Yay! Okay, I'm entirely too happy that I've gotten this finished! (And in such a short time too *A*) Anyway, this is for xAtomicSmilex for her bday (that was last week ; -kicks internet- ) Had to redo the last chapter because I didn't save and someone turned off the PC (shame on me D:) There might be a few chapters added later (some side things people might wonder about and possible and epilogue)
Rated T for language, adult themes, male x male, etc.
Yaoi (male x male) Don't like, don't read.
Yusei/Yugi ; Jaden/Jesse ; Jack/Carly
AU and some OOC
This was it, the new beginning, the final step. As he unlocked the door and stepped inside, he breathed deeply and smiled. Yugi was finally in college. He kicked the door closed softly and sat down on the bed that was pressed against the right wall, setting a small box of his belongings down next to him. He looked out of the window calmly, letting the orange glow of the sunset wash over him. Sure he was nervous, but who wasn't at least a little nervous the first time being in a college dorm? Especially when he was the one going to live in it. He looked over at the empty bed against the left wall, directly across from him, and wondered who his roommate was going to be. He hoped it was going to be one of his friends, but he wouldn't know until his new roommate got there. There was a few more moments of calm silence before he heard loud laughter and shuffling coming down the hall.
"..And that's when I said 'Yeah well have some more beer with that cigarette!'" Jaden said as him and Jack laughed loudly. The two set down a medium and small box on the floor and looked up at Yugi.
"Are you sure you don't need us to stay and help throw a party or something?" Jack asked jokingly. Yugi laughed lightly.
"No thanks, guys. I'm going to need all the sleep I can get for tomorrow."
"Aw Yugi," Jaden said, throwing an arm around Yugi's shoulders and smiling brightly. "That's what class if for! Sleeping!" Yugi laughed at him.
"But Jaden, you just barely managed to pass high school!"
"I managed just fine." Jaden said reassuringly, still smiling.
"Ha ha, sure you did Jay." Jack teased. Jaden put on a fake pout while Yugi just chuckled. Eventually though, the three of them started laughing together like they did back in high school. The days when Jaden would randomly crack a joke in the middle of class or in the lunch room then all three of them would just laugh at it, or Jack would drop his drink and they would one by one start laughing until he was no longer mad, laughing at himself instead.
"Well I did!" Jaden said in a matter-of-fact tone. It was true though. During the last year of high school, Jaden – along with the help of his friends – figured out that if he just used his brain, he could actually figure out the "extremely confusing paperwork of schooling", pass high school, and amaze quite a few teachers and students in the process. Yugi nodded at Jaden in approval. Jaden stuck out his tongue at Jack in a way that said, 'Told you!'. All three of them laughed again. It was times like these that Yugi missed everyone else. Téa had gone to a dance school in New York. Tristan and Joey had both gone to a local community college back in Domino. He wasn't sure where Bakura and Ryou went, and Yami had gotten into a private college in Tokyo. Only him, Jack, Jaden, and another friend of his, Yusei, had gotten accepted into the university. Jaden had to work hard over the summer to both make up a few credits and impress/persuade the dean to let him in. Apparently, the dean had been impressed. And now that Yugi thought about it, he hadn't thought to ask Yusei which dorm he was in.
"Hey guys," Yugi started. Jack and Jaden looked over to him.
"Do you know which dorm Yusei is in?"
"You mean that dark-haired kid with the yellow streaks in his hair?" Jaden asked, laying upside down on the empty bed across from Yugi's.
"Yeah. Yusei Fudo." Yugi said.
"No clue. Haven't seen him anywhere either." Jack said. Jaden just shrugged, telling Yugi that he didn't know either.
"He has a cool tattoo though." Jaden said, referring to Yusei's yellow tattoo underneath his left eye. Jack nodded in agreement, as did Yugi. It was pretty cool.
"Ah I need to get back to my room! Jesse must have called by now." Jaden said suddenly, finally realizing what time it was.
Jaden and Jesse had managed to keep a strong long-distance relationship, despite being an ocean and two countries away from each other. Jaden stayed in Japan while Jesse attended college in his hometown somewhere in England, but promised to see each other over vacations and breaks. Yugi was really glad when Jaden had first announced his relationship with Jesse. They were in love, and Jesse was a really cool guy. Both Yugi and Jack knew that their brunette friend had made a good choice. Jack, on the other hand, had chosen to stay single through high school and at least the first half of his freshman year in college. But Yugi hadn't really thought about relationships, he figured when the time came for him to fall in love, he'd fall in love. Until then, he was content with the way things were.
"Yeah I guess I should go too and let you get settled in." Jack said. He and Jaden were in the same dorm as each other, but separate from Yugi. They had first moved in a few days ago when Yugi had all but forced them to. He knew that if it hadn't gotten done then, it never would. Still, Jaden and Jack were glad that Yugi was such a pain in the butt about it. They too knew that it probably wouldn't have gotten done without him watching over.
"Okay. Have a goodnight guys!" Yugi said, waving at them.
"See ya!" they said, walking out and leaving Yugi alone to unpack. He put away his clothes and bedding first, emptying the medium sized box steadily as he walked back and forth from the dresser on his side of the room and the closet. He only took one side of the closet though, since there was only one. Next he unpacked a small box of books and set them neatly on the highest shelf mounted on the wall above his bed. From the final box, he unpacked a few figurines from Joey and Tristan, a snow globe with the Statue of Liberty and the city of New York behind her from Téa, and a small statue of the god Horus sent by his grandpa who was back in Egypt for a few months. He set these, along with a few post cards from his parents and a framed picture of him and his mom and dad from when Yugi was a little kid, on the shelf directly above his bed. Then he unfolded the boxes and stored them in the top shelf in the closet, after which he made his bed and just laid down in the middle of it staring up at the ceiling. He was in the middle of thinking about how much fun his grandpa must be having in Egypt when there was a small knock on the door.
"Hello. Oh, Yusei! How are you?" Yugi asked when he opened the door to see Yusei standing there.
"I'm fine," Yusei replied happily. "How are you?"
"I'm good. Just finished moving in." Yugi said with a small laugh. Yusei smiled.
"May I come in? Or are you just gonna keep our room to yourself?" Yusei teased. Yugi realized then why he hand a box in his hands, and moved out of the door. He saw a few more boxes outside and helped move them into the room. This was so cool! Yugi thought excitedly. Sharing a room with someone he knew gave him a great relief.
"This is awesome that we get to bunk with each other. I was afraid I'd have to share a room with a total jerk or something." Yusei laughed after he finished unpacking. Yugi laughed along with him.
"Same here!" he admitted. He was especially happy now that none of his friends had to suffer the slight threat of sharing a room with someone that was abusive. It had scared him to think that that could of happened. But now all he felt was the feeling of a huge weight being lifted off of him.
"Yeah. Hey, I heard Ryou and Bakura got accepted here." Yusei told Yugi.
"Really? That's awesome!"
"Yep. Although I'm pretty sure that they did, since I've been hearing a rumor floating around about people getting a really bad beating if they touch someone." Yusei said, shrugging. Yugi frowned. That did sound a lot like Bakura. And if those rumors were true, it meant that Ryou and Bakura didn't get a room together. He wasn't sure how their roommates were going to be, but if they didn't live up to Bakura's expectations, there was going to be trouble whether Ryou wanted there to be or not.
"Yugi? Something wrong?" Yusei asked, hinting about Yugi's worried expression. Yugi quickly smiled and told Yusei that he was just thinking about how he missed his other friends and his family. Yusei nodded and told him that he missed his friends too.
"You don't have any parents?" Yugi asked. Yusei shook his head 'no'. Yugi apologized but Yusei dismissed it.
"It's okay. You didn't know. I'm not worried about it... but I'd rather not talk about it..." Yusei said, looking out the window. Yugi nodded in understanding. He didn't really like to talk about his parents' divorce either, so he really did understand. Yugi had a sudden thought to ask Yusei about his schedule and was about to before they heard loud yelling out in the hall. It sounded like Bakura... Yugi got up and ran hurriedly to the door, throwing it open. Both he and Yusei ran out into the hall and made their way through a big crowd of students circled around a couple of people.
"I swear to God if you even lay a finger on him ever again, I'll make your life a living hell." Bakura snarled dangerously at a student he was holding up by the front of his shirt. The student looked like a football player!
"Bakura... Please put him down! It was an accident..." Ryou said to him quietly, tugging at the arm Bakura was using to hold the student up.
"Accident my ass!" he said lowly. Yugi and Yusei made their way over to them and tried to help Ryou. Thankfully, it seemed that Bakura had gotten bored and dropped the shaken student. He crawled back away from them slowly, silently muttering apologies. Bakura snorted and wrapped his arm protectively around Ryou's waist, then turning and walking away. Yugi and Yusei followed after them, the crowd eventually dispersing itself before any teachers decided to randomly pop in.
"What happened?" Yugi asked Ryou once they were back in Bakura's room. Bakura was sitting cross-legged on his bed, Ryou in his lap absently playing his a lock of his lover's hair.
"I was walking with Bakura to see his room and that guy was walking with a few boxes down the hall toward us," Ryou started.
"And shoved you." Bakura growled.
"No, he didn't Bakura." Ryou said firmly. "One of his friends were playing and tripped him. He bumped into me on accident."
"Whatever. He still touched you." Bakura said, tightening his arms around Ryou's waist. Yugi and Ryou just sighed.
"Bakura. You can't just go around beating up people just because they accidentally bump into you or Ryou." Yusei told him suddenly but calmly. Bakura just smirked.
"And I suppose everyone is going to be genuinely nice then. You have no clue the looks they give him."
"I might not, but Ryou knows how to stand up for himself." Yusei stated.
"He's right, Bakura. We're in college now," Ryou said, turning himself to face Bakura. "I know how protective you are of me, but I can handle myself. You need to calm down... Okay?"
"Fine. But I won't like it." Bakura replied after a few moments of staring at Ryou. Ryou just blinked and giggled. He turned back around to Yugi and Yusei.
"So you guys got the same room huh? That's pretty lucky."
"Yeah it is. So who's your roommate, Ryou?" Yugi asked. Ryou shrugged.
"His name is Micheal. Says he was on the student council throughout high school. He's friendly, but quiet." he said simply. Yugi nodded and asked Bakura the same question.
"I don't have a roommate." he said in a monotone voice.
"Really? I would have thought that everyone had a roommate..." Yusei said, letting his mind wander for a moment. Bakura rolled his eyes.
"Apparently not." he said, but everyone ignored it. Yusei looked over at the clock on Bakura's night stand and stood up.
"It's almost lights out. We should be going." he said, Yugi standing after him.
"We'll see you tomorrow. Have a goodnight guys." Yugi said, waving as he and Yusei walked to the door. Ryou and Bakura bid them goodnight as well before they walked off to their room.
"Yugi," Yusei started as he sat down from coming out of the bathroom. Yugi had already gotten underneath his blankets and was ready to close his eyes, his light was already clicked off.
"Hm?" Yugi replied, rolling over and leaning on his elbow, rubbing one eye sleepily. The two looked at each other for a moment.
"Nothing. Never mind." Yusei said, clicking off the light on his side of the room and laying down. He rolled over to face the wall. Yugi shrugged and laid back down, closing his eyes. He failed to notice the slight blush that had crept up onto Yusei's cheeks. And he had also failed to notice how loud and hard Yusei's heart was beating when he had yet again lost the courage to ask him the same question that he'd been trying to ask since they first met.
