don't we make a great couple?"

Kari, with an emotionless face, simply nodded. "Yeah, you guys do."

TK's insides twisted. Unable to say anything due to shock, TK just watched as Kari quickly picked up her things and left the classroom. When she left the room, the blonde cursed silently. He couldn't believe how unlucky he was. The timing of everything was just completely off, as if fate itself was trying to break apart the two best friends.

"I'm going to tell all my friends! They'll be so jealous when they hear we're together now!" Kat cuddled next to TK, who groaned outwardly. An opportunity completely blown. And not only that but now he had to deal with the clinging girl on him and settle it with her before the rumors could spread. Wednesday was going to be a long, bad, and weary day.

"KARI!" TK yelled as he ran franticly towards the young girl. Unable to cope with the idea that their rift would linger on to the next day, TK desperately searched for his best friend as soon as school ended. Through pure luck and sharp eyes, he was able to spot her walking off, by herself, back to her apartment. Not caring about how to approach her, he just yelled after her, trying to get her attention.

And he succeeded. Kari stopped walking and turned around, only to be greeted by a charging TK. Much to TK's surprise, the brunette actually waited for him to catch up to her. That alone was a clear sign that she too wanted to talk with the blonde.

By the time he had reached her, TK was huffing from all the running. A small trace of sweat beaded down his forehead but, despite the fatigue, he gathered his composure and continued on with his mission.

"Kari…" He started as he rhythmically tried to catch his breath.

"Yes, TK?" Kari asked in a somewhat detached tone.

"Listen Kari, I just wanted to say…how sorry I am for everything." When he saw that his words didn't change the atmosphere, the blonde continued, "I shouldn't have said those things I said yesterday. I can't even believe I said it in the first place."

Kari sighed. "TK, we really shouldn't talk right now."

"Why though?"

"Because, I'm still a little bit angry at you."

"And you should be!" TK insisted. "Honestly, if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't even consider me as a friend! But I can't take the fact that this is going to linger on for more than a day. I mean, I don't know about you but just today alone was pretty bad for me."

"But it's going to linger, TK!"

The young boy gave Kari a perplexed look. "Why? Why is it going to linger?"

"Because…I was pretty hurt by your comments the other day." Kari softly remarked. "Hurt that you, the person I trusted the most, could say those things. And that kind of pain needs time to get over."

A silence filled the air. TK didn't know how to respond to her confession. He imagined that once he said sorry, everything would get better. It never occurred to him that talking to Kari would instead make him feel worse.

Kari looked TK in the eyes. "TK, you can't expect this to just blow over now that you've said sorry. Nor can you expect everything to back to the way things were so quickly. You just need understand and give me my time."

"Ok, I can understand that." TK answered. He bit his lower lip, hesitated, and then spoke up once more. "But at least get mad at me!"

Kari gave him a confused look. "What?"

"Get mad at me! Scold me! Or do something, Kari! Yell at me at the top of your lungs, call me belittling names, and just let me know how much of a jerk I was yesterday!" TK pleaded. "I would much rather have you do that than just ignore me."

"You…want me to get mad at you?"

"Yes! At least, through that, I'll know I'm being punished rightly. With this silent treatment, I feel like…I feel like I've made a mistake but I'm not being punished for it. And that makes me feel worse than I already am." He confessed.

Kari gave TK a long pensive stare. "TK, I'm not going to just burst out of anger and--"

"But you should. You have every right to! And by not doing so just makes me feel bad about it."

"You're not making any sense."

"I know! I know I'm not." TK let out a frustrating sigh. He thought that he had everything planned out for his talk with Kari. He went over it countless times in his head but, now that he was actually doing it, his mind was jumbled and his words weren't as smooth and coherent as he imagined. It was crazy how nervous and frustrated he felt. He wanted to talk to Kari to apology and let everything out but found that it was TK who was blowing up out of anger instead of Kari. He couldn't believe how nonsensical everything was. His heart was fluttering every minute of being around the brunette, not helping his anxiety or his lack of composure.

"Look, Kari." TK started. "I just want you to know that…I'm really sorry for what happened yesterday. And it's been driving me crazy the whole day. And it's driving me even crazier that this conversation isn't going the way I planned it."

The two best friends stared at one another. Neither of them looked away. For TK, it was more out of fear; fear that if he broke the gaze, it would disrupt the momentum of his apology. Finally, Kari closed her eyes as she sighed.

"TK…why…?" She muttered.

TK gave her a quizzical look. "Why…?"

Suddenly, in a rush of emotions he rarely saw out of the brunette, Kari burst, "Why would you say those things you said yesterday? I mean, it was so unlike you! And it's not even just the words; the manner of how you said it, your attitude, everything was so…dark about you that day! I've been going through this entire day, wondering what could possible make you, the kindest, sweetest, and most good-hearted guy I know, to explode like the way you did. And I can't come up with an answer! It's infuriating because now, I'm thinking maybe it's something I did that was wrong. Was it, TK? Was it something I did that day?"

"What? No! Of course not!" The blonde hotly protested.

"Then what was it? Why did you say those things yesterday?!" Kari was almost at yelling level as tears started to form in the corners of her eyes.

TK was flabbergasted. While he knew why, TK wasn't sure if the current moment was the right one to confess the truth; that he was in love with her. He was desperately in love with her. The entire day and how he was so miserable being so separated from her were testimonies to that love.

Kari just stared at the blonde, waiting for an answer. TK needed to be quick on his feet but, for some reason, time just slowed down. Seconds of silence that followed felt like an eternity as he soon felt foolish for just standing there, not replying or saying a word to the young girl before him. He needed to say something, anything, but his mind was just blank. He realized he couldn't lie to her, not while she looked at him with her hurt eyes. He needed to tell her. The moment may not be right but the circumstance made it almost necessary for him to do so.

"Because…" TK paused. Confessing his love to her was, unsurprisingly, extremely difficult. It was as if the words were in his mouth, at the tip of his tongue, but were refusing to leave. He mentally cursed at himself. Kari wanted an explanation and she deserved one! But his mind just wasn't allowing the explanation come out smoothly. "Because…I…I…I…"

"You what, TK?"

"I…I…" The blonde sighed. He couldn't do it. He just couldn't profess his feelings to her yet. The moment wasn't right. If he did tell her, it wouldn't make the situation any better; if anything, TK could see it getting worse from it. Already emotional and stressed, Kari didn't need to be burdened even more by his feelings. It would just complicate her life and, given the situation, more complications are the last thing she needed. She needed him to be a friend and he was failing miserably at that.

"I…was just having a bad day." He lied. Immediately, guilt and shame overwhelmed him as soon as he did. He could tell that Kari knew he was lying just by the way she was looking at him. He could also tell that a sense of disappointment and frustration filled the brunette. But, regardless, he just couldn't bring himself to admit his emotions. It just didn't feel like the right moment.

"I see." Kari responded after a moment of pause. She had been carefully examining the blonde's face, as if to mentally interrogate him and get the truth out of him. But TK did not waver. He stood by his lie, despite the fact he wasn't proud he did so. Kari, in response, turned away, back facing TK.

"Well, I hope you don't have any more bad days." With that, the brunette walked away from the still young boy. TK didn't run after her or tell her to stop. He just watched as his best friend continued off into the horizon, leaving him to his thoughts. TK wasn't proud of himself; he had just lied to his best friend. And even though nothing went according to plan, he felt a little better knowing that at least he had a chance to see, talk, and be around Kari. That knowledge alone seemed to soothe his day a little better.

Kari mentioned that she needed time. And while it would slowly kill him, TK didn't mind it and knew he would respect her wishes. He would be patient and understanding. He would support her in all of her wishes even at the sacrifice of his own personal happiness. Because he knew, in the end, Kari deserved it. TK just wasn't sure if he deserved her.

"Well, it sounds like you two made up." Tai exclaimed after TK went over Wednesday with the two older males.

"Really?" The blonde freshmen asked. "You think so?"

"Yeah. Kari didn't seem like she was mad or anything; just a bit hurt. But, I'm sure by now, you guys are all good, right? I mean, if this happened on Wednesday, then that means that was five days ago."

"Yeah…but a lot happened in those five days." TK added.

Matt nodded in agreement. "It seems like there's more to the story."

Tai gave a surprised look. "You know, TK, you guys sure do go through a lot over one argument."

"Well, I mean, it wasn't just about that incident. A part of the reason why this whole mess lasted so long was also because of how I felt about Kari." The blonde answered.

"I agree. Those emotions can really complicate things." Matt replied. "But I don't think you should have lied to Kari."

Tai got up from his chair. "Yeah! Come on, TK. You had a really good opportunity to tell her everything! Why didn't you?" The crazy haired boy paused for a moment. "You know, I never thought I would live to see the day where I would actually help someone get with my sister."

TK chuckled at the older boy's comment. "Yeah, I'm really grateful you're not beating me to a pulp right now."

"But Tai is right, TK. You should've told her at that moment." TK's older brother chimed in.

TK sighed. "I know…Maybe I should've. But, honestly, at the time, she was really stressed out! And it was because of me! I didn't want to complicate her life even more than it already was."

Matt rolled his eyes while Tai gave an exaggerated sigh. They both looked at each other in a knowing manner. Many of the older Digidestined agreed that TK and Kari would be a perfect match. However, they also agreed, that the one thing that could potentially stop them from being with each other was their selflessness. Both of them shared the same trait in that they always thought of others before themselves and both of them were willing to push aside their own desires for each other, even if those desires were the same.

"So, then, what happened on Thursday?" Tai asked, trying to cover up his brief exchange with his best friend.

"Well, Thursday was an unusual day, to be honest." TK pondered. "It started off like any other day…"

Did you guys like? Personally, I'm like neutral about this chapter. I tried to think of ways to spice it up but…I realized, in the bigger picture, it's best to leave this chapter as sort of a…build-up for the up-coming chapters. Please R&R!!!