A/N: I have no idea what possessed me to use a plot arc from Junjou Romantica in this story. Does that make me cruel? Probably.


Joey wasn't going to wait for breakfast to see Seto, not after they'd been apart for so long.

It wasn't hard to wake up early since his internal clock was already set to a six-hour night. (Being a full-time college student will do that to you.) So even though he'd arrived after midnight, he was still up before seven in the morning without the aid of an alarm. He took a quick shower, knowing that after his long drive yesterday he needed it, then threw on some clothes and went to Seto's room—their room—in order to wake him up.

When Joey tried the door, he found it was locked. He knocked.

"Seto? Are you awake?"

No answer.

"Come on, Seto, let me in."

He knocked again, but received no response. Joey tried pressing his ear to the door, but heard nothing. Maybe Seto wasn't awake yet. He retreated to the guest room where he'd spent the night and rummaged through his bag until he found his keychain. When he returned to their room, he unlocked it and let himself in.

The bed was unmade, but empty. The bathroom door was closed, and when Joey approached it, he could hear the sound of water running.

Okay then, he'd wait. He sat down on the edge of the bed and laid back, closing his eyes for a moment and listening to the sound of the shower as he waited.


Seto had known that he'd be facing Joey today for the first time in almost four months. He'd known that they'd need to talk about their lack of communication during that time. He'd known that it wouldn't be a pleasant conversation to have. He'd known that it might not end well.

He was mentally preparing himself for this, planning what he'd say, what he'd do, how he'd react to hypothetical explanations that Joey might provide him with. He worked through the scenarios in his head as he worked the shampoo through his hair, hoping that the shower would refresh his fatigued body enough for him to face Joey with some degree of calm.

What he wasn't prepared for, and hadn't at all expected, was to leave his bathroom with his towel around his waist, rubbing a smaller towel on his head to dry his hair, and see Joey sitting there on his bed as if nothing had ever changed, grinning up at him as if they'd just seen each other only yesterday.

"Good morning!"

Joey greeted him with overt enthusiasm as Seto stood there, drying his hair and staring at him with eyes of unreadable ice. Seto maintained his silence, and Joey's smile faded a little, his unease growing. He shifted a little on the bed, finally dropping his gaze and reaching up to scratch the back of his head nervously.

"So... how have you been?" the blond asked, cheeks heating up to a light blush that further confused the brunette.

Seto draped the smaller towel over his shoulder and crossed his arms, maintaining both eye contact and silence.

"Come on, don't do this to me," Joey pleaded, standing up. He took a step forward, reaching out—and Seto finally moved, brushing past him to enter his closet to get dressed. He closed the door behind him to keep Joey out, and felt a brief moment of relief that Joey at least respected that boundary. "Are you going to talk to me at all?" Joey asked, pressed against the door.

"Why should I?" Seto suppressed the impulse to throw the towels at the door, and instead dropped them to the floor. Too childish. "Because you made such determined efforts to talk to me while you were away?"

"It's not like I never tried to call you," Joey retorted, against his better judgment.

"You never texted me either. You know I would have responded."

"I texted you just a few days ago!" Shut up, Joey, this isn't helping! He knew he was digging his own grave, but he couldn't seem to stop himself from saying what he knew would make matters worse.

"Is that really what you want to go with right now? You do realize you're not actually helping your argument, right?" Seto's voice was dripping with disdain, and Joey had to bite back another retort.

"Yeah, I know." Joey sighed, resting his forehead on the closet door. "I'm really sorry."

Seto paused as he pulled on his shirt. He waited and listened for anything more, but heard nothing.

"Is that all you have to say? Sorry?"

Joey faltered, and Seto opened the door, now fully clothed. He considered Joey for a moment, skimming him up and down with dark eyes that Joey still couldn't interpret. Joey took an uncertain step forward, only to be stopped by a hard hand on his chest.

"This isn't working out. I think we should get a divorce."

Joey felt the floor fall out from under him, and he staggered a little when Seto pushed him further away in order to walk past him.

"What?" Joey turned to watch Seto's back as he walked away from him, baffled and angered. "What the hell! You didn't even give me a chance to explain!"

"I just gave you that chance, and if 'sorry' is all you have to say to me, then we don't have a chance of making this work."

His cold voice sounded so dead and devoid of emotion that it scared Joey. He forced himself to move, lunging across the room to grab Seto by the back of the shirt.

"Is something going on that I don't know about? Is there something else that's bothering you? Talk to me, damn it!"

Seto rounded on him, forcing Joey to release his hold on his shirt. His eyes flashed with anger as he finally glared at Joey, their faces now inches apart.

"Now you want to talk to me?" Seto sneered. "Now that it's convenient for you?"

"That's—"

"I have to work, Joey."

He let those words sink in for a second before he turned away again. No longer paralyzed by the cold fire in the brunette's eyes, Joey lurched forward and grabbed his arm.

"Wait, let me talk!"

"Let me go!" Seto's violent reaction was immediate and unrestrained. Joey barely deflected the fist aimed at his face, surprised by the force of Seto's anger towards him. They grappled for a few moments before Joey was overwhelmed and pushed to the floor, but not without him dragging Seto down too. The brunette landed on him with a grunt, but as soon as Joey caught his breath, he took Seto's face in his hands and pulled him into a kiss.

Everything went still, and it was just the two of them, together, like they used to be. Seto pulled away first, rolling off of him and standing up quickly.

"We'll talk later." Just like that, he was gone, and Joey couldn't tell if those words were an order or a promise.