Seto drummed his fingers on the tabletop as he stared at the brunette. "How does she manage to say so much without stopping for a breath" he wondered, amazed. "Even Mokuba isn't that bad."

To say the young CEO was bored would be an understatement. He felt ready to share everything his younger brother was using to blackmail him with the whole group, if it meant the torture would stop. He glanced around the table and noticed even the girls' friends seemed to be having trouble holding onto her words.

Tristan and Duke were sharing looks from time to time. Yugi smiled at his friend but somehow it didn't seem like his usual bright smile. Mokuba and Serenity were nodding in agreement or answering as they should have but seemed distracted. Joey, who sat across from Kaiba, looked up in between bites of food but the glances seemed fleeting before he returned to his food or looked around the restaurant.

"I mean, who is she to talk, right?" Tea glanced at Serenity, waiting for agreement. Seto wasn't sure if the question had been directed at the girl or the whole group but Serenity smiled and shrugged and Tea continued.

Kaiba tried to eat to distract himself from Tea's insistent chattering but didn't have much of an appetite. He couldn't glance around the room as something else to do. He had already done it enough times to have every detail engraved in his memory, from the pattern of the wallpaper to the other occupants of the restaurants. There was a family of four in the far right corner, the one in his view, he thought while staring blankly at Tea. In the left corner was a group of five girls Seto recognized from school, and sat by the two tables by the wall, in front of theirs, was two couples. One couple was man and his wife, he assumed wife by the ring that glistened on her finger, both were in their mid - fifties. The final table in had a young couple, maybe in their twenties, seated by it. Their first date, Seto guessed from the way the two were fidgeting, the man pulled at the collar of his shirt and took constant sips of water while the woman tapped long, painted nails, in a manner similar to the way he tapped his own, and twirled her hair. Kaiba tried again to focus on what the brunette was saying but gave up when the words seemed to garble together and chose to stare at his food instead, until he heard her fall silent and a new voice spoke up. "So Joey, how do you like your new place?" Yugi asked cheerfully. Seto's head shot up to see the blond shrug.

"Alright, can't afford much now but after school I'll get a better job." Joey stated after swallowing. "I'd be better if I had a better roommate." he glared at Tristan.

"Hey!" Tristan said, raising a fork to point at Joey. "You're the one that snores."

"My snores have to be better than the unearthly noises ya make." Joey narrowed his eyes at his friend. Tristan replied with an eye roll of his own. Duke, from beside Tristan, laughed then groaned when Tristan elbowed him.

Seto smirked, the boys may be acting childish but it was more interesting to listen to than their friend. "So Wheeler walked away from that father of his, it's about time time he did something." he thought. His smirk softened into a smile, something rare for him. With everyone concentrating on Tristan and Joey, Seto decided to take a chance. He watched the blonde boy with curiosity.

After their talk some weeks ago and their visit to the mall, Seto realized he and Wheeler had more in common than he had originally thought. Since then he found himself thinking of the other boy more than he cared to admit. He still thought Joey's life depended on luck and he was loud and clumsy, but if Seto was honest with himself, he had to admit he had developed feelings for the other boy.

"Battle City" had actually begun it. After seeing Joey duel during the last round of the tournament the young CEO had begun to respect him as a duelist. Soon after that Seto began seeing the other boy in a new light. It was a small change at first but as it grew he fought hard to ignore it. When Seto couldn't deny a growing attraction any longer he, (stupidly, he thought now) wrote his feelings down. Writing how he felt seemed to help and Seto found himself concentrating on more important matters again, until after that night.

The night after Seto and Joey talked, after he had seen the bruises and the cut and had shown his own scar, something had changed. Then the mall happened and suddenly ignoring the feelings he had became harder than it ever had been. Thoughts of the other boy began to plague his mind. They came often, at all hours of the day. The most inappropriate ones seemed to come at the most inappropriate times. They were making things frustrating for Seto.

Then Mokuba brought up the dinner idea and Seto had been ready to flat out refuse but two things stopped him. The first was obviously his brothers' blackmail tool. The second was; he liked the idea of being able to spend more time with Joey, even if the other teen's friends had to be there too.

Seto continued to watch Joey as he argued with his friend and his smile lingered as he watched the boy's animated features. When he realized he had been staring his smile quickly faded and he averted his gaze.

Mokuba, who sat next his brother, had been doing his best to watch him. He was sure his brother hadn't seen him, otherwise, Seto would have stopped looking at Joey sooner than he had. When the young Kaiba had seen the way Seto was watching Joey he smirked. "I knew it" Mokuba thought. "If only someone else would notice it too." He did his best to get Serenity's attention without being noticed by the others. She sat next to him and he gestured to his brother with his head when she looked his way. "Did you see that?" he questioned her quietly. She gave him a small smile and nodded.

Serenity had made sure she paid more attention to the eldest Kaiba brother and she didn't miss how he stared at her brother. The look in his eyes was obvious. "So Mokuba was right." she thought. "But what about Joey?" She glanced her brother's way, curiously.

Serenity and Mokuba hadn't been the only ones who noticed the Kaiba corp CEO watching Joey. Yugi had noticed too.

While the rest of his friends seemed oblivious to anything outside Joey and Tristan's fight, Yugi caught the eldest Kaiba watching his best friend. He had made sure to pay attention to Seto's actions and began to realize Mokuba might have been right, about Kaiba at least. He turned his attention to his friend and decided to watch him more carefully for the rest of the meal.

Yugi did continue to watch Joey's reactions to what Seto said and did as discreetly as he could. He couldn't say he learned much, aside from seeing a faint blush from time to time when Joey glanced at Kaiba. He sighed heavily and caught Tea's attention. "Something wrong?" she asked him quietly. He shook his head no, figuring it wasn't the best time to discuss what he was feeling.

The truth was, Yugi didn't know how to feel about the whole situation. He wanted his friend to be happy of course and the idea Joey might like another boy didn't bother him. It was the fact that, that boy might be Kaiba. If Joey really did like Seto Kaiba, why?

Over the years Yugi had developed a respect for Kaiba. He didn't always like the way Seto went about doing things but he was a talented duelist, an intelligent student and it was clear that he loved Mokuba more than anything. Despite what Yugi had come to respect about the young CEO, Kaiba had many qualities that he knew bothered Joey more than himself. Seto was arrogant, self-righteous and had questionable means of getting what he wanted. He seemed to be less cruel to Joey in the last year or so but Yugi couldn't figure out what could have happened to turn Joey's clear dislike for Seto into not just a friendly liking but an attraction of sorts.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Yugi decided it didn't matter. Joey was his best friend and he wanted him to be happy. If dating Seto Kaiba would make him happy then Yugi would find a way to make that happen. He waited until Tristan and Joey's bickering died down then spoke up, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Hey Tea, next Friday, did you want to go see that movie you were telling me about yesterday?"

Across the table from Yugi, Tea sent her friend a puzzled look. "Next Friday?" she asked, unsure she heard him correctly. When he nodded she continued. "Can't next Friday, that's your party, remember?"

"Oh, that's right." Yugi replied innocently.

"You forgot when your own party was?" Duke asked with a laugh.

Yugi shrugged. "Nobody had made a mention of it so I didn't think anybody could come." he said absently.

"It's your birthday Yug," Joey spoke up, "of course we're comin' "

"Wouldn't miss it buddy." Tristan said with a smile at Yugi.

"If it's a party, I'm there." Duke said casually, taking a sip from his cup. "Besides, I'm hosting it. "

"I wish I didn't have to miss it." Serenity answered sadly.

"What makes you think none of us would come?" Tea glanced at Yugi, questionly.

Yugi shrugged then looked at Seto and Mokuba. "How about you two?"

Seto narrowed his eyes a bit, ready to answer but remained quiet as Mokuba spoke up. "I'd like to but we weren't invited.

"Why not?" Yugi glanced at Tea in disbelief.

" Why would he be? " Tristan muttered to himself, referring to Seto. He had no problem with Mokuba but could care less if he never saw the older Kaiba again. Tea glared at Tristan from next to him and stomped on his foot under the table. " Ow, " he narrowed his eyes at his friend, she sent a quick nod Joey's direction. " Oh, yeah, right. " he replied awkwardly. Across the table, Yugi clapped a hand to his forehead in disbelief and frustration.

Tea shook her head, "Idiot " she grumbled. Returning to the previous subject, she glanced at Yugi. "Don't look at me if they never got invited." She nodded in Joey's direction. "He did invitations."

"I didn't know I was supposed to invi…: he began to protest but he let it trail. He looked between both Kaiba brothers, Mokuba then Seto. Yugi watched him and smirked at what he saw. A blush crept up on Joeys cheeks right after he looked at Seto. "I guess they got lost in the mail." he replied in frustration. He glanced back up. "You're both invited to Yugi's party next week, Friday, 7:00"

Mokuba beamed. "We wouldn't miss it." He smirked at his brother. "Would we Seto? "

Seto shot daggers at his brother. " Why does he insist on torturing me? " he questioned himself. "Not for the world. " he replied dryly.

"Great! " Yugi said happily.

The dinner soon ended after some more discussion of Yugi's party and everyone left to go home. As he was leaving Yugi made up his mind. Before the party he would talk to Joey. He would hint around and try to figure out if Joey liked Kaiba back. If he did then the party would be the perfect place for the two of them to talk. Of course, Yugi knew they might need a little help and he was ready to do just that, if he could figure out how.