Okay heres the deal, I'm leaving for Minnesota today … heh heh (staying up too late!) and wont be back til the 2nd of August.
I wont update between now and not til a week after I return. So yea
I wrote a SUPER LONG CHAPTER! (it beats all my other ones)
Its gotta a lot of stuff (and if you find errors, I am sorry, but I don't have time to fix it)
Here it is, enjoy!
Chapter XXV: Cheating, Lies, and Death
--
(vote to keep the line in fanfiction) heh heh
It was hot out but it would cool soon, the sun having slipped behind the tall sand plumes an hour ago.
A small boy curled himself up on his cot, his skin sticky from the heat and the humidity. He contemplated on getting up to wash, but he would anger is father. They didn't have much water in the desert.
He curled his head into his knees, loneliness burrowing and eating at him in his stomach.
"Father..." he whimpered, crying out for his father to comfort him.
But he knew he wouldn't... his father would never touch him, he wouldn't even look at him.
He sat up slowly and spotted his favorite book on the floor next to his makeshift bed. Peeking under the bed quickly, be picked it up and stood.
He had seen a small pair of beady eyes under his bed, another scorpion that had slipped into the tent unnoticed he supposed.
He was glad that next week they would be returning to England, he had had enough of Egypt.
He walked out into the main area of the tent and saw his father reading by a small lamp.
"Father... will you read to me please?"
His father didn't look up, just continued to read. He stepped forward, testing the waters.
Will you look at me?
"Father... will you read to me?"
His father refused to look up at him.
Why do you ignore me?
"Father?"
"Go to bed."
The loneliness grew hungrier, biting into his insides sharply.
"Please fa-"
"Go to bed." He said it more roughly.
He knew he shouldn't push it, but he was so sad.. he wanted his father to hold him.
Waiting until his father was truly ignoring his presence, he quickly climbed into his father's lap and held on to the man's shirt tightly.
His father jolted at the touch and quickly threw him off.
He hit the ground hard and turned to stare at the tall man.
"Get in bed right now!"
He was wrong to think that his father would change, that he would all of a sudden love him. Hold him. Comfort him.
..touch him..
Ryou stared at the ceiling of another room he didn't know, beneath another man he did not love..
He felt numb... but he wanted to feel..only love.
He knew there was no love here.. but he wanted to feel it..
Love through touch..
Because his father.. had never shown him love that way..
Monday finally rolled around, everyone finding themselves in school once again.
The group was all crowded around Yugi's desk talking.
"Aww, did you hear about Bakura? I wonder how Ryou's doing, he's not in school today." Tea said eyeing the once cheerful boy's empty desk.
"We should all go visit him today after school... hey.. where is everybody today?" Yugi asked, the thought just dawning on him.
"Tristan, Joey, and Devlin are all missing as well." Yami observed.
"I wonder why.." Yugi thought out loud. He looked around and saw the lone boy typing on his laptop. "Maybe Kaiba knows."
Tea and Yugi started to make their ways toward Kaiba's desk, Yugi paused and looked back towards Yami.
"You coming?"
Yami busied himself with looking for an imaginary piece of paper in his bag. "I need to finish something, so I am going to remain here."
Yugi nodded and turned back to what he was doing. He noticed that Tea had already confronted Kaiba, and well.. Kaiba looked annoyed.
Yami watched Tea and Yugi had a small tiff.
'...hmm, they must like each other.. they bicker like an old married couple.' Yami thought. He smiled somewhat bitterly. 'I love the boy. He's so innocent and pure, but I hope he finds happiness in her.. he gets so emotional. I can hear him crying at night.. why..
..does..
..it hurt you..
..to live?'
What does your heart starve for?
What makes it hurt so much it breaks?
How this love pains you,
but you hunger for nothing else..
..this foolish love
..you idiot!
You cant have it..
..and it makes you bleed..
..so much you choke..
Choke to death!
Would you live each day in shame?
And scream their name as you die..?
Scream something you couldn't say..
I love you
Or would you die now?
And be born again?
Foolish idiot!
Die in the sea you came from..
..life is only wasted on you..
Sea of blood..
Your mother's womb.
..you were born..
..to live.
So die and live!
"Why would I know where they are?" Kaiba asked, feeling very annoyed.
"Well you are dating Joey and all and.. well.." Tea reasoned.
Kaiba grimaced on the inside. Did she have to say it that loud?
"Well I don't."
"Aww fine." Tea said pouting, her lip stuck out childishly.
"Did you want something to drin-" Joey started to ask, stopping abruptly, noticing the sudden presence behind him. "Want something?"
Duke thought about it for a minute. "No."
Joey watched him for a second then decided to make himself some hot chocolate.
The rain had started to pour in thick sheets.
The microwave beeped softly, fighting against the hum of the fridgerator and the rain.
Joey grabbed his mug and closed the door. Flopping onto the couch he felt a pair of eyes on him.
Duke stared at him with his soft green eyes.
"What?"
Duke said nothing.
"Want to join me?"
He still said nothing, only walked over to him, falling into his lap. It was.. odd.. but Joey figured that after what had happened, he needed somebody to trust. He was sure that Kaiba would understand.
"Do you.. want to call Tristan later today?"
Duke thought about it. Yes, he needed to tell him.
"Yeah sure, whatever."
They both sat there in silence, Joey trying to balance a steaming cup and Duke who was in a rather awkward position. Figuring that they would stay that way for a while, Joey placed the cup on the side table and wrapped a blanket around their shoulders.
"Do you.. want to talk about it?"
How do you exactly.. ask them what they feel? What it felt like.. to be betrayed like that?
"No.."
Joey curled his fingers around the handle of the mug and brought it to his lips. Taking a sip, he felt the mug being lowered. Peering over its rim, he saw two shiny emeralds staring back at him.
They looked.. devious almost..
The cup tipped the other direction, its contents spilling gracefully in his companion's mouth, over his pink lips. The dark haired boy swallowed the warm contents slowly, enjoying the chocolaty goodness.
Joey blinked at him somewhat surprised, not that this behavior was unlike the boy, but considering his recent personality change, it was surprising in itself.
The eyes, once playful and full of mystery, changed into a saddened look.
"Joey.. can you make me forget?"
Joey started to blush. "Wha-what do you mean?"
Duke pulled the cup out of Joey's grasp and drained its contents, letting it fall to the carpeted ground. He blew his sweetened breath across Joey's cheeks, shortly afterwards, he ran his tounge across it.
"Make me forget."
Joey began to blush like mad and spurt out words.
"B-But what about Tristan, and-and.. "
"Tristan didn't save me.. you did. You must love me right?"
Joey was not having this conversation!
"Duke I don't think that's the question you should be asking me. You're my friend and all-" he said, pushing Duke back. "but I'm with Kaiba, and you're with Tristan. It's not right. I know you went through hell, but... " He frowned looking down. "I cant."
Duke found he couldn't meet Joey's eyes afterwards, he settled for staring at his own hands. "I understand. I don't know what I was thinking."
What was he thinking? He loved Tristan!
...what a poor naive fool.. he would soon discover himself to be...
Tuesday morning felt more normal then the previous one proved to be. Joey and Duke were back to school, but Ryou and Tristan were still out.
"Hey, welcome back you guys." Yugi said cheerfully, wiping a bit of what appeared to be sleep from his eyes.
"Hey Yug' what's.. hey what's up with your eyes man? Looks like you've been crying.."
"Nah, haven't been sleeping right for the last few nights I guess."
"Oh.. okay..." Joey said, not buying all of it but deciding not to press it. "Hey, where's Tristan?"
"Oh, he's still not here is he?" Tea commented. "He wasn't here yesterday either."
"Yeah, we tried to call him yesterday but he wasn't there either.." Joey mused out loud.
"We?" Tea asked.
"Well, Duke has decided to come to stay at my house for awhile."
"Oh." Tea and Yugi said together glancing over to where the boy in question slept with his head down on the desk.
"Is he okay?" Tea asked.
"Uh.. yea.. " Joey didn't think that Duke wanted him blabbing about him, it was best to let it come out in bits. "Well, I'm gonna go sit down now."
"Yeah, me too."
As Joey was going to sit in his chair, he glanced over in Kaiba's general direction.
He was reading, as usual.
Strolling over, he grabbed the book from his boyfriend's hands. "Bookworm."
"If it wasn't you, you'd be on the ground-"
"And what would you be doing? Wild are you?"
"As I was saying, you'd be on the ground, and I'd be kicking the living shit out of you."
"Wow.. you are rough! Give me some of that later!" he said waving the book back and forth in front of his face.
"Meet me behind the parking lot, even better, the dock, the ocean's a great place for dumping trash I've heard."
Joey was, well, mildly offended didn't exactly cover it.
"What?! Trash!? I'll have you know that I did not spend all that time working out and eating right to be called trash! If you want to see trash, you can just turn around and march yourself into a bathroom and look in the damn mirror! That, my friend is trash!!"
Just as Joey was about to continue on with his rant, he was interrupted with Kaiba's light laughter. It was barely above a breath but he could hear it plainly.
"You're laughing at me??"
"You are too amusing. Its just that-"
"What do you think you're doing?"
They looked up.
"We still haven't settled our differences have we? Why don't you meet me behind that new bowling alley tomorrow after school so we can 'chat' about it."
Joey's eyes narrowed maliciously. And to think he felt sorry for this guy at one point!
"I'll be there."
"I know. Why wouldn't you?" The blond stared down at Kaiba. "H-Hey Kaiba."
Kaiba nodded his head.
Tough guy.. or blubbering weak-kneed high school girl?
With that, he was gone.
"Still going to fight him?" Kaiba asked.
"Yeah, I'll get that jerk Vick for flirting with you, that.. that... butt head!"
"Very nice, too bad its not a duel of wits, you may have had a chance with that comment." Kaiba mocked.
You could almost see the vein pulsing in the blond's forehead. "What was that?" he said through gritted teeth.
"Maybe you should stay out of this fight, seeing as your hearing is starting to go, you may be too old for a rough tumble with him."
Joey was about to lunge at him, but held back. "I'm not too old, and you want to see rough. Come over tonight, I'll make sure that Baby Dukie's in bed early, then Daddy's gonna show Mama exactly what rough means."
"Mama? Are you saying that I'm the mama here?"
"That's right. I bet you scream too. So, you gonna come over tonight.. or should we ditch class now? I'm horny. I'm game."
Kaiba snatched his book back quickly and buried his nose in it again. "Dream on."
Joey snatched it back. "Sorry, but realities knocking, she even rung the doorbell a few times." Joey snatched a chair and sat on it backwards, their faces level. "So, when we gonna have sex?"
Kaiba gave him what could only be described as a glare.
"Still too early? It's not like we've never-"
"I don't even want to discuss that right now. We weren't coherent, for all I know, you raped me-"
"No way pal! You're not blaming it on me, I distinctly remember that you were the one on top of me!"
Kaiba rolled his eyes. "All I remember really is you unbuttoning my shirt then getting on me."
"Well I remember waking up, and I remember everything before that, and I was sleeping next to you. So there!"
"That doesn't prove shit you dumbass. You were probably still drunk then, I mean, it was obvious that you had never drank before that night from the way you-"
"Ah shut up. Well, whatever. I'll wait if you're too babyish to go through with it-"
"Babyish? Babyish? What are you, an animal? Don't you care about anything else?"
Then it dawned on him. "Kaiba.. you mean like feelings and stuff?"
"N-No." Kaiba quickly denied.
Joey never thought Kaiba to be the romantic sappy type before, but..
'I guess this is a whole new ballpark.'
"Hey Bakura, you don't have to worry about anything anymore. I'm here now. I'm not going to let anything bad happen again."
He ran his hand over Bakura's peaceful face gently.
"Bakura, you don't know how long I've wanted to do that.. I've- I've like you for so long now..." He laughed to himself, feeling like an idiot. "You cant hear me."
Pulling the chair over, he made himself comfortable so that he could wait, wait until Bakura opened his eyes again.
"I don't know what to do."
"It's okay, just come here."
They had cleaned up the living room, every piece of paper, every broken shard of glass. The chairs were righted, the pictures on the wall straightened.
Somehow, they found themselves together upstairs.
"What if they find out..?"
"Its okay, just come here."
He obeyed. He felt arms wrapping around his body, pulling him in close, sucking him into his own desires.
"I-I feel bad about Bakura.."
"Don't think about Bakura.. just.. just think about me.. right here and now."
Ryou rubbed his nose against the taller one's neck. "Okay.. just you."
They swayed back and forth in a slow dance with no music.
"Tristan!" he mock scolded, feeling playful hands on the buttons of his shirt and teeth grazing against his skin.
"We've worked too much, lets relax now!"
Laughing they fell back onto Ryou's bed, the fluffy comforter puffing slightly under the added weight.
They kissed gently, taking in the taste and scents of each other's bodies. Tristan kissed Ryou's forehead, then his closed eyes, working his way down his face. He kissed around the shorter boy's mouth, running his tounge along his chin up to his lips. He took in Ryou's lower lip and sucked softly.
Ryou retaliated biting Tristan's upper lip between his teeth lightly.
Slowly, Ryou slid Tristan's shirt up and over his back, then, pausing long enough to take it off, he was bare and beautiful for him.
Tristan worked the rest of the buttons on Ryou's shirt loose and trailed a long line of kisses down the middle of his chest.
"Tristan.. are you mine..?" he asked, feeling a little breathless and a little dazed.
Answering quickly, he said, "Forever."
Ryou smiled at him. "I know.. thank you."
The week passed by pretty much the same way, Tristan and Ryou were yet to show.
"Duke's been getting kind of weird lately, we cant get a hold of Tristan and his mom says he's not even there." Joey explained to Yugi.
"That's odd. I noticed that I haven't seen Ryou at the hospital either. Malik's been there everyday now, its kind of surprising since we haven't seen him in forever."
"You don't suppose.. there's something going on between Ryou and Tristan do you?" Joey asked thoughtfully.
Yugi stared at him shock, not that Joey thought that, but, that be?
"They wouldn't do that would they?"
"I don't want to think so.. but Tristan hasn't been here all week, and he hasn't been staying at home, he could have been at Ryou's this whole week."
"But Ryou must be going through some serious depression, you saw his face at the hospital."
"Yea..."
"And Tristan was the closest one to Ryou, well, before he started to get distant.."
Joey thought for a while on what Yugi said.
"He said to me one time, Tristan did, that he liked Ryou.."
"You mean like.."
"Well that was before he got serious with Duke.. So what if.."
"It's probably just innocent. I mean, if I were in Tristan's shoes and saw Ryou all sad and depressed like that, I would want to do something too."
"Yeah, I know you would Yug', you're always so nice to everyone." Joey sighed and stared at where Tristan usually sat. "I just hope.. that they didn't do anything they would later regret you know."
"Yeah." Yugi agreed.
The night Tristan had first visited, they had decided that there was no point in leaving. They wanted to stay by each other's sides so badly, that it hurt to separate even for a moment.
"Seth, come along with me to bed."
"But Yami, its still light out. I'm not even tired yet."
"Seth.. come to bed now."
It wasn't to sleep.. it was to pleasure his master..
Again..
"Seth, time for us to lay together."
"Yami, I'm tired.. I'm still sore.."
"Don't be weak.."
When had it changed? When did the love die?
"Yami, I don't want to!"
"Don't... talk.."
He couldn't push him away.. he could only lay there.. let him do this to him..
"Seth, why have you stopped talking?"
Seth moved his lips, his throat dry.. tired even though he couldn't remember the last time he spoke.
'I cant..'
Arms and hands all over him.. lips against his neck... he could only plead..
"Stop... please stop.. I don't want to... I don't want to.."
Yami slapped him.
"Don't you dare tell me what to do! Don't you understand?! I'm pharaoh here! I saved you! You could at least be grateful!"
Seth cried long and hard as Yami took his pleasure from his body.
Every night, Yami hit him, told him not to speak..
He grew strong and tall.. his heart growing bitter and cruel..
One night, Yami hit him, and he hit back..
Seth was never welcome back into that bed, not that he ever wanted to return there anyways..
'Tristan's not back yet.. I really need him right now..'
"Hey, where's your faggy boyfriend?"
Duke looked up from his arms at some boy in his class.
"I bet he's off fuckin' some other fag or somethin'. You guys like cant even like stay with one partner, ya gotta be like all over the place."
Duke narrowed his eyes. What the fuck did he know anyways?!
"I'll have you know that Tristan would never cheat on me, so fuck off and fuck yourself!"
The guy almost didn't comment but instead he said, "You may think that but everyone saw him fuck that guy."
What guy?
"Get the hell out of here!"
Duke slid his head down on his arms after the guy left.
He was so wrong, Tristan would never do something like that, he was probably just off.. doing something.. not bad..
'Yeah, I'm too tired to be thinking about this right now.' Duke told himself. 'He probably got caught up with a gang or something.. not that I hope that's the case, I definitely hope he's safe.'
By Friday, everyone had heard about it, the rumor spread like wildfire.
"Oh my gosh, did you hear, some kid actually saw them doing it!"
"In the alley behind the school? Isn't that a little disgusting?"
"They were so horny, they didn't know what they were doing!"
"Gay guys are disgusting anyways, they were right where they belonged."
The girls gasped and giggled.
"Oooh, you're so bad!"
They all continued to giggle at their own stupidity.
Duke stared at them as he walked by.
'Gay guys.. Tristan and I are the only ones in this school..well there's Kaiba and Joey, but I don't think anyone knows about them.. I wonder if some other kids came out. We went through hell, but I guess its finally paying off.'
He felt a little nostalgic, wishing that he could see Tristan.. he still wasn't in school, it had already been a week and he was a little worried. Truthfully, he couldn't sleep thinking about it.
"Duke! Hey!" He turned around as three girls approached him. "Hey, is it true? What everyone's saying?"
"Is what true?"
"That Tristan cheated on you."
Duke had to catch himself from striking the girl. What an ludicrous question. Tristan would never ever cheat on him! Even if they had been separated for a week, or a year even, he would never cheat on him!
"I'm afraid your sources must be off. Tristan would never do something like that to me."
"But some guys said they saw them."
"Yeah, behind the dumpsters." Another girl interjected.
"Doing what." Duke asked skeptically.
"Having sex."
"What?!! That's disgusting! Tristan's not like that!" He spat. "Who did you hear this rumor from?"
"Chris Masoner and some of his friends were talking. So, is it true..?"
Duke didn't have time to hear the last part before he sped off in the direction of Chris' 4th period class.
He saw his group by the door. He wished he had some of his friends with him to back him up. It was a pretty big group and given his temper at the moment, there was bound to be a fight.
"Hey, Masoner!" Duke challenged from down the hall. "Lets talk."
The short football player walked over to meet his challenge. "Alright."
"You've been spreading rumors about my boyfriend, why?! Just cause we're gay doesn't give you a right to say shit like that!"
He could feel Masoner's football buddies starting to circle around them into a fighting ring.
The more Duke thought about it, the more he was confused as to why Chris would have done this. Up until this point he seemed pretty open-minded and lenient towards the whole issue of Tristan and his sexuality. This seemed.. fishy..
But anger and hatred clouded his thoughts and reasoning.
"If you don't like me or how I live, just say it to my face instead of saying stuff behind my back."
Chris waited until Duke paused to say, "Lets talk, come on."
He told his friends not to follow as they walked towards the parking lot.
They stopped at the steps, Duke followed Chris' lead to sit.
"We've.. been friends since kindergarten, not necessarily great friends, but friends."
Duke's temper calmed slightly, his ability to remain calm in tight situations finally kicking in.
"You've changed a lot since we were kids, even over the summer you have. You used to be so cocky and tough to understand, distant even, but it seems like someone's finally beat you down too far.. "
Duke twitched slightly at this, he was glad he didn't really know. "This isn't about our past, this is about the lies you've been spreading."
"It wasn't meant to get out like this.. and.. its not a lie."
"What are you saying then? That Tristan would do something like that?!" Duke yelled, standing up quickly.
"Duke, its true." Chris said grabbing his wrist and receiving a dirty glare.
"A teacher of mine once said 'Passion clouds reason.' Please listen to me, I saw Tristan last Friday having sex behind the school at lunch. I know its hard to believe, but I saw him leaving with a guy and so I followed them."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why would you follow him? Why would you be curious?" Duke asked suspiciously, doubting Chris' word.
"Sit." When duke was seated again, he continued. "I said we were friends, and we still are. We might not hang out together, but I still watch your back. Not to sound prejudice, but because you are dating a guy.. I worry about you, wonder if he treats you right."
"So you followed him and-" Duke shook his head, he couldn't actually be believing him could he?
"You were gone, I just wanted to make sure he wasn't doing anything behind you back, but.. I'm sorry Duke, he was."
Duke wanted to stand up and leave, he didn't need to listen to this crap, but he hesitated.
Passion clouds reason...
Was he..blind to Tristan's little affairs behind his back?
No..it couldn't be.. Tristan wouldn't..
..but would he..?
Duke's head fell into his hands. He groaned. "I don't believe this!"
"Good morning Mokuba."
Mokuba looked up slowly at the blond boy who rested his palms on his desk.
"M-Morning Erik." he stuttered softly. He glanced away quickly blushing.
"What are you reading?"
Mokuba put his book away quickly. "Nothing."
"Interesting title. Or is that the subject?" Erik laughed and messed Mokuba's hair up playfully. He took a seat next to the dark haired boy and kicked his feet up on the desk.
After a long spell of silence, Mokuba turned to his friend. "Um.. want to do something today?"
"Sure- er.. sorry Mokie. I'm going to my girlfriend's house today."
Mokuba blinked quickly. Oh yeah, he had totally forgotten that he had invited him over to his house today. He felt like a total fool! Now Erik could never come over to 'his' house!
"O-Okay."
"How 'bout later.. hey I know. Maybe your brother will let me stay over night tonight. I'm just going there for the day."
"No.. this weekend wont work.. he-he said he wanted to spend some quality time with me or something." Mokuba quickly lied.
"Okay..Then let me treat you to lunch today."
"No, its oka-"
"I want to." Erik said, his eyes steady.
Mokuba nodded and blushed.
"You blush so much.. you're so shy. We've been friends for a while now and you still do that.. Maybe that's what I like about you."
"I-I like you too."
It sounded like the right thing to say.
Erik was silent.
"Really? Aww that's so cute! I didn't know you had a crush on me!"
Erik only meant it as playful teasing, but what would he do if he knew it actually hit home quite well.
Later they sat together at lunch.
"What do you want to eat?" Erik asked. Mokuba shrugged. "Okay, I'll just get something then."
He left leaving Mokuba alone with the rest of their group.
They didn't necessarily hate him like they used to, but they still didn't like him that much, probably because Erik only paid attention to him. Only bought lunch for him. Only invited him on special trips and to special parties.
It was because they were jealous of him.
Mokuba tried to be nice, he wanted to fit in, he wanted them to like him.
"So.. that Halloween party is next Friday, are you guys going with anyone special?" he asked.
They exchanged glances then started describing their dates.
"Who are you going with? Erik?"
Mokuba started coughing uncomfortably. "W-What?"
"Just kidding man." the boy said teasing, although his eyes seemed to say something different. Yes, he was being serious.
Just as he was about to explain that he didn't have a date, Erik came back followed by a group of girls. He set the tray in front of Mokuba and sat down.
"Hi Mokuba!" said a squealing girl. "I was wondering, would you go with me to the dance?"
"No, go with me!"
"Hey, I was just gonna ask him that!" another girl screamed.
If he had been in an anime he would have sweatdropped. Thinking up a quick excuse he said, "Sorry, I cant-"
"Is it another girl?"
"What's her name?"
Not wanting to cause any girl harm, "I'm Mormon."
Everyone was silent.
"...Oh.. okay.." one girl said. She left, followed by the other girls.
Erik turned to stare at him. "You're Mormon?"
"Um, would that change our friendship?"
"No.. I just didn't know.."
He wasn't really, he just couldn't think of anything else.
After lunch, he had to separate away from Erik, which made him really sad, and very venerable. For the next few classes he would be alone with one of their group members who, well, to put it kindly, hated him. And this guy didn't take any mercy in his tormenting.
This guy also had some pretty mean friends that liked to pick on him too. Once when Erik had been out, they had beaten him up after school pretty badly. Erik had wanted to know who had done it, but he refused to tell.
He was in that class now, science, dreading the moment when Matt would walk through the door.
Just as he turned to look down at his text book, he felt someone behind him. He looked. It was him.
Matt sat down on the stool next to his, which was never taken, somehow he was always alone.
"So, I bet you're not Mormon, are you?" When Mokuba didn't answer, he continued. "You're not, and I know it. I bet you're a fag too, you wanted to go with Erik to the dance, but you cant.. aww..what a poor little boy."
Matt was a mean guy, definitely.
"Why aren't you defending yourself? Is it true then? Are you a fag?"
Mokuba blushed angrily. "Even if I said I wasn't you would still say I was, so what's the point?"
Matt eyed him up and down slowly. "So.. do you look at guys and stuff.. mentally fucking them or something?"
Mokuba glared at him.
"I suppose you look at me like that too."
Mokuba couldn't believe this guy!
"So do you like me or something? Would you sleep with me? Do you imagine me fucking yo-"
"You know what, even if I was gay, I would never sleep with you!"
He was glad they were one of the first ones there, or else someone else would of heard.
Matt glared at him long and hard.
"I wouldn't want to sleep with you either." he said in a tight angry voice. He stood up and left, sitting three tables back by himself
Mokuba released the breath he had been holding. 'What a creep!'
"Mmmn..?" he murmured, opening his eyes slowly. He felt a weight on his stomach and something holding his hand. He blinked a few times and saw Yami and Yugi talking in the corner.
He used his free hand to cover his eyes from the light.
"Mmn.. Ryou?"
Everyone turned to stare at him with wide eyes.
"Bakura! Bakura you're okay!"
Everyone started talking at once, all gathering around his bed.
"Mmn... Malik..? Is that you..?"
"Y-Yes its me! I'm here to take care of you now. I'm so glad you're okay-"
"Where's Ryou?" Bakura asked cutting him off. Everyone was silent. "Is he okay?"
Yami and Yugi exchanged glances.
Bakura rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Where the hell is Ryou?" he demanded.
"How the hell should I know?" Malik yelled, feeling a bit irritated and jealous. "He hasn't been here all week! And I would know!"
Bakura took this information in quite quickly for having just woken up. But he didn't say anything.
'He hasn't.. been here all week.. how long have I been out? Is he still angry at me?'
"When can I leave?"
"Now that you're awake, probably only a few days." Yugi said. "I'm gonna go get a nurse and tell them you woke up."
Bakura stared into Yami's eyes for a while, they only turned away when they heard a strange whimpering sound. Malik was gushing like a girl.
"Bakura, I'm so glad you're okay... and, well, when you get to go home, I suppose you'll need someone to take care of you.."
Bakura sighed. "I don't suppose you came all the way to Domino with no place to stay?"
Malik hung his head shamefully.
"How did you escape getting caught by the night nurses?" Yami asked.
"I hid under the bed.."
Yami and Bakura smacked their foreheads. Malik only laughed.
Bakura really didn't want to let that psycho in his house, but he supposed it would be fine. "Alright."
Malik pumped his arm in the air. "Yay! Don't worry, I'll take very good care of you! Ishizu has been teaching me to cook and clean and all this other stuff! I'll make a very good house wife!"
Bakura had to remember that he grew up in a hole in the ground, literally.
Ryou sighed happily as he curled himself into Tristan's naked chest. He was very sticky and very happy.
He felt so lazy, all his energy was drained, all he could think about was sleep.
As he started to drift off into a deep refreshing sleep, the phone rang.
Tristan groaned. "Who the fuck is calling now? I should go down there and tell them to fuck off and-"
"I'll get it." Ryou said grinning. Tristan was so funny.
He stood up slowly, crawling over Tristan's body. He didn't really feel like dressing at the moment, especially since he'd only have to take it off again.
As he started off for the door, he felt Tristan slap his ass roughly. He yelped. "I'm still sore you know!"
"Sorry babe, you're just so cute, and your ass is so fine."
Ryou growled and pushed his head back under the covers. "I have to answer the phone so knock it off!" he demanded half seriously.
He ran down the stairs and answered it on the forth ring. "Hello?"
"Ryou! Hey Ryou, its Yugi!"
"Oh.. hey Yugi."
"We've all been so worried about you, you haven't been in school or anywhere."
"Oh, sorry about that.."
"Don't worry about it, I was just calling to say that Bakura woke up!"
Ryou gasped, it felt like someone had just stabbed him in the gut.
"He's coming home today.. I'm really glad I got a hold of you, we're all coming over, I hope that's okay."
"Yes, that's fine." Ryou said in his pretend cheerful voice. "I'll just cook up something real quick and put some tea on!"
"Okay! We'll see you in about an hour and a half."
"Okay, see you then! Good bye!"
"Bye!"
Ryou hung up the phone slowly. He was a little too shocked to do anything at the moment, but soon reality sunk in.
"Tristan!" he screamed running up the stairs quickly. "Tristan get up!"
Tristan was up in a second and grabbed Ryou when he ran into him. "What's wrong?"
"Tristan! You have to leave! You have to go, go now, right now!"
"Hold on, what's going on?"
"Y-Yugi and.. everyone! Everyone's coming! You have to go!"
"I thought they didn't know where you lived."
Ryou started to cry, not really the teary kind, more frustrated and angry. "Bakura! He's awake."
Tristan felt a sinking feeling in his stomach and a ripping in his throat. Every time he said Bakura's name, he thought of the man he was betraying.
They let go of each other, both dressing quickly. Tristan, out of the corner of his eye, watched Ryou swipe the sheets and blankets off of the bed, dragging them out into the hallway and tossing them into the washer. He ran back and picked up the clothes and all the other evidence of Tristan's existence in the house.
He felt like he should help, but he knew he had to get out of there.
"Bye Ryou.."
Ryou turned to look at him. Walking over, he wrapped his arms around his neck and kissed him slowly.
"I'll see you at school on Monday."
"Okay." Ryou replied.
Tristan turned away from him and left, revving up his bike and speeding off.
Ryou watched him for a minute before turning back to what he was doing.
He filled a kettle and put it on the stove, then decided that spaghetti would be the easiest to make.
Between boiling the water, stirring the sauce, and cutting up meat, he cleaned the whole house, making it smell like fresh lemons and shine like the sun.
"All done!"
As he was congratulating himself the doorbell rang and he ran to answer it.
Opening it, he came face to face with Bakura, he quickly looked down, not able to meet his eyes.
"Welcome, come in!" he said cheerfully.
'Okay so there's Yugi, Yami, Joey, Bakura.. Malik? What's he doing here? ..and there's Tea..and Duke.. Seven people to feed.'
He was ashamed in the presence of Duke and Bakura, he knew quite well what he was doing, and he knew they had no idea at all.
"Sit in here please... or make yourself comfortable where ever! I must tend to the tea now, oh, and I hope everyone likes spaghetti!"
He scurried off quickly in the direction of the kitchen.
As the door shut, Joey started to laugh. "Did you see him? He had a frilly pink apron on and a hair net on his head! That was priceless!"
Everyone else started to giggle as well, all except for Bakura.
'He must still be mad at me.. or maybe he feels guilty..'
Bakura really wanted to go in the kitchen and hold him, kiss him, tell him it was alright.. but he knew that Ryou wouldn't like that, he would probably shove him away like he did before.
"Well, I need to use the John, where is it?" Joey bluntly asked. Bakura pointed him in the direction of the stairs.
"Second door to the left."
"'Kay, thanks."
Joey walked up the stairs cautiously. Time to see if Tristan had been here. He wasn't sure which room was Ryou's or whatever, so he just checked the first one.
'Am I lucky or what? Door number 1 is Ryou's!'
He glanced around inside, he flipped on the light and looked around. It appeared to be clean, not too particularly clean, there were a few shirts here and there, but they weren't Tristan's style, and he had seen Ryou wearing them before.
It was a typical teenager's room.
Just as he was about to shut the light off and leave, he noticed something.
The bed had no sheets on it whatsoever. It was just the mattress...
Upon closer inspection, he noticed a light colored stain in the middle of it.
He was only curious, not some sick kind of pervert, but he walked over and touched it, and what do you know..
"Its still fresh.."
He heard the living room erupt into laughter, so he decided that he should finish up his business upstairs.
He skipped down the steps two at a time. He was greeted with Yugi's smiling face. "We're going to start eating soon."
"Okay Yug'."
He wasn't sure if he should tell Yugi or not about what he had found, for the time being, it was classified information.
As he walked out into the living room, he was greeted with a surprise. "Kaiba? What are you doing here?"
Kaiba looked up from his conversation with Tea, which was odd in itself. "Wheeler." He nodded his greeting. "Yugi called and told me to come over.. What's that look for?"
Joey growled at him. "Is that any way to greet your boyfriend, your lover?!" He saw Kaiba inwardly flinch. "Everyone in this room knows, so don't be so shy."
Kaiba didn't move from his place, he was obviously embarrassed, not that he showed it, you just had to be looking for it to see.
Joey shook his head as he walked over and took the brunet's face in his hands and kissed him hard. Kaiba almost started to blush from extreme embarrassment when everyone started to clap.
Well, Bakura and Yami didn't clap, Bakura merely smirked. Yami grimaced, feeling a pang of jealousy.
"Well aren't they the exhibitionists?" Yami commented.
"Who really cares anyways? Kaiba's so uptight to begin with, its rather amusing." Bakura mused.
Yami growled low at Bakura and found picking at his shirt more interesting.
"Wheeler! Knock it off!" Kaiba yelled pushing him off of him, somehow Joey had pinned him down on the couch.
"Its 'Joey'! I'm not some stranger!"
Kaiba growled and stood.
Everyone was quiet for a bit until Ryou piped up. "Food's ready! Let's eat!"
Everyone filed into a big line and waited for Ryou to serve them. Tea and Yugi talked about nothing in particular. Bakura ignored Malik's overprotective tending by engaging in barely civil conversation with Yami. Kaiba tried to ignore Joey's constant flirting until Joey started stroking his butt, which he had to comment very loudly on.
"Joseph Wheeler! Stop stroking my ass or I will personally shove my fist down your throat!"
"I know some where else you could put that fist of yours.."
Kaiba threw his arms up exasperated. "You are the sickest, most perviest.. thing I have ever met!"
"Oh you know you like it!"
Everyone turned to watch their antics, all ill feelings dispelled for the moment. They were such an odd pairing.
Even Duke laughed, watching Kaiba turn beet red in embarrassment from some of Joey's comments. Joey really did have a dirty mind. He almost felt bad for Kaiba.
But he was too envious.
After he tried to come on to Joey that one day, and after Joey had said no, he decided that he would never do something like that again.
Despite what kids were saying in school, there wasn't really any hard cold proof that Tristan had really done that. Chris really could have been mistaken... right?
But watching Kaiba and Joey fight, it was amusing, it was cute, they were meant for each other it seemed, no matter how angry they got, you could see it, even in Kaiba's usually cold blue eyes.
They loved each other.
He wished that he could feel that way with Tristan, like no matter what happened, he would be there.
But even when he was being raped, all he could think about was how he wanted Tristan to help him, be with him, protect him.
..but he wasn't there..
And he still wasn't there now.. he still hadn't shown up after a week of being missing.
He asked Joey about Tristan's family once.
"Well, his mom's nice, kind of strange. She kind of has an alcohol problem, and she doesn't usually come home very often."
"Do you think Tristan gets lonely?"
"I dunno.. I always tell him to come over when he needs some company, but he never does, he says he feels like a burden every time he comes over."
Duke was quiet for a while as he processed this. "What about his dad?"
"Well, his dad was a drunk too, he used to.. um.. well.."
"What? Do what?"
"Well, drunks can get kinda nasty sometimes-"
"He beat them didn't he?"
"Yeah."
"I think Tristan's got an eating disorder.. did you notice that too?"
"Oh, yeah, he's had that since we were little kids."
"What is it?"
"I dunno, I think its like.. um, cant remember the word right now, but, I'm not really sure if its a disorder cause he doesn't seem to have it all the time.."
"You're losing me.."
"Oh, er.. well, I think it has to do with his looks cause he used to tell me that he didn't like the way he looked. Said he was too fat all the time.."
"So his mom does feed him enough then, so its not abuse.."
"I guess so, but given her alcoholism, I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't bringing home enough dough. My old man used to be that way, but he never starved me." Joey was quiet for awhile. "They always seemed to have enough food when I went over there, but he doesn't like me coming over too often."
"Yeah, he was weird when it came to his house.."
"Well, Tristan is weird in general.."
"Yeah.. can I call him now?"
"Sure. Phones right there."
'Tristan, please be home..' Duke thought dialing his number.
Duke tried not to look sad in front of everyone, he didn't want to ruin everyone else's time. So he drew a fake smile onto his face, and he kept it there.
'Soon it'll be Monday, and Tristan will be there.'
"Mmmm.. this pasta's good Ryou! I only know of one other noodle as good!"
"S-Stop talking like that!" Kaiba screamed, his face bright red as he smacked Joey in the head.
Maybe faking that smile wouldn't be so hard.
The tiles were shiny, he could almost see his face clearly in them.
"They waxed.."
It was a stupid thought, but it was Monday..
Tristan! He had to look for Tristan!
"Hey, I'll bet Tristan's gonna be in school today!" Duke said to Joey and Yugi.
Joey and Yugi tried to give him a reassuring smile, but Joey had told Yugi what he found. They were worried about the truth.
"That's great!" Yugi said trying to sound cheery.
"Tristan!" Ryou cried running up to him.
Tristan smiled down at the shorter boy. "Hi Ryou, how are you?"
"Mmm.. I'm good." Ryou murmured standing on his toes as he wrapped his arms around Tristan's neck. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." Tristan leaned down and captured Ryou's lips with his own.
One more corner.. the tiles led him here.
Duke looked up, he could hear Joey and Yugi's sharp intake of breath.
He stared for a minute, all thoughts and reason eluding him.
'..g-god no..'
"No! You cant! You cant!" Duke screamed.
Tristan pulled away from Ryou quickly and stared wide eyed at the ebony haired boy. "Duke!"
"You cheated on me!"
"Duke, wait! I can explain!"
"You fucking cheated on me!" he screamed.
"Duke.."
"You cheated on me!"
Duke's feet moved quickly, his fist pulled sharp, ready to attack.
Ryou watched him get closer, his feet hitting hard against the tiles.. but he stood, ready to take it. He knew he deserved this.. he deserved to be beat dead.. and if it came to that, so be it.
He was losing everything..
He sat everyday in silence, watching everything he had ever loved be taken away from him and disappear..
..or be destroyed by his hands...
Maybe dying.. would feel good.
As Duke's fist connected with flesh, they both said "I hate you."
..Only Tristan said "I love you."
Duke pulled back his fist slowly from Tristan's hand.
Confused emerald orbs looked into the olive ones for a split second, before turning darker with malice.
"You're protecting him? You're protecting that slut?! That whore?! I'm your boyfriend and you don't even protect me!!" Duke screamed, his eyes wide.
Tristan felt his insides churning.
"Protect...?"
"You wouldn't even know!! You're never around, you're always hanging around your little fuck puppet I bet!! Joey's the only one who has been there for me!!"
"Joey..?"
"Yeah, Joey! I bet he would take better care of me if we were together! You know what! You can just leave with that..that.. that thing 'cause we're through!!"
"Wait! Let me explain!"
"No! There's been time for that! You could have told me before I had to hear it from someone else or see it myself! But you kept it a secret! You weren't even man enough to face me! You just disappeared you fucker!"
"Duke, please, just give me five minutes-"
"I've been waiting for a week! I gave you enough time! Good bye!"
Tristan stared down at his hands as Duke walked past him.
Ryou stared ahead blankly, trying not to focus on Tristan's broken figure, Duke's red swelling eyes...
'This is all my fault.. this is all my fault..'
He felt Duke pass, he swore he could feel electricity sparking off of Duke's angry body. The air between them seemed to swell and pulse. Just as he turned to stare at Duke, he felt an arm grab him. Another punched him.
The hard green and white tiles were next to him, his head hurt from coming into contact with the floor so abruptly.
Duke was above him, screaming at him, ripping at his hair, punching him over and over.
'I'm so stupid..'
"I hate you! I hate you! Why did you have to take him away from me! I loved him! I fucking loved him!"
Ryou heard the kids around them screaming "fight! fight!"
"You're such a whore! You sleep with everybody I bet!"
Tears streamed down his cheeks...
"I hope you die!"
They fell, dripping onto Ryou's face..
"I hope you get hit by a bus!"
The punches grew softer, his weakness taking over..
"I hope you fucking kill yourself cause in the end, no one fucking wants you anyways!" Duke sobbed.
Ryou could taste the sharp metallic taste of blood in his mouth. He made a gurgling noise trying to breathe.
"Get off him!" Tristan yanked the dark haired boy off of him and threw him a few feet.
Duke stared at Ryou, then ran.
It was quiet all week, no one dared to speak to Duke especially after he started to beat Yugi for trying to comfort him. But of course Yugi would keep no grudges, he understood that Duke was going through a rough enough time as it was.
Tristan and Ryou were both out of school again, but Bakura mentioned that Ryou wasn't leaving his room, with or without restraining.
Joey felt really bad because he wanted Duke to be happy, he was furious too because it was one of his best friends that had caused this.
Kaiba had alleviated some of his stress by asking him to the dance that was this Friday and by giving him a Kaiba-induced kiss.
So far Yugi was going with Tea, being too afraid to ask Yami. Yami was tagging along, they said they'd all go as friends. Duke didn't want to go but they were forcing him too. Tristan and Ryou weren't even coming to school so they didn't bother with them.
The dance was considerably better than previous ones.
They all showed up at Yugi's earlier then walked to the school, despite Kaiba's complaints.
Joey was in a grim reaper's costume, which Kaiba said was "So unoriginal."
"You didn't do any better bitch so I wouldn't be talking.."
"First of all, don't call me a bitch, you're the dog, and secondly, my costume may not be quite original but its classy!"
"In your dreams, but tonight I'm reenacting my dreams on you! Oh, it appears you already have a stiff sword.."
Kaiba blushed angrily. "You are disgusting! You make everything wrong!"
As Kaiba and Joey continued to bicker, Yami turned to Yugi. "Do you think we should have warned Kaiba about Joey's little sword joke before he decided to dress like a prince?"
"Joey already told me not too, but its kinda funny, isn't it?"
Yugi had decided to dress as a hobbit since he was so short, saying "Well, I cant do much about my height, might as well just embrace it."
Yami was a pharaoh, which everyone laughed at, Tea was a cat girl and Duke was also a grim reaper, mostly so that the hood would cover his face. If he was going to be forced to go to this party, he was not about to be there all night and have people coming up to him to ask about Tristan. As far as he was concerned, Tristan never existed.
"Wow, they did a good job at decorating this place, it looks pretty nice." Joey commented as they arrived.
"Yeah I'll say." Yugi agreed.
The dance got off to a slow start but soon it was wild and crazy. Joey was hyped on sugar and bouncing around.
After about hundred songs they finally had a slow song.
"Hey Kaiba, care to dance with death?" Joey asked Kaiba holding out his hand.
Kaiba pulled out his sword. "I'd prefer to duel with him!"
"My my, pulling out your 'sword' already? I like a man who knows what he wants. So.. may I stroke the 'shaft' of your 'sword' before we 'dance'?"
Kaiba's face paled before a fiery red blazed across his skin. "Joey!"
This drew everyone's attention.
"Come on, dance with me!" Joey pleaded.
Kaiba, unaware that everyone was watching finally agreed and let Joey lead him onto the floor. Joey wrapped his arms around Kaiba's waist.
"J-Joey, everyone's watching!"
"So let them watch." Joey turned around slightly. "Hey everyone, watch!"
Kaiba blinked angrily down at Joey until Joey pressed his mouth over his roughly. "Mmmm!""
Kaiba pushed him away and pouted while everyone laughed, some good naturally, a few mockingly.
Tristan dropped his helmet next to his feet on the wet pavement.
'..This is it.. I don't have to feel this way anymore.. I can finally be free..'
The rain pounded against his body. He blinked furiously trying in vain to see the road ahead of him.
The highway was empty, no car's headlight was visible.
He set everything up perfectly.
He left his note on Joey's answering machine. He was sorry it was Joey, he was sorry that he had to mess up his best friend's life. He was sorry that he met Joey, knowing that his life only brought pain and suffering into others.
He knew he wasn't meant to be alive. Only people who did good things deserved to live, not people who only hurt others, cheated, and lied.
He dropped the brown bottle to the ground, kicking it hard into the median, shattering it.
The rain made his hair lie flat against his forehead.
Duke...
..He didn't save him. He didn't take care of him...
He didn't give him the world like he should have...
Hell.. he didn't even give him the love he deserved..
He failed. He messed up.
But this time there was no room for failure..
He had made his last mistake.
It was time to make amends...
..it was time for him to do what he was destined to do...
..die...
The bike sped forward, thrusting its way through the dark rain.
The clouds above him frowned down at him. But he pushed the bike harder.
The red arrow rose, the scenery sped by him too fast to see... not that he could see it through the rain anyways...
He raced along the straight asphalt, but then a sudden turn came in the road.
The tires swerved..
The cement median opened its arms, readying itself to take him.
With one last smile...
He said goodbye...
and whispered..
"I'm.. sorry."
As his body shattering against the dark wall just like the bottle had.
To be continued...
stretches Well, how's that? 31 pages long enough for you? IS IT?? IS IT?? …hehe, okay truthfully I wanted to write a lot so you guys would leave me alone.. heh heh
anyways, I need to get up early for tomorrow.. gah, I still need to pack and it 12:20 DAMN!! Hehe
later
please review! and give me something to read! (you can even email me amusing hate letters! Come on folks! it'll be fun!!)