Hi everybody! Welcome to my first Joey fic: My Hero, the Girl. Here are some important things for you guys to know: This isn't AU, but let's pretend that Joey and his dad rent out a house for the summer. Not a summer house, but an actual house. It's in their own neighborhood, next to Joey's lifelong best friend Kea. Pretend they met somewhere. Yes. Well, R&R please. Arigatou!
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Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or anything that has to do with Yu-Gi-Oh!. Well, I own Kea. She's me. ^_^ Only ... not my name ... yeah ... whatever. *ahem*
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"Hi Joey!" I said excitedly as I saw Joey hop out of his dad's red pickup truck. I hadn't seen him since last year when he came out to visit his dad, so I was psyched about seeing him again and spending the rest of the summer with him.

"Heya Kiki!" Joey said, making use of the nickname he had given me last summer. "How are ya?" He walked over to me and hugged me tightly.

I ignored his question, and instead said, "Awww I missed ya, Joey!"

"Missed you, too, kid," Joey said, leaning his head on my shoulder. He seemed to hold onto me a bit longer than usual, and with a lot more feeling; I could sense that something was wrong with him. I've known him all my life and I can tell with something's wrong. I decided to ask him about it later.

When Joey backed away from me, I saw his dad behind him. "Hi Mr. Wheeler," I said, waving to him.

"Hello Kea," he said, waving slightly. "How have you been lately?"

"Good good," I said, nodding. I noted that he looked and sounded very sober. That was good, considering that he was an alcoholic. Maybe he had stopped drinking. That would be something Joey would have neglacted to tell me in his letters; he didn't like to talk about his father at all.

I looked back at Joey and asked, "You need help taking your stuff in? I can help carry your bags and whatever."

"Nah, I got it," Joey said. He walked back over to the pickup and began taking his stuff out. Ignoring what he told me, I walked behind him and grabbed a couple bags. He stopped and looked at me, then smirked.

"What!" I said, returning his smirk.

"Just come on," he said, jerking his head in the direction of the house he and his dad rent out for the summer. "You remember where my room is, right? I'm dropping my stuff in there."

I nodded. "Sure," I said. We walked in the house, talking about things that happened over the past year as we did. We told each other about things we'd missed, and elaborated on what we had said in the letters we had written since he left.

"All that really happened in one weekend?" I asked, referring to Duelist Kingdom.

"Sure did," Joey said as he took the bags from my hands and put them on the floor.

"Wow," was all I could say. I watched Joey sigh and run his hand through his dirty blond locks. I looked him over; he had grown a lot since last year. He was taller than me this year, by at least an inch, and his shoulders had broadened. I could tell through the thin white t-shirt he had on that he had been working out some, and I silently wondered if he had stopped eating so much. Then I stopped and thought about it.

Joey? Stop eating a lot? Psh! That's funny.

That's when I realized that Joey had been looking me over, too. I sighed and said, "I guess we've both changed since last year, huh?"

"Yeah!" Joey exclaimed. "I gotta find something new to tease you about now."

"Huh?" I asked in confused.

"Don't ya remember?" Joey asked. "Me and dad used to make fun of you last year 'cause you were flat-chested!"

I doubled over laughing. "Oh yeah!" I said. "Jeez, thank goodness I grew out of that! And I can't make fun of you for being scrawny anymore."

Joey stood up straight and proudly said, "Yeah. I been workin' on that."

"I can tell," I smiled. I moved to sit on Joey's bed, then said, "Hey Joey? Can I ask ya something?"

"Go ahead," Joey said, sitting down next to me.

I sighed, then said, "I'm gonna be blunt about it, okay? ... I know that there's something wrong with you."

Joey blinked in confusion. "What?"

"Joey, don't hide it from me," I said, repositioning myself so that I could face him. "I could tell when you first hugged me outside. Something's buggin' you. I wanna know what it is. You can tell me, Joey, we've always told each other everything."

Joey studied my face for a moment, then said, "Okay. Y'know I told ya in my letters that my dad stopped hittin' me after we came back last summer. But he's been going back to the bar lately and gettin' drunk and ..."

"Ohh Joey, he's not hitting you again?" I said questioningly. When Joey nodded, I moved over to him and put my arm around his shoulder. "Look, as long as you're here, I'll make sure he dosen't hit you, okay?"

"You can't do that," Joey said, shaking his head.

I looked down. He was right. "Well," I said, "if he ever starts to hit you, or if he comes home drunk, just run next door to my place, okay? I promise I'll always be there for you."

Joey leaned his forehead against mine. He looked deep into my eyes and caressed my cheek softly. I could tell that this was a very touchy subject for him and that he was grateful I was willing to help him.

"Thanks, Kea," he said, his tone quieter than usual.

I smiled warmly, then closed my eyes and leaned foward, kissing Joey lightly on the lips. It meant nothing more than 'you're welcome', and we both knew it. When I back away from him, he looked at me and smiled.

"Sometimes I don't know how I get alone nine months of the year without ya," Joey said as he stood up and stretched.

I laughed. "Likewise to you, Wheeler," I said, standing up and messing with his hair. "Come on, let's head over to my place, my mom's dying to see you again."

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Joey and I were at my house all afternoon. His dad was well aware of where he was, and he said it was okay if he stayed there. Yes, Mr. Wheeler was definitely sober. I just hoped he would stay that way for the rest of the summer. And every day after that, for Joey's sake.

"I'll come over tomorrow, okay?" I said to Joey as he walked out my front door.

Joey turned around and called back, "Yeah! But not 'till noon, 'cause I sleep late."

Laughing, I said, "I'll call before I come over to make sure you're awake. See ya, Joey!"

"Bye!"

I closed the front door and walked back into the house, where I threw myself down on the couch next to my mom. "Have fun today?" she asked me.

"Yep," I said, leaning on her shoulder.

I had a great relationship with my mom. We were best friends. I told her everything and she told me everything. I could talk to my mom longer than I could talk to Joey. Surprising, but true. I stayed up having girl talk with her until ten o'clock, when Mom suddenly said,

"Kea, is that your jacket?"

I looked where she was pointing and saw that the thin green jacket wasn't mine. I rolled my eyes. "Joey's," I said. "I don't know how he left it here, I swore he wore it out." I went over to it and threw it over my shoulders, surprised that it was even anywhere near fitting me.

"Are you going to go run it over to him?" Mom asked.

"Yeah," I said. "I'll lock the door behind me, but don't worry about getting back up to open it for me, I'm taking my keys." I grabbed my keychain from one of the hooks next to the door, slipping them into Joey's jacket pocket.

I jogged out of the house and jumped the gate to Joey's place, walking over the grass to the front door. I knocked on the door a couple times, wondering why I didn't hear the TV on or Joey's music blasting.

I waited a second, then rang the bell. Still nothing. Since I've know Joey for so long, I simply twisted the doorknob and walked in. The livingroom was empty. I could see through into the diningroom and the kitchen. They were also empty. Where the heck were Joey and his dad?

Then I heard it. It pierced my ears like a bad dream, and I knew the second I heard it that it was Joey and he was in trouble.

"No! Dad stop, it hurts! Please, stop!"

Without a second thought, I rushed up the staircase. The only thought in my mind at that point was Joey. I reached the top of the stairs and immediately knew the sound was coming from Joey's room. I ran to the door and threw it open.

I stopped dead in my tracks. My jaw dropped to the floor and my eyes were immediately flooded with tears. My breath caught in my throat and my whole body tensed. How could he do this ...

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ACK! CLIFFHANGER! I'm mad at myself for stopping there. I'm sure you're mad at me, too. Please R&R, this is my first Joey fic! Lemme know if ya like it!