Author Notes: I have been enjoying writing this fic so far. For once, I feel like I'm neither rushing nor forcing the romance. Joey does something very clever and sneaky in this chapter. I'm so proud of him for it! :P Please enjoy and review!
Two months later, Joey was in a much better place, physically, psychologically, and emotionally. He worked for Kaiba as one of the mansion's groundskeepers, he was able to focus on classes and bring up his grades (much to the surprise of all his teachers), and he could stop distancing himself from his friends. Yugi was especially pleased to see his good friend acting more like himself again. He'd reached a stable place where he finally felt confident and comfortable enough to confront Kaiba.
Late one evening as they passed in the hallway, Joey'd spoken up, trying to probe him for more information on his step-father. His host had tried to walk away, but Joey had tackled him, and the two had wrestled on the floor as they vied for dominance. It wasn't truly violent, for neither punched the other or fought dirty, and that in itself spoke well of both of them. Seto didn't wish to injure Joey after investing so much in his recovery. Joey didn't wish to injure Seto after all he'd done for him. Both of them were panting by the time Joey got Seto pinned to the floor. They glared at each other in irritation, but without true animosity.
"Kaiba, what did you mean when you said that Gozaburo was a hard man to please?" Joey demanded not for the first time during this encounter. After a few moments of silent glaring, Seto finally spoke.
"Fathers can be abusive no matter how much money they have," was his indirect answer, his eyes staring at a point over Joey's shoulder.
"Your ol' man hit you too, huh?" Joey asked softly, somewhat loosening his grip on Seto. His impression of the CEO was beginning to change.
"Step-father," Seto corrected with a scowl. "And worse."
"Whatya mean?" Joey's persistence was part of his personality and at the moment, it was a trait that Seto resented. He attempted to shove Wheeler off, but Joey stubbornly held his ground, keeping the brunette fixed between him and the floor. In truth, Seto could think of more than one way to free himself from the blond teen, but there was a part of him that was tired of keeping his childhood a secret. He freed one hand from Joey's grip and pulled down the high collar of his turtleneck to reveal the odd, discolored scars on his neck. Joey puzzled over them for the few moments they were visible before Kaiba covered them again and shoved Joey off. He stood and walked away, leaving Joey with more questions than answers. It was becoming a habit for him.
A few days after their confrontation, Joey found himself knocking on the door of Seto's home office. It was late Friday evening, but the young CEO was hard at work, refusing to rest when he insisted that there was so much to be done. Joey heard Kaiba call for him to enter, and he did so, closing the door behind him and walking right up to the brunette seated at his desk, stopping only once he was a mere few feet away from him.
"What do you want, Wheeler?" he demanded without looking up from his computer screen.
"I want to talk to you about Gozaburo."
"Get out," he snapped immediately, but Joey had noticed how Kaiba's fingers fumbled across the keyboard as he mentioned his step-father's name and decided to continue with his little campaign. Joey took another step and seated himself on the edge of the large mahogany desk next to the computer and almost directly in front of a now-flustered Kaiba.
"What are you doing? Get off. Desks aren't meant for sitting on." Kaiba was trying to stay focused on his work, but Joey was making it considerably more difficult the longer he stayed.
"What did he do to your neck?" Joey reached out a hand with the intention of pulling down the high collar of the other's turtleneck, but Seto grabbed his wrist before it got too close. Quick as lightning, Joey used his free hand to pull down Seto's sleeve. He made a sound as if he'd been burned as he snatched his arm away and held it against his chest, but Joey had still seen the scars and cuts on Seto's wrist. Some of them were far too recent for Joey's liking.
Seto's blue eyes blazed with anger and something deeper: betrayal. This surprised Joey as much as it made him cringe with guilt. He hadn't thought that he had the power to hurt Kaiba, and the grudging affection he harbored for the billionaire made him feel the other's pain.
"I want to help, Kaiba," he said candidly, lowering his hands to the edge of the desk. "You've helped me a lot, and I want to return the favor."
"I don't need help," Seto growled as he pulled his sleeve down, pushed his chair away from the desk, and stood, walking away, his back turned on the teen.
"I think you need help admitting you need help," Joey remarked as he stood as well, taking a few steps towards the other. "I'm not saying that you need to get help from me, but I think you should at least talk to someone about it, like a therapist or—"
"I don't. Need. Help." The words came out between gritted teeth as he stared out the window into the relative darkness of the night. Joey was silent for a long while, trying to contrive something that would pierce Seto's stubbornness and make him see sense.
"What about Mokuba?" He finally spoke, a plan forming in his mind. He wasn't even sure he liked it, but he couldn't think of anything else that would work.
"What about him?"
"He doesn't know about any of this, does he?"
"No, and I'd prefer to keep it that way."
"Kaiba, if you don't talk to someone about this, then I'll—"
"Then you'll what? Tell him?" Kaiba's voice increased in both volume and aggression, and intermingled was a warning note of danger. "Or would you rather go running to child services to tell them that I'm unstable so that they can declare me an unfit guardian and take him away?" Seto had clearly thought through all the possible consequences far more thoroughly than Joey had. The blond winced at the pain he heard in Kaiba's voice and the fear his anger sought to hide. "That's blackmail." Again, betrayal flashed in his eyes.
"It's what you did to me, Kaiba!" Joey pointed out, starting to get a bit heated. "I didn't want help either, because I was afraid that I'd end up being separated from the only home and friends I've ever known. But you made me accept help and you were right to do so, because who knows how much longer I could have lasted living like that. You saved my life, Kaiba. Let me return the favor."
"Are you saying I'm suicidal?" Despite Seto's harsh, disdainful words, his temper seemed to have cooled down a bit.
"I know you're not," Joey answered calmly, surprising Seto, though it didn't show. "I know you wouldn't leave your brother like that. You love him too much to abandon him."
The two young men stared at each other, each seeing the other in a new light with new eyes. For once, they could stand in each others presence and neither was angry or aggressive or competitive. It took them both several moments to acknowledge and accept the tentative bond of trust they were forming.
"What kind of help did you have in mind?" Seto asked at last, albeit reluctantly.
"To start with, you need a new coping mechanism. Give me your knife." He held out an open hand, half expecting Seto to resist as he noticed his jaw clench.
After a moment, the brunette reached into his pocket and pulled out a switchblade, pressing it int the blond's hand as he said, "You do realize I have the means to acquire another?"
"I know you do," he answered, pocketing the knife without looking at it. "But at least this way, it's not quite so convenient for you." There was an awkward pause. Joey shoved his hands into his pockets and sauntered away casually, breaking the awkward tension.
"Try going for a run instead, next time, or something like that. If it doesn't work, or you just wanna talk, find me." He gave Seto a lopsided grin before leaving him to return to his room. It was entirely on Seto now to take action. Joey planned on using Seto's prideful nature to break him of his unhealthy habits. If he relapsed, it would mean that he was weak, and Seto refused to fail any test of strength, whether it was strength of character or physical strength. If there was only one thing that Joey knew about Seto Kaiba, it was that he abhorred failure, especially in himself.