Heartaches

Chapter 55

By Kellyq

The attention around the racetrack was lifted when Primo and Lester left. Bruno smiled. The other teams with members decided to go back to practicing.

"Thanks for cheering me on," he said taking off his helmet and bowing.

"You're good," Crow complemented, shaking Bruno's hand.

"Why don't you stay at our place?" Yusei suggested.

"As long as he sleeps on the couch, I'm fine with that," Jack said, turning to walk back to his motorcycle. He started the engine and veered his bike to where the hanger was.

Bruno's expression softened. He had a feeling that Jack wasn't too bad. Yusei got on his bike too and followed his boyfriend.

"Why don't we practice tomorrow?" Brave suggested. "It looks like your bikes have some upgrades."

Bruno chuckled and scratched the back of his head nervously. "Don't worry, they're not cheating. Yusei wanted to make sure that he was on top of his game, just like Jack and Crow."


Yusei parked his bike to see Jack looking at what was on the laptop. He removed his helmet, got off his motorcycle and made his way over.

"You're gonna have tough opponents," Yusei finally spoke up, showing him a list of people. One of them was Primo and the other was Dragan. "That's why I had Bruno install safety equipment on your bike. The last time you had a big race, you got hurt, and I don't want to see that again." Jack glanced at Yusei's bike to see that there were some changes made, but didn't know what. "Don't worry; I have some things installed on mine, too."

Jack slumped into a nearby chair and slammed the side of his fist on the table out of frustration. "This is so frustrating!"

"I know how you -"

"No you don't! Not once have you thought that maybe I feel useless!" Jack pointed out.

Yusei lowered his gaze, stepped in front of Jack and pulled him out of the chair so that they were making eye contact. "I do know how you feel, Jack. What about how I feel?"

Jack sighed knowing that Yusei had a point; he wasn't paying attention how Yusei felt about the whole thing with Martha and the kids. "I should apologize for not even thinking ... it's just hard knowing that there's nothing I can do to ease the pain you're feeling."

Yusei closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Jack's shoulders. The blonde haired teen closed his eyes too and wrapped his arms around Yusei's waist.

After a moment, Yusei pulled away giving his boyfriend a determined look. "Don't think that you're useless, Jack Atlus. We're going to get through everything together. We always have..."

"You've said it!" came Crow's voice. The two turned to see Crow and Bruno standing there with their motorcycles by their sides.

Crow walked up and pumped his fist out. Jack and Yusei pulled away and brought their fists together. Bruno watched for a moment before he slowly made his way and repeated the same action.

Yusei smiled. "Why don't you be part of our team?"

"I'd love to! That is ... " Bruno paused and glanced at Crow and Jack. "If you guys let me."

"I have no problem with that! You're good!" Crow complemented.

Bruno smiled and glanced at Jack, hoping that he was accepted.

"You don't have to give me that look. I said that you can sleep on the couch," Jack said.

"Does that mean you'll accept me?" Bruno asked hopefully.

Jack sighed. "Yes."


Misty had moved Carly's belongings to her condominium. She was pleased that she got what she wanted without any trouble. Mr. Pitts was also glad to get rid of Carly too, and she was happy to get out of that situation.

Carly sat down on the couch as Misty placed a tray of crackers, goat cheese, and tea on the table. She turned and walked back to the kitchen as Carly turned the TV on. It showed a commercial about the upcoming motorcycle race. Misty glanced at the screen as she walked back and sat down.

"Are you going?" Misty asked.

"Of course I'm going!"


Carly wasn't the only one to respond with excitement; Dragan, Brave and Harald were too when they saw the announcement on TV. The three were sitting causally on the couch.

"Do you think we'll have a bigger crowd this year?" came Brave's semi-feminine voice.

Before his two friends could answer, Dragan's Blackberry chimed a couple of times. He pulled it out and his eyes widened with slight fear when the screen on his cell phone showed that it was the hospital.

"I'll take this call," Harald said, gently taking it. He pressed the button and put it to his ear. "Hello? Yes. Dragan is here ... are you sure?" Dragan's facial expression changed to hope. Brave scooted closer, intertwined his fingers with Dragans, and ran his thumb along his knuckles. "That's great news," Harald said, taking Dragan's other hand and kissing it. "I'll tell him that. Is there anything else that I should tell Dragan?" Harald nodded his head and handed the phone over after he was done. "Your father is finally awake and everything's going to turn out fine."

"It's about time!" Brave said, getting up still holding Dragan's hand, not paying attention to what he was going to say next. "Now you can rest and thank God for not taking your father! If he did, I'd have a serious talk with God about taking him away from you!"

"Brave!" The red haired teen flinched at Harald's strict tone that he would often use when he wasn't pleased. "Calm yourself."

Brave's eyes widened when he realized what he just said and regretted it. "Dragan, I'm sorry! It's just that it hurt knowing that there wasn't much I could do to ease the pain you were in about what was going on with your dad, but at least he's going to recover from the car accident."

Dragan only smiled knowing that his friend didn't mean any harm. "Don't worry about it. I'm just grateful that you guys kept me in line," he complemented, eyeing them both.

Brave smiled, let go of Dragan's hand and walked out, leaving the two alone. Harald was pleased that Dragan's father made it with only one busted leg. Even though he was in a coma for quite some time, it was a miracle that he suffered a minor concussion.

"Do you want to go see him?" Harald finally spoke up.

Dragan looked down with shame. "I don't know if should, considering that I didn't even set foot in that room the whole time. He's probably ashamed of me by now."

Harald cupped Dragan's face. Dark blue eyes came in contact with dark golden eyes. "We'll see him together, so it's not painful for you like it was the first time."

"The thing was that I wanted him to meet you and get his approval of our relationship, like Brave had," Dragan shared, finally revealing why he wanted Harald and Brave to be at the racetrack early.

Harald leaned in kissed Dragan on the lips and moved some hair away from his neck, before he pulled back. "Why don't we rest and make a decision tomorrow."


Stopping for the day seemed like a good idea. Crow was the first to depart as Jack, Yusei and Bruno made it to the Condo. The first thing they noticed was that Mina and Trudge were not there.

"Wow! This place is huge!" Bruno explained, looking around.

Jack walked into the kitchen to make himself a cup of ramen as Yusei followed Bruno down the hallway to the linen closet. He came to Jack's room and was about to open the door when he felt Yusei's hand on his shoulder. Bruno turned his head to see Yusei shaking his head and a blanket in his arms. Bruno nodded his head and followed Yusei to the living room. He draped the blanket over the couch as Jack dumped the empty cup into the trash and made his way to his room and closed the door.

Yusei walked in a moment later to see his boyfriend getting ready to take a shower. He made his way over to the bed, grabbed his pillow and moved the extra pillow over. He turned and walked out closing the door. Yusei made his way over to the couch to see Bruno lying down. He sat up as Yusei placed the pillow behind him.

Bruno laid back down. "Thanks for letting me stay here."

Yusei sat across from him. "It's the least I can do for helping me out. The upcoming race is going to be tough and I want to make sure that we're ready for anything."

Bruno smiled. "You've got really cool friends."

"We've known each other since we were kids, and I'm grateful to have them in my life," Yusei said in a mumble tone.

"Are we going to the racetrack tomorrow?" Bruno asked.

Yusei shook his head. "Jack and I were going to help Crow transport a friend of his to his place. Do you want to help?"

"Sure!"

Yusei smiled, got up and walked to Jack's room. He opened the door walked in and closed it.


The next day Yusei and Jack decided to have Bruno introduce himself to Martha before they went to help Crow. When they walked into the lobby, Bruno was the first to notice Brave sitting casually in a chair. They nodded in acknowledgment. Yusei and Jack saw him too, but they didn't think too much of it until they got to the third floor and saw Harald opening the door for Dragan and the two walked in, closing the door that was across the hallway from Martha's.

Dragan and Harald made their way to the bed. Dragan walked to the right side as Harald went to the left. The injured man slowly opened his eyes and smiled at his son.

"How are you feeling?" Dragan finally asked.

"I'll be okay, but how did your match go with Jack?" his father asked.

Dragan hung his head. "I lost."

"Are you going to have a rematch?" his father asked calmly, not minding that his son had lost, concluding that it was because of the car accident.

Dragan nodded his head. "Next week. And now that you're okay, I'll be able to fight with pride."

"I'll watch your rematch and despite whether you win or lose, I'm still proud of you," his father said. He glanced at Harald taking in his appearance. He could see why Dragan was close to Harald. The atmosphere around him was calm, soothing, and his dark golden eyes held power, confidence, and compassion. "You must be Harald." He nodded his head. "I'm glad to finally meet the one that my son is close to."

Harald reached for Dragan's hand and laced their fingers together. It took a moment for Dragan's father to figure out what that meant and when he realized it, he nodded in approval. "I see. Is this what you want, Dragan?" He nodded his head. "I'll support you anyway I can. Now go practice and beat Jack!" Dragan nodded his head, feeling confident and that's what he needed since he had lost.

To Be Continued