A/N: Surprise! I updated early! I hope you all had a very merry Christmas or a great holiday if you don't celebrate Christmas! I know I had one. I got a duel disk!

Anyways, here's the next chapter! I hope it's not going too slow for ya! I didn't have nearly as many reviews last chapter so I hope I still have your attention.

Thank you everyone who did review though! I tried to reply back to everyone individually, who allow PMs. : ) I really appreciate them!

Answer to anonymous reviewer: I have created a really weird world. : ) Just hang in there.

On with the story!

Chapter 4: I Don't Want to Like it

Upon waking up the next morning after a fitful night's sleep, Joey decided he needed to take his mind off what was to come later that evening. He hadn't officially wondered the palace on his own and it seemed like a good enough idea.

The palace was huge, so surely there were secrets in it that Seto didn't want him to find.

After eating a copious amount of breakfast because he was literally starving, he walked the long hallways. He ran his hand along the marble walls, probably leaving a finger smudged line.

Try as he might, the fact that he'd have to be seen in public with his sworn enemy as his fiancé was prickling at his mind. Seto would probably expect them to act in a certain way around everyone and it made him sick to his stomach.

Joey's idle thoughts had him distracted enough to not realize he'd reached the end of a hallway until he came to a stop in front of a ginormous door. Looking up at it, he realized it looked almost exactly like the front door down the stairs. Strange, he thought. Why was a huge marble door doing on the third floor?

Too curious for his own good, the blond stepped up to it and grabbed the handle. But it wouldn't budge.

"Wha-" he began to question before beating on the door to figure out it ways, even though it most likely wouldn't help him anyways.

"What are you doing?"

Joey jumped at the voice and he spun around to see Mokuba watching the boy curiously. A blush rose on Joey's cheeks at being caught and he moved away from the door in lightning speed.

"Uh, nothin'! Just wondering around the palace."

Mokuba looked from Joey to the door before settling his stormy grey eyes back on the blonde.

"Were you trying to go in there?" he questioned. "Cause I don't think banging on it is the way to do it."

Joey grew flustered, not knowing what to say to defend himself before admitting defeat with a sigh. "Yes…. Where does it lead to?"

Mokuba's lips curved upwards as he moved past Joey to approach the door. Joey followed interestedly.

The boy grabbed a chain from under his coat and pulled out what revealed to be a duel monsters card. "It's one of the most treasured parts of the castle. You'd need this to get in."

Joey gave it an odd look, not understanding. Mokuba slid the card in-between the cracks of the closed doors. A technological sound came from within and Joey rolled his eyes. Of course it worked that way.

The doors slid open and a bright light hit Joey's eyes, disabling him from being able to see what was hidden inside.

Squinting, he threw his arm up as a shield and saw Mokuba enter the room. When he was finally able to see, his eyes widened two sizes.

Hesitantly, he entered the room. It was a wide green house that held so many different plants and flowers. It was almost like a park.

"Wow."

Mokuba chuckled at Joey's reaction then petted a leaf next to him fondly. "It's our secret garden. No has ever been in here except for me and Seto."

Joey frowned in confusion. "What about your father?"

"No, he didn't like this place. His father created it and I think he had some sort of bad memories about it. When Seto and I came around, we could go in if we wanted. So, Seto made sure that it was a place for just us. If were in a bad mood or something, we could always come in here away from everyone and feel better. I love it."

Joey nodded thoughtfully and he walked through the vast room to see all the different flowers. It was strange. Seto Kaiba seemed to be a cold-blooded dick to everyone except for Mokuba.

"Your brother probably doesn't want me in here," Joey said as Mokuba came to his side.

Mokuba gave him a lopsided grin. "Probably not, but what he doesn't know won't kill him. Plus, you're family now."

Joey chewed at the inside of his cheek at the word, 'Family'. Mokuba was a sweet kid and he enjoyed the boy's company. It was unfortunate that his older brother was an asshole and that he'd have to leave Mokuba on such bad terms.

"Hey, wanna go play some more games?" Joey asked him, changing the subject.

Mokuba's eyes lit up. The boy was obsessed with games and Joey chuckled at his enthusiasm.

"Yes! Come on! Let's go!" Mokuba grabbed Joey's hand and pulled him down to the game room.

oO0Oo

Seto unbuttoned the cuffs to his coat as he walked down the hallway. He fully intended to strip down and get into his large porcelain bathtub to work out the tension in his muscles. Ever since Joey had arrived, it seemed like his life had gotten that much more stressful. He was either dealing with his company, his kingdom, or his unruly fiancé.

Hopefully, once the shock of it all settled down, it'd be a bit easier.

Sighing, Seto ran a hand through his hair. Joey was aggravating.

Walking past the game room, he paused at the sound of smashing buttons. He peered into the room to see his brother and Joey staring intently at the wall sized television in front of them. Both had headsets on and were unaware of his presence. Taking advantage of that fact, he took in the scene.

Mokuba was clenching and unclenching his teeth, his eyes squinting in concentration. His hair was tousled around his still quite round face, as the headset had been placed on clumsily. He must had been excited to play with Joey.

Seto mused with a smile. He hadn't seen his brother this carefree and happy in a very long time. He could overlook Joey's moronic behavior in favor of the fact that his brother had something to hang out with. Since Seto had become King, it was hard to find time to do anything fun with the boy.

Seto's eyes strayed over to Joey and he held back a snicker. The blonde's hair was equally as messy as Mokuba's and his eyes were narrowed, while his thumbs repeatedly hit the buttons of his controller. A little too hard. He must be really absorbed in the game. Seto could even see a tiny hint of his pink tongue between his lips.

Feeling a strange tingle in the pit of his stomach, Seto frowned to himself and left the room.

Not taking his time in the slightest, he locked himself in his bedroom and tore off his clothing. After waiting for his tub to fill, he slid his long body down and felt the strain in his muscles start to relax. He lay his head back against the tub, staring up at his white ceiling.

He wasn't sure what to make of his fiancé. They constantly fought, got on each other's nerves (on purpose, half the time), insulted each other, and had even been in physical fights at times. Still…

Seto had this weird feeling that wouldn't go away whenever he was around Joey. Or even thought about him.

It wasn't a good feeling. In fact, it had Seto wanting to find out what it was and squash it so it'd go away. He hated feeling in the dark about something. Especially when it concerned himself.

A part of him wanted to send Joey home to make it all go away. He knew better though…. To expand his country and build his new palace, he needed Ghaffer.

So, he needed Joey.

Feeling his stress return, he straightened in his tub and snatched his bar of soap. Glaring at it, he vowed that he would not allow Joey to ruin his plans.

Even if they hurt Joey's feelings. Seto Kaiba came first.

oO0Oo

Later on that evening, Seto stood in his foyer and looked over at the clock on his wall. He was growing impatient. He had sent Rolland up to retrieve Joey thirteen minutes ago. What the hell was taking so long?

He crossed his arms over his chest grumpily, his eyes focused on the clock.

Finally, after five more minutes of inwardly cursing his infuriating fiancé, Joey and Rolland came down the stairwell.

Seto looked upwards and the insult that had been on his tongue quickly disappeared from the appearance of Joey. The blond was wearing a flatter coat that could only belong to a prince. It was white and red, tailored just for his body, with black pants. His hair was combed enough to show that he had attempted to try. Seto was surprised. He'd never seen Joey look better.

Realizing what he had just thought, his sour mood returned.

"Well, what took you so long?" Seto asked him through narrowed eyes. "Not trying to dress up for me, are you?"

Joey glowered at him in return and crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly. "Don't be so full of yourself, ya jerk! I just didn't want to go and Rolland forced me."

Seto rolled his eyes and turned for the door. "Whatever, let's just get this stupid date over with."

"What a wonderful way to sweep me off my feet," Joey commented sarcastically as he followed him out of the door.

The car ride into town was silent and Seto couldn't help but glance in Joey's direction. He did look good. He didn't want to admit it, but it was true. The red accents to his coat was pleasing with his tanned complexion, setting off the sun kissed glow that he had. His blond hair was beginning to fluff back out, but Seto didn't mind. He couldn't say that seeing Joey with neat hair was ever something he'd want to witness. It would be too odd.

Rolland stopped the car in front of one of Seto's many hotels. It was one of the taller skyscrapers in Pious and one of his least favorite places to go. Despite having a lot of money, Seto preferred quieter restaurants to eat at. The one in this hotel seemed to always be busy with rich, snobby millionaires.

Movement to his side had him looking at the boy beside him. Joey had his face pressed up against the window, apparently surprised at how tall the building was. Seto highly doubted his fiancé had ever seen such a skyscraper. Ghaffer was a lower country with more medieval towns and buildings. That would change once Seto had control of it.

Seto snorted and Joey turned to give him a dirty look.

"We're here your majesty, your highness," Rolland told them formally from the front seat.

Joey was quick to grab the door handle, intending on jumping out of the car as quick as possible but Seto's hand shot out to stop him.

Joey jumped and swung his head around to look at him. "What are you doing?"

Seto just gave him a blank look, ignoring the small tingle on his fingers where he was touching Joey's warm hand. "The press is all around us, we have to behave like an engaged couple. That means, I have to be a gentleman."

Seto released Joey's hand, deciding that it was safe to do so. Joey snorted at him and crossed his arms over his chest with a scowl.

"You? A gentleman? Please."

Seto ignored the jab and exited the car when one of his guards opened the door for him. Immediately, flashes from cameras and a million and one voices began speaking all at once. Avoiding eye contact, he walked around the car to Joey's door.

oO0Oo

Joey huffed when he was alone in the car. This whole situation was ridiculous. Why was the press so important? It was bad enough that he had to deal with it behind closed doors, but in front of the whole world? He felt like he wanted to be sick.

His door rapidly opened and he knew that his privacy was now at an end. Joey looked up through grumpy eyes to see Seto's hand offered out to him. Sighing in defeat, he uncrossed his arms and took Seto's hand to exit the car.

Suddenly, Joey went blind as a camera flashes disabled him. Voices were trying to get his attention and he quickly became overwhelmed. He was thankful that Seto was leading them through the crowd, as he was trying to hide his eyes from the white lights. His hand absently tightened around Seto's and they were quickly escorted by Seto's guards into the building.

Once inside, Joey lifted his head and he saw many workers of the hotel standing in a line. They were all watching them with stupid grins on their faces. Joey felt extremely uncomfortable in front of everyone.

Seto suddenly took Joey's hand, moving it to his bicep respectively. Joey felt a blush creep up his neck.

"Don't worry, we have a semi-private table. I made sure it was in the corner. However, the window we will be sitting next to will be a mirror to us, but everyone outside will be able to see everything that we do."

They were led by a host into a large dining room. There was an enormous fountain that held a statue of Seto's father in the middle of the room. Joey had barely made out the man's features before they were whisked away to their table.

Seto pulled Joey's chair out for him, keeping a passive expression on his face. Although Joey felt the need to blush at the gesture, he reminded himself that this was all an act. Seto was most likely hating it as much as he was. Trying not to think about the fact that there were probably hundreds of people pressing their faces to the window right now, he trained his face carefully as he sat down.

Joey waited till Seto had taken his seat before leaning forwards. "Now what?" he murmured.

Seto didn't answer him and before Joey could say anything further, their waiter arrived to take their drink order and hand over their menus.

Joey opened the large book and his eyes went wide at the size and text. How in the hell was he supposed to read all of this?

"Have a problem, Wheeler?"

Joey looked up at Seto in annoyance. "You did this on purpose, didn't you? You had to make us go to the most outrageous restaurant in your whole city just to humiliate me. You are an asshole."

Seto smirked. "I didn't do it on purpose, idiot. However, I can see it paid off anyways by the blank look in your eyes. I bet you've never ate this fancy in your whole life."

Joey couldn't help it. He kicked Seto's shin from under the table. Seto jumped at it and Joey smiled, pleased that he'd hurt him. Seto shifted in his seat and glanced towards the window in paranoia.

"Are you unable to control yourself?" he asked stiffly.

Joey threw a lopsided grin at him and shrugged. He looked back down at the menu and ignored the boy across from him. After a few minutes of deep concentration and determination to read the menu, he finally found something he could understand and sounded appealing.

Their waiter returned to their table with their drinks and took their orders. Seto rattled off some kind of meal that Joey didn't catch.

When they were left alone to wait for their food, Joey grew awkward again. He could literally feel eyes on him, burning into his face. He didn't even know his hand on the table had clenched into a fist until a warm hand took it.

Joey's eyes snapped up to Seto in surprise.

"You need to relax," Seto muttered, staring at him. Joey felt himself blush at the intensity of his look.

"I can't. Not with all of them staring at us," Joey confessed and realized that Seto still had a hold of him. His eyes fell to their touching hands. Seto's fingers were cold and they were making goosebumps rise on his arms.

"Ignore them. Pretend it's just us."

"That won't make me feel better."

Seto finally released Joey's hand and sat back in his chair. Joey breathed a sigh of relief whenever his hand was free and he quickly placed his hands in his lap to avoid Seto touching him again. It made his body react strangely.

"Why can't you just do this? It's called acting," Seto stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

Joey looked up at him in irritation. "Because it's stupid. I don't understand why the press needs to see us this way. What's it to them?"

"They need to see that we have feelings for each other."

"But we don't."

Seto eyed Joey's angered expression. "They don't know that."

"Well they should," Joey hissed, his fingernails creating half-moon shaped punctures into his palms. "How can anyone have feelings for someone who won them in a tournament? It's like I was a pig auctioned off."

Seto didn't comment and Joey looked away in irritation. Seto would never understand what he was going through. He'd had everything go his way his whole life. He'd had control over it. Whereas Joey's life had been carefully planned since the time he was born. It had been tradition for the first born to marry at the age of eighteen. Because Joey had refused to pick a partner for himself, his father had done it for him.

Yes, at least Joey didn't have to marry a woman. His father had been nice enough to take Joey's homosexuality into consideration. However, it was just something to hold over his head.

Full out glaring now, Joey chanced a glance up at the man that he had been given to like a prize. The only man that he outright hated.

"What are you staring at?" Joey questioned him, unnerved by the intense stare trained on his face.

Seto quickly looked away and muttered, "Nothing of interest, believe me."

Joey narrowed his eyes but knew that an argument wasn't going to solve anything. Sighing, he shifted in his chair.

"Mokuba showed me something today."

Seto's eyes traveled back up to Joey's face in interest. Of course, Seto was only interested in what his brother did. "And what did my little brother show you?"

Joey knew that his confession would get under Seto's skin. Perhaps if he felt like his life was being invaded, then he would reject Joey as a fiancé and send him back to his homeland.

"Your secret garden."

Seto visibly tensed at the words and stared blankly at Joey. Good, Joey thought. Get angry.

Finally, after a moment of apparently considering what he was going to say, Seto shrugged. Joey watched in surprise. "I suppose you were to be shown that sooner or later."

Joey glared at him as Seto looked away from him again, feigning interest in the table before them. He would have thought for sure that it would have worked!

When their food arrived, Joey was relieved to find his meal edible. It even smelled amazing. Joey looked over at Seto's food and frowned in confusion. How was that even a meal? It looked like three pieces of meet with sauce drizzled over the top. Where was the sides? The delicious starches?

Joey looked back down at his food and couldn't contain himself. He was so hungry. As he lifted his fork, he suddenly got an idea. He would be taking a risk, but it could pay off in the end.

As Seto delicately ate his meal with the appropriate utensils and had a napkin on his lap (Joey watched him place it there), Joey began stuffing his face like he'd never eaten before. Forking pile after pile into his mouth, he hoped that Seto would feel embarrassed by his overly excited display over his food.

Joey glanced up at the brunette and scowled. Seto wasn't even watching. He was either not paying attention or pointedly ignoring him.

Feeling vengeful, Joey smirked with another idea and filled his fork up again. This time, he leaned over the table with it and outstretched it towards Seto. Dark blue eyes looked up reluctantly at the spoon before settling on Joey.

"What are you-"

"Feeding you. Ya know, like the press wants." Joey gave him an extensive grin. He inwardly whooped for joy when Seto clenched his jaw, obviously no appreciating the mocking.

"I'm not allowing you to feed me," Seto declared quickly, before returning back to his meal.

Joey wiggled the spoon in his face, making Seto recoil from it and glare at him.

"Feed yourself, Wheeler."

"No. Come on, they'll love it. How come every time I try to cooperate, I get told no? Yet when I don't, I get yelled at," Joey asked him with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

Seto eyed him for a moment as Joey continued to wiggle the spoon of food in front of him. Joey could almost feel the defeat rolling off Seto.

Growling under his breath, Seto leaned towards the spoon and slowly opened his mouth. Joey could practically hear the swooning from outside the window. Joey's eyes darkened and he shoved the spoon in harshly, before Seto could change his mind. Seto choked with wide eyes, staring up at Joey in shock.

Joey just gave him a smug smile, enjoying this way too much. "See? Not so bad!"

Ignoring the ferocious glare that he could feel coming from his counterpart, Joey downed his drink in one gulp. He slowly felt the bubbles in his stomach raise and he knew that this would be a breaking point.

To Seto's horror, Joey let out a large belch that had practically everyone in the room looking at him in disgust.

Joey grinned toothily at them. "Oops! 'Scuse me," he said with an innocent chuckle, covering his mouth.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Seto seethed, eyes narrowed into slits.

Joey stuffed the last mouthful of his meal into his mouth and he shrugged. "It's a compliment to the chef." However, it sounded more like "ish a complimensh to da shef."

"You're behaving like a feral animal."

"Hey!" Joey protested. "That's not very nice!"

Seto's glare darkened. "Neither is this," he said through clenched teeth and stood. He grabbed Joey by the hand and forced him to his feet with vast strength. "We're leaving."

"What? Why?" Joey feigned innocence, smirking over Seto's turned shoulder as he was forcibly taken out of the restaurant with everyone's eyes on them.

"You're an idiot, that's why," Seto responded icily. "You're acting like this on purpose. You're trying to push me to my breaking point so I release you from our engagement. That's your intention, isn't it?"

Joey's eyebrows rose at Seto's acute observation. "Maybe."

Outside on the sidewalk of the hotel, Joey's vision was impaired once more by the flashes of cameras. Seto spun around, catching Joey's eyes and blocking the lights out of his sight. All he could see was steel cold blue and it unnerved him. He didn't think he'd seen Seto this furious before.

Before Joey knew it, he was pulled forwards and a warm mouth closed over his.

Gasps and cheers were drowned out as Joey's eyes flew open and Seto's drew closed.

oO0Oo

Her body shook uncontrollably as she perched on the edge of her couch, staring in horror at her elaborate television. This couldn't be happening.

Of course, she'd heard rumors all week but she had been in too much denial to take them seriously. The last time she had seen her dear Seto had been at his family's Christmas party the year before. He'd been heterosexual, showing absolutely no signs of homosexuality.

None of it made sense and she was furiously confused.

As the kiss broke between the two males, Kisara stood up abruptly and kicked over her coffee table in blind fury.

"NO! This can't be happening!" she repeated aloud.

Two of her guards ran into the room, expecting to protect the princess.

She spun around, her crystal blue eyes freezing the men in place.

"Get my car ready. We are leaving for Pious tonight."

Thank you for reading!