Last week's chapter ending:
Both cars came to rest fifty feet from the massive, rocky drop off known as The Point. For the first few moments, no movement could be seen from either occupant in the wrecked cars, and then a small figure emerged from the totaled Firebird. Yugi stumbled once, regained his balance and threading his hands through his hair, he screamed as loud as he could, even though his voice was shot from earlier tortured screams.
~ o ~ O ~ o ~
As far as Yugi could tell, the occupant of the other car was dead, he was so still. The traumatized teen took off as fast as he could towards the drop off. He had just killed the one person that he thought the world of. His life wasn't worth living now, even if it had been before. He deserved to die a painful, slow, agonizing death for what he had just done.
Atemu moved his head slowly; his entire left side hurting from the impact. He could see the steam rising from under the Firebird's hood, and from the left side of his own wrecked car. He could smell the coolant, the lifeblood of the engine, leaking out of both cars. At the smaller boy's heart wrenching scream, he looked out what was left of the Challenger's windshield to see Yugi running towards the cliff.
"Shit!" Atemu exclaimed as he climbed over the glass filled seat and out the passenger side door. Cutting his hand in the process. Taking off at a dead run, he used what was left of his strength to catch up to the boy ahead of him. Ten feet before the drop off, he managed to snag a hold of the boy's shirt from behind, and jerk him back. Causing both boys to fall to the ground, Atemu taking the brunt of the fall, to roll over on top of the smaller boy.
"Whatever the hell you are thinking, DON'T!" He snarled, panting harshly, taking Yugi by the shoulders and shaking him. "I will not allow you to take away the only person that I have come to care for in this miserable, fucked up life! I ought to turn you over my knee for this shit! You're worth more than this!" Atemu freaked out. His renowned temper had taken control.
Yugi stilled, amethyst eyes wide with fright. Slightly amazed that the one he loved was alive. He hadn't killed his lover after all. As happy as he was to see that Atemu was still among the living, the look in the racer's exotic crimson eyes was downright intimidating. Yugi swallowed thickly, whispering "You wouldn't dare."
"Watch me." Atemu growled low in his throat.
Yugi kicked out, surprising the other boy enough to push him off, and started heading in the other direction as fast as he could. He only got a few feet before Atemu stopped him again. Spinning the smaller teen around, the older boy lifted him up and threw him over his shoulder, pointedly ignoring the small fists pounding on his back, as well as the cries to be put down.
"You don't think so?" Atemu growled. Spying one of the boulders that littered the Cliffside, he headed in that direction, still hauling his slight baggage. He set the younger boy roughly down on his feet, sat down on the rock and pulled the struggling teen over his lap, face down.
Undoing the buttons on the boy's jeans with one hand as he held him in place with the other, he snarled. "Your grandfather trusted me to look after you! I'll be damned if your going to commit suicide on my watch!"
Pushing the pants down around the struggling teen's knees, he continued ranting, his voice gravelly and strained with unshed tears. "I don't know what caused this, but you will not, I REPEAT, WILL NOT take away the one person that I care for!" Each word punctuated by a sharp slap to the squirming teen's backside.
Atemu worked his little one over with the palm of his hand as the tears streamed down his face at the thought of what the boy had just attempted to do. After a few minutes where the only sound to break the silence was the sound of flesh striking flesh, and the quiet sobs of the one being struck, Yugi cried out "STOP! Oh please stop!"
Atemu, still in a rage, stopped suddenly, hauling the trembling boy to his feet. Without letting go of Yugi's arm, he reached down and yanked his pants back up to their previous position.
"… (hic)!" Yugi shied away from his touch, but Atemu wasn't quite finished with him. Grasping the small teen's chin, he forced his captive to face him, claiming the boy's already bruised lips in a desperate kiss. Sliding his tongue inside when Yugi gasped.
The taller racer ended the kiss, pulling away to catch his breath. As reality came back to him, he noticed that his little one was trembling violently in his arms, sobbing as if his life had actually ended. And it broke his heart to hear the boy so distressed.
"Oh god! What have I done?" Atemu came back to his senses, as he wrapped his arms around his little love, attempting to soothe the one that he had wronged.
Picking the smaller racer up into his arms, Atemu lowered himself stiffly to the ground, mindful of his tender left side as he leaned back against the rock that he had perched on earlier. Running a hand through the boy's inky black locks, Atemu whispered "I'm so sorry little one. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it. God damn it! You know better than to pull a stunt like that. What the hell happened tonight? Why in hell would you even think that this world is better off without you? Is this life so bad that you have to try and take yourself out?"
"L-let m-me go! I-I don't w-want to talk about it!" Yugi was pushing against his captor with all his might. Trying to escape the hold he had been placed in. As was the case earlier, he couldn't budge the hands that held him in their grasp.
"Yugi, my god! Whatever it is, it can't be that bad! We're not going anywhere until you tell me what happened!" Atemu gritted his teeth, using all his strength to subdue the violently struggling teen in his arms.
After a few moments, the smaller boy's struggles subsided and he collapsed in on himself, gigantic sobs racking his body. Exhausted as he was, he knew he couldn't keep fighting. His head hurt, his chest where the seat belt had caught him, hurt, and his backside really hurt! On top of that, the smaller boy liked the way that the other's arms felt around him, like he was safe, protected. Even if he was pissed off at his older counterpart.
Atemu noticed that the boy was tiring. He loosened his hold a little and started rocking them back and forth, whispering in a low soothing tone to calm his little one.
"It's okay little one. Shhhh. I'm right here. Whatever it is, you can tell me. I swear no one else will know. And no one will hate you for whatever it is that happened. I know this isn't about your family. Whatever is bothering you so bad, you need to get it out of your system." He soothed, realizing that he had hit a sore spot with his comment as Yugi stiffened in his arms.
Resting a hand on the younger racer's cheek, he tilted the boy's face so that they were eye to eye. "That's it isn't it? You're afraid that someone will find out your secret and hate you for it. Who, Aibou? Who do you think is going to hate you? And why do you think they're going to hate you?"
Yugi turned away until Atemu caught his chin and turned his head back towards him. Looking into frightened amethyst eyes, the racing icon murmured, "I promise that no matter how bad it is, if you talk about it…it gets better. I swear. Someone needs to share the burden. Please let me be the one. Nothing you can do would make me hate you, honest. Let me in, Yugi. Things can't get any worse than they already are. Let me share your burden."
Shaking violently, Yugi held tight to Atemu's shirt, tears flowing steadily down his face. "Y-yes they c-can. P-please don't…don't tell anyone. I-I don't want anyone to…to know!"
Atemu wrapped his arms around the smaller teen. "I promise, little one. Now tell me what happened. Did you lose a race?" The older teen tried to joke.
Yugi burst into fresh tears at his comment, turning his face away.
"You're joking, right? Tell me you're joking and this wasn't because you lost a race!" Atemu could feel his temper rising.
"N-not j-just because I l-lost the race. I-I lost it t-to Ush…Ush..Ushio! I-I didn't know wh-what…what the stakes were when h-he challenged me. H-he wrecked my car…my baby, to win! Then h-he pulled m-me out o-of…the car…said that I was th-the prize! Oh god! H-he took m-me behind th-the dealership and…and he… he…I can't, I-I can't say it!" Yugi was so distraught he stumbled over the words.
Atemu's unconsciously tightened his hold on the boy; he knew where this was leading. He had heard it before. "Oh god little one! What did he do to you? Did he touch you?"
The older racer continued to rock them back and forth, running a hand through the boy's hair. "Yugi, did he rape you?"
One look into vulnerable amethyst eyes told Atemu a truth he did not want to face, as Yugi dissolved into tears. Holding his little one close to his heart, the racer tried to shield his lover from the truth.
"Oh little one, I'm so sorry!" Atemu cried as he rocked them. The tears that had dried earlier, now coming full force as he took in the truth that Yugi had just told.
The two boys stayed in that position for many minutes, just holding onto each other, until the smaller one was still, not sleeping, just still.
~ o ~ O ~ o ~
After a while, Atemu fumbled for his phone, not letting go of the young boy in his arms, who was staring out into nothing. Flipping the top, he gave a sigh of relief when he found that not only was the phone still working, but it had a strong signal.
Hitting speed dial, he called Seto. "High Priest! Thank god! I need you to round up Jou and the others. Jou's probably out on the strip…oh, he found you guys? No, Yugi's not missing anymore. Look, I need you guys to pick up the tow truck from the garage and meet us out here at The Point. There's been an accident…Thanks. I'll see you in a few."
Setting the phone on the ground, Atemu went back to trying to bring his smaller lover out of his catatonic state. Just talking about anything and everything that came to his mind, as he waited for the gang to show up. Over and over came the words that he had left unsaid when they had made love in the Challenger. But he doubted that his little one even heard them.
"I love you little one."
Only fifteen minutes had passed before the crew showed up at The Point. But to Atemu it had felt like a lifetime. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the flashing yellow beacon on top of Solomon's tow truck.
"Over here!" He called to his friends, waving them towards the wreckage. As if they could have missed the two mangled cars that were near the drop off. He picked the smaller boy up with him and started towards the tow truck.
Jou was first to climb out of the big diesel. "What the hell happened here?"
"I was going to ask the same question, pup." Seto said as he spied the wreckage.
"Oh my god! Are you two okay?" Ryou came flying out of Jou's Camaro that he and Bakura had driven to the sight.
"Hehe, and I thought I was the only one who could wreck a car like that!" Bakura exclaimed as he beheld the two tangled cars.
Ryou elbowed his boyfriend in the stomach. "That's enough of that! Are you guys okay?"
"Calm down. We're fine. But I think we still need to go and get checked out." Atemu guaranteed the group that the injuries were minor. In reality, he wanted Yugi to be checked at the hospital for other reasons.
"NO!" Yugi cried, squirming to get away from the one who held him.
"We're both going. I'll be there the whole time. It will be okay, Aibou." Atemu assured his little one.
"I-I don't want to go." Was the quiet reply.
"Yeah, well, I think I agree with Atemu on this Yug. That's one hell of a wreck. I'll take you guys there. Let's go, these guys can clean this mess up without our help." Jou said as he walked to his car.
Atemu bundled himself and Yugi into the small backseat of the Camaro, unwilling to relinquish his hold on his diminutive lover. The whole way to the hospital he tried to soothe the boy with his words and his touch.
Lying uncomfortably on the examining table, his feet in the stirrups as the doctor examined the damage, Yugi held tight to his lover, grateful for any small amount of support through this humiliating ordeal. He whimpered lightly as cold, gloved fingers probed his insides, searching for more damage.
Atemu had pretty much forced him to come in and get checked out. Jou had gone back out to help the others, as there was no need for him to sit in the waiting room for an undetermined amount of time. The older racer said that he would call him when they were released. What he did not say, was how the accident had happened in the first place. And no amount of prying on the blonde's part could get him to talk about it, so the subject was dropped, for now.
When Yugi's regular doctor had seen the pair of beat up look-a-likes, she ushered them into a private room, forcibly extracting as much of the story as she could from the exhausted pair. After that, with Atemu's help, she forced the younger racer onto the table, covered him with a sheet and proceeded to poke and prod at his earlier injuries.
"Oh Yugi! Honey, hold still, I'm almost finished. I know it hurts, but you need to stay strong, it's almost over." She tried to soothe the younger racer.
Atemu ran a damp washcloth over his small lover's sweaty brow as the boy shivered and shook from the trauma. "It'll be okay Aibou. I'm right here."
"I don't get it. Was that great oaf drunk or something? He could have caused a lot more damage than this. Thank god he didn't! But I still don't get it. It's very clear that he didn't use any lubrication. That jackass left friction burns on your thighs! I do see where he managed to penetrate once or twice. That I can tell from the reopened tear." Yugi's doctor listed the damage that was done.
"Yugi, honey, did he use a condom?"
Yugi nodded at her question. Face flaming, as tears ran down his cheeks.
"If I swab for semen, am I going to find that you've had sex previously? Sorry honey, standard question, I have to ask."
This time it was Atemu who answered. "Yes. We had sex about a week ago. He's never been with anyone else, and I can testify to that! Is there a problem?"
"No, no problem. Just something the police need to know in order to press charges."
"NO! No charges! I-I can't do it!" Yugi sobbed, trembling as the weight of her words hit him. There was no way on earth that he could face the massive teen from across a courtroom. Not with lawyers picking apart every piece of his life.
"Oh honey, why? This man raped you, he beat you! Why don't you want to press charges? I see the black and blue marks he left on your buttocks, as well as the shiner he gave you. He needs to be locked up!" The doctor protested to Yugi's decision.
Atemu cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Actually, uh, I was the one who spanked him."
Yugi's face turned a flaming red when his lover spoke up, but he didn't comment.
The taller racer flinched visibly from the glare that he received from the older woman. "I have no excuse; my temper got the better of me. I'm sorry."
"Yugi honey, I've got some scrubs that will fit you; they're here on the chair. I'm finished, so me and Yami are going to go outside and have a chat while you get dressed, okay?" His doctor was still glaring at Atemu as she threw the gloves in the bin and motioned him towards the door.
"Come with me."
"I'll be right outside the door, Aibou. You will be fine." Atemu kissed the boy's forehead and walked out of the room with the doctor right behind him.
Once outside of Yugi's hearing, the doctor rounded on the older boy. "How could you? I ought to report you for abuse!"
"And maybe you ought to hear the whole story first!" Atemu snapped back. "I know there's no excuse for what I did. But I didn't know the whole story, either, when I did it!"
He ran his hand through his thick hair, making it stand on end even more so than before. "Look, all I knew was that I had just barely stopped him from killing himself. And it wasn't one of those 'I'm going to cut myself or take a bunch of pills' type of attempts. He tried to drop his car off of The Point! I totaled two cars tonight. I was hurt and sore, and he was still trying to kill himself. So I did what I felt I had to! I found out why after everything was said and done, but I can't change the past." He finished quietly.
Crossing her arms over her chest, the doctor peered at him over her glasses. "Well, that kind of puts a different spin on things. It doesn't excuse your behavior, but I can understand. It had better not happen again, though. That poor boy has enough people making his life hell."
Atemu nodded. "So long as he doesn't pull another stunt like that again, I can guarantee it won't!"
"Then let's get back in there. He should be dressed by now, and wondering what is taking so long. I still need to check you over yet, and get his prescription before you leave."
After having his left side x-rayed, a couple of stitches in his hand and his wrist put in a splint (that was coming off the moment he got in the car) for the next few days, Atemu helped Yugi deal with the police. Yugi was still insistent on not pressing charges. It was around one in the morning before they were allowed to leave the hospital, Yugi's doctor having filled a prescription for an antibiotic cream to help heal the wounds and given him a couple of pills to take the edge off the shock.
By that time, Jou and the others had cleared away the wreckage. Both ruined cars were now safely in the garage, to be dealt with at a later time. The blonde picked up the two exhausted teens at the entrance to the hospital.
"I still don't understand how that happened. What the hell were you two doing out there?" Jou scratched his head, giving the pair the evil eye. "Cause I don't want to say what it looked like to me."
"I-it was my fault Jou." Yugi spoke quietly.
"Yugi, you know you don't have to talk about this now if you don't want to. It's totally up to you." Atemu assured the boy.
"I know, b-but I think I need to. Thank you though." Came the response.
Yugi turned to his best friend, stating quietly. "I tried to drop the Firebird off the edge. Y…Atemu stopped me the only way he knew how."
Jou stopped the car in the middle of the road. "What the fuck? Why in the hell would you…"
"Jou! Enough! You haven't heard the whole story! He's fine now. He didn't go through with it. Yugi doesn't need anyone else giving him shit at the moment!" Atemu cut him off.
"Why don't you start with what happened to cause this, little one. Or do you want me to tell him so you don't have to?" Atemu questioned the boy.
Jou pulled the car into a vacant parking lot. He had a feeling he was going to need to listen closely to his little pal. "Go on."
"Ush…Ushio…he, he raped me! A-and made me sign a contract and he wrecked m-my car to win…and I signed that, and I was with him…Even though I didn't want to be! N-now I belong to him! I can't do this…Oh god what do I do?" Yugi fell apart as his crush held him tighter, trying to absorb some of his pain. The small boy trembled violently as he recounted what happened earlier in the night.
"He what? That son of a bitch! Wait till I get my hands on his sorry ass! He's mine!" Jou snarled.
"No!" Atemu snapped, locking eyes with Jou. "No. We'll deal with him later. Right now our only concern is Yugi! And I don't know about you, but to me he comes first. There'll be time to deal with him later."
Jou sighed, "You're right. I'm sorry, Yug. I wasn't there when you needed me."
Jou mentally kicked himself for not pulling away from his lover sooner. If he had been there, this wouldn't have happened…
"And don't start blaming yourself either! It happened, okay? If I could go back and change the past I would. But I can't. We just need to take this one day at a time." Atemu glared at the blonde. He had done the very same thing when he first found out what happened.
Jou sucked in a breath at the reprimand, putting the car back into gear, he said quietly. "You're right, sorry. Yug, man, don't worry about a thing. We'll take care of you. Okay?"
The small racer nodded. After everything that had happened in the past few months, especially tonight's episode, he was left feeling numb and drained. Laying his head on his crush's shoulder, he let the pills that his doctor gave him work their magic and lead him off to a hollow, drifting sleep.
As the car pulled into the drive at their house, Atemu's eyes softened as he glanced at his sleeping lover, before he gently picked the boy up and carried him into the house. His little one had been through so much; it was a wonder that the boy was still sane. Just when he thought that the smaller racer was going to come out of his shell, something else would cause him to curl back in on himself. Adjusting his light burden, he opened the door and made his way into the living room.
"I'll let you inform the others of what occurred. Right now I'm going to put him to bed, and stay with him in case he wakes up. We need to try and act as normal as possible if we want him to pull through this. He's strong, but I think he's going to need our help with this."
"Right, gotcha!" Jou replied. "Hey, I'm sorry about earlier. I just…I don't know how to deal with this type of shit."
Atemu turned back to his friend. "It's okay. I'm sorry I snapped. I've seen this type of thing before, so I know at least some of what's to come. I'll see you tomorrow. For now we're going to go get some rest."
Mounting the stairs to the bedrooms, Atemu mused over the idea of having Ryou talk to the boy. The white haired crew chief had made it through his own personal hell many years before. And once again, a couple of months ago. Maybe he could guide Yugi through his. Laying his petite lover gently on the bed, he curled up beside him, as the boy turned towards the warmth and comfort he offered.
The racing icon hadn't closed his eyes but five minutes before he heard the soft footfalls of his friends entering the room. Cracking one tired crimson eye open, he took in the worried faces of Ryou, Bakura, Seto and Jou.
"Hey, guys. It's been one hell of a week, hasn't it?" Atemu attempted to smile.
Ryou answered him. "Yeah, it has. Look, I just want you to know that anything, and I mean anything, we'll do it. All you have to do is ask. He may be your lover, but he's my best friend! And I wouldn't wish my nightmare on anyone, let alone him."
"Yeah, he's my best friend too! I don't know what to do? But I swear that I will help out! I'll do anything you ask. I just…why? Why did this have to happen to him? He's so caring and he'll do anything for anyone… He's so little! Why him?" Jou's voice started to crack as the tears ran down his face.
Seto held his lover as he was overcome with emotions that he couldn't deal with. "The squirt is my friend too. We'll help in any way we can."
"I just want to know if we're going to go looking for payback. When he gets back on his feet." Bakura added, already pissed off at the person who dared to hurt his lover's best friend.
"There's my rock. I so love you at this moment!" Ryou smiled sadly as he patted his boyfriend on the arm.
"Mark my words. There will be hell to pay when he's back to himself. Don't even doubt it for a minute." Atemu growled low. He pulled back when the tone of his voice cause the sleeping boy beside him to stir, uncomfortably.
Changing his tone, he asked Ryou. "I hate to bring this up, but could you talk to him tomorrow? I know you don't like to talk about the past, but I have a feeling that he needs to know he's not alone. Please?"
The smaller white haired boy sighed loudly. "I had a feeling that you would ask. And yes, I'm prepared to talk about what happened. I'll help as much as I can. Oh, and when he goes in to take a shower in the morning, you're gonna want to pull him out after a few minutes. Cause he's probably going to try to scrub his skin off, trying to get rid of the feeling of what happened."
"Thanks Ryou. You are a treasure! I'll remember that." Atemu nodded as he started to drift off to sleep. He was still sore, and now that the shock and adrenaline wore off, it was hard to keep his eyes open.
"We'll leave you two alone. See you in the morning." Seto waved as he guided the group out of the room and shut the door quietly behind them. Letting the two racers get some much needed rest.
~ o ~ O ~ o ~
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