Chapter Twenty-Six: GAH!
Song for Chapter:
Boyfriend- Big Time Rush (Don't dis BTR they are the best thing since the end of 90's boy bands)
It was the weekend, and Joey would have loved nothing more than to be out with his friends at the arcade, or eating a burger at Burgerland, or even playing duel monsters. Was he doing any of that though? No, instead he was in Kaiba's mansion surrounded by a mountain of books, preparing for final exams. "I know I told Kaiba I wanted to do well," Joey thought as he tried desperately to read through his calculus book. "But at this rate, my brain's gonna fry before the exams even start."
"Wheeler, you've been slacking off again." Speak of the devil, Kaiba strolled in looking a might irritated. In his hand were several papers with physics problems, and several were marked in red. "How many times do we have to go over this before you get it right?"
"Gimme a break, would ya?" Joey exclaimed tossing his book to the floor. "I already told you, I'm no good at math and physics! Can't we just accept the fact I'm going to fail that portion and focus on something else?"
Seto's eyes narrowed as he picked the textbook up off the floor and strode over to Joey's sitting place. "I don't accept failure, Wheeler," Seto said before knocking the top of Joey's cranium with the spine of the text. "You're going to understand it even if I have to beat it through your thick skull."
The two boys glared at each other for several moments until Joey's cell phone went off. Joey stood up and walked away from Kaiba, pulling his phone out of his pocket and answering it, ignoring the extremely disapproving look Seto was giving him. "Yello?"
"Hey, Joey," came the soft soprano voice he knew to belong to his little sister.
"Serenity, how's it going?" Joey asked, brightening up immediately.
"It's going well… um, are you busy right now?"
"Busy?" He glanced over at Seto before saying, "Nope, not at all. Whaddya need?" 'Let him be angry, I need a break.'
"Well, you see… um…"
There was a confusing pause before a new voice came onto the phone. "Joseph, is that you?"
"Mom?" Joey asked in surprise.
"Your sister's in the hospital right now."
"What!"
"She really wants you here right now, Joseph," his mom continued. "So please come for her."
Joey looked over his shoulder and saw Seto glaring at him. He knew Seto had a no phone policy when they were studying, but Joey always left in on in case of an emergency, and this was an emergency.
"I'll be there in ten, mom." Joey hung up and looked at Seto, who was not happy with his action right now. Before Seto could say something Joey quickly said, "Serenity is in the hospital and she needs me. Making sure she is safe is more important to me right now than all the integrals I'm doing!"
Joey was getting ready to leave the room, but he felt Kaiba put a hand on his shoulder. "Driving will be faster than walking Wheeler."
Joey looked shocked. He expected Seto to lecture him and say something like, 'you can see your sister later, Wheeler'. Then he remembered that Kaiba does have a strong relationship with Mokuba, and that he knows the important bond between siblings.
"Thanks," Joey said as happily as he could since he was still worried about Serenity. The two got into the car and Joey nervously shook his leg up and down the entire ride. "Can't this car go any faster?"
Seto gently placed his hand on Joey's knee hoping to stop the constant, and rather irksome, bouncing. As soon as the car pulled up in front of the hospital Joey dashed out of the car running to the receptionist desk, looking around frantically for any sight of his mom.
"May I help you with something?" The receptionist asked, seeing Joey's distraught face.
"I'm looking for my sister, Serenity. Serenity Wheeler," Joey said quickly. The time it took for the receptionist to look up where she was on the computer felt like an eternity for Joey. For all he knew, she could be dying of some newfound disease or hit by a car. Seto finally entered the hospital and saw Joey standing at the receptionist desk and headed over to him.
"It looks like your sister is on the second floor room E34." As soon as the receptionist said the room number Joey dashed off to the closest elevator. "No running please," she called out, but knew it was futile since he obviously would not pay attention to her.
Joey saw his mom, as soon as he got out of the elevator, and dashed even faster towards her. "Where is Serenity? Is she alright?" He looked around the hall frantically to see where she was.
"She is in here," his mom opened the door she was standing next to and Joey saw his sister sitting in the bed. There were no bandages that he could see, but she was hooked up to an IV.
"What's wrong?" Joey said, confused.
"Appendicitis. She will be ok, once the surgery is done," she said, looking at her daughter. Seto finally stepped into the room, with a bouquet of vastly arranged flowers (snapdragons, tulips, lilies, and larkspurs), and saw Serenity in the bed and the women who he knew to be their mother. "Who is this, Joseph?" his mom asked as Seto closed the door behind himself and placed the flowers on a close end table.
"Good Day, Madam." The CEO said very uncharacteristically and causing Joey to lift an eyebrow in confusion. "I am Seto Kaiba. I am with your son," He said directly. Joey's face went pale with horror. Sure, Joey wanted some reassurance of their relationship in the form of words, but not to his mother.
"I can see that you came with my son, but why are you here?" She said, confused to Seto's response.
"I think you are slightly confused, Madam. Joseph is my boyfriend. I came with him because he was worried about Serenity, and I wanted to be here to support him. We have been dating for several months now, and I wanted to introduce myself properly to you. I know this might not be the most appropriate of occasions, however I was unsure when I would get another chance to meet you."
Joey thought he was going crazy. "Did I just hear all that right. Did Kaiba just say I was his boyfriend to my mom? I know I asked him awhile ago about where we stand, but saying it here, and now! To my mom."Joey felt like his body was on fire. "Gah!" he said after Seto finished his very polite introduction. Joey noticed that his mom was silent which was making him feel worse. The blond was messing with his hair, pulling on it. "Please tell me that this is all a dream. I'm really at Kaiba's house and I fell asleep while doing some derivatives. Wake up, Joey. Wake up."
Joey thought that he heard his sister almost squeal with glee at the news-well, as much as she could, with the pains she was in. "I'm so happy for you two," she said as the pain passed. Joey, hands still attached to his head, turned to his mother to see her reaction to this news.
"Well, if you are both happy then I will support you," she finally said after much contemplation. "Please be good to my son," she added to Kaiba with a small smile.
"WHAT!" Joey exclaimed in shock, which caused his mom to look over at him confused.
"Is something wrong?" she asked, looking at him quizzically.
"That's it? You are just going to accept it like that? No questions? Nothing?" Joey was beginning to seriously believe that this was a dream. Not only did Kaiba tell his mom about their relationship in a hospital, his mom was perfectly accepting of it.
"Well, I want you to be happy. And if he makes you happy then I will support you. Yes, it would have been nicer if it happened during a better time, but we do rarely see each other now, so I am thankful that I was told."
Joey still refused to believe that any of this was happening. "But Mom, you're going to accept it just like that? You barely even thought about it."
Seto moved over to Joey and stepped on his foot quiet hard, but not obvious enough for Joey's mom to see, "We should be thankful that she is accepting us, Joseph."
"Seto's right. It's almost as if you expected me not to accept it." She was confused to her son's reactions. Her eyes softened and Joey could see his mom was hurt that he was rejecting her openness so.
"It's not like that, Mom…" he started, unsure of how to explain himself. "It's just… I wasn't expecting this," He said with a sigh of relief.
"Joey, thank you," Serenity said from her bed.
"Huh? For what?" Joey asked, at his sister's side immediately.
"For coming here and for bringing such great news," Serenity said with a genuine smile despite the pain "I always believed that if anyone deserved to find someone, it was you, Joey. So, I'm really happy."
Joey squeezed his sister's hand, trying not to cry in front of her. She would never realize just how much her words touched him. "Thanks, sis. Now just rest. You need to focus on getting better, alright?"
Serenity nodded and Joey spent a little longer with his sister until the nurse said it was time for them to take Serenity for testing. Joey gave his little sister another bout of reassurance before promising he would visit her again soon. During that time, Seto acquainted himself further with Joey's mother and within minutes had entirely won her over. He asked her not to mention their relationship to anyone else, for Joey's safety, which she agreed to.
After they left the hospital and got into the car, Joey immediately rounded on the male sitting next to him, i.e. his boyfriend. "What the heck was that all about? You can't even tell me something like that yet you tell my mom without a second thought- in front of my sick sister, no less. And what was up with that Mr. Nice-guy act?"
"What's the big deal?" Seto asked. "I just wanted to be polite to your family. Both of them were perfectly fine with it anyways."
"Did you ever think that my mom might NOT take it so well? She might've exploded and then it would have affected Serenity and…" Joey continued ranting and Seto just rolled his eyes with a sigh. Finally, Joey began to lose steam with his rant. "...and would never be allowed to see my sister again! Are you even listening to me?"
Once most of Joey's steam was blown off, Seto calmly stated, "It's only polite that the man inform the parents of his relationship with their child."
'He's indirectly calling me the female of the relationship, I just know it!' Joey seethed.
"Now that just leaves your father…" Seto began but…
"NO!" Joey was looking at Seto with an expression that was not quite sane. "Don't you even think about it!
"Why are you so against it?" Seto asked genuinely confused why he would be so against it. Sure, Seto knew the basics of what happened to the Wheeler family, but knew very little about Joey's father in general.
"Because I am, and that should be enough," Joey stated vehemently. "Ya have to promise you won't tell my dad. Promise right now!"
Seto rolled his eyes and turned his head back to the irritated blond. "I promise not to tell your father."
He was obviously not happy about this, but Joey knew that his father would never accept this; also, he was just not ready for Seto to meet his father in general.
"This just leaves Mokuba, then," said Seto. "After all, he is my only family and you should formally tell him."
"What? Why me?" Joey said, confused. "Besides, the kid is so observant, so he probably already knows." Joey remembered the kid spying on them days ago.
"That's not the point, Wheeler. I formally introduced myself to your family, so you should do the same for mine."
Seto was an old-fashioned guy when it came to relationships, and he wanted sure to make sure to do everything properly. Joey knew this, but he still didn't see the point. Mokuba was the most observant thirteen year old he had ever met, so it would not come as much of a surprise to him, which should make telling him easier.
"Fine, I'll tell him," Joey conceded with a sigh. "But you better keep your promise about not telling my father," Joey stated wanting to be reassured one last time. Seto nodded his head in agreement as the two finally approached the estate.
"Right after we tell Mokuba, back to the books," he said before they stepped through the door of the house.
Joey groaned. He had hoped that the excitement of the hospital would mean he was out of doing homework, but when it comes to Kaiba, that's never the case.
"You guys are back," Mokuba said, skidding to the door when he heard it open. "How is Serenity?"
"She's fine for the most part. She has to get her appendix removed, though," Joey said, thinking about the pain he saw his sister in.
"Well, that should be an easy enough procedure. She'll be fine in no time," Mokuba said with a smile.
Joey knew that he should keep his end of the bargain with Seto, and tell Mokuba right now and get it out of the way, but he just really didn't see the point still. After taking a deep breath and exhaling Joey finally said something. "Mokuba, there's something I need to tell you."
Mokuba nodded and the three boys headed to the living room. After they all sat down Mokuba turned to Joey. "What is it?"
"Well…I wanted to tell you…that Kaiba and I are boyfriends. Officially," Joey said with much stuttering and flushing.
A smile danced upon Mokuba's face. "It's about time you told me. I always knew, but still…" He gave a small laugh. "It's nice to be told instead of just assuming."
Joey looked to Seto and he knew what he was thinking. "Well, I should probably get back to studying."
Joey really didn't want to study, after all most of the day was gone, and he really didn't want to waste it on books. He and Seto both got up and headed to the study where Joey plopped back down on the couch and opened up the calculus book yet again trying to understand the difference with derivatives and integrals.
Several hours passed before Seto, at last, said the liberating words, "That's enough for tonight, Wheeler."
Joey stretched his arms high and wide as he stood up from the couch. He got a great deal of studying done, even though he felt like he would never remember it all. He looked down at his watch and saw it was a quarter to ten.
"Seto, Joey?" Mokuba said, knocking on the door. "Did you guys want to watch a movie with me?"
"A movie sounds great right now, since my brain feels like it's broken," Joey thought as he headed to the door. "Sure, would love ta. Which movie?"
"Seto?" Mokuba asked again, hoping that the three could watch a movie together like last time.
"I'll go get some coffee then," Seto said, leaving his study and heading to the kitchen.
While Seto was getting his life-blood beverage, Joey and Mokuba both decided on the Incredible Hulk. Mokuba popped in the movie and the two of them took their positions on the couch. Seto arrived with his steaming mug and settled himself between the two of them. Mokuba used a remote to dim the lights and started the film.
Joey was still feeling a little worked up by the day's events. He was starting to think he would never understand Seto, no matter how much he wished to. He supposed he should feel happy to be acknowledged by Seto as a boyfriend, but the way he did things… always taking charge and rarely letting Joey have a say. Joey liked to think that Seto wasn't trying to be a total ass, but why did he always feel like he had to take charge when he rarely ever made advances? Joey just didn't think it was very fair. He wasn't about to complain to Seto, it would just go in one ear and out the other.
Joey's hands clenched on the couch's surface. He couldn't even focus on the movie. Maybe he should just call it a night and go home. Just as he was deliberating on getting up from the couch, he felt cool fingers touch his hand and almost jumped in surprise. He looked at Seto, who was giving him a look of mild annoyance and Joey was sure there was a hidden warning in there some place. The blond relaxed a little and let the larger hand take hold of his, cinching the fingers snugly.
By this time, Seto's eyes were back to the television screen, whereas Joey couldn't even spare it a glance anymore. He was content at staring peacefully at their hands resting together, as if it were completely natural.
KD: It never ceases me to melt every time i read those words, "I am with your son."
Jael: OMFG SETO SAID THE WORD BOYFRIEND! *dies* oh ya to those of you who don't me, I'm the silent co-writer Jael, I finally got to post a chapter...so thank you from me to everyone who reviews and reads our story. It makes me so happy. *wipes away a tear*
Happy Easter Everyone! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and if you did feel free to leave a review, they are always happily accepted.