Rain pounded against the windows of Seto Kaiba's home office as he paused in his work long enough to blink his tired eyes and realize that he'd been working later than he anticipated. Wasn't Ryou supposed to have been here over an hour ago? Seto immediately felt a twinge of guilt and checked his phone for any explanatory texts or missed calls from his boyfriend, only to see that there was nothing. This wasn't like Ryou at all. He felt even more guilty for not realizing that his British boy was probably in trouble in some way. He began to call Ryou's cell, praying that he would pick up and here that he was alright. After Mokuba had been kidnapped half a dozen times, Seto had learned to be paranoid about the safety of those he kept close to his heart.
As the dial tone began grating into Seto's ears, Ryou himself slipped quietly through the doors. Seto immediately hung up and stood, approaching him. "You're soaked," he stated with shock. As he got closer, he noticed that not only were Ryou's hair and clothes soaked with rain, but his cheeks were stained with tears. His head hung low, making him look like an abandoned puppy as he shouldered his duffel bag anxiously. Seto cupped Ryou's cheeks in his hands, angling Ryou's face towards his own as he inspected it more closely. "Something's wrong. What happened? You're not hurt, are you?"
"I'm not hurt," he choked out as he started to shiver, water still dripping from the ends of his hair. He glanced away, unable to stare into those penetrating sapphire eyes any longer.
"Well, we'd better get you out of these wet clothes and warmed up, or you will get sick," Seto said firmly, gently taking the duffel bag from his partner and shouldering it for him as he took his hand and led him to the master bedroom. Ryou was unwilling to speak, and he was clearly deeply upset by something, but despite Seto's deep-seated concern, he didn't know how to push the subject or probe for details without making things worse. Usually, things were the other way around for them: Seto was the one upset and reticent while Ryou with his sunny smile and warm chocolate eyes would know exactly how to make his partner feel comfortable enough to open up and allow himself to be consoled.
Seto noticed that Ryou's bag was heavier than usual, but decided not to comment on it just yet. Neither of them spoke until they were embracing in the jacuzzi tub in Seto's bathroom, the water hot enough to be a hot-tub. The brunette was gently washing away all trace of tears from his lover's eyes when he whispered, "Please say something, Ryou. You're scaring me."
Ryou inhaled shakily, closing his eyes for a moment as he fought for composure. "My father came home today. I-It's the first time I've seen him in years. Apparently his last venture lost all of its sponsors, and he decided that he and his… fiance"—Seto didn't miss how Ryou winced when he spoke that particular word—"Would finally come to Domino and settle down, for at least a little bit, until his next trip. H-He didn't tell me that he was coming, so when I came home from work to find him in the apartment, it was quite a shock. H-He said he wanted to reconnect with me, and so we started to talk, and…"
Ryou wrapped his arms around himself in a reassuring manner as he tried to find the courage to keep going, and Seto hugged him as well, pulling him further under the water until it was up to his pale, graceful shoulders. Seto worried that Ryou still felt cold, and hoped that the heat alone would begin to soothe him.
"Well, first he was upset that I don't have the Millennium Ring anymore, and when I tried to explain to him about the Evil Spirit, he accused me of lying." Even Seto had to wince at that; for his own father to accuse Ryou of making up what had essentially been a long-term torture of spiritual, emotional, psychological, and physical abuse wasn't just insensitive, it was cruel in its own way. "When I finally got him off of that topic, he started asking about my personal life, and, well… he wasn't very happy to hear that I'm gay." Ryou's voice broke on the last word, and he hid his face in his hands. Seto felt rage beginning to build up within him towards the elder Bakura. "H-He yelled for a bit, said he was ashamed of me. Then he disowned me, told me that I had an hour to get my things out of the apartment he's been paying for all this time, and left. I packed everything that was important, then I just walked all the way here."
"I'm sorry, Ryou," Seto whispered, doing his best to restrain his temper. Getting angry wouldn't help him. "It doesn't matter what he thinks about us, or what anybody thinks. If love is such a wonderful thing, why does it matter who we fall in love with? You're staying here with me; don't even dream of going anywhere else, or of going back to him. His loss is my gain." Seto was doing his absolute best to sound encouraging and positive, and though it sounded incredibly strange to his own ears, he'd believed it to be what Ryou wanted to hear. When he started crying again, though, Seto became confused. What had he done wrong?
"For the longest time, I just wanted my dad to come home," Ryou whispered between sobs as Seto held him close. "I always thought that if he just came home, things would be better, that I wouldn't miss my mom and sister so much, that maybe the Evil Spirit wouldn't be able to hurt me anymore if he was around. I believed that for so long, because it was my only hope for things ever getting better. I was always grateful that at least I wasn't completely alone, at least I hadn't lost my whole family, but now he's gone too, and I just…" Seto rocked him gently as his beloved wept into his shoulder. Seto could understand what he was feeling, to a degree. Their pasts weren't quite the same, but they were similar enough that Seto could genuinely empathize with him.
"I'm sorry, Ryou," he whispered at last. He thought for a few minutes, then suggested deviously, "You know, you could still show up at the wedding, just to spite him."
"I doubt I'll be receiving an invitation, so I won't even know when or where it is," Ryou muttered disappointedly. He didn't even know what his father's fiance looked like or what her name was, but he would have been welcoming to the woman, whoever she was, when he did finally meet her. Much as he hated the thought of his mother being replaced, having a step-mother was better than nothing at all, right? Now, thinking about their impending wedding just made the freshly-orphaned teen feel sick.
The two of them sat in uncomfortable silence for a little while, Seto's fingers combing out Ryou's tangled hair. He pressed his lips to the pale forehead and murmured, "I know that it's not the same, but I hope that my love can help to make up for the family you've lost." His lips sought Ryou's, and their kiss was a deep, soul-wrenching blend of bittersweet grief.
"Perhaps spending more time with Mokuba will help with that too," he added during a momentary intermission. He knew how much Ryou still missed Amane; he continued writing letters to her on a weekly basis, which Seto had found to be both novel and touching when he first found out. "We're your family now, so don't you dare think that you're alone."