A/N: So this is shorter, mostly because it speaks for itself I like to think. It's mostly one scene, and I think it's pretty important, so I hope you do too. Also, I'm sorry for the lack of update, I've been working like crazy and then I was working on this in the meantime, then my comp crashed and I didn't have it backed up. So...yeah. This was completely rewritten, mostly in one sitting.

Have fun

Chapter 9.

I'm sure you're supposing that after I said that to Joey everything was pretty much a happily ever after. We got together, we made nice. All those little loose ends in the middle were something that we didn't need to worry about. Well, that's the thing about people. You can never predict how they feel about something. As I said sometime earlier, it is sometimes easier when emotions weren't involved. If it was "just business" and we could be done with it. But affection and love isn't like that, as anyone knows.

Joey didn't make any attempts at contacting me afterwards. I had plugged his number back into my phone just in case he did, but from the beginning I had a feeling that I wasn't going to get much of a response. He was like me when it came to be told "I love you". I don't know how he looked, but I can tell that he got pretty stoic about it. Of course, his circumstances were a little different. He was in love; he loved me when he thought that I was someone else. Now that I was a face and a name, the dynamic was different. He didn't know how to react.

We were dancing. Badly. But dancing nonetheless.

I was trying to keep it going long after the music had ended. I was trying to lead him, trying to give him a reason to keep dancing. I doubted very seriously that he was going to take any more steps, and I was resolved to drag him back up. But there were only so many ways that I could do it without seeming desperate. Because I wasn't desperate. If I were, I would have just went to the Turtle Game Shop and waited for him. He had to show up sometime, didn't he? Even if you aren't desperate, there is some kind of thriving—some kind of burning—that you want to assuage. You want comfort. Closure, if worst came to worst.

But I didn't know how to come by it. I sent him a PM, not much else. I didn't try and text him again, I didn't try to harass him on the forums. I did keep the site up looking for him, but he never showed up on the IM system. I wondered if he had taken me off his friend's list.

After two weeks, I moved on mentally. I pretended that there was some reason that he was unable and continued on with my life. If he didn't want me, then there was no reason to beg. That was something that he would do, not something that I would.

I got up one earlier one morning in particular. I wasn't sure why—like my insomnia—but I took it for what it was. I got ready quickly, taking a shower and dressing. There was nothing particularly special about this day that I could think of. I was meeting with another company head, but at this point it was so commonplace that I didn't make too many efforts to be out of the ordinary.

I was walked down the quiet, hallowed halls of the manor. There was little light and little noise. I kept my ears open thinking that maybe Mokuba was awake and waiting for me, but even at the early hour, I doubted he was considering getting up. I sat at the kitchen table for the longest time, watching the snowflakes fall outside. It made me unconsciously fiddle with my turtleneck, tugging on it until it was no longer pressed against my chin awkwardly. I was also straightening the lapels of the dull grey jacket that I had picked out. I had realized, almost too quickly, how depressed my clothing choice seemed to become. I sighed and turned my attention to something else, making a mental note of just how long it had been between me and him. Thirteen months of playing these games—it is what they were—and finally the well-crafted scheme was down the drain. The persona was gone, there was only Seto Kaiba. BlueS2510 was nothing more than a useless penname that idle forum goers thought was more of a nuisance than a help.

Around 06:30, Mokuba was in the kitchen, dressed for school and sitting across from me at the table eating breakfast. I hadn't ate or made any coffee. Something was telling me to go to that coffee shop that I had seen Joey in so many months before.

Mokuba was curious of my near catatonic state. The blank staring in the long lasting quiet wasn't something he was used to, even on early mornings like these. I offered no explanation, only stood from the table at around a quarter till seven and said: "I'm going to get going; busy day." He nodded and stood, giving me a hug before watching me leave towards the foyer. I grabbed a heavy dress coat and went to my car, the windows already cleaned off by the help that was just arriving.

As I slid in, I wondered if Joey was bitter. It was like being thirsty and finally getting water, only to find out it was warm. Not really what you wanted, but for some reason it would suffice. For him, he would rather die of thirst I was willing to bet. Better than dealing with the disgusting thing he had come across.

But how disgusting did he consider me? He had risked his life for the sake of mine. Was that because he acknowledge his affection to a certain point that he would actually come to my rescue, or was he simply being a good citizen, a selfless one, just because that was who he was. I thought it was a little bit of both. Then again, he was coming out to speak with me anyways, wasn't he? He had brought the flowers because he had noticed what the truth was. Was he going to berate for the careless behavior, or for the fact that I been lying to him, or was he actually going to speak to me on a human level before he lost the chance to the car plowing into him in the little selfless act?

Maybe he was bitter because I wasn't by his side the entire time. If I cared enough, I should have been there like the rest of his friends, holding his hand and assuring him that everything was alright.

Like he expected me to be like that. He should know me better than that by know. We had to put up with each other for long enough, after all.

Maybe he expected something different because of the person he had encountered online.

As you can tell, this was a lot of back and forth for me. Wondering all the possibilities, hardly factoring in that he was hit by a car and that he could possibly still be hospitalized. For this long, I doubted. His injuries were minor in consideration, but I didn't see everything that was wrong nor did I inquire about it.

A little bit after seven I came up to the coffee shop. It was pretty empty except for the employees meandering around behind the counter. I went inside and took slow steps, my eyes taken from the counter and looking to my wallet as I pulled it out of my pocket and took a few bills. When I looked back up, I was probably halfway up to the counter. I stopped dead in my tracks.

There he stood, looking at me like some kind of bug. I had never figured that he would be working at the coffee shop. Then I thought about it. He was sitting there with his phone that first day. I had seen his elbows waded on something green—I thought it was a coat—it was his apron, which he wore now. I walked up to the counter, holding onto it so I didn't tip over. There was no chipper "can I help you" coming from his mouth. He only leaned his head to the side and looked at me, waiting for me to say something to him. I let my eyes fall for a just a second, staring at his nametag that was nearly hid by the strap of his sling. I could still see where his arm was bandaged. When I looked him in the face, he still had minor bruising that had turned an awkward yellow color where it was healing.

I could feel myself cringing when looking at him. Not because it was ugly (which it was) but because, in one facet, this was my fault while in the other it was his fault. "You gonna keep starin' at me like that?" he was quiet in his manner, likely because there was a partially officious looking woman just behind him. His supervisor I supposed.

"I can do it if I want. I don't see much a rush behind me," I said, and I looked over my shoulder as emphasis. It was still barren, though the work rush was likely going to be coming in very shortly. "I'm not going to mince words with you—"

"Oh good, I thought this was gonna be long winded."

"If you let me finish, this will end up being much simpler."

"I don't really wanna talk about all this crap, ya know? I just sorta wanna pretend none of this happened. That all right with you?"

"Not really, no."

"Yeah, well, too bad."

"Why don't you listen to me for five minutes and see what I have to say."

"So ya can use that crazy CEO mumbo-jumbo and bring me over ta your side of this? No way. Sides, I ain't usin' my break now, I just got here."

"Is that your supervisor?" I asked, pointing to the woman that was behind him, speaking it another employee. I noticed that he was watching my hands more than watching me. I knew that I was speaking with them as I spoke in slow, exact tones.

"Don't matter."

"Joey, you're making this far more complicated than it needs to be."

"Oh, I'm the one makin' it complicated. Of course it's me!"

That drew the woman's attention, and she looked to me more than she looked to Joey. It was in that same moment that Joey realized that I didn't call him 'Wheeler', 'mutt', or any other combination of said derogatory terms towards him.

"Is there something I can help you with?" the woman supervisor asked me. She was glowering at Joey, but not being verbal in her frustration. I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Is there any way I could speak with Joseph for a few moments? It's a personal matter regarding the accident a few weeks ago. Working out kinks," I said, and I gave her a mildly genial smile (likely more of a smirk, but close enough) and she paused, looking towards the doors where the bell had tolled. She then looked to Joey, smiling, and nodded.

"Make it quick Kaiba-san."

I watched as Joey came from behind the counter. He favored his right side, but only just a little bit. He eased himself down to a booth slowly, and I followed just behind.

"Let me explain this in as few words as I can," I said, trying to think of a way to make it less long winded than it was likely going to be. I didn't doubt that supervisor was timing us, and I didn't want to be the reason that Joey got fired (though really, a few words with the supervisor and things would be fine). "At first it was for fun. I thought it would be amusing, and then it turned into something that was out of my control, something that I realized became something else. I didn't reveal who I was because I could tell how you would react. I tried to fight everything you put up to me, until finally I decided we reached the climax. It was do it now or risk losing something that had potential. I wasn't going to let it spoil." I looked him in the eye, and then looked down to my hands, bringing them in better view as I said: "Everything I told you is the truth. I stick to my word."

He raised a brow critically, the kind of look that I would give that would have people around me stammering like they had done something wrong and they were going over everything to try and figure out what it was exactly they had done to displease me. "I just have a hard time believin' ya…."he shook his head. "Figures you would be that ass that would torment me, huh? Did ya just go lookin' for somethin'?"

"I found you through Mokuba," his eyes bulged a moment. "He had nothing to do with it. I only looked at the site that he was on. He only just found out, just like you did."

"Shoulda figured…"he brought his good hand up to the elbow of his bad, cradling it. "Managerial position, eh? Gotta brother, heh. I shoulda seen it. Makes sense when I look at ya now," but he rolled his eyes and let out a breathy little laugh. I wasn't entirely sure if he felt ignorant, betrayed, or angry. Maybe all of the above.

"It's not like I really lied to you," I said, to continue. "I omitted one bit of information. Just like, as far as you knew, you were doing. Red and Blue, right?"

"Still don't make it right. You're still a jerk. Playin' around with me like that…" He leaned close.

"Like what? Getting you all riled up because you were just like I was? Falling into something that you didn't really realize until it was a little too late? Didn't think it was possible that you could fall in love with someone online, is that it?" I held out my hands as if I was exposing my chest, my heart, to him. "I did nothing that your hormones didn't do to your own body. I was just text on a screen the entire time. The fact that you got riled up is because now you have an attraction that you're not sure about. You want to know something?" he didn't really make any indication either way. "I am sure about my attraction. If you want to throw away something before knowing it, that's completely your choice. But right now, you have to make the decision. Take it or leave it."

He grit his teeth, baring them like the angry dog everyone took him for. "See, this is what I was talking about."

"What? Me being blunt and honest? That's all I do in business, because it's easier than playing some game or dancing some dance."

"Have some humanity about it. I'm not buyin' somethin' on sale, I'm considerin' a relationship with an…individual…that I'm not sure about."

"Maybe it'd be easier if you thought of it more like merchandise."

"This is why I don't like this!" he said quickly, and went to rise, only to wince and nearly fall back in his seat. I got up and came over to him, putting my arm across his back and easing him up. Maybe it seemed random, but if he wanted to see humanity, the randomness of it all worked. "I'm fine."

"You're stubborn and still battered. Don't tell me you're fine."

"Stop being such an ass," he said back down, but this time I sat beside him. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"You want to see my humanity you're going to have to look at me closer than you've seen before. Why not start now?" I looked away from him, over to the supervisor that was dealing with customers. I checked my watch knowing I had to be going soon. "It's completely your choice to ignore all the time we've already spent together," I said, hoping he knew that meant the online transactions. "Since you seem so willing to be blinded by your own anger, it's perfectly fine. Feel hurt about all of this; lick your wounds. Just understand that I mean everything I say, and this is a limited time offer. That way if you say no I can get through the pining and get on with other things," I said, and I stood up, going around the table and towards the counter. I did stop and ask: "Your arm's not broken is it?"

"It'…it's uh…minor fracture," he said, trying to pick himself up after all that I had said. I'm sure I had thrown him a curveball. "Nothin' I ain't dealt with before."

I wondered if he was considering the humanity of the questions. That seemed to be what always stumped him with me. My 'lack of humanity' if it could so be called. That's what seemed to stump everyone. How Mokuba stayed around me when I was so cold and callous about the things that were around. I could see Joey's brain working to consider all those many months of transactions, and I half imagined him pulling out his phone and looking at texts, though I doubt he saved his. Not like I did.

Maybe I was just more sentimental about all of this than he was. Maybe I was letting myself get a little too emotional about it all. But I figured that was a good thing. Letting those emotions out for everyone to see. At least on a limited basis.

I went up to the line that had formed and I waited. Joey made his way back behind the counter, taking his supervisor's place to take the orders and hand them back to the people that were milling behind him. When I got up there, he still had a slightly curious, slightly dumbfounded look on his face. It was okay that he was confused, at least he was thinking.

I ordered, speaking to him as if we had talked about nothing, and I waited for the coffee to be brought up, handing him the money. He fumbled with everything a little bit still using what he could of his fingers to operate the cash register. When the coffee came up, he passed it over to me with his hand on top of the lid like he was trying to balance himself against it. I doubted that he really thought about this motion. Most people grabbed it in the middle.

I put my hand over top of his and smiled coyly, again thinking that it probably looked more like a smirk than a smile. He hid the mild surprise and let his hand go. I lifted mine up, and he drew away like a turtle in its shell. Before I took it again, I signed something quickly.

Get well Joseph. And think quickly.

He furrowed his brows to me like I was crazy, but I didn't acknowledge it, only walked out of the shop and got in my car.

Strange, the things that we find comforting.

A/N: This kind of feels like an ending to me, but I know its not. There's still more to be said, and there will be, let me assure you. But we're in real time now. He's told the entire story and is now moving onto it as it goes, so I hope you're ready for this to come to a close shortly. Until then, KenSan out!