Thanks Reviewers!!!!!! I'll take Sami's advice and make it an intense Yaoi fic, so this means that they are gonna move faster. And I'm gonna have you vote on a lemon or not. So vote when you review.

The Best Holiday Decoration is your Smile

Last chapter: ----- Before Ryou could stop himself, he asked, "You want me to kiss it better?"

And to his very, very, immense surprise, Bakura nodded. He too seemed unable to believe that he did what he just did.-----

Ryou blushed a bright red. "I-I…I couldn't control myself." He said very quickly.

"Oh, all right." Bakura continued to stare at Ryou

Ryou turned to walk away, but he looked back at Bakura to find his expression so disappointed that Ryou actually felt sad. He turned around…after all, he DID raise Bakura's hopes.

Bakura watch in utter disbelief as Ryou walked back into the kitchen a softly kissed his wound area. He immediately began to feel cold, yet he felt warm and loved at the same time, his cut didn't hurt as much any more. Ryou drew back and flushed a deep red. He couldn't believe he just did that. He wanted to run, but his legs were stubborn and seemed to want to stay planted where they already were. Ryou smiled uneasily at Bakura. Bakura seemed to want to change the mood of this uneasy atmosphere between them… he spoke up, "I think you should change your clothes, you might catch a cold."

Ryou nodded, he was so concentrated on Bakura that he had forgotten that he had fallen in a slush puddle. He could suddenly feel his wet clothes against his skin. He immediately dashed upstairs to change his clothes. Damn, he thought, what just happened? He didn't even think about it. He stripped off his clothes and changed into dry ones, which felt very comfortable against his damp skin. He sat in his room for quite some time, afraid to go downstairs. I think I'll tuck in early, he thought. Then he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Bakura touched his gauze, which had been graced with Ryou's lips. If only it had been my lips…he thought. Then he shook he self out of it. No I cannot wish for HIS lips, I am straight and want to remain straight. Ryou is so pretty. No, wait, he's not, well…he IS but I am not attracted to him, why? Because I know he is not attracted to me, I have caused him so much pain in the past, always causing him to switch schools, tearing him away from his family, and abusing him. Why should he like me? What just happened here was done out of brotherly love. Yes…its okay for two boys to love each other if they are brothers…

Then a little voice whispered to him, but you wanted his touch, you are still longing for another kiss from him…

Bakura growled and ALMOST screamed at whatever this little voice was, but then he thought about it…he DID, he DID want Ryou's touch. He wanted him in his arms. He sighed and climbed the stairs to go to his bedroom. I should just accept this…

Ryou woke up the next morning, usually he was a morning person, so this morning was especially weird, because he felt like shit and didn't want get up. He sneezed, disgusted by what he produced, he reached over to his nightstand for a tissue and blew his nose. He had a stuffy nose and a cough. Usually he went to school like this, but he found he also had a fever. He decided to call the school office for a day off.

The phone was in the kitchen. He had already put his school on speed dial.

"Hello?"

"Hi, um...this is Ryou Bakura, and I would like to take a sick day."

"Sure hold on, what was your name again?"

"Ryou Bakura."

"Yes…" Ryou heard some typing… "You're all cleared Mr. Bakura, anything else?"

"No, I'm fine, thank you very much."

"No problem, bye."

"Bye."

Ryou hung up. Now that that was taken care of…he called Yugi on Tea's cell phone to tell him that he wouldn't be going to school with him today.

"Ok Ryou, should I bring the homework that you'll miss?"

"Sure, thanks Yugi."

"You're welcome, bye."

"Bye."

Ryou hung up and went back upstairs to take a nap.

Bakura woke up an hour later. Hmm, he thought, I don't feel like going to Marik's house today. And Ryou is at school, so… I think I'll sleep some more. He fell back on his pillow and closed his eyes. But he was too awake to go back to sleep, having turned in early the previous day. He heavily exhaled and ran down stairs to make breakfast. But some thing was out of place…he realized that Ryou's bunny slippers were not at the foot of the stairs.

Could he be home, or did he just forget today, he ran back up to check on Ryou. Ryou was there, and he was sleeping in his bed, he seemed very peaceful and a fort of used tissues surrounded him. Bakura stood there, absorbing every bit of Ryou. The way that the morning light flowed through the window, illuminating Ryou's peaceful face, was just…so pleasant to look at. Then Ryou began to stir. Bakura leapt back and was about to leave when he heard Ryou's sleepy voice. "Bakura, is that you?"

"Yes…" He resisted the urge to call him anything that would indicate that he had feelings for him. "Yes Ryou, it's me."

"What are you doing here?"

"I didn't see your bunny slippers downstairs and I thought that was a little odd, so I came to check if you were home. And…you are."

"Yeah, I'm sick so I decided to stay home."

Bakura bashed himself mentally. God, he's sick on my behalf. Why didn't I listen and move the stupid ladder over? He thought. I should try and help him.

Ryou sat up in his bed, half expecting Bakura to leave, half expecting him to say something. He was astonished when Bakura came over to his bed, sat down and asked in a sweet voice, "Is there anything I can do? Ryou?"

Ryou didn't know what to say, Bakura had never offered to help him before. He said the first thing that came to mind. "Well, um…I suppose you can make some soup." He realized this was a mistake, Bakura made very bitter and tasteless soup. Sometimes he would get so mad at the kitchen utensils that he would hurl them at their neighbor's dog. Which had to be replaced six times already, all at the expense of Ryou.

"Sure, anything for you." He stopped at how revealing this sounded, "well…you know cause you're sick." Bakura watched to see if Ryou bought it.

Ryou nodded, he seemed understand, but he also looked a little disappointed. Bakura's heart leapt at this. What? His mind inquired, what went wrong? Why does he look so upset? Does he WANT me to like him? Wait, does HE want ME to like him? Hmm… Bakura ended his train of thought as he ran downstairs. I don't make good soup, he thought again. Maybe today I'll follow the directions on the soup can, just for my light.

Ryou felt less warm due to the absence of Bakura's mass on his bed. He blew his nose, which enabled him to breath better. He sniffed the aroma in the air. What? He thought. Is that BAKURA'S soup? It actually smells NICE…

He watched as Bakura came into his room again. This time with soup, a spoon, and a tray for Ryou to eat on.

Ryou dipped the spoon into the soup, lifted it to his mouth and sipped it up. It was actually pretty good. Ryou couldn't help but to finish it and scrape as much as he could off of the bowl when it got harder to scoop with his spoon.

"Wow," Bakura said, sitting on Ryou's bed, "you actually finished the whole bowl this time."

"It was very good. What did you do to it this time?"

"I followed the directions on the soup label."

Ryou gasped, Bakura would never follow directions. "But you never follow directions for anything. Why was today different?"

"I wanted to make the soup taste better for you."

Ryou blushed a little when Bakura said this. For me, he thought. Maybe…he does… like me.

Bakura shifted uncomfortably. Damn, why does everything come out wrong when I talk to Ryou? He wanted Ryou to know that he loved him, yet at the same time he didn't want him to know. He decided to ask Ryou if he loved him…or at least, LIKED him. He would accept anything that ryou said.

"Um…Bakura? You seem kind of quiet, are you alright?"

"Yes, Ryou I'm fine." He breathed deeply and exhaled. "Ryou, I-"

DING DONG

Ryou sat up a little more. "I think that's Yugi with my homework. I'll go get it. You should stay here, most likely he'll have Yami with him."

Bakura's heart sank. Maybe I'll ask him later, he thought. Stupid Pharaoh always ruins everything. He heard people chattering down stairs. He tried rehearsing what he was going to say to Ryou. "Ryou, do you like me?" He muttered this and similar things under his breath. Then he heard the door close down stairs and Ryou running upstairs. Ryou ran into his room and threw the folder that Yugi gave him on his desk. Then he got back into his bed and turned to Bakura.

"I think I'm going to take a nap now, Bakura"

"Oh, alright." Bakura stood up, he didn't mind, it was a wonder that even the tomb robber would have trouble asking this question. He wouldn't had have even summoned enough courage. "Was there anything you planned to do today, but can't because you're sick?"

Ryou looked up at Bakura with his huge chocolate colored eyes. Bakura could almost taste them. He was spellbound for a while until Ryou said, "well…I was planning to put up the Christmas tree today. I suppose you can do that."

Bakura smiled, "sure thing, Ryou." Bakura left the room and dug around in the storage until he found the plastic Christmas tree they have been using ever since they came to Domino.

Ryou woke a while later. He felt lifted of his fever and put on a bathrobe. Then he went down stairs and saw the Christmas tree, standing very upright. But it was undecorated. Bakura was in front of the TV. He shut it off when Ryou came. "The tree is undecorated." Ryou said.

"I wasn't sure how you would want it, so I decided to wait for you to wake up.

Ryou smiled and nodded, "want to decorate it with me?"

"Ok."

Ryou took out the boxes of ornaments and handed one to Bakura. "You can put the streamers up since your taller." Bakura looked at the fluffy, glittery pile.

"What in the name of Ra IS this!? It friggen looks evil!"

Ryou giggled. "They're not evil! You just wrap them around the tree, like this. Ryou threw the first end to the top and start to wrap it around the tree. "See? Easy. Now you do the second one."

Bakura took it and did as Ryou demonstrated.

"Good, now keep doing that." Ryou hung up the ornaments. He could see, in the reflection of a shiny red one, that Bakura kept glancing over at him. "Bakura, is there something you want to say?" He turned around.

"Ryou, I've been thinking a lot lately," he averted his eyes to the floor, "mainly about you. And what I realized is…is…"

"Yes, Bakura?" Ryou said calmly.

"I love you." Bakura looked up from the floor very quickly and lowered his eyes again. "I'd understand if you don't feel the same for me. I can't think of a reason why you should." He looked up and before he could say anymore, He heard an,

" I can."

Then he found that Ryou's warm body was clinging to his own and their lips had melted into a deep and ardent kiss. Bakura was surprised, jolts ran through his body as he responded to Ryou with equal, if not more, passion.

Bakura needed to know what Ryou tasted like, he had wanted to know for the longest time. He had to know. He tried pushing his tongue into Ryou mouth. But Ryou didn't seem to allow it, instead, Ryou got easy access too Bakura's mouth. Bakura allowed Ryou taste him. Ryou seemed to like Bakura's flavor very much. Ok, Bakura thought, my turn… But he had to break for air.

He and Ryou separated, both gasping for air. Both looked at each other, Ryou felt a little triumphant, who ever thought I would be the one who kissed Bakura first? Then he blushed. "Sorry, Bakura. I just can't help myself when I'm around you."

Bakura didn't want this to end, "Don't be sorry." He pressed himself on Ryou, and again, they kissed for all they were worth. Ryou backed into, and fell, on the sofa. This time, Ryou allowed Bakura taste him. Bakura's desire was fulfilled. He savored every bit of his light's mouth. Then they had to break for air, both collapsed on the couch, breathing heavily. Ryou caught his breath and smiled at Bakura.

Bakura sank all of his senses into that smile, for once it was true, genuine, and Bakura had contributed in making it. He felt confused all of a sudden, "But Ryou, how could you love me, I…I never did anything good to you. I caused you so much pain, I made you switch schools so many times, I took you from your family, I used to take over your mind and cause you to inflict pain upon yourself…" This was true, it wasn't till after Bakura got a separate body that he abused Ryou, he used to cut himself when he shared bodies with Ryou, so it would pain him later.

"Shh…that's in the past. I admit…I used to fear you. Although I didn't like it when you caused me any form of pain, it was kind of nice knowing that I was never alone. And the way you cared for my safety so much in battle city, even if you DID have your own body, was… kind of sweet, and that feeling has kept me aloft for longer than I thought it would. And, now that I know you love me, I have a immense burden lifted from my back because now I can say…I love you without expecting to get a weird look or something resembling that."

"Really?"

"Really. I appreciated the way you were always so protective over me around other people." He giggled a little. "Even if they had some very bad consequences."

"Hey, I eventually freed everyone."

"Yeah, I know."

Bakura was about to assault Ryou's welcoming lips again, when he heard the phone ring. Ryou, looking very disappointed, got up and ran to the kitchen to answer it.

Bakura shifted into a sitting pose on the sofa, he was in the living and glanced over at the dent on the wall. But…this time he didn't feel as bad, my Ryou forgave me, he thought. That's all that matters.

Ryou picked up the phone, "Hello?" His ears were assaulted by a mad wave of Egyptian cursing. He winced and threw his head away from the phone and called, "Bakura! I think it yours." He handed the receiver to his darker half.

"Hello?"

Ryou stood watching as Bakura nodded and sometimes answered back in Egyptian. He had no idea what they were saying. Bakura hung up and said, "It's Marik, and I have to go help him with something. I know it's really a big deal when he starts screaming at me in Egyptian. I'll be back in a few hours, around one thirty."

Ryou nodded, "ok, you wanna do more of this when you get back?"

Bakura smiled, "of course." He bent down and kissed his light before leaving. "Bye Ryou!"

"Bye Bakura!"

Bakura left. Ryou felt the loneliness of the house, it was so quiet now. He yawned, having been the victim of a cold earlier, he decided to tuck in early again. He loves me, he thought. This is to good to be true!

And a mile away, Bakura was thinking the same thing.

end chapter

Hmm…after considering my priorities, I've decided to make to first 'true' catastrophe a couple chapters after this one.

Weird fact of the day: I just passed Grandpa in YGO Duelist of Roses on PS2 and Bakura's deck master is a Dark Flower. And he has all of these flower and plant cards…I never knew he had such a soft side…

Review!!!!!!!!! And don't forget to vote on the lemon!!!