dragonlady222 – Thanks for the review. I wouldn't mind seeing Yugi and Ryou together, as I prefer a gay Ryou hahaa! But figured that one of them had to be straight and he ended up as the only one left.

fallen-angel-of-repression – Isis is the coolest, she's got them all wrapped around her little finger hehehe! But I suppose Serenity comes in next as I really don't like Téa and something annoys me about Mai. Grr homework…I haven't done any of mine and it's back to school tomorrow…have fun with that! Haha!

Thanks also to: FireieGurl : KeraJeir : Lady Psychic : whatevagirl1

the follow on from the previous chapter, would have been too long in one

It wasn't long before Kaiba began strutting over to the table Joey was seated at, smirking at him with all he had. But he was rather taken aback to find Joey returning the favour, stealing his style as it was. It was no secret to him, his attraction to Joey, but sometimes he did question why. The guy was annoying, he was unpredictable and sickeningly likeable, all features that Kaiba never did understand in a person but still intrigued him and drew him in.

"Watcha Kaiba." Joey smirked, although it was obvious that behind the façade he was just itching to laugh hysterically, as Ryou and Yugi were already doing. But they soon regained their composure, only to erupt again through an almost inaudible rendition of "Do You Think I'm Sexy". Joey shot a pathetic glare at them before turning back to Kaiba, grinning like a maniac.

"Have to excuse them, had a few too many I think." He explained, almost sounding half-amused.

"And you haven't?" Kaiba shot back, clearly under the illusion that Joey was only acting that way because he was under the influence. If ever anyone was to act the way he just had, with Seto Kaiba, the last person anyone would think of would be Joey, it was kind of an unwritten rule to life.

"Nope, I've only had a beer and that green stuff…I'm a bit giggly but other than that I'm sober…you wanna sit down?" He offered, as friendly as possible. It was amusing to see the sudden change and Kaiba would undoubtedly question it as he took the spare seat. Only a few weeks ago Joey had been biting his head off for even daring to utter a single 'Hello' to him, in face only last week they had gotten into a drunken argument so why the change now? Why, after being there for near on two hours, was he still sober?

"Not out to get drunk then?" Kaiba inquired. He knew it wouldn't take much to rile Joey up and make him explain his sudden change of heart towards him, so he knew how to push it and push it…well if all plans went into effect and Kaiba refrained from drinking any more absinthe which got him drunk so quickly. However a part of him didn't want to know what was going on; he didn't want to hear any ulterior motive that could be in practice. A part of him just wanted to accept what was happening and embrace it…go with the flow! So that was when he summoned a nearby worker to bring over a tray of absinthe shots. He would get drunk tonight if it was the last thing he did.

"Nope, so why'd you go get that tray?" Joey inquired, not acting as oblivious as Kaiba had originally anticipated. It was then that he looked around and noticed that they had been left alone while Yugi had wandered off and Ryou was in the middle of the dance floor.

"I want to play a game; god knows I haven't for a while, and what better one than a simple drinking game." Kaiba smirked at him, despite the fact that Joey wasn't looking to see it, more bothered by the arrival of twenty absinthe shots lying on the table before him. Old habits really do die hard, Kaiba thought, struggling to keep the smirk back.

"What kinda game, Kaiba? I know you're style…trap me in some weird world and leave me to die…" Joey asked warily, even if he knew that suggesting Kaiba was going to kill him with a few absinthe shots was ludicrous.

"Joey. We're in a club, with no virtual reality pods…and all I come with is twenty absinthe shots. So yes, I'm planning to shove you in my game and kill you." Kaiba responded quickly, rolling his eyes when he knew Joey was looking, just so he could see how stupid his accusations were.

"That's true. So what game then, Mr Smarty-pants?" Joey smiled at him, not in a teasing or malicious manner, but a friendly and trusting one, something Kaiba hadn't quite been able to grasp before.

"A kind of truth or dare game. We each ask a question and we have to answer with the truth, every time we answer we down a shot, every time we don't, we take two. But I don't think we have enough…hang on I'll get some more. Think about your questions, we have a lot to catch up on Joey." He smirked as he left him there to get drinks.

'We have a lot to catch up on Joey' the words swimming around Joey's head as he giggled to himself. Yes, they did have a lot to catch up on and Kaiba was to be none the wiser to Joey's plan, as he remembered his sole purpose of starting the 'Thursday' tradition again. He would get Kaiba to confess under the influence of his own alcohol in his own game. It was a perfect plan. But he had barely thought of any filler questions by the time Kaiba returned with another twenty shots, giving a total of forty for them to go through.

"So, you go first Joey." He smiled at him, something Joey wasn't used to, but he had come too far in now to seem fazed by it.

"How many girlfriends…or boyfriends…have you had?" He asked, quickly adding the latter option in, to ensure a perfect answer with no escape. He watched happily as Kaiba downed one of the shots, obviously willing to answer.

"No girlfriends, but one boyfriend." He answered cryptically, thus giving Joey a clear idea as to who it could be. But he curbed his anger as he thought of his main suspect: Yami, and awaited his question.

"Why did you leave?" Way to delve right in Kaiba, Joey thought to himself, but he wouldn't back down. So he grabbed one shot and downed it, wincing at the taste while Kaiba looked on amused.

"Because I couldn't stand to see Yugi hurt so much and walked all over by two of many people he trusted with his life." I answered, hoping I didn't sound too sneering and accusing. But instead Kaiba raised his eyebrow.

"Hmmm…You know who the other person is then? We've been trying to figure it out for months." He said, swirling one of the shots in his hand, refusing to maintain eye contact. Joey just looked at him in disbelief, wondering how someone could lie so much and almost make it convincing.

"Maybe, I'm not all that sure yet. Erm…Oooh I know! If you had to sleep with any guy in the group, who would it be?" Joey asked mischievously, watching as Kaiba ran his finger around the rim of a second shot, leaving him wondering if he would answer. But eventually he only drank one.

"Well…that's quite hard. It wouldn't be Yugi, he looks too young still, not Ryou…too straight," Kaiba snickered at the thought but continued. "Tristan, Duke would kill me or take me out of business or something so that rules them out, Yami…well he's not really in your group anymore but he could be sexy at times…and that leaves you. Already said you're 'really hot' and you're sexy when you're dancing…"

Joey smirked at him and decided to use that comment to his advantage.

"Seto Kaiba…are you flirting with me?" He snickered, trying not to erupt at the fake-shocked look portrayed on his drinking partner's face. He smirked back at Joey and downed a shot, obviously taking it to be a question.

"Yes." He answered bluntly, something Joey was not expecting. So instead he grinned at Kaiba and awaited his question. "What did you think of me before you left?"

"I thought you were stuck up your own arse, I thought you didn't give a damn about anyone that wasn't immediately related to you, I thought you were in a relationship with someone and I was kinda jealous of whoever it was." Joey said, looking ashamed as he downed the shot he forgot to drink before he answered. "What did you think about me?"

But Joey never got an answer and he had to sit there and wait while Kaiba downed two shots in a row, he looked at him in confusion but decided that he would be told when Kaiba was ready. All Joey could do was think it was quite important and wait for the next question.

"Who did you think I was in a relationship with?" And then the whole world stopped. Well in Joey's eyes, as he panicked to think of an answer without directly telling Kaiba of his suspicions but if he didn't answer at all, it would look very suspicious, but he would be out of it, no questions asked. So he downed a shot.

"I can't tell you exactly who, because I'd be opening a whole can of worms…but I didn't approve." He said, looking up at Kaiba raising one eyebrow in disappointment. "Why were you helping Yugi when Yami left him?" He asked, rapidly, watching as Kaiba only took one shot.

"Because he did the same for me three years ago, when someone I loved left me…well kind of…but all the same, he was there for me. Only returning the favour." Joey sat there, wondering if the time span was a coincidence or not, he was intrigued now, he had had one boyfriend but they left him three years ago so he couldn't possibly be with them now…which meant that Yami couldn't have gone to Kaiba when he left Yugi. It had to be someone else. So what was it that he heard that day? Yami had been talking to Kaiba…Joey was certain of that much, but had Joey completely misinterpreted everything? Had he screwed up any chance he had of anything by one simple misinterpretation?

Joey stood gingerly around the corner of the supermarket as he heard Yami and Kaiba talking. He knew that Yugi was having trouble at home and wondered if it would give him an insight as to what was going on, but he also knew he couldn't see Kaiba.

"I don't know what to do, I mean, what if he finds out? I can't keep this up for much longer, it's tearing me up!" Yami asked desperately.

"I don't know, honestly. He's bound to figure it all out eventually, Yami. You've not been covering your tracks very well have you and he's not stupid. You know I worry about you and I do want everything to work out so that no one is hurt, but I don't want my name mentioned at all. If anything leads back to me, pouring my heart out to you, there'll be mayhem and god knows what Joey would do!" Kaiba said.

But Joey had heard enough. He was convinced that Yami was having an affair with Kaiba and they somehow knew how he would react. Dumping his shopping basket on the floor he ran for the exit, not wanting to hear another word. Despite feeling upset and angry at them for hurting Yugi, he felt sick. He felt sick and betrayed by Kaiba. He had no reason to, but he did. It hurt.

"Joey? Jooooeeeey?" Kaiba said, waving his hand in front of Joey's face, finally bringing him back to the here and now. "What happened? Daydreaming?"

"Yeah something like that." Joey answered nonchalantly, trying to drift off that topic.

"Well I asked you; what do you think of me now?" But Joey just stared at him, still in a daze and not quite understanding anymore. But nevertheless, he downed a shot, deciding he'd had enough, grabbed anything he had lying around and stood up. Still looking at Kaiba with a confused expression he answered;

"I honestly don't know." And walked away.