Disclaimer- I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, a'rite?

Warnings- Slight horror in this Chapter, well not sure it's Horror, but well, you know not such a wonderful happy-bunny world if you know what I mean? Also, slight swearing.

Jou bit his lip anxiously, gazing straight forward at the dark red fake-wooden pine door before him. He may have seemed quite odd, just standing there, nervously considering over the fact whether to actually enter the house or not, but then again, he generally went through this everyday after he returned from School.

He lifted his right wrist up as he glanced down at his watch; I'm going to be late… If I just quickly sneak in, grab my uniform and get back out- He'll never notice, and I'll be home free for the night… Heh, never really thought over the meaning of that phrase before, 'home free…'

Joey sighed, before reaching his hand forward slowly, gradually nearing the handle of the tacky-looking door, when suddenly it burst wide open revealing the one thing that caused all Jou's pain, fear, anger and hurt to weld up together as one intense emotion.

"D-dad…" Jou stuttered, his eyes wide in complete fear and shock, he could feel his body starting to shake; he knew what was about to happen- the same thing that happened every time his Dad found him.

"You little-" the golden brown haired man gritted his teeth together before finishing his sentence, "You've got the nerve…" he muttered under his breath before grabbing his son by the arm and roughly pulling him inside the house, loudly slamming the door shut after him.

Once the door was shut, and everything that happened, remained inside the house, never to leave; he threw his son against the wall, swiftly punching him in the stomach with such force it caused Joey to yelp out in pain, as he weakly slid down the wall, clutching his most-definitely bruised stomach.

"How dare ya suddenly appear out of no where! Missing for days, and you don't even bother to tell me where you are, or what's happened to ya!" the man yelled out angrily, his hands, which were clenched into tight fists shaking in fury.

"D-dad," Jou choked out slightly, his stomach increasing in pain as he attempted to speak to his Father, and possibly calm him down, "I wasn't missing, I-I didn't leave…" he paused, getting his breath back, "I was at School during da days, and at nights I work until mid-night, 'member?"

The man frowned, throwing his head to the side as he spat on the ground, which made Jou want to scrunch his face up in disgust but he knew if he were too, it would just mean more bruises and scars.

"Then why aren't you at work the now?" Jou's father questioned furiously, kicking his son in the side, causing the blonde to be thrown to the side, lying on the ground still tightly clutching his stomach.

"I… Came…" Jou paused, gritting his teeth together as he suppressed a hurt-filled scream, "Ta, get… M-My uniform…" he finished, timidly glancing up at his obviously-drunken father.

The man sighed heavily, shaking his head in disapproval, "You're useless… Pathetic… A complete weakling…" he spat on Jou before opening the front door wide and exiting it, not taking a second look at his injured son.

Jou waited until he was sure his father was far enough away before letting himself scream in pain, he forced himself up with his frail arms, pulling himself into a standing position with the help of the wall, which when he took a second glance at, had spots of blood splattered on it, he sighed heavily, "I'll have ta clean dat up too… I guess…"

He made his way to the bathroom, stumbling as he went, before grabbing onto the sink to help keep his balance, he took another glance at his watch, he was definitely going to be late now, no matter about it.

He pulled his school t-shirt up, which was now stained with blood droplets, wincing as he gazed down at the huge purple/blue bruise on his stomach, he then twisted slightly to get a better look at his side, the mark there was red, bright red.

He groaned, as he reached up into the cabinet to see if there were any medical supplies going about- as it were, there was nothing to be seen.

Jou had no choice, he would just have to leave the bruises and marks, and hope they would eventually fade away like usual, but for the moment in time, he would have to find a clean top and make his way to work, his boss was going to be furious!

Jou stumbled through to his room, shaking himself slightly in an attempt to gain better control over his balance, before grabbing his uniform; normally he put it on at the restaurant but this time he decided to put it on now, as it would be perfect for covering up the marks, rather than having to put on a new clean top and get it ruined the following day or something.

When he was changed, he exited the house, well it wasn't really a house at all, it was a crappy apartment near the top of a pathetic block of flats, basically, with just one glance at this place, you could tell all the poor people and riff-raff lived here.

He made his way down the stairs, (considering there were no elevators in the building, as it was too cheap for even that,) and gradually made his way to work, all the while contemplating over good excuses to use when his Boss questioned about his late arrival.

When he finally reached work, which was on the other side of town to his home, he shyly walked in, glancing around nervously, praying to the Gods that his boss would not notice him entering late, but, he wasn't going to be that lucky today.

"Jounouchi! Why on earth are you late today?" a quite well built man, with spiky brown hair accused, stomping over to his terrified-employee.

"I… Um… Y-… Well…" Joey stuttered, suddenly forgetting the excuses he had been planning on during his long journey to his work, "I'm sorry boss… I'm useless, I know…"

The brunet man sighed lightly, placing his hands on his hips, "Whatever will I do with you Joey?" he wondered out loud, with a smile of amusement plastered on his face, "Don't worry about it, I'll let you off this time, but don't be late again! Or next time you won't be so lucky!"

Jou's eyes sparkled with hope as he grinned widely, "Tanks boss! You're da best! Err, I mean, tank you very much sir," Jou formally bowed, proceeding to his duties as he grabbed a tray containing food, which was ready to be served.

His boss shook his head, still smiling in complete amusement, Joey may have been late a lot of the time, but whenever he was actually working, he was probably the most dedicated and hard-working waiter out of them all, Jou always tried his complete best when it came to his work.

Jou returned with the empty tray, placing it back on the main Kitchen counter, as he told the Chef the orders from Table 9, he spun around getting ready to check the other tables to see if everything was alright with the customers when suddenly, he winced, grabbing his aching stomach and side.

His boss frowned in concern before running over to the blonde boy, "Joey, what's wrong?" he questioned in worry.

Jou let go of his stomach weakly, shaking his head slowly, "N-Nutin', don't worry it boss, I just ate too much for Lunch, no worries, kay?" Jou lied, before quickly making his way over to the remaining tables.

His boss frowned, I'm not so sure…

Thanks to all who have reviewed! Thank you – SerenityMeoweth, crsg, Kiwi Rose, Yunie-star-Tidus-cutie and markyc58!

Please once again read and review and give me your opinion on this Chapter, I'm actually a little lost in my story, so if you have any ideas or suggestions you'd like to pop then go ahead, I'm struggling a little with Writer's Block currently.

Oh yes! Finally- Please if you have time at all, check out my newly made Website! It has a Section on Marik Ishtar, a section on Seto and Jou, and a section on Yu-Gi-Oh in general, although the galleries and the humour page are still under construction. (You'll find the link of my page.)