'Love or Pretend?'
Okay, so I lied! flinging arms up in the air impatiently I wanted to have Joey and Tea come back together and have their little cute moments in this chapter, but then I changed my mind—for good reasons, of course. I realized that Yami and Tea haven't talked much in the fic lately, so I decided that I shouldn't her blow him off in the beginning of the chapter and then take off looking for Joey—instead just let these two talk and see happens between them. What do ya think?
Oh, I also decided that we really need to get Joey and Tristan back in the story so I did that, too. And someone else is also going to be joining them…but who?
Anywayz, thanks for all of your waiting reviewers. I know I don't update like I use to but this year has been so tough for me in school. I just hope it was worth the wait.
Chapter Nineteen: False intentions
Tea had never been so shocked to see Yugi's darker half in all the time she had known him—which had been quite a while now. And with the way he was looking at her, it was almost like Yami had been planning to talk to her all along. The intenseness of his dark, violent eyes was transfixed on her gaze completely, almost as if he wasn't blinking at all. She had never seen him look like this. Not only was Yami looking deathly serious towards her, but there was also other emotions in his eyes. Hidden ones… Emotions that the former pharaoh had never once shown before—at least not to her. And Tea would have never been able to guess them.
"Yami…" she breathed out his name slowly. "What are you doing here?"
"I decided that it was my turn to do the talking now, Tea. And I think we've got a lot to talk about."
The brunette's pulse began to quicken while her skin was getting really warm through the liquid in her veins. She couldn't believe that Yami came out to see her now (and at all times to do so). Was this like some crazy and bizarre convention or something? Whatever this was, Tea couldn't begin to recognize it until her dark friend gave her some real answers.
"I don't understand," Tea voice was in a fully nervous tone. "Why would you want to talk to me? The conversation I was having with Yugi had nothing to do with you."
"Well, that's where you're wrong. It does involve me in some ways. And I don't want you to leave until we talk about them."
"Well, I guess I better get goin' over ta Yugi's now. Tea's goin' ta be waitin' for me soon and I don't wanna ta be late pickin' her up," Joey said to Tristan while they both got up off the leather couch they were sitting on.
"So, how do you think it's going? Bad?"
"I dunno. I hope not. It's really da last thing I want, and da last thing Tea needs, don't ya dink?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean it won't turn out bad. I've been telling ya that all afternoon."
"Well, let's not dink 'bout dat 'til after Tea's done talkin' ta Yug, okay?"
"Gottcha," Tristan responded as the two best friends walked over to the door.
Though, just before Joey reached for the handle Tristan's hand touched his shoulder, causing him to stop.
"Joey, wait," his hand lifted off of the blonde's shoulder. "Before you go there's something I wanna tell ya."
"What's dat?" he asked, turning back to the brunette.
"I want ya to know that I'm with you on this. I don't exactly agree with the whole thing—but I'm on your side. And I always will be. I know now that I shouldn't of blown up at ya like that, but I was just thinking of Yugi's feelings. I guess what I'm trying to say is no matter happens—whether Yugi tries to kill you or he never wants to be your friend again—I'll still there for you. And I know Tea will be too. We're both here for you and things will turn out for the best when it's all over."
Joey flashed a small smile and said, "Danks, man. I needed dat."
"I know—now get the heck out of here before Tea thinks you're late."
They both laughed for a moment and when Joey finally opened the door, both teens came to be in shock of who was standing right in front of them…
"What do you mean you don't want me to leave? I can leave if I want, Yami. You can't make me stay here," her voice was no longer nervous, but angry and strong.
"You can leave if you want, Tea. But I think you should stay until I've said what I need to say. It's important to me that you do. Please stay…" his voice was longing and oddly sweet and sensitive, absolutely nothing you'd expect from him unless he was trying to console one of his friends from just getting out of danger.
Tea gave him a long gaze in his eyes and studied him, pondering about his intentions. His eyes were soft and calm and face expressions were the same. It did seem harmless to stay with the ex-pharaoh of Egypt, but what was he trying to tell her? What was so hard and important for him to say? Was he trying to say sorry for the kiss he gave her Saturday night? Or was it something else? And with the way he was looking at her, she just couldn't tell.
"Does any of this have to do with why you kissed me last Saturday night?" she couldn't resist in asking him.
He nodded lightly, barely moving at all. "Yes, it does," Yami admitted quietly. "That's partly why I wanted to talk to you."
"Then what's the other part? Why do you want to talk to me so badly?" her voice was clearly urging him to tell her the truth.
"I wanted to talk to you about how I feel about…us."
"K-Kaiba…what in da world are you doing here?" Joey was still in complete shock of the CEO's presents.
"At my house?" Tristan wasn't as shocked as Joey was at the moment.
Kaiba was dressed in his purple and black KaibaCorp suit, holding onto his sliver briefcase on his right hand, smirking at them like he was expecting them to act like this. "Well, since you're wondering, I'm not here to 'hang out' with you geeks, if that's what you think."
"Oh yeah, like that would really cross our minds," Tristan retorted quickly in loath of the cold-hearted teen.
"I came here because I wanted to talk to that third-rate duelist friend of yours, Tristan," Kaiba finally gave him an answer. "If you don't mind, that is."
"Just get da hell on with it and tell me why you're here," Joey spoke up again with anger in his voice this time.
"What do you mean 'us'? There is no 'us,' there has never been an 'us,' and at this particular moment in time I must say that there probably never be an 'us'—no matter what happens between me and Joey."
"How could you lie to me and Yugi about your new relationship with Joey? Why did you really want to keep it from us? I know there's more to this than just simple fears of not understanding the truth. And I want to know what it is."
"How—how do you even get off asking me something like that?" the growing look of shock and surprise was becoming more and more obvious on Tea's face. "Look, what I do with Joey and how I feel about him is none of your business or concern. I can't believe your trying to go so many lengths into asking me about my personal life. What I do is doesn't concern you unless I want it to. And I'm sorry if you feel this harsh but I think that you need to take a good look in the mirror for once in your life and figure out that not everything is this world has to be about you or Yugi."
(A/n Whoa…Does Tea know how to express her feelings or what?)
"What you do does concern me, Tea. You know that—you've known that for years. And I worry about you when you're not being completely honest with me. Don't you understand that? We've always been able to talk to each other and honesty is the most important thing in any kind of relationship."
"Honesty? So now you want to talk about honesty?" the tone in the brunette's voice rippled with shocking anger and the strength to encourage it. "Oh, well, that's something new, isn't it? Yami, you are without a doubt the last person on entire earth I know who should give me the guilt trip on 'honesty.' Especially when you consider how secretive you are about everything you do—even from your own friends. Like last year for instance, I wanted to help you out back in Battle City because I was there was you the day you find out your destiny and that you were once an ancient pharaoh of Egypt 5,000 years ago. But you always kept pushing me away; telling me that it was too dangerous when I was willing to help you anyway."
"I didn't want Marik to go after you like he did with Mai, Bakura, and Joey—because you know what he did to them. Yugi and I wouldn't have been able to live with ourselves if Marik came after you, too." 'Even though he almost did because Marik's good side somehow lived inside of your mind,' Yami said to himself.
"But I was willing to take that risk. I was willing to do anything to help my friends out—and you still held me back. Why is it always me that you don't want taking risks? Is it because I'm a girl? Because you think I'm too weak, is that it?"
"No, of course not," he softly spoke to her. "We've never thought that."
"Then what is it!" her patience was growing thinner.
"I was wondering where your little girlfriend was at, Wheeler," Kaiba's calm voice was more irritating than ever. "I was going to ask you if you knew that she was supposed to be talking to Yugi about you two."
"Dat's it! I've had it with you, Kaiba!" Joey yelled before trying to make a swing at his jaw, but then stopped by Tristan holding onto his arms.
"Settle down, Joey! Kaiba's only trying to get a rise out of you. So snap out of it!" Tristan did his best to calm his best friend down, making the CEO smile even more with satisfaction.
"Why should I! He's tryin' ta break me and Tea apart! And I'm gonna punch his head off before he ever gets da chance!" Joey frustration and anger was only getting hotter the more he looked at Kaiba's smug expression. "Just let me go, Tristan! I wanna get rid of dis jerk once and for all before he tries ta do somethin' else ta ruin my life."
"Joey, calm down!" Tristan hissed at him. "You're not making things any better by acting this way and you know it. So just give it a rest already."
"Why do you always act so protective when it comes to me?" Tea's questioning of Yami's trustby pushing even further, though her face finally began to soften a bit. "I mean, I know we have a close bond because of everything we've been through together in the past few months, but does that mean you need to hide me from every singlebad andevil thing that comes in your way?"
The ancient pharaoh didn't know what to say. He was at a complete loss of words with the way Tea was determined to find out the truth. The strength in her voice and the passion in her eyes couldn't be denied by anyone at this moment, especially to him.
'She really wants to know why…' Yami thought to himself quietly. And to be honest, it almost worried him with how much Tea wanted to know why because the truth may be something she might not be able to handle right now.
"Tea, I know we have a close bond, it's almost as close as mine and Yugi's. I feel it every single time I'm alone with you. Every time I see you near me, or whenever I hear your name—I feel that bond between us never go away, nor do I want it to."
"So is that what you fear?" the brunette began getting closer to her friend, her face softening by his words even more. "You're afraid of losing our close bond?"
"Always," he whispered back. "I don't think you always realize how much you really mean to me…and Yugi. Our friendship means the entire world to me, and I'd do anything to protect it. I hope you can understand that."
"I do understand it. You show me how you care about our friendship every day I'm with you. And I know how much the others and I mean to you. You have a special bond with all of us."
"You're right—I do. And I'm sorry for my intrusion on what's going between you and Joey. I shouldn't have gotten all upset about it. I guess I was partly so upset because Yugi was, too. Please forgive me," he calmly spoke to her, though knew he was lying through his teeth about why he was really so upset.
"Yami…" she breathed his name out slowly again, like before when she first saw him in the room. "Are you sure that's why you got so upset with me? Because when we just began talking, it seemed to look like a lot more than that. Is there something else you want to talk about before I leave?"
"Kaiba, if ya try ta interfere with mine or Tea's lives again I'm gonna pound ya into da ground so hard dat when I'm through with you, you'll wish ya were never born!" Joey finally broke free from Tristan's grip, but, surprisingly, didn't charge at his rival like his best friend thought he would.
The unconvinced CEO just gave a small laugh and shook it off quickly. "You know, Wheeler, you talk big for someone I know who couldn't hold up his threats. It's quite pathetic, really. Almost sad—but all together, I think I'd have to call it stupid, just like you. You're trying so hard to hang onto a relationship we all know won't last long, and it's killing Tea not being able to tell anyone about it."
"Well that's all about ta change soon—no thanks ta you! You're da reason Tea's been feelin' all dis guilt. And you're gonna pay for what you did to her, Kaiba! I'll make sure of it!"
"Please, don't you two see that I'm actually doing your little friend a favor?" Kaiba's almost emotionless tone of voice was smooth and calm as usual.
"What favor!" Tristan spat at him angrily. "You're trying to break Yugi's heart by using Tea to do it. How is that helping anyone but yourself? We see right through your plan, and we know you're only doing this to get back at Yugi for what happened last year in Battle City—anyone could have figured that out!"
"I always knew you had to be smarter than your friend, Wheeler—hey, who isn't? But you're half right in your noble intentions of supporting him."
Tristan's eyes narrowed on the other brunette, and darkened. "What do you mean by that?"
"Tea, I don't understand what you mean," the tri-colored haired pharaoh lied again about his true intentions. "I'm only trying to figure out why you and Joey thought you had to lie to us about dating each other. I'm really only doing this for Yugi—because I know he told you his true feelings for you."
"I figure you would know—what don't you two know about each other—but why were you hiding it from me? If you knew all along about how he felt about me then why didn't you talk to him about it and try and get him to tell me soon?"
"I did, though only to a point. I didn't want to pressure him into something he was scared of. In all reality, he's the only one that could persuade himself to have the courage and admit his feelings—which he obviously did today. But there's something I need to know."
"What?" she simply asked him.
"If Yugi did admit his feelings to you any sooner what would you have said to him then?"
"I'm guessing that you're the only one that knows about Wheeler and Tea dating, at least up until this afternoon, right?"
Joey growled in vein by Kaiba's twisted but true words, the desire of wanting to kill him with his own two bare hands was still on his mind.
"Yeah, so what's that got to do with anything?" Tristan asked him impatiently.
"So that means you've been keeping the exact same secret from Yugi and your other little friends as well, correct?"
"I figured it out all on my own—but what's it got to do with what you're telling me?"
"When Yugi finds out that Joey's been dating Tea—and you knew about it all this time—don't you think that might make you just as guilt the love geeks? I mean, I'd hate to think what would happen when the so-called King of Games finds out that his three best friends were all keeping secrets from him, wouldn't you?"
Tea couldn't breathe again. It was like the entire world had stopped for moment because of the question Yugi's darker half just asked her. And even though she didn't know how to answer it; lost in mystery of it all, it was a fearful question—that much was true. After everything the brunette girl thought of—analyzing and guessing all the things Yugi (and possibly even Yami) would say—she never once thought of that question. It puzzled her, and scared her twice as much. Because if she wasn't dating Joey, plus had feelings for him, what would have been her answer earlier?
Her lightly tanned and cream-colored face almost looked dazed in her own shock of it all. Her sapphire blue eyes had been lowered slightly; a look of soft sadness crept in them. And her body couldn't move an inch. She was stunned, lost in a single question from the pharaoh—never thinking she could be again (or at least this much) from him after what he did last Saturday night.
But he did. He always was somehow able to do that do her, and usually only her.
And having that powerful effect on her was truly captivating—at least as captivating as Joey's eyes when he wanted to 'talk' to her in Yugi's attic on Sunday or when he pushed her to realize that she did love him as more than a friend. Nothing had been more memorizing…Nothing…
"Why would you ask me something like that?" her voice was just barely above a whisper.
"Because I think Yugi deserves to know the truth," was all he replied.
She began to shake slightly, hoping Yami wouldn't have noticed; her voice not as full of emotion as it once was a few minutes ago. "I don't think you have a right to ask me that."
"Yes, I do. I'm bonded with Yugi, and everything he feels I feel too. You can't just run away from the truth—just like you were trying to do before with Joey."
His words only angered her now. She couldn't figure out how he could stun her in one moment and be angered by him in the next. Yami was honestly the most complex guy she had ever met in her life; that much couldn't be denied from herself.
"Don't tell me what do to, Yami. I make my own choices."
"So does that include hiding the truth from your best friends?"
"I never said I was—"
"You didn't have to. It was written all over your face."
Tea couldn't take another minute of Yugi or Yami right now. They were driving her nuts and making things 10 times more confusing than Joey ever did when he made her realize that they loved each other. And she wasn't going to take another second of it.
"I'm leaving," she said to him, harshly.
The brunette brushed right past the former pharaoh with her eyes closed and her head up high. But it wasn't long before Yami grabbed her arm and unknowingly pulled her closer to him; their faces only a few inches away from each other.
"Don't go yet," his serious voice was strong and demanding. "We need to finish talking."
"No!" her got out of his grasp rather quickly, shocking him to say the least. "I need to go. I'm supposed to be meeting Joey soon and I don't want to be late."
"Tea, I'm your friend and I don't want you to go like this. I don't want you to go with us in bad terms. Please don't leave yet."
She studied him for a moment, again—her mind in tug-a-war on whether or not to leave like this. Tea truly didn't want to leave in bad terms with Yugi or Yami but they were making things so much harder. First Yugi tells her that he's in love with her and always has been, though waited 'til just now to tell her. (A/n perfect timing, huh?) And now Yami was practically forcing her to admit her 'true' reasons for not telling Yugi sooner about why she and Joey were dating. Plus, question what her answer would have been to Yugi if she wasn't dating him. No, the teenage girl just couldn't take anymore of this. She wanted to leave, no, needed to leave. Yami couldn't make her do this any longer.
"I know you're my friend, Pharaoh, but forcing into admitting something I'm not even sure of isn't right. Now I need to go. Tell Yugi I'll call him later to work things out. And tell I'm sorry that I couldn't return his feelings. I'll see you both later."
Then she walked out of the room before Yami could say a word and stepped out of the house in a flash, hoping that Joey would be there soon; coming to rescue her from all this misery.
"Okay, that's it! Joey, you pin him down so I can get knock him unconscious once and for all. Kaiba, you are one of the most heartless guys I ever had to meet! I can't believe even you would sink down this low and do all of this."
"Yeah, welcome ta my world," Joey whispered to himself.
All the CEO did was snicker at them, amused as ever. "Tristan, your threats are as lame as Wheeler's, if not lamer. Besides, the day I feel threatened by you is the day I die."
"So are ya ready to die yet?" Tristan began cracking his knuckles, ready to throw a punch at him.
"Man, I'm outta here! I ain't takin' dis no more," Joey said them as he began walking away from. "I gotta go meet Tea anywayz. See ya later…"
"Hey, Joey, wait uh sec! I thought you always wanted me to beat the crap out of this guy. Why are you leaving now?"
The blonde turned back towards his best bud and replied, "Because it's just not worth it right now. If ya two wanna fight go ahead but sometimes it'sjust not worth it ta do dat, no matter how much ya want to—I learned dat from Tea." Then he grabbed Tea's car keys from out of his right pocket, got in her car, and drove away from Tristan's. (A/n Wow, Joey actually was the sensible one for once. I never though I'd see the day.)
(1 block away from the Turtle Game Shop)
The afternoon had blown by and it had become earlier through the night. Tea began rubbing her shoulders for some warmth, still hoping Joey would show up soon so she could finally leave here.
'I can't believe all that's been going on lately. I mean, I start 'pretending' to date Joey and then end up actually liking him as more than a friend. We begin dating and Kaiba finds out; blackmailing me into telling Yugi and the others. Then Yugi tells me right there on the spot that he loves me and I get all angry at him—but I can't really blame myself for that. Finally, Yami comes out and tells me to tell him how I would have reacted with Yugi if I hadn't begun dating Joey in the first place. God, could this day get any weirder?'
Just then she heard a car pull up to the sidewalk and shut off the engine quickly. Tea looked up and saw Joey, a small smile immediately forming on her face. He hopped out of the car and walked over to her. They stood still there for a few moments and then Joey finally walked up to her completely. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the side of her head softly, her arms circling around his body, too—she was so glad to finally be his arms again. His brown eyes closed and finally spoke up to her. "It's okay now, Tea. It's okay…" (A/n Awww….)
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW FOLKS! I HOPE YOU ENJOYED! PLEASE REVIEW!