"So how did you and Yugi find out about us?" I asked sceptically, raising an eyebrow at the brunette who walked beside me.

She looked at me with sparkling blue eyes and grinned, "Well, Yugi and I were talking about you last week when he brought up the fact that you and Marik have been hanging out a lot. It was only made obvious when I once caught you two looking at each other in the cafeteria when I walked by. You had that look in your eyes, it was so similar to the look you used to give me way back when," She pressed her lips together and looked away, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" I asked after clearing my throat.

"For bringing up the past again," She rubbed her neck a little and then stopped walking when we reached her house, "I just want you to know though how happy I am that you found someone. And not only that, but someone who is willing to love you and look after you, unlike how I did."

"Téa..." I pulled my eyebrows together in concern. Her sudden change in subject was really dampening my mood, not that it needed to be any more dampened to be honest. I was already feeling the nervous tension from agreeing that Marik should meet my family that same evening, and now Téa was making me feel guilty about the past again. But I held my tongue from mouthing off. If we didn't talk about this now than we would never conclude anything.

"I'm sorry I said no, I truly am. I liked your company and I loved every minute we spent together, but it was my stupid head that made it so toxic, I can't-"

"Don't you dare cry about that, Téa Gardner." I frowned at her. She looked surprised at this and quickly rubbed her eyes. I sighed, "I understand why you did it, and it wasn't because of you, it was because of the way I treated you. I never gave you the attention you deserved and it was because I was going through a tough time with the unfortunate happenings my family had to endure. If you want me to answer the question you asked a couple weeks ago, the answer would've been yes. Yes, we could have still been together, but the past is the past." I shrugged, "Look at us now though, we both have wonderful partners and we're both still the best of friends."

"Bakura..." She pressed her lips together.

"I'm sorry if I ever happened to hurt you before to make you change your mind about us, Téa." I pressed my lips together, trying hard not to think about the past. "You have Yugi now, and I know you really like him. And I know he makes you happy." I smiled. She seemed to examine my face before taking in a shaky breath.

"And if it wasn't for you introducing us in gym class, I would've never met Yugi." She sniffed, "Maybe he can help me let you go."

I stared at her. She still had... feelings for me? My insides turned violently but her sudden smile blew a hole through my clouded heart.

"We're best friends, Bakura, and just being that is good enough for me." She nodded, "I think I'm falling hard for Yugi."

I smiled slowly which made her smile back. I grabbed her into a hug. It was one of those awkward, lingering hugs, but it was still comforting and it put my nerves at ease for a bit until we parted.

"You should head home, get everything looking nice for your sweetheart," She winked and nudged my shoulder.

I rolled my eyes and gave her a farewell. I then turned around to walk the rest of the road home. I stopped smiling as soon as I had to think of the dreadful evening that was ahead of me.

I sat idly by, on the couch, watching the TV. Well, I wasn't really sure what I watching exactly, but I was staring at the muted animation, twiddling my thumbs and bouncing my leg in anticipation. I was so nervous that at times I forgot to breath and sucked in some air, only to hold it again. I had offered to make dinner, but Akefia took it upon himself to order take-out, like that was classy.

I stopped my leg from bouncing, taking in another deep breath and letting it out slowly, calming down slightly. I had basically murdered myself earlier trying to clean up the house, and finding something decent to wear was a hassle in itself. I had just figured I'd put on a casual striped shirt and a pair of blue jeans. I figured Marik wouldn't wear anything too too fancy. I hoped.

But what if he did? Shit. I began bouncing my leg again.

"Oh my god, if you don't quit bouncing your leg like that I'm going to rip it off!" Ryou hissed, sitting on the floor beside me. Miho was mindlessly braiding his hair and watching the TV. I doubt she knew what was going on either.

"Sod off, Ryou," I growled.

"Guys, if you start fighting while Katsu's boyfriend's here I'll rip both of your legs off." Akefia said with a sigh, crossing one panted leg over another.

I couldn't feel happy that we finally got Akefia to wear some clothes because my stomach would not stop flipping and my chest would not stop feeling so damn tight. It felt almost like it was your first time presenting to the class about a topic that you knew wasn't in everyone's favour. You could see every student's expression and understand that they would have something to say. Critiques, as you would call it. But I knew it was only my brothers and that there was nothing to worry about, but it was still crazily upsetting.

"I hear something!" Miho exclaimed, getting up quickly and patting down her short yellow skirt, "I think he's here!"

My heartbeat quickened and I immediately got up too. Fuck, I was too nervous to even stand, my legs were threatening to give out. I took a step and then caught myself before I face-planted into the coffee table.

"Woah, you really are nervous, aren't you?" Ryou raised his eyebrows, humour ridden from his face.

"Uh, yeah," I huffed, "Just try to stay out of the way, alright?"

"Gosh, you're mean," He wrinkled his nose at me and walked away.

"I see a light! I see a light!" Miho jumped up and down excitedly.

We all looked at the curtained window as a bright light and the sound of a roaring motorcycle engine was present. I swallowed roughly and looked at Akefia, he raised his eyebrows and smiled.

"Either the delivery man got a bike, or your little lover is here," He winked.

I flared my nostrils at the nickname, but ignored it when the engine was suddenly cut and the lights went out. I peered over at Ryou and Miho who were already standing around the entrance. I gnawed on my lip and hesitantly followed after Akefia as he went to join them. I wrung my hands together and walked toward the door, touching the doorknob and waiting silently for a knock.

The anticipation was killing me slowly and a million and one things were running through my head, all jumbling together into one big catastrophic mess. I tried my breathing exercises again and then the dreadful moment made itself so when three knocks were heard. I quickly looked back at the three young adults standing there, all both excited and eager. I looked back at the doorknob and then slowly turned and opened it, peering out the crack of the door at a tall blond boy with large, amethyst eyes and a wide smile. I smiled back and my stomach did flips.

"Hello, Katsu," He smiled.

"H-hello, Marik." I said slowly, taking in the outfit he decided to wear.

A black leather jacket and a pair of khaki pants. Okay, that was fine. Not too casual, not too formal. I liked it. I opened the door to let him in, but he instantly grabbed my face and pressed a small kiss to my lips. I was taken aback and frozen in place. He walked past me and I stared at the ground, wide eyed and shocked.

"You must be Marik," Akefia said. I snapped my head to look over, watching as my elder brother took a step forward and offered out his hand, "Nice to meet you. I'm Akefia,"

"Nice to finally meet you!" Marik smiled back, shaking his hand firmly.

"I'm Ryou, the twin," He smiled sweetly and shook Marik's hand. I raised my eyebrow at how cutesy he was being now. Fucking deceiving brat.

"And I'm Miho, Ryou's girlfriend. Let me get your jacket for you!" Miho skipped over smiled.

And then my jaw locked and so did every other muscle in my body. It was like my world was going in slow motion the moment the bronze beauty unzipped his jacket and threw it off his shoulders. His shoulders. His arms. Everything was just so... there. And he was even wearing gold arm bands now, alongside his gold wrist ones. And... no. Just how short was his vest? He actually decided to wear a crop top?

His stance was so confident though, so forward. I almost melted at the sight of his tight and sculpted abs, and those gorgeous toned arms, but I tried to contain myself. Why the hell would he ever think about wearing such a thing without fucking underwear to at least cover! My nervousness was slowly creeping up on me again, but it was only slightly. I knew everyone acknowledged the inappropriate shirt immediately, but it put my mind at ease for a while as they decided to ignore it. I silently thanked the angels.

We sat at the dinner table, me, Ryou, Miho, Akefia, and Marik. After much meaningless conversation that I couldn't help but drown out, Marik had touched my hand. It was a subtle touch but it made my heart beat radically and I couldn't help but smile at the Egyptian boy while he laughed and joked with my family. It was so relieving seeing how well he was getting along with my brothers, though I shouldn't have expected any less from the talkative boy. I couldn't believe how extremely nervous I was for introducing him, especially while he only knew the bad things I've said about my brothers. He seemed to completely let the facts go and actually took off his golden wrist bands around Akefia and left them in the kitchen to join the gang for a tennis match on the Wii.

The moment the blond and I had come to the conclusion that we would announce our relationship to our families was the moment when I truly came to understand how important Marik had become. How relevant he would be to every situation, every one of my problems. If I came home sad one evening, my brothers would immediately link it to me having problems with Marik, and it was going to be the same for him with his family as well. When I introduced Marik, Akefia was so glad to meet him, Ryou too. It just felt like the weight of the world has been lifted from my chest.

Marik dug into his food and finished it extremely quickly and I only realized this after I was finished my own meal. I touched his knee and he looked away from a chatting Miho to acknowledge me, giving me a huge smile. He didn't show one ounce of panic or tension. He simply placed his hand on mine and squeezed it a little, almost as if trying to comfort me. I had no idea what the dinner conversation had been about, but it seemed like it went rather well, especially when the next thing I knew was that I was sitting on the couch and watching Marik frantically swing the Wii console around, attempting to hit the tennis ball back into Miho's court.

"He's a good kid. Strange outfit, but a good kid nonetheless." Akefia said suddenly, a heavy arm dropping onto my shoulders as the weight of his body sank the couch slightly, "I approve."

"Thanks."

"What's wrong? You haven't said a word all night. Is it because you're jealous we took your boyfriend away from you?" Akefia winked.

I snorted and rolled my eyes, "No, idiot." I peered back at Marik and watched him sulk over being beaten. I chuckled, "I'm glad you guys like him. I really am."

"Yeah," The white haired adult nodded, "To be honest, I never thought Ryou would take the news lightly. Now look at him," We both watched as Ryou took Miho's controller and started up a bowling match, laughing with Marik as the blond struggled to roll the ball properly, "It's like they're long lost friends."

I snickered and nodded in agreement. I never thought Ryou would be comfortable with it either, but it just goes to show how much I've misjudged my brother. Even though he always acted like an innocent bastard around strangers to hide his true cruelty, he was being quite outgoing and friendly with Marik, which I smiled at.

"Hey, I challenge you next!" Marik pointed a finger at me.

I raised my eyebrows at his expression. He looked so happy. So extremely happy, panting with exhaustion and it made my heart pound. Before I knew it, Marik had grabbed both of my hands and hoisted me off the couch, the remote dangling from his wrist by the drawstring. He pulled me close to him and I felt full, wet lips against mine. When we parted, the room fell silent. My insides burned and a great nervousness washed over me once again when I realised everyone was staring at us in surprise. I looked back at Marik and saw he was still smiling, still happy, still breathless. I quickly got over our audience and slowly smiled, grabbing Marik's gorgeous face between my hands and kissing him back, a little more passionately.

"I like your brothers, and Miho too," Marik smiled, staring up at the ceiling, "It's a shame she and Ryo had to leave to get back to their residence so soon though."

We were both lying on my bed. God, how I missed my bedroom. It smelled a little girly from the cheap perfume Miho had sprayed everywhere, but I huddled closer to Marik to inhale his scent instead, to get every last bit of warmth engraved into my memory before he had to leave back home too. Marik was lying on his back while I was curled up on him, playing with the string of his lilac-coloured vest hoodie. An arm was scooped under my head, fingers tangled up in my hair, slowly drawing little designs through my locks.

"So all of you have the same hair? I've never seen so much white hair in one place at a time," He chuckled softly, "And Akefia... for someone who never goes outside, he sure as hell has a nice tan." He laughed.

I rolled my eyes but joined in and then moved my head back to look at the Egyptian's profile. He was so close to me, his warmth radiating from his skin. Long eyelashes patted his cheekbone as he blinked. Amethyst eyes glided over to look in my direction, and then his head moved. His lips were almost against mine as he smiled. He turned his body to face me and unwrapped his fingers from my hair to grab onto my hands. He glanced down at my lips and his smile softened. My insides instantly warmed at the gestures.

"This all feels so unreal, like I'm in a dream," He whispered, "I can't believe I get to be this close to you, to touch you," He ran a thumb over my knuckles and choked a laugh, "I sound so stupid, don't I?"

"Not at all," I whispered back, understanding and physically feeling his exact words, watching his eyes flicker back up to meet mine, "You stole the words right out of my mouth."

He took in a shaky breath and then nudged closer to kiss my lips ever-so-lightly, "Your lips taste like pasta, I forgot to mention before." He snickered.

"Your breath tastes like pasta," I chuckled and caught his lips once again, nibbling softly on his bottom lip before looked back at him, "I could just eat you."

He smiled and then brought one of my hands up to his mouth, kissing the inside of my palm lightly. I shuddered at the feeling and bit the insides of my cheeks. I watched as his eyes stared directly at me. I almost jumped when I felt a warm and wet cavern tighten around my index finger. My insides burned and so did my face. What the fuck was Marik doing!?

I was about to pull away until I heard a sweet and soft love sound escape Marik's lips. My entire body froze. Did he just... moan? I watched as the boy's eyes fluttered closed, continuing to suck on my finger, his tongue making tiny swirling circles around the flesh. It felt strangely... good. I couldn't understand why though, it was almost like Marik knew this would feel good. And by the look on Marik's face, how his eyebrows slanted upward in the centre and his cheeks crimson red, I knew he was enjoying this too.

By the time Marik stopped practically giving a blow job to my finger, the flesh was pruned. Marik's lips were tinted red and glistening with saliva. I didn't give it any time and quickly caught his beautiful mouth with my own. I had to admit that little fakey-blowy made me extremely aroused for some reason. I took Marik's hips and flattened him against the mattress, swinging my own leg over him and pressing my body against his. He moaned again. I smiled and took his wrists, pinning them above his head and watching his face twist up in lust. I hungrily licked my lips.

"You've been teasing me all night, you know that?" I growled, leaning down to kiss his burning neck, "I couldn't stop staring at your chest or your midriff and it's been driving me crazy." I peppered soft kisses across his collarbone and then released his wrists to fondle the zipper that held the soft lilac fabric together, "You don't even understand how many times I wanted to just rip this unfair vest off and have my way with you."

Marik didn't say a word, he just gnawed on his lip and watched me as I removed his vest. I pushed the fabric away from his chest and hummed in delight, diving down to kiss the soft and hard flesh of his chest. He whined a little, "I can't believe you're all mine."

"B-B-B-" Marik stuttered. I ignored the sounds and instead ran my tongue along his flesh, tasting the salt and sweet of his dark skin. Another wine, that was much louder than the last, erupted from Marik, "Bakura... p-please..."

My loins felt ablaze at the pleads as I began to trail lower, now to the spot that had been so eagerly staring me in the eye the entire night, "You're so nervous, it's really cute. Don't worry, I'll try to be gentle." The toned ripple of his abs, blushed, exposed. I pressed wet lips to it.

"W-wait, please. Stop, hold on a sec!" Marik squealed, hands roughly pushing my face away.

I immediately jumped back, away from his delicious skin. I stared at him with wide eyes, seeing the fear written across his face. I opened my mouth to say something, but then stopped when I noticed his hands were clasped around his mouth, his eyes glistening. Fuck.

"I-I'm so sorry. I'm so, so, very sorry, Marik," I said softly, slamming a palm to my forehead, "Fuck. I went too far again, didn't I?"

Marik didn't say anything, but at least he stopped himself from bursting out in tears. I sucked my bottom lip back into my mouth and then held out a hand. Marik took it without hesitation and I helped him sit up.

"N-no, I just..." Marik pressed his lips together, looking down at the sheets. "I... I really enjoyed that. I would have let you continue, but..." I raised my eyebrows and stared at him. Wait... what? He had a small, sad smile on his face, "I just... it's not the right time."

I nodded assuringly and smiled softly. He looked back at me and bit his lip.

"Maybe one day... when we're alone..." He said quietly, glancing toward the door. I immediately understood.

"He's not going to be leaving for a while," I sighed. It was the truth after all, "He hasn't left the house in over two years."

"Wow... that brings me right back to the whole him being so tan thing," He chuckled lightly. I rolled my eyes and grinned. "So about as long as I've been living here then." Marik said softly.

Right. Marik moved to Domino around two years ago, when I was too stubborn to get to know what kind of boy he really was and relied on nothing but rumours and first impressions. From Egypt all the way to Japan. What a journey... Then it occurred to me.

Egypt.

I let go of the boy and then touched my chest. The hard, ring-like pendant that hung around my neck... Marik brought it here from Egypt. I almost completely forgot about it. I quickly unzipped my sweater, pulling the dreamcatcher out from it and showing it to Marik. The blond smiled.

"You gave this to me," I stated, "You bought it in Egypt, your homeland, and gave it to me."

Marik nodded slowly, his eyes looking at me peculiarly.

"Ever since I've had it in my house, Akefia stopped having nightmares."

Marik smiled and shrugged, "It's a dreamcatcher, that's what it's supposed to do."

"Ever since I've had it around my neck, I've grown more attached to you."

Marik's smile faded, "You seem upset about that."

"No, not at all, but that's the thing; ever since I started wearing it, things have gotten better for me! People started complimenting me, Miho and I grew a stronger relationship, Tea forgave me for being an asshole, Mrs. Koa actually let me retake my math test, even Ryou started becoming nicer. And Akefia hasn't had a single nightmare since this thing came into our house!"

The blond stared at me for a while, eyes wide. And then a slow smile crept across his face and a skeptical eyebrow rose, "Are you sure that wasn't just coincidence?"

"Absolutely not! My life was in the shitter before, and now everything's finally turning around for me because of this thing!" I grabbed his shoulders.

He pressed his lips together, "Well, do you not believe in magic?"

"Magic?" I asked, letting his shoulders go, "Depends. If you mean like wizardry or something like that, then no."

"Really?" He frowned, "Cuz that dreamcatcher's magic, you know."

"Please, Marik," I rolled my eyes and smiled.

"I'm serious!" He furrowed his eyebrows, "You don't want to upset the ancient Egyptian Gods who put their very souls into that necklace, do you now?" He made ghost fingers at me that tickled against my bare arm.

"Stop it!" I laughed and playfully swatted him away.

"Okay, okay," He laughed and smiled at me. Then he cleared his throat and tucked a piece of golden hair behind his ear, "I had a lot of fun tonight, just to let you know."

I smiled back, "Good, I'm glad." I took in a deep breath and then blew it out slowly, "I had to admit I was pretty nervous."

"Yeah, you were shaking like a fucking leaf," He snorted, "But you should know by now that I have a way with people."

I rolled my eyes and tackled him, pushing him back onto the bed. I leaned over him, smiling. I kissed his lips tenderly before pulling away and brushing some soft hair from off his forehead. His beautiful face crimsoned a little, but he moved my long hair over to one shoulder and traced the layers with his eyes. I knew he was thinking about something, but I couldn't tell what. All I knew was that there was something I had to do before he went back home, and his very calming pet of my hair made my nerves dance.

"I got you a little something," I said with a cheeky smile. Marik raised an eyebrow and his smile quickly vanished when I crawled off him.

"Please don't tell me it's payback for the dreamcatcher, because I already told you I don't expect anything ba-" He quickly silenced himself when I pulled whatever it was I had hiding in the top drawer of my dresser. He was frighteningly quiet when I turned around to show him the brilliant blue water lily that was wrapped preciously with thin paper, a pale yellow ribbon tightened around it.

"I did a little research on flowers in the library and decided I'd get you this one, even though it's fake," I shrugged, "The Nymphaea caerulea, or otherwise known as the blue water lily, had a big connection to Egyptian culture in the past. It was a very popular flower, obviously beautiful too. It's said that, to the Egyptians, this flower was a representation of rebirth, the sun, and creation. To me, that's you, Marik." I approached the surprised and somewhat awestruck boy with nervous and shaky courage, holding out the flower to him. He slowly and silently took it with careful hands, looking down at it with fragile eyes on the verge of tears. "Undo the ribbon." I said quietly.

I could see the hesitation in Marik's movements as he stared at me for a while and then looked back down at the flower, unravelling the thin ribbon with utmost care. He took the ribbon off and then placed one of his hands around his mouth as he saw what was on the paper, choking on what I thought to be a laugh. I smiled sweetly at him as he began to cry, leaving the flower on his lap and covering his face from me again. I hated it when he did that. It was almost like he was ashamed of crying.

"You are my water lily, Marik Ishtar, and I would be honoured if you would join me as my date to senior year prom." I said quietly.

He didn't stop crying but his head was bobbing up and down slowly. I took it as a yes and smiled wider. I knelt down in front of him and ran my fingers along his hands. He removed them slightly to see me before stretching his lips into a larger-than-life smile.

"Yeah," He whispered, nodding again and dropping his damp hands to touch my face, "I would love to go with you."

We sealed it with a gentle hug and a small kiss before tearing away to look at each other. It was so comforting now, looking at him. The nervousness ran out of my body as fluently as a river.

AN: ONE MORE CHAPTER TO GO! I hope you guys enjoyed that! Reviews are lovely as usual! :3