READ THIS. IT'S IMPORTANT TO THE STORY-

(A/N: Ok, just so people aren't emailing me saying "WTF mate?" I didn't change the lyrics of this song (by the All American Rejects) much because I wasn't clever enough to come up with a way to incorporate a gay relationship into this song. I just switched the 'he's and the 'she's. Also, I am too lazy to somehow integrate an interpretation of the song from Ryou's POV regarding the genders. Just assume that Ryou somehow understands that he is the girl, Marik is referred to as the boy. Why? Because Ryou is feminine and he knows it. )

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For Ryou: One More Sad Song

Ryou hadn't wanted to go to the club where Marik and his band were headlining. But his friends, Yugi and the others, had dragged him along. He had protested bitterly, put up a valiant fight, but to no avail. Yugi had looked up at Ryou with his big purple eyes and pleaded for him to come along, on the basis that he needed to get out of the house, as well as away from an unusually moody Bakura. He said it would be good for him to see his love.
But they weren't aware of the secret Ryou kept, even from his best friend Yugi. None of them even had suspicions as to why Ryou spent the past week locked in his room, or why the usually psychotically good-natured Bakura was so moody as of late. They knew nothing of the heartbreak Marik inflicted or the awful secret he kept. Nor did they know of the bitter breakup between Ryou and the one he loved so.……………………………………………………………………………………………
They were late to the show. Marik was already onstage performing when Ryou entered the club. He glared as the blonde expertly fingered his guitar; the one Ryou had bought him for Christmas two years ago, as he sang out his self-composed lyrics to an eager audience. Ryou snorted loudly as Marik winked and flirted with the ecstatic girls in the front row.
"I'll be outside," He murmured to Yugi.
"Oh….okay," Yugi frowned with concern. "Don't you want to watch the show?"
Ryou only huffed in response.
"Ryou, are you-"
"I'm fine, Yugi," He forced a smile. "Thanks." He exited quickly and kept walking until the sound of Marik's voice was nothing but muffled and faint background noise.
It was a freezing cold winter night. Ryou shivered and wrapped his coat tighter around his thin frame. He watched his breath escape in thin frosty wisps as he idly kicked at the frozen ground beneath his shoes. No one else was around, for which Ryou was thankful for. He wanted to wallow in his misery without any onlookers.
Marik…
He allowed himself a moment to muse over the beautiful Egyptian boy; his toned body and sun-kissed skin; his lilac eyes framed by black eyeliner and golden blonde hair, which contrasted in the most striking way…
'NO! STOP!' Ryou's brain screamed. "Aaaaaarrrrgggggghhhh!" He screamed into the night air. Silence met his ears, and Ryou realized at that moment that he had never felt more alone.
He had lost the only person he had ever been in love with. And there was no way he could tell his friends, even Yugi. It had taken so long for them to accept his relationship with Marik, especially after the events of Battle City. (They had even accepted his now open homosexuality with less hardship). He knew that they spoke in hushed whispers about how it would never last. They were too different, they had said. Far too different…
They would never understand. He envisioned the likely scenario that would unfold were he to go to his friends: Tea would offer to play matchmaker, with herself and Mai at the top of the match list (yes, even though he's gay). Tristan, Joey, and Otogi would find baseball bats and vow revenge. And Yugi would comment, in his quiet gentle way, about how Marik was never really right for Ryou anyway.
Ryou sighed and stared up into the night sky. The stars shone and flickered as he watched.
'We are right for each other, though. Whenever we were together, it felt so right. It couldn't have been a mistake. Your heart can't make mistakes when…..when you love someone. The way he held me. The way he looked at me. The way he told me he loved me…'
Ryou sighed again, heavier and sadder than before. He looked over his shoulder, back towards the club. "I guess I'd best head back," he muttered to himself. He was determined to leave before Marik had a chance to find him and his friends in the crowd. He wanted to be sure to avoid any uncomfortable situations that were sure to arise if he stayed.

Marik was still onstage, much to Ryou's chagrin. He didn't seem to notice the white haired boy enter the small room as he casually tuned his guitar. Ryou scoffed with disdain and turned back towards the exit.
I'll find Yugi after he's back offstage. That way I won't have to see him.
"This is the last song for tonight," Marik announced, and a general moaning of disappointment floated up from the crowd. "It's a new song that I wrote just this week. So bear with me if it's a bit shaky." He flashed a quick smile at the audience, but it quickly disappeared and his face grew serious. "It's called One More Sad Song…and its dedicated to my love Ryou." He lifted his eyes to stare through tussled blonde hair to where Ryou stood frozen with his hand on the doorknob.
'How did he know I was here?' Ryou wondered.
The drummer clicked his sticks together to get the song started. The second guitar joined in, followed by the bass. Marik finally closed his eyes, and began to strum his guitar as he lowered his lips to the microphone. Ryou felt his bottom lip begin to quiver as he watched in shock. He wanted to run and hide and not deal with this anymore. But deep inside his heart and mind he yearned to stay and listen. Finally after an intense internal struggle his curiosity won over. His hand fell from the doorknob and dangled limply at his side as he turned around to face the stage.

"One boy, one girl
Two hearts, their world
Time goes by, secrets rise"

'Their world…our world.' Ryou thought. 'It was our world. No one else was able to understand our love. One only we knew and understood. Only us. Our world only. But then…the secrets…'

"One more sad song
Tears shed, she's gone
He'd take it back
If he only could"

Ryou knew Marik was truly sorry for what he had done. And he knew Marik would do anything to change the past. "If he only could…"
'But he can't!' Ryou told himself. It wasn't possible. No amount of tears shed could change the hard reality of the matter: Marik was gone.

"And all his perfect words
They seem so wrong
She's gone"

"I'll always be yours." Marik had whispered into Ryou's ear after the first night they had spent together. "I'll always be with you, and no one else but you…forever."
The once romantic words seemed cruel and mocking now.

"You wish that you could learn to see
The door is closed and you wish you could be
Alone with you, alone with me
What can I do? I cannot breathe
My heart is torn for all to see
Alone with you, alone with me"

The breakup had left Ryou spending hours in his room, barely eating or even getting out of bed. He had tried so desperately to forgive Marik. He searched his heart over and over and over again for some spark of forgiveness. But none was to be found…