Joey: As the adrenaline began to expel itself from the blonde's veins, all feelings and nerve endings and messages in his synapses began switching themselves on, sending a wave of clarity crashing over the boy. His stomach ached from the strain of being bent over and crying, his hand was stiff and caked in blood and sent spikes of pain up his arm at even the slightest movement, his shoulder had a deep throbbing sensation from where it had smacked against the wall and his eyes stung with tears, a foreign feeling to the blonde who so often kept his emotions bottled up and trapped inside. He felt like shit but none of his physical pain could compare to the pain he was feeling in his heart. It was unlike anything he'd ever felt before- worse than thinking the Pharaoh was gone forever, worse than thinking Serenity had lost her sight, worse than seeing Mai destroyed by the Seal of Orichalcos. All those times combined could not amount to the ache in his heart that was practically tearing him apart.
The tears kept coming and even when his face was gently lifted into the light, he couldn't stop them from trickling down his cheeks. His beautiful amber eyes were bloodshot and his nose and face were red. His eyebrows were furrowed upwards, frown lines running across his forehead in an expression of distress. Kaiba's hands were trembling and not warm like before at dinner, they were now stone cold and almost painful to have against the blonde's skin. He sensed the pain in the brunette's gaze which only made him cry all the more. He choked on his own tears, not caring that Kaiba was the one and only person to have ever seen him like this in his entire life. He looked into the teen's eyes as he sobbed, crying like a baby that just couldn't stop.
After a while, Joey felt exhausted. He lowered his head in shame and lifted the sleeve of his jacket to wipe at his face, but instead of straightening back up, his hands stretched out blindly to rest on Kaiba's chest. His fingers, finding folds of material, gripped at the shirt as he leant his head forward to join his hands. The blonde rested his forehead to Kaiba's chest and exhaled slowly, trying to control his snuffled and broken sobs. It was then that Seto finally spoke. Every syllable uttered felt like a stab in the blonde's chest. The boy stood up properly and leant his back into the corner of the wall, feeling the brunette close the space between their bodies slowly as he continued to apologise.
"Kaiba... I-" Joey paused, a silence suddenly filling the stairwell. All Joey could hear was the rush of blood going to his ears and the pounding of his heart in his chest. His eyes had blinked away the last of his tears and now all he could see was Kaiba's face getting closer and closer to his. The blonde's eyes fluttered shut for a moment, his eyebrows softened and his mouth parted slightly as that same electricity from earlier filled the space between them. And then it was happening, they were kissing. Joey opened his mouth without a moment's hesitation, his knees suddenly buckling as he fell into the brunette's arms, hands reaching out to cup at his cheeks desperately. There was a moments break, allowing Joey a few laboured breaths before they connected once more, his mouth opening wide to allow room for Kaiba's tongue, their kiss fierce and desperate as if the moment they stopped and broke the physical contact, they might lose each other forever.
Joey was lost in euphoria. He could smell Kaiba's skin, taste the saltiness of his tears and metallic tinge from his blood but mostly he could feel the teen's warmth. Their bodies pressed together, Joey gripped tightly at Kaiba's hand, their lips still moving together passionately. It was only when Joey's injured hand twitched and he was reminded of the shattering glass did he pull away. He turned his head to the side, blonde locks falling to cover his face as he stared down at the floor, his hand going limp in Kaiba's. Eventually the brunette let him go, allowing the blonde time to just think. They stood there together for a few moments, in silence, taking in what had just happened. Joey lifted his fingers to brush over his swollen lips before looking up into Kaiba's eyes. He was no longer crying, but he looked like a mess. The blonde opened his mouth to speak but closed it quickly, deciding on what to say after another moments thought.
"It still hurts," He said softly, his voice barely audible under his breath, "I look at you and all I see is that jerk and the way you looked at him and the pain in my chest that is somethin' I didn't even know a human being could feel."
"I need some time, to think, to-" Joey exhaled, feeling his shoulders tremble as he spoke. This was more difficult than he'd anticipated. He could sense the fear in Kaiba's eyes, the way his body had stiffened, preparing for words that would shatter his heart in an instant. Joey didn't want that, he couldn't hurt the brunette no matter how much pain he was feeling himself. Lifting his hands up to cup Kaiba's face softly, Joey looked up into the taller boy's eyes and felt tears begin to trickle down his cheeks once more.
"I believe what you said, I don't think you hurt me on purpose... I trust you but... I need time."
With that, Joey leant up on his tiptoes and pressed a tender but quick kiss on the brunette's lips before turning away to his right and heading down the last couple flights of stairs until he reached outside.
Warm evening air blasted the boy's face as he pushed open the fire exit door and walked out onto the street. It wasn't particularly busy and thanks to the lack of visibility, Joey was able to pull the collar of his jacket up to cover most of his blood splattered and red face. He paused and drunk in lungful's of air, his head still spinning from the kiss and how he'd just left Kaiba standing there. It was only when he heard an amused chuckle to his left did he open his eyes and narrow his gaze at a man standing by a brilliant white limo.
Kaiba: Seto caught the blonde as he fell into him, wrapping his free arm around the blonde's waist and tucking the boy into the curves of his own body, fitting like puzzle pieces. It all felt right. The brunette continued to tower over the smaller teen, eyes still shut as he rolled his tongue over the boy's lips, begging for an entrance. As it was granted, he explored the blonde's mouth hungrily, rolling softly over Joey's tongue just before the blonde pulled away. Seto also pulled his hand away from the other boy's reluctantly, allowing the blonde's arm to fall back to his side. However, Seto kept a tight hold of the boy around the waist, looking down into his puffy, yet still gorgeous, amber eyes.
As the blonde began to speak again, Seto was still trying to catch his breath, continuously licking at his lips desperate to taste the boy again. His pupils were fully dilated, cerulean eyes burning with a fire as he listened to what Joey had to say.
"It's not like that..." he began to try and explain before being cut off again. As soon as he heard the words 'time to think', the CEO knew exactly where this conversation was going as he himself had had it many times with previous ex-lovers. 'I just need time' he used to lie to get them off his back. 'Time to think'. He felt his heart drop, the type of feeling you get when you've just heard that a family member has died or when you've been lied to. The fire in the brunette's eyes was now gone, cerulean eyes hazy and dull as he pursed his lips together, grip loosening around the boy's waist. "Let me explain. Joey, please. Please will you just come home with me?" Seto begged, his bottom lip quivering slightly. Of course, the CEO was never going to cry and especially in such a public way like Joey did, but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt him. Before he knew it, the blonde's lips were pressed up against his again and Seto leant right into it, placing his own hands on top of Joey's which were on his own cheeks. And before he knew it, Joey Wheeler was gone, Seto still leaning into his kiss even though the boy was no longer there. To catch his fall, he threw an arm out, propping himself up in the same corner that Joey once was. Furious and devastated, the brunette flung a heavy fist into the concrete wall, crying out as he did so, his knuckles immediately bruised and bloody on impact.
Seto took a few moments to compose himself, face turned into the wall as he stared at the floor, still heavily breathing. For one of the first times in his life: he was confused. He actually had no idea what just happened. How did he go from detesting the mere sight of the boy to having him in his home, fixing his wrist, ignoring him, taking him to dinner to KISSING him and then losing him all over again? The brunette stood to his full height and then rolled one of his sleeves up again that had fallen down during his and Joey's kiss. He exhaled long and deep, his thoughts still up in the air as he dejectedly followed the same path as the blonde and exited out through the bottom of the building, a flush of cool, evening air hitting him and blowing his hair out of his face as he did so. He didn't even bother to look for Joey, he didn't see the point. Re-opening his eyes, the brunette was suddenly composed again, his face once more expressionless as he stepped out into the street, bringing out his pager to beep Charlie to come and get him.