Once again, I'm really sorry this took so long to update. Writer's block hit me really hard multiple times with this chapter, and it pushed itself outside my usual comfort zone. If I were to rank my writing skills, I'd say it goes dialogue, narration, action, setting, and romance all the way at the bottom. So I will really appreciate the feedback on this chapter.

And despite all the struggles I had with this, I still don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! If I did, certain characters would have gotten together at the end of the series.

Chapter Four: Tea

Tea blinked against the sun streaming into the window. Yugi was still sound asleep next to her. Careful not to wake him up, she slid out of bed and walked over to the window. Because there were so many nightmares to go around, they had established a rule that any restful sleep shouldn't be disturbed unless absolutely necessary.

The sky is so clear today. Tea kept her eyes on the blue of the sky, avoiding the rundown buildings around the game shop. When was the last time she even ventured outside? When they got the materials right after it started?

She sighed and headed downstairs. Everyone would be up soon, and then Tea would have to start breakfast. She gave a silent wave to Joey watching the perimeter, the only other awake soul in the house. He didn't notice her as she passed through the living room to the main store.

Tea glanced around the area and listened for any of her housemates. Confident they weren't coming any time soon, she stretched herself out on the floor and went through a few ballet moves. There wasn't enough space for her to do a full routine, but Tea wanted to keep in shape as much as she could so it would be easier for her to catch up when she returned to New York. She had to believe this would end and she could continue pursuing her dream.

"You always look beautiful when you dance."

Tea jumped, barely keeping herself upright. "Yugi!" she glared at her boyfriend. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry," he rubbed the back of his head. "When I saw you were gone, I figured you were here."

"It's about all I can do," Tea sighed and wrapped her arms around him. He held her close, and his warmth renewed her hope that everything was going to be okay. She never wanted to take him for granted.

Domino Elementary School. Fifteen Years Ago.

Six-year-old Tea gripped the straps of her backpack as she walked toward the school. It was scary being the new girl. Everyone else already seemed to be friends. Would anyone want to talk to her?

"Look out!"

Tea squealed and jumped to the side. A second later, a pile of kids landed right where she'd been standing. "Sorry about that!" a girl with brown hair jutting passed her shoulders grinned and sat at the top of the pile. "We were playing tag."

"Mana, can you get off us?" a voice sounded from under the girl.

"Right, sorry," the brunette scrambled to get off the pile.

Tea stared in awe at the two boys that stood up. They were her height, but their hair made them slightly taller. And it was pretty—black hair streaked with magenta and blond bangs. Tea had never seen hair like that before. She looked between the identical boys."Hi," she finally squeaked. "I'm Tea."

"Hi, Tea! I'm Mana!" the girl grinned. "And these two are Atem and Yugi. Don't feel bad if you can't tell them apart right away—it's 'cause they're twins. I know the difference 'cause they squeak differently when I jump on them."

"Mana!" the twins turned red and lowered their heads. Now Tea could see a tuft of blond sticking up on the left twin that the right twin didn't have.

"Ooh, I know!" Mana suddenly exclaimed. "Now we have four people, we should play Capture the Flag!" She pulled two bandannas from her backpack—one red and one purple.

"Boys vs girls?" one of the twins suggested.

"No way!" Mana scowled. "You two always win! I get Atem!" She pulled the twin on the left to her side and grabbed the purple bandanna. "Tea, you get Yugi."

"Okay," Tea put down her backpack and looked to the twin standing next to her.

"Don't worry," the twin, Yugi, smiled "It'll be fun."

The game started, and their opponents charged forward to claim the red bandana. "No way, Atem!" Yugi cut off his brother. Atem narrowly avoided being tagged and kept running.

"Got you!" Tea managed to catch the opposing twin's shoulder just before he caught the flag.

"But you forgot me!" Mana giggled and ran off with the red bandana. Tea and Yugi chased after her but were unable to tag her before she made it to the purple bandana.

"Aw, you're fast," Tea pouted at their loss.

"That's 'cause she always runs away from her brother," Yugi said. "Mahad runs pretty fast when he's mad."

"And scary," Atem added.

Mana stuck her tongue out at the twins. "I can't help Mahad's a stinker who won't play when I ask him. Taking his books is the only way I can get him to join us."

Tea laughed at the interactions between the three. They definitely seemed fun.

Present Day

Tea stuck her head into Atem's room. The elder Muto sat on his bed, flipping through a book. Mana sketched next to him, leaning against her friend. "What's up, Tea?" she asked.

"I need a book to read," Tea answered. "I was hoping to borrow one of Atem's."

Atem raised an eyebrow at her. "Really? All mine are archaeology books. You always said they were dull."

"Yeah…" Tea ran a hand through her shoulder length hair as she remember all the times she had to get Atem and Mahad to help her with her history homework. Reading through sources was always the worst when it came to her term papers. "But I've read every other book here at least ten times each. I've hit the point I can list off all the deities and creatures in Monster World. Please let me fill my head with something other than RPG stats."

"Sure," Atem chuckled. "Pick any you'd like."

"Thanks," Tea grabbed one titled Blessings and Battles of Ancient Egypt. "I'll bring it back when I'm finished."

"No hurry," Atem looked back down at his book.

"Let us know how you like it," Mana gave her a mischievous grin before returning to her sketch.

Tea rolled her eyes at the two as she left the room. Those two deserve each other.

Domino High School. Seven Years Ago

Tea rounded the corner to find Mana, Yugi, Joey, and Tristan hunched over sheets of paper. The four of them so excited for their test results could only mean one thing. "Are you guys playing Achievement Score Bingo again?" she asked.

"Yep," Atem waved to her from the wall. "The one who gets the least has to buy the winner lunch at Burger World."

"Figures," Tea sighed and took a spot on the wall next to him. "I'm surprised you're not playing."

Atem laughed, and Tea felt her heart flutter at the sound. "Mana banned me this time," he said. "Apparently, I always win, and it's not fair for Joey and Tristan's first time."

"That sounds like Mana," Tea laughed. The girl could be too bossy for her own good at times.

"So what exactly are they doing?" a new voice joined them. The two friends turned to see a girl with long, white hair and sapphire blue eyes. She gripped her shoulder bag tightly as she observed the four. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you."

"No, it's fine," Atem said. "Basically, before today, they each filled out a bingo card. Now they compare those cards to the rankings from test day. If the number is a girl, they color it red. If it's a boy, black. Whoever gets the most lines wins.

"Wow," the girl's eyes widened. "And whose idea was it?"

"It was actually mine," Atem admitted. "We started doing it… was it fourth grade?"

"Something like that," Tea answered.

"Hey, I got three," Tristan smirked.

"Beat you," Mana pumped her fists in the air. "I got four!"

"Aw man," Joey dropped his head in defeat. "I didn't get any."

"Well I got five," Yugi grinned, his entire face lighting up. Tea smiled at his cheer. The other three participants groaned in defeat.

"Well looks like Joey is buying Yugi lunch," Atem smirked.

"And Tristan's going to give him a hard time about it," Tea laughed.

"You guys seem like you have a lot of fun," the white-haired girl chuckled. "By the way, can you help me find my homeroom? It's my first day, and I don't know where anything is."

"Yeah, sure," Tea answered. "I can show—"

"What is going on here?" the guidance counselor came storming down the hallway, his furious gaze locked on the bingo players. "Are the four of you making a game out of the rankings?

"Uh-oh," Tea and Atem said at the same time.

"I got this," the girl said and hurried over to the counselor. "Excuse me, sir," she bowed her head. "I need help finding my homeroom." She pulled a slip of paper from her bag. "I'm supposed to go here, but I'm afraid I got all turned around."

"Come with me," the counselor sighed giving one last look to the foursome who tried to look innocent. "Make sure you remember so you don't get lost again."

"Thank you, sir," she bowed again and followed him around the corner.

"Man, that was close," Joey slumped against the wall. "I thought we were busted for sure."

"Well make sure you thank the new girl," Tea smacked the blond on the back of the head. "I honestly don't know why you guys still play this. It's asking for trouble."

"Relax, Tea," Yugi gave her a smile, the one that always seem to convince her things would be okay. Yugi was so good at looking out for everyone. "We'll be more careful in the future."

"So who is the new girl?" Mana asked.

"Don't know," Tea and Atem said at the same time. Tea felt her face warm. It made her strangely giddy to be so in-sync with Atem. When was the last time they did that?

"Let's get to class," Atem led the way down the hall.

The rest of the group followed, and they sat in their usual cluster by the window. They'd started congregating there after Joey and Tristan joined the group.

"Class, there's a new student joining us today," Ms. Chono tossed a lock of red hair over her shoulder as she made the announcement. "Come in, Miss White."

The white-haired girl stepped into the classroom and gave a polite bow. "Good morning," she said. "I'm Kisara White. I'm pleased to meet you."

"There's an empty seat at the back by Mr. Kaiba," Ms. Chono pointed it out. "You may sit there."

"Yes, ma'am," Kisara nodded and took the designated seat. Tea saw Kisara glance at the brunet CEO before abruptly turning away. Do they know each other? She doesn't seem to like him. Then again, nobody got along with Kaiba.

When class ended, Mana bounded over to the new girl. "Thanks for the save earlier," she said. "My parents would have killed me if I'd gotten detention again."

"It's no problem," Kisara smiled. "I kind of have experience avoiding getting caught."

"Then you'll fit right in," Joey grinned and flicked his nose with his thumb. "I'm Joey by the way. And this is Yugi, Tristan, Mana, Tea, and Atem."

"I think I got it," Kisara glanced over each person Joey introduced. "But I might mix up Yugi and Atem later."

"Wouldn't be the first," the twins said at the same time.

"It happened all the time when we were younger," Atem chuckled.

"But not so much anymore," Yugi rolled his eyes. "Especially since Atem and everyone else is taller than me."

"Not by that much," Mana pointed out. "And I'm stuck in the middle of you two. And somehow Tea got taller than all four of us."

"Not really," Tea glanced to Atem on her left, taking in his sharp gaze and confident stance. At first glance, they were almost the same height, but that was also because of the spikes in his hair. I didn't notice it before, but he's gotten really handsome.

"Anyway, enough height comparisons," Joey interrupted. "Me and Tristan are the tallest, and it's lunch time so I want to get some grub. Let's continue this on the roof."

"So how are you liking ancient Egypt?" Yugi sat next to her on the couch.

"Well I don't feel the need to roll for bluff," Tea laughed. "I'm liking this one more than what we were required to read in school. And it's helping take my mind off everything else."

"May I see it?" he tried to get a look at the cover.

"Sure," Tea put a bookmark in and handed the book to him.

"Hey, it's by Professor Hawkins," Yugi smiled at the cover.

"Rebecca's grandfather, Professor Hawkins?"

"That's the one."

"Small world," Tea said as she thought of the older gentleman and his opinionated granddaughter. She like the professor well enough from the few times she'd met him, but Rebecca had a tendency to rub her the wrong way. But that was probably because Rebecca threw herself at Yugi every chance she got. And after Tea and Yugi's awkward transition from childhood friends to couplehood, Tea did not need a green-eyed blonde trying to take her amazing boyfriend from her.

But given the circumstances, Tea wouldn't mind seeing them, if only to know they were okay. There were a lot of people she would be ecstatic to see. Heck, she'd even be happy to see Vivian.

Yugi handed her book back and kissed her cheek. "I'm going to go grab a Monster Manual and join you."

"I'd love that," Tea winked at him and returned to her book.

Tea slid into the booth between the Muto twins. "By the way, it's about time, Mahad," Atem looked the museum assistant sitting at the end of the table.

"All of you have already said that," Mahad sighed and rubbed his forehead. "And I'm sure if Mana were here, she be saying 'I told you so' over and over."

"Too bad she and Kisara had to work tonight," Tea said. The other girls in the group had gotten after-school jobs at the local craft store—Mana so she could buy more art supplies and Kisara so she had spending money.

"Kisara's the only one not making a big deal of this," Mahad pinched the bridge of his nose.

"That's 'cause she doesn't realize how big a deal it is," Joey grinned. "Dude, you finally asked Ishizu out!We've been telling you do to that forever!"

"We've been going out for a few months now," Mahad sighed. "And last I checked, I'm not the only one who hasn't asked out the person they like." His dark blue eyes darted around the table. "And I've known Ishizu for less time than they've known their interest."

"Mahad," Atem narrowed his eyes at the museum assistant.

"Turnabout is fair play," Mahad shrugged.

Atem likes someone? Tea dared to hope. She really liked Atem. Differently from how she did growing up. He was confident, a presence that made everyone follow his lead. And handsome. Focused amethyst gaze, spikey blond bangs framing his face with magenta tips in his black hair. Tea wanted him to see her as more than a childhood friend. And if he was interested in someone… could it possibly be her?

"That's weird," Tea looked closer at the photo in the book.

"What is it?" Yugi leaned against her shoulder to see what she noticed.

"This picture," she pointed to the image of seven humans underneath a woman radiating light. She wore a golden headdress, and large, golden wings trailed behind her. Each human wielded a golden item. The caption read The goddess Horakhty blesses the pharaoh and his priests as they battle the Lord of Darkness. "Doesn't that look like Mana's pendant?" She held her finger over the human with bangles on his circular pendant.

"Maybe…" Yugi bit his lip. "Actually, this kind of reminds of one of her Egyptian paintings. Not the one with all of us. The one with the different items."

"You guys didn't find that one at the university, did you?"

"No," he shook his head. "But maybe…" Yugi went to the canvas bag in the corner and pulled out one of the canvases. "I can't really tell from the cosplay painting. We might just have to ask her. Does the book say anything them?" He put the canvas back in the bag.

"Umm…" Tea skimmed through the passage next to the picture. "Some hieroglyphs describe a war with shadows. The pharaoh appealed to the gods to save Kemet from an evil entity. Translations have called this entity the Lord of the Dead, Lord of Darkness, and other similar phrases. The records referring to this entity are vague, as if they were afraid the entity would return. The only consistent thread is that Horakhty, the Creator of Light, answered the pharaoh's prayers and blessed him and six of his followers with the power to combat the shadows. Horakhty's power granted the seven the power to call on the creatures connected to their souls… Isn't that what you can do?"

"Pretty much," Yugi rubbed the back of his head and sat next to her again. "Maybe I should ask Grandpa if he remembers this. Professor Hawkins may have shared something with him."

"I think I'd rather ask Professor Hawkins himself," Tea sighed and leaned back against the couch. "Then again, I don't see how this is going to help our current situation."

"True," Yugi grinned and leaned in close to her ear. "But I don't mind being cooped up in here with you."

"Yugi!" she elbowed him. "Then again, I'd like it too if we could have a place to ourselves someday."

"We'll make it happen," he promised.

Tea hurried through the halls to meet up with Atem. Mana and Kisara had to head straight to work, Joey and Tristan had to stay behind to clean the classroom, and she hoped Yugi would help them so she could tell Atem how she felt. Part of her felt guilty. Yugi was her best friend; there had been no secrets between them since they met. Good or bad, he was always the first person she shared anything with. But Tea couldn't bring herself to tell him her crush on his brother. I'll deal with one Muto at a time. It'll be easier once I tell Atem.

She froze when she spotted the twins at their lockers. Without thinking, Tea darted behind the corner at the edge of the lockers. Yugi being there would make confessing her feelings so much harder. Tea tried to think of a new plan when she heard the twins' voices.

"When are you going to ask Tea out?" Yugi asked.

"Why do you ask that?" Atem sighed.

"Because I've seen how she looks at you," Yugi answered. "It's plain as day she wants to be with you. And I know you've noticed it too. So go for it, Atem."

Tea felt her face heat up as she continued to eavesdrop. They knew. Both twins knew she liked him, and she thought she'd hidden it from them. Was she really that easy to read?

"I can't do that, Yugi," Atem closed his locker. The sound echoed through the hallway.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't feel the same way."

Tea's heart shattered. Why? Why doesn't he like me? She stayed glued to her spot, unable to leave the conversation she wasn't meant to hear. Tea blinked away tears.

"You could give her a chance," Yugi suggested. "She really likes you. Who's to say you wouldn't fall for her too?"

"No," Atem sighed. "Tea's been our friend since we were six. And that friendship is too important to throw away on a relationship that will just make us miserable. It will hurt her more if I go out with her when I'm not interested. That's not fair to her or you."

"Me?" There was a bang against a locker. "Oww…" Yugi moaned.

"I keep telling you to be more careful," Atem said. "And I've seen how you look at her. I think everyone but Tea has noticed."

Yugi likes me? Tea bit her lip as she tried to process what she was hearing. He acted a little odd at times, but she always attributed that as part of his natural quirks. Was I…? She should just leave, but at this point, the twins would likely notice her. It was too much to deal with at once.

"Hey, Tea!"

Joey and Tristan waved at her, their cleaning supplies propped on their shoulders as they came down the hallway. Tea heard Yugi's locker close, and footsteps came closer. No! Now the twins knew she was listening. How could she face them?

She couldn't.

Tea turned and ran the opposite way of her friends, out the first door she came across, and kept going. She didn't stop until she reached the park and crumbled against the base of a tree.

Tears burst forth, and she pulled her knees to her chest as she cried. Cried as it sank in her crush didn't like her in that way. Cried as she realized she'd been ignoring her best friend's feelings right in front of her. How terrible of a friend was she?

"There you are."

Tea looked up to the straight brown hair and dark blue eyes of Mahad. He must have just finished work since he was wearing the khakis and nice shirt he normally wore to the museum. His jacket was draped over his arm as if he hadn't taken the time to put it on."What do you want, Mahad?" Tea buried her face back into her knees.

"The twins called me," he answered. "They were worried about you, but they didn't think you wanted to talk to them. And despite all the flak they give me about a social life, I do understand what you're feeling."

"Yeah, right," Tea scowled, not meeting his eyes.

"You're heartbroken because your first crush didn't work out, and it feels like the world's going to end," Mahad stated. "I know this because I've been there. Believe it or not, Ishizu is not the first girl I've liked."

"Really?" Tea finally looked up at the friend who was practically everyone's older brother.

"Really," Mahad sat down next to her. "The first was a girl who transferred to our class second semester of eleventh grade. Blonde hair, green eyes, Hello Kitty backpack. Her name was Rachel. I usually ended up helping her with her history homework. And it was two weeks before I was head over heels for her. I decided to ask her to prom, and to my delight, she said yes."

"How is this the first I'm hearing of this?" Tea raised an eyebrow at him.

"Because you guys were fifth graders at the time and were more interested in Duel Monster cards," he answered. "And that was as far as it went. Turned out, she was keeping in touch with one of her old classmates, and the only thing keeping them from getting together was the distance between schools. Rachel told me when I asked her to prom exactly that. She saw me as a great friend, and neither one of us wanted to go alone. So we went as friends, and did the same thing the next year. I still somewhat keep in touch with her. Last I heard, she and her boyfriend were going to college in Denver."

"And you were just okay with it?" she turned her gaze back to her knees.

"Not at first," Mahad admitted. "I was crushed. I honestly don't remember how I kept my cool when she said she wasn't interested in me."

"At least you did," Tea spat. She could only imagine the looks on Atem's and Yugi's faces when they realized she was there. And she just bolted. How could she face them? She buried her face into her knees again."And you have Ishizu now. So second time worked out."

"Third," Mahad corrected her. "Second official girlfriend."

Tea looked up at the museum assistant again. How did Mana's socially awkward older brother, who they almost never saw with anyone outside of work—and even then it was rare—have a girlfriend without any of them knowing? "Why didn't we ever meet her?"

"Because it only lasted a couple of months," Mahad answered. "I met Lily in my biology gen ed class freshman year. Neither of us were particularly interested in it, and we were paired up for lab experiments. She made fun of those who were grossed out by the insects, and class was actually fun. We clicked enough, and we started going out.

"So why'd you break up?" Tea asked.

"Lily came out," he said and leaned against the tree. "I was the first person she told. I think I was someone that she was comfortable with to open up about herself, and I suspect she asked me out because of that. But it still hurt when we broke up. I really liked her, but she said denying that part of her wasn't something she should do and that the longer we stayed together, the more it would hurt us in the end. And she was right. As much as I wanted us to work out, it wasn't going to happen. We'd just have started hating each other."

"So she ended it to preserve your friendship?"

"That, and Lily wanted to ask out this really pretty redhead in her programming class," Mahad smiled. He put his arm around her shoulder, letting her lean against him.

"I guess that would do it," Tea laughed and wiped her eyes. "So with Ishizu…?"

"I love her," he said without a moment of hesitation.

"What makes you so sure?" Tea looked up at him, needing an answer.

"Because I don't just want to kiss her," Mahad explained. "I mean, I want to do that too, but I love the focused expression she gets when translating tablets. I love how she hides a laugh behind her hand when she's trying to be proper. I enjoy spending time with her, talking about anything and everything. And…" He shifted awkwardly as his face turned slightly red. "I feel like I've known her for years. Something just tells me she's the one."

"That's wonderful," Tea smiled at him.

"It is," he said. "But we have to get through the meet-the-family phases first. I mean, my parents love her, but I haven't met her brothers yet. Ishizu mentioned her family is complicated, and her brother Odion is very protective of her and their little brother, Marik. That makes me nervous. But it won't change how I feel."

"You're so lucky," Tea let her gaze fall to the ground. "When does it stop hurting?"

"There's no real answer to that," Mahad told her. "But I'll ask you this. Whom do you always enjoy spending time with? Whom is the first person you want to share good news with? Whom do you always want to see happy?"

Yugi. Tea loved all of her friends, but Yugi was the first person she thought of with each of Mahad's questions. She looked up at him. "You knew the answer I'd come to, didn't you?"

"I had a guess," he said. "But don't jump into anything right away. Let this heartbreak fade before trying something. And make sure you clear the air with the twins. I don't want to hear Mana complaining that three of her closest friends are being awkward with each other."

"All right," Tea promised. "Tomorrow I'll talk to Yugi and Atem."

"Good," Mahad stood up and stretched. "Now how about I take you home?"

"Guys, quit it! You'll wake her up!" someone hissed.

"Only if you don't shut up," another person snickered.

"Yeah, lighten up, Yugi," another giggled.

Tea ignored the voices; she was too warm and comfortable. Then something soft slammed into her face. She opened her eyes to a field of white. "Guys, we have one rule," Tea pulled the pillow off her face and glared at the culprits: Yugi, Atem, and Mana.

"He did it!" Yugi and Mana pointed at Atem while Atem pointed at his brother. Mana tried to hide a pillow behind her back.

Tea narrowed her eyes and chucked the pillow at Atem. Yugi and Mana laughed as it hit the elder Muto square in the face. "That's for breaking our rule," she crossed her arms and sat up.

"Yeah, Atem, one rule," Mana grinned and smacked him with her pillow.

"You started it," Atem used the pillow Tea threw to hit back.

"Guys," Yugi rolled his eyes and came over to Tea. "Sorry for waking you up."

"It's okay," Tea kissed him on the cheek. "How about we get them?" She picked up a pillow from the couch and threw it at the other two.

"Now it's on!" Mana charged at the pair on the couch and swatted both of them with her pillow. Tea grabbed another and fought back, forcing her friend to retreat.

"Don't forget us!" Two ripe-smelling pillows worked their way into the fray, courtesy of Joey and Tristan.

"Ew, when was the last time you guys washed these?" Tea gagged at the smell of the cloth that hit her.

"Who knows?" Joey shrugged and threw it at Yugi.

Soon the fight overtook the entire living room as the six threw whatever pillows were within reach and swatted with others.

"Ah, to be young again," Grandpa Muto said from the doorway.

"Who are you going to talk to first?" Kisara asked her as they spotted the twins by their lockers. "I can distract the other for you."

"How?" Tea looked at her white-haired friend.

"Easy," Kisara adjusted her bag on her shoulder. "I need primary sources for my history papers, and I'm struggling with my computer project. Which one I work on right now will depend on which Muto you want to see."

"Sometimes it's scary how good you are at deflecting attention," Tea sighed. "How did you get so good at this?"

Kisara's bangs fell over her sapphire eyes. "It's complicated," she answered. "The short version is that things went better if I didn't screw up. Or if I did, no one could know."

"I'm sorry," Tea apologized, realizing she touched a sensitive subject for her friend. "I didn't mean to… "

"It's okay," Kisara brushed her bangs back. "I'm not going to get mad for you stumbling into something I don't want to talk about because you didn't know. But I can't promise I won't get annoyed if you push it."

"I won't," the brunette promised. "But I hope you know you can talk to us any time."

"I know," the white-haired girl smiled. "And I will when I'm ready or can't avoid it anymore. Whichever comes first. Now I'm going to go distract Atem so you and Yugi can have your moment."

"Thanks, Kisara," Tea waved off her friend.

Kisara walked over to the twins and pulled her history book out of her bag. After a minute, Atem followed her down the hallway towards the library.

"I had a feeling Kisara was a distraction," Yugi noticed Tea coming toward him.

"It was her idea," Tea gave him a half smile. "Can we talk?"

"Yeah," Yugi closed his locker. "So you overhead our conversation yesterday?"

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but yes," Tea admitted. "I'm sorry, Yugi."

"So am I," Yugi looked down. "I know you like Atem. He's an idiot to turn you down."

"No, Yugi, I'm the idiot," Tea cut in. "I was attracted to his looks—"

"So is everyone," Yugi gave a bitter frown.

"Let me finish," Tea bit her lip. "I wasn't seeing the amazing guy next to me. The guy I can always count on, the first person I run to share anything. The guy who's helped me through my ups and downs. I think I just needed a push to realize it all."

"Are you sure?" Yugi hesitated with a smile. "Tea, I can't really say when I started loving you, and I've hoped for a long time. I do want you to be happy, but—"

Tea cut him off by pressing her lips against his. "I'm sure I want you, Yugi," she said. "I'm a little nervous because I don't want to mess up, but I want to be with you."

"We can take it slow," Yugi promised. He leaned up and kissed her this time. "I like kissing you."

"Same," Tea smiled. She entwined her fingers in his, and they walked to their classroom. "And just so you know, you have a charm all your own that Atem can't hope to compete with."

Tea lay on the floor panting with Yugi right next to her. "Well that was fun," he said.

"Yeah," Tea agreed. "But now we have to clean up."

"Atem and Mana can do that," Yugi rolled onto his side to face her. "They started it."

"I can go for that," Tea turned to face him, their noses almost touching. They wrapped their arms around each other and kissed, pressing themselves closer together.

"Get a room, you two," Mana sat up from her place next to the couch. They broke apart.

"We did," Yugi narrowed his eyes at her as he sat up. "You guys turned it into a war zone."

Mana stuck her tongue out and stood up. "Well I'm hungry. Anyone else want food?"

"You know it," Joey and Tristan jumped to their feet. The three of them headed for the pantry.

"Guys, don't forget we have to watch our supply," Atem sighed and followed them.

"Should we help him?" Yugi asked.

"Later," Tea sat up and leaned into him. "Right now, I just want to be with you."

"Same," Yugi pulled her close, and they kissed again.

Only one thought went through Tea's mind. I'm so lucky to have him.

There it is guys. This is probably the most romance I've ever put in a chapter which, as I said above, is not my specialty, so let me know what you think ('cause I won't get better if you don't tell me what doesn't work). Constructive criticism is always welcome. Hopefully I won't take forever on the next update, and I'll see you next time.