Hannah: "Hey you guys! Quick update yeah? I'm getting better. I guess I have just really been in the mood to write lately, also probably because I have internet now! Lol! That could be a factor. Anyhoo… Here's the next chapter. Bakura baby?"

Bakura: "If Hannah owned Yu-gi-oh, she would have bought herself a thousand Pharaoh blow-up dolls and punched them all in the face and called them fags…"

Hannah: "No sweetheart, that's just you." Smiles angelically.

Bakura: "Stupid Pharaoh…" Takes a Pharaoh plushy and flushes is down the toilet.

Hannah:

Chapter Nineteen:

Seto Kaiba was currently sitting in front of his laptop with the bag of cocaine on his desk. He was intently staring at it. Sure, it was wonderful feeling, but Kaiba couldn't imagine his life revolving around it. Kaiba knew that he shouldn't have tried it. But he just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Why Joey did it.

He sighed. We all had our little escapes. Mokuba's was video games. Yugi's was duel monsters. Joey's was cocaine. And Kaiba's used to be dual monsters until… Until he found something better. His dirty little secret. The one that nobody knew about; not even Mokuba, who knew most everything about him. Seto pulled up his sleeve and stared at his pale arm. It was covered in scars. Some were crisscrossing at jagged angles, while others were precisely lined up. Seto sighed and pulled his sleeve back down. People always wondered why he always wore long black sleeve shirts and heavy trench coats. To hide his secret. Seto couldn't really get on to Joey about doing cocaine when he was hacking his arms up… But Seto hadn't done it in about a month and a half and he was proud of it. Sure, he felt the strong urge to harm himself sometimes but he had just bit his lip really hard instead. Sometimes, so hard it bled. But people didn't notice that. Marred arms on the other hand, were very noticeable.

It was about lunch time now and Joey and still not come out of his room. After Seto had snorted the line, it became uncomfortable between them and Seto had left, only to feel uncomfortable in his study. He was worried. What if something had happened to Joey? What if he had overdosed? He didn't know, and things Seto Kaiba didn't know, worried him. So, after sitting in his study, worrying for a couple of hours, he got up and went to the kitchen to make some more coffee and to worry there. After worrying there, he decided that all this worrying was giving him a headache so he took about 5 pills of Advil. Then he worried that he might have taken too much. He then worried that he might be worrying too much and might need to think about getting a shrink. Then he worried about the worrying that would cause and worried some more. Finally he realized that he was going through all this worrying and all he had to do was to go and check up on Joey. He made up his mind and climbed the winding staircase, trying to contain his worry.

'There we go again…'

Kaiba slowly creaked the door open and peered inside. He found Joey saying on the bed with his eyes open, staring at the ceiling. Seto knocked on the door. Joey lifted his head to look at the CEO. He laid his head back down.

"What do you want Seto…" Joey asked in a mild voice.

Kaiba closed the door to give them some privacy.

"To talk…"

Joey motioned for him to sit on the bed. Kaiba obeyed. Joey looked at him expectantly. When he didn't receive an answer he asked:

"What do you want to talk about?"

Kaiba sighed. Now that he knew that Joey was ok, he didn't really know what to say… Casual conversation looked good.

"How are you feeling?"

Joey shrugged.

"I've felt better. My high is gone and I'm kind of bored. You?"

Kaiba imitated Joey and shrugged.

"I've felt better as well… I've had my nurse order some bruise salve. It should be here tomorrow. I also need to look at those cuts and scratches and re-bandage them."

Joey looked mildly shocked.

"They're bandaged?"

Kaiba nodded.

"I hadn't noticed. When did you bandage them?"

"I just bandaged your back. I did it while you were asleep the other day. But they probably need to be rewrapped."

Joey nodded.

"Will you let me do that now?"

Joey paused, like he was thinking about it, then nodded again. Seto went to get the gauze from the cabinet in the bathroom. He always had a bunch handy if he cut his arms too deep. Seto grabbed a role and sat back on the bed. Joey carefully removed the silk shirt and pajama bottoms that Seto and lent him. Kaiba inwardly cringed. He had seen Joey's beat-up body before, but it never failed to amaze him how exactly "beat-up" he was. Joey blushed as he felt Seto's eyes on him. He knew he looked pretty bad, but when Seto stared, it just made it worse. Joey cleared his throat and Kaiba snapped out of his trance. Kaiba started to peel the blood-covered gauze from Joey's thin frame. Joey winced. Seto felt bad, but he had to do this or else the cuts might get infected.

"I'm sorry… It will probably sting a bit. The new gauze I'm about to put on has disinfectant on it."

Joey just nodded. Seto finished pulling the last piece of bloody gauze off and tossed it into the pile of bandages on the floor. He looked at the healing cuts. They were pretty red and swollen, some probably infected. He gingerly ran his finger lightly over one large one that ran across his entire back. It was deep and raised and bright red.

"Where did this one come from Joey?" He asked tenderly.

Joey sighed and clenched his fists, deciding whether or not to tell Kaiba. But he did know so much already, and he was just trying to help. He whispered it so softly, Seto had to ask him to repeat it.

"A whip."

Joey turned his head away and Kaiba knew that was the all he was going to get, which was enough. The fact that Joey had told him made Kaiba want to jump for Joy. Seto sighed… At least he was getting somewhere…