Wow, reviews! I have reviews, and they're not flames! I'm so happy! jumps around the room like a crazy person Um, everyone's looking at me…maybe I should stop now. Heh.

Hikari's-dark-side-: Yeah, this is my first attempt at a shonen-ai fic. I'll try to write longer chapters, but my first one is usually the shortest of them all. Thanks for all the kind words!

BlackJackal: I'll try to be sure to update regularly, and thanks for the review!

SportZScooby: evil laughter This should indeed be fun…

Hathors-Favorite: Road trips can be rather irritating, especially when the person sitting next to you for the entire thing is someone you really don't like. Not that I'd know from experience…glares at little sister

Hikari-Flame: You're my first reviewer! I'm glad you liked the story so far; hope it lives up to your expectations!

…

Okay, so maybe "hell" is too strong a word. I mean, Bakura's bad, but not that bad…at least, as long as he's not attempting to take over the world. Still, we're talking a cross-country excursion over the span of about a week. That's seven whole days alone in a car with Bakura. Just him and me…no Yugi, no Ryou…just us. So, maybe hell is too intense a description, but it's still pretty close.

Standing a careful arm length from my newfound traveling partner, I watched our lighter halves preparing to leave. They had acquired a shiny blue Volkswagen beetle for the trip, into which they were currently shoving the last of their luggage. Through gritted teeth, I growled, "Remind me again why I'm agreeing to this?" The thief beside me, wearing a similar expression of irritation, grunted two words: "Puppy eyes." Oh, yeah, I remembered with a sigh, there's no way out of this one. Damn. At that moment, a sudden slamming sound indicated that the trunk was fully loaded and closed in preparation for the journey. Yugi locked the trunk and tossed the keys to Ryou, who would be driving for most of the trip due to the fact that he was tall enough to actually see out the windshield. The two made their way over to where we stood, eying the space between us with eyes that clearly said, "You'd better start getting along before we lock you in the car together." In fact, the eyes weren't the only means of communicating their message, as it was coming quite clearly through the yami/hikari mind link.

"Okay, okay. We get the point," I conceded with a forced smile, taking a tiny step closer to the white-haired spirit. Yugi rolled his eyes slightly, shaking his head. "As long as you don't kill each other, I'll be happy with the results." Ryou, noticing a small loophole, added, "No shadow games, no soul stealing, and no evil in general. Please." Bakura made an attempt at giving him an innocent look, but failed rather miserably. I suppressed a small laugh at his expense. "Bakura" and "innocent" just don't go together.

After a few more parting words (and a few strict rules and regulations), Yugi and Ryou took their places in the little car. Ryou started the engine and hit the button that rolled the windows down. "See you in California!" they shouted, pulling out of the hotel parking lot and speeding off down the blacktop road. We waved cheerily until they were out of sight, and then turned toward each other, fake grins still plastered to our faces. "Well, pharaoh," Bakura started with a sinister look in his eye, "It looks like we're alone." I raised an eyebrow. For some reason, that had sounded like a come-on. Could it have been? No, that's stupid. Of all people, he's definitely not my type. I shook myself mentally and cleared my throat. "Let's put our stuff in the car and get this over with." The tomb robber grabbed his luggage and headed toward a slightly dented black sports car, tossing everything casually into the trunk. I followed suit, still eyeing the scratched indentation. "Don't tell me you've already crashed into something…" He looked down at what I was sure was his handiwork and rubbed a finger over the spot, protesting, "It's only a little bump." Rolling my eyes somewhat, I wrenched the keys from his grasp. "I'm driving."

As we piled into the car, I noticed that Bakura was glancing toward the hotel office a little more than was typical. He had a distinct "I'm doing something illegal" look about him, and that's just not a good thing. I felt like I should probably find out what was going on. "Bakura? What did you do this time?" My voice was weary with the knowledge that he did this sort of thing often, and I was going to have to deal with it for the entire trip. Shiftily, he looked in the other direction and muttered, "Start the car already. Before the manager comes out." I arched an eyebrow and crossed my arms. "Well, it's too late for that…he's headed this way."

Bakura jerked his head toward the oncoming manager. "Shit! Start the car right now, dammit, pharaoh! And then floor it for all you're worth!" Against my better judgment, I revved the engine and started to pull away. "Faster than that, you baka! I said to floor it!" he shouted, bringing his foot down on the gas pedal. I grasped the wheel, turning it just in time to avoid hitting a streetlight as we blasted out of the parking lot and into oncoming traffic. "Are you insane! You're going to get us killed! Move your foot, you moron!"

"I can't!"

"What do you mean, you cant!"

"I'm stuck!"

"You have got to be kidding me!" I frantically fought to get his leg untangled from whatever it was stuck on while trying not to crash into something. Veering to the right just in time to avoid being flattened by an oversized truck, the car finally situated itself in the correct lane. With a jolt, Bakura's leg came free and he slid back over to his own seat. Fuming, I demanded, "What the hell made you do that!" He looked out the window as something came together in my mind. "You didn't pay the bill." The tomb robber's continued fascination with the passing scenery only confirmed my suspicions. "Bakura, why did you volunteer to pay the bill if you weren't going to pay the bill!" He shrugged, finally turning away from the window with a bored expression. "Paying isn't any fun."

I gritted my teeth and twisted the radio dial on the dashboard. Tuning it, I came across a song that I had heard once before. It was pretty good, so I decided to leave it on that particular station for the time. As we merged onto the highway, though, the station suddenly switched with a quick burst of static, settling on something that made me want to tear my eardrums out of my head. I turned my head with a glare, and Bakura eyed me stubbornly. "I like this song better," he stated, not asking but telling. Already irritated by his little stunt at the hotel, I reached over and changed it back. "Too bad. I was listening to this." The thief's eyes narrowed at me as he spun the dial yet again. I narrowed my own and took him up on the unspoken dare to try it again. As my hand moved toward the knob, he caught it and tried to place his other hand over the controls. I fought him off with my free hand as we plunged the car into wildly changing snatches of music and commercials laced with static. Suddenly, the car hit a pothole, flinging us both from our fight for the radio.

Instead of starting into it again, we let a mutual decision pass silently between us to take a break and figure out whose blood was whose. As I licked at a deep scratch along my wrist, my ears picked up on what it was that we were listening to. I shot a look at Bakura, who seemed to register the song just after I had. We glanced at each other and I chuckled uneasily. "What a stupid song. I can't believe we left the station here." He also laughed quietly. "I know. Of all the incredibly ridiculous songs…" The thief trailed off, clearing his throat. We sat in an awkward silence for a few seconds, so I suggested, "You can change it if you want." Bakura shrugged elaborately and replied, "Hey, I can sit through it if you can."

"Okay. Only if you're sure."

"I'm sure."

"Yeah."

"Uh-huh."

"If I could fall, into the sky, do you think time, would pass me by? Oh, 'cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles if I could just see you tonight!" We blared the radio, singing sappily along at the top of our lungs. It would have been an unbelievable sight to anyone who knew us: the pharaoh and the thief, singing a Vanessa Carlton song together while speeding down the highway. Belting out the lyrics like professionals (and I had to admit, Bakura was a relatively talented singer), we blew past a large sign that read, "You are now leaving Ohio." Indeed we are, I thought to myself, shifting lanes with satisfaction. So "hell" had been too strong a word after all…for now, anyway.

…

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