Chapter 3
The afternoon was fairly quiet and uneventful. Honda ran a hand over his hair and smiled as it had now been returned to the shape it was when he was younger. The bell above the door announced Honda's entrance into the shop.
"Honda!" The voices of Jounouchi, Bakura, Yuugi and Anzu chorused as he appeared. Honda laughed as the four of them ran to hug him.
"It's been a long time, we missed you, Honda-kun." Bakura smiled brightly.
"How have you been?" Yuugi went to the door to close the shop so that they could talk privately.
"Now that I'm home, I'm great." Honda grinned and gave a sideways glance to Jounouchi. "Though Jounouchi didn't recognize me with my hair down and my reading glasses."
"Come on, lets go into the house." Bakura waved his arm and led them out of the shop area.
"It's nice to see you, Honda. It's been too long!" Anzu sat down and smiled to him. The rest of the boys filed in and took their own seats, Honda sitting nearest to Jounouchi.
"Anzu…didn't you go to New York?"
"Yeah, but I couldn't stay away long, I missed everyone too much."
"Well, I can sympathize, it's good to be back." Honda realized his best friend was being much too quiet and turned to look at him. "What's wrong, Jounouchi?" For a split second that seemed to drag on much longer, everything was deathly quiet. Honda hadn't expected the punch in the jaw that sent him backwards nearly over the arm of the couch.
"Jounouchi! What's wrong with you?" Anzu yelled at the blond and rose to her feet. Jounouchi ignored her, then leaned over Honda and cornered him in the couch.
"Just because you're back, do you think everything's alright now? All these years, no word from you or anything!" He stood up and stormed up the stairs to Yuugi's room to be alone. Honda sat up and rubbed his jaw. He frowned and sighed as he eyed the staircase.
"He's still the same as ever, I see…" Honda groaned and winced at feeling the bruise where he had been punched. Bakura walked to the kitchen to grab a plastic bag of ice and came back into the room to hand it to Honda who nodded a thanks to him and held the ice to his jaw.
"He's probably just in shock or something, Honda-kun. After leaving Kaiba and then seeing you so suddenly with no warning."
"Yeah." Honda shrugged and looked away from Bakura. "Earlier he was so excited to see me."
"Let me go talk to him," Bakura whispered and moved away from him.
"Good luck." Honda laid down in the couch and stared blankly at the ceiling. Bakura shook his head and ascended the stairs to find Jounouchi.
Jounouchi was laying in Yuugi's bed face down in the pillows and didn't notice Bakura's entrance. Bakura walked over to him slowly and heard muffled sobs. He bit his lip before reaching out to touch Jounouchi's arm.
"Jounouchi-kun?" He took a step backwards when a startled Jounouchi lashed his arm out.
"Oh, it's you. What do you want, Bakura?" Jounouchi sat up in the bed.
"I wanted to talk to you about Honda-kun."
"Well you can forget it."
"But I really think you-"
"Bakura, I'll knock you down the stairs if you don't leave me alone." Jounouchi held his fist up warningly.
"Jounouchi-kun…" Bakura swallowed and shook his head. "No I won't leave you alone, I'm not afraid of you. Why don't you want to talk about it?"
"I…" Jounouchi sighed and fought the tears forming at the corners of his eyes. "I missed him damnit. After all we'd been through together, he just up and left. When Seto, no…" He shook his head at saying his first name. "When Kaiba and I got together, I thought Honda would still be there whenever I needed him. I should feel happy that he's back, but…maybe what Kaiba said is true, he did abandon me."
"Jounouchi! I don't think that's true at all. Will you at least talk to him about this?"
"Yeah sure, send him in." Jounouchi sighed, he was too mentally worn out to argue.
"Promise not to punch him again?" Bakura smiled slightly as he walked to the door.
"Nope, sorry. Can't make any promises about that." Jounouchi shook his head and smiled as Bakura went back downstairs. The blond sighed and laid back down in the bed, rubbing his temples.
"What is wrong with me? I'm such an ass."
"Oh? You've been with Kaiba too long then." Honda smirked as he walked through the door and sat on the bed near him.
"Hey, I'm sorry about punching you."
"That's okay, I've had far worse pain." Honda smiled thinly to himself. He gasped when he felt Jounouchi pull him down into the bed beside him and grip his neck tightly in his arms.
"Don't ever leave me like that again, you bastard." Jounouchi nuzzled his teary eyes into Honda's neck, making the brunet dumbfounded at this sudden outburst of emotion. Honda quietly rubbed Jounouchi's back and waited for him to calm down.
"I don't plan to leave again, don't worry."
"Why did you leave in the first place? I thought we'd always be together, ya know?"
"Well…" Honda flushed slightly, wondering if Jounouchi realized how that sounded. Jounouchi caught the look in his eyes and shoved him.
"Not like that! Just tell me why."
"I thought you didn't need me anymore," Honda whispered and rubbed the back of his head.
"Why wouldn't I need you?"
"Kaiba," Honda said flatly. "I figured if you had him, why should I be around?"
"…Honda?" Jounouchi blinked. "What does Kaiba have to do with it?"
"Everything." Honda stood up and looked at Joey. "Whenever I thought about you, I saw him…on top of you. Every night the thought made me physically ill. I left because I couldn't stand the thought of you with another man." He bit his lip at what he had admitted.
"Wait…did you…?" Jounouchi sat back up and felt his chest tighten as he realized what he had never seen before that moment.
"Did I what? Did I love you? No." He saw Jounouchi's head droop. Honda lifted his chin and gazed into his eyes. "I still do." Honda leaned closer and gently kissed his best friend, holding him in his arms.
"Honda…" Jounouchi's eyes filled with tears again as he held onto him for fear he'd suddenly disappear.
"Don't worry, Jounouchi. I'll protect you…" Honda sat on the bed and let the blond rest his head on his shoulder. "I'll always protect you."