"What are you doing here?" hung accusingly in the air. Since Tristan's outburst nothing else had been said, but all eyes sat warily upon Joey.
"There isn't an easy way to explain this, but if you're willing to hear me out first I promise to answer as much answers as I can."
Yugi's eyes roved Joey up and down, taking in his stance and how he favored one leg over the other. Understanding that standing stiffly for the last 10 minutes or was not good for Joey's still recovering injuries he motioned towards a chair.
"You can sit down over there, this sounds like it might take a while"
Smiling his thanks at Yugi, Joey took the offered seat. "The story isn't going to take long since, there isn't much to tell. By the way, hi Tea…I'm guessing that you got into your school in New York."
Seeming to be at a loss for words, all she did was nod and send a small smile.
Taking in a deep breath, Joey leaned forward until his elbows sat upon his thighs, before recounting what little he remembered, omitting his cuddles with Seto, and the odd encounter with Sky. "And, now we're back to me entering, which you guys know about."
"So you're saying that you woke up thinking you're still 18?" Questioned Yugi in awe. "No wonder you phoned the store…I'm so sorry, I just didn't know what to take of it, and you never called back…I don't even have any of your numbers. I should have tried harder to get in contact with you again." His awe had quickly turned into a frantic apology that had Joey quickly standing out of his seat trying to calm the man down.
"No no! It wasn't your fault, knowing what I know now, I understand! Serenity told me that I stopped talking to you guys. Man I must have been a huge jerk."
"Yeah you were but that didn't stop us from wanting to know if you were ok…we thought of visiting you at the hospital but we just didn't think that you would appreciate it…." Came Tristan's tentative response.
"I just hope you don't do that again." All floundering stopped at Tea's words. "Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that you want to re-connect with us, but understand that although you forgot that you pushed us aside and lived your own life, we didn't. I just hope that if or when you do get your memories back, you don't just abandon us once more."
All eyes turned towards Joey, as the friendly atmosphere that had started to rise dissipated. Pushing his hands as deep into his pant pockets as possible, Joey looked made eye contact with everyone in the room, including Tea, as he responded.
"I can't guarantee that when I get my memory back I won't push myself away from you guys. I don't even know what happened for me to do that. If I do get my memories back I'll try my best to communicate what went wrong, but if I don't try I give you permission to give me a good beating. All I can say is that right now I can't think of a time without you guys in it." The glare both Yami and Duke sent his way, had Joey curving into himself as his hands fisted further into his pockets. "I know that you guys will need to think this through, but if you feel that you still want to be friends with me I'll leave you my number and address…" Awkwardly taking out a receipt and pen, Joey wrote his information on it before leaving the store.
No one tried to stop him.
*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*
A hard pounding from the door startled him out of his thoughts. Taking off his glasses before rubbing his eyes; Joey got up and out of his office to see who was at the door. He stumbled a bit in the darkness of his house.
After having left the game shop and getting to bed, the nervous energy of not knowing if the gang was going to give him a second chance or not, chassed away his sleep. After a few hours of tossing and turning in bed, He finally gave up and decided to work.
Joey opened the front door to see Tristan, Yugi, Yami, and Duke solemnly starting at him.
Making eye contact, Yami stated, "you went out of your way to try to make mends with us, so this is us returning the favor."
Not knowing how to react, Joey stepped out of the way to let them in. Joey could almost believe that this was a normal visit; if it wasn't for the fact that the group stood awkwardly in different parts of his living room. Happiness coursed through his veins, yet logic told him to wait and see how this visit went.
"Umm…Hi. Wow, I didn't expect to hear back from you so soon. I don't know what to say, well you can make yourselves at home…do you want tea...or Coffee?"
"Tea would be nice, but we don't want to disturb you. We know it's a little early…but we figured if we…see friends stick together and we agreed that we want you to be a part of our lives." Yugi finished a little breathless and forceful as he balled his fists within his jacket pockets.
Yami put a comforting hand on Yugi's shoulder, which seemed to calm the man.
Tristan finally spoke up. "We want you in our lives Joey. We didn't choose for you to leave them in the first place…but we're willing to work things out. We've missed you…"
Rushing to calm things Joey was quick to accept the offer of friendship.
"You're not disturbing me at all. I was already awake, working on some files. I want you to be a part of my life, and want to be part of yours. You have never needed an excuse to visit me, and you won't ever need one."
Yugi gave him a small smile in return, while Tristan nodded.
Trying to make things less awkward, Joey quickly offered a tour of his place, which ended in his office.
"No way is this your place, man. It's too clean." Stated Tristan once having made himself at home behind Joey's desk. "Your selves actually have books! Not just mangas covered with sleeves of smart books." The tension that had been following them through out the tour started to slowly dissipate. "I know this trick! I bet you've hidden them inside this fancy desk of yours. Which one, which one?"
Laughing at his antics, Joey let Tristan scavenger his desk as if it contained hidden treasure. It wasn't long before Yugi joined him.
"Dude! Are you some neat freak or what? This desk is too clean" Tristan went on to mumble more things to himself and Yugi as Joey tuned them out.
Moving to stand near Joey, Yami said, "You've done well. I just hope that this lasts," before Duke who had also leaned in and dropped his own two cents. "Yeah because if you hurt Tristan again, I swear having you wear that dog outfit will seem like a privilege."
In that instance Tristan let out a triumphant whoop. "Look what I found here! A black box, with a non-labeled disk in it! Naughty, naughty Mr. Wheeler, you shouldn't leave your porn in such obvious places."
Alarm bells went off in Joey's head at the sight of the DVD case. He had seen the box before, but only briefly when he first explored his own desk.
"You dumb nut, leaving the box in his home, inside his desk where only he has access to, is not out in the open." Duke informed his boyfriend, before heaving a disbelieving sigh. "You on the other hand, leave them in plain sight of anyone, in the living room, with the hard core cover out."
All Tristan seemed to be able to do was bug his eyes out as his face flamed up.
Not being able to contain himself any longer, Joey burst out laughing. "Oh man! Some things never change."
"What ever! This is Joey's stash." Before returning to rummage the desk drawers some more. "Dude, either this is the ultimate porno, or this is home porn, because this is your only tape…oh well lets watch it!"
The idea of watching what was on the disk raised panic within him. Deciding it was a self made tape, Joey quickly set out to change Tristan's mind.
"Why would you want to see me naked? What is it? Dice boy over there not keeping you busy enough?"
Tristan faulted a little but not enough to stop the dvd as it was pulled in by the computer's disk reader. "Oh well too late, guess we'll just have to see you naked now." Was Tristan's only answer as the screen went black and started playing the dvd.
In the middle of a lowly lit room was Serenity sitting under a light. Her feet were bound to the chair, her hands tied behind her back, and she was blindfolded. Tears were clearly running down her cheeks as the camera came to focus on her face.
"It's recording, say hi to your brother."
"Big brother? Joey? I don't know who these men are. They say dad owes them something, but he's dead…Please big brother! Help me!" No longer being able to contain her sobs, a large man came into the picture. He put his hand on her shoulder before leering at the camera.
"Hear that you little filthy street rat? Just because your old man died doesn't mean I won't get my money back. Either you start paying me back in full, or we'll have your little sister here, pay it back with her flesh. Men would pay a hefty buck for an untouched girl. Hey she might even be able to pay me back in less time than you could. Hehehe"
The room stood completely silent as the images and what had been said settled in the air.
"Serenity!" Reaching for his phone and dialing his sister was all he could do, without losing his mind. His father's debt collectors had kidnapped his sister no less!
"Hey big brother, how's it going? It's a bit early for you to call, but don't worry I won't forget to come visit you this week!"
Her laughter through the phone let him release the air he had been holding in. "Hey Reni. I just wanted ta hear ya voice, and make sure my pesky little sister wasn't planning on ditching me again." Her groan over the phone almost made him smile. "Anyway see you this Thursday. Now back to bed"
"Geeze you're the one that woke me up, it's not like something bad happened. Who even calls at this ungodly hour?" she grumbled a bit more before disconnecting.
"This video seems old. Joey, when did you receive it?" Yami was always first to act, and get down to the important logical thinking. Of course ruling a nation in his past life, might help with being in control of situations.
"I don' know…I don' member…My sis was kidnapped and man handled by dese damn men and I can't remember a damn ting! What if she was 'urt? What if she 'as just pretended ta be ok, cause I can't remember? What if she did pay with 'er flesh?! I don' know cause I can't member!"
"Joey! You need to calm down, screaming your confusion at us won't help anyone." Came Yugi's reassuring tone.
"Is there anyone that you would have told this to? Anyone who would know about Serenity's kidnapping?"
"I don't know…maybe my mother, but we've neva 'ad da best of relationships. It's all but severed now, and I can understand why. Of course she always says I'm not good for Reni…I got her freakin kidnapped!" Taking in a deep breath, Joey decided to think. Who would he have talked to this about? "Damn it! Dat fuck'n damn bastard is going to get 'is damn dick ripp'd off! The damn jerk probably know bout dis!"
"Kaiba?"
'No! Ma damn dad! Damn bastard probably died wit a smile on 'is face! 'e left 'is damn loan sharks ta us!"
"Would you have told Kaiba instead of us!?" Came Trirstan's angry demand.
Uncertainly Joey responded, "e probably knows sometin'…"
"We were your friends Joey, why the hell would he know before us?" Demanded Tristan angrily.
"Of course I would tell him! Dat damn idiot is ma boyfriend! Why wouldn't 'e know?" Joey yelled back. Tristan only gaped at him, not knowing how to respond.
Yami didn't bat an eye, "We always have suspected there was something going on between you, now it's confirmed. Question is, are you each other's confidant? Would you have really told him this problem?"
"Only one way ta know. Do ya guys think I could getta ride from ya? I can't…and I want ya guys there…"
The guys readily agreed. They all got into Yami's car, with Joey in the passenger seat and headed off to Kaiba Corp.
Out of seemingly nowhere a car came hurtling at them in a four-way intersection a block from KC. The car hit the tail of the passenger's side. The car spun, before roughly coming to a stop. It was then that a loud scream came from Joey. He sat there, head in between his hands, while trying to fold into himself. The others sat in despair not knowing how to help their friend.
*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*
I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm almost coming to the conclusion of this story! ahh! I know there are still some things up in the air, but not much. My baby is almost all done! Thank you for sticking with the story, even though the updates are long in between.
Don't forget to R&R