The only sound of them is the soft rustle of their clothes and bodies in the sofa. I have a suitcase in my hand, and Kek is behind me with two more. As we reach the end of the hall, I can hear Marik whispering I love you over and over again as they sat together on the couch. Bakura's giggling, and sniffing a few stray tears away.
Good. I'm glad Marik finally said it. It's about time Bakura heard it, and his laughter makes me feel like this is going to be okay. I'm going to miss Bakura. His leaving has already shattered my heart, but it's okay because he's going to be happy, and I need that for him. I need it. I drop the suitcase on the floor and clear my throat so they can notice our presence.
Marik twisted to look at us. He has a cute hand-caught-in-the-cookie-jar look on his face although they hadn't been doing anything even remotely explicit.
"Are those my suitcases?" Bakura asked. "What are you doing with them?"
"We packed all your things for you."
"Yeah, it's gtfo time." Kek set the other two suitcases next to the first one.
"You're that eager to get rid of me?" Bakura raised an eyebrow, smiling, just like I was smiling.
We paused and faked smiles at each other, but I could see it in his eyes, he was torn. That's why Kek and I packed his things, and that's why we were going to kick him out before he had a chance to get cold feet about leaving on his own. Because we loved him that much, so we were going to let him go.
"Nothing personal." Kek waived his hand in the air as if he didn't care about any of this, although I knew better, and Bakura must have as well.
"Yeah… guess we knew it was probably going to come to this." Bakura's smile broke.
Not all at once, it didn't shatter. The corners of his mouth twitched downward, then raised again as if he'd be able to hold the expression afterall, but then the muscles relaxed and hung until he was frowning. His eyes were already red from tears, but they brightened again, like he might start up again. It was killing me, to watch. Dammit Bakura, leave us and be happy. You were suppose to be happy about this. We're the ones that should be sad- Kek and I. We're the ones losing you, so don't make this harder by being sad with us.
I couldn't bear it. I couldn't bear him sad. Kek rested his hand on my shoulder. He knew me well enough to know I wanted to jump on the couch beside them and beg them to stay. I knew he should go, but I wanted him to stay so bad. My fingers twitched, as if trying to grab Bakura on their own. I stared at his suitcases.
"Maybe you can visit some time…"
"Or at least invite us to the wedding," Kek joked.
And the honeymoon, and then we could all move into a huge house. This was so stupid! I'd rather gain a Marik than lose a Bakura. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair, we all loved him.
"Bakura, I love you…"
There I go again without my filter on. I think it, and then say it. I'm so bad about that with Bakura. We shared thoughts once, so it's hard not to do around him. But what did it matter now? Marik had said it. We saved that for him, and it was done, so I should at least to get to say it once too… maybe twice.
"Bakura, I love you, but it's time for you to go now." I bit my bottom lip.
"Dammit Ryou, dammit." Kek's voice was tight. He was holding back tears; I could hear it in his voice.
I turned towards him, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. He crushed my fingers in his grip, his free hand tugging at his spikes as he slammed his eyes shut.
"Bakura, get the fuck out of here already. If you stay any longer I'm going to lose my shit in front of everyone."
"Kek…"
Marik slid off of Bakura's lap so Bakura could stand and grab Kek, holding him tightly. I caved then, throwing my arms around them both. We held together like that for a desperate moment before Kek pushed Bakura away.
"Go!" He screamed, tears glimmering in the corners of his eyes. His hand clenched at his tanktop where his heart hid behind his ribcage. "Go! This hurts! This hurts more than the knife! That was fun, but this is killing me!"
"Okay," Bakura's voice cracked. "Okay. C'mon Marik, we have to go-"
"Wait!" Marik jumped up, distressed. We all turned to look at him. He toyed with his tie, not looking any of us. "Um, look. It's… been a long trip, and. I know. There's hotels, but… checking in is such a pain, and we'd need to find a cab first. I'm too tired for all that… so…"
His jumble of thoughts stopped, like a wreck that lost momentum, but a little smile lit up my face because I knew what he was doing.
"Oh," my voice was high-pitched with emotions, but I cleared my throat and forced the words out without more tears. "Where are my manners? I'm sorry. Marik, you've traveled so far today, of course you're too tired to find a hotel this time of night. Would you like to stay here tonight?"