A/N: Sorry guys, but I'm saving up until the final chapter cuz' I don't want to give this up so easily! But don't worry, it'll come!
Medoriko: That's cool! Save that energy for the showdown okayz?
Jenn120: Sure.
Slushie Blu: I wedding crashed once—it was awesome! Seto is a bit retarded, maybe he'll grow out of it...
Muchacha: You're making me really cry here. You're basically saying the chapter sucked because Monique was in it. Well, then I guess the other chapters in the story must've sucked because she was in those as well. Which is like 30 of the time. ;;
FireieGurl: I'm happy Jou's back in action as well...
Kuro-Konton: Glad you like Monique. Sorry, the wedding crasher chapter is put on hold to make you guys suffer! Mwahahahaha!
FireIceGoddess: Be prepared for the fun once I actually think up the wedding crasher chapter.
MiddiKnowles: Ah, cool! I'm honored to be on your list!
Hai-chan: A lot of people had to suffer the same thing. You're not the only one!
Bluerosety: You and me both. I can't think of a good wedding crasher chapter to tie everything up!
Amyrose300: You're just going to have to wait and find out!
Ilovekyo: Thanks, I'll do my best!
Koolmint26: Well, that's one way to put it!
LP-lova210: Wedding crashing is fun----just don't get caught!
Bleedingchaos: I'm thinking of ways for them to help...
Growing Pain: All those questions will not be answered til' the wedding crasher chapter! Which will probably in 3 chapters ahead...
. Awe of She .: Yeah, no pressure. I blackmail well, ya know!
A/N: This chapter comes in three parts, for the conclusion of the wedding crashing.
The rest of you must really like Monique...after all, she IS my little sister...
Chapter 15: Needing Some Solid Love Part 1 of 3- Jou Needs His Heart to Fight For His Man!
"Yugi, you know I don't mean that."
"Sure I do."
Yugi looked at Yami with a look of annoyance on his face. "How come you don't do anything when a someone tries to hit on me?"
He referred to what happened later that day, when him and Yami were to head off to the UPS store to obtain more booster packs for Grandpa's Game Shop...
"That'll be 210 yen," The cashier smiled at Yugi as she handed him the last of the package. Yami was busy holding up the other two boxes in his arms, which looked in fact very much hilarious. You can manage a laugh when you have a 5000 year old Pharaoh reduce himself to menial labor and trying his very best to juggle two HEAVY boxes.
Yugi smiled back his sunny smile. "Thanks very much!" He bowed down respectfully as was Japanese tradition, not noticing the once spirit hopping from one side of the room to the other as to not drop the load.
The cashier, which her name tag was 'Midori', smiled back even brightly. A small amount of hidden intentions in her eyes. "Say, you look familiar? Are you into Duel Monsters?"
Yugi shrugged with the package, thinking what to say next. He didn't really want a crowd to burst in, especially when he knew that Yami couldn't handle so many people at once without getting a bit claustrophobic. That's the side effect you get when you were trapped in a small Egyptian artifact for over 5000 years. He did find it adorable when Yami would hyperventilate a bit when it gets too much and sometimes would like to dive behind Yugi whenever the going gets tough.
He shook himself from the precious memories and answered. "Yes, I'm into Duel Monsters..."
"Wow, so you must be Yugi Motou!" She smirked at his innocent blush and whispered. "And you're kind of cute too..."
Yugi jumped at this statement and chuckled nervously, he edged towards Yami's direction, but it seemed as if the Pharaoh was more preoccupied with something else...
...like the pulling of his collar.
He wondered whether Yami was seriously ignoring the conversation that was transpiring or why he wasn't defending him. He'd seen that a hundred times between Ryou and Bakura. Whenever Ryou was looked at for more than five seconds, Bakura would attack no questions asked. Sometimes Ryou would become mildly irritated, (if Ryou can actually become annoyed), but at least Bakura was making a somewhat decent attempt on telling Ryou about his 'possession' of him.
Yami doesn't do that at all, and that made Yugi confused.
When they left the UPS store, Yugi wasn't in a good mood at all. He would nod mutely whenever Yami addressed to him and not make eye contact with him. The young one didn't know what was wrong with himself. He never worried about such a thing before whenever he came in contact with an interested individual while Yami was off somewhere else.
Jou would sometimes call it the 'marriage blues'. He said he felt the same way when he started dating Kaiba. He was exhilarated to exchange the vows of love, but now that it happened the strain of it all fell on his shoulders dramatically, freaking out at the littlest thing, believing that making a simple mistake could destroy what they had.
And at the same time, Jou expected of Kaiba to keep up with the vows also, getting suspicious at first whenever Kaiba would stay out all night because of business work.
Is that what he felt of Yami to do now? After all, they did exchange vows of love. He expected that Yami would get a least a tiniest possessive now that he acquired his love.
Because it felt as if Yami didn't care when someone tries to pick up his young lover.
As Yugi was contemplating on this, however, he did not watch where he was going and collided with someone and nearly fell backwards if it wasn't for the person that caught him in time. He expected that Yami saved him, but his heart dropped when he realized that the person who smacked into him caught him. Yami looked at Yugi in pure concern.
"Yugi, are you alright?"
Yugi nodded, his face red with embarrassment. As he regained balance, he apologized meaningfully towards the victim.
"It's no problem, little man!" the young man replied jubilantly. "But it would be great if you said yes to taking you out on a date."
Yugi nearly dropped his parcel in alarm and in a pissed off notion. Was everybody trying to hit on him today!
He looked at Yami as if daring him to punch the guy's lights out, but he didn't do anything. Though he did look flustered and somehow managed to tug on his collar while looking the other way, boxes still weighed in his arms. Why does he keep doing that!
Glaring at the guy, since he had to take care of him himself, the guy flinched at the pissed off look of the young one's face.
"Stop trying to hit on me, you wacko!" Yugi stomped hard on the guy's foot and ran forward, leaving the befuddled Yami and the hopping guy behind.
Sighing, Yugi put up his hands. "I give up! If you didn't care enough for me to defend me when someone does something like that, maybe we shouldn't have gotten together at all!"
"Yugi!" Yami moaned as the bedroom door was shut hard in front of his face. What did he do wrong?
He then heard the jingling of the front door bells, signaling someone had entered the store. Yugi had forgot to lock the door and turn the sign around to 'close' because of his fret with his older counterpart. Sighing dejectedly, he came downstairs to shoo the customers away. After all, it was 6:00 at night.
Not even looking at the two intruders, he pulled up the sign. "Sorry, but the Shop's been closed for a while now..."
"That's okay," said a young man with a hint of New Yorker accent in his voice. "We just wanted to see if you know anyone who has been recently reincarnated from the Pharaoh and is now currently in a male on male sexual relationship with his younger counterpart?"
"No, I don't know anyone who—" Yami was so immersed in his own mind trying to link with Yugi's locked mind door that he hadn't realized the question until it processed faintly in his mind. "—wait a second..."
The young man laughed and Yami knew instantly whose voice that belongs to. He turned and saw a very wet golden haired pup with a rambunctious grin on his face. "Jou!"
"S'up, Yam man!" They gave each other a brief, but companionable hug. Yami looked him over. "Did you walk here, Jou?"
"Me?" Jou pointed to himself then threw his arms around his head. "Nah, I did have a little walk in the rain, but Nique' drove me here." He pointed to his female companion.
"How do you do." Yami nodded respectfully at the American woman. Monique looked him up and down and nodded her own approval at his choice of jewelry. "Nice studs. I got a rocker boyfriend whose interested in the same thing as well."
As they had set up friendly conversation, Jou piped up. "Monique! Did ya forget that we're on a tight schedule?" Monique at once closed her mouth. "I forgot. Sorry Jou."
"What's going on, Jou?" Yami inquired, his face became worried when Jou's face darkened.
Jou was the first to recuperate. "I'll tell ya, after we bring Yugi in this. Where is Yugi anyway?"
Yami sighed dejectedly. He had forgotten all about the spat. "Yugi and I are in a...disagreement...as we speak. He locked himself in our room."
"You guys are fighting?" Jou asked disbelieving. No way in Hell...the perfect couple, Yami and Yugi fighting!
Yami nodded. "Come on." He grabbed Jou's arm and began pulling him upstairs. Monique shrugged and followed right behind them. When they reached the bedroom, Yami knocked on the door. "Yugi?"
"Go away, Yami! I don't want to talk to you right now!" They could barely hear Yugi's muffled voice, but anybody with a heart can hear his voice was hoarse with crying.
"But Yugi, Jou is here." Yami tried again.
"I don't believe you!" Yugi cried back.
"Hey Yug'," Jou commenced, his voice in a soft brotherly tune. "Open the door, will ya? I'm cold, hungry, and I'm saaaaaaaaaadddddd!"
After two seconds the door opened and Jou was whisked away inside, the door closing immediately. Anybody who knew Yugi, knew that all you have to do to get Yugi to open up was to pretend to be a stray kitten. The kid'll melt like chocolate on a hot summer's day.
"Oh, Jou!" Yugi whined disapprovingly at Jou's dripped up state. "You're wet! You can catch a cold!" Almost at once, Jou felt a towel wrap around him and felt the scrubbing of his hair. Yugi acted so much like a mother hen, it was endearing to withstand.
A few minutes later after getting dry and wearing his spare clothes from his gym bag, Jou sat down to business. "Okay, Yug. I need your help for something and----" he saw Yugi looking at the floor sadly and changed the topic. "Yug, is it really that bad? The fight you and Yami are having?"
Yugi sat down in front of him and looked away. "Remember when you told me about the 'marriage blues' that you suffered at the beginning with Kaiba?"
Jou mentally winced at the name of his former lover but shrugged it off. "Yeah? Why?"
"I think it's happening to me too." Yugi concluded, toying with the bangles on his wrists. "You see, the reason we were fighting was because Yami never stood up of his possessive right of me. I mean, you see it a lot with Ryou and Bakura and that's usually because in his own twisted way, Bakura is showing him how much he cares for him. But Yami doesn't do that at all! He would just turn the other way and ignore it like it's not happening and I hate it! How can he love me if he won't work to keep me?"
Jou took a deep breath. He almost smiled with relief. He knew how to handle this situation because he was through this before with Seto at the beginning. Maybe it was the opposite situation, but it still was the same. "Yugi, Yami does love you, with all his heart. Why do you think he chose to come back to life instead of being at peace in the afterlife? He wants to be with you. Don't doubt his love over something so insignificant. He does love you."
Yugi looked away. "He may, but he doesn't help protect me from those that could just take me away like that. I could just disappear and Yami wouldn't even put up a fight."
"No, Yugi! That's not true!"
Jou and Yugi turned their heads to the door. Apparently, Yami was listening to the entire conversation. "I would put up a fight for you, light, I would! Down to the last breath!"
Yugi still didn't look relieved.
"The reason I was avoiding it was because someone told me that the key to a relationship is trust and that I should back off whenever someone tries to take you away from me because you can handle it yourself. She told me that if I become too possessive, you would hate me and break it off with me, and I would die Yugi, I would die if you left me. You don't know how bad I wanted to pummel that girl or mind crush that idiot straight to the Shadow Realm for even batting their eyelashes for you! That's why I've been tugging on my collar to distract me whenever you were being hit on. I thought that you would be happy if I gave you some space, but it seems that I can't do that right either!" They could hear the floor being hit once by a fist, and Jou concluded that Yami must be on his knees right now.
"Who told you that?" Jou asked from the other side of the door.
The sharp intake of breath brought a bigger case of curiosity to both Yugi and Jou. "The UPS girl, Midori."
"What?" Yugi gasped softly.
"It was a while back, when Grandpa told me to pick up a package. She was nice and we talked for a bit. When she asked me out and I told her I was in a relationship with someone else, she gave me a few pointers for a successful one." Yami replied back. "She said that her cousin is going through the same thing with a young man she's pursuing. She hoped that they can catch his eye and be 'swirling in dough' or something like that."
"Wait a moment." Jou hushed. "What was her last name?"
Yami hesitated for a moment then answered. "I think her last name was Hitonaka..."
"Goddammit!" Jou bellowed. "How many bitches are in that family!"
Yugi looked at him and he was sure Yami was too if he can see through doors.
"It's a long story," Jou said sheepishly. "I'll tell you about it later."
Is Kisara's family trying to rule over his world! First it was him and Seto and now Yami and Yugi? He dragged a new resolve into the picture. It was genuine payback indeed.
It was quiet for a while. Only Yami broke the silence.
Yugi got up and walked up to the door with Jou trailing behind, Jou could almost hear Yami's choked sobs. "You mean so much to me, my light. But if I'm hurting you like this, maybe it is best if I leave you. I feel so useless, I can't even handle a relationship outside of my own time frame. I don't know how to handle things here than like in Egypt. It was simple back then, if we had someone, we made sure no one would ever touch them, but now...this entire time is so backward, I've been told to give you some space here and there, and to not do this and that until the time is right that I get confused. I don't know how to make you happy like this!"
Jou saw Yugi put up a new batch of tears. He just hoped that Yami's explanation would set him straight. He clearly understood how Yami must feel, getting accustomed to this new world unlike his own. He remembered getting used to the luxury of being rich when he moved in with Seto. How the rules have changed so drastically, that a person who didn't know of Yami's predicament would laugh at the way he would try to accomplish things a modern child might do better in. Maybe the problems going on between him and Seto, wasn't as different as Yami and Yugi's. Sure, the setting is way off, but the predicament isn't. He wondered whether Seto had discovered the same thing as well.
Yugi must've realized as well, because he flung the door open and glomped right into Yami's arms, crushing the hell out of him from Jou's angle. "I'm so sorry, Yami! I completely forgot! I was so preoccupied with our relationship and all that I forgot how you must feel trying to get used to this world! I'm such an idiot! Please don't leave me!" Yugi sobbed into Yami's shirt while he was hugged back by the former Pharaoh.
"It's alright, love. I'm not going to leave you," He buried his face in Yugi's hair. "Never."
Jou felt a bit left out in the moment and he vaguely remembered how it felt to fit perfectly in Seto's arms like Yugi was to Yami. His chest tightened for a moment and he remembered what he was here for. He was going to pursue Seto's love. Even if it took by crashing a wedding banquet. And if Yami and Yugi agreed, he was one step away from receiving his heart to fight back. He wanted to shake the tears in the back of his eyes away, but thought of it as impure. How he wished so badly that once they did this, his gamble would be in his favor and he can be safely in Seto's arms as well.
For once in his life, he wanted a happy ending. A special ending that was all his.
All his and Seto's.
"You guys," He began. "I need your help...badly." The moment between Yami and Yugi was so pure, he felt tears prickling in his eyes. He wiped them away frustratingly for the sake of Monique's worried face staring up at him from behind the couple. He found it rather soothing of her to stay quiet during this turn of events. He guessed that she knew from experience to let these sort of things play out. He was happy she wasn't like the many girls he knew in the past who would spout out love and friendship speeches and ruined a perfectly good moment.
Both the males on the floor understood the seriousness in Jou's plea and stood up.
"If there's anything we can do, Jou," Yugi concluded softly.
"We'll be there to help you." Yami finished.
Jou smiled wistfully. "You see, you need to help me with someone special to me. It all started a week ago..."
And as they listened, Jou can only hope that his mind can agree with his heart.
TBC...
A/N: I don't know about this chapter, if feels kind of short of my own expectations. What do you think? Did you likey? It was my first Yami/Yugi centric chappy! Part 1 of 3 peoplez, so if you want them, ya gotta take the purple button!
If you guys aren't excited enough, the hint for the next chapter is...Bakura/Ryou...hint hint!