Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! nor its characters. I also do not profit from this work of fiction.

A/N: Got the song in your head? Good.

Summary: Ryou is not sure how to deal with the fallout between Malik and his brother. However, they seem to be handling it just fine by ignoring the elephant in the room. Also, a call disrupts the evening.

Warning: Language

Chapter 13: SOS (Please, Someone, Help Me)

Malik paced the bedroom. The walls were covered with horror movie posters, like The Shining, Ju-On, and A Tale of Two Sisters. There were shelves screwed into one wall and it held a variety of horror-themed books; a ouija board; a small replica of a guillotine, complete with stained blade. In the corner was a bed, the bedspread white with splashes of crimson. On the bed was Ryou, lying on his side as he played a game on his phone. He looked up occasionally at Malik, watching with pursed lips as he paced.

Malik circled the room, arms crossed over his chest, a fretful frown on his face. He tread over a black, faux fur rug, his be-socked feet dragging over it impatiently. Ryou watched petulantly, hoping that Malik would not leave a permanent imprint of his trek on the black rug. It was Ryou's favorite decoration. It had taken a lot of whining to convince his brother to let him buy it; he knew it was tacky and horrible, but he loved it nonetheless. He would never hear the end of it if Touzoku found the rug ruined. He had to make Malik sit before he wore a hole into his rug.

"Malik –" Ryou began, though he was instantly cut off.

"Why the hell hasn't he answered!" Malik snapped, "I'm going to kill him if he hurt Yuugi! Why the hell doesn't Yuugi have a phone, we should get him a phone! Or tags for that dog collar of his so people can return him to us –"

"Malik, I don't think –" Ryou tried.

"Seriously," Malik interceded yet again, "how does he not have a phone! What kind of teenager doesn't have a phone – don't answer that. Ugh, why can't he just call!" Malik threw his arms into the air in frustration and a soft ding echoed through the bedroom. Malik turned hungrily to the sound and Ryou winced. Malik stepped forward. "Was that … your phone?"

Ryou cursed his vulnerable position on the bed and held out a hand as Malik stepped forward.

"It's probably just Touzoku," he said calmly, shuddering at the frenzied gleam in Malik's eyes. "He probably just forgot a part of the order." Malik wrinkled his nose at Ryou and huffed angrily. Keeping an eye on his suspicious friend, Ryou checked for the cause of the ding, eyes widening. It was a text from Atemu.

"It's Atemu!" he shrieked without thinking before whimpering in pain as Malik jumped on him. He ripped the phone from Ryou's grasp and opened the message, reading it aloud.

"'Everything's fine'," Malik read anxiously, "'Yuugi's safe' – oh thank god! Ryou, Yuugi's okay" – he patted at Ryou, who grunted unintelligibly underneath him – "wait … 'I'm at his house'!? What do you mean talk to you later! Atemu's at Yuugi's house! Oh, my god, they're probably having sex – AGH!" Malik fell to the floor in a heap and Ryou retracted his legs from the air back into their original position with a grimace. He leaned down and took up the phone, rubbing his tender side where Malik's knees had dug into his ribs. He looked at the message and let out a thoughtful hum.

"I really don't think they're having sex, Malik," he said, smiling apologetically as Malik glared up at him from the floor. "Yuugi doesn't seem like the type to put out on the first date."

Malik sat up and fixed his rumpled clothes, making sure not a single stretch of cloth was out of place. He then ran his fingers through his blonde hair, shaking it out to throw it back into his glorious sleek style.

"Okay," Malik said thoughtfully, "but what about Atemu? Do you really think he'll be patient for Yuugi?" When Ryou faltered, he shook a finger at him. "My cousin has abuser written all over him, Ryou. I wouldn't put it past him to force Yuugi to do something he doesn't want." He crossed his arms worriedly, though he tried his best not to look so. Malik rubbed at his arms and sighed. Ryou shook his head.

"I really doubt that –" he began to say.

"He's my cousin," Malik shouted, "I know my cousin!"

"No, listen to me," Ryou said patiently as he lifted himself into a sitting position, "just the past three days, Atemu has changed so much. Haven't you noticed?"

"No," Malik said stubbornly, arms tightening across his chest. He pursed his lips and sat there defiantly. "And who's to say the change is permanent?"

Ryou could only roll his eyes.

"Malik, have you ever even seen your cousin flirt or try to seduce someone?" he asked pointedly and Malik opened his mouth to argue, but shut it with a click of his teeth. A peculiar expression came across his face and he frowned.

"Oh, my god," Malik suddenly stared at Ryou with astonishment, "you're right. I don't think he's ever even dated before. He's always been too angry and bitter to notice anyone – god, I don't think he even has a single sex bone in his body. You know, penis aside because I've seen that."

"That … that's some pretty disturbing information and I don't want to know how that happened," Ryou jerked with a shiver, he looked ill with the thought.

Malik shrugged and waved a hand dismissively.

"Oh, you know," Malik said nonchalantly, "the same way I've seen all of you naked. I walk in when you're in the shower –"

"You've seen me naked?!" Ryou cried indignantly.

"Well, duh. None of you know how to lock a door," Malik sneered, face haughty like he could not believe the sights he had been subjected to.

Ryou's face was effused with a deep shade of pink. So embarrassed by Malik's admission was he, that he could no longer speak. In fact, Ryou wanted to just pretend that the past minute had never happened and live the rest of his life one minute behind schedule, blissfully ignorant of what he had just learned.

"What's wrong with your face –" Malik prodded and Ryou held up a hand to silence him.

"Stop talking, please," Ryou begged, closing his eyes, "I'm deleting the past minute of my life."

Malik raised an eyebrow at his friend and shrugged.

"You're really weird, Ryou."

Ryou ignored Malik, opening his eyes as he formed a text to Atemu to thank him for letting them know.

Malik leaned back onto his elbows, letting his hands pick at the rug. He looked up at the ceiling, his pale eyes trailing the glow-in-the-dark bats, spiders, and witch hats stuck there, lips pursed and expression contemplative.

"Now that you've mentioned it, it's really weird," Malik murmured thoughtfully, "Atemu's never shown interest in anyone before. I just ignored it because he's like an alien pod baby or something. He doesn't even have any porn –"

"Too much information," Ryou groaned and flopped back onto his bed as he began to play a game with green pigs on his phone, kicking his legs out over the edge of the bed. "Anyway," he said quietly, "not showing an interest in someone doesn't make him weird – how about we talk about something other than Atemu's nonexistent sex life?"

Malik nodded and changed the subject.

"So, do you think the date went well?" he asked, "You know, considering that he's at Yuugi's place and it's only the first date."

Brow creased into a frown, Ryou shrugged even though Malik could not see him.

"I don't know, Malik," he said with a sigh, "I'm just hoping that he didn't scare Yuugi off. I like him and I want him to stay our friend."

Malik sighed and absently looked at the wall where a clock with dots instead of numbers hung among the posters. It was sleek with a shiny mirror border. He hated it with a passion. He could not stand the fancy-looking thing because he always had to count the black dots to know what time it was when the hands were not on six or twelve.

The ticking of the clock and the sniggering of the pigs and explosions on Ryou's smartphone filled the silence between them and Malik was beginning to feel a slight sense of peace. That is, until he heard the front door open and Bakura's voice ring throughout the apartment.

"Ryou!" Bakura called and Malik glared at the side of the bed, "Come help me with this shit!"

"Guess Touzoku's back," Ryou said idly as he rolled up off the bed and put down his phone, "C'mon, Malik, let's go help –"

"I'm not going," Malik said through gritted teeth, "not to help him." He would not be helping Bakura. He did not even want to be there in his house, but Ryou lived there and Melvin was there and Malik did not like to be alone. Regardless of how much it hurt, Malik pretended the pain did not exist. It seemed to be working so far. The aching need he felt to vanish into thin air and disappear from Bakura's presence had lessened considerably.

"Oh, please, don't get up on my account," they heard Bakura snarl sarcastically from the living room, "I can handle all this crap by myself." The front door slammed closed and Ryou sighed as he made his way out his door. He skipped into the living room and to the kitchen, where Bakura was ridding himself of several takeout bags. Ignoring his older brother's bad mood, Ryou washed his hands before he began to pull the various containers from the bags Bakura had dumped onto the table.

"Could you get some bowls," Ryou directed to his brother, quickly adding, "please and thank you?"

In response, Bakura leveled a seething glare at him before roughly messing with his hair. Ryou let out a disgruntled growl that came out sounding more like a miffed kitten's yip than he intended and fixed his hair with a pout. His smirking brother then did as he asked and set down four bowls before crossing his arms, daring Ryou to retaliate.

Sticking out his tongue, Ryou grimaced as he started opening the boxes.

"Jerk," he muttered to which Bakura laughed.

"No meat for me!" called Malik as he made his way into the living room with his head held high and his eyes pointedly directed away from the kitchen. He paused briefly at the long white sofa, where Melvin lay, snoring loudly. Melvin's blonde head was thrown over the armrest, arm hanging around the back, the other tucked into the front of his pants where he scratched occasionally, even in sleep. Malik sneered at his sleeping brother and kicked at the sofa as he passed. Much to his annoyance, however, Melvin continued to snore with a wide open mouth, hand shifting in his pants. Scoffing, Malik sat himself in a white armchair adjacent to the matching sofa, settling in with his legs thrown over the armrest and his head on a decorative brown pillow.

In the kitchen, Ryou paused, his hands midway to a carton; small explosions filled the silence, informing Ryou that Malik had taken his phone. He looked up to Bakura in apprehension, watching as his brother stared absently at the food. Bakura had his hand tightly wound around a pair of chopsticks, his knuckles white. Hesitantly, Ryou spoke.

"You did get something vegetarian for Malik, right?" he whispered so said blonde could not hear. His question seemingly ripped Bakura from whatever thought had consumed him. His eyes darted to Ryou and a familiar scowl consumed his features. He scoffed, dropping the chopsticks on the table with a clatter.

"I'm not a child, Ryou," was Bakura's only reply as he grabbed a container marked across the top with black marker and opened it for Ryou to view the contents. He set it down before his little brother who gifted him a gentle smile when he saw the vegetable stir-fry within.

"Thanks, Touzoku," Ryou said as he began to serve a bowl for himself and Malik while Bakura took care of his own. He was quiet, and though it was not unusual, Ryou could see Bakura was tense, his shoulders stiff and his movements jerky. His eyes were narrowed and he stabbed unnecessarily at the eel in one carton. Jaw clenched, he poured the stir-fry out, banging on the end of it as though it were stuck inside and consequently spilling glops of it onto the table. With that, Ryou directed his attention back to his own food, sighing. It was when Bakura took two of the four egg rolls that Ryou looked at him again. Waving a hand to get his attention, he spoke.

"Hey, Melvin's gonna want one of those –"

"Yeah, well, you snooze, ya lose," Bakura snapped and raised the two egg rolls to his mouth, ripping into them with a vicious bite. He leaned forward and chewed aggressively at Ryou who calmly blinked at him with an unamused and slightly disgusted look in his eye. Ryou made to put back his own egg roll, intending to leave it for Melvin. He did not particularly feel like dealing with Melvin's inevitable tantrum when he realized there were no more egg rolls. Ryou really liked how his living room looked and did not wish to see it destroyed.

"You take that bloody egg roll and eat it or I'm going to eat it for you," Bakura threatened.

Ryou made an aggravated sound and slapped down the egg roll once more, conceding the round to his older brother.

After filling up two bowls, Ryou picked two pairs of chopsticks and tucked them between the spaces of his fingers. He then grabbed the bowls and took them into the living room where he placed them on the glass coffee table. Reaching over, Malik took the chopsticks from his hand without him having to ask.

"Tea, soda, or water?" Ryou asked Malik who instantly asked for a soda as he closed the game and turned off the screen. He placed the phone on the coffee table and sat up to see what Ryou had brought him.

"You sure eat a lot of crap for a vegetarian," Ryou muttered and yelped in pain when Malik pinched his cheek in retaliation for the comment. He rubbed his stinging cheek and left to retrieve the drinks. Bakura passed him with his own food and beverage, pausing at the end of the couch.

"Son of a – damn, munchkin," Bakura groaned, "you let Melvin fall asleep? Where the crap are we supposed to sit?"

"You can always shove him off the couch," Ryou taunted from the kitchen, "or sit at the table we never actually seem to use."

Bakura set down his food on the coffee table and glared down at a sleeping Melvin. It was so very tempting to follow through on Ryou's suggestion, but Bakura knew the action would be the equivalent of stabbing a sleeping dragon in the eye with a pitchfork.

It would only end with Bakura in pain and a very pissed off Melvin. It was a stupid move, but then, Bakura had never been particularly bright.

Ryou came back from the kitchen only to see Bakura toss himself backwards onto Melvin with a sadistic grin pulling at his face.

Oh, Touzoku, you are such an idiot.

An angry yowl erupted from the couch and the next thing anyone knew, Bakura was launched over the back of it by a furious, sleep-ruffled Melvin.

"What the fuck, you asshole?!" shouted a very pissed off Melvin.

Rushing over with two blue soda cans in hand, Ryou set them down on the coffee table. He quickly grabbed his egg roll and threw a chortling Malik a glare. Then he turned to Melvin to see him climbing the couch, ready to pounce on his older brother and bravely grabbed his bicep, pulling him away from his objective and shoving the egg roll in his face.

"Food's here!" Ryou said brightly through his fear when Melvin snarled at him.

"Let me go before I –" Melvin growled, before his eyes zeroed in on the roll. He licked his lips. "Is that a fucking egg roll?"

Melvin snatched the roll with manic glee and began to nibble at it, a look of pure delight on his features. Behind the couch, Bakura snorted with laughter and Ryou was quick to grab a brown pillow and whip it at him. An irked grunt confirmed he had hit his target and Ryou motioned to Melvin.

"Food's in the kitchen. You should make yourself a plate," Ryou coaxed lightly, relieved when Melvin nodded and leapt off the couch. After Melvin had sauntered off into the kitchen, Ryou grabbed the backrest and peered over the edge of the sofa, frowning Bakura. His brother was grinning up at him and had not made a single effort to get up, having even tucked the pillow under his head.

"You are going to get yourself killed one day and it's going to be your own dumb fault," he hissed at Bakura who only shrugged and smirked.

"Shut up and put on World War Z already," Bakura replied nonchalantly.

Ryou visibly paled and shook his head.

"Oh, no. Not that movie again," Ryou objected, "you know how much I hate it!"

Bakura finally stood from the ground and scoffed, brushing his clothes from imaginary dust.

"But you like horror movies –" Bakura scoffed.

"Yeah, horror, not zombies!" Ryou said, "Let's watch Premonition, instead –"

"You're gonna have to get over your fear eventually, Ryou." Bakura braced a hand on the edge of the sofa and went over it in one smooth leap. He rounded the coffee table and opened the cabinet under the television, pulling out the movie he had asked Ryou for as Malik watched out of the corner of his eye. Behind Bakura, Ryou sighed pitifully.

"Fine," Ryou said morosely, "whatever."

When Melvin returned with a bowl of rice and beef, and a glass of water, he smacked Bakura upside the head as he passed before making himself comfortable on the couch. Bakura glared and Melvin raised two challenging eyebrows at him, but neither continued their petty fight. So without further horseplay, all four teenagers settled down and started up the movie. Bakura made a point of sitting in the corner of the couch farthest from Malik and Malik stuck his nose in the air, crossing his arms tightly about his chest, determined to remain oblivious to Bakura's existence.

Ryou had wanted to sit adjacent to Malik in the other corner, but Melvin had taken the spot for himself. Disappointed, Ryou pouted and sat in between the two elder brothers since no other choice was available. He was about to begin eating, when Melvin held out half of the egg roll Ryou had given him.

"Want it?" Melvin asked disinterestedly and Ryou smiled, taking it.

"Thanks," he said and Melvin grunted unintelligibly in return.

"Okay, all of you shut up," Bakura said, "movie's starting."

x x x

It was in the middle of the chaotic plane scene that Melvin's phone went off with a demonic screech. Ryou let out a frightened yell, closely followed by Malik who tumbled to the ground in panic. Melvin burst into loud guffaws and Bakura paused the movie in irritation before poking his brother hard in the ribs.

"Really, Ryou?" he rolled his eyes at his shaking little brother who gazed at him with a hurt expression. Bakura groaned and yanked his brother close, patting him on the back awkwardly as Ryou settled down from his fright.

"Oh, it's dear cousin Atemu. Wonder what he wants?" Melvin had pulled out his screaming phone and was gazing thoughtfully at the screen as it rang. Malik stood from the ground and grabbed the pillow he had been using to rest his head on. With a furious growl, he proceeded to start pummeling Melvin who raised his arms in defense, laughing at the embarrassed flush on Malik's face. In the other corner of the sofa, Bakura hid an amused snort.

"Dammit, Melvin, how many times have I told you to change your goddamn ringtone!? Demonic screaming isn't fucking funny anymore! You scared the hell out of Ryou!" Malik dropped his pillow back onto his seat and collapsed onto his armchair, breathing deeply to calm his own frazzled nerves.

Lowering his arms, Melvin only grinned at Malik who flipped him the bird. He lifted his phone to show the caller.

"Melvin, make that noise stop," Ryou groaned and the noise ceased with a single click of the volume button.

"So what do you guys think Atemu wants?" Melvin asked them as the phone continued to flash a picture of a sleeping Atemu with black writings and drawings on his face. A couple of years ago, Melvin had caught his cousin sleeping and had proceeded to write all over his face with a black magic marker. He had never seen his cousin so angry as he had been that day. Immediately after discovering what he had done, Atemu had fractured his wrist in retaliation, but Melvin had thought it completely worth it. He poised his thumb to answer when Bakura spoke up with a snide tone.

"Probably to let us know that he and that midget are gonna get hitched," he said snidely, "and then they'll be off to live in a castle with a billion servants and a bloody dragon –"

"Don't call him that!" Ryou shoved at his brother as Melvin answered.

"Yo, Pharaoh," he said as he switched the call onto the loudspeaker.

"Melvin!" Atemu hissed on the other line, "get your ass over here right now!"

The four teens leaned closer to the phone with curiosity.

"Why are you whispering?" Melvin asked, staring at the phone with confusion.

"Just fucking get over here right now … and bring Malik!" Atemu replied, frantic.

"Dude, fucking rude much?" Melvin scoffed, "I don't even know where you are!"

"I'm at my fucking house," Atemu snapped impatiently, "get your ass over here –"

"Why the hell should I?" Melvin teased, a smirk pushing at his cheeks.

"If you don't – fuck!" the line went abruptly quiet and Melvin checked to see if the line had disconnected only to find the call was still ongoing.

"...Atemu?"

The four teens waited anxiously for a response that did not seem to be coming. After a minute of silence, Atemu's voice came again, quieter than before.

"Melvin, I'll owe you a favor, but for the love of god, get yourself and Malik over here. Quickly!"

The tone of a disconnected call sounded and Melvin blinked at the phone in his palm as it reverted to its lock screen. The teens were silent until Melvin snorted.

"Drama queen," he muttered and Malik sat up, alarmed.

"Oh, my god. Do you think he did something to Yuugi?" he asked, glancing around at the three of them. However, when he met Bakura's curious gaze, he faltered, quickly averting his eyes and schooling his expression into one of apathy. He could feel Bakura's scrutinizing eyes on him for several lingering seconds after, and it made Malik's stomach churn until Bakura finally looked away.

Ryou gasped, eyes widening as the worst case scenarios started making their way into his head. Yuugi could be injured, left in a ditch, sold to a human trafficker; the possibilities were endless and terrifying. Hands gripping at the ends of his hair, Ryou suddenly started to feel faint.

"Oh, no. Poor Yuugi," Ryou said.

"Oh, please," Bakura suddenly sniggered, "there's no way in hell that he's hurt his precious little flower."

"What makes you so sure?" Ryou whispered.

Bakura gave his little brother a droll look and shook his head as though he could not believe how blind they all were.

"During lunch today, that asshole almost ripped me a new one just because I raised my voice a little at the guy," Bakura scoffed disbelievingly, "just, trust me, if he's willing to attack me for that kid..." He trailed off and shook his head again, shrugging. "I'm telling you, Atemu's not going to do anything to him. It's probably just something with the 'rents."

"Still can't believe he's gay," Malik said snidely, earning himself a rather amused look from Ryou and a bare glance from Bakura that Malik tried hard to ignore. The silence after his comment went over his head and Malik huffed, tossing a lock of hair over his shoulder. Ryou cleared his throat awkwardly, glancing to Bakura who sat, expression stony. Melvin finally broke the silence and spoke with a nonchalant wave of his hand.

"Please," Melvin snorted, "we didn't even know if he was straight."

"Good one," Bakura quipped, "but true."

"I just hope he treats Yuugi right," Ryou said quietly.

"He will," Bakura said with a tone a finality.

Malik and Ryou breathed twin sighs of relief and Melvin cast a skeptical look at Bakura, but did not argue. He tucked his phone back into his pocket and stood.

"Well, I guess movie's over," Melvin sighed, "he said he'd owe me one, so it must be something good." He motioned to his younger brother who obediently went to collect his school stuff from Ryou's room. When he emerged with his backpack, Melvin was standing at the open door, shoes on and waiting for him. Malik cast a secret glance to Bakura, but Bakura was not even looking his way. He had already resumed the movie, eyes staring at the screen without blinking. Gritting his teeth, Malik quickly joined Melvin, slipping into his shoes with a disappointed frown as Ryou came up to see them out.

"Malik, text me if it has to do with Yuugi," Ryou said quietly.

With another glance to Bakura, who had yet to look around, Malik nodded minutely. He followed his brother out the door, refusing to acknowledge the heavy weight sinking his heart.

A/N: Do not ask for updates. Thank you.