Chapter 13: Things Could Change ...Things Have Changed

Author's note: Sorry for the long delay, my loyal fans!

School's been hectic, so that's what's been keeping me away for awhile, but now I'm here!

Hope you like this next chapter! Enjoy!

Scene One: Let's Cool It

It was late morning, 11.32 a.m. and Yugi was just getting up. He hardly had a good string of hours put together of sleep, until finally around 4:30 a.m. he fell into complete slumber. Now barely awake, he stretched his arms upward while stifling a yawn.

Yugi walked towards the bedroom door and when he opened it, he poke his head out seeing if Yami was around. He walked gingerly to the bathroom and knocked hesitantly to see if Yami was using it, then went inside to freshen up when he found it was empty.

Soon after he walked downstairs and was heading to the kitchen to get something to eat. He was expecting Yami to pop out of no where any minute now but surprisingly found the place vacant. 'I wonder where he went...Isn't today Sunday?' Yugi thought to himself. On Sundays the shop was closed, so he suspected Yami couldn't have business there this morning.

Yugi shrugged. "Oh well, as long as I don't have to deal with him" he voiced out loud, still upset and tense about all that was said the night before. In his mind, he was thinking that Yami not being around was a good thing. His emotions were still too raw and his feelings still too muddled for him to face Yami at this point ... and he could use all the down time he could get to sort them out....

Just as he was approaching the refrigerator, he immediately noticed a piece of paper taped on the front of it. Obviously it was a note from Yami, placing it there so he couldn't possibly miss it. He snatched the note and began to read it.

"Yugi,

I stepped out to get some groceries for the house. There's no milk, eggs or fruit juice here, so you'll have to make do with what we have until I return.

Yours truly,

Yami"

O-o-o-kay, so he went grocery shopping. He didn't have to write me some dumb note to tell me that, Yugi thought, rolling his eyes at the fact that Yami could have saved his written words for more pressing matters. He placed the note on the counter and began opening the cupboards and found some pancake mix, deciding that this was what he was having for breakfast.

Once he finished eating and clearing up the kitchen, Yugi headed back upstairs to his room to change his clothes. He was dragging on his jeans when suddenly the phone rang and he picked it up after the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey, what's up, it's Ty."

"Oh hi, Ty, I didn't expect to hear from you so soon."...For obvious reasons, Yugi thought.

"I know this seems pretty sudden and out-of-the-blue, but I just couldn't stay away. I hope everything is alright with you?"

Yugi got a little quiet and turned sheepish, then he said, "No.....everything's a disaster....It was terrible."

Tygris winced. He had guessed Yugi's meeting with Yami would likely be high-tension. He hoped he'd be wrong....but alas he was right on point with his conclusions.

"Shit, it was THAT bad? Damn...what happened? Tell me..."

And Yugi then told him what Yami and he had said to each other during their argument, and Ty sounded pissed off when he finished his story.

"He called you a 'slut'? Yo, what the fuck is his problem? He's trippin'!"

"I don't know, Ty .... He was really upset at the time when he said it and..."

Ty interrupted what Yugi was going to say in defense of Yami's behavior. "That's no fucking excuse, Yugi. He overreacted ...over some stupid shit like this!? You weren't going to stay there forever, just until you got the cash you needed to help out your grandpa. That was the plan all along!"

"That's what I told him...but obviously he doesn't look it that way. I've never seen him so heated in my life." Yugi exclaimed.

Ty was shaking his head in disbelief. ".....I'll have to set him straight then. He's taking his anger out on the wrong person..."

Yugi's heart almost leaped in his throat when he heard that. "No...No, please don't even think about doing anything. I feel bad enough as it is already that's he's angry at you when you merely offered me a job. You didn't force me to take the job and for some reason he thinks you tricked me into it or something. His anger is misplaced, yes, but it shouldn't be at you either."

"But...I just feel like I'm somehow responsible for this! Yugi, he obviously doesn't like me and he'll continue to see me as the bad guy in all of this if I'm just standing on the side not saying anything! He thinks I'm just hiding in the shadows, pressing all your buttons like some dirty pimp, when that's not even the case! The only way he'll see otherwise is if I tell him that nothing's going on between us than just mutual friendship!"

"No, I have a bad feeling about this, Ty. It's way too soon and I don't want to see the two you going at it again like you did at the club. Look, I don't want you to feel bad about this...You know and I know why I did it and he hasn't come to grips with that fact yet. I know you want to make things right but with the situation as sensitive as it is, I really don't want you to get further involved. Just have faith in me and hope that throughout all this, we can somehow get through this and someway retain our friendship."

"More than anything I'd like the same thing too, Yugi, but it's not you that I don't have faith in, it's HIM! Is he always this overbearing or is this just one of those isolated incidents where he's acting like a complete ass?" Ty asked.

Yugi thought about it for a moment, and then he replied. "He never used to be like this, until recently......... The Yami I'm dealing with now popped up a little before Grandpa started getting sick and that's when this .... well, not so much 'new' personality because he has always had those traits, but now they stood out more than usual, you know? That arrogance, that authoritative air. I knew it was there...but....before it wasn't as pronounced, as gaudy as he's showing it now. I can't put my finger on it but he's changed but he hasn't really CHANGED, you know what I mean? Is this making any sense at all to you, Ty?" Yugi said, almost chuckling in the end when he completed that last sentence.

"I understand what you're saying. It just took something like this to bring out the more...prominent form of himself, I guess."

"Yeah, exactly...now, I just don't know how to handle this more... 'prominent' Yami. It's as if he's on a higher level where I can no longer reach him, where I don't think we're the equal partners that we were in the beginning.....like he's somehow evolving into another person. Maybe I'm wrong; maybe he's changing more than I want to think since now we've become two separate entities, two separate beings. This is probably his real self and I'm just getting acquainted to it nowadays."

Ty added his opinion on the subject. "Maybe that's the case...maybe not. People can change, Yugi, sometimes whether you like it or not, in the most subtle or obvious ways when we least expect it. And sometimes friendships are not the way they used to be when they were first established. This is probably another phase of your friendship that both you and Yami have to adjust to. Hell......what do I know; I hardly have any worthwhile friends to even add my two cents on the subject, so I'm probably just talking a buncha bullshit...."

Yugi intervened. "No, no. What you're saying could very well be true. Don't underestimate your mind on this matter. Maybe Yami and I are going through that transition as we speak....Maybe he himself doesn't even know he's changing or that we're both changing."

He sighed, then also added, "And Ty, you do have a worthwhile friend."

Ty smiled, knowing that Yugi was referring to himself. "You are a worthy friend, Yugi, and I would like to continue our friendship if it was up to just you and me, but are you sure you want to do this at this time? You said so yourself, my further involvement in the matter can only make things worse...Maybe it's best if we cool it for a while, until things die down a bit, you know?"

Yugi didn't want to hear that but he knew deep down that for now, this was the best approach. "Yes....you're probably right. I'm truly sorry about this because I wish we could have met under better circumstances but..... no matter what happens from here on out, you'll always be a good friend to me. Always. I'll...see you around sometime, okay?" he said, his voice sounding with a little more feeling than he intended to.

"Yeah....I'll see you around, sweetie. I'll never forget you.....uh...Bye." Ty said with a touch of emotion in his voice.

"Bye Ty." And Yugi hung up the phone before things got even more emotional. He sighed, trying to gather his composure as looked about his messy room. Then he decided that the best course from there was to keep his mind occupied, and with that he gave his room a good cleaning.

Scene Two: What's up with Joey?

Ding-Dong.

Serenity rushed to the door to see who the visitor was, and it was Tristan who displayed himself before the peep hole.

"Hey, Serenity." As he passed by her when she closed the door behind him, he spotted Joey on the couch, staring at the television screen with the most serious look on his face.

"What's up, Joey?" Tristan called out, making his presence known since he didn't see Joey look in his direction when he came in. He noticed the change of mood almost as soon as he stepped into the apartment.

Joey barely turned around and murmured his, "Hey" towards Tristan, and that got Tristan raising a curious eyebrow at Serenity with an expression that said, "What's wrong with him?", and in response she gave him a shrug that said "I don't know."

Serenity was heading into the kitchen while Tristan had a seat nearby, watching Joey as he sat there changing the channels on the television. He saw the look on Joey's face and it told him that something wasn't right. But he didn't voice his concern out loud, acting as if nothing was amiss in his presence.

"So what's going on, man? You gonna come to the arcade later on or what?" Tristan asked casually.

Joey looked up at him now, his expression still masked with what seemed like annoyance.

He shook his head. "Nah, man. Not today. I got things to do." And that's all he said, turning his attention right back to the television as if Tristan wasn't even there.

Tristan glanced at Joey again and raised a skeptical eyebrow. Joey, who does nothing but eat, play videogames and cards all day and sleep all night? He rarely took Joey seriously but this time this seemed different, and suddenly he was too tempted to hold in his curiosity any longer.

"Er...Joey, are you okay?" he said with a mixture of concern and humor when he spoke. Joey was slouching in the couch with his legs open, and his left arm resting on the arm of the couch and the remote in his right hand, raised his gaze on Tristan.

He shook his head. "Yeah, yeah... It's nothin'.".........

.......

And he turned his gaze back to the television once again, saying nothing else to that question.

Yep...something's DEFINATELY up, Tristan thought. Joey barely looked him in the eye when he spoke to him and knowing Joey as he does, that meant he was pissed off...REALLY pissed off about something.

"Uh...I'm getting something to drink...do you want me to get something for ya?" Tristan asked, just as an excuse to get up to go into the kitchen.

Joey replied with just an "mmm-mm", in which he interpreted as a 'no' to the question. With that reply, Tristan walked away looking back at Joey, then as he stepped into kitchen he hurriedly rushed by Serenity's side when she was drying some dishes.

"What's wrong with him?" Tristan whispered in Serenity's ear. She leaned away from him to look at him, giving him an arched brow. "I don't know, I thought he'd tell you about it or something."

"Me? He's barely said a thing to me, staring at that television like he's some zombie." Tristan turned around leaning his lower back against the counter, resting his hands on both sides while his legs were partially crossed. "You think he's still upset about you-know-what?" Tristan inquired, still keeping his voice low enough so Joey couldn't hear in the other room.

Serenity shrugged, and added with a lowered voice of her own, "He hasn't really said anything to me about it since that night." she said as she began putting the dried dishes away.

"I don't know what's bothering him, Tristan. He's been moping about like this since last night when he came home. Something must have happened since then."

"Are you sure he's still not pissed off at YOU about the whole thing?" Tristan continued with the guessing game.

Serenity looked up at him with those big brown eyes. "Well, we talked about it that same night he got home and we both made our peace. He wasn't like this the following morning, and he was talking to me as if nothing happened. Besides, it's not like Joey to be upset at me for long, especially over something as frivolous as that. We've been through more serious drama to let something like that dumb club incident set us apart."

Tristan agreed with that assessment, remembering how Joey fought so hard to win that award money to pay for Serenity's eye surgery. Their bond was a strong one before then and it's even a stronger one now. Their relationship is as close as any brother and sister can be.

"Are YOU still upset at me about it?" Serenity asked expectantly.

"Well...it's still a little shocking when I think about it...YOU of all people... but I'll get over it."

"Why is it so shocking that I'd want to go to a strip club, Tristan? I admitted that it was merely to satisfy some stupid curiosity of mine. I'm not as innocent as I look and you should know that, compared to the things that you and I do to each other when we're alone." she exclaimed, giving him a knowing, intimate look.

Tristan pursed his lips, remembering the times they made love in his apartment, especially the times when she got on her knees and gave him the most mind-blowing...

"No it doesn't, but that's between you and me, two consenting adults who agreed on our....actions. On the other hand, your deciding to go to that club was strictly on YOU."

Serenity rolled her eyes heavenward, adding sarcastically, "Really now? Would you like to tell my brother that we're fucking each other's brains out while we're at it, hmmm? I'm sure he'd LOVE to hear that....." Serenity said while she eyed him mockingly.

Tristan gave her the bogey-eyed look and a finger over his lips that clearly indicated that she keep her raising voice down. Then he exclaimed, "Oh, come on, Serenity! Don't do this to me!" He ran his right hand through his hair, then in surrender he said, "Let's call a truce, okay? As of now, all topics and conversations leading to the 'incident' are null and void. I don't want to fight over it when it's meaningless compared to what we have now."

He edged closer to her, gripping her shoulders.

"I can never stay mad at you, you know that, right baby?" He said pleadingly, his voice as smooth as silk.

She was looking into his eyes and smiled, turning into him as she went into his arms while he was leaning his back against the kitchen counter, holding her by the waist. "I know that now.", she purred as she leaned closer into him, holding both sides of his face with her hands and began kissing him slowly, slipping her tongue into his mouth. Tristan slowly reached his hands to cup her backside while they were deepening their kiss.

"God! Not in here!"

They both jumped out of their embrace so fast the nearly got whiplash when they heard Joey's intruding voice. "Tristan I know you're dating my sister and all, but PLEASE take the make-out session somewhere else." Joey griped.

"Hmmmm....like...her ROOOM?" Tristan said with teasing innuendo, shooting his eyebrows up and down in that smart aleck kind of way while glancing at Serenity, who was covering her mouth with her hand to keep from giggling out loud.

Joey shot both of them a look. "Hell no! Just don't do that when I'm around, period. It makes me sick to my stomach." He said grumpily.

"Alright...we hear ya." But then just to push the envelope, Tristan deliberately kissed Serenity on the lips again just to get a last reaction out of him.

"Ugh." Joey made a face, then shook his head while he went to grab himself something to drink out of the refrigerator while Tristan and Serenity were chuckling in the background.

"I asked you if you wanted something to drink, you know." Tristan said as he watched Joey pour himself a glass of orange juice.

"I wasn't thirsty when you asked, but now I am. Thanks anyway." Joey said before gulping down the juice in almost in one take, then belching loudly when he finished the entire glass.

"Whoops...That slipped out. Sorry." he said defensively when he caught Serenity's disgusted look on her face. He was making his way out of the kitchen until Serenity asked him if he heard from Mai and if she was coming over sometime later.

Joey halted, his back ramrod stiff. Without even turning around to face his sister, he murmured, "No, she's not coming over again for a while." And with that left to go where he came.

Tristan and Serenity gave each other the look and then Tristan followed Joey leaving Serenity in the kitchen alone, asked without so much as thinking. "Well...why? Is she sick or something?" He sat down on the couch and when he saw Joey's face turn serious again, Joey said sarcastically, "No, she's fine. Juuust fine." And with that he slouched into the chair watching the TV once again.

"Uh....O-o-o-kay." Tristan said after that vague, but seemingly loaded statement, and he he slowly got up again and went into the kitchen and slid next to Serenity's side, startling her as she was wiping the table.

"You think it has something to do with Mai?" Tristan whispered in her ear.

She turned around to face him, then said, "Well, I'm thinking she may have something to do with it based on that telling reaction we just got a while ago. They probably had some argument and he must still be upset about it.", Serenity voiced observantly, putting together what she thought was the basis of her brother's grouchy mood lately.

Tristan's brow was furrowed in thought, tapping the tip of pointer finger on his chin while he assessed her analysis of the situation. "Hmmm....Yep, I would have to say that's gotta be it. She probably said something to piss him off. But whaaat..."

Serenity turned around and gave him the eyebrow, coming to Mai's defense. "Well how do we know it's not because of something he said? My brother can say some stupid shit when he doesn't think it through."

Tristan rolled his eyes at the fact that they were about to argue about THEIR argument.

"I don't mean it like that. You know what I mean, that within the argument they both could have said some shit and she said 'fine' and he said in response 'FINE' and they both hung up the phone bitchin' and moanin'." Tristan said, mimicking Joey and Mai's voices as he expressed his point of view further.

Serenity hid the little smirk on her face when Tristan finished his acting scene by turning away from him, then turned serious when she said, "Well that's probably what happened ..." She sighed. "I've never seen Joey like this...just look at him, he looks pathetic." She was looking in the direction of where Joey was sitting and they can see part his face where he sat, which still had a frown imprinted on it.

"I don't know....If we can get him to talk about what's botherin' him, maybe he'll feel better." Serenity surmised.

"I'm not too sure about that idea, Serenity. Maybe he doesn't want to talk about it. He looks like he'd prefer to simmer in his own misery juices for now. And quit being so nosy."

And that's when Serenity gave him the most absurd, you-must-not-be-serious-and-what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about look, for this was a blatantly example of the pot calling the kettle black with that last line. If anyone was being nosey about getting into Joey's business, it was HIM!

"What? ....Whaaat?" Tristan said innocently, when he saw the look on her face.

Serenity gave him one last you're-an-idiot look and just shook her head.

She sighed, then added. "Anyway... I think the only way for Joey to get out of this mood that's he's in is for him to express his feelings. He's obviously upset and I don't like it, Tristan..."

"Don't like what? What are you two whisperin' about like two suspicious old ladies spreading the gossip-juice?" Joey said, unexpectedly reappearing in the kitchen.

Both Tristan and Serenity nearly jumped out of their shoes when he stepped in for they just saw him sitting in the living room just a minute before.

"Uh...I don't like it when he...er..." Serenity stumbled then gutted Tristan in the stomach with an elbow when she couldn't finish her sentence. "Oh, uh...when I er...tickled her...backside?" Tristan bumbled ultra lamely, while he got a 'what the hell was that?' look from Serenity.

Joey arched both brows so way up, it reached his hairline. He did the blink-blink on them.

"Mmmm-hmmmm......I bet you guys are talkin' about me and this foul-ass mood I'm in." Joey said observing the surprised looks on both of their faces. And when they didn't say anything to that, he said. "Uh-huh...just what I thought."

Seeing no reason to hide their stupid conversation to themselves any longer, Serenity asked. "Joey...come on, what's wrong?"

Joey was scoping the cupboards for some chips, which was supposedly the reason he came into the kitchen. Depression did bring out the worse hunger pangs out of people...

"You wanna know?" Joey said as he turned around. "You reeeeally wanna know?" He was deliberately keeping them in suspense.

"She wouldn't ask if that wasn't the case. Come on, cut the crap...what's buggin' you?" Tristan urged on, wanting to finally know what was on his best bud's mind.

Joey paused, his face unreadable at first but then turned serious, his eyes piercing, his nostrils almost flaring.

"Mai dumped me."

Scene Three: Avoid Yugi ? ...Check...

Yami came out of the supermarket with four full bags of groceries. There was no way in hell he was going to wait on the public bus to get his ride home, so he called for a taxi cab. Waiting 10 patient minutes, he packed the grocery bags into the car and sat in the back seat.

After letting the cab driver know his destination, he laid back, his mind unconsciously reverting to the last night's events. To him, that was the ugliest night of life. He had never felt so at a lost, so uncomfortable, so upset about anything before until that disaster of an evening with Yugi. They've rarely ever had any arguments before. It was so rare that this truly felt like a first for him and it is something he would never like to experience again. And he was angry more so at himself than he was at Yugi.

He acted so out of character last night that even now replaying those events was disbelieving, like a figment of some wild imagination.

His going out to do the grocery shopping was merely a diversion to get out of the house away from Yugi, just to get his mind off of things. Now, he was trying to make sense of it all.

"....you were the one who pushed me away, took away that right from me! ...", he had said, Yami thought. Those words played over and over again in his mind, thinking about what Yugi meant and now he knew. He isolated Yugi, trying to disconnect him from the situation when in fact he should have sought his help.

Then again Yugi IS Grandpa's grandson first, so he had every right to intervene and help him when he needed it most. And as much apart of Yugi he would like to claim he was, he was still the second entity. Even though he was wiser, stronger, and more mature, Yugi by far had a greater say in the matter than he did, and Yami was now realizing that he may have erred in his domineering tactics to exclude Yugi from the situation. If Yugi had told HIM to butt out, he would more likely have had to oblige than vice versa.

Yami gritted his teeth. Maybe Yugi doesn't really need him now, he thought. For the most part, he was just getting in his way. Before, when they were in the middle of the Duel Masters games, he and Yugi were attached to the heart and soul. They were one in the same and they needed each other. Oh, in body he was dueling in his Pharaoh form, but as he was dueling, so was Yugi right along with him every step of the way.

He knew his place and purpose then, but nowadays with no new dueling challenges or threats that lay ahead, he wasn't so sure. He admits he hasn't been acting the same when he was top duelist, but even with that, why were things so different between them? And why has his feelings for Yugi changed in a way he can't yet put his finger on?

He thought about that kiss in the living room, which leads to the very question: what the hell did it mean in the middle of all this mess? Something deep inside of him prompted him to kiss Yugi, and it was no chaste kiss of friendship. It was the kind that was meant for greater intimacy.

How can he possibly explain his actions to Yugi if he can't even figure it out himself? The one thing for certain was that things HAVE changed, but to what extent? Best to stay out of each other's way until he DOES figure it out.....

That was Yami's last line of thought when he saw the cab pull up in front of the house. He paid the cab fare, retrieved his groceries, and headed to the front door.

He placed the groceries at his feet and before he opened the door, he gave himself some advice: Let Yugi come to you. If he doesn't want to talk about last night's events, don't force him to.

And with that, he headed inside the house, hoping his strategy would work for the better....or worse.

End:

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