Chapter 5
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh
Yami woke up bright and early on Saturday morning although 'woke up' might not be the right word since he had hardly been able to get to sleep the night before since his mind was racing. He and Yugi had officially been together for three whole years and Yami had made the decision that he was going to ask Yugi to marry him.
And with that decision made the college freshman was suddenly faced with a whole lot of other challenges that he needed to work out first. Like big thing, was getting the perfect ring. Nothing short of perfect would be good enough for his precious Aibou.
And then there was going to be the proposal itself. He had to figure out where he was going to propose and most importantly of all what he was even going to say when he asked for Yugi's hand. Yami grabbed a towel before he headed down to the showers in the dorm building while his mind was still trying to think.
Depending on what rings they even had available in the different stores would depend on how long it would give Yami to plan this whole thing. But again, Yami also didn't want to just pick out something that he liked and when he finally presented it to Yugi it was a huge letdown.
Yami finished his shower before he headed back to his dorm and quickly got dressed. Once Yami was ready he walked over to where his roommate was currently still snoring away. Yami snorted, Atemu was most certainly not a morning person. And to be perfectly honest he never had been. Weekends were the worst. If Atemu had it his way then he wouldn't budge until at least noon.
"Hey Atemu, wake up!" Yami said as he harshly shook his roommate's shoulder.
Atemu groaned before he rolled over, "Fuck off." Atemu sleepily muttered as he buried his face back into the pillow.
Yami sighed as he harshly shook Atemu's shoulder again, "Seriously Atemu, you need to wake up! This is important." Yami growled.
Atemu groaned once more, "What is it?" Atemu grumbled, still with his face buried in the pillow.
"I need you to get up and go shopping with me today. And we need to leave as soon as possible." Yami said.
Atemu slowly blinked open one rose red eyes to shoot Yami a dark look, "You are seriously fucking waking me up at the ass crack of dawn? To go fucking shopping?! Are you out of your fucking mind Yami?" Atemu growled.
Yami rolled his eyes, "Yes, Atemu. I am. I need you to go shopping with me. Its important. Very important." Yami said.
Atemu slowly sat up, crossing his tanned arms over his bare chest as he glared at Yami. "Do you want to tell me what the fuck is so damn important that you need to go buy that you are waking me up this early for? On a SATURDAY?" Atemu hissed.
Yami sighed, "I need your help to pick out an engagement ring. I'm going to ask Yugi to marry me." Yami said.
Atemu swiped his hands across his eyes before resting his fingers on the bridge of his nose, "And why again are you waking me up?" Atemu asked.
Yami sighed once more, "Because you are my best friend Atemu and I need someone else's opinion on this as well. Its a big purchase and I don't want to choose the wrong ring. I need to find the PERFECT ring for Yugi. And that's where you come in Ate...you're going to make sure I don't choose the wrong ring." Yami said.
Atemu sighed once more before he slowly got to his feet, "You owe me for this Yami. Big time." Atemu muttered.
Yami nodded, "I know I do. And don't worry. I'll make it up to you. I promise Ate." Yami vowed.
"You had better." Atemu muttered before he slowly made his way out of the room, snagging a towel as he went to take a shower and try to wake himself up.
A part of Yami did feel bad about waking Atemu up so early. Atemu had even made a point when he'd set up his schedule to not have a single class before 11am on any given day which meant that even during the week he'd be free to sleep in. It was barely 8 am right now. But at the same time Yami really did need his best friends help.
Atemu returned about twenty minutes later to see Yami scrolling through his something on his phone. He'd pause briefly to make a note down on a notebook sitting beside him before he went back to scrolling.
Yami glanced up when he heard their the door to their dorm close. "Did you have a nice shower Ate?" Yami asked.
Atemus snorted, "It served its purpose." He replied before he headed over to his closet and tugged out a t-shirt before pulling it over his head and heading over to his dresser. "So, do I want to know what you're doing right now?" Atemu asked.
"Writing down the name, phone number and address for every jewelry store within a hundred miles of us." Yami said.
Atemu paused while tugging on a pair of jeans to gape at Yami, "What's wrong with the three different Jewelry stores in the mall?" Atemu asked.
"Nothing is wrong with them. Trust me I have them wrote down as well. Just if we don't see anything we like there I wanted to have some other places we could try jotted down." Yami said.
Atemu sighed as he finished tugging on his pair of jeans, "You are too good for him Yami." Atemu muttered.
Yami chuckled, "As you often tell me Ate. Personally, I wonder if I'm good enough for Yugi some days. There is just something about him that keeps making me strive to be better for him." Yami said.
Atemu rolled his eyes as he straightened up, "So says the person who is planning on spending all day hunting for the perfect engagement ring and Yugi couldn't even be bothered to remember your birthday this summer." Atemu grumbled.
Yami rolled his eyes as his followed Atemu out of their dorm, "In Yugi's defense you do know he was neck deep in preparations for a Duel Monsters tournament when my birthday came around. It was an honest mistake." Yami said.
"And we have midterms coming up in a couple of weeks. Something that we both know is way more important than a duel monsters tournament. You aren't putting those before Yugi. So, why then are you saying its okay for Yugi to put Duel Monsters before you?" Atemu asked.
Yami rolled his eyes, "As I said Atemu, it was fine. Really. Yugi did wish me a belated happy birthday when he finished with the tournament." Yami said.
Atemu snorted, "Yeah, five weeks late. And only after I mentioned something about how we didn't have a big party celebrating your 19th birthday yet. And that we probably should. Even if it was already super late." Atemu said.
Yami snorted, "And like I said Ate, I understood. Besides you make it sound like my birthday was terrible or something. It wasn't." Yami said.
Atemu nodded, "Yes, I'm aware. Because I made sure that we got out and had a grand old time. Which as your best friend was certainly my job." Atemu replied before he climbed into the passenger seat of Yami's car.
Yami rolled his eyes as he climbed into the drivers seat, "Seriously though Ate, can we please just drop that Yugi forgot my birthday? It was one time and like I said, its not like he did it on purpose." Yami said.
Atemu sighed, "Fine. You win Yami, I'll drop it." Atemu said.
"Good, now let's go and find that ring for Yugi." Yami said as he pulled out of the parking lot and headed for their first stop, which was the Domino Mall.
XXXXXX
Much to Atemu's shock and horror he and Yami did end up spending the vast majority of their day out shopping for Yugi's engagement ring. To make things worse they ended up actually driving all the way to Poker Town before they actually managed to find a ring that Yami thought was perfect. Atemu immediately agreed with Yami's opinion because to be fair at this point Atemu honestly didn't care any more although he did have enough common sense to know that Yami spending 5,000 on a ring was not something that he was going to be commenting on.
Atemu sat back and stared up at the ceiling of the upscale jewelry store he and Yami had ended up in. Yami chuckled to briefly at his friends antics before he turned his attention back onto the jeweler.
"Now I was wondering if on the inside of the ring you could engrave it. I want you to put 'Aibou you are my missing piece.'" Yami said.
The jeweler nodded and noted down the wanted inscription on Yami's order form. "Will this be cash, credit or would you like to set up a payment plan?" The jeweler inquired.
Yami pulled out his debit card. "Credit." Yami said as he swiped his card and signed his name on the receipt knowing that this was definitely worth the 5094.00 hit to his bank account. Yugi would love it and that was all that mattered at the end of the day.
Once he had finished paying for the ring he and Atemu finally headed out of the jewelry store. The jeweler would call him when the ring was ready to be picked up and that probably wouldn't be for a couple of weeks since there was a lot of customization that Yami had opted for. But, that was probably for the best since it would give him a couple of weeks to try and plan out the perfect proposal for Yugi.
"So, where to now Romeo?" Atemu sarcastically asked as they climbed into the car together.
Yami shrugged, "I don't know. Where would you like to go Ate?" Yami asked.
Atemu shrugged, "After everything today. You and I are going out tonight." Atemu muttered.
Yami rolled his eyes before he pulled back out onto the street and began the two hour drive back to Domino. "Sure, you win Ate. We'll go out tonight." Yami replied. It wasn't something he and Atemu did very often but Atemu would manage to on occasion convince Yami to join him at a club not a far walk from their college campus. Although yes, Yami was fully aware that drinks and dancing was going to e on the menu.
The pair made it back to Domino at 8pm, which meant they had just enough time to change and grab something quickly to eat from the cafe before they made their way down to the club and joined the line that was already forming up out front.
Once the pair had finally made it through the line and entered the very loud club Atemu immediately grabbed Yami by the wrist and dragged him out onto the floor to dance. Yami couldn't help but smile as he attempted to keep up with the other dancers who were flailing around on the dance floor. He chuckled when Atemu grabbed a hold of his hand and spun Yami around before the pair ended up standing back to front with Atemu's hands resting on Yami's hips as they danced.
The two continued to dance before Yami pulled himself out of Atemu's arms and headed over to the bar to get something to drink. He didn't need to look to know that Atemu had followed him.
"You know judging by the way we were dancing people would get the wrong idea about us. They'd think we were lovers instead of just friends." Yami commented as the bartender filled his and Atemu's order.
Atemu shrugged, "Well, then they would be idiots. That's just the way people dance." Atemu replied.
Yami nodded before he accepted his drink from the bartender and taking a few large gulps while Atemu did the same. Once the pair had finished their drinks they headed back out onto the dance floor with Atemu again pulling Yami close, his hands on Yami's hips and Yami's own hands were draped around Atemu's shoulders as they danced.
XXXXXX
When Yami woke up the next morning it was definitely for a very big surprise. He was back in his dorm room which is exactly where he had expected to be and the morning sun was beginning to peek in through the closed blinds, and the light certainly bothering Yami's already throbbing head. The surprise came however when he could clearly see his bed across the room, unslept in.
He glanced down to see that he himself was asleep in Atemu's bed with Atemu's tan arms wrapped around his waist as his friend snored away. A tiny part of his was relieved to see that Yami at least still had his boxers on which meant he and Atemu at least hadn't had sex. But, they did end up in bed together which by itself was certainly worrying.
Yami carefully reached down and untangled Atemu's hands from around his waist which allowed him to slip out of Atemu's bed. Atemu rolled onto his back, still continuing to snore as Yami slowly climbed out of the bed. He glanced briefly at Atemu's sleeping form and internally winced when he could make out what appeared to be several hickies on Atemu's throat and even a few on his chest.
Yami leaned in closer. Is that a bite mark? Yami wondered as he looked at what clearly to him looked like a bite mark on Atemu's left pectoral. Yami turned his attention away from the marks on Atemu's body and forced himself to pick up his own clothes which had been tossed to the floor not far from Atemu's bed and grabbing a towel to take a shower while his mind tried to piece together what had happened last night.
The last thing he really remembered was dancing with Atemu in the club. The two were tipsy for sure three or four drinks on a relatively empty stomach would do that. But Yami didn't even remember him and Atemu leaving the club. Let alone whatever craziness had happened when they had returned to their dorm.
Yami walked into the bathroom and took a good look at himself in the mirror. His eyes making note of the hickeys on his own throat as well and as Yami continued to inspect himself in the mirror he discovered there was a hickey on just behind his right ear. Clearly he and Atemu ended up making out with one another after they got back last night...although why that would even happen Yami didn't have the foggiest idea.
Yami decided to put the thought out of his mind as he climbed into the shower. One thing he did know for certain was that he was never going to tell Yugi about whatever it even was that had happened. Besides, it was never going to happen again and at the end of the day Yami knew that he loved Yugi with all of his being and that he was going to marry him. And that they were going to grow old together. No point in jeopardizing that because of some crazy thing that happened when both he and Atemu had ended up getting themselves drunk.
Now, I wonder if it would be a good idea to propose to Yugi at a Duel Monsters match? The national finals are in about two months. If I'm lucky I should be able to get the pair of us some tickets to the match. And I can pay to have 'Yugi will you marry me?' appear on one of those jumbo-trons. Yami mused as he finished his shower. And the more the thought about the idea the more he liked it. And more importantly the more he knew that Yugi would like it. And that was what made everything even better in Yami's mind.
XXXXXXX
Yami was drawn from his trip down memory lane by the arrival of the doctor. The doctor gave Yami a small smile, "Well, Mr. Dark, I have some good news for you." The doctor said.
"And what good news is that?" Yami asked after everything that had happened so far Yami figured he was more than overdue for some good news. Hell, some okay news would be great as far as Yami was concerned.
"You've managed to hit all of the benchmarks that we were looking for which means that you are officially cleared for discharge." The doctor declared.
Yami couldnt' help the small smile the appeared on his face. "That's great news. So, when will I be able to leave?" Yami asked.
"The nurse should be coming in in about an hour to go over all your discharge instructions with you and get you unhooked. You'll have to make an appointment to follow up regarding your progress as well as get yourself set up with some physical therapy. But, given where we were when all of this began you have made quite a bit of progress." The doctor said.
Atemu cleared his throat, "I'll be the one doing Yami's physical therapy with him." Atemu said.
The doctor nodded, "That's wonderful. You are quite fortunate that you have such a good friend who is able to help you out. I wish you both the best of luck." The doctor said before he turned and strode out of the room.
Atemu turned his attention back onto Yami after the doctor left, "I bet you are ready to get out of here." Atemu said.
Yami snorted, "More than you could possibly ever guess Ate. I am sick and tired of being cooped up in this bed. Even knowing that I'm going to be stuck in a wheelchair doesn't really take a much away from being released from the hospital as I thought that it might have." Yami said.
Atemu nodded, "Right, and like I said. Everything is all set up for you at my apartment. It'll probably be awkward as hell for the first while, but trust me. We'll get through this together." Atemu said.
Yami nodded, "And I believe you Ate. And yes, as bad as its going to be with you having to dress and undress me and bathe me in my mind that's somehow not as bad as the thought of my mother having to do that all over again." Yami said.
Atemu nodded, "Don't worry. I'll do my best to not make things too awkward. I promise." Atemu said.
Yami shrugged, "And that'll have to be good enough." Yami said.
Atemu was quiet for a moment, "So, what is the first thing that you want to do when you get out of here?" Atemu asked.
Yami snorted, "Other than me being honest and say 'walk' I don't know. I haven't really thought about it to be perfectly honest. Been more just focusing on getting out of here." Yami replied.
Atemu nodded, "Don't worry. I get that, believe me I get that." Atemu said, pausing for a moment before adding, "Although, it might be a good idea to have you call Mahado after we get you released. When Tea and I went by your place we saw that he had left about 50 messages for you. He sounded very worried." Atemu said.
Yami nodded, "Yeah, I'll do that when we get out of here." Yami paused, a teasing smirk slipping on his face, "But, you do have me curious why you and Tea were spending so much quality time together? Do I sense a developing romance Ate?" Yami teased.
Atemu rolled his eyes, "Oh will you knock it off. There is nothing going on between me and Tea." Atemu muttered.
Yami snorted, "And unless something drastic has changed in the last five months that I've been gone then the fact there is nothing going on between you and her isn't for any lack of desire on Tea's part. She's been crushing on you since high school." Yami said.
Atemu snorted once more, "Yes, yes. I know that. You've certainly mentioned it to me enough times over the years that even if I didn't notice it on my own, you'd make sure I knew." Atemu playfully growled.
Yami grinned, "Well, as your best friend it was my job to make sure you knew such things. Couldn't have you being caught completely unaware about what was going on beneath the surface." Yami replied.
Atemu rolled his eyes, "And to think you're teasing me this much having heard that Tea went with me to Gin City. Imagine how much more you'd tease me if you knew that Tea supposedly was breaking up with Tristan yesterday and that she spent the night at my apartment last night." Atemu replied.
Yami's grin broadened before it slid off his face as he attempted to don a mock serious look, however the mirth shining in Yami's eyes gave the game away. Yami was certainly enjoying teasing his friend, and that knowledge was the whole reason Atemu had told his friend the rest of the story. He was just glad to see Yami smiling again. Even if the jokes were at his expense. "Atemu, Atemu, Atemu...now I know you've been out of the dating game for quite a long time..."
Atemu responded to this by playfully flipping Yami off. Yami just ignored his friends very mature response and continued as if Atemu hadn't reacted, "but when you have a pretty girl stay the night at your place...you know for a bit of a romantic rendezvous you kind of need to also be present." Yami finished, his face once more splitting into a teasing grin.
Atemu flushed at the teasing, although if Yami hadn't known Atemu as well as he did, he'd probably have missed it since Atemu had such darker skin. "Oh hush! Tea just needed some space to herself last night. She was just getting over breaking up with Tristan. The last thing she would have needed was me hanging around." Atemu muttered.
Yami's grin broadened, "But Ate, if that was the case then why did she come to YOU in the first place? Why didn't she go to Mai? No doubt Tea wanted nothing more than to spend the night lying curled up in your warm embrace as you reassured her that everything was going to be all right." Yami teased.
Atemu rolled his eyes, his face still burning from Yami's tease, "You know what Yami, fuck you!" Atemu muttered.
Yami just laughed and it wasn't long before Atemu joined him. The pair were still laughing when there was a light knock on the door before it was pushed open and in walked one of the nurses that had been helping to take care of Yami.
The nurse smiled, "I bet you're happy to see me, aren't you Mr. Dark." The nurse said.
Yami nodded, "Yes, you have to be the one I was hoping would come walking through that door, my beautiful bringer of freedom." Yami replied.
The nurse nodded, "I will say that I will definitely miss you. You are quite the charmer. But, I am glad that you get to be heading home." The nurse said.
Yami grinned, "And as much as I'm going to miss being surrounded by you and your fellow wonderful nurses I am really looking forward to getting out of here." Yami replied.
The nurse handed Yami a stack of paperwork, "Then lets get you discharged so you can get the hell out of here." The nurse replied. It thankfully didn't take too long for the nurse to go over all of Yami's discharge instructions again and for Yami to sign the paperwork.
"Well, then you are all set Mr. Dark. I'll let you friend get you dressed and then I'll wheel you down to the lobby so you can head on home." The nurse replied.
"Sounds like a plan." Yami replied before the nurse headed out of the room leaving him and Atemu alone once more.
Atemu however could be very businesslike when he needed to be. He walked over to Yami and immediately began unfastening the back of Yami's hospital gown before pulling the gown away and leaving Yami nude. Atemu unzipped the duffle bag that he had packed some of Yami's clothes into and pulled out a t-shirt which he tugged over Yami's head.
Yami rolled his eyes, "You do know Ate, I can still put my own shirt on. My arms still work just fine." Yami said.
Atemu shrugged, "If I'm dressing you then I might as well just do all of it." Atemu replied as he pulled out a pair of boxers which he pulled onto Yami's legs coming to a stop just below Yami's knees before repeating the process with his jeans as well. Atemu then wrapped an arm firmly around Yami's torso before lifting him off the hospital bed so that his feet were actually resting on the ground. "Yami, could you wrap your arm around my shoulders please? It'll make pulling up your boxers and pants easier." Atemu said.
Yami carefully wrapped his good arm around Atemu's shoulders which enabled Atemu to released his hold somewhat on Yami's torso and quickly tug the boxers up before repeating the process with Yami's pants and setting Yami onto the wheelchair the nurse had brought in and kneeling down to tug a pair of socks onto Yami's feet and putting on his shoes as well.
"There. You're all set." Atemu called out as he straightened up.
Yami nodded. "Thank you for that Ate." Yami replied.
Atemu just shrugged before he poked his head outside the hospital room door, letting the nurse know that Yami was ready to go. It was hospital policy that a nurse had to be the one who pushed Yami out on the wheelchair and to be honest Atemu needed to run and grab his car and pull it up in front of the hospital so they could get Yami loaded up.
The nurse walked into the room and smiled at Yami, "Alright Mr. Dark, let's get you out of here." The nurse said.
Yami nodded to the nurse who grabbed the wheelchair handles while Atemu quickly made his way to the elevator, already fishing his keys out of his pocket. The elevator dinged while Yami was still saying his good-bye to the nurses so Atemu stepped into the elevator before pressing the button to the lobby.
One thing was for sure he was definitely NOT going to miss spending all of his time in a hospital.
Atemu was almost to his car when he felt his cellphone buzz in his pocket. He fished the phone out to see that he had gotten a text message from Tea.
Atemu,
I just wanted to say thank you for everything you did for me yesterday. You really do have no idea how much what you did means to me. You are an amazing friend and I am lucky to have you in my life. In case you are wondering I did manage to break up with Tristan yesterday. He didn't take it the greatest but that is not my problem any more. (And you have no idea how GOOD it feels to say that). I probably never would have found the courage to finally end things with him if it hadn't been for you.
I know you said that Yami is going to be coming home today (or well, to your apartment at least) and that this might be a really bad time to ask but I was hoping that you and I could have dinner some time. My treat. (I would offer to make you dinner at your apartment but I have a feeling that would be a bit too awkward so that's why I didn't.)
I reached out to Yugi about staying with him for a while and he said that right now isn't a great time. I guess the hot water heater blew yesterday and Yugi spent most of last night with Joey's help mopping up water in the basement and pricing costs to get it replaced. So, until he gets that fixed he's actually going to be staying with his grandfather which means I can't stay with him.
I'm not even going to ask Joey because...well, because of rather obvious reasons. The main one being he's nosy as nosy can be and with one hell of a temper which would no doubt be triggered once I finally cracked and told him exactly why Tristan and I broke up, or more precisely the role his precious perfect angel of a sister played in that break up.
And don't worry, this isn't me telling you that I'll just be crashing at your apartment for the foreseeable future. That isn't fair to you or quite frankly to Yami either. Yami and I have never cleared the air after everything happened and squeezing all three of us into your apartment might make things tense and given that Yami is recovering form his injures he needs a peaceful, healing environment more than anything. Me and the drama my presence will bring is not going to be conducive to that. I managed to book myself a room at the Blue Eyes Hotel and hopefully that should at least tide me over for a few days while I still look at my other options.
I hope that everything went well with Yami getting discharged today and that you are able to get him settled in.
Talk to you when you can.
-Tea
Atemu sighed as he read Tea's text message before shoving his phone back into his pocket. He was glad to hear that she took his advice and broke up with Tristan but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't relieved that Tea hadn't invited herself to continue to crash on his couch. Things were going to be hard enough without having Tea puttering around his apartment as well.
Atemu climbed into his car and made his way over to the hospital main doors where the nurse was standing waiting with Yami. Atemu threw the car in park before he opened the door as the nurse pushed Yami closer to the car. Atemu made a point to push the passenger door open before he climbed out of the car.
"Could you collaspe the Wheelchair down and toss it in the back seat for me while I get Yami buckled in?" Atemu asked as he squatted down slipping his hands beneath Yami's knees and sliding his other arm around Yami's back and lifting him out of the car.
"Of course." The nurse replied as Atemu carefully carried Yami over to the passenger side door.
"Seriously Atemu, you are just full of surprises today! This is twice you've lifted me up like I don't weigh anything. When did you get so strong?" Yami asked.
Atemu smirked, "Lifting up a bunch of dead weight is actually part of my job sometimes. Besides, you really aren't that heavy Yami." Atemu replied before he carefully set Yami down on the passenger seat and closed the door allowing Yami to buckle himself in. He rounded the car just as the nurse finished putting the wheelchair into the back seat.
"Good luck to you both." The nurse said as she stepped back up onto the curb.
Atemu nodded, "Thank you. And thanks again for all of your help. It really means a lot." Atemu replied before he climbed into the car pulled out onto the road.
"So, Yami. Where to first?" Atemu asked.
Yami sighed, "As sad as it is despite the fact that I've spent the last eleven days in the hospital lying in a bed I still feel exhausted. Would you be okay if we just headed back to your apartment?" Yami asked.
Atemu nodded, "There is nothing wrong with that." Atemu replied as he turned onto main street.
He and Yami would get through this together. He'd said it before and he would say it again. No matter how bumpy the road of recovery might be he and Yami were going to drive it together and if Atemu did say so himself he was a pretty damn good driver.