Peggi: I am soooo sorry that this hasn't been updated in so long. I'm sure all of you are so frustrated with me! I'm in med school now, swamped with homework and I never really have any time to write anymore! I'm going to try and update as much as possible though, I SWEAR to you guys!!!

Disclaimer: Peggi owns nothing. NOTHING YOU HEAR ME?!

Peggi: I hope you enjoy this and again, I will work very hard on updating more often from now on, okay? Thank you so much for the reviews, though. That is what keeps me writing this! The more reviews the more updates, so reviews would be helpful!

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Seto didn't really remember too much of what had happened the night before other than the fact that he had never had so much fun in his whole life. He awoke the next morning to his little brother pouncing on top of him. Seto dragged himself out of bed and tried to remember at what point he had even come home. He vaguely remembered Tex leaving in a fit of laughter for some odd reason and going straight to bed.

Seto felt like a zombie. He managed to take a shower and get himself dressed just fine but his head hurt a lot and he felt sick for some reason. He was able to make Mokuba toast for breakfast and figured that it was healthy enough but didn't feel like eating anything because he was afraid he would get sick. He tried to remember if he had contacted the car rental office yet or if he was supposed to get a ride to work with Peggi since she was supposed to be in at the same time he was.

Irony was on his side as just as that thought crossed his mind; there was a knock on the door.

"That's my ride, Seto!" Mokuba hugged his brother, "See you after school!"

Seto followed him to the door and saw Peggi standing on the other side when Mokuba opened it. She, too, looked half awake.

"Hey, Seto. I'm taking Mokuba to school and then I'll be back so that we can go to work in a couple of hours," Peggi informed him in monotone and then turned to walk away as Mokuba skipped down the stairs ahead of her.

Seto flopped down on the couch and cuddled up to a pillow. He didn't even realize he had fallen asleep until he realized he was just waking up. He opened his eyes, wondering how long he had been out when he noticed Peggi sitting on the floor in front of the TV, staring at him oddly.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked and then thought harder, "Wait, how did you get in here?"

"You left the door unlocked! I was looking at you like that because you say the weirdest things in your sleep. Has anyone ever told you that before?"

Seto was almost afraid to know what he might've been caught saying but was too cranky at the moment to ask that question but another one bothered him a bit more, "Why were you watching me sleep and how long was I out? What time is it?"

Peggi just laughed, "I tried to wake you up but you woke up for a few seconds, shoved me and then fell back asleep. I figured you were really tired so I let you sleep and I was going to find something to do but hearing you talk about porn was a lot more interesting. I didn't think half of those things were possible!"

Seto could actually feel himself blushing and wondered if he had really said anything like that, because he didn't even remember dreaming of something like that but Peggi burst into laughter and he realized she was probably kidding him.

"What, blushing now, are we?" Peggi teased, walking into the kitchen.

"You were joking right?" Seto asked, following her.

"Do you really want to know?" she asked with a smirk on her face.

"Yes! You really need to stop joking around with me like that! I know you were just joking but that is very immature!"

"Oh, but Seto, I'm not being immature! I wasn't joking!" Peggi ruffled his hair and slid past him into the living room again, munching on a piece of plain bread.

"Don't do that to my hair! Get back here!" Seto chased after her and Peggi threw one of the pillows from the couch at him and the chase began.

Peggi ran straight to the bathroom and locked herself in. Seto pounded on the door and tried to open it.

"This is so childish! Get out here and face me like a, uh, like a woman! A grown woman who doesn't lock herself in the bathroom!" Seto thought about that statement for a few seconds and realized how stupid that had sounded.

"Hah you just can't face the truth! Now you'll never know if I was joking or not!"

Seto was now becoming quite frustrated, and he was afraid that they would end up being late for work if they kept this up much longer. After a long silence and Peggi walking out in a giggling fit, they were off to work.

Peggi didn't play her music as loudly that morning as she usually did. Seto was thankful for this, as his head was killing him! He tried to remember anything from the night before, but he could get no farther than 10 minutes of entering the bar. He had a strange feeling, not one he'd ever felt before, and it had nothing to do with the hangover. It was an odd feeling of contentedness. He had gone out the night before, let loose, had fun, and spent time with his friends.

Suddenly, an odd question popped into his mind. How much did everyone else remember? More importantly, what had happened between himself and Peggi? He had thought all evening about getting up the courage to talk to her about feelings and all of that emotional crap, but somehow, after realizing that he might end up embarrassing himself, he thought better of it. Conversation was never easy for Seto, and the fact that Mokuba had always been the only person he could talk to up until this point didn't help matters any.

After parking in the lot, Peggi walked with Seto inside, both of them changing into their uniforms. Peggi looked into the mirror and two green eyes stared back at hr. They had always been her eyes, and yet, no matter how many times she'd looked into them, they always seemed so distant and unfamiliar. She felt a shiver as she thought about what those eyes had seen and small reminders of why she never got close to anyone played in front of her brain like a skipping DVD, skipping the happy scenes and cutting to the blood, tears and pain.

Tears always stung the back of Seto's icy blue eyes, yet they never came. Not even when he wanted to cry, he simply couldn't. He constantly worried about how his choices would affect and influence his younger brother and not a moment went by that he didn't wonder if he was doing the right thing. Seto needed to face a harsh reality. His job wasn't going to cover even the basic expenses and he hadn't heard back from the other places he'd applied to.

Seto walked to the register at the front of the restaurant and punched in with his number and checked to see what needed to be prepared. While Peggi set up the store, Seto prepared the veggies for the day. By the time the store opened, Seto had prepared 4 containers of tomatoes, 2 onion containers, divided bags of lettuce into 6 containers and was beginning to slice cucumbers when the day's first customer walked through the doors. Peggi had her arms full of packets of meat, so Seto would need to wait on the customer. As he put on fresh gloves, his eyes filled with anger and hatred when he saw who had just walked in.

"Noa," he glared.

A smirk crossed Noa's face when he saw who was behind the counter, and an evil glimmer shone in his eyes.

"Why, hello there, Seto. Looks like you've finally found your talent. Waiting on your superiors!" Noa laughed insanely; possibly more maniacally than usual.

Baring his teeth and trying not to lose his temper, Seto looked down at the shorter and much more irritating brother and glared, "Can I help you?"

Peggi heard hostility in Seto's voice as she began to fill up the fridge with packs of meat and cheese. She realized immediately that he personally knew the customer and they obviously weren't friends.

"You can make me a cold cut, and then you can lose your multi-billion dollar company to me. Wait, scratch that last part. You already did lose it to me!" there was more maniacal laughter, and Seto's hands were both balled up into fists.

Seto began to pull out the meat for the cold cut and just stared blankly at the smaller boy, "What kind of bread do you want?"

"KaibaCorp. . .I mean, Italian. I already have a KaibaCorp."

Seto slammed his fists on the counter, "Enough Noa!"

Noa simply smirked, "Be careful with how you speak to your customers. If you are fired, Mokuba will starve! Because you've already lost one job!"

That was the final straw. Noa's eyes widened in shock as Seto jumped over the counter and hit the other teen in the face. Peggi almost felt bad for having to pry Seto off of the rude customer.

"Cut it out, guys!" Peggi yelled, literally pulling Seto off of Noa.

As soon as he was freed, Noa decided that he had some sort of advantage over Seto, and so he began to lunge at Seto, but ended up being hit in the face, yet again, only this time it had been Peggi who had hit him. He was in even more shock than before and the fight or flight response began to kick in. Obviously he would not be at any sort of advantage if he stayed and so he turned toward the door and ran. Seto tired to run after him but he felt a hand gently pull at his arm.

"If you continue to fight with him you'll definitely be fired," Peggi calmly coaxed him out of his angry state.

He sighed and gave up the idea of beating the life out of Noa and walked through the lobby to the door out the back of the room. Peggi followed directly behind him and he wondered inwardly how long he had been hitting Noa before he'd been stopped. Then the thought that he might lose another job thanks to Noa made him feel sick to his stomach. He wasn't quite sure what the policy on fighting was, but maybe he could talk Peggi into taking his side if the need ever arose. Peggi must've been thinking the same thing, because she was the one to bring it up.

"They'll have it on camera, you know. But if he doesn't file a complaint, I have no reason to report you."

He couldn't think of a poetic or sweet response so he said what he could think of, "Thanks."

After the event with Noa, the rest of the day seemed so uneventful and boring. Lunch flew by and Seto was sitting on one of the counters. He watched as Peggi drew in her notebook, seeing the smooth movements of her pencil. Her hands let the pencil glide over the paper. He looked to her arms and wondered where the razor-like scars on her arms and wrists had come from and if she had done them herself or if someone else had hurt her. He looked to her neck and wondered how she would look with a diamond chain around her neck, then wondered why he'd thought about such a thing. He looked up and realized that she was staring at him.

"What?" she asked, wondering if he was okay.

He didn't realize he'd done it until it had already happened, and didn't realize it had happened until he felt her lips against his. He pulled back, embarrassed, and wondered where all of these thoughts and actions were coming from. He could tell that his face was a bit red and wondered if Peggi noticed his blushing. The only reason he felt a little more comfortable was because there was a small smile on her face and a warm and content look in her eyes. He stared into her eyes, wishing he'd met someone like her much sooner and was actually grateful that Noa had put him in this position. A little bit of his fears began to leave him, but then he felt his heart sink again when he remembered that he would need to find a higher paying job somewhere, because his income wasn't enough to pay for everything he and Mokuba needed to survive.

Peggi sensed that something was wrong, "Are you okay?"

"I am really worried about-"

A customer walked in, cutting off Seto's sentence, and Seto silently cursed under his breath.

"Tell me a little later. I'll take care of him," Peggi walked into the front.

The time to leave and second shift beginning didn't seem to come fast enough for Seto's liking, but he gladly clocked out and changed back into his regular clothes. He met Peggi at the car, suddenly realizing that he still had a headache, but it didn't seem as bad as it had earlier.

"So, what were you worried about earlier?" she asked him, unlocking their doors.

"Nothing," he mentally kicked himself, "well, actually, it's money. I have financial problems. I can't afford the apartment plus expenses, so do you think there would be a way for me to work extra hours?"

The warm smile from earlier returned, "If you were having money problems, why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Seto shrugged his shoulders as she started up the car, and he wondered yet something else, "So, what should I do?"

"Everyone usually just moves in with me," Peggi began to explain, "so I'm sure if you want to move in we could make room.

Seto thought about it for a moment, "How much would rent be? I really don't have much money, you know."

Peggi simply burst into laughter. Seto felt his face turn red for the second time in the last few hours.

"Why would I charge you rent? Just pay for any extras like if you want to go on vacation or something," she laughed a bit more.

Seto wasn't sure if he could take her seriously, but he considered what she'd said anyway. If he didn't have to pay bills or rent, he would be able to begin saving up money. The thought was tempting, but he still would have to think about the offer.

"Why would you do this for me?" Seto couldn't help but wonder.

"I care about you and Mokuba, and I don't want to see you give up or lose more than you already have. I want to help you."

The parking lot to the apartment complex that Seto and Mokuba lived in was the terrible reminder, and they had just pulled into it. Mokuba was staying after school and would call Peggi's cell phone when he needed to be picked up. Seto stepped out of the parked vehicle and took his uniform out of the trunk.

"I might take you up on your offer," he mused, trying to sound more casual than desperate.

"Just let me know. We can put you either with Mokuba or Shiryu, but we'll have to rearrange a little bit so I'll need to know a few days in advance."

How she managed to work at the same place he did, have no inheritance, and earn her money honestly from what he could see, yet still manage to help so many people financially, Seto did not know. He wondered if somehow her relationship to Pegasus had something to do with it. He might learn first hand, how she kept herself so financially stable, because other than moving in, he saw no other real solution to his problems.

They entered the small apartment and Seto threw his work clothes on his bed. Even though he had just spent all morning and afternoon around food, he felt hungry. He still didn't really know how to prepare food, but so far, Peggi had been very useful in this area.

"Teach me how to cook something new!" he almost demanded of her.

END OF CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Peggi:. . .okay. . .so it wasn't as long as I wanted, nor is it as. . .well written as I'd hoped. But I'm typing this at 2 in the morning! The next chapter will probably be a lot more comical. I almost felt sorry for Noa.

Noa: You made me look like a jerk!

Peggi: You are a jerk, sweets.

Noa:. . .true. . .

Seto: How dare you steal my company from me!

Peggi: It's just a fanfic, Seto! Calm down! KaibaCorp is still yours! I'd better end this and separate the boys before this gets bloody!