Chapter 2: Behind Closed Doors

Yugi and Joey casually made their way down into the party, fitting in quite well with the crowd. They grinned at each other as the other guests didn't seem to pay much attention to them. They weaved through the crowd, taking in all the extravagantly dressed people and feeling quite out of place. Women with beautiful long and bright dresses mingled with well dressed men, and their children gathered in groups as they always did. The rich kids always walked through town in their groups, and there were only a couple of them that Yugi and Joey were worried about running into, but there were so many people there, they doubted that would happen.

"Just remember Joey," Yugi mentioned as they walked through the crowd, "My father gets back from his shift at midnight, so we have to be gone before then."

"Midnight?" Joey asked, confused. "Where is he working?"

"The cemetery, don't you remember? You were there when he told me he was taking up the job." Joey made a noise of recognition and nodded as they looked around for something interesting.

"Look Yugi, Food!" Joey grabbed the boy's shirt, pointing towards a large banquet table, laid out with dozens of platters with food they had only dreamed of eating. It was like a dream come true for their stomachs. They bounded over to the table and grabbed handfuls of whatever they could find to shove into their mouths. Yugi couldn't tell what he was eating, he just knew it was all delicious. Him and Joey grinned widely as they tasted the extravagant food, not realising how hungry they actually were. Yugi couldn't imagine what life was like where you had food like this everyday, but for the time being, he could only pretend. Joey turned and casually looked through the crowd of people as he munched on his food, and he suddenly started hitting Yugi's arm repeatedly in panic.

"What, what's wrong?" Yugi asked, turning to the man. Joey pointed through the crowd to a familiar brown haired man who was talking to two girls.

"Seto?!" Yugi said in alarm, before Joey covered the boy's mouth so that they didn't draw attention to themselves. Yugi pulled Joey's hand away from his mouth so that he could speak in a hushed voice. "He'll kill us if he sees us here!" Joey nodded in agreement, and they decided to swiftly move around the corner of the large room. Once they had done so, they casually leaned against the wall, trying not to look like they were hiding from someone. After a moment, Joey peeked his head back around the corner, searching for Seto.

"He's coming this way!" Joey whispered in panic, before he pushed Yugi forwards, willing him to keep moving. Yugi ran through the room, hoping he wasn't drawing any attention to himself, before he realised that there was nowhere left to run. He had reached the end of the room, and there were no obvious exits. He looked around in panic, realising that Joey was no longer behind him, and noticed a small wooden door. Without taking another second to think, he darted through the door, closing it behind him tightly.

The first thing Yugi noticed about the room was that it was very dark. He stood against the door as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he noticed a stack of shelves against the far wall. He was in a store room. Brilliant, Yugi thought sarcastically. He didn't want to find the light, or someone might notice and come in, so he sat down against the wall. He could hear Seto talking outside the door, so he guessed he wouldn't be able to get out any time soon.

Just brilliant.

...

"Mmm, your biceps are so firm," the girl cooed in Atem's ear as she caressed his arm, making him hold back a grimace.

He casually pulled his left arm out of her grip with a nervous laugh, "So they are..." He coughed uncomfortably, and went to move away from her, but turned and noticed another girl had appeared on his right. It appeared to be the same woman he had run into upstairs earlier, and he fought back a groan.

"Why hello again," she said with that same seductive smile, resting a hand on his arm.

Atem let out a strained 'hi', and almost jumped when the girl on his left ran her hand down his chest, noticing that she had moved much closer in the past few seconds. It almost seemed like she was eyeing off the girl who had just arrived. The one on his right did the same in response, moving closer so that she was practically leaning into his side. Atem shifted uncomfortably on his feet as the two girls seemed to have a silent war with their eyes. The woman on Atem's right then turned her gaze to him, those hazel eyes of hers boring into his as she ran a delicate finger along his jaw line. He fought back the urge to scrunch his nose at her, trying to think of a way out of this.

I wish I could just tell them that I'm not interested, he thought with an internal groan. But if I did that they would most certainly ask why, and I can't afford to answer that question.

"How you were blessed with such ravishing features I will never know," the girl on Atem's right breathed into his ear, before sending a glare to the girl on his left.

He stepped back, pulling away from them both, relieved at gaining some space from the two. "You're both very flattering," he said after clearing his throat. "But I-uh-need some air. I'll be back in a moment." He took no time to dart away from the two, breathing a sigh of relief. One of these days one of the girls in this town was going to get confident enough to make a bold move, and he dreaded the thought. He turned the corner, and saw another group of girls gossiping in the corner. He bit his lip, hoping that they wouldn't notice his appearance, but luck wasn't on his side today. One of the girls squeaked and pointed, and they all turned and stared at him.

God dammit.

Atem made a bee-line for the big double doors at the end of the room with haste as he heard the girls calling out to him, trying to gain his attention. Much to his disappointment however, he noticed another group of girls crowded in front of his only exit. He mentally cursed, wanting to give anything just to have some time to himself without being attacked by a hoard of females. He spied the storeroom door, and quickly ducked inside, closing the door behind him quickly, hoping they didn't notice him come in here. He leaned against the door, holding his breath as he heard the gossiping girls go straight past.

Atem sighed in relief, not realising that he had in fact been holding his breath, and a movement in front of him caught his eye. He looked down, and noticed to his surprise that he wasn't alone. Sitting in front of him against the wall, was a boy, looking up at him curiously.

"Uh...hi," Atem muttered, looking down at the boy. He couldn't see all of the boy's features in the dark room for his eyes had not adjusted yet. He blinked a few times, and when he did become comfortable with the darkness, he could see well enough to tell that the boy was gorgeous. Large, entrancing eyes looked up at him, holding nothing but curiosity.

Yugi looked up at the strange man, and was glad for the darkness of the room, for a blush crept onto his cheeks upon noticing how attractive this stranger was. He smiled warmly and waved at the man, "Hello."

Atem's lips curled up into an amused smile as he sat down against the door. "So, you're hiding too, huh?"

Yugi chuckled and nodded, "If Seto sees me here he'd be sure to have my head," the boy shuddered.

"Seto?" Atem asked, raising his eyebrows. He was surprised to hear his cousin's name, though he wasn't sure what the man's relationship was with the offspring of the other wealthy families. "He's a great fellow," Atem pointed out.

"Not to me he's not," Yugi muttered with a shake of his head. There was a silence, and it did feel slightly awkward, as Yugi stared at his feet, trying not to eye rape the attractive stranger sitting in front of him. After a moment, he spoke, "So who are you hiding from?" he asked.

Atem shuddered, still faintly hearing the girl's voices outside the door. "The hoard of horny girls," he groaned. "I escape two of them only to run into a dozen." He raked a hand through his hair, momentarily wanting to release his thoughts. "I just wish I could tell them the truth so that they would leave me alone..." he muttered. He had to admit, the boy's presence was comforting. He had a friendly aura that just seemed to welcome Atem, and just the boy's simple smile made him feel at ease, especially since he was finally away from all the people (and especially his many admirers).

"And what's that?" the boy asked curiously.

"That I'm not interested in women," Atem said with a sigh, before his breath caught in his throat. He had spoken without thinking, had given an automatic response, and now he couldn't take it back. "Oh, shit," he cursed, his eyes wide. He looked over to the boy, as he started to panic, waving his arms around madly with a pleading look on his face. "You didn't hear that! I didn't say anything! Please don't tell anybody that I said that! Oh god I'm an idiot-"

He was cut off abruptly when he boy grabbed his arm. "It's alright, I won't tell anyone, calm down," he said assuringly. Atem sighed and pulled his knees up to his chest, mentally scolding himself for being so stupid. One more slip up and that would be the end of his wealth.

Yugi carefully watched the man, who obviously felt quite embarrassed after revealing such information. Atem dropped his head down onto his knees, wishing he didn't have to hide this fact, for if anybody found out it would be the end of him for sure. He avoided the boy's eyes, wondering why he had been so quick to brush it off. He was sure if anyone in this town found out about his sexuality that he'd be shamed and humiliated and not doubt disowned by his family. It was a terrible feeling, thinking that just because he wasn't like everyone else, he'd never have the kind of relationship he dreamed of.

Atem scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "So, you don't care that I'm...?" he couldn't finish the sentence, as his cheeks burned red from being put in such a situation, especially with a boy so pleasing to his eyes.

Normally, Yugi wouldn't have been compelled to say the words he did in the next moment, but he felt like he wanted to comfort the man, and he knew that opening up would indeed do that. He shook his head, "Not at all. In fact...I have the same problem," he admitted with a shrug.

Atem lifted his head up in surprise, "You do?" Yugi nodded shyly, playing with the cuffs of the expensive shirt he was wearing. "Wow," Atem laughed, letting out a sigh of relief. "I never thought I'd run into someone with similar interests," he said with a chuckle.

Yugi laughed nervously, "Neither did I, really."

Atem gave the boy a friendly smile before moving away from the door, content that it wouldn't burst open, and he sat against the wall next to Yugi. "It's a living hell, really," he added with a sigh.

"Why's that?" Yugi asked automatically, though he was sure he knew what the answer was.

Atem laughed dryly, "Well I get constant attention from all the girls in this town, but I can never seem to get away from them," he sighed. "Actually, I find it quite funny, the fact that no matter how many compliments they give me, it'll never seem that great, but if a gorgeous male ever gave me a compliment, I'd probably melt into a puddle at his feet," he said, shaking his head.

"Well, uh," Yugi stammered, looking down at his hands. "If it helps, I um, I think you're very attractive," he smiled nervously up at the man, who returned the smile warmly.

"Thank you," he said, his eyes not leaving Yugi's.

The boy suddenly felt uncomfortable, so he turned away, his cheeks a flush of red. "So, do you always have those girls chasing you?" he asked, looking down at the expensive shoes he was wearing.

Atem nodded with a sigh, "Unfortunately. Its a curse, being attractive."

Yugi chuckled nervously, "I wouldn't know."

"Are you kidding?" Atem asked with raised eyebrows, looking the boy up and down, "You're gorgeous."

Yugi felt his cheeks turn a darker shade of red, as he looked down at his hands again. "Thank you."

Atem thought for a moment and then gave the boy a crooked smile, "So...does that mean you've never been kissed?"

Yugi was caught surprised by his question, and he didn't think it was possible for him to blush even more. He stuttered for a moment, before giving up on words and just nodding in response. Atem was still smiling at the boy, as he leaned in closer to speak softly.

"Do you want me to fix that?" he murmured, his eyes locked on Yugi's. The boy felt his face go even redder-if that was even possible-and he couldn't seem to find his voice as his mouth went dry. This incredibly attractive man was invading his personal space and he didn't know what to do.

"If...if you want to," Yugi stammered, feeling his palms start to sweat. Atem took the boy's nervous reaction as a good sign, and he felt his own heart beat speed up as he leaned in closer, finally being able to take advantage of the only chance he might have at exploring his sexuality. He had kissed girls before (that was how he discovered he wasn't interested in them) but he never thought he'd be able to find out what it felt like to kiss a male. Atem was slowly getting closer and closer, and Yugi's heart was thumping in his chest so fast that he swore he could hear it. It was just an innocent experiment, Yugi thought as he closed his eyes, but his breath almost caught in his throat when Atem's lips brushed against his.


Here you go guys! Chapter 2 and there's already some action ;) haha, this just leads to the main story that's all, but I hope you like it so far!

Because it's meant to be a Cinderella adaptation, I tried to set a time period for it but my research didn't get me anywhere, so it's set before cars were invented like the original Cinderella but I couldn't actually find an exact period in time where it was set, so just go along with it :P

Anyway, please tell me what you think!

PharaohsThrone :)