Hello my lovely readers! I regret to inform you that I will not have the ability to post a chapter at the next update time. So next chapter will not be for another 28 days. I APPOLOGIZE DEEPLY, my visitation schedule got REALLY FREAKING messed up, gomen, gomen~. ANother thing; I have another story that I started working on, called, "Circuit-Board Love", and could REALLY use someone who'd like to read through it and give me some criticism. Not on the grammar, more on my actual writing. So if you'd be interested, I have 30,000 words on it so far and could REALLY use someone! For a description, check my profile. I COULD REALLY USE THIS. If you PM me about it by around 3:45 today, I'll be able to get you the story today. If you don't, you'll have to wait a month ^_^

I do NOT own YuGiOh!

~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter 14~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone already had their iced creams, and it seemed like all eyes were on Marik as he slowly lowered himself onto the curb.

"What?" He asked flatly, looking around with owlish eyes. Did he have something on his face?

"Well, we want to witness your first bite of iced cream!" Yuugi exclaimed. Marik knew that he wouldn't be able to deter their eager eyes, so he ignored how uncomfortable their staring was making him feel and tentatively leaned forward to lick the sweet substance. He chewed on the sprinkles for a second before he smiled and leaned forward, taking a bigger than necessary bite right off of the top before he almost spit it out. It was cold! Yet, he found it delicious. He thought it would be a cruel and unusual twist of nature for anyone to hate iced cream.

"This is amazing!" He exclaimed. "I especially like the little sugary chewy things that are sprinkled all around the top." He said, grinning from ear to ear. He took another bite and everybody smiled, glad that their friend was enjoying himself. It really was a bonding moment for their group, and everyone could feel it. Even emotionally constipated Bakura.

Speaking of Bakura, he was being sensible and keeping an eye on Marik. He'd never had iced cream before, so it would be just too easy for him to consume it just a little too fast…

"Be careful Marik, you'll end up getting brain freeze." Bakura warned. Just as he did, Marik took a huge bite, and began to feel an icey-cold pain spread through his cranium. He closed his eyes and made a face, causing Bakura to laugh. "Want to make it go away?"

Marik looked over to see that for once, Bakura was being sincere. He nodded his head eagerly.

"Put your tongue on the roof of your mouth." He suggested. Marik immediately obeyed and felt his headache start to fade away. He sighed in relief and shot Bakura a grateful look.

"You really aren't having the best luck today."

"I know! I'm like freaking- oh, ummm…. Someone with bad luck!" Marik exclaimed, not being able to think clearly at the moment.

"Did something else happen?" Asked Yuugi, who had been partially listening in on their conversation this entire time. Bakura smiled, seeing the perfect opportunity to be the story teller.

Marik almost couldn't believe his ears when Bakura launched straight into the story, and he covered him face with his hands in embarrassment.

"-and you should've seen how red his face was once I showed up! It was priceless!" Bakura laughed. Joey busted out into uncontrollable laughter. Even Yuugi couldn't stop himself from smiling a bit at the amusing anecdote.

"Oh look, we've got some ANGSTSHIPPING going on!" Joey exclaimed, laughing even harder when a muffled, 'Shut up!' Came from Marik's hands.

"How do you know what that pairing's called, Joey?" Yuugi asked suddenly, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"Would it be good or bad if I said I got it from the internet?" Joey asked sheepishly.

"Both." Yuugi responded, and the conversation was dropped. Nobody wanted to get on the topic of what all you could find on the internet.

Meanwhile, Trystan and Serenity were left to find a topic of conversation to talk about on their own, since before they were depending upon the others.

They sat in silence for a little while, just enjoying the sun and the iced cream. Trystan knew he had to make the first move this time, but he was entirely uncertain on how to approach it.

Then, the perfect opportunity arose.

Serenity had taken a bite of her strawberry iced cream, and she had just a dab on the corner of her soft pink lips. Trystan smiled when he noticed, finding that it actually added to her cuteness.

"You have a little something on your mouth." He said. She reached up to wipe it away, but Trystan caught her hand, stopping her. She looked over at him in mild curiosity, not understanding why he didn't want her to wipe her mouth.

"I'll get it for you." He said teasingly, leaning forward to kiss away the small drop. Serenity leaned in, smiling through the kiss. She was happy that Trystan had finally opened his eyes and got it through that thick skull of his that she wanted him to make the next move. He pulled away and she laughed happily.

"That was smooth. Where did you get it from?" She asked playfully.

"Would it be good or bad to say that I got it from the internet?" He asked, mocking Joey's Brooklyn accent. Serenity laughed a little harder.

"Well aren't they cute?" Marik mused, talking partially to himself and partially to Bakura.

"I always find comedy at the expense of others cute." Bakura said, and Marik rolled his eyes.

"I highly doubt Joey was offended by Trystan's bad imitation of his Brooklyn accent."

"I think he was."

"That's ridiculous! They're best friends, why would he-"

"Let me have this!" Bakura interrupted. "I can dream if I want to."

"You have some twisted dreams." Marik said affectionately, snuggling into Bakura's shoulder.

"Look who's the kitty now; you're being all affectionate." Bakura teased after a moment.

"It's still you." Marik informed him dryly. Bakura slumped down in his seat.

"I know." He admitted, causing Marik to laugh lightly. Bakura quickly perked up.

It was often hard not to be happy around Marik. He had this charming quality. It not only made one happy, but it lead to one constantly feeling relaxed and easygoing around him. Perhaps it was his inclination to enjoy the little things and treasure every moment above ground. He took joy from everything possible, and was constantly searching for more fun.

Joey was eating his iced cream quietly, trying to find a topic to talk to Yuugi about. This had been bothering him ever since he started going out with Yuugi, this lag in conversation. He'd been worried that their relationship was going to make their friendship awkward.

"So, have you read any good books lately?" Joey attempted.

"Joey, you don't read. Let's talk about something that you're interested in, too." Yuugi suggested.

Joey blushed and looked down. Yuugi was right, he hated reading. Why did it suddenly seem like he was so awkward around Yuugi?

"Well, how about we go to your house for a duel after this?" Joey suggested. Yuugi brightened up at the very mention of dueling, and Joey knew that they would have common ground if they were to talk about that. Plus, it would be fun to have another duel and test their strength against each other.

Joey was one of the few people who still challenged Yuugi, (unless, of course, the challenger was a villain. Because then they were challenging enough to last at least 3-4 episodes against him.)so dueling with him actually seemed purposeful for the both of them.

"Of course Joey, I'd love to!" Yuugi exclaimed. He was so excited that he was already thinking about his strategy, which was fairly pointless since his opponent had no strategy whatsoever.

"Cool!" Joey said happily. He really was excited. Yuugi had insisted on paying for his own iced cream too, so Joey could afford to buy a booster pack. He was always looking for new ways to better his deck, and buying cards was the most classic.

Yuugi was deep in thought over his strategy (completely useless as it was; he was going to win) when he looked up and suddenly noticed something.

Joey had a nasty bruise.

He tried to look closer without Joey noticing, but he didn't have a chance. Joey saw that he was looking and sharply turned his head, trying to distract Yuugi by making an over exaggerated bodily movement. However, it was too late. Yuugi had already seen it, and he had the sneaking suspicion that he knew how Joey had gotten it. He wouldn't mention it to him in front of Serenity, though. Yuugi didn't want to hurt her, and she always loved Joey so much.

When they had all finished, they walked back to Yuugi's house happily, like a gaggle of geese. Because they all followed one person. Okay, is there an analogy school? I think I'd fail just for that sentence.

When they arrived, the group dispersed, going to their respective houses. Well, everybody except for Joey, who quietly followed Yuugi into his house.

For a few minutes, all they did was duel. But Yuugi couldn't get it off of his mind, and it was honestly distracting him. He decided that it would be best to mention it now and just get it over with.

"So… what happened to you?" He asked. Joey paused before answering, not certain if he was talking about the bruise or not. One glance up at Yuugi revealed that he was looking straight at it, and Joey sighed, scanning his mind for some kind of plausible excuse.

"I fell pretty hard on something. It's nothing, I'm sure I'll be fine in a couple more days." Joey lied.

"Joey, I know you're lying to me. Why don't you go ahead and tell me what's really wrong? I can tell that you tried to cover it up, and if that were the real story you would've just left it."

Joey flinched. He'd found some of his mom's old makeup hidden in one of the drawers, and he'd sloppily applied foundation to the area, hoping to avoid questioning. He regretted hiding it in retrospect; it would seem incredibly suspicious that he was wearing makeup. He was a furry, not a drag queen.

He looked up to Yuugi and sighed, trying not to just open his mouth and spill. He knew that he could trust Yuugi, but he was afraid that Yuugi would take matters into his own hands once he heard. He didn't want to move in with his mother, because she'd never acted like she cared for him. It always felt so cold and distant. She was busy enough taking care of Serenity, so who would he be to bother her?

"You don't have to tell me now, Joey. I just want you to know that I'm here whenever you're ready to talk. No matter what, I'm here for you. That's what boyfriends are for." Yuugi said, abandoning the game momentarily to walk over to give Joey a hug.

As much as curiosity was eating him alive and tearing him limb from limb, he was going to respect and trust Joey enough to let him work things out, and hopefully Joey would tell him what had happened when he was ready. He definitely didn't want to pressure him into telling him anything that he didn't want to, especially when Joey might end up regretting it later. Yuugi had learned that if you love someone, you let them deal with their problems on their own sometimes. You didn't always know what was best.

It was like at Duelist Kingdom; Joey wasn't yet ready to tell him about Serenity, so he let it be until he was ready. When Joey finally did tell him, it was with the right timing, and when he was ready, and that was key. It gave him motivation for the time being, but it also left him with the lesson that sometimes you shouldn't pry.

"Thank you." Joey said, returning the hug. It was really nice to know he had friends like Yuugi to help him out.

They pulled away from the hug, and they gazed into each other's eyes for a moment. He knew that it was the perfect time, so he leaned down to kiss Yuugi. This kiss was longer than some of their others, and deeper. This kiss held so much more meaning.

They pulled away reluctantly and Yuugi sighed, lips still tingling from it. He knew that they would be for a while now. Kissing always seemed to give that long lasting effect, almost like they stayed with him for a little while.

He sat back down across from Joey and continued his game, glad that they could get on with what was happening. He didn't want to dwell on the subject if he couldn't be certain of what had hurt Joey.

"So, are you looking forward to getting your own body?" Joey asked. Yuugi looked up, shocked by the question.

He mulled it over for a moment. He knew that Kaiba would need to see Yami far more than he could allow if they were sharing a body, but that had multiple implications. He was happy that he wouldn't have to stress over not being in control at times, but… he'd really miss having the pharaoh around. They did spend a lot of time together, and coincidentally were incredibly close. Yuugi was worried that once they had separate bodies, Yami would ditch him for Kaiba.

"I'm not sure how I feel about it, really." Yuugi said honestly, giving a sigh. He didn't want to lose Yami as a friend.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, I used to love the idea, but now I'm not so sure. I'm scared that Yami and I will drift apart. I really don't want to lose him as a friend." Yuugi said. He enjoyed how easy it was to talk to Joey, and smiled the teeniest bit at the thought. He and Joey would always be close, as close as they could be without sharing a body. He'd always have someone to talk to.

"Maybe you should talk about it with Yami?" Joey suggested sheepishly. That was really all that he could think to say, since he'd never really been in a situation quite like this one before. "I'm sure he feels the same way about you."

Yuugi smiled. Joey always had the best advice, even if he didn't have the most brains or experience. Talking to Yami about it probably would be the best route, seeing as how your problems wouldn't go away unless you confronted them.

"Thank you Joey. I definitely will." Yuugi said, playing his card.