***This is the last section for awhile. The rest of this fic is a hot mess and in present tense (because I wrote it in present and then ended up hating it more than the first person). Soooo ... rustshipping lemon, have fun***

My jaw dropped when Bakura kissed Ryou. I stood frozen for a moment, staring at the contrast of their skin and the mess of hair, white mixed with white. They were so beautiful that I felt dizzy. I shook my head to push my daydreams aside and yanked Bakura by the hair to pull him away from Ryou.

"The hell, Bakura? You can't just grab people and kiss them like that."

"Really?" He smirked and wiped the corner of his mouth. He didn't seem to mind his hair tangled in my fist. "Isn't that how you kissed me the first time?"

"Yeah." I admitted, frowning. "But you're not Ryou. Show him more respect or I'll break your nose."

"You still don't get it, do you?" He wrenched his hair out of my grasp and grabbed my shoulders in order to spin me a few centimeters away from Ryou's face.

"Look at him, you idiot."

So I looked at him. His eyes were dark, dilated; his lips were rosy from friction. A dark blush followed the delicate curve of his cheekbones. His lips were parted so he could breath through his mouth and in that moment it took all the willpower I never knew I had not to lean forward and steal a kiss for myself.

Bakura's breath tickled my ear as he leaned against me. "He wants to be kissed. Stop making him wait."

I leaned a little closer, my eyes only half opened. Ryou tilted his head up, making it easier for me, but I hesitated. I kept thinking that as soon as our lips touched, I would be back in the Shadows. Becoming human, the past few days, Ryou and Bakura, it was too good not to be an illusion. A cruel illusion the darkness created to break me.

Good things never happened to me.

And if they did, I would never be allowed to keep them.

I couldn't imagine anything more good than Ryou in my arms.

Ryou gave an impatient, strangled noise, probably his version of a growl but much too adorable to be considered anything more than a purr. He stood on his toes and reached for my mouth. Kissing me instead of waiting to be kissed.

And I didn't wake up back in the Shadow Realm.

And he didn't melt away into nothing.

We were real and the softness of his lips, of his breath, of his kiss, were real, and the heart beating in my chest was real, too – I knew it then without a doubt. My fingers twitched and I submitted to the moment, reaching up and tracing his cheek bones with light touches. I didn't realize my own cheeks were wet until I felt Ryou wiping at my face with his palms.

"Shhh, shhh," he whispered.

I wasn't making any sounds, but I understood he wanted my tears to stop. I didn't know why my face was wet. I wasn't sad.

Or angry.

I was . . . dizzy.

I swayed and Ryou steadied me. I stared at our feet because if I looked at his face at that moment I'd never be able to look away again.

Bakura snorted, amused. "Well, I guess I've done my good deed for the next three thousand years. You two have fun."

He turned to walk away but at the same time, both Ryou and I reached out and grabbed his wrist. He blinked at our hands caged around his arm.

"Stay," Ryou whispered.

He thought about it. I could see the back and forth on his face.

I squeezed his wrist. "Might as well. Won't this piss off Marik twice as much?"

I wasn't fooling either of us. At best, Ryou and I would be keeping Marik's side of the bed warm for Bakura. I didn't know what Bakura had planned, but I knew he'd have something worked out by now. He wasn't clingy. He wouldn't follow Marik like a kicked puppy if Marik didn't want him, but Bakura was proud. He'd find a way to get Marik to Domino and make Marik reject him face-to-face.

Which Marik wouldn't be able to do.

Bakura looked hesitantly at us. By his eyes, you would have thought we were scorpions.

Ryou released his wrist and shrugged. "Would it make you feel better if I made a joke about you paying rent?"

He laughed. "I already thought of that."

I didn't get the joke. It was one of those we-shared-a-head moments that I never had with Marik.

Bakura rolled his eyes half up. "I suppose someone has to show you idiots what to do. Otherwise you'll just hold hands all night."

That would have been enough. I could have held Ryou's hands, and kissed his knuckles, and brush my lips across his fingertips and never left his side until I starved to death and considered it all a life well-spent. I would have never said that out loud, though.

Ryou batted his eyelashes, looking meek and innocent. "Yes, please Bakura, show me how it's done. I'm far too naïve to guess on my own."

The obvious bluff in his words made my spine shiver. I remembered Bakura mentioning that the box of condoms under the sink was near empty. Ryou had been on dates and probably had more than one ex-boyfriend, which also meant he had way more experience in bed than either I or Bakura. As if to confirm my thoughts, Ryou grabbed my free hand and dragged me and Bakura to the bedroom. He ripped off his clothes and flopped on the bed like it was just another card game, but I was nervous.

"Well? How is it done, Bakura? How can you show me when you're still dressed?"

Bakura snorted, but then turned and looked at me. He must have sensed my shyness, because he cupped my cheek in his hand and started kissing me. Our kisses were more in-sync than the first time. We've grown used to the way each other moved. I glanced over at Ryou and saw that he was growing hard at the sight of Bakura and I making out. I felt my cock expand as well. Bakura removed my clothing slowly, nudging us towards the bed as he went. He only wore gray sweatpants and a red hoodie, so we stood naked and next to the bed far too soon.

Bakura pushed me down on the bed and I somehow became trapped in the middle of them. Ryou kissed and toyed with my left side and Bakura did the same with my right. I knew I was going to end up on the bottom again and it pissed me off. I would fuck Bakura next time no matter what – as a matter of principle. I started fussing, kicking out, and squirming. I wasn't going to make it easy on them to take me. At least I was going to try not to make it easy, but I was already gasping. Each touch, each kiss, each Bakura, was a little too much for me to fight against. Their warm kisses made me want to moan and beg for it like a bitch, but I couldn't do that in front of them. I wouldn't. That'd be a little too embarrassing. My resistance made Bakura back up a little to give me more room, but it only encouraged Ryou.

He grabbed my hair in order to hold me in place and bite my throat. There was no mercy in the act, no gentleness, only his teeth and my skin and a thrill igniting every nerve in my body. The violence of his mouth reminded me of how I used to be, the fun in not holding back. I pulled Ryou on top of me and hooked one of my legs around his back, clawing at the pale white skin covering his spine. He growled a little like before. It was very cute, to hear him growl like that, and my scratching was rewarded with more hard bites along my collarbone.

Bakura hovered over him, healing my claw marks with kisses. I scratched Bakura's chest. He didn't complain, but I could tell he wasn't into it, so I worked my nails against Ryou's outer thighs instead. He was very much into it. It felt good – to not have to hold back, to bite and scratch and make someone scream and not have to worry because it was wanted.

Ryou grabbed my cock with one hand and Bakura's with his other hand. He stroked us until we're both grunting at him, and then he let go and grabbed a bottle of lube. I wondered what the lube was doing already in his bed and then I grinned at the thought of him using it on himself the night before. Bakura was right, we should have gone into his bedroom. Bakura all but told me to my face that this would end up happening, but I was too stupid to notice how right he was.

Ryou greased himself and slipped cold fingers into me. He tossed the bottle behind him so Bakura could do the same to him. When he thought I was ready, Ryou pushed inside me and Bakura pushed inside him. Ryou used Bakura's thrust to facilitate his own movement. Nothing shy or timid showed in his face, nor was their any novelty in his expression(although there was plenty of pleasure). He looked eager, not shy. He must have been with more than one person at a time before. He was too relaxed, more so than even his "evil" counterpart. I focused on the arousing contrast of Ryou and Bakura's naked bodies, the faces they made, the sweat trickling across their muscles, and the grunts and sighs of their love-making.

I meant fucking.

We were fucking.

Love-making is what you do when you are close emotionally to someone.

We were having a fun little three-way, no more significant than playing a board game together.

Right?

Or at least, that's what it was suppose to be. Wasn't it?

It was easier to pretend the first night when it was only Bakura, but Ryou's brown eyes looked at me as if I was the sun rising in the East, like I was Ra birthing a new day. Suddenly I couldn't remember why I had to pretend they weren't important to me. Who was I kidding? I did care, even about stupid Bakura. And I didn't want to pretend otherwise.

I reached up and touched the scars on Ryou's chest for a moment before grabbing his shoulders and arching my back and forfeiting to the experience.

I spread my legs wide, and relaxed. My face burned as I stared at Ryou, but I didn't try to hide my vulnerability. It was okay. It was okay to open up. So I started at Ryou, and touched his face, and kissed him softly as I made stupid, weak little noises.

Bakura's eyes were closed, like he knew better than to look. I still felt an odd kinship towards Bakura, something intimate and close but not necessarily yet romantic, wholly different from the chest exploding feeling Ryou gave me, but I was having trouble separating all my emotions. I could only lay there and express myself with thick, lusty moans, too engaged in the moment to sort things out.

Ryou lowered his face; his lips almost touched my skin as he whispered against my sternum. The blizzard of his hair scattered across my chest and stuck to my sweat. I couldn't make out his words, but his sweet, soft voice mixed with Bakura's heavy breathing clouded my mind. Ryou gasped and I felt his warmth spilling into me. He pressed his forehead against my body; his white, round ass still lifted in the air and framed by Bakura's dark fingers. I wanted more. They were so beautiful and I was hard enough to split like an overcooked sausage, but I didn't know how to ask for more.

Ryou tapped my side. "Scoot up a bit."

I didn't understand at first, but after he gestured with his hand I got that Ryou wanted me to slide up higher on the mattress. He grabbed my shaft, and I clenched my teeth. I was so sensitive that his hold almost hurt. Ryou laughed and then lowered his mouth. As soon as his warm, damp tongue touched my tip I screamed. It was lightning. It was Ra bringing life forth from the Ogdoad. My fingers cinched in his hair and I was screaming. I didn't care if I sounded like a bitch. I didn't care if it made me weak or if Bakura teased me for it later. I moaned and screamed and gasped. If Ryou stopped, I would have begged him, but he didn't stop. He cupped my balls with one hand and held my base with the other hand, pushing me deep into his mouth.

Bakura's grunts were loud and needy. I could tell by his sounds that he was about to finish, and I was pretty sure it was my screams setting him over the edge. Ryou had to slow down as Bakura sped his pace. I bucked into Ryou's mouth and a minute after Bakura dropped to the mattress beside us, my own orgasm made my heart pound and my calves ache and I crash against the sheets as well.

When it was over I couldn't move, not even my eyelids. I was shaking. Ryou nuzzled beside me and I forced myself to wrap the dead weight of my arms around him and open my eyes. Ryou rested between Bakura and myself.

Bakura tried to sit up, but Ryou grabbed him and kept him on the bed. "No, you don't."

"What? Now that I don't have to babysit you and Kek anymore, I thought I could have the couch to myself."

"Fuck you," I snapped at him, but my voice was hoarse and soft, worn from screaming, and I didn't sound threatening in the least.

"You can act as tough as you want, Bakura, but you're sleeping here tonight."

"I don't see the point."

"This is my favorite part – that's the point," Ryou said. "Shut-up and cuddle you bastard or I'm not cooking you breakfast in the morning."

His swearing is as cute as his growling. I grinned. "What's the matter Bakura? Chicken?"

"Fuck you." Bakura turned and faced me and Ryou. He touched Ryou's lips with his fingertips. "You're both assholes."

Ryou nodded. "You taught me everything I know about being an asshole, so I ought to be a good one."

I shrugged. "Marik taught me everything I know, so I'm also a good one."

Or maybe I taught him? I wasn't quite sure myself.