Kaiba awoke the next morning feeling completely relaxed. He turned over fully expecting Salem to be sleeping at his side. He sat up when he realized she was nowhere in the room.

He stretched with a long yawn and got out of bed to start his morning routine. Once dressed, he walked out of the room, the smell of fresh pancakes invaded his nostrils.

He made his way to the kitchen and saw Salem setting the table, her expression unreadable.

"Good morning."

Salem jumped at the sound of Kaiba's deep voice and then chuckled, embarrassed by her reaction.

She sighed and smiled,

"Good morning. How did you sleep?" She asked politely. She moved between the stove and the table, setting the pancakes, eggs, and breakfast meats in the center.

Kaiba shrugged his shoulders and crossed his arms. He hadn't slept that well in ages.

Not since Atem left him.

"I slept fine." He said flatly.

He looked around, wondering if Atem was up yet. He knew the ex pharaoh wasn't a morning person, but with the entire villa smelling like food, Kaiba was surprised Atem wasn't already tearing into the fluffy sweet discs on the table.

Salem cleared her throat as she put a pitcher of fresh squeezed orange juice on the table. She pulled her phone out of the pocket of her white sundress and stared at her screen, reading a new message.

Kaiba examined her carefully as she rolled her eyes and shook her head. He raised an eyebrow as she removed two plates from the table and set them on the counter.

Salem sat down and looked up at Kaiba,

"They've started their day already. Apparently Atem decided that we're staying another day…" She angrily spooned eggs onto her plate as she spoke.

Kaiba's heart sunk to the pit of his stomach.

The whole reason he came here was to spend time with Atem. Now, Atem is trying to court Yugi with a romantic day at the beach?

Would they go to the beach?

Does Atem even have money to pay for a date?

"You're more than welcome to stay, Mr. Kaiba. Please, sit and eat-"

"I'm leaving now." He said shortly.

He wasn't going to waste any more time with Salem, he needed to find out where Atem and Yugi were.

He had appreciated the connection he was able to make with her, but a platonic friendship with a woman wasn't something he cared about or even needed at this point in his life.

Salem pursed her lips in a tight line as she laid two pancakes next to her eggs and bacon. She leaned back against her chair and sighed,

"Okay. Well, um, thanks. It was nice having a conversation with you where we weren't bickering."

Kaiba scoffed,

"Anything I said was due to the drugs and wine. Nothing's changed." He turned on his heel before Salem could speak and left the kitchen.

He grabbed his bag out of the bedroom and left the villa without another word. He stomped to his car and threw his bag in the passenger seat.

He took out his phone, hoping Atem posted something to give Kaiba an idea of where they would be.

He scrolled.

Nothing.

He went to Yugi's profile, hoping the shy male would prove useful for once.

Yes!

A picture of a perfect plate of Eggs Benedict.

He scrolled.

Another picture of Atem sipping a pink cocktail from a coup glass and winking at the camera.

Brunch with this handsome devil! His eyeliner is so sharp he could cut someone with it!

Kaiba groaned and rolled his eyes as hard as he could as he started the car.

He clicked on the tagged restaurant and put the address in his GPS. Hopefully he'll get there with enough time to see them leave, and follow them to their next location.

He started the car and peeled out of the parking space, speeding toward his destination.

Atem laughed joyfully as he and Yugi exited the restaurant. He had forgotten how good it felt to be carefree, even if it was just for one day.

He led Yugi to the sand and set their bags down, getting ready to lay out their towels for their beach time.

"I love that there are so many places to eat right on the water…" Yugi said, dreamily staring out into the ocean.

Yugi was trying his hardest to relax but his situation back in Domino was still at the back of his mind. He couldn't run from his problems for ever.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Atem pulled him onto the beach towels, causing their shoulders to knock together. He blinked as he processed Atem's face inches from his, staring at him with a mischievous grin.

He yelped as he was pushed down onto his back, Atem suddenly on top of him.

"Atem! What are you-" He was cut of by Atem's mouth on his. His mind told him to push Atem away. To tell him no. To tell him to stop. To tell him anything. But, his mind shut down once a silky tongue brushed against his lower lip.

Atem broke the kiss and quickly got off of Yugi, putting his hand over his own mouth in disbelief of what he had just done.

"Aibou I-I'm sorry. I don't know why I-"

"It's fine. Just. Just please don't do it again." Yugi said, sitting up and looking around nervously.

The beach was sparse, not many people were out and about but Yugi had a feeling someone saw them.

Kaiba was watching the ex twins from a distance, fuming.

What did Yugi have that he didn't?!

His mind went blank as he stepped out of the his car and trudged through the sand, fully locked on to his target.

His eyes were glowing with jealousy as he approached the young men.

"What the hell do you two think you're doing?" Kaiba growled, his voice scaring the two males into standing up and backing away.

"What are you talking about?" Atem asked, crossing his arms and glaring at the brunette.

Kaiba scoffed and stood his ground,

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. I saw everything and who knows who else did. You're both local celebrities so you can't openly cheat-"

"Why do you care, Kaiba-kun? Yes, we shouldn't have kissed but what are you even doing here? You're always talking about how you have a company to run but you've been hovering around us ever since Atem came back to Domino." Yugi argued, realizing that they were bringing more attention to themselves.

Kaiba pursed his lips and glared at the smaller male. He couldn't help but feel like his intentions were obvious, and that's what was driving Atem away. But at the same time, the thought of Yugi and Atem together romantically broke his heart.

Atem raised an eyebrow and studied Kaiba carefully,

"Why are you here?" The ex pharaoh knew Kaiba had followed them to the island, but it doesn't explain why he and Salem were in bed together.

Kaiba opened his mouth to explain when all three of their cell phones chimed simultaneously. He pulled his phone from his linen pants and felt the confusion of the other males who had the same notification.

WahabWolf is now live…

Atem furrowed his brow and swiped the notification, opening it to a live stream of Salem in the villa.

"What the hell does she think she's doing?" Kaiba spat, him and Yugi crowding around Atem's phone to watch Salem's antics on screen.

Yugi was incredibly confused. He remembered Atem telling him that Salem never went live. Ever.

He was never told the reason but he assumed it had something to do with incredibly overly sexual comments. He knew Atem had issues with disgusting comments, he would assume Salem would have the same experience.

Salem is sitting on the floor of the extravagant villa. She is in a matching two piece Gucci tracksuit, blush pink in color.

Salem: Oh shit, I didn't think this many people would watch my live feed. Fuck, Okay. Um, Hi.

She pushes the camera further back so the viewer can see her full body, sitting cross legged. She wearing no makeup and her curls are brushed out and puffy. She sighs and puts her hands on her knees.

Salem: So, as many of you know, I never go live. Today, I've decided that it's time to branch out. With the contracts for the cosmetics line and palette signed, I don't really have anything that's...just me.

She runs her fingers through her hair as she reads the multitude of comments and likes. She laughs as several viewers send in their thoughts.

Viewer: OMG she's crazy beautiful! Wtf how!

Viewer #2: Where is she? Is she on vacay with Atem and Yugi? Why is she alone?

Salem: Ah. Yes. The vacation was meant to be celebratory for Atem and I. Sort of a, "Congrats we made the first step! When we come home the real work begins!" blah blah blah… But, Atem and Yugi are...good-very good friends and Atem thought that this trip would be good for Yugi too.

She pulls a small black black out from behind her and begins taking out different cosmetics.

Random Viewer: "Good" Friends? Who else saw that picture of Atem on top of Yugi on the beach?

Salem reads the comment and raises an eyebrow.

Salem: What picture?

Another random viewer posts a link to a photo. Salem smirks and chuckles.

Salem: Nice. You know, it's really funny to us when you guys blow things out of proportion. Yugi and Atem are just friends.

She squints to read another comment and laughs.

Salem: Yes, I do plan to do my regular, everyday makeup in this stream. As for my hair, I've detangled it so I can put it in goddess braids...which for those of you who don't know, are just really fancy french braids.

She starts with face primer, putting random dots all of her face and blending it in with a brush. She takes out a bottle of foundation and squirts three pumps on the back of her hand.

Salem: Normally I do two pumps but I had to sleep on the couch last night thanks to an unexpected visit from our new collab Seto Kaiba.

She looks at the screen and chuckles as she dips her beauty blender in the the foundation and starts to beat the liquid into her skin.

Salem: I think he came to the island because he's a possessive control freak with daddy issues and needed to feel like he was in control of his newest investment.

She looks at the camera and winks.

Salem: Don't worry all. There's nothing in my contract that says I can't be honest. In fact, it's encouraged.

She finishes her foundation and moves onto concealer. She take a concealer stick and makes an inverted triangle under each eye, another in the middle of her forehead, just under the hinge of her jaw, and on her chin. She takes the same beauty blender and blends the concealer into the foundation, highlighting those areas of her face.

She reads another comment, many of them coming in too fast for her to catch. She tries her best.

Salem: Haha. I actually have a healthy relationship with food and my body, and have no qualms about being in lingerie during a video. BUT, I'll only do it if Atem is in lingerie with me. And maybe if Seto Kaiba signs off on it. I think he pretty much has control over what we post on the joint channel now...which..

She read another comment.

Salem: No, I'm single. But I'm not really worried about finding someone. I'm just trying to live my own life for now. And no, I've never done pornography.

She continues doing her makeup humming while she applies her contour.

Another comment comes in and she pauses.

Salem: I guess I am technically, and only technically, interested in someone. But, nothing's really… come of that.

Kaiba groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Let's go back to the villa. We'll stop her awful stream before she bores your entire fanbase to death." He said, ready to leave the island and go back to his regular schedule.

Atem scoffed and closed the video,

"Are you kidding, they're loving her. All people want is to be able to connect. She's doing that. Even if you and her "connected" last night."

"You know Salem and I just fell asleep right? Nothing happened." Kaiba said, aghast that he had to even defend himself.

Yugi sighed and turned toward Atem,

"It's true. She said something about her and Kaiba bonding."

"Pfft. If that's true then why did she says those things about you? What, did you make friends and then suddenly decide she wasn't good enough for you?" Atem guffawed.

Kaiba cleared his throat and averted his gaze.

Of course that's what he did.

Atem studied Kaiba's reaction and laughed loudly when he realized what happened.

"You bonded and then pushed her away! Just like you and me…" Atem thought aloud.

Kaiba remained silent. He realized that he did, in fact, push Atem away when he felt their relationship was getting too serious. And he did the same thing to Salem when he found a real friend in her.

Shit.

Atem shook his head and turned to Yugi,

"Let's head back. It's clear I owe Salem an apology and that Kaiba should have left ages ago." He said packing up their towels.

Kaiba's heart dropped into his stomach.

No.

This couldn't be it. Not here.

Atem and Yugi had already started walking off when Kaiba finally snapped out of his thoughts.

"Wait!" Kaiba yelled, hoping he wasn't drawing too much attention to himself.

Wait.

Maybe that was it.

People on the beach were watching them and that's how whatever picture got around, got around.

Maybe things he said would get around too.

It would mean coming out to the world but he would do that.

For Atem.

Atem turned around and glared at the tall brunette,

"What!"

Kaiba took a deep breath and felt the words leave his body,

"I love you."

Everyone on the beach who pretended not to watch the scene in front of them took out their phones and started filming. Hoping to catch Atem's answer for their own use.

Atem felt the ground shift and dip around him, Kaiba's words echoing in his ear.

I love you…

Why now?

Why with everything?

Why?

Atem's knees gave out from beneath him but not before Yugi caught him under his arms.

"Atem! Are you okay?" Yugi asked sitting the ex pharaoh on the beach.

Atem didn't respond.

Kaiba loved him.

Was this true?

Has it always been true?

Atem's vision clouded and then went black as he fell backward on this sand.

Kaiba loved him.

Shit.

I'm soooooo sorry i'm late on posting (again). I moved into a new building this weekend and everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong (see-my most recent tumblr post).

I'm slowly getting settled and excited as my birthday is coming up on May 19!

Next week I'll be posting a new chapter of L'appel Du Vide and a special birthday gift to my best friend. ;)

Don't forget to like/review/kudo and to follow me on tumblr QueenBEWD.

Please forgive any mistakes as I don't have an editor (i'm looking for one though...)