Almost There…
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. I'm doing this for fun… seriously.
Well, now that we all know how they feel about each other, what's going to happen next? Are they going to have enough courage to spill the beans? Or will one of them chicken out? Nah, I can't see that happening…
Yes, I have included the teaser from Chapter 3, but that's just so that you can really follow along with what's happening between them. I'm trying to keep it a little light…
Seto gulped inaudibly at Téa's statement over the phone. This was the decisive moment. He'd find out if he'd been a fool when he heard her answer to his question. To date, this was his toughest challenge yet. Defeating his stepfather in that crazy duel with the virtual world crumbling around his ears was a cakewalk compared to this. Hell, escaping from a pool full of ravenous piranhas without a scratch was as easy as … well a lot easier than asking her a single question. What he was about to do would bare his heart and soul, leaving him defenceless and open to rejection, loss and utter humiliation.
"Seto? You still there? Is everything okay?" Téa was little nervous. He usually wasn't this quiet on the phone. She'd been expecting to hear about his afternoon at work, it was Friday after all, and not the deathly silence her ear was currently bathed in. At least she didn't have to worry about the length of the phone call tonight. Her parents had left late last night for a business weekend in Los Angeles. They'd even promised to bring her back something nice.
But that was neither here nor there.
Seto made up his mind. Over the phone was not the best way to handle this. He needed to see her face, her eyes especially, to judge her reaction. Just her voice wouldn't tell him much and if she hung up the phone… He didn't even want to contemplate that.
With his mind finally made up and his courage almost in tatters, he finally spoke to the girl on the other end of the receiver he was holding. "I'm sorry, Téa. I can't do this on the phone tonight. I'm sending Roland to get you right now."
"Seto, is everything okay? Just tell me that much," her voice quavered as she heard the resignation in his. What was going on? He'd never asked her to come over before. Not that they had discussed it or anything. It had never crossed her mind before either.
"Everything is… fine. I… I just need to see you, that's all. Roland will be there in ten minutes. See you then." The conversation was cut short as he hung up the phone. He couldn't give her a chance to say 'No'. Looking over his latest journal (diary) entry, his resolve strengthened. Finding out how she felt was consuming him. He needed an answer.
He'd started this and he was about to finish it, no matter what the outcome was, no matter how many pieces his heart was about to be shattered into.
Picking up the phone once more, he relayed his orders to Roland quickly and with more confidence than he was feeling.
The phone had already started beeping in her ear before she'd realized he'd hung up. She 'hmphed' once as she set the phone back in its cradle, restoring a peaceful silence to her bedroom. Too bad her mind wasn't just as peaceful. Different thoughts and ideas swirled and commingled, collided and exploded as she thought on his last few words. He needed to see her. Something about how he'd said it finally registered in her head.
Nervous.
He'd been nervous when he'd said that. Seto Kaiba, the epitome of cool confidence and caustic sarcasm, the supreme pinnacle of ice-godliness, had been terrified at the very thought of needing to see her. To top it off, he'd stuttered. Sighing once as she closed her cloud-covered diary and shut off the lights in her room, she grabbed her keys and purse from the table in the kitchen and made her way to the front door.
His last few words rolled through her mind and she chuckled in mirth. It was so like him to send a car for her and just assume that she had no other plans or that she even had permission to go out that late at night.
Then again, what Seto Kaiba wanted, Seto Kaiba got and consequences be damned.
A small giggle bubbled out of her as she tried to picture him as he'd been at the end of their conversation but the image just wouldn't come, no matter how hard she tried. Nervous and Seto Kaiba just didn't belong in the same universe, let alone the same sentence. He'd duelled in nerve-wracking tournaments and faced numerous crazy opponents without breaking a sweat and yet, his voice had been tentative, almost unsure.
And all because of her.
That alone gave her a sense of accomplishment and control over what she planned to tell him later that night. Maybe he'd come to the same conclusion about the situation between them? Or was he rethinking their whole morning ritual and phone conversation relationship…? No, she had to stop before she drove herself crazy with thinking about it. Whatever happened at his place, happened and she would deal with it, probably with a box of Kleenexes, a sappy movie and a gallon of Haagen Daz Triple Fudge Brownie Overload. It would be better if she just went in expecting the worst, that way she wouldn't be disappointed when he broke her heart after she told him how she was feeling.
Twin beams of light bathed the front of the house as the promised car pulled into the driveway. Taking a deep breath, steeling herself for what was to come, she opened the door and stepped out. The moment of truth was moments away, in a mansion the other side of town. Locking the door behind her, she walked briskly to the waiting vehicle and slid inside, letting Roland close the door to leave her alone with her thoughts as the car pulled back out into the street.
"Seto? Are you okay?" a small, drowsy voice asked from the doorway to his office. Stopping his pacing, he turned to regard his younger brother. His violet grey eyes were half-closed and his black hair was wilder than usual, proving that he'd fallen asleep on the couch in the family room again.
"Mokuba, what are you doing still up? I thought I'd tucked you in a half hour ago," Seto asked softly, watching him clutch his teddy bear 'Pooker' a little more tightly to his chest as he gave a face-splitting yawn.
"Well, I wanted to watch Inuyasha and it came on at 8:30 tonight. I wanted to watch it in the family room cuz the couch is so comfortable butI fell asleep before I saw the end of the episode so I figured it was time to go back to bed," Mokuba admitted. No need to mention that he'd heard Seto curse loudly a couple minutes before, just as he was coming down the hallway. Why, he had no idea and he'd intended on finding out before he went back to bed but the pensive look on Seto's face made him put a halt to that idea. He was all worked up about something and the determination he saw in those blue eyes scared him a little. He'd never seen Seto look so ready to take on the world.
The hard look he'd focussed on Mokuba softened as he regarded his younger sibling, dressed in flannel pyjamas. Pooker was now being held by one paw, as Mokuba's other hand rubbed blearily at his eyes. "C'mon, Mokuba, let's get you back to bed. You're going to fall asleep at the door in a minute."
"But, you still haven't answered my question, Seto. Are you okay?" He felt Seto's arm drape across his shoulders and his body turn to walk back upstairs to his room.
"One way or another, I'll be fine," was the cryptic response he got. Mokuba didn't even question it as he put one weary foot on the first stair and climbed them slowly, Seto still silently by his side.
I know, I know, the suspense is driving everyone crazy but this story is only forming itself in spurts in my head. When I know how it goes, I write it down and post it. This is the only story that's been consuming me since "Jealous of a Cupcake". I can't even concentrate on "Christmas Chaos". Might have something to do with the fact that the weather here in Calgary has been awful for the last two weeks… ;)
Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Aphrael21 ;)
