How he had been roped into driving, Bakura couldn't say, but somehow Malik had managed it, and as the dull yellow streetlights flashed rhythmically past, the white-haired sophomore held the steering wheel of Malik's god-awful purple Volkswagen Beetle with a firm grip and a scowl. Yet the scowl wasn't quite as deep as it could have been, despite the inarguably stressful day Bakura had just suffered through. This was largely due to the blond seated beside him, scooted as close as the bucket seats would allow, his head on Bakura's shoulder and his slender fingers clutching the arm draped possessively around his neck.

Malik yawned and grinned up at him, violet eyes almost rolling back in his head in an effort to see the other's face. "I had fun, didn't you, Bakura?"

"I hate amusement parks," Bakura replied gruffly.

"Pshaw," Malik scoffed, "You're just mad you didn't win a prize." With that he fondly patted the head of an enormous pink, stuffed elephant propped on his other side.

Bakura growled under his breath, instantly annoyed. Not that he really cared about winning some idiotic stuffed animal; rather, the mention of Malik's elephant – "Fluffy," as the insane blond had insisted on calling it – reminded him of an incident he would much rather forget.

They had gotten to the park around two, neither of the Atlanta natives caring to arrive early, as they had both been to Six Flags more times than they could count, and their date had gone smoothly for about forty-five minutes. To be more specific, the length of the wait for the first rollercoaster. Although Malik had obediently followed Bakura into the line and waited cheerfully, chattering like his exuberant airheaded self, there was one thing he had failed to mention.

Malik was deathly afraid of rollercoasters.

Once they had been strapped in, all cheerfulness left the blond and he began screaming like a maniac, clutching at Bakura even before they had reached the top of the first hill, and he kept it up for the next 90 seconds or so, until they were safely on the ground once more. By this time Bakura's ears were ringing and his arm was turning purple from lack of circulation. Gritting his teeth, he turned to snap at Malik for ruining his fun… but the other looked up at him with enormous, watery violet eyes and gave him a quavering smile. "That was scary," he whispered.

Bakura sighed. "Let's go do something else then," he muttered.

"Okay!" Suddenly the smile was back and Malik was his hyper self once again, slipping his hand from Bakura's arm to twine itself between the sophomore's fingers, the blond practically skipping as he led Bakura toward the game booths.

Grumbling under his breath about crazy blondes who somehow made him do stupid things, Bakura stopped at the first booth and let go of Malik's hand. The game was simple; throw a baseball and try to knock three stacked milk bottles off a pedestal. The white-haired male closed his eyes, channeling all his frustration into the ball, and threw it with all his might.

It hit the wall of the booth with a dull thunk. The bottles never even shook.

Three booths and thirty-odd dollars later, Bakura had yet to win a single game; and Malik's 'encouragement' was getting more and more annoying. The sophomore was certain he could feel the heat radiating from his ears as Malik pointed to the next booth, squealing, "Oooh, Kura, look at that elephant! I want that! Win me that!"

"The hell! Are you five? Win your own damn elephant." He shook off Malik's hand from his arm and turned back to his game – basketball, this time – momentarily pleased to hear the other fall silent.

But then slow footsteps trudged away from him and Bakura was left alone; and suddenly the game wasn't nearly as appealing. He looked around. "Bubbles?"

He spotted the blond leaning against the booth he had been pointing to earlier, chatting easily with the person behind the counter and smiling, though the expression seemed less cheery than usual. Feeling an odd sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach, Bakura tossed his basketball – missing the target – and followed his date over to the next booth.

His eyes bugged out in astonishment at what he found there.

"You!" Bakura hissed.

Jounouchi raised an eyebrow, shifting the well-chewed toothpick in one corner of his mouth to the other side. "Who're you?"

Malik giggled, "Jou, this is Bakura. You met him that time at the movies, remember?"

The brown-eyed blond furrowed his brow and shook his head. "Sorry, nope. I must have been too distracted by your incredible beauty." He shot Malik a roguish wink. Bakura growled. "You sure do spend a lot of time with your dad, though," Jou continued, shifting his gaze to Bakura for a brief moment before turning back to Malik and lowering his voice. "Does he, you know, have some kind of disease or something?"

"WHAT! I'm not his father, you imbecile! I'm barely a year older than him!"

Jou cocked his head to the side. "Then how come you've got white hair?"

"I-I don't know, I was born that way!" Bakura shouted, throwing his hands in the air. "Just like you were born an idiotic bastard who…"

"So, Malik, haven't seen you at the gym lately."

"Yeah, I've been working out early in the mornings. The twins like to do things in the afternoon; they're not morning people."

"Oh, ok. How do you like my new job?"

"It seems fun, I guess; but wouldn't the movies pay more?"

"ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?" Bakura shrieked.

"Nah, they pay about the same. Plus this one has some great benefits… Here," Jou said, and handed Malik the pink elephant he'd been eyeing. "For you."

Malik's eyes widened and he grinned in sheer delight. "Really? Oh, wow. Thanks so much, Jou!"

The other blond reddened a bit, scratching his head sheepishly. "Aw, it was nothing. It reminded me of you."

"That's so sweet!"

Bakura had had enough. He grabbed Malik's arm and dragged him several feet away; then turned back to Jou and snarled. "Bubbles is my date. Mine. Now back off!" And he bent down and kissed Malik; viciously, possessively, smirking in triumph when Malik wrapped his arms around his neck and kissed back.

All in all, Bakura figured the day hadn't been a total waste; even if after that public display of affection Malik had dragged him to all the stupid singing and dancing shows and made him ride the boring couple rides without even letting Bakura get in a good grope. But there was still that kiss; a very good kiss indeed, made even better by the knowledge that it pissed Jou off; and the way that Malik seemed to melt against him whenever they sat next to each other, the silky-smooth touch of that blond hair against his neck as Bakura drove beneath the dull yellow streetlights.

He leaned down and kissed the top of Malik's head.

"What the hell do you want?"

Azure eyes narrowed, arms crossed over his chest as Seth stood out in the hallway towering over the shorter Latino. Unfortunately, Atemu wasn't the least bit intimidated and opted for a similar stance and glare.

"Don't worry, I didn't come here for a social call."

"Then what the hell are you taking up space for?"

"I need to find my brother and he's not answering his cellphone. He's not here by any chance is he?"

Seth was mildly intrigued when Atemu's eyes seemed to darken and a sneer pulled at his lips. "Like I would be here if he was. Sorry to inform you, but your brother makes me want to hurl."

"Yeah, he tends to have that effect on people."

"All except my brother it seems." He leaned against the doorframe, and let out a sigh. "Why don't you just go to wherever they went and look for him?"

"Because he didn't tell me where he was going. Did Yami mention anything?"

Atemu shook his head, his wild spikes swaying with the motion. "No."

Both of them stood there, not really realizing at some point during the short conversation that they had stopped glaring at each other. Biting his lip, Atemu sighed again and opened the door a little further. "Your brother will bring Yami here first, so would you like to wait on him here?"

Seth's eyebrow raised, "You sure? That could be awhile."

"Yeah well," he shrugged his shoulders, "I could use the company."

Walking past Atemu, Seth did a quick study of the room – since he had never been there before – and raised an eyebrow at the small pile of popcorn littered at the base of the TV. He turned around when he heard the door shut and eyed the Latino with a bit of amusement. "Should I ask?" he questioned while he pointed towards the popcorn on the floor.

"No."

"OK, well can I ask why you are watching reruns of Dr. Quinn on a Saturday night?"

"No." Atemu quickly walked past Seth, his head ducked low, and grabbed the once again empty bowl off his bed and bent down to start picking up the mess. Seth could have sworn he saw a faint blush on those tanned cheeks.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Seth watched the younger man, "So why are you here all alone? Shouldn't you be out with your fuck buddy?"

He frowned at the sudden stiffness in Atemu's bare shoulders and back muscles. And without turning around, the freshman stood up and dumped the contents of the bowl into the trashcan.

"Bakura and I are no longer seeing either other in that way, if you must know."

Well, that got Seth's attention, which led to him being curious and a curious Kaiba was never a good thing. Inviting himself to sit down on what he presumed was Yami's bed - since there wasn't any popcorn on it – he watched Atemu, who stood in front of him now with his own arms crossed.

"Why is that?"

Crimson eyes narrowed as Atemu scowled. "Why does it matter? You, Mr. Rich and Famous, wouldn't really be interested in the emotional well-being of some low-life foreign whore now would you?"

Azure eyes widened, stunned at what Atemu had just said. "Wha? I never said that."

"You don't have to," he growled out. "You think it, everyone thinks it, and I know it."

Seth stood, anger seeping into him for some unknown reason. "Well, maybe if you didn't sleep with the first person you met on the first day of classes people might not think that!"

Atemu suddenly laughed; bitter sounding, hollow, unhealthy. "Yeah, well it doesn't matter does it? Its all people care about anyway. All they see is the package on the outside. They don't bother to see what's underneath."

"Would you let them?" Seth asked. He was still angry, about what he didn't know, but also a bit of concern for the other man's mentality and emotions started to pull on him.

The Latino scoffed, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, not looking at the man standing before him. "Why bother? For the chance of love? Yeah right, that's a crock of shit if you ask me. I've seen this so-called love… in the end, even it's not enough to keep people from leaving you behind."

Seth could only stand there and stare at the person in front of him. His heart suddenly had a funny burning feeling, and he wanted to reach over and comfort the other male, but his mouth seemed to react differently. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Better yet, why am I even talking to you about this?"

"Maybe because you need to?"

Atemu's flinched slight before he regained his composure and snorted, "I need nothing."

Stepping forward, Seth's face softened as he looked into hard crimson eyes.
I think you need more than you let on."

"What, pray tell, do I need? Since you seem to know everything."

"Understanding? A friend who's not after your body?"

Atemu said nothing, just stood there still facing the older Kaiba before he gave a curt nod of his head. "Really now?"

Seth didn't have a chance to ask what Atemu meant by that for he suddenly found very warm, wet lips pressed against his own. Bronzed hands came up, intertwining in the hair on the back of his head, tugging slightly on the cinnamon strands. His shock soon wore off and was replaced with longing when Atemu's tongue brushed against his bottom lip, demanding entrance, to which he obliged willingly. His own arms came around the smaller male's waist, fingers dancing over firm back muscles, making the skin over them shiver at his touch.

He didn't even realize Atemu had pushed him back onto Yami's bed until the weight of the Latino's warm body was on top of him, pressed into him. One leg resting between his, rocking slowly, sent wonderful waves of pleasure though his groin as it massaged him through his jeans.

Hands roamed on their own, and Seth was lost in the feelings until a sharp but pleasurable bite was placed at the base of his neck. His eyes flew open and he grabbed Atemu by the arms, using his larger size to easily flip them over. He stared down at the man below him.

"Understanding? A friend who's not after your body?"

"Really now?"

He growled, understanding making his thoughts run clear now. "Nice test. But it won't work. I meant what I said. As gorgeous and as sexy as you are, that's not the only reason I want to be with you."

Atemu blinked, "Be with me?"

Azure eyes went wide; he had not meant to say that. Damn his mouth. "Umm…" He ducked his head, shyness creeping over him for the first time. "Yeah, well you fascinate me. And I don't just mean your looks. You're not afraid of my name, my status. You're brilliant…" he ended with a shrug of his shoulders, not knowing what else to say. He wasn't very good with these types of things anyways.

"I…see…."

Apparently, neither of them were.

With a sigh, Seth rolled them over so they were both laying on their sides, facing each other. Their eyes seemed to be endlessly searching each other, trying to each decipher the other's emotions. But no more words were said between them, and Seth opted for the only other thing he could think of to help Atemu understand. He pulled him close, letting the smaller man bury his face into his chest, while he wrapped his arms around his waist.

Both of them had a lot to think about, but for now, they would enjoy the silence.

A hand crept along his back, slipping teasingly lower as Yami giggled. "Seto, stop that!" he chided, turning from his dorm room door to playfully bat the other's hand away. "You already got your goodnight kiss. The date's over."

The brunet took a step closer, wrapping his arms around Yami's smaller form and murmuring in his ear, "Then let's start the next one now."

Yami laughed and stretched up on his tiptoes to give Seto another quick kiss before slipping out from the other's grasp. "As tempting as that sounds, I think Atemu would burst a blood vessel if I stayed out any longer." He turned back to the door and quickly unlocked it.

"But wouldn't you rather…" Seto's protests trailed off into an astonished silence as the door swung open and the two observed the sight inside. There, stretched out on Yami's bed, lay Seth and Atemu, curled in each other's arms, with Atemu's head on Seth's chest and Seth's chin resting atop the other's spiky hair.

"¡Dios mio!" Yami shrieked. "Atemu! You did not have sex on my bed!"

At his cry the sleeping pair shot up suddenly, cracking skulls as they did, and stared at Seto and Yami, their expressions a mixture of sleepiness and guilt – and pain, as they sourly rubbed the lumps on their heads and glared at each other.

"What are you doing here, Seth?" Seto asked levelly, though his twin could tell he was fighting to keep the amusement out of his voice.

"I was looking for you. Gozaburo called and wanted me to find you, and I thought you might be here."

"Yes, I can see how hard you were looking," Seto dryly retorted, eliciting a glare and a growl from his brother.

"Atemu, please tell me you didn't… not there, not with him," Yami pleaded, crimson eyes wide as he stared at his twin.

Atemu's head shot up at that and he frowned. "Why? What's wrong with him?" he snapped, causing both Kaibas to stare at him in astonishment.

"N-nothing, I guess," Yami replied, glancing at Seto, "but it's my bed… and he's Seto's brother… and… and…" He stopped, looking hard at Atemu, whose head drooped and fingers fidgeted with the cloth of his shorts. "And you really didn't, did you?"

Yami's face broke out into a wide smile and he suddenly let out a great peal of laughter; then he rushed over to the bed and sat beside his twin, the two beginning to talk in rapid-fire Spanish. After a moment a small, matching smile crept over Atemu's face as he nodded his head back at Seth. Yami asked him something and Atemu nodded again, his grin widening, and the two Latino freshmen burst out laughing.

Seth's face reddened in sudden embarrassment. "Uh… what's going on?"

"Hell if I know," Seto muttered.

Yami and Atemu looked at each other. "It's getting late," they said simultaneously.

"I'll call you later, okay Seto?" Yami rose and walked Seto to the door, lifting his chin to let the other kiss him goodbye.

Still seated on the bed next to Atemu, Seth gave the other a hopeful glance. Atemu smiled at him pleasantly.

"You can get out of my room now."

Yami was silent all of two seconds after the twins left before he pounced on his brother with another squeal of delight. To him, this was one of the best things that could have happened. Sure, it was just this one time, but he hoped it would be the first of many.

And maybe a start to Atemu healing.

"So…." He tried to think of a way to bring everything up as he and his brother lay down on his bed side by side, each propping their heads on the palms of their hands, facing each other.

"So?" Atemu asked back with a raised eyebrow as he casually looked over his brother, looking for any signs that Seto had had his way with Yami.

"So… do you think….you two might start seeing each other now?"

With a sigh, Atemu rolled onto his back, staring up to the ceiling with a frown on his face. "I don't know Mocoso. I mean this is all sorta sudden, you know? I mean… he did say he wanted to be with me and he did…" he shook his head, not really wanting to relay that piece of information.

"But?"

"But nothing, I guess."

Scooting over, Yami leaned over his brother, studying his face, before breaking into a grin. "You like him!" he said in a singsong voice, giggling when a small blush crept on his twin's cheeks. "This is great! I mean, now we can go on double dates, we're dating twins, you and Seto can start getting along…"

"Stop right there! I don't think I'll ever get to like Seto. There's something…" Atemu stopped when he saw Yami frown. With a sigh, he pulled his brother down, letting the other's head lay on his chest as he ran his fingers through Yami's hair. "But, for you, I'll try."