WARNING: Under age drinking, and a bit of Yuugi/not Yami, but I promise that it's very innocent... I just want Yuugi to have a bit of fun before I turn his world around next chapter.

LIN NOTES: Second posting of the weekend, in celebration of the holiday! I put this together in about six hours, but am quite happy with it. Still, I can't wait until next time, when we start getting into the good stuff.

Song titles seem to be my inspiration these days. The chapter title is taken from And We Danced by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.

-Pulled-

Chapter Three: And We Danced

Yuugi felt a familiar thrill rush down his spine as he pushed open the front door to Tristan's house. It had taken quite a bit of convincing for his Grandpa to allow him out after his brush with death, but a combination of Yuugi's wide eyes and Tea's responsible promises had finally won the old man over. He had, however, put his foot down about passing off a bottle of wine to the two teenagers, so the unfortunate pair found themselves arriving without any booze to speak of. However, it was a step up from what Yuugi had been expecting in the first place, so he really couldn't complain.

Tristan's house was large enough to accommodate most of the student body, despite the fact that his father was far from affluent. Yes, Tristan, like Joey, lived alone with his father - a recovering alcoholic who had instead chosen to become a raging workaholic. Neither provided Tristan with much of a father figure to look up to, so it was astounding that the boy had turned out as well as he had... but his home was usually abandoned on weekends, making it the ideal party spot.

As Yuugi moved through the entranceway and into the living room, followed closely by Tea, he finally felt at ease for the first time since he had awoken soaking wet and lying on a slab of concrete. True, the pains in his chest hadn't gone away, but Yuugi knew that he was quite lucky, so he kept quiet about them. Besides, best friend or not, if Tea thought that he was anything but right as rain, she would have his ass back home faster than he could say 'Porch Crawler'.

Speaking of Tea, a dainty hand was suddenly in his, and Yuugi found himself staring into the kind cerulean eyes of his best friend. Tea looked wonderful tonight, Yuugi noted, without the jealousy that should have been expected from an ex-boyfriend. She wore a tight, knit tank top that hugged her figure closely, and a short, red leather pencil skirt that hugged her round hips perfectly. On her feet she wore high, black leather boots that seemed to make her legs go on forever. In short, with her glossy brown hair down and straight, and her eyes played up with just enough make-up, she looked nothing short of sexy.

"Hah, everyone's going to be jealous that I've got such a beautiful date," Yuugi teased loudly, raising his voice so that she could hear him over Lady Gaga, who was in the midst of encouraging the growing crowds of teenagers to Just Dance. It looked like most had started obliging her, Yuugi noted, as groups of tipsy people made their way into the large common space, some stumbling over the collection of red Dixie cups that had already begun to litter the chipped hardwood floors.

"Well aren't you a lucky guy," Tea replied saucily, with her signature big-smile-and-wink combination. "Still Yuugi, you look pretty fab yourself. I think I did all right too!"

Yuugi blushed shyly for a moment but did not disagree. He knew that when he threw on his leather, he got noticed. That was sort've the point. Today, he wore a tight, black tank top that hugged his chest and just skimmed the waistband of his skinny, dark wash jeans. Multiple leather belts, some with spikes and others with large buckles, criss-crossed around his waist, matching the slightly gothic choker around his neck. He had toyed with the idea of wearing a pendant as well, but at the last minute had decided against it; large clunky jewelry usually got in his way when he was dancing.

"Yuuuugi!" a loud, boisterous voice called out from across the room, causing Yuugi to pause his inner fashion monologue. "Ya made it!" Joey Wheeler greeted enthusiastically, stumbling across the makeshift dance floor with a half-empty beer bottle clutched in his hand.

"Hey Joey," Yuugi said cheerfully, nearly buckling under the weight of his new friend as the blonde's upper body fell across Yuugi's shoulders in a giant bear hug. Yuugi could smell a considerable amount of beer on Joey's breath, but he laughed excitedly alongside the exuberant boy. "Looks like there was a great turn out," he added enthusiastically, carefully extracting himself from Joey's gangly arms.

"Yeah, not bad if I say so myself!" the blonde replied proudly, puffing out his chest dramatically. "If ya don't mind me askin, how did ya convince yer Gramps ta let you come?"

"Oh you know, Yuugi just gave him the puppy-dog eyes!" Tea joked, with a toothy smile. "They're impossible to resist!"

Joey blinked once slowly, before matching Tea's smile. "Oh hey Tea! Glad ya could make it!" Tea blinked at the blonde, clearly shocked by his lack of perception, but surprised Yuugi by not commenting on it. Joey evidently didn't notice, as he continued with, "so let's dem puppy dog eyes, Yuug!"

Yuugi sighed good-naturedly, then purposefully tilted his head downwards so that his violet eyes looked even wider than usual. Then, he forced them to lengthen and arch upwards, until he gave an almost perfect impression of a young golden retriever. Joey stared for a second, and then chortled, giving Yuugi a slow round of applause.

"Man dos are pretty good!" he conceded, before a dreamy expression arose on his face. "I love puppies," Joey said tipsily, ruffling Yuugi's hair with one of his paw-like hands, "y'know, we should get a puppy, Yuug. You an' me. We could call it... Spike."

"How original," Tea quipped, though without any venom. Yuugi smiled to himself. She was clearly starting to forgive the free-spirited, though sometimes clueless, blonde boy. Maybe we can all be friends, Yuugi thought hopefully.

"Heyyy welcome back to the world of the living!" Tristan's voice suddenly greeted, as he arrived behind Tea and Yuugi, toting a half empty crate of beer. "Yeah, I figured I could be the good guy tonight and make sure that everyone had their fill of beer," Tristan said sheepishly, as he noticed the pair eyeing the large box in his hands. Suddenly, Tristan shouted excitedly: "Hey everyone!Yuugi's risen from the dead!" The star athlete's announcement was met with scattered, drunken applause from the nearby students. Joey lifted his arms out in front of him and walked several steps like a zombie, before breaking down into hysterical laughter, as if he was the funniest thing that he had ever seen.

Tristan looked at Joey with slight pity, and then shook his head. "Don't mind the idiot over there," he said, jutting his slightly squared chin in Joey's direction, though his own hazel eyes were crinkled in amusement. "He gets uncontrollable when he drinks. And speaking of drinking... can I get either of you something?"

Yuugi caught Tea's eye and smiled. And thus a solution presents itself, he cheered happily. "Yes please!" Yuugi requested, "for both of us!"

"Sure thing!" Tristan said, walking over to a nearby coffee table and setting the cardboard box full of beer on top. Yuugi, Joey and Tea followed closely behind. "Hope you guys don't mind Coors!"

Hardly in the position to be picky, though truthfully, he wasn't a huge fan of beer, Yuugi said, "Sounds great!". Tristan handed Yuugi two cold bottles, and the spiky-haired teen graciously offered one to Tea. She accepted the bottle happily. "Grab as many as you want!" Tristan offered generously. "There's more where that came from... and I'm betting between your parents and the paramedics, you didn't have time to pick up anything for yourself."

Yuugi was momentarily stunned at the mention of his parents, feeling his chest twinge in a pain that was quite different from the one that he had been plagued with all day. He thought everyone knew by this point that they weren't... around anymore. It wasn't something that he wanted to bring up though - especially not at a party of all places.

"That's super considerate of you," Tea jumped in quickly, but with complete sincerity. Bless her. It was like she could read Yuugi's mind. "We definitely wanted to take it easy for the rest of the day. But you know what? I think a bit of fun is just want the doctor ordered!" she continued optimistically, grinning widely.

"Really?!" Joey exclaimed loudly, his brown eyes uncharacteristically large.

"No not really, you dolt," Tristan chortled, and Yuugi half expected the two to break out into another play fight.

The beer must have mellowed Joey for the evening, however, because the shaggy blonde's face just dropped. "Man, I was gonna say - I'm goin' ta see dat doctor next time I'm sick!"

The group laughed and Joey looked pleased, as always, to have momentarily provided some entertainment. "Anyways, Yuug," Joey said, reaching out and grabbing Yuugi's tiny hand in his own large one, "Der's someone I want ya to meet. Do ya mind if I borrow him for a minute, der, Tea?"

Tea was mid swig of her beer, and choked slightly. "N-not at all," she said, with a dismissive wave, all the while gasping slightly for air, "I'll find you later Yuugi." Ever the gentleman, Yuugi immediately went to her aid, and began thumping her on the back to help her clear out her lungs. "S-seriously," she spluttered with a half-laugh, "I'm fine!"

"Well, if you're sure..." Yuugi said, slightly concerned. "I'll come find you in a bit then!" Tea nodded cheerfully, and immediately began conversing with Tristan about the basketball team's chances that fall.

"Okay Joey, so who are we meeting?" Yuugi asked curiously, only able to keep up with his tall friend's giant strides because the blonde kept stumbling. He's going to slosh that beer down the front of his t-shirt, Yuugi laughed inwardly as Joey took a moment to steady himself against the nearest wall.

"Ohhh just ya wait and see, lil buddy!" was the mysterious answer.

-o-

Joey, it turned out, had been wanting to introduce Yuugi to his little sister Serenity Wheeler. Serenity was a full year younger than him, but the two were as close as siblings could get - even though, Yuugi was shocked to learn, they didn't live together. Serenity actually lived with Joey's partially estranged mother, who had taken Serenity and left Joey's father while the pair were still in middle school. For many years, she had refused to let the pair interact, but they found a way around her strict rules. Finally, the Wheeler matriarch realized that she couldn't keep them separated indefinitely, and according to Joey, she had started 'chillin' out a bit'.

As Yuugi and Serenity started chatting amicably, Joey excused himself with a goofy grin, and his intentions suddenly became quite obvious. He's trying to set me up with her, Yuugi realized. Vaguely, Yuugi wondered if Tea was in on it, but quickly turned his attention back to the girl in front of him, and began discussing generic things, like school and classes.

Serenity was extremely cute, Yuugi decided after several moments. She had very long, chestnut brown hair that fell in a thick sheet half way down her back, and kind eyes that matched her brother's. She was very petite, lacking both curves and height, and Yuugi instantly felt protective of her. She was dressed quite sensibly too, compared to most of the girls in the house, wearing a simple blue dress with thin spaghetti straps, and slightly worn, brown sandals.

"So, how do you know my brother?" she asked, her voice light and sweet.

"Oh we have Ancient History together," Yuugi replied cheerfully, thankful that the somewhat dark lighting concealed his blush as he added, "with Mr. Atemu."

"Oh my gosh, you have Mr. Atemu?" Serenity squealed, clapping her hands together in excitement. "I can't believe that Joey didn't tell me that! Mr. Atemu is so cute, all of the girls in my grade have a huge crush on him!"

"It's not just your grade, believe me!" Yuugi chirped, as the memory of Mr. Atemu's water-slicked body invaded his mind briefly. "He's pretty popular in mine as well!"

"I really hope I have him next year... even though I'm not really a history person," Serenity confessed.

"That's okay!" Yuugi replied enthusiastically, "trust me, Mr. Atemu could make anything interesting!"

"Oh I believe you!" Serenity added, and the pair broke into slightly girlish giggles. "I really like you," Serenity said after moment, finally catching her breath, "you're really easy to talk to."

"Well, I'm always around," Yuugi said with a smile, "if you ever need someone to hear you out."

"I might just take you up on that!" Serenity replied, giving Yuugi a winning smile.

-o-

Yuugi had stood with Serenity for what must have been about half an hour, talking about everything from board games to sports. Though she didn't share many of his interests, Yuugi was pleased that she seemed genuinely curious about his life and willing to learn about his hobbies. She, too, took it upon herself to educate him - though he wasn't sure when his newly acquired knowledge of MAC cosmetics or Louboutin shoes would come in handy, it was worth it just to see her face light up.

All too soon, Joey returned, and summoned the pair for a game of Truth or Dare. Never one to back down from a challenge, especially when that challenge was any sort of game, Yuugi opted to join in enthusiastically, and accepted a second - or was it a third? - beer from the shaggy blonde. Following Joey's lead like the conductor in a parade, Yuugi and Serenity made their way into the backyard, where a large group of teenagers sat in a circle on the freshly cut grass.

Immediately, Yuugi's keen violet eyes picked out Tea, and he waved at her. Next to her sat a small boy with spiky white hair, and Yuugi instantly perked up when he recognized his other best friend. Ryou's chocolate brown eyes caught Yuugi's purple gaze, and the pale boy immediately poked Tea lightly in the side to get her attention. She turned to him questioningly, and moments later, her blue eyes turned to Yuugi, and immediately looked from him to Serenity. Quickly, she flashed him an approving smile and a big thumbs up, which was echoed by Ryou with slightly less flamboyance. Rolling his eyes at the pair fondly, he nodded once to their unspoken question. Yes, he liked Serenity. She was a sweet girl.

"Serenity," he asked the cute brunette softly, "do you want to come sit with me and my two friends over there?"

"Sure!" Serenity exclaimed with a large smile, and the two began walking towards Tea and Ryou, with Yuugi in the lead. His two friends smiled brightly as the pair approached, and instantly moved aside to make room on the ground beside them.

"Tea, Ryou," Yuugi said graciously, as he and Serenity took their seats on the grass, "this is Serenity Wheeler, Joey's sister."

"Yup, we've met before!" Tea replied with a conspiring wink, confirming Yuugi's earlier suspicion that she was in on Joey's little 'Set Up Yuugi with Serenity' plan.

"It's a pleasure," Ryou said kindly, reaching out to shake Serenity's dainty hand. "Mind the grass, you two," he cautioned as Yuugi and Serenity sat down, "it's a bit wet."

Once the introductions had been made, Ryou turned to look at Yuugi seriously. "How are you?" he asked in concern, "Tea was telling me that you were feeling much better, but I wanted to hear it from you."

Yuugi rubbed his chest uncomfortably, and decided to answer honestly. "Not 100% yet, but getting there," he said encouragingly. Ryou looked at him with slight skepticism, but seemed to accept his answer. With a nod that shook his white hair from root to tip, he turned his attention to Joey, who had finally decided to get the game going.

"All right gang," Joey began cheerfully, "Now dis game is called Truth a' Dare. If ya choose truth, ya better answer honestly or I will find out and beat da truth outta ya. If ya pick dare, den be prepared. I got some good ones ta-night. Most importantly, ya gotta take a drink every time ya ask a question or get asked a question. Der's unlimited beer, courtesy a' one Tristan Taylor, so no excuses! Now who's ready?"

The group of teenagers cheered enthusiastically, causing Joey to smirk in anticipation.

"Den let da games begin!"

-o-

Yuugi awoke with a barbaric pounding in his head and the sun streaming into his powder blue bedroom. So this is what it feels like to be hungover, Yuugi realized dismally, opening his tired, violet eyes and immediately slamming them shut as the world spun around him. The light hurt. Wretched light - and god what was that noise? His chest still throbbed as a terrible reminder from yesterday's drowning adventure, reminding him that he hadn't escaped that misery yet either. Today was going to be absolutely marvelous, he could just tell.

I don't even remember getting home last night, he realized with a groan, covering his closed eyes with his palms. Man, I don't remember much of anything after that Truth or Dare game got started.

He rolled out of bed after several minutes of working himself up to it, reminding himself that he would have to face the day at some point. Irritated as the room spun around him, he braced himself on the edge of his bed until he felt slightly less sick, and then stretched his arms above his head. With a hiss at the sudden pain in his chest that accompanied the motion, he gradually forced himself up and padded towards his adjoined bathroom, gazing lazily at his reflection in the floor length mirror.

Suddenly, a dark spot above his left hip caught his attention.

Oh. Fuck.

"I got a tattoo?" he shrieked, running up to the mirror and twisting his body to get a better look at the offending design. Sure enough, there it was, made of fine, black lines, curving into a what looked like an Egyptian Eye of Horus, though it didn't look quite right. "Oh god," he exhaled, running his hand over the marking in horror, "how did I get a tattoo without even remembering it? What am I gonna tell Grandpa?"

He flung himself back across his room and onto his bed, scooping up his cellphone frantically. Dialing as fast as humanly possible, he waited with abated breath for an answer.

"You better have a bloody good excuse for calling me this early on a Saturday," a British accent hissed grumpily on the other end.

"Ryou!" Yuugi replied frantically, causing his friend to jump in real concern. "Ryou, I got a tattoo last night!"

"Congratulations?" Ryou's voice replied quizzically, "though I'm rather surprised. I wasn't aware that tattoos were your thing."

"They aren't," Yuugi whined, "I don't even remember getting one."

"Good lord, I knew you were drunk last night, but I didn't know that it was quite that bad," Ryou commented airily.

"Well thanks for the sympathy," Yuugi grumbled, lying down on his comforter. He glared across the room as he heard Ryou start to laugh.

"If you had wanted sympathy, you would have called Tea," Ryou replied cheerfully. That was true, Yuugi agreed mentally, he wanted to talk to Ryou to logic this down, not to bitch it out. That would come later, once Ryou helped him figure this whole mess out.

"I just want to figure out when I got it and how!" Yuugi murmured, waiting for Ryou, as always, to have all of the answers. Unfortunately, the white haired boy came up with nothing. "It wasn't one of Joey's dares, right?" he asked worriedly, to which Ryou replied with a quick 'no'. Yuugi hadn't expected it to be either - Tea or Ryou would have certainly stopped him. It was foolish to have even asked.

"It is quite strange," Ryou mused thoughtfully, after Yuugi explained the location and nature of the design to his best friend. "You aren't even of age. No reputable place would have taken you, especially given your state of intoxication."

"Well great, does that mean I went to a not reputable place?" Yuugi asked fearfully, instantly thinking of unsanitized needles and communicable diseases.

"I doubt it," Ryou replied surely, "even at your worst, you are abnormally responsible for someone our age, Yuugi. Even Joey Wheeler couldn't pressure you into his final dare."

"Um, final dare?" Yuugi questioned in embarrassment, to which Ryou scoffed in obvious disapproval. "What final dare?"

"You can't have forgotten?" Ryou stated incredulously, waiting for Yuugi to laugh and say that he was joking. "Oh surely not? Yuugi! Well then forget about what I said about being responsible..."

"Oh just tell me already Ryou," Yuugi snapped, his head and chest pulsing in an uncomfortable unison of pain. Oh and there comes the nausea, he thought miserably, as his insides began to bubble painfully. Just great. His body was determined to get even with him after last night's adventure.

"Joey dared you to strip down and run to the Quik-Mart and back," Ryou deadpanned, causing Yuugi to shriek. That, of course, was a big mistake, as his own ears instantly began to ring painfully, and if Ryou's colourful curses were any indication, he was in a similar state.

"Bloody hell," Ryou breathed angrily, "must you? Anyways, as I said earlier, you refused. And thank God for that Yuugi, as I would've been quite cross if I had to bail you out of jail this morning. Though now that you mention it, the perfect Yuugi Motou booked for streaking and underage drinking would have been quite a story to tell..."

"Oh zip it," Yuugi snapped without any real malice. Instead, he was nearly giggling alongside his friend. "But Ryou, my memory of last night is pretty foggy... did I do anything... else?"

"Oh you did plenty of things," Ryou chortled teasingly, causing Yuugi to tense on the other end of the line.

"Oh crap, like what?" he said, panicking.

"Relax, relax," Ryou soothed, "I'm merely teasing. In all fairness, the Truth or Dare game lasted most of the evening, and was generally quite tame... well until near the end..."

"God," Yuugi groaned miserably. "Just get tell me and get it over with."

"You kissed Serenity," Ryou obliged candidly, "at Joey's request, rather his dare, of all things. And Tea. And Yuri Mako. And myself."

"I kissed you?" Yuugi shrieked, shooting up into a seated position on his bed, his back stiff as a board. Anxiously, he ran a hand through the spiky streaks of his hair.

"Why darling," Ryou replied acidly, "I'm heartbroken that you don't remember. I thought that we had a connection, didn't you?"

"Cute," Yuugi grumbled. "Really?" he asked after a moment. "W-we kissed?"

"Yes," Ryou replied loftily. "It was your dare. I just went along for the ride."

Silence rang for several moments.

"Was I any good?" Yuugi joked quietly, causing Ryou to chortle on the other end.

"I was, unfortunately, the last in your line of victims," Ryou said dramatically, "and really, you were quite knackered by then. Though truthfully, you weren't that bad, just a tad sloppy."

"Whew," Yuugi said, in mock relief. He let his body fold back down onto his bed, his back impacting his mattress heavily. One question still weighed heavily on his mind. "Did... Serenity say anything about me, after I kissed her?" he added nonchalantly.

"She seemed pleased enough. Though Tristan Taylor looked quite murderous," Ryou cackled merrily. Yuugi shrugged casually, forgetting that Ryou couldn't see him.

"He's probably just being protective of his best friend's sister," he decided calmly, until he heard Ryou's doubtful snicker.

"I'm quite sure that Tristan has a far more vested interest in Miss Serenity than that," Ryou said surely, "after all, you would generally make the perfect boyfriend for a young girl like that. If he was merely being protective, I say that it was completely misplaced."

"Perfect boyfriend?" Yuugi asked curiously.

"Yes," Ryou replied impatiently. "Considerate, caring, kind. You wouldn't pressure her, you're intelligent, pleasant to look at. You have a lot to offer, my friend. Even when you aren't wearing your leather."

"Har har," Yuugi said, pleased that Ryou couldn't see him blushing in pleasure. Though he had come a long way from his low days, Yuugi could still be quite shy and self-conscious sometimes... and it made him lousy at accepting compliments from others. Even from his best friends.

"A-anyways," Ryou continued, the word punctuated with an obvious yawn. "I for one need to sleep last night's adventure off. I'll research tattoo care when I wake - between the three of us, I'm sure we'll be able to prevent it from getting infected. In the meantime, you ought to rest as well. Last night, coupled with the trying events of yesterday, have surely tired you out."

"Y-yeah," Yuugi said, yawning himself. "I guess you're all caught up on Friday's field-trip, huh? I don't remember talking about it last night, but I'm sure Tea's told you everything. She was frantic about calling you while the paramedics were checking me out."

"Yuugi darling," Ryou drawled, "I know everything that goes on at this school, and that includes knowing when my best friend is on death's door. I assure you, however, that if I come up with any additional questions, I will let you know. Now enjoy your rest."

"I know," Yuugi said sleepily. "Good night Ryou!"

"Yuugi, it's morning."

"G-good morning Ryou," Yuugi said with a squeaky yawn, before clicking the 'End Call' button on his cell. He then rolled over and curled his body up into his baby blue comforter, falling asleep within seconds.