A/N: I am so so so so so so sorry this has taken so bloody long and I am soooo sorry that this chapter is so short but the last week or so has just been bleh. For one I haven't been home in 4 days, I've suddenly gotten a shit ton of hours at work and uni has just started up again. Somebody shoot me. Terribly sorry, but I hope this suffices, and thank you all for being so patient! :) Enjoy!


The next morning, Atem was walking through the mansion searching for his father. He was hoping that it wouldn't be too hard to convince his parents to let Yugi be the new stable boy, but he really wasn't sure. He also wasn't quite sure how to explain the way in which he knew of Yugi, because he certainly couldn't tell them that the boy had snuck into their party the other night. He sighed and scratched the back of his head as he walked through the mansion, going through what he might say in his head as he walked. He didn't know why he suddenly felt so nervous about asking, though it made sense. Up until then, there hadn't been anybody who mattered to him like Yugi did, and now he wanted to do all he could to help the boy, and he would feel pretty terrible if he ruined this chance for Yugi by saying the wrong thing. He was still deep in thought when he turned the corner and almost ran into a large man, and he let out a noise of surprise and stumbled back.

"Father," he said, still startled from the man's sudden appearance. He quickly collected himself as he stood up straight once more, nervously tugging on the hem of his shirt.

The man gave Atem an amused laugh, "Why so surprised to see me? I do live here you know," he chuckled and Atem silently wished he had been given more time before he found his father, but he couldn't back out now.

"Y-yes," he coughed to cover up the stutter, before clearing his throat and trying to sound confident once more," Actually, I wanted to ask you something," he began. He was frustrated that he still hadn't decided on how to approach the subject, before deciding that he was over thinking the whole thing way too much, and just let the words come to him. "Are we still in need of a stable boy...?"

...

Yugi was off in his own little world as he moved about the small wooden stable, with Blaze moving impatiently around the confined area, neighing softly every minute or so. Yugi lifted one of the stacks of hay over to the horse, as his mind ran wild with thoughts. He didn't think he could conjure up a word to describe the previous afternoon, the whole thing had just seemed unreal-much like the night he spent with Atem in the storeroom. He was ecstatic that he could potentially be working for Atem's family, able to see the man almost whenever he wanted and for it to not be suspicious at all. He had a content smile on his face as he cleaned up the stable, shoveling away the piles of horse manure and moving bundles of hay around. His other horse, a grey mare named Stella, was always very quiet, and she didn't seem too bothered by Yugi's presence as he moved about the stables, his mind not quite connected to his body.

"It's such a beautiful summer," Atem commented as he casually floated through the clear water, "Don't you think?"

Yugi had been admiring the lilies sticking up out of the water, and he looked up as the man swam past him on his back, staring up at the sky. He nodded, "It is, I'm really glad you found this place. It's been way too hot the past few days."

Atem let his feet hit the bottom of the lake once more and moved over to Yugi, a gentle smile on his face. "We can come here and swim whenever we want," he said, taking the boy's hands. "Escape the heat, the people, the separation between classes..."

Yugi smiled up at the man, squeezing his hands comfortingly, "It feels like we're outside of everything here..." he murmured. He then sighed, "though not time, we should probably go back soon." Atem's features softened ever so slightly with disappointment, but he knew Yugi was right, they couldn't escape to this little field forever. He smiled and nodded, giving Yugi's hands a squeeze, before turning and making his way out of the lake, shaking the water from his hair as he went.

Yugi almost had to pinch himself to make sure this wasn't all just one long dream, or even a few dreams strung together. Every time he was with Atem he felt like nothing mattered, not their gender, or the separation between classes or what anyone would think of them. Then of course, reality would hit him and he would be reminded that not every story had a perfect happy ending. If anybody found out about his and Atem's relationship it would be the end of them, Atem especially. His family would probably disown him and he would be shamed in front of the whole town. He had so much more to lose than Yugi did, and it made the boy's chest tighten at the thought that he could be the cause of so much pain should he screw up.

Yugi shook his head as he shoveled the last pile of manure into a wheelbarrow, deciding to go back to reminiscing about their afternoon together. Just the thought of Atem's soft crimson eyes were enough to put Yugi at peace, and as he picked up the wheelbarrow and pushed it out of the stables, he almost ran over the toes of his best friend who had suddenly arrived.

"Whoa!" Joey jumped back from the object as his starry-eyed friend snapped out of his thoughts and offered an apologetic smile. "I'd prefer if you didn't run me over," the blond laughed.

Yugi dropped the wheelbarrow, "Sorry Joey, just lost in thought is all," he said, trying to avoid letting his cheeks turn red.

"Right," Joey chuckled, "Just try not to run over any innocent animals while you're at it." Yugi sent his friend a playful glare, before picking up the wheelbarrow once again and wheeling it over to the thin line of trees beside the stables. The horse manure was known to be a good fertiliser for plants, though there weren't many decent ones in this area. All the beautiful foliage was grown up in the wealthy estate, within the gardens of the richer families. Still, Yugi saw no harm in dumping the contents of his wheelbarrow in the small garden they had, as Joey stayed at his heel. "So where were you yesterday afternoon anyway?" The blond asked just as Yugi pulled up the now empty wheelbarrow. The boy smiled, turning and wheeling it back to the stables as Joey followed.

"I went to see Atem," Yugi said, happiness radiating from his vibrant smile.

Joey grinned at his best friend, slinging an arm over the boy's shoulder, "Ah, I see," he said, raising his eyebrows suggestively. Yugi huffed and pushed his friend off of him, not in favor of Joey's accusation. The blond just laughed, before his smile suddenly dropped in confusion. "Wait, how did you see him?" he suddenly asked, scratching his head. "It's not like you can just waltz into the grounds of his mansion or anything."

Yugi shook his head, "No, we met in the trees on the edge of town," he nodded his head over in the direction of the foliage. "Atem has a secret hiding place there, that nobody knows about," he added. After seeing the look on Joey's face, he continued, "And no, I'm not telling you where it is," he said, lifting his nose in the air as he crossed his arms.

"Aw, man," Joey complained, crossing his own arms with slumped shoulders. "Well did you have a good afternoon?" he asked.

Yugi suddenly smiled again, "It was a great afternoon," he beamed from ear to ear, and Joey chuckled.

"Aw, my little Yug is growin' up!" he joked, pulling the boy into a headlock. Yugi complained against the man as he tried to pull himself free, and Joey just laughed.

Once Yugi was able to pull himself out of Joey's grasp, he smirked as a thought came to him. "What about your love life?" he teased, poking his side, "Scared Mai away yet?"

Joey was caught off guard by Yugi's sudden question, and was unable to stop his face from heating up at the girl's name. "As a matter of fact, I haven't," he said confidently. "But, uh..." he reached up to rub at his neck as he looked to the side, "That was kind of the reason I came here..."

Yugi's smirk slipped and he turned his head to the side, "What's the problem?" he asked. Joey sighed and sat down on a bundle of hay sitting just outside the stables, and Yugi soon joined him on the adjacent bundle.

Joey looked over at the ground a few meters away from where they were sitting, and he laughed, shaking his head. "I never thought I'd be the one asking for dating advice from you of all people," he joked. Yugi laughed, but sat there intently, waiting for Joey to continue. The blond sighed, "See, I'm trying to find out if Mai likes me or not, but either way I don't want to make a fool out of myself," he explained. "How did you manage to get Atem so easily?"

Yugi chuckled nervously, "Well, Atem and I just kind of...happened." Yugi couldn't think of any other way to put it. "It was a rare occurrence if anything."

Joey nodded, staring at the ground. "A series of unlikely events that brought you two together..." He laughed to himself, before looking back at his friend. "Well, rare occurrence or not, you still managed to get game before me. Any advice?" he gave the boy his signature cheesy grin, and Yugi just laughed.

"I don't know..." The boy said once he had calmed down, "She seems interested in you at the least," Yugi shrugged. "Do you have the balls to just dive in and see what happens?"

Joey bit his lip and instantly shook his head. "I'm not gonna make a bold move unless she feels the same way, I don't want to ruin our friendship," he explained.

Yugi laughed lightly, "Well then just be confident and, I don't know, drop her hints. Maybe she'll pick up on it and respond."

Joey lifted a hand to his chin as if processing Yugi's words manually. After a moment, he seemed pleased with the boy's answer and turned back to his friend. "I guess I could try that. I mean, if she only thinks I'm a friend then I can back off and pretend it was nothing. Yeah." Nodding to himself with satisfaction, Joey smiled at his friend. "Thanks, Yug."

The boy chuckled, "No worries, Joey."


Yeah, uh, as I said before, sorry for the late update and reaaally short chapter, BUT this story is just about to get exciting! :D So hopefully it won't take too long for me to update all my other stories then get back to this one, but we'll see. Hope you liked the chapter! :)

PharaohsThrone :)