Author note: I don't own YGO or none of that stuff. Just my fics!

'Love or Pretend?'

Let's just got on with the rest of the story. I'm sure all of you are dying to know what's going to happen next. I know I am!

Chapter thirteen: No matter what it takes

After a lack of air the two teens had for some time Joey slowly parted from the brunette's lips and it was done. Joey and Tea had actually kissed... The moment had past and there was nothing on earth that could erase what the two teens had just done. The kiss was absolutely amazing. More than anything either the blonde or brunette could have ever imagined. Joey wanted it to last forever, but even he knew a moment like that couldn't last forever. Even if her lips tasted like the sweetest strawberries in the world and passion inside of him almost couldn't be contained because with every quaking second went by he needed her more. Though, the facts stood still either way. He loved Tea, and Joey wasn't going to deny it to himself anymore.

Tea, on the other hand, was more in shock than anything else. Yes, the kiss was wonderful, better than anything she ever felt before, but Tea also felt something else behind it all— guilt, painful guilt. She just let Joey, one of her very best friends, kiss her! One minute, she crying and confessing all over him about Yami and everything else she felt inside, and then in the next she let him kiss her! 'I can't deny it from myself— even if I wanted to— because I never pulled back when it happened. I let Joey kiss me and now I'm going to have to live with that truth for the rest of my life. I just can't believe this happened. How am I ever going to be able to talk to Joey again? How am I going to tell Yugi and others that Joey kissed me— and I let him?! How am I ever going to let any of this go by...?'

"Tea," Joey whispered her name softly and tenderly, unsure if talking to the brunette was such a good idea right now. "Are ya mad at me?"

A question— that question— was something she definitely wasn't ready to answer yet. Joey kissed her and how was she suppose to react, except shocked?

"How could this have happen...?" Tea whispered, staring down at herself, not giving Joey the chance to even look at her when he desperately wanted to talk to her, almost forgetting that he was in the room.

That gave Joey only answer in his mind. She hated it. 'God! I should known dat Tea wasn't gonna like da kiss! I should have known she still had feelin's for Yami! God, damn I must have been uh pretty big dolt ta think dat I had uh chance with her!'

By now, Joey wanted to smack himself and take back everything he had just say and done to Tea. He knew when right before he kissed her that it was going to be a long shot for Tea to even enjoy, but Joey never imagined something like this; the cold, hard, lonely moment of silence that made everything lost and hazy. Nothing else would have been worse at this point of time. Joey hadn't even begun to think about the consequences for his actions— not that he cared about them when the moment of kissing Tea came into picture. The blonde didn't think how Tea would take the kiss— beyond hating it. He didn't think about how all the others would react to him kissing her. And he didn't think about how heartbroken Yugi, or possibly even Yami, could feel about it all. Joey had made a huge mistake kissing Tea and now... he couldn't take it back even if he wanted to.

&&&&&&

"Thanks for getting us out of the attic, Yugi," Tea told him a few hours after he uncovered them being stuck in the quiet, dusty place. "I was beginning to think Joey and I were never going to get out of there."

"I'm just glad I went up there to put those old cables back. Grandpa would have never thought to go back up there to find you guys," Yugi responded.

Yugi and Tea were in his room, sitting on his bed, folding laundry for Grandpa. Yugi kept glancing at the brunette as she looked away from him, taking some time to help out him with his chores to show her thanks. He couldn't help but feel she was hiding something... Something was making her look and feel distance from him so much. Did something happen between Joey and Tea while they were in the attic? Yugi kept asking himself that question over and over again. (A/N you better believe it!) Unfortunately for him, he could only guess and wonder as Tea tried to mind her own business.

When he felt the time was right, Yugi touched her hand with his, looking up at her softly, Tea was a little surprised with his gesture. "Tea, I'm glad that you're all right, but if you're hiding something from me you can tell me what it is. You know that, right? Because I promise you that I won't get mad, no matter what it is. We're friends, and we're always going to be friends."

Tea looked deep into his eyes for few seconds and turned away again, not having the guts to admit the truth. How could she? Tea told him that she was only pretending to have feelings for Joey at school. If she told Yugi that she let Joey kiss her up in the attic Tea knew all hell would break loose and she wasn't going let that happen. 'I want to believe Yugi. I really do, but if I told him what happened between me and Joey in the attic I'd never be able to forgive myself. I just... I just need stop this before it gets any worse and believe me, with Joey on the case that won't take long. Joey's caused enough trouble for me already and if I continue to let things get worse I could risk our friendship. So I need to stop this before I'm too late... no matter what it takes.'

Tea looked back up at her best friend and smiled at him, showing no signs of pressure or anxiety. "Look, Yugi. I'm sorry if I got you worried, but I'm fine, really. I will admit that I'm a little tired out from being up in that attic for so long, but I'll get over it. And I know you're only trying to help because we're friends and all, but you don't need to worry about me. Everything's fine, you'll see."

(A/N yeah, and how many ppl believe her right now?)

&&&&&&&&&

'Tristan, get your butt on da phone before I put it on it myself!' Joey impatiently told himself as he waited for his friend to get on the phone.

"Talk to me," Tristan said over the phone.

"Tristan, it's me. I need ta tell ya somethin' dat happened earlier today. You're never goin' ta believe, but ya need ta. I'm in uh jam and I really ya ta talk ta."

"Joey, did you lose your mind by any chance since the last time I talked to you?"

"TRISTAN!!!!!" Joey screamed at him off the phone as steam started to come out of his ears and his face was heating up. "I'm bein' serious over here!"

"Okay, okay, okay. Ya don't need to get blowing up a building or anything. Just tell me what happened and we'll talk about it. Jeez, don't go getting your hair all in a bunch."

"Thank you! Finally!" Joey told him exasperatedly. "I though ya never stop."

"Will you shut the hell up about that already and tell me what's really making you go nuts?"

Joey took a few moments to calm down and be cool, then he spoke again. "Okay... What I'm about ta tell ya can't leave your mouth ever. I mean, ya gotta swear, man. Ya tell anyone 'bout what I'm 'bout tell ya den it's over between us."

"Joey! Get to the point already! I'm getting tired of waiting for you to speak—."

"I kissed Tea!" he yelled at him over the phone. "Are ya happy now?"

Tristan shrugged his shoulders; acting like it was no big deal. "So? You've kissed her before. What's the big problem now? She didn't like it this time or something?"

"Tristan, I am tellin' ya dat I really kissed Tea dis time. I'm not lyin'."

"What? Are ya telling me that you were lying before?"

"No, I wasn't lyin' before. Dis kiss was different from all da rest."

"Well, then, can ya be a little more specific, Joey?" Tristan asked him as he got me from the couch to go in the kitchen and make a sandwich. "You're not giving me much information, man."

"Okay, ya want da cold, hard truth? Here it is, den." Tristan was rolling his eyes while he heard his best friend making a complete idiot out of himself. "I kissed Tea on the lips— twice!"

Tristan stopped breathing; his eyes went from normal size to wide and shocked, as he dropped the cordless phone on the kitchen floor. Crack! "What was that, Tristan?" Duke's mother asked him from across the other side of the house.

After he finally snapped back into reality and picked the phone back up, making sure it wasn't broken, Tristan answered her. "It was nothing, Mrs. Devlin. I'm sorry I disrupted you with whatever you're doing. It won't happen again."

"Thank you, dear. That's very sweet of you to say. I'm glad to hear it. You can go back to your business now."

Tristan waited, making sure that Duke's mom wasn't listening anymore, and got back on the phone with Joey. "Joey, I don't care if you're going to jail in the next five minutes, or if you're flying to the moon. Because if you don't explain to me what the hell you just said to me a minute ago I will personally come over and strangle it out of you myself if Yugi hasn't already done so!"

"Oh, yeah. Like I would be breathin'— let alone livin' right now— if Yugi knew 'bout dis," the blonde said sarcastically. "Ya know I'd be dead if Yugi finds out 'bout dis."

"Ah...yeah! And since we're on the subject, tell me this, Einstein. Are you just going through a phase right now or does your brain turn off every time you're alone with Tea? 'Cause ya know, I'd really like to know that before I see Yugi kill you with his bare hands!"

"Danks for da support, Tristan. It really brightens my day up now," he said sarcastically again.

"Well what were you expecting from me? Fireworks or maybe a parade?"

"Actually, when I was kissin' Tea I felt like there were fireworks—."

"Ah— okay! You can shut up now." Tristan started making a really grossed out look on his face. "I really didn't need to hear that particular information, Joey. I'll just save it for after Yugi kills you. So tell me— just how the hell do ya end up from doing a English paper that you're both doing on home lives together with Tea to kissing her on the lips?"

--' "Take my word for it. Ya don't wanna know."

"Why not?"

"'Cause ya wouldn't believe me if I told ya."

"Try me, Wheeler."

"I kissed her after we both found out dat we were trapped in Yugi's attic from when Gramps locked us in dare together."

Tristan started cracking up, banging his hand on the kitchen counter. "Wait a second... Let me see if I get this straight... You... You kissed Tea... in the attic of your best friend's house... when you and Tea were both trapped inside of it? Oh, that's a good one, Joey. That's a real good one. Yugi's really going to go for that."

"Tristan, why would I make dis stuff up? Ta amuse ya or somethin'?"

"Well, how do ya except him to take it?" he responded, still laughing out loud.

"It doesn't matter if he believes me or not 'cause he was da one dat got us out of dare in da end."

"We're you two still kissing when he got you two out?" Tristan was starting to calm down again so he could understand Joey better.

"No— thankfully. We were done by den."

"So are ya going to tell him or not?"

"Dat's why I called ya. I need your advice."

"For what exactly?"

"On what I should do."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a second. Are you telling me that you want me to decide whether or not you should tell Yugi about what happened?"

"Uh, no, Tristan. I'm tellin' ya ta go join uh Barney the Dinosaur fan club somewhere and wear purple poka-dotted underwear at school. Of course, dat what I'm tellin' ya! Why else would I be callin'? Ta get da answers from da math quiz we have tomorrow?"

"Actually, we do have a math quiz tomorrow, Joey. So you better study if you know what's good for you."

Acting more calm, Joey's voice was more sustain and natural. "Oh, really. I didn't know we had a quiz tomorrow— 'ey, wait uh second! Tristan, you're getting me off track again. Why do ya always go and do dat?"

"You brought the subject up. I was only following and telling you the truth. Bite me head off, why don't you?"

"I was bein' sarcastic, if ya actually knew what dat meant."

"Joey, I can't fight your battles for you. You said so yourself before Duelist Kingdom. If you really want all of this to go away you need to figure out your feelings towards Tea and tell Yugi what's been going on between you and her."

"He already knows 'bout us."

"What do ya mean he already knows? You told him that you kissed Tea?"

"No! I'm not that big of uh idiot!" 'Oh yes you are.' Tristan said to himself as Joey kept on talking. "Tea told him dat we've been pretendin' ta go out for da last week."

Tristan looked shocked again. "Oh my god..."

"What?!" Joey started to panic. "What is it?"

"Can't even you comprehend what this means?"

"How am I suppose ta know? I don't even know what comprehend means ta begin with?"

'And sometimes he wonders why I'm still his best friend.' "Joey, don't you understand what this means? It means that because Yugi knows you and Tea were 'pretending' to go out he'll think that you have feelings for her when he finds out that you kissed Tea for real!"

"Man," Joey ran a hand through his hair. "What am I goin' ta do? I really screwed up dis time, didn't I?"

"I told you not to go through with this. It was only going to get you hurt in the end. But no...! You had push Tea into pretending to go out with you just so you had chance to go out with Melody Thompson."

"Tristan— shut up! Dis isn't even 'bout Melody anymore. I don't even care 'bout dat anymore. I've got bigger things ta worry 'bout, remember?"

"I was just saying. You brought this upon yourself and you have to deal with it."

"Yeah, yeah. I've heard it all before. What's new?"

"Do you love her?"

"Who?"

Tristan rolled his eyes impatiently. "Tea! Ya dumb nut case!"

Joey was about to answer when he saw a photograph on Yugi's desktop. It was of him, Yugi, Tea, and Tristan all together at the game shop after Battle City ended. He picked it up and stared at Tea smiling in the picture; her pink and blue school uniform on as usual.

They had been through a lot together, just the two of them by themselves. Like the time Marik had his rare hunters kidnapped them both and put them under his control for the duel against Yugi. Or the time he vowed to Tea that he would stop Yami Marik's plan and bring Mai back from the Shadow Realm. Joey knew he could trust Tea with anything. She had really become something special to him over the last couple of months and he didn't want to ruin that for anything. No matter what the cost was.

"No," he lied to Tristan. "Tea's just uh friend and dat's all. Nothin' more."

To be continued......

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