Title: How You Get the Boy

Summary: Jou gives Atem love advice.

Rating: K+

Genre: Romance

Song Artist: Taylor Swift

How You Get the Boy

~ And I would wait forever and ever ~

"Wait til tonight when it's rainin', go to his house, and confess your undyin' love. Duh."

Atem chuckled, shaking his head and shooting his best friend a look from his spot across the bedroom. "Yeah, right. He'll open up the door and ask if I'm insane."

Jou shrugged. "That's how all the guys in the movies do it." He threw a navy blue shirt in Atem's general direction and continued to rifle through the scarlet-eyed teen's drawers. "Put that on."

With a low grumble, Atem picked up the shirt from the bed where it had landed and turned to look at his reflection in the full length mirror hanging behind his closet door. He put the blue garment up to his neck and examined himself in the mirror. "Well, as much as I like to make major life decisions on the premise of movie outcomes, I can't afford to do so right now. There's too much on the line."

"Well, I don't see ya throwin' out any ideas here." Jou straightened from his hunched position over the dresser and met Atem's gaze through the reflection of the mirror. "I'm tellin' ya, this has a 70% chance of success."

"Where are you even getting that number from?"

Jou flashed him a sheepish smile, which, even in the mirror's reflection, Atem recognized as the blond's signature bullshit grin. Abandoning all attempts to reason with his friend, Atem rolled his eyes and turned his gaze to focus back on the shirt he still held over his chest. After a moment of consideration, Atem shifted his weight onto one leg and, balling his hand into a fist, shirt still in its grip, placed it on his hip. He brought up his other hand to ruffle his hair with a long drawn-out sigh. "This isn't going to work."

"Look, 'Temy - you need to suck it up, man." Jou lifted a hand in the air. "How long has it been since Yugi moved in next door?"

"Three years."

"And you've been in love with him for how long now?"

Atem turned around fully to face his friend, but he couldn't make himself meet Jou's all-knowing amber gaze. "I don't know."

"Yes, you do. Somethin' like two years and 364 days, right?"

Atem's gaze hardened a bit, the cerise eyes staring intently at a discolored spot in his carpet that he found particularly interesting. "Something like that."

"Right. So, humor me then. If you could walk right up to him and tell him how you felt without any chance of bein' shot down, what would you say?"

"Katsuya -"

"No, don't you do that. You're not gettin' out of this. Not this time."

Atem's narrowed eyes finally raised from the floor to meet Jou's gaze. "Fine." Though the word was spat out, the lines in Atem's face softened as images of his violet-eyed next-door neighbor drifted into his mind. "I would tell him," Atem said, voice thoughtful, "that I want him for worse or for better… and that I would wait forever for him."

"And that's how it works," Jou said with a wink. "That's how you get the boy."

Atem grunted when a pair of pants hit his face. He glared at his blond friend in all his frustration, but the look did little to hide his fear and uncertainty. "Are you sure about this?" Atem asked, quieter now.

Jou was practically beaming. "Positive."

~o~o0o~o~

I could still make a run for it.

The thought crept into Atem's mind only moments after he knocked on the imposing chestnut front door of the quaint white house settled only a few yards away from his own home. To be honest, he was actually considering acting on it, his only hesitation being the royal ass-whooping that Jou would impose if he were to return with his tail between his legs. Caught in the middle of his own thoughts, he almost didn't register the chestnut door creaking open just enough so for a pair of sea-pearl eyes to peer out at him. "Atem?" The voice didn't even make an attempt to hide its surprise, and suddenly the door was being opened all the way to reveal a breathtakingly beautiful Yugi, who, to Atem's ultimate demise, was sporting a form-fitting pair of dark blue jeans to complement a midnight black sleeveless tee. "What are you doing here?" Yugi asked, head tilting with curiosity. "Is everything okay?"

Once Atem's eyes had completed their overview of the tease and appeal that was Yugi Motou, Atem opened his mouth to respond. It would only be his luck that, at this very moment, all English words eluded him. "Uhh...umm, huh?" Atem flushed a vicious pink at his pitiful attempt to form a coherent sentence. If he had retained any feelings in his legs, he may have chosen this moment to just walk away, already feeling defeated. But since he was basically glued to his spot, he decided to try again. "Uh, yes, everything is okay... I just..."

He was really sucking at this, he decided. But despite his visible struggle, he did notice that Yugi had made no move to stop him (or save him). No, instead the smaller teen just stood there patiently, still in the threshold of his front door. For a second, Atem swore he could see a hint of a smile playing on those petal-like lips.

Atem sighed and glanced up the sky with a little shake of his head. He guessed there was no turning back now. "I thought you should know something…"

"…Okay." Yugi's face was bright with curiosity but also something else that Atem couldn't quite pinpoint. Amusement?

"Uhh, so we've known each other for a few years now, and I just wanted to tell you...uhh, to let you know... that I am really happy that you moved here and that I really, umm, like spending time with you. I mean, I know that we don't really get to spend a lot of time together in school because we're in different classes and all, but I, umm, really look forward to our walks home from school... and..."

Yugi crossed his arms, shifting so that one hip protruded out slightly. "And?" Yugi asked, his eyes imploring.

"And..." Atem swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. "I...sorta, kinda have been in love with you since I met you."

The words tumbled out of his mouth so fast that Atem wasn't sure at first if Yugi even understood what he had just said. After a moment though, it was clear by the look in Yugi's eyes that he did and, what was worse, was just how silently those violet eyes were watching him. It was so quiet, Atem could practically hear Jou's thumbs up from his bedroom's open window. A bubble of anxiety, regret, and panic settling into the pit of his stomach by Yugi's reaction, Atem was just about to lose his composure and fall into a fit of apologies when a soft chuckle broke free from Yugi's lips, shattering the silence.

"Well," Yugi said, uncrossing his arms, a dazzling smile finally breaking across his face. "Took you long enough, you ass."

A/N: Refer to my profile for more information on this collection of one-shots/drabbles.