Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of the characters in it.

A/N: I know this subject is a bit overdone, but I had to. Probably the last fic I'll be writing for a while. Enjoy. :)

Party games

Dance music pouring from stereo speakers; a small group of friends; a giant, half-eaten chocolate/vanilla marble cake with butter cream frosting; and laughter abound. Out of all the birthday parties Yugi had ever had thrown for him, this was, by far, the best. He hadn't gotten many presents, since money was kind of scarce for a bunch of unemployed teens – but just being surrounded by all of them and being able to drink in the laughter and good spirits was a gift enough.

The party was starting to wind down, now that everyone had had at least two pieces of the delicious birthday cake each, and had been dancing for at least the past hour to hour-and-a-half. Most everyone had crashed on the couch in Yuugi's living room, except for Kaiba. He was standing by the window pretty much the entire duration of the party. Yuugi didn't even know why exactly Kaiba was at his party in the first place, since he had made it apparent so many times that he completely despised Yuugi, and would rather set himself on fire than say "Hi" to his short, spiky-haired classmate in the morning.

Yuugi suspected Kaiba's presence at his party was due to Tea's meddling. Yuugi has a bit of a crush on Mr. Tall, Dark, and Arrogant. Whether he wants to admit to it is a different story. And, he really did do a good job trying to keep it a secret from everyone else. But, since Tea's a girl, she picked up on his little crush. Yuugi figured it was just some alien sense that all girls have to always know who has a crush on who. Being the "good friend" she is, he supposed Tea invited him out of "the kindness of her heart". She was just in it for the drama.

"Okay, everyone," Tea announced with a mischievous grin spread across her lips, "Let's all get in a circle on the floor. We're playing Truth-Or-Dare."

"I'm not playin'," Joey said, kicking his feet up on the recently vacated couch, "Not with Kaiba here."

"Please, enjoy your game," Kaiba said, taking his signature white coat from the coat rack, "I would honestly rather be doing just about anything else than sitting around here, anyway."

Tea shot him a glare, which confirmed Yuugi's theory that she made him come to the party. Kaiba stared back at her, and for a while, they just stood and stared angrily at one another. Then, Tea grinned and pulled a piece of folded-up paper out of her pocket. On queue, Kaiba's eyes got wide for a second before he slammed his coat back on the rack, nearly tearing the expensive fabric. He then stomped over to his previous spot near the window and turned away from everyone to stare out into the dimly-lit streets.

"C'mon and play with us, Yuugi," Tea said with a smile.

"I will if Joey plays," Yuugi responded. He didn't like the thought of Tea being the only other real player. Tristan was sitting on the floor waiting to play; but, everyone knew no one would pick him, so Yuugi didn't really even count him in.

Joey tried to appear irritated as he got up from the couch and sat down to join Yuugi, Tea, and Tristan. "I'll play, as long as I get to go first."

"Sure, go ahead, Joey," Tea said.

Joey grinned and took a sip from his soda before starting the game off. "Alright. I pick myself."

"You can't do that, Joey," Tea remarked with an annoyed look on her face.

Joey crossed his arms. "Well, if I can't do that, I'm not playin'."

"Whatever, Joey, just take your turn."

"Hehe, alright," he said smiling and standing up, soda in hand, "I dare myself to go sit on the couch and quite playin' this stupid game."

Tea sighed and hit her hand on her forehead. Yuugi laughed. Leave it to Joey, he thought. This left him with Tea as the only other player... well, except for Tristan. He still didn't count, though. Knowing Tea, she would force Yuugi into an embarrassing situation – which he really, really didn't want to happen in front of the one he admired, even though that said person was clearly doing everything he could to block everyone out and pretend he was somewhere else.

"Alright, Yuugi," Tea started, smirking, "since I was next to Joey, it's my turn. Truth or Dare, Yuugi?"

"But... what about me?" Tristan whined.

"Hush, Tristan. I picked Yuugi."

"Aww," Tristan whimpered and lowered his head.

Yuugi gulped. No matter what he picked, it wouldn't be good. If he picked, truth, Tea would definitely ask him who he had a crush on, and he would be forced to say Kaiba. He couldn't lie, either, or Tea would call him out on it. If he picked dare, though, who knows what she would do? Maybe she won't do anything crazy, he hoped. He couldn't risk having to admit that he liked Kaiba right in front of him, even if he wasn't paying much attention. He had a feeling that Kaiba would suddenly be clued in to the conversation if his name came up.

"Uh, dare, I guess," Yuugi said, bracing himself for the worst. Goodness knows what the worst was, knowing Tea's knack for trouble.

Tea beamed with triumph. Looks like I picked the wrong one, Yuugi thought.

"Yuugi," Tea said evilly, "I dare you to kiss Mr. Seto Kaiba."

Kaiba spun around wildly, and Yuugi's jaw dropped. Both looked at the grinning brunette like they wanted to strangle her and feed her body to rabid dogs. Or at least Kaiba did. Yuugi was more stunned and nervous than angry. Now what was he going to do? Admitting he liked Kaiba would've been bad enough, but not nearly as bad as having to kiss him. Not that Yuugi would mind kissing him, of course.

Before Yuugi could turn to Kaiba, he had his coat already half-way on and was making his way towards the back door.

"What, running away, tough guy?" Joey said, interrupting Kaiba's leave.

"No, Wheeler; it's just that, where as you might be questionable, I'm not gay," Kaiba snapped back.

"Oh, sure. Whatever you say, Kaiba. Everybody knows you're really just scared," Joey said, leaning back and looking at Kaiba out of the corner of his eye to see how his comment hit.

"Scared of what exactly?" Kaiba asked, turning towards the blond.

"Oh, I dunno, maybe enjoyin' it?" Joey said, relishing the both embarrassed and furious look on Kaiba's face that Joey's quip had earned him.

"Alright, Wheeler. That's it. You want me to kiss the kid, whatever. Anything to get you to close that mouth of yours," Kaiba replied, taking off his coat and setting it by the door.

Yuugi turned around to find Kaiba walking swiftly towards where he sat. He quickly turned his face away to hide the blush that had surely spread across his cheeks. How in the world did all of this happen? Yuugi wondered to himself. Joey just couldn't let things rest.

"Are we going to get this over with or what?" Kaiba asked Yuugi impatiently. He was now knelt down beside him on the floor.

Yuugi looked up, and for a second, their eyes met. Kaiba quickly adjusted his gaze, then closed his eyes and leaned closer to Yuugi's face. Yuugi started to panic and backed away, leaving Kaiba looking rather silly with his eyes closed and face so close to Yuugi's. Joey's laugh caused him to open his eyes.

"Okay, Yuugi, if you're not going to do anything, I will."

Kaiba suddenly grabbed Yuugi's shoulder and drew him nearer, locking his lips with the smaller boy's. Everyone in the room was hushed as they observed the one scene they never expected to see in their lives. Yuugi's heart was beating hard inside his chest and his cheeks felt hot. He couldn't bring himself to kiss Kaiba back.

After a few seconds of awkward, one-sided kissing, Kaiba bolted up, grabbed his coat from where he left it by the door, and walked out, slamming the old wooden door as hard as he could. Yuugi sat dumbfounded and in the same position as when Kaiba left him, overwhelmed by the events that had just transpired.

Joey was the first to make a noise, and started laughing hysterically, knocking over his half-full can of soda in the process. Tristan soon joined in the laughter, even though he really didn't see how it was really that funny. Tea also giggled, but more so at her evil handiwork than at what had actually just happened. She walked over to Yuugi to wake him up a bit.

The rest of the night was filled with jokes about Kaiba's sexuality, few responses from Yuugi, and a lot more laughter from Joey, who was quite happy to get his revenge for what Kaiba had called him back at Duelist Kingdom. The four friends enjoyed the rest of the birthday cake and soda, resulting in Tristan and joey falling asleep on the couch next to each other – which, in turn, resulted in plenty of awkward party pictures compliments of Tea.

Eventually, it was time for everyone to say goodbye and to get some sleep before having to go into school tomorrow. Yuugi dreaded going to school the next morning and having to see Kaiba first period. It was sure to be even more awkward than the previous night was. He blushed. It's worth it, he thought to himself as he waved goodbye to his drowsy friends. Then he remembered the piece of paper that Tea had apparently been threatening Kaiba with.

"Hey, Tea," he called after her, running to where she stood at the end of the sidewalk, "What was on that scrap of paper you had in your pocket earlier?"

"Oh, this?" she asked, pulling out the crumpled sheet of loose-leaf paper from her skirt pocket, "Here, take it and read it inside. I have to get home. See you at school!"

Yuugi started to unfold the piece of paper as he walked up the stairs to his room. It looked like it was note from Tea to Kaiba written at school. Yuugi sat down on his bed and began reading:

'Kaiba, I know you like Yuugi.

What are you talking about?

Oh, please. Don't bother denying it; you might not think so, but you make it seem really obvious. Now, listen. Yuugi's having his birthday party this Sunday at his house. If you don't come, the whole school will be reading in the school paper about Big Bad Kaiba's secret crush.

So, you're blackmailing me? I can take legal action for this.

You're admitting it, then?

I thought everything was so obvious to you? Stop bothering me; I'll be at the party in the evening. No earlier. And I'm not brining a gift.'

Yuugi laughed. Tea could make a living as a conman. He lay back on his bed and looked at the ceiling, running over the night's events in his head. Kaiba shared his feelings. That seemed completely impossible by how he treated him. Regardless, now Yuugi knew his real feelings. Things might not change, but it was certainly better than thinking that the one person he liked hated him. What a happy birthday.