Kaiba was not having a good time, to say the least. The only reason he stayed was to keep an eye on Yugi. And what an eyeful he was getting, though he was finding Joey a bit more interesting. He wasn't just drunk, Kaiba decided. In fact, he had seen him pop a pill behind Yugi's back. He watched Joey and Yugi dance and yes, was jealous. He sighed, leaning his head on his fist. Duke sat down next to him. "We're the only fags," he said with disgust.

"What do you think he's on?" Kaiba asked, gesturing towards Joey.

"Huh? Look at him, he's a fucking raver. He's been to a rave every night for the last five Saturdays. Consider the options. Coke, weed, ecstasy, or maybe even all three."

"I just never saw Joey as the type to do drugs. It doesn't make sense."

"Joey's had a fucked up life. I guess when Yugi was gone for a summer, things happened. Hey, I'm not saying I've never done drugs. But certainly not two of the three." He smiled. "Ah, Yugi will be fine, don't worry."

"It's not Yugi I'm really worried about. Yugi's got enough sense. But Joey? He could easily kill himself." Kaiba covered his ears. "Is this music LOUD ENOUGH?! JESUS! I'm fucking leaving." Kaiba stood up and walked over to where Joey and Yugi were dancing. "Yugi...I think it's time to leave."

Duke crossed his arms, entertained. Boyfriend or crush? This was going to be interesting.

"Kaiba! Hey!" He pulled Kaiba close.

Kaiba crossed his arms. "Yugi, it's time to go," he said in a testy voice. "Lets go!"

Yugi stopped and stared at Kaiba. "You need to relax. What's your problem?"

"It's getting late, and I think you need to lie down. How much did you drink?"

"Not that much...a couple glasses..."

Joey stopped dancing and leaned in. "Is everything okay here?"

Kaiba shot Joey a look. "No, it's not. It's time we left."

"Then go. Me and Yugi will be *fine*. We'll be back by tomorrow...afternoon..." he laughed.

"Yugi...we're going *now*."

Duke shook his head and grabbed Yugi by the arm. "Get Joey," he said over his shoulder.

~~~

Kaiba held his head in his hands. "What were you thinking? Drinking?"

"It was just some innocent fun...I'm not drunk, just a bit...buzzed..." he giggled.

"Well, Joey's obviously...something..." Duke referred to the sound of Joey puking into their trashcan.

"So...he drank more than me...I don't see--"

A knock at the door interrupted him. Duke went over and answered it. "Yes?"

"Hey, we need to talk to Joey."

"I'm sorry, he's a bit--"

"Out of my way, faggot," the guy pushed past Duke.

Kaiba looked up at the guy, the guy who had attacked Yugi. He stood and backed up.

The guy smiled. He motioned for his lackeys to grab Kaiba. They dragged him out into the hallway. "There's a plus, but this is why I'm really here." He grabbed Joey by the shoulder.

Joey sucked in his breath, set down the trashcan, and shakily stood up. "I'll get the money. I promise. Just relax. I--"

The guy knock him back down. "Listen you little shit, I'm tired of waiting. Either you have the money now or you don't. Where is it?!" He knocked Joey in the face with his fist.

"Stop it!" Yugi screamed. "What's going on, Joey?"

Duke caught Yugi by the elbow. "Stop it, you idiot."

Joey looked down. "It's...it's just..."

"Shut up! Get the fucking money!" He hit Joey again.

Kaiba came dragging himself in, bleeding. "He'll get the money to you tomorrow. Meet him in the common room tomorrow. He'll have all of it."

The guy back-handed Joey one last time. "Really, how's he going to do that?"

"Yeah, how am I?"

Kaiba shot Joey a withering look. "How much does he owe?"

"Five-hundred and seventy-three dollars."

"Holy fucking shit...yeah, all of it, tomorrow."

The guy mockingly bowed to Kaiba. "Tomorrow then."

~~~

"What the fuck is going on?! Who was that, Joey?" Kaiba grabbed Joey by the arm.

Joey looked away. "It was no one. I don't to talk about it."

Kaiba pushed Joey against the bathroom wall. "Look here you little bitch! I just got the shit beat out of me by your drug dealer's bitches! I'm paying your fucking crack debt! What the fuck do you owe that much money for?!"

"I..." He splashed his face with some water. "Nothing."

Kaiba grabbed Joey's arm and twisted it behind his back. "What the fuck are you on?! I saw you take a pill, what the hell was it?! Tell me, you fucking dog!"

"STOP!" Joey screamed.

"Tell me!"

"Stop it you two!"

Kaiba dropped his arms to his side. "Yugi..."

"You're fucking sick! What the hell are you doing to him?"

"Yugi, I--"

"I can't believe you, Kaiba. After all that he's been through tonight!"

Kaiba shook his head. "You know what? Fuck you, Yugi. This fucking dog ignores you for the last two months and the minute he wants to spend time with you, you drop me like a bad habit. And I'm offering to help him out financially and all I ask for is to know what I'm paying for!"

"Paying for?"

"The guys obviously a drug dealer, Yugi. Why else would Joey owe that much money?"

Joey lit a cigarette. "Stay in your own business, Kaiba."

"Joey, you said you didn't smoke anymore."

"I lied."

"Did you lie about the ecstasy, too?"

Joey gave Yugi a side-long glance. "Uh...Yugi...Yug..."

"Is that it, Joey? Twenty-five bucks a pop? You--pardon, *I* owe half a grand over a hallucinogenic speed hit?!"

"You take ecstasy?!"

"Not...not...*just* ecstasy..." Joey sighed and fell onto the floor.

"What, what else am I paying for? You know how weird it's going to look me pulling six hundred dollars out of my bank account? What else have you been taking?"

"Some coke...some...some...uh, weed..."

Kaiba shook his head. "I'll be in the room...see you both tomorrow."

Yugi sat next to Joey. "Why are you doing this to yourself?"

"I'm not doing anything, Yugi. I'm finally making my life...not shit."

Yugi placed his hand on Joey's knee. "I don't understand."

"My life's shit, Yugi. My dad beats me, my sister and mom live half-way across the country, and I'm fucking working as hard as I can to get minimum grades! I need a break on the weekends and I need the pick-me-ups in morning."

"You need to rot your mind? What the fuck, Joey?"

"Oh come on, Yugi! All those rumors aren't true! You should just try it! Once and you'll totally get it!" Joey grabbed Yugi by the arm. "Come on, Yugi!"

Yugi stared at Joey in disbelief. "Are you trying to push drugs on me?" Yugi stood up. "What is with you, Joey? You've changed."

"I've changed? You've changed! Look at you, Yugi! What happened to my best friend, huh?"

"Funny, I was asking the same thing." He looked away from Joey. "So I've found something besides Duel Monsters that I'm good at. What are you doing? What you're always good at? Following me wherever I go? Imitating whatever I do?"

"Fuck you, Yugi! I can't believe you!"

"I can't believe you."

~~~

Duke looked up from his magazine. "Kaiba? What's wrong?"

Kaiba sat down hard. "Joey's using all three. Splendid, huh? And I'm footing the bill. And Yugi's madly in love with Joey. So why do I care? Huh? What's the fucking point?"

"There's never a point. It's all about feeling good for the moment. We all die, Kaiba. So you might as well live it up while we're here."

"Nice words to live by, but there's certainly more to live for."

Duke sat up, amused and intrigued. "Really?" he sat forward. "What else is there?"

"There's...well, like..." Kaiba laughed a bit. "The corny things. Like...love..."

"Love? You don't honestly believe in love? Love is something women want and guys pretend to believe in to get laid."

"See? That's why you'll never find love. So many jaded people have gotten their hearts broken that they feed people who have never even looked for it these little notions that we're all going to die alone. I hate it! Don't we all deserve a chance?"

Duke shrugged. "Well, sure...but since when do you care? You act awfully jaded to me."

"Maybe I am." Kaiba stood up and walked over to his bed, laying down. "But maybe that's why it hurts so much."

Duke shrugged. "Look, go get yourself laid. It will put things in perspective."

Kaiba hugged his pillow close. "I don't want to 'get laid.' I want..."

"Love, I get it. Yugi's got this little notion that it exists, too. Maybe you'll end up together, who knows? But honestly, I think you're all nuts. Life's about living it up and living for the moment. So whatever. Go ahead, be a dreamer. You'll die alone that way, too."

"What are you saying to him?"

Duke whirled around. "Yugi...hey...we were talking."

"I heard," Yugi said real testily. He looked over at Kaiba. "Kaiba?"

After several silent seconds, Kaiba finally answered, "Yes, Yugi?"

Yugi slowly walked over to Kaiba. "Is everything okay?"

"Is Joey okay?" he asked softly.

"Yeah...he's fine...How about you?" Yugi leaned in and tilted his head to one side.

"Yeah...fine..."

Yugi got on his knees next to Kaiba. "Kaiba, look at me. What's wrong?"

"Just go to bed," Kaiba said softly.

Yugi leaned his head against Kaiba. "Why are you being like this?"

"Go to bed, Yugi."

Yugi looked up at Duke. Their eyes met, then Duke looked away. (I've really fucked up...he thought.) "Good night guys."

Once Duke was gone, Yugi grabbed Kaiba's shoulder and forced him to meet his glance. "Why are being like this?"

"Because you like Joey and will never like me the same way." Kaiba sat up, drawing his knees to his chest, and leaned against the wall. "You're in love with him and I'm just the guy that distracts you long enough. I'm sick of it and...enough is enough."

"You knew I liked him when you asked me out."

"Then why did you say yes?"

Yugi sat down on the edge of the bed and was silent.

"See--?"

"Because I liked you."

"And you had more of a chance, I get it."

"No! Kaiba!"

Kaiba shook his head. "You know, Yugi, don't even bother. I get it. Stop it, because I'm sick of thinking you care about me."

"I do!"

"You care about everyone."

"Well, you're one to talk, what's this thing with helping Joey out?"

"Who else is? Besides, I did it for you. I couldn't care less about Joey."

"There's a problem right there."

"No..." Kaiba gave a half hearted smile. "No, that wasn't a problem. Joey wasn't ever there. He didn't even know we were dating!" Kaiba laughed. "For God's sake, Yugi. Wake up. Your friend is a fucking drugged-out abuse victim who is always going to need you there to take care of him. When you guys were first friends, you tried to defend him against that one guy, then when he needed star chips, you were there. The Time Wizard card, the...EVERYTHING! And what have you done for me? Fuck, you won't even kiss me in public. We have a fucked up relationship, so we might as well end it!"

"I won't kiss you in public because I'm not open about it!"

"You won't kiss me in front of anyone except Duke! What about the GLBTA meetings? It's like we're not even dorm-mates. You and Duke are off laughing and talking with the other artists while I'm left just sitting there feeling so out of place. But it didn't bother me. I love you and I was totally willing to make sacrifices to see you happy."

"Wait--did you just say you love me?"

"Yeah, Yugi, I did. I really, really love you. But I can't...compete with that dog." Kaiba looked down, defeated. "I have to go get some money in the morning. Good night, Yugi."

"Kaiba...where do we stand?"

"Alone," Kaiba snapped back at him.