Heartaches

Chapter 37

By KellyQ

After Carly changed into the outfit Misty gave her, she looked into the mirror. She started to brush her hair. Images of Misty running the comb through her hair flashed in front of Carly like a picture book. The sensation certainly felt good, but why would Misty go so far as to be, and not respectful toward Jack?

Carly didn't like that Misty treated him like dirt. She groaned. Why are things so complicated? I wonder if Jack feels used, Carly thought, walking out of the woman's restroom. She stopped abruptly. Could Godwin be ordering Jack to take me out to break his relationship with Yusei?

Carly liked the thought of having Jack all to herself, but every time they were together, it left things sour. Carly didn't want that, and she was sure that Jack didn't want that either.

By this point Carly had made it to the bus stop and waited for the bus that would take her to Misty's Condo. Carly pulled out her cell phone and dialed Jack's number, and after the third ring it was answered.

"Hello?" came Yusei's voice.

Carly nearly dropped her phone. She wasn't expecting Yusei to pick up, or having Jack's cell phone. "Uh ... is this Yusei?"

"Yes," came a calm reply, "and you're Carly, right?"

Awkward tension could be felt through both of them.

"Uh ... yeah ... umm ... could you tell Jack that I want to cancel our outing next Friday?"

"Sure. I can do that," Yusei responded casually. "May I ask why? So he knows what's going on?"

Carly bit her lip. "Well ... I just thought we could hang and not go out," she answered. Besides, Carly thought, I want to know how Jack feels about this whole thing.

"Sure thing. Thanks for telling him in advance," Yusei said politely.

Carly laughed nervously. "Sure. It would be rude not to tell him ahead of time, right?"

"Sure ... but I do need to go, and I'll make sure that Jack gets the message."

With that Yusei hung up. Carly (by now) was already at her destination, and so was Yusei. He smiled when the door to Martha's house opened and Rally ran up. Yusei got off his motorcycle just as Rally hugged him.

"Jack came by just a moment ago, saying that you might drop by, and I'm happy you did," Rally murmured.

A soft smile made its way to Yusei's lips, thinking that it was sweet that his boyfriend went out of his way to do that.

"Aren't you going to come inside?" Rally asked, snapping Yusei out of his thoughts.

He smiled again and took the boy's hand. They both walked inside let go of their hands, just as Leo came running up.

"You just missed Jack - and Aero was here before that! He made some excellent breakfast!" He explained in a rush.

Rally smiled. He thought Aero was a sweet guy, and Jack seemed to show him a lot of respect.

Yusei raised a brow. "He was?"

Rally nodded his head. "Yeah! It was cool to meet him. He reminded me of you ... as in being a nice person, and cool to hang around with."

"Thanks," he said gently, allowing Leo and Rally to guide Yusei into the kitchen.

When they walked into the kitchen, there was a plate (wrapped in tinfoil) for Yusei. "Have you guys eaten, yet?" he asked, taking his gloves off.

They sat down as Yusei unwrapped the tinfoil, to see that it was his favorite (a cut egg sandwich).

Rally nodded his head, watching him eat. "Yeah! He's a good cook!"

"Do you think you have time to hang with us?" Leo asked. "I was wondering if you can help me fix something."

Rally bit his lip. "I tried to help fix it," he explained quietly, "but I just made it worse."

Yusei nodded his head, taking the last bite of his sandwich. He took the napkin and wiped his mouth. "What needs to be fixed?"

"It's more along the lines of wanting to track my friend Dexter," Leo said, looking the other way. "He was adopted awhile back, and I want to know if he's okay." And I really want him to meet Rally, too, he thought.

"How about I help you after everything quiets down with Kiryu?" Yusei suggested, putting his gloves back on.

"I ... I guess that could work," Leo said quietly, still looking away.

"We can still keep looking," Rally said, placing his hand on top of Leo's. He nodded his head, turned, slipped his hand from under Rally's and walked out. Rally sighed, feeling sorry for Leo. "We looked into Martha's file, and it said that Dexter where adopted, and it had the address, so we called, and we got some weird person on the phone," Really explained, "but it turned out that Dexter has moved and that's what we're trying to figure out."

A soft smile made its way to Yusei's lips. "I'm glad you're making new friends here. Most of the kids are nice."

Rally nodded his head. "I guess," he murmured looking in the direction where they came from.

Yusei studied him for a moment. "What's wrong?"

"I'm trying to figure Leo out." Rally shifted in his chair. "He's all cheery one minute and gets all depressed the next. Do you know if he ever gets angry?"

"The only time I've ever seen him get upset was when Luna got sick, she ended up in the hospital for a few months," Yusei explained.

Rally nodded his head again, then asked, "have you met Dexter?"

"I met him once. He was quiet and shy, but all in all, he was a good kid," Yusei answered.

Rally smiled. "I do think the twins are cool. But I'm still trying to figure Leo out. Can you tell me anything that would help?"

Yusei studied him for a moment and smiled. "I don't know that much other than I think that he has ADD and depression."

Rally nodded his head in agreement. It made a hole lot of sense about Leo's personality, but Rally was still going to help Leo find his friend – Dexter.

To Be Continued ...