Disclaimer – I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

*Rated M for Mature

Chapter 10 – Sunday

Joey bolted from the bed, panting heavily. It felt as if his lungs were on fire. Placing a shaking hand to his chest, he tried to calm his breathing, but it did nothing for his trembling body.

He'd had another nightmare. And this one seemed to be the worst of all. He'd dreamt that everyone had left him: his friends had all abandoned him, his sister and mother had deserted him, and…Seto had left him—kicked him out and left him—along with Mokuba.

Joey had literally felt his heart break, and the darkness started to surround him, mocking him, emphasizing that he was completely and utterly alone. But then something else happened, to make it all that much worse.

His father had come to him through the darkness. With an evil smirk on his face, he'd said that Joey was all his now, to do with as he pleased. No one wanted him anymore, so he might as well make himself useful and stay with him.

Joey had cowered in fear, even though it was just a dream. But that dream had brought his deepest fears to light.

And now here he was, sitting in Seto's bed…alone all over again. Biting back a sob, Joey pulled his knees to his chest. He wanted Seto. He needed Seto. Back after the way he'd treated him yesterday—after Seto had said he loved him and took it back—the blond had felt nothing but the need to hurt him in some way.

But it wasn't Seto's fault. The brunet had done nothing but help him. Joey knew that Seto really did love him, but he was hesitant to admit it. So what did he do? Instead of being considerate to the CEO's feelings, he'd hurt him.

Joey felt panic seize him once more at the thought of Seto really leaving him. Moving off of the bed, he stumbled toward the bathroom. As he made it to the sink, he gazed at his reflection. He looked…lost.

Splashing a bit of water on his face, he sat down on the cold floor of the bathroom and pulled his knees up to his chest again, rocking himself back and forth.

How was he going to make things right again?

Seto paced his office, thinking. What was he going to do about Joey? Sure, he'd hurt his Puppy by saying he loved him and taking it back, but later on, when he'd tried to apologize, especially after the whole gift incident, the blond had just brushed him off. He wouldn't even talk to him!

And even though he believed he was at fault, Seto couldn't help but feel hurt, too. It wasn't like his Puppy had even tried to admit anything to him. Did the blond love him? Or was he just…using him?

Frowning, he pinched the bridge of his nose. The only way he was going to know anything was if he actually spoke to Joey. They needed to have long conversation; it was well overdue.

Pleased with his decision, Seto slipped out of his office and down the hall to his bedroom. When he opened the door, however, his Puppy was nowhere to be seen. Upon further inspection, he noticed that the bathroom door was ajar, but it was still too quiet for his liking.

As he reached the bathroom door, he pushed it the rest of the way open and peered inside. What he saw tore at his heart. Joey sat on the floor, knees drawn up to his chest, and he seemed to stare vacantly at the wall before him. Seto noticed him trembling slightly, and it looked as if he'd been crying.

"Joey?" Seto called hesitantly as he approached the blond. "Joey?"

The blond's head shot up, as if he were startled, and tears started streaming down his face again. "I'm sorry," he gasped. "I'm so, so sorry."

Seto gathered Joey in his arms and led him back into the bedroom. Seating him on the bed, the brunet sat next to him. "Puppy, you have nothing to be sorry for."

"Yes I do! Everyone's going to leave me. I don't want them to leave me. Don't leave me, Seto. Please don't leave me. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I won't ignore you again," Joey pleaded through his cries.

Seto felt at a loss as to what to do, so he settled on the truth. "Puppy, I have to admit that you did hurt me, but your reaction was legitimate. I said that I loved you…and I brushed it off as nothing. But it does mean something, Puppy. I do…love you. And if it means anything to you, I forgive you, too."

Joey slowly got his emotions under control long enough to hug the brunet. When his breathing finally calmed, he pulled away, only to kiss Seto passionately.

The CEO quickly responded. Gathering his Puppy in his arms again, he deepened the kiss, devouring every little crevice in the blond's hot cavern, making sure to map out everything and commit it to memory.

When they finally pulled away, Joey looked up at him longingly. "I love you," he whispered. "I always have. I just never thought that you actually would…or who it was that you would actually love. The real me? Of the façade? But now, I know that I can trust you completely. I've been pushing you away because this is all so sudden, but I hadn't taken into consideration that this is new for you, too."

"We're both a piece of work, aren't we?" Seto admitted quietly. "But that doesn't mean we can't have a strong relationship. I know I love you, and anyone who disapproves can go fuck themselves. I don't give a shit what other people think other than you and Mokuba. The same should go for you. Puppy, you'll always have us…no matter what."

"I think you're wonderful," Joey replied softly, placing his head in the crook of Seto's neck. "I'll beat the crap out of anyone who says otherwise."

"Even your friends?" Seto knew he was touching a nerve, but he had to know how willing Joey was to commit to their relationship.

"Even my friends," Joey stated strongly. "I wonder why they haven't tried to contact me, though. They didn't even seem concerned that I wasn't there yesterday."

"I noticed that, too. But perhaps they might start looking now."

"What do you mean?"

"After you stepped out of the shop, I might have accidentally given them a…bit of a friendship speech."

Joey chuckled. "I would have paid to see that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Seto asked with a glare.

"Nothing."

"Nothing, huh? We'll see about that. Tell me, Puppy. Are you ticklish?"

Joey's eyes widened comically. "No! Don't you even think about it, Seto!"

"Too late!"

"Seto!"

Yugi paced the Game Shop nervously. He was growing more nervous by the minute. After what Bakura had said yesterday, he and his friends had been trying to get a hold of Joey for hours. They hadn't seen hide or hair of Ryou and Bakura, but the rest of them had been searching for the blond tirelessly.

But the scary part was that Yugi hadn't realized how much he didn't know about Joey. He didn't know where he lived; he didn't recall ever getting a cell number, let alone a home number, from the blond. Joey would just…show up.

Everyone had searched his usual hangout spots, but they could find nothing!

"Calm down, Yugi. I'm sure Joey's fine," said Yami.

"Calm down? You want me to calm down? Our friend is missing!"

"Yugi, whatever it is, I'm sure Joey can handle it."

"How do you know that? Are you absolutely sure he's okay? Can you prove to me that he's okay?"

Yami faltered, knowing that he couldn't assuage Yugi's fears.

Suddenly, Yugi stopped pacing. "What if Bakura's right? What if Katsuya is actually Joey?" he asked quickly.

Yami felt a sense of amusement and horror wash over him. "Yugi, you're jumping to conclusions. Joey wouldn't befriend Kaiba and he would never date him."

"But what if he was? What if that's really Joey and everything he said was true about Kaiba being his boyfriend and all?"

Sighing, Yami said, "I don't think so. Besides, why would Joey put up this elaborate scheme to deceive all of us?"

"To see if we trust him. To see if we're really his friends," Yugi stated slowly, everything falling into place in his mind. "He…wanted to know if we'd still accept him as our friend even if he's dating Kaiba. Joey just wanted our approval and wanted to assure himself that we were really his friends."

"If that was really Joey, then we have to help him," replied Yami. "He's making a big mistake."

"But what if he isn't? What if we're the ones making the mistake?"

Yami started frowning, not liking where this was going. "But Kaiba—"

"But nothing!" Yugi snapped. "Just because he's your enemy doesn't mean he's everyone's! We don't know very much about him. And what if Joey's gotten through to him and…turned him around or something?"

"Yugi, this isn't right."

"I can't believe you," Yugi stated, appalled. "After everything Joey's done for us—all of us—you would turn your back on him because he's with Kaiba?"

When Yami remained silent, Yugi did something he never thought he'd do in his entire life.

"Get out, Yami."

Yami's eyes widened in shock. "But Yugi—"

"I want you out, Yami! And don't come back until you've straightened yourself out!"

Yami left quietly. When he was gone, Yugi burst into tears. He couldn't believe what he'd just done, but he'd fix the problem with Yami later. Now, he had to go talk to Joey.

"Well, Puppy. Mokuba's gone to the park, so that means we have the whole house to ourselves. What do you want to do?" Seto asked suggestively.

Joey was about to answer when the doorbell suddenly rang. "Who could that be? Are you expecting company?"

"No," he replied.

Releasing his hold on his Puppy, the brunet made his way to the door with Joey trailing behind. When he opened the front door, the sight before him startled him.

"Yugi?" Seto asked, stunned by the small boy's disheveled appearance.

"Kaiba, is Joey here?" he inquired meekly.

Joey beat the CEO in answering. "Yugi?" he called.

Amethyst eyes widened in surprise. "Joey!" he exclaimed bursting through the door and past Seto into the blond's arms. "It really is you!"

Joey hugged the small boy, still trying to overcome the shock of the situation.

"Yeah. What…are you doing here?"

Yugi pulled away and looked up at the blond. "I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday. Bakura was actually the one who figured everything out. He knew who you really were. After he said you were really Joey and not Katsuya, everyone was scrambling around to see if it was true. When we couldn't find you, I put two and two together…and I kicked out Yami," he rambled.

All Joey felt he got was that Yugi kicked out Yami. The rest was a blur. "What do you mean you kicked out Yami?"

"He's…being difficult. He can't get over the fact that his greatest enemy is with his best friend. I kicked him out to shock him into thinking about how he reacted," Yugi explained.

"What's going on?" Seto demanded.

"Yugi kicked Yami out because he obviously can't get over his hatred of you. That accompanied with you dating me seems to have pushed him over the deep end. He's a mess," paraphrased Joey.

Yugi eyed him strangely. "Why are you talking like that?" he asked.

"That's a long story. How about we talk about it over lunch," replied Joey. He glanced over to Seto to make sure that was okay, but when he saw a weird look in his eyes, he was afraid to ask his next question. "Why do you look so…giddy?"

"Since Yami is so emotionally crippled at the moment, I wonder if I can beat him in a duel now," he mumbled, although it was quite loud.

"Don't push your luck, Seto. Now are you coming to lunch or not?"

Seto seemed to jolt back into reality at that point. "We are not having a guest for lunch."

"Yes we are," Joey state firmly, glaring at the stoic CEO.

"Fine," he grumbled as he strode off to the kitchen.

"What was that all about?" Yugi asked, confused.

"He's just pissed because whenever it seems like we have a bit of alone time, we get interrupted. Although, by alone time, I mean perv—"

"Shut the fuck up, Puppy and get your ass in the damn kitchen! You want a damn guest? You make the fucking food!" Seto bellowed from the kitchen.

Joey just laughed. "Don't worry, Yugi. He'll be fine. He's actually quite sweet when he wants to be."

"I'm warning you, Puppy!"

Joey laughed as he guided Yugi into the kitchen.

Yugi was actually quite surprised to see Seto's reddening face. He was embarrassed! If only his friends could see this! Joey and Seto were really good for each other.

End Chapter