Chapter 10

"Hi Mai.," Joey said and walked down the steps in front of the mansion. He had waited outside and was glad to see that Mai was alone.

"Hey, how are you?" She asked, looking a bit worried.

"Fine of course." Joey said smiling, hoping she would just forget about the events of the previous night.

"Is that jerk always that possessive about you?" Mai asked, shattering the last bit of hope Joey had. "No. I guess it was because he had a drink too much and was completely overreacting."

"He didn't seem drunk." Mai said and still looked worried at the younger man.

"Don't worry, Mai." Joey said. "I'm fine and everything with me and Kaiba is fine, too."

"Then he isn't doing anything to make you stay?" She asked.

Joey faked a laugh, surprised about how soon she had figured that out but already got into the car she had, while saying: "Yeah right, and why would he do that?"

"Simple. Because he isn't messing around with you." Mai said. "Didn't you notice how he looks at you?`"

Joey stared at her and then said: "Mai, we're talking about Kaiba. Trust me, he's just enjoying himself, that's all."

"If he's just messing around with you," she said "then I'm the queen of the world."

"Nice to meet ya, your majesty." Joey joked before asking: "Now where are we going? You said you wanted to talk to me about the wedding?"

"Yeah. I do actually." She said and Joey saw from the way she looked at him that she wasn't ready to drop the subject. "Actually it was great timing that I saw you last night, I would have stopped by today anyway since I need you to help me pick a dress."

"Great and I have the perfect idea how." Joey said. "I´ll call Téa and run off."

"Very funny." Mai said. "You're like Valon and I bet that if you like the dress so will he."

Joey rolled his eyes and said: "Fine but do me a favour and don't take all day."

"Why?" She asked. "Do you want to play with your lover boy tonight?"

Joey shrugged and said "Sure."

"Are you happy?" She asked, still obviously worried about the young man. "I mean with a possessive guy like him?"

"Like I said, he isn't usually that bad." Joey said when they stopped in front of the shop Mai had been planning to go to. "But isn't it a bit early for the dress?"

"Not really the wedding will be in three weeks," Mai said. "I guess I'm rather getting late."

"That fast?" Joey said surprised. "I mean, since when are you planning this?"

"Half a year." She said. "I would have talked to you sooner but I wasn't in the area and I didn't want to ask you on a phone."

"No problem." Joey said "I'm just surprised." Joey's phone rang and he got out his old, huge one since no one but Kaiba had the number for the new one so far. It wasn't the one ringing though and Joey put it away rolled his eyes and got the other out. He had gotten a SMS from Seto and couldn't help but smile at the screen. At least Seto wasn't pretending that he wasn't informed about every tiny thing Joey did.

"Is that a new phone?" Mai asked, pulling Joey's attention away from the SMS.

"Yeah. I got it from Seto." Joey said, smiling a little. "And I guess you were right, he's a little possessive."

"What did he write?" She asked and already looked over his shoulder to read 'Having fun picking a dress?' "How does he know? Is he stalking you?"

"No, he isn't." Joey said and blushed a little because she wasn't far off track. "He's too busy to do that but he has his security following me around because some of his fans might not like me hanging out with their dream guy. It's just to keep me safe but I guess he also gets informed about what I'm up to."

"That is stalking." She said.

"No." Joey said. "I don't see him following me around. He is doing it to keep me safe and anyway, he isn't hiding the fact that it also keeps him informed. At least he's honest about it. He can't help it if my safety is keeping him perfectly informed as well."

"Since when are you protecting him?" Mai asked. "He is a jerk and he hurt Valon and he is treating you like he owns you. I don't care how much he loves you, it still doesn't give him the right to do that."

"He doesn't love me." Joey said. "It's just for the kicks of it and he knows it."

"You told him that you're just dating him for the fun of it?" Mai asked and the surprise about that information was easy to see all over her face.

"Let's put it this way." Joey said. "The way it is between us was his suggestion. And I like it. I told ya he's good."

"He probably only suggested it that way because he knows that you'd laugh your head of if he confessed to you right now." Mai said.

"I would, but Kaiba isn't scared of anything." Joey said. "And now leave the topic. He's a nice guy, in his own special and twisted way."

"Oh come on, I know what you see in him." Mai said. "And it isn't that he's nice. You only want to fuck him, I saw how you two danced."

"That's what I said, and he's a great dancer." Joey said. "And just so you know. We didn't even fuck last night."

"Yeah, right." Mai said "I sure as hell believe that."

"You know why we left, right? Because he was overreacting about Valon." Joey said, "and I told him on the ride back that I didn't like the way he treated Valon but also that I was sort of sad that the dancing was over. And once we were in his room he turned on the music and asked if I wanted to dance a little." Joey looked down again at the massage he had just gotten. "We simply danced and not like on the dance floor where it was too crowded to move right. We just really danced to the music he had turned on and it was really nice. He also talked a little to me and asked me how I liked the evening and if we want to do it again. We also talked a lot about other things, like my college classes which he got me into and that will start soon."

"You're going to college?" Mai asked surprised.

"Yes. He's paying for it and all the rest. He's helping me a lot, much more than I thought he would, so stop saying mean stuff about him." Joey said.

"I told you that he loves you." Mai said. "Why else would he do that?"

Joey stared at her but by now she had picked the first dress to try on. The saleswoman had stayed in the background for the duration of their chat but now that there was a break, she started to talk about the advantages of the dresses Mai tried on. Joey simply watched and waited and said to every dress that it was nice. He wasn't really interested in picking out the dress that she was wearing when marrying Valon. And Joey wanted to think even less about what Valon might do with her in that dress once the wedding was over. He did notice that Mai was getting annoyed with his attitude and tried to show a bit more enthusiasm for a dress that was rather hot and sexy rather then romantic. Joey didn't care what Valon would think but he knew that a sexy dress suited Mai better than something that would make her look like she was some kind of fairytale princess. She seemed to be happy with it too and Joey offered to invite her to have a coffee or something.

She happily agreed and Joey feared that she wasn't done talking about Kaiba yet. She drove them to a little coffee shop and Joey sat down with her outside, enjoying the sun. It was still summer after all.

"Now Mai, tell me, what is it that you get out of marrying Valon? You said you would get something." Joey asked, trying to get keep the topic away from Seto. "It must be big if he can get you to marry him with that. I never took you for the marrying kind of girl."

"I'm not that much against it to start with." She said and smiled a little. "But I'm not telling you what it is I want till I have it. I mean, I don't even know if it works the way we want it too."

"I don't get it." Joey said. "If you might not get what you want, why marrying him before you get it?"

"You'll see when you know what it is." She said with a wicked little smile. "And now shoot what is really between you and Kaiba? I know you too well to believe that you just start having fun with someone you used to hate. You're the marrying kind of guy but not the messing around kind of guy."

"Me marrying?" Joey asked "Not anytime soon."

"Why?" She asked and watched his reaction. "Because the guy you love is taken?"

Joey blushed. How had she gotten that he loved a guy. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

"Yeah," she said smiling. "Keep saying that. And don't worry, I didn't tell anyone but it seems Kaiba noticed the truth too, didn't he? Are you really fine with this? I mean being there at the wedding. Right next to me? You're like a brother to me and I really want you there but I don't want to see you getting hurt because of me."

"I'm fine, Mai." Joey said with a little blush. It seemed like he couldn't get her off his back. But that didn't mean he wouldn't try "I really don't love anyone at the moment. I'm fine and you don't need to worry. And anyway, I have Kaiba to distract me if I'm down because of something. And for some reason he seems to get what I need and how I feel."

"Of course he does. He loves someone who is in love with someone else, right?", she said.

"How do you know?" Joey asked. "I mean, he never said anything but he said he understood how…that would be, unlike me."

"Sure, unlike you." Mai said with a smile and looked at the other with a sigh. "Well, as long as you don't admit it I can't help you. But back to Kaiba, I know that because I can see that he loves you. That's why he helps you and why he is so supportive about you and of course he knows how you feel because you are in love with another man and he seems to know that. The only thing I really don't get is why you're with him. I mean, you don't love him and you simply really aren't that kind of guy, so tell me, is he bribing you with money or something? Maybe with college or helping your dad or both? You said he was doing all that kind of things, so do you have to stay with him for that and for how long do you plan on keeping that charade up?"

"I'm not some gold digger." Joey said with a blush, terrified about how close she was. "Now stop that guessing because you're way off. I'm simply enjoying my youth before someone can bribe me into marriage, like Valon does with you."

It was quiet for a long time but Joey noticed how she looked at him when he paid, using the credit card Kaiba had given him. She eyed him while walking back to the car and once they were at the mansion, she said: "I told you already, I can't help you if you don't talk. But you are the little brother I always wanted and never had. And I don't want to see you getting hurt, so promise me, if I can do anything, just tell me. Don't try to be the strong hero that is protecting me like some damsel in distress, got it?"

"Yeah, right." Joey said with a grin, "No one would ever mistake you for a damsel in distress. You're just as tough as I am."

"And just as troubled and alone as you sometimes are." She reminded him. "Promise me, don't take too much on yourself and tell me."

"I promise." Joey said. "But I won't need to, everything is just fine. I promise."

Authors note:

Thanks to Angel Dove1, hizeezetoyou, Nagareboshi-Lover, dancing elf, lilgurlanima, BasilMacVae, Sasu-Sama' Sarukiji-Sempai and sherabo for the reviews.