Heya peple! I'm here with my first ever songfic that isn't about the Kaiba brothers! I spent all night thinking about this, and ended up spending only about three hours on it. Which I think is good, as I averagely spend that much time thinking up names for OCs and other minor characters, but that's besides the point. It's about Joey and Mai. So and yeah.

Summary: It's been two years since Battle City, and Mai realizes what she's missing. She calls Joey. What, if anything, happens from there?

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or Yellowcard or the song Back Home.

Back Home- Yellowcard

Don't know what I was looking for when I went home, I found me alone
And sometimes I need someone to say, "You'll be all right. What's on your mind?"
But the water's shallow here and I am full of fear, and empty handed after two long years

Mai Valentine spread herself out on the hotel bed and yawned, having just woke up. Life was getting a little repeatitive. She was going through it alone, without anyone. It's been a couple years since her last tournament, Battle City, and she'd gone and tried her hand in other things at life. She liked it in California, but something was missing. And it irked her, because she wasn't really sure what it was. Maybe it was because she missed her friends, or maybe because she missed Duel Monsters or something.

Another sunny day in Californ-i-a
I'm sure back home they'd love to see it
But they don't know that what you love is ripped away
Before you get a chance to feel it

She was a wanderer, never staying in one spot too long. This was to be her second and last week in California. After this, she didn't know where she'd go next. Maybe back to Japan? She'd love to see all her old friends again. Yugi, Tea, Tristan, Duke, Serenity... And Joey Wheeler. Joey... The thought of him made her smile. She thought of the little prank she played on him with his sister on the blimp. He was so adorable. She also remembered promising him that their paths would cross again. But so far she hadn't kept it.

Back home I always thought I wanted so much more, now I'm not too sure
Cause sometimes I miss knowing someone's there for me and feeling free
Free to stand beside the ocean in moonlight
And light myself a smoke beneath the dark Atlantic sky

Tears sprang up behind her eyes. God, she missed Joey so much... she knew it was love. She'd been in love with the guy since she first met him at Duelist Kingdom, despite age difference and so on. Maybe... her eyes strayed over to the phone on the bedstand. She knew it'd be late in Japan, but he wouldn't care, would he? She wouldn't mind if she was woken at midnight by a call from him.

Another sunny day in Californ-i-a
I'm sure back home they'd love to see it
But they don't know that what you love is ripped away
Before you get a chance, before you get a chance to feel it

Ring

"Cmon Joey, pick up," Mai muttered. It was ten in the morning over here, so that meant it was about three in the morning over there. It was Friday here, so it'd be Saturday over there.

Ring

"Joey you there?" Mai wondered. He could be out at someone's house, or he could have moved but Mai hoped he was there. Third rings the charm.

Ring

Mai was about to hang up when some one answered the phone. His voice was slightly breathy, but Mai didn't think about it. All she thought about was that she was hearing Joey's voice again, after two long years. "Hello?"

"Joey!"

Everybody here is living life in fear of falling out of line
Tearing lives apart and breaking lots of hearts just to pass the time
And the eyes get red in the back of your head, this place will make you blind
Put it all behind me and I'll be just fine

"..." Do you remember me? Mai wondered siliently. "Mai?" So he DID remember her!

"Yes, Joey, it's me! Listen, I have to tell you something..." Mai stopped, hearing something in the background.

"Joey? Who is it?" a girl in the background asked.

"It's Mai," he said.

"What's she doing, calling three in the morning?" Mai recognized the voice. It was Tea Gardner. Her voice was breathy too. Mai forgot to breathe. Joey... and TEA. Together. At three in the morning. In Joey's house. Breathing hard.

"I'm not sure." Mai heard a kiss.

"Love you," Tea murmurred. Mai couldn't take it anymore. She hung up. And cried. A nice long cry.

Another sunny day beneath this cloudless sky
Sometimes I wish that it would rain here
And wash away the west coast dreaming from my eyes
There's nothing real for them to see here

Joey came back on the phone. "Mai?" he asked. He was answered by a tone. Hurt, he hung up the phone. He was glad it was dark in his room. Tea wouldn't see the tears in his eyes. "I'm going to sleep now," Tea said. "Hold me?" Joey climbed into bed and wrapped his arms around his girl's waist. He breathed with her until she fell asleep. God, he loved Mai. He wished that she was in his arms. He loved Tea too, but it wasn't the same. But he had to move on.

Tears ran down Joey's face into Tea's hair. It was okay though, becuase the tears would dry by morning , and no one but he would know why he cried.

Another starry night in Californ-i-a
I'm sure back home they'd love to see it
But they don't know that what you love is ripped away
Before you get a chance, before you get a chance to feel it