Author's Note: In honor of this being the last day of high school forever for me, here's the next chapter. And if you congratulate me on graduating, there'll be another new chapter tomorrow.
**
Love Doesn't Come Cheap
The sun was hardly up for more than an hour or two when Marik crept out of the guest bedroom of Joey's house, closing the door carefully behind him so as not to make a sound. He could hear Joey talking in his sleep down the hall, and he relaxed, knowing no one was up to see him leave.
Everything looked wonderful in the early morning sun. The grass sparkled, the tender green leaves on the threes shivered in the cool breeze. And Marik was feeling good about life in general. Joey had agreed to try out a relationship with him, and in doing so, guaranteed Marik the Millennium Puzzle in the process. How could things get any better?
Unbeknownst to him, Serenity watched him leave from her bedroom window. Since her eye surgery, Serenity loved to look at things, and some mornings she liked to wake up early to watch the sunrise, delighted she could actually see it. But she was surprised to see Marik leaving so early in the morning.
She scrambled to change her clothes and tug on her jacket, racing to the door to peer out after Marik. Where was he going? Serenity glanced back toward her brother's room. She could hear him talking from here; he wasn't going to wake anytime soon. Feeling something was amiss, Serenity decided to follow Marik.
**
Yami, Yugi, Ryou and Bakura were already at the park when Marik got there. They'd brought a picnic breakfast and asked Marik to join them.
"So," Yugi asked as they all started in on the food. "What was it you wanted to talk to us about, Marik?"
"There really wasn't any need for you all to be here," Marik said. "I just needed to talk to the Pharaoh." Yami raised an eyebrow at him, calm and dignified as always. "You promised me the Millennium Puzzle, Pharaoh, and I'm here to collect."
Yami lightly touched the puzzle that hung from the chain around his neck. "A little early to have succeeded already, don't you think?"
"Not so," Marik said with a grin. "You said, go out with Joey, get along with him and be nice, and I've done that. Now pay up."
"When I said that, I expected you to take more than three days to do it," Yami commented. "You're going to have to spend more time with him before you actually earn the Millennium Puzzle."
"But that's not what you said!" Marik exploded. "You never said how long I had to spend with him!"
"So we're clarifying it now," Bakura snapped at Marik. "If you don't like it, you can just forget the Puzzle altogether!"
Marik folded his arms and seethed. "Alright, how long do I have to spend with Joey before you hand the damn thing over?"
The four talked among themselves. "A month," Yugi finally said. "That should be enough time."
"A MONTH??" Marik yelled. "You must be fucking out of your mind! No way am I waiting that long!"
"Well," Ryou murmured, "how badly do you want the Millennium Puzzle?"
Marik glared at him and didn't comment.
"A month," Yami repeated. "One month with Joey. Then you can have your prize."
Marik stood up, glaring at all of them. "You will regret this." He stomped out of the park.
The four watched him go quietly, then calmly returned to their breakfast.
**
A month with Joey. Had they really said that? Serenity trailed after Marik as he walked back to the Wheeler home. Were Joey's friends really bribing Marik so he'd spend time with Joey? How could they?
So Marik was doing this for the Millennium Puzzle, not because he liked Joey at all. Once he got the Puzzle, he'd probably just up and leave without so much as a look back. And Joey would be heartbroken. Serenity was feeling a little heartbroken herself.
**
Joey was awake when Marik got back. He met Marik at the door and gave him a kiss to welcome him back. Marik felt a little better after that.
"Where have you been?" Joey asked. "I wake up and everybody'd vanished!"
"Just went for a walk," Marik said, shrugging. "It was a pretty morning."
"Yeah, guess so. Could have woken me up to come with though." Joey looked as though he was considering pouting.
"The way you sleep? Nothing could have woken you up."
"Yeah, guess you're right. Hey, how about some breakfast then, huh?" Joey started heading for the kitchen. He shot a grin back at Marik. "An' afterward you promised to help me work on my 'technique'…"
Marik laughed. "How could I have forgotten? Let me put my jacket away and I'll be right there." He headed for the guest bedroom. A month, was it now? They probably thought he couldn't stand to be so nice to Joey for that long. They hadn't taken into account that Marik might actually start to 'like' being with Joey.
No, a month would not be hard at all. Marik just hated waiting.
**
Serenity entered the house reluctantly, putting her jacket away. She could hear her big brother making breakfast in the kitchen. She went into the kitchen, watching him dig through the fridge. He'd have to find out about this eventually…
"Joey?" she said, her voice a little shaky with the weight of the bad news she carried. "There's… something I need to tell you…"
