A Phone Call Away
A/N: Same night written as the last chapter, but since I got a couple reviews, and it's Christmas, I figured I'd post it now instead of in a week like I had originally planned. Merry Christmas!
Summery: I may up the rating for this chapter just a tad. Funny, Ryou curses more than Bakura did. But Ryou is angry, and Bakura was remorseful and sad. So Ryou's got an excuse to be pissy.
Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, cast, or a phone line of my own. Not even a cell phone. I weep.
How could he? That bastard. I didn't even do anything this time! My father sent me a nice new sweater for Christmas, the one thing I get form him all year. I go put it on, ask him- not even seriously- how I look, and the only thing he can say is 'Who's corpse did you hack that thing off of?' What is wrong with him?
Alright, I understand the fact that his past affects how he is. I accept that, because in his early childhood his family was murdered before him seriously damaged his way to be expressive and loving, but does he have to be just… just mean when all I want is a smile? Is that really all that much to ask?
Now, I didn't storm out just because he said my dad's sweater was ugly. I was insulted, yes, and it grew from there. Indignant, I demanded that he apologize and of course he refused. I think this is what we do when we get bored. Piss each other off. We started arguing, then yelling, and before I knew it I was out the door. Again.
I have got to get my mind off of it. I'll move on, like I always do, but right now I need to find someplace warm. I had barely enough time to yank my coat off the rack by the door. I think I may have pulled it down. It's snowing outside, and my hands and face feel bitten by the cold. Malik has gone back to Egypt for the winter, I don't blame him, and he was the only one who didn't freak out every time he heard that Bakura and I had a fight. My choices were now limited to undesirable.
Anywhere I went, Yami no Yugi would find out. Then, if he were in a particularly bad mood, he would march right over to my front door and demand that Bakura explain himself. I appreciate his concern, but it really isn't his business. It isn't any of their business.
I'll get a motel room, my wallet is in this coat pocket and I have enough for one night. I'll think of what to do in the morning. Of course, I already know what I'll do. I'll go right back home when the sun warms everything up. My mother used to say that everything looks better by daylight. I'll wait for tomorrow.
Checked in, bundled up in comforter from the bed, I curl up in front of the radiator. It is still cold inside my cheap room, so I do what I can to stay warm. Hang up my wet clothes, take a hot shower, drink some tea. I don't even have a book to read, and I just cannot sleep. I keep thinking of once, a few weeks ago, after our last fight I came home earlier than I thought I would. Bakura was sleeping on the couch in the front room. I guess he had tried to stay up and wait for me. I wonder if he's waiting for me right now.
I glance over to my right at the false wooden night stand. On it there is a light yellow phone, similar in make to my own. Maybe I'll call, I think. I stand up, the blanket around my shoulders, and cross to the bed. Sitting down, I look deeply at the device, hoping it will pick itself up and dial, because I just don't have the courage. To call would be to give in, to be sorry. I refused to do that this time.
An internal struggle as I wrestle with my thoughts. He knows where I won't go, but he has no clue where I am. He may be worried, I shouldn't make him worry, it's not right to make him worry. It's not kind.
Well, neither is he.
I turn away, trying to look angrily at the opposite wall. There is a picture of a Victorian lady in a garden with roses all around her. Funny, although we never had a garden and could never grow roses, that is how I think of my mother. Graceful, elegant, beautiful and permanent. I just cannot stay angry. I am already sad that I left in such a way. I look to the floor, then back to the phone.
Standing up, I begin to pace. I do that a lot, I think I picked it up from Bakura. I never walk as straight as he does, though, ending up making thin figure 8s on the carpeted floor.
I sigh again, then look at the phone.
Relief is only a phone call away, I think. I could call, say I'm sorry and I want to go home. He will walk all the way here, I know it, just so I won't have to walk back alone. He can't drive, he refuses to learn, but he'll hold my hand when we walk.
Just a phone call away, just like Yugi.
I remember the time that ruined whatever chance they might have had befriending my darkness. Another stupid fight. I don't even remember what it was about, but he had gotten so mad that he raised his hand as if preparing to backhand me. I, thinking he was really going to, flinched. Yugi picked just that moment to open the door and step happily into my living room, bringing with him Jounouchi and his own darker half.
The small boy was instantly at my side, held my arms in a protective friendly embrace while the Pharaoh took charge of the situation.
It didn't go well. Admittedly, it was my own fault. I could have defended him, they might have believed me then if I had said that he wouldn't have really hurt me, but I said nothing. Now that I want them to get along, Yugi always fixes me with a pitying glance whenever I say that they just don't understand him. I am really sorry for that.
I reach out for the phone, then pull my hand back. So close, but so far. Cliché. Bakura, I want to call so bad. I want to let you know that I am safely indoors, that I didn't get hit by a car, and that I didn't go running to Yugi. I want to let you know that I will be home soon.
I would be so much easier if he could call here, but he doesn't know where 'here' is.
No. No, I need this time alone as much as I want to go back. I need time to myself.
I lay down on the soft bed at last, pulling the blanket around me tightly, my eyes fixed on the phone.
Goodnight, Bakura. I love you. I know I'm not with you, but try to get some sleep. You need alone time, too.
And if I need you, I know that, at least you are only a phone call away.
I'll just call and tell you where I am, and you will run here so quickly that the snow will melt.
I know that isn't true, but it is nice to think about as I drift off into an uneasy sleep.
You are only a phone call away, but that just isn't close enough.
…not as good as the first one, I think, but I didn't get it beta'd like I should have. Find any mistakes, just point them out and I'll try to fix 'em. And there may be more to come. Remember, when Bakura is fretting it's because a whole day has gone by without hearing from Ryou. So maybe 'just a phone call away' isn't as close as they would like to think. Maybe the next chapter will be about Ryou's day alone, and when he finally goes home. I dunno. Sap. It depends on you guys, the reviewers!