~*~

Kaiba didn't have to wait long. The day finally came when Joey went back to school with Kaiba.

The two walked in and got many stares from the groups of teens in the halls. "Hey Joey! Where ya been!" said various people. Nobody paid any mind to Kaiba.

When they reached the classroom. Everyone went silent. Yugi, who was playing duel monsters half heartedly with Tristan, Tristan, and Tea looked up at the sudden silence. There in the doorway was Joey and Kaiba.

Needless to say the three shot out of their seats and ran to Joey. Yugi could tell that Joey was jumpy so he didn't try to hug him or anything, obviously Tristan didn't get the memo, he jumped forward and wrapped his arms around the blonde.

Joey got a shiver down his spine and he felt like throwing up. 'Oh God! Get…Get him off me!'

"Tristan…let go!" Joey breathed, beginning to feel the tears in his eyes. This was too much at once. Kaiba noticed. 'He's gunna snap any second if that dimwit doesn't let go of him.' He thought. "Tris…." He still didn't hear Joey. "TRISTAN LET GO OF ME!"

Tristan jumped at the sudden screaming and let Joey go in shock. Everyone in the classroom stopped what they were doing and stared at Joey. Joey looked around the room at them all with shifty eyes. "Joe? What on earth is the matter??" Said Tristan. Joey began to get a familiar feeling in the back of his throat, from behind the tears. He then turned on his heel and bulleted out of the room.

Kaiba narrowed his eyes at Tristan… "You stupid son of a bitch!" Kaiba also ran from the room to find Joey. As he passed the bathroom, he heard gagging sounds. He entered and found Joey hovering over the porcelain bowl. When he was done, he backed into a corner and slid down the wall crying. "Kaiba….I…I can't do this…its too much! I wanna go HOME!"

"No Joey…I'm sorry… you have to stay ok? I'll be here with you… Nothing bad is gunna happen I promise."

'God…If Joey had stayed one more day with Pegasus and his goons, the poor boy would've totally cracked….Fuck what am I saying…He already HAS cracked!'

"Come on Joey…lets go talk to everyone. They've missed you a great deal. And if I'm not mistaken, you came back to see them…am I right?" Joey gave a jerky nod. Kaiba then stood up and pulled Joey with him.

~*~

By the end of the week things had gotten a bit easier for Joey. He still didn't let anyone but Kaiba touch him, and even then, he had to be really messed up to want to be held or something. He would walk around school with the group, but he always lagged behind on purpose, like he wasn't worthy of being with the crowd.

On Friday during the class's free period, Bakura came up to the group and said "Um…Hello everyone."

"Hi Bakura…" said Yugi. "I have something I'd like to ask you all. Tea…I hope you wont be mad at me… But this is just for the guys…"

"No problem Bakura…I'll just come back later." With that, Tea got up and left. "Now then, guys, my dad has a cabin up north a bit, back in the woods, and it's supposed to be really hot this weekend…our four day weekend. It's a very nice place… There's a lake behind the house, its very pretty up there. Anyway, I was just wondering if you'd all like to come up there with me this weekend, I'll just be us…My parents aren't coming."

"Wow! That sounds fun Bakura! Count me in!" said Yugi. "Me too, then!" said Tristan. Kaiba looked over at Joey. He was looking down at his hands in his lap. Then Kaiba looked back up at Bakura. "We're coming too…" Joey's head shot up. "Great!, here's an address card for everyone…I'll see you this weekend! Bring your swim trunks…Ok?" Bakura then walked off. Joey put his head back down and tried to stay calm.