Title: Legally Blond

Pairings: Eventual Puppyshipping (Seto/Joey), past Snareshipping (Duke/Joey). Sideships: Persevereshipping (Duke/Téa), Ardentshipping (Tristan/Serenity), Puzzleshipping (Yami/Yugi)

Rating: T

Words (Chapter 10): 2,019

Author's Notes: Okay, so this chapter was long enough on its own to a chapter, so I ended up stopping it there. Next chapter is written as well (by the way, this was written the same day Chapter 9 was, so I basically had 9, 10, 11 all done at once) and so is 12, so I'll just work on the next one and the next chapters of Of Blood & Spirit so that I can keep the updates flowing. Hope you all enjoy!

Joey's POV:

"Are you sure this doesn't look completely ridiculous?"

"No!"

"Yes."

I glared at the two figures in the mirror. I don't know why I made the mistake of coming back to 'A La Rhodes' after class to tell Yugi and Marik about the party. But I had, and now we were piled into Marik's apartment, costumes thrown around.

We were the same size, so that wasn't the problem. The problem was that most of the costumes he had were more revealing than his usual attire. The few that weren't just looked silly. Such was the one I had on right now, a dog costume.

"At least Marik's honest," I mumbled, pulling the head/hood off. "This is dumb. Can't I just wear your uniform and go as a waiter? Or better yet, I just don't go at all."

"You told Téa you'd go, Joey. You have to keep your word!"

"No, he doesn't." I swear, it was like having an angel and a devil on my shoulders. But the devil was winning out. "He has no obligation to go hang out with his ex and the ex's new fiancée. No one in their right mind would want to do that."

Yugi shook his head. "You two are impossible. Joey needs friends."

"I've got friends. Back at home and you two."

"I mean friends at school. Ones who you can study with who actually know what's going on in your classes."

I sighed and shook my head, moving to throw myself across Marik's bed. I almost expected him to say something dirty, but from what I could tell, the flirtiness was just a façade. I figured it was probably a way to get tips or something.

"I've had a long week and a weird day. I really don't want this to be the way I make friends."

"Why not? Right now you're dressed as man's best friend," Marik said, and I didn't lift my head up, just waved my hand around to try and hit him.

I'm pretty sure I missed. "I know who to ask. Marik, can I use your computer."

"I should say no because you tried to hit me, but go ahead."

I went over to his desk (or was it a vanity? It had a mix of books, papers, and makeup and hair stuff, so I guess he used it for both?) and logged into a video chat. I clicked my sister's name, smiling a little too wide when she picked up.

"Big brother! I miss you! You never have time to talk anymo—what are you wearing?" She giggled and I took a deep breath. I knew it. I looked ridiculous.

"Wait, Joey's on the phone?" I heard Tristan's voice, and in a few seconds, he and Ryou were on either side of Serenity. "Woah, dude, what are you wearing?"

Yugi and Marik came over to the computer, looking at the three of them.

"Oh, hello, you must be his new friends," Ryou greeted, waving a bit.

Marik raised his eyebrows before whispering in my ear and asking if he was single. I nudged him aside. "Guys, this is Marik and Yugi," I introduced, pointing them out separately. "And these are my old friends, Ryou, Tristan, and my sister Serenity." I let everyone greet each other before getting to the point. "Now, I need opinions because these two can't agree on anything."

"Is it about the fact that you're in a puppy suit?" Ryou asked.

"Well. Yes. I might be going to a costume party on campus."

"Which I think he should just not go to," Marik added.

"But I think he should because he told someone he would."

"That someone is his ex's fiancée, he does not need to keep that promise."

"What?"

"Fiancée?"

"Duke?"

I elbowed Marik in the ribs, though if I thought about it, it was my own fault. I should have told the three of them what happened before, but I didn't want to deal with it. Now, I had no choice.

"Yes, well, Duke's engaged, and his fiancée, I don't know. Maybe she doesn't know I dated him, maybe she doesn't care, maybe she thinks I'm no threat if we're friends… I really don't know, but she's actually pretty nice and invited me."

"Don't do it, man. Just focus on your studies and keep away from that prick and his friends."

"Tristan, if he told her he'd go, then he has to. It's quite rude not to."

I should have known Tristan and Ryou would tie up the vote again. I looked straight at my sister. "Serenity, what do you think?"

She tilted her head, giving me a sympathetic smile. "I think you should go. If you decide after that you don't want to be her friend, that's understandable. But it's not wrong to give her a chance."

I nodded. "Alright." I knew when I dialed her, I'd take whatever advice she gave me. "Thank you, sis. Now, as for the next question… Do I look ridiculous?"

"No, I like it."

"You look adorable."

"Yes."

Marik was still nodding along with Tristan, but I pushed him aside. Dog costume it was.

It took me a few minutes once I arrived at the dorm building to actually enter the common room. It was then that I realized – I was a total idiot.

The room was full of a good number of students. None of which were in a costume.

I looked even more ridiculous than I thought I did back at Marik's.

People were giggling at me and I grit my teeth. I would not blow up at them. I would be doing the same, if I went to a party where everyone was dressed in casual clothes and some weirdo showed up in a dog costume. But I was the weirdo, and I was pissed.

I made my way through the crowd to find Rebecca, who I found standing in a group of girls. They almost all laughed or spit out their drinks when I came into the circle. Téa's eyes were wide and her mouth dropped.

"Joey, what—"

"Hey, Rebecca, right? Thanks for the tip on the costume thing," I said pointedly.

Téa glared at the blonde, who giggled. "I didn't think you'd take me seriously. Or show up like that!"

"Rebecca," Téa gritted through her teeth. Maybe she wasn't so bad. Maybe.

"It was a joke! Come on, it's funny." Rebecca motioned to the other girls. Half were still laughing, but a couple looked at me as though they were suffering from secondhand embarrassment.

I nodded. "Yep. Pretty funny. Now, I'll be taking this," I grabbed a bottle of liquor, not quite sure what it was. I didn't drink; addiction ran in my blood and I avoided trying to trigger the gene if I could. I didn't know if I'd even be drinking this, or taking it just for spite. "And going back to my own dorm. Have a good weekend."

"Joey, wait," I heard Téa's voice as I left, not wanting to turn back around. I took a swig of the drink; it burned but oh well. I was on my way out when I bumped into someone. Literally.

"Holy shit, Joey? What are you wearing?" Figures. Let's just add Duke into this equation.

"I was told it was a costume party. My bad for listening," I said with a glare back to the girls. Téa seemed to be chewing Rebecca out. Good.

"Let me guess. Rebecca." He sounded unamused.

I nodded and tilted my head. "So I'm gonna just go."

He shook his head and took the bottle from me. "You don't drink. Don't start now. Come on, let's go find somewhere quiet."

"Why?" I asked, but I ended up following him anyway. We walked out of the common room to the main lounge.

"Because I should have talked to you a while ago."

"Oh." I awkwardly sat down on the couch and he sat on the coffee table in front of it. "So…?"

He sighed and looked at me. "I should have told you about Téa."

"Yeah, no kidding."

"I was just scared, and the reunion really did happen fast. We were together before I met you and I knew my family wanted me to marry her and I got scared and ended it, but then when we met up again... I know, there's no excuse, but I didn't think you'd be here so I was going to wait until I was back by Domino before telling you."

I didn't say anything, waiting for him to go on.

"This is not what I thought it'd be."

"Being engaged?"

He laughed. "Any of it. The engagement. Law school. Téa's stressed as hell, and I think the fact that I could not care less about flower arrangements and seating charts is making it worse. Rebecca's a piece of work, but she may just be the only reason I'm not drowning in school work. The professors are a lot tougher than I even realized and I don't know. I miss not being in law school, to be honest. I miss just having fun."

There he was again, talking about having fun. He took my hands (paws?) in his, giving a squeeze. "How are you holding up?"

I leaned in close, whispering. "I'm sitting here with my ex, wearing a dog costume. How does it seem like I'm holding up?"

He laughed and shook his head. "I missed you, Joey. I don't think I realized how much until now."

And just like that, god fucking dammit, my heart and stomach did that weird flippy thing, practically yelling at me to admit how much I miss him too. I didn't want to, heaven help me, but I did, and here we were alone.

"Does she know?" Thank you, brain, for letting that come out instead of something worse.

He pursed his lips. "Yeah, she does. She didn't, at first, but after that day, I told her. She really is a great girl; I just don't know if it's what I want." He looked around, as though afraid of someone hearing. I didn't blame him.

"What do you want then?"

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "I think you know, but I can't exactly do that. I need someone serious."

He needed to stop, and I needed to remind him how messed up this was, but my mouth ended up spewing, "I can be serious."

His eyebrow raised a little higher, holding my hands up a little and looking me up and down, as though to say, "Really?"

"I know, I look ridiculous, but come on. I'm in law school. Three months ago, you'd have thought this impossible. If you don't want to marry Téa, I think it's a little unfair to let her think you do, and then after we get the internships with Pegasus, your family will see how good for you I can be and –"

He was shaking his head and biting his lip, so I stopped. "Jojo, come on, be realistic. You don't think you're actually going to qualify for a spot in his internship, do you?"

Now was my turn to raise my eyebrow at him. "Excuse me?"

"Don't look at me like that. You're just not going to get the grades and –"

"Did I miss something here, or are we not in the same law school? The same one that's top of the country?"

"Well yeah, but –"

"We're in the same school, we took the same test to get in, we're in the same classes…" I took my hands back and stood up. "I'm never going to be good enough for you, am I?"

"Jojo, come on, that's not what I'm saying," he pleaded and I chuckled.

"Oh, screw you, Duke. I hope Téa realizes what a mistake she's making." I shook my head and walked out, not even caring if the door slammed behind me. I walked to the other side of campus before breaking down, dropping onto a bench and put my face in my hands.

Author's Notes: Guess what next chapter is? Puppyshipping! Stay patient, my loyal readers. It will be up soon. It's a little shorter than the others and then 12 is shorter still, but I like where they're at.