(A/N: FINA-FUCKING-LLY. I AM SO EFFING SORRY, YOU GUYS. I HAVEN'T UPDATED SINCE APRIL 10TH. APRIL 10TH. THAT WAS MORE THAN TWO MONTHS AGO. NOT EVEN MY GREATEST APOLOGIES WILL MAKE UP FOR IT, BUT I AM STILL VERY TRULY DEEPLY SORRY. I HOPE YOU CAN FORGIVE ME AND STILL READ THIS EVEN THOUGH THIS AUTHORESS IS LIKE, AN ASSHOLE. PLEASE FORGIVE ME, GUYS. I'VE BEEN SO FOCUSED ON OTHER FANDOMS THAT I FORGOT ABOUT OUR DEARIES. I'LL TRY TO WRITE BETTER AND FASTER. I JUST FINISHED WRITING THIS 'CAUSE I'M ACTUALLY AT A HOTEL ROOM AT THE BEACH WITH WIRE INTERNET AND I HAD TO FINISH BEFORE MY MOM TOOK THE INTERNET AWAY FROM ME.

Now, uh, WARNINGS: 'Mini-me' makes no appearance here 'cause I sort of focused on Yugi, mostly. Nervous!Puzzleshipping, ah... FLUFF. Incredible amounts of fluff, I think. It's short, so sorry about that. D: Uh, what else... OH, YEAH. PROGRESS. LIKE, REAL PROGRESS. Read for yourselves to see what that means!

We all know the Disclaimer, but still, Yu-Gi-Oh! does not belong to me. Neither do the characters. Enjoy! And if you left a review, it'd mean the world to me! HOPE YOU LIKE IT!)

Chapter 11

The first time Yugi hears Yami say he's in love with him, Yami doesn't tell him.

Well, not directly.

Three nights ago, Yami had another dream with Yugi, except this one wasn't as happy as the one where they'd danced together. No, this one was actually tragic. So tragic and so scary and so freaking real that Yami woke up crying. In his dream, he didn't really know what happened, but Yugi was gone. He was on a hospital bed with a crying Yami by his side and then he was gone. When Yami managed to calm his nerves and swallow the enormous lump on his throat, he took his cell phone and called Yugi, not even realizing it was past two in the morning.

"Hello?" a sleepy voice answered.

"Yugi? Hey, it's Yami," he said, trying not to burst into tears because it was just a dream.

"Hey, what's up?"

Why was Yugi so nice? He didn't get angry at him because of how late (or early) it was, didn't question why he was calling. He took it as if it were just another 'just wanted to say hi' kinda call.

"Look, um," Yami started, wiping at his face because he could feel the tears starting to sting again. "I, uh… I had this really, really bad dream and… I-I just, um… I just wanted to, y'know, make sure you were okay."

"Yeah, I'm okay," Yugi answered him, complete understanding in his voice. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

"Do… er, do you mind if we… if we just talk, for a while? I-I'm still sort of shaken by the whole thing."

"No, it's cool." So they both stayed awake, talking to one another for an entire hour before Yami was calm enough to go to sleep. And all the time they talked, Yami held the glass flower Yugi had made for him in his hand.

In the morning, he had a revelation. He realized that Yugi wouldn't always be around, as neither would he. I'm in love with him, he thought, staring at himself in the mirror. But I have to tell him before it's too late. He'd seen all those stories of people who loved someone and lost that person before being able to confess their love, and he didn't want his case to be like that.

So, three days later at school, he invites Yugi to come over after class in hopes that he can finally express his feelings towards his best friend.

Once they're at Yami's place, Yami excuses himself for a second and runs up to his room, panic starting to set in his bones. How the heck is he supposed to confess to his best friend? He can't just go up to him and say "I'm in love with you, please go out with me"! Well, um… he guesses that maybe he can sort of… sort of practice what to say…?

Yami stands in front of his mirror, hoping that his parents know him well enough to realize he's having this sort of panic attack and that he's going to need them to distract his best friend.

Turns out—his mother is the one that realizes his plan. He finds this out later on, and he decides not to question it anymore. Mothers know, after all.

Chiyoko's at the kitchen, and she asks Yugi to please help her wash the dishes, which he gladly does.

"Is something wrong with Yami?" he asks Mrs. Atemu.

"No, darling, don't worry," she answers, a knowing smile across her lips. "Maybe he wants to give you something for the flower you gave him. It's beautiful, by the way, you have a great gift for crafts."

Yugi laughs nervously and blushes. "H-he showed it to you?"

"He did," Chiyoko says. "You might not know this, Yugi," she tells him as she finishes her stew, "but Yami's come a long way thanks to you. Your friendship means the world to him. He's changed for the better, Yugi." She turns to look at the boy whose expression shows he would've never guessed the effect he's had on his best friend. "And I want to personally thank you for helping my boy this much."

Yugi has no idea of what to say. He feels the sting of the tears on his eyes, but he subtly wipes his face so that Yami's mom doesn't see him cry. Of course he knows Yami considers their friendship a big deal, but he didn't know that he'd helped him the way Chiyoko says. He was just… being a good friend.

"Dear," the woman speaks again, snapping Yugi out of his thoughts. She's looking out at the hallway leading upstairs. "Will you terribly mind telling Yami that dinner's almost ready?"

The boy nods his head and walks upstairs to Yami's room.

And right when he's about to knock on the closed door, he hears his best friend's voice clearly saying, "Yugi, I… I'm in love with you."

And he stops dead on his tracks.

What?

"No, don't just drop the bomb!" Yami cries to himself, completely unaware that his best friend is on the other side of the door and oh, God, was that a confession? Is Yami really in love with him? He's not dreaming? Is this actually reality? "Do you wanna scare him away? Think, Yami, think! Don't be so harsh! Geez…"

He opens the door before Yugi has the chance to run back downstairs.

They're standing face to face. Yugi's blushing, and Yami's about to ask him if he's okay when a sudden realization smacks him on the head.

Yugi was at his door.

Yugi was at his door when he was practicing.

Yugi heard Yami practicing.

Uh-oh.

"U-um," Yugi says, looking down at the floor because he just can't hold Yami's gaze. "Y-your mom says d-dinner's almost ready."

He tends to walk away, he really does, but he finds Yami's hand holding his own, stopping him from escaping like he really wants to. He turns his eyes back to Yami's, and he finds confusion, desperation, hope, and caring all at once in the crimson orbs.

"Yugi," he says, swallowing like he can't breathe. "I… I meant it. What I said in there, I-I meant it, okay? I didn't know how to tell you, but it's the truth. A-and I…" He gulps again, and Yugi realizes he's swallowing back sobs, but he lets Yami finish. "I c-completely understand if you… if you just want us to be friends, and I'm fine with it! I really am! I just… just needed to tell you, but you, y-you don't have to say anything, okay? Just… I… yeah."

And he lets go of Yugi's hand and scratches his hair, not sure if it's out of relief or frustration or something.

They just stand there, without looking at each other, without saying a thing. Yugi doesn't know what to do, because wow. That really, really did happen. Why is he just standing there? He orders himself to say something, to say that he's in love with his best friend, too—to say that he's just as scared but he wants to risk it, because he knows that even if it turned out that they're not made for one another, they'd still be friends; nothing would ever be able to ruin their friendship.

His mouth is forming the words before he realizes it.

"Me too."

Yami looks up at him expectantly, hopefully, worriedly. God, have his eyes always been so dark red—so beautiful?

"C-come again?"

"Me too," Yugi repeats, small tears forming at the corners of his eyes. "I… I'm also in love with you."

The next ten seconds happen in a flash. Yugi is suddenly overcome by Yami's arms wrapping around him, pulling them flush against each other, and he carries him and twirls him around in joyful laughter; they're both laughing so loudly that Mrs. Atemu can surely hear them all the way down to the kitchen.

They stop twirling. Yami's hands rest on Yugi's back gently, and the boy can hear the question the gesture asks: Will you go out with me?

Yugi's arms snake around Yami's waist, and he returns the hug, answering with Yes. Yes, I'd love to.

Downstairs, Chiyoko smiles to herself as she finishes setting up the table.

(A/N: WHO WANTS TO DANCE WITH ME? HUH? HUH? WE FINALLY GOT THEM TOGETHER, GUYS! SWEET BOY KISSES WILL BE COMING UP SOON, I PROMISE!

BTW, please let me know what you think! Looking back on it, I'm not really sure, but please share your thoughts! I'd love to know what you thought of it! :D And thank you for the amazing support you've given me, guys, seriously, I wouldn't be who I am without you. And this is gonna sound creepy, but I love you guys. I love you for having faith in this even when I myself doubt it sometimes. I. LOVE. YOU. ALL. Thank you!)