Notes: This takes place the August after Yuugi had graduated university, hence Yuugi is twenty-four here while Jounouchi is twenty-three. This is an established relationship fic, in that they've been romantically involved for about eight months at this point (though naturally, their relationship beyond the explicitly defined romance stretches back for about eight years.) This was also written a while ago and posted on Tumblr, but I figured now is as good a time as any to upload it.

Commitment

"Mmm . . . I guess we could go look at this one," Yuugi said, and he jabbed a finger at another apartment listing in the magazine he was pouring over. Jounouchi looked over at it, though his attention was torn between the magazine Yuugi was pointing at and the catalogue he was holding beneath the counter top, nerves causing him to bounce his knee. Yuugi's tone was similarly disinterested, though his sigh carried more disappointment than anything. "It doesn't look too bad for an apartment."

"Yeah," Jounouchi said. His distraction was evident even to his own ears, and Yuugi spared him only a glance before he flipped the page, evidently taking Jounouchi's distraction for some form of disapproval.

Apartment rental magazines were spread across the little bar counter that separated their kitchen from their living room, as they had been for the past couple of weeks, and just as they had every other day they had a free evening, Jounouchi and Yuugi were seated on the chairs in front of the counter so that they could peruse through them. The apartment they were in now had served them well ever since they first moved out on their own, but Yuugi's current job was on the other side of the city, and the daily commute was starting to take its toll. It made sense for them to move, and now that they both had salaries, finding a nicer place at a price they could afford was bound to be easier. The problem was that the apartments they liked presented the same commute problem, whereas the only rental apartments nearer to where Yuugi worked were all much too expensive, or too run down. Yuugi was still optimistic they would find something they could at least settle on, but Jounouchi had spotted the problem weeks back and had searched for a different solution, which he now held in a tight grip beneath the counter. It was just an option, he knew, and not one that he was particularly invested in. If Yuugi turned the idea down or said no, that would be fine. Jounouchi wouldn't be upset either way. But even as he thought that his palm felt a little sweatier, and he swallowed as he readjusted his grip over the rolled up catalogue.

"I think this one's a bust, too," Yuugi said, and Jounouchi blinked as Yuugi closed his magazine and set it onto the steadily growing rejected pile. He groaned, and leaned back in his chair. "Why are all of these apartments terrible? Finding this one wasn't so hard last time."

"Last time we had lower standards," Jounouchi said, and Yuugi hummed a little in acquiescence. Now was as good a time as any, Jounouchi knew. He just had to be a man and go for it. One way or the other, at least this way he would know. "But, uh, hey. There's always—there's—uh, this."

Yuugi looked over in curiosity as Jounouchi brought the catalogue up from under the table and set it down in front of him. The page he had saved was for a spacious condo on the other side of the city, set in a condiminum that had nothing but good reviews as far as the community went and was in good condition according to the seller. It was pretty close to Yuugi's work, at least comparatively, and the commute Jounouchi would have to the radio station would be the same as he had now, only in the opposite direction. Yuugi perked up a little in interest as he looked over the listing, but then frowned as he neared the end.

"This is for a condo," he said, and he pointed to the little notation, as if Jounouchi hadn't seen it. Jounouchi nodded. "We'd have to buy it."

"Yeah," Jounouchi said, and he kept his voice as light as it could, even as it cracked a little because of how dry his throat was. "Not outright, though—I mean, the only thing we'd have to pay upfront is the down payment and the home insurance and stuff. I ran through our savings and I think we have enough for a down payment, especially if we qualify for one of those assistance plan things, and I bet we could. Once we get that squared away, if we get the—the mortgage loan that I think we would, then between our salaries I'm positive we could make the payment every month and still have enough to comfortably take care of our utilities and food and stuff." Jounouchi drew a little circle into the counter top with his finger, looking at the little marbled pattern etched into the fake wood rather than at Yuugi, and shrugged. "I mean, if you wanted to."

"Aren't mortgages . . . permanent? At least for the length of the loan, and that's like a contract, right?" Yuugi asked. "We'd be signing up to pay back the mortgage, and we'd own the place so long as we made the payment every month."

"Yeah. So kind of like rent, but more permanent I guess." Still not looking at Yuugi, Jounouchi ran a hand through his hair. "They'd foreclose on it or whatever if we couldn't make the payments on time for long enough, but like I said, I ran through our finances with our current salaries in mind and I'm sure we could make it so long as we stuck to the budget." He shot Yuugi a nervous grin. "Not your favorite thing to hear, I know."

Yuugi smiled a little back, but he was still giving Jounouchi a curious look, caught somewhere between puzzlement and wonder. "Since a mortgage is a loan, that means we couldn't just back out of it and move if we changed our minds. At least, not easily. We'd still be responsible for the loan unless we could work out a deal with a new buyer, right? And even then, I guess it would depend on if we could sell the place for the same amount we bought it for, or more. Otherwise we'd just be kind of stuck and we might as well keep it. And aren't mortgages usually long-term? I know my grandpa was still paying a mortgage payment on the game shop when we were still in high school, and he had been paying it ever since I could remember. Definitely for well over a decade."

Jounouchi cleared his throat to try and force more strength into it, and tried to focus on the objective facts of the conversation more than the swooping feeling of dread and disappointment in his gut. "Yeah. Well, some are only for fifteen years, but I ran a budget on that and I don't think we could swing it, at least not as easily. I think our best bet, interest-wise, would be to go for a thirty year loan. We could work out the details with an adviser or whatever, and we can always refinance later on down the line in order to lower our interest rates and payments and stuff, but . . ." He shrugged again. "Like I said, it's whatever you want, man. It's up to you. It was just an idea."

"Well, I like it . . ." Yuugi said slowly, and Jounouchi's breath caught in his chest. He looked back up at Yuugi so quickly his neck popped, and found that Yuugi was still giving him the same look as before, only his eyes looked somehow a little brighter. "But thirty years is a long time. Are you . . . are you sure you're ready to commit to that?"

"Yeah, to you," Jounouchi said, and as Yuugi's brow scrunched in confusion, he realized what a failed attempt at a response that was. He cleared his throat again. "I mean, I—it's not really—I don't—the place doesn't matter so much to me. I mean, it does—I want somewhere cool, and I think that place is actually pretty cool from what I've seen, though I haven't gone there in person so who knows. But it's whatever, you know—I mean, it's not, it's important, but it's not as important as—what I'm trying to say is I'm ready to—to—" Jounouchi ran a shaking hand through his hair again before he blurted, "I want to move in with you! And—and be with you, and stuff."

"Well, yeah. You are. You have been," Yuugi said, and the corners of his lips twitched into a bemused smile. "For years now."

"No, I mean . . ." Jounouchi dropped his eyes to their laps, and reached over to take Yuugi's hands in his own. He gently rubbed his thumbs along Yuugi's knuckles and swallowed again. "Like . . . permanently. For good. For the long-term. For—you know. Forever."

Yuugi was quiet for a long moment, and then—in a tiny voice no louder than Jounouchi's now—he asked, "Katsuya . . . you really want to make a commitment like that?"

Jounouchi nodded. "To you." He looked up, then, to find Yuugi staring at him with eyes the size of dinner plates, and he tried to force some nonchalance into his voice even if he couldn't force a laugh. "But I mean, it's okay if you don't want to. Probably shouldn't have just sprung it on you li—"

Yuugi pushed himself out of his chair and onto Jounouchi's lap, and in one fluid motion pressed his lips against Jounouchi's, cutting him off mid-sentence. Jounouchi could feel Yuugi's mouth smiling against his, beaming, and the feeling that blossomed in his chest was light and buoyant and so overjoyed that he couldn't help but let a surprised little laugh escape as he returned Yuugi's kiss, his arms wrapping around Yuugi to hold him steady and secure on his lap. When Yuugi pulled back, he did so with soft, additional little kisses, and kept his arms linked around Jounouchi's neck.

"Yeah," Yuugi said, and if his eyes had looked bright before, he looked like he was practically glowing now. "Let's do it."

"Really?" Jounouchi asked, and his own voice cracked even as Yuugi nodded, laughing a little himself now. "You mean it?"

"Yes," Yuugi said, and Jounouchi could feel himself shaking a little, not from nervousness or fear this time, but a sort of electric current of mingled relief and elation. "Of course I do, I love you. There's no one else I'd rather live forever with." He paused, and then seemed to realize how confusing his sentence sounded, for he fell into another fit of giggles. "I mean live with forever."

"Yeah, I know. Same," Jounouchi said, and not that there was anything particularly hilarious about that moment, because there wasn't, but he sputtered a laugh again, and Yuugi did too, even as he bumped his forehead lightly against Jounouchi's.

"So, we're really going to do it, then?" Yuugi asked.

"Uh-huh."

"Forever?"

"Yep."

Yuugi's smile was brighter than the sun in the height of summer, and as he leaned in for another kiss, Jounouchi knew that the smile making his own cheeks ache had to be just the same.