Author Notes: Azureshipping in anticipation of the people who will eventually request it. Rated T for smoking, language. Please, enjoy this songfic using "Highway Don't Care" by Tim McGraw ft. Taylor Swift and Keith Urban.

Bet your window's rolled down and your hair's pulled back
And I bet you got no idea you're going way too fast
You're trying not to think about what went wrong
Trying not to stop 'til you get where you goin'

Tea was furious with Seto and his arrogant, overbearing, OCD way of life. Sometimes she could handle it without breaking a sweat, and sometimes it drove her up the wall. This was one of those times when it drove her absolutely insane. One of those times when she began to scream at him about all of the things he did that bothered her, even just a tiny bit. One of those times when he criticized her naivete, her optimism, her belief in the goodness that she believed was in all people. It was rather ironic coming from him, because if she hadn't believed that there was goodness in all people, she probably would never have believed that there was goodness in him too.

The utter rage she'd felt towards him tonight had prompted her to take drastic measures when she left. So she'd taken his car, that is, his favorite car, for he had several. She'd taken his new cherry red convertible Mustang with the black leather interior, souped up engine, white-wall tires, and new car smell. She'd taken it out of pure spite and driven out into the night. Now, she was cruising down the narrow road at almost eighty miles an hour-well over the speed limit. She didn't care. She was angry, and she didn't even care where she was going. She didn't know where she was going, she just knew that she wanted to get away from him.

You're trying to stay awake so I bet you turn on the radio
And the song goes
I can't live without you, I can't live without you, baby
I can't live without you, I can't live without you, baby, hm baby

The sound of the roaring engine and the wild wind weren't enough to drown out the noise in her head, so she turned on the radio, which immediately began blasting harsh metal music.

"Damn you, Seto!" she shrieked, stabbing at the station buttons until she found something electro pop. She hated his music. It drove her nuts. Even among the stations she liked, though, she couldn't find a song that wasn't about love. It sickened her, but she finally found one that she could put up with and let it play, hoping that something better would come on after it.

The highway won't hold you tonight
The highway don't know you're alive
The highway don't care if you're all alone
But I do, I do.

Seto took another long drag from his cigarette as he stared out into the night, wondering if he'd really driven her away for good this time. They'd fought before. They'd fought plenty of times before, but it had never ended with such a spectacular clash of wills as it had tonight. The slamming of doors, the scratchy tone of voices raised in angry shouts, and the occasional crash of a thrown item. These sounds had been the symphony ushering out the end of their relationship-perhaps.

Seto couldn't really tell if it was over or not. It never really was clear when they argued like this who'd won, who'd lost, who'd hurt whom the most, and who was leaving whom, if anyone was leaving anybody. They'd gone two whole months without an argument. Two whole months. They'd been dating almost a year, and that had never happened before, which might have been why their fight had been so awful this time around.

He'd let her go as he always did. When she stormed out, he never stopped her, knowing that they both needed to cool down before speaking again. He'd watched her drive away in his mustang without protest, knowing that they could track her using the onboard GPS system to make sure she didn't do anything too stupid. That's what Roland was doing right now, actually: watching his car through a satellite system they'd hacked in order to keep an eye on her. It wasn't something he did out of jealousy or mistrust, although given the kind of person he was, that's what you'd expect. He was concerned for her safety.

He didn't care much where she went so long as she didn't get hurt getting there. She was alone, after all, and the Kaiba mansion was a little ways out from Domino with nothing else terribly close by. If something happened to her and he wasn't spying on her with heat-signal imaging from borrowed satellites, any number of awful things could happen.

The highway won't dry your tears
The highway don't need you here
The highway don't care if you're coming home
But I do, I do.

As he dropped his cigarette butt and squashed it with the toe of his Italian leather shoes, Seto lit himself another. He was usually better than this, but after a fight like that, he was especially tense, and needed something to force him into a state of something akin to calm. He'd never been good at relaxing.

This was usually the time that he would put on his music, blasting it loud enough to forget the cruel ways they'd spoken to each other. Either that, or he'd distract himself with work-especially when it was another fight about his workaholism, just to spite her. Tonight, though, work wasn't enough of a distraction and he didn't want any more loudness to add to his headache. He just wanted the silence, the peaceful quiet of a miserable night. But at least the weather was nice. Not that it mattered much, except that she'd had the hood down when she drove out, and it was a peripheral comfort that there wasn't supposed to be any rain tonight.

It bothered him that he didn't know what was going to happen next. He didn't know if she'd return to him tonight, or tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or next year. He didn't know if she'd return to him at all. This bothered him because, despite their conflicts, their disagreements, their bickering, their screaming at each other until they lost their voices, he did care about her. It mattered to him that she was safe and alright. If she didn't come back to him tonight, then he hoped that she went home or to stay with a friend. He'd told Roland to alert him if she did arrive at any such destination so that he could get some peace that night and stop worrying about her. He needed her.

I bet you got a dead cell phone in your shotgun seat
Yeah, I bet you're bending God's ear talking 'bout me.
You're trying not to let the first tear fall out
Trying not to think about turning around

"Damn it!" she screeched as she threw her dead phone onto the passenger seat. She'd been trying to call Serenity to ask if she could stay with her for the night, but it had died on her mid-dial and there wasn't a phone-charger in this cars. Stupid Seto.

She'd wanted to stay with Serenity because she wasn't in the mood to handle any males right now. Nevermind that Yugi would be sweet and understanding, he was still a guy, and would probably still find a way to justify Kaiba's actions. Besides, even though she was on good terms with him now, Yugi was still her ex, and that would just be too awkward for her.

"They're all idiots!" she yelled angrily into the blackness that surrounded her in this empty section of the countryside. She didn't have many female friends: Serenity and Mai were the only ones living in Domino, but Serenity was her only option, because Mai and Joey lived together now.

"Why do you have to argue over everything?" she yelled, as if she were still talking to Seto. "Why do you always have to do things your way? Why can't you just compromise? Why can't you be spontaneous or playful every once in awhile? Would it fucking kill you? Huh?" She blinked rapidly, fighting the tears that filled her eyes. No. No way was she going to let him make her cry. Not again. She'd wasted too many tears on him already.

She couldn't stop the tears once she started though, and as everything before her blurred with the tears that filled her eyes, there was some part of her that let go of that stubborn pride of hers. She let herself cry, because she needed to. She needed to cry, to let it all out. She couldn't see when she was crying, though, and in the dead of night, peripheral vision wasn't terribly helpful. She drifted off the road and hit a tree, screaming with shock and pain as the speeding car was brought to a catastrophic stop.

You're trying not to get lost in the sound but that song is always on
So you sing along
I can't live without you, I can't live without you, baby
I can't live without I can't live without you baby, oh baby

Seto sighed and dropped his head into his hands. Tea had been in surgery for hours now. The moment her car had hit the tree, Roland had called an ambulance, sending them the GPS coordinates for her location while another employee came to inform Seto of what had happened.

Now, here they were at the hospital, his hands shaking as he fought his craving for another cig. He had reached a moment of weakness that made him admit that tea was right: he really needed to quit.

After tonight. He'd quit after tonight, he promised himself, standing and stepping outside so that he could smoke yet another cigarette. It was the only thing getting him through this.

What if she died? What if she died because he had driven her into such a state of desperation and agitation that she couldn't drive safely? He would never forgive himself, never love again, and probably never drive another Mustang.

The highway won't hold you tonight
The highway don't know you're alive
The highway don't care if you're all alone
But I do, I do.

If he could just hold her, just make sure that she was alright, he could take a breath and let himself rest in the knowledge that she would live. He felt terrible that he hadn't even gone to see the site of the accident, but at the same time, he knew that he'd be with her sooner if he went straight to the hospital she was being taken to.

He hadn't even seen the extent of the damage before she'd been swept away into the OR, leaving him out here in the waiting room until they said that she was stable and he could sit with her until she woke up again. He'd sent Mokuba back to bed, even though he'd wanted to come to the hospital too. Mokuba had school tomorrow, and if he could keep his brother following his usual schedule, this whole incident would be less upsetting for him. He'd already upset his brother more than enough for one lifetime.

The highway won't dry your tears
The highway don't need you here
The highway don't care if you're coming home
But I do, I do.

"I stole your car." Tea gasped in horror, then realization hit her over the head like a ton of bricks. "I totaled your car!"

"It's okay, Tea," Seto assured, still just stunned with relief that she would be alright. He pat her hand gently as he repeated, "It's okay."

"But that was your favorite car!" she whined apologetically.

"It was just a car."

"But-"

"You mean much more to me than any car, Tea." He fixed her with serious sapphire eyes the burned with such intensity she believed him, relaxing back against her pillows as he eyes started to water.

"I'm sorry, Seto. About everything I said," she murmured, starting to cry.

"No, don't apologize," he said gently, handing her a few tissues from the box on the table. "You were right about everything. I do need to quit smoking and I do need to learn how to loosen up. You were right."

"But I was so mean to you," she sobbed her face obscured with tissues as she made a vain attempt at staunching the flood of tears.

I can't live without you, I can't live without you, baby
I can't live without I can't live without you, baby, oh baby

"I deserved it, okay? So please, stop feeling bad about it, stop crying. All of this is my fault. You shouldn't feel bad about any of it. I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry."

Tea sniffled and blinked up at him. He'd never apologized so straightforwardly before, claiming that it was a sign of weakness—which was probably why he looked so uncomfortable and anxious now as he apologized to her. She guessed that was something Gozaburo had mercilessly beaten into his brain at a young age, but he would never talk about his step-father, so she would never know for sure.

"I'm sorry," he repeated softly, taking her hand in his own and giving it a squeeze before he brought it to his lips.

"Oh Seto," she breathed out, suddenly reminded of why she'd fallen for him in the first place. He could be so devastatingly romantic sometimes. Those were almost always planned events, but little moments like this, when he showed his heat for just a moment, were rare and precious to her.

"I love you, Tea."

"I love you too, Seto."

P.S. Let me just get something clear: I am not an azureshipper. I have never been an azureshipper, nor will I ever be an azureshipper. All of that aside, I am very happy with how this one-shot turned out.