Hey guys! Thank you so much for the comments! Hope you all had a great New Year and didn't suffer as much as I did cough-hangover-cough lol. Well here's the next chapter up for you all.

Domino High presents: Romeo and Juliet

Chapter 11

Day before opening night. A whole day of rehearsals and it's easy to believe that it was busier than usual. Everyone was rushing around making sure that their costumes and props were ready for the next day. Most of the principal cast were hovering at their stands, sorting out their outfits for the multiple costume changes they had throughout the play. Things hadn't changed much. Joey still gave Yami deadly stares whilst Yami kept trying to find new ways to trip up and hurt him. But today Yami was completely in his own world. He couldn't care less about the ugly mug giving him growlers from across the room… or Tea trying to get Ms Williams to allow her to share the same dressing room as him. Fair enough it made him sick inside but he was too preoccupied with thoughts and feelings. Once again it was a battle of the wits. Should he or should he not like Yugi? Was this all because of his stupid hormones? Or was this the true feeling of love? He sighed to himself. He still felt hurt and betrayed that Yugi couldn't trust him with the whole situation beforehand. And how could he believe that bitch over him!? This is what made him angry and emotional sometimes. Late at night he'd usually find himself crying himself to sleep over the whole thing. He always thought it was stupid to get himself this worked up. But how could he help it? How could he not feel hurt? How could he not feel alone? He loved Yugi and it was as if he had just been tossed aside at the slightest accusation. For the umpteenth time, he reshuffled his hangers to make it look like he was doing something. To be honest, he couldn't actually be bothered being here. For the past few weeks he wished that this play could just end. It had screwed everything up…

"Bloody Shakespeare, who listens to you anyway…" he mumbled.

"I happen to find Shakespeare's words very appealing actually…" Yami jumped and turned round, "I think you've shuffled your costumes enough dear."

"I… sorry Miss… I was just…"

"…In a world of your own? Everyone can see that…" she finished. Yami glanced around him and noticed several class mates looking at him. He gave an embarrassed wave. "I thought you were going to break the whole stand the way you were going… If you're having troubles please don't take it out on my things." Yami's cheeks flushed bright red.

"Sorry Miss…" Ms Williams sighed.

"Well since you seem to be finished, I have another task for you." She handed him a small notebook. "I want you to go under the stage…"

"Under the stage?" asked Yami puzzled.

"Through the trap door yes… anyway…"

"There's a trap door?" Ms Williams ignored Yami's reply and began walking towards the main stage and handed him a small torch.

"And I want you to switch on all the separate light boxes…" she grabbed the book off of him and flipped it open. "Set all the boxes to high, medium or low… it says which one on each diagram." She abruptly handed it back, almost making him drop his torch. "Each box has its number on it in white marker. There are a lot of them so make sure you read the things correctly. I don't have time to sort 42 boxes…"

"42!! But why do we…"

"Back ups dear! Back ups!" she replied with a shrill voice. They reached the trap door towards the back of the stage. Yami never knew that there was a trap door… "Three separate lights in each box. And before you ask dear there are three lights on every bar…" she huffed in a 'it's completely obvious' tone.

"Ok… that's fine. I'll cope."

"Well if you need help then I can easily call over someone else to help you. I think Tea…"

"NO!" Ms Williams looked at him with a startled expression. Yami laughed nervously, "er… I mean no thank you. It's fine." He gave his handsome smile which made Ms Williams sigh before walking away. He switched on his torch before sliding down through the trap door. "The last person I need near me anyway!!" he grumbled.

OOOOOoooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOooooo

Half an hour later the lunch bell rang so all the students made a run for the café. 1) get their lunch and 2) get away from Ms Williams. Yami- who had decided to eat his lunch 10 minutes ago- continued flicking switches on the light boxes.

"They should get the janny to do this…" he said for the sixth time. "First dumb Shakespeare, then dumb Ms Williams… OUCH!" he looked at the ground to see what had hit him on the head. He picked up the packet and shone his torch on it, "… and now some feckin peanuts!" he shouted.

"God sake! Calm down man!! They're only peanuts…" Ryou appeared at the trap door.

"Why are you throwing peanuts at me anyway?" grumbled Yami. Ryou laughed.

"Well I figured that you would be hungry so I thought I'd bring you something to eat. But there's a sign outside that says do not feed the animal… so I threw them to make sure teach didn't see." Yami laughed along with him.

"Oh ha-ha! Such a comedian!"

"So you coming then?" asked Ryou. Yami shook his head.

"Nah not at the moment… I'll just finish this off and I'll meet ya…" He flicked another switch and ticked off the diagram on the page.

"Alright… bye then." Yami gave him a wave and Ryou disappeared. For the next five minutes there was only the sound of clicking switches until the sound of footsteps made him stop. Silence… until…

'O Romeo, Romeo! Werefore art thou Romeo?

Deny thy father, and refuse thy name;

Or, thou wilt not, but be sworn my love

And I'll no longer be a Capulet.'

"Yugi?" whispered Yami as he peered out of the trap door. And sure enough it was.

"No… it has to be better then that…" he heard him mumble before reciting the lines again. He found himself resting his head in his hands and watching him dreamily.

'What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet.' He stopped reciting and sat down cross legged on the floor.

"I'm so confused…" he sighed. Yami raised his head and listened intently. "Love… it's like a rose but with thorns. It doesn't have that sweet smell forever. It never has a happily ever after…"

"Sure it does Yugi…" whispered Yami.

"Romeo and Juliet is exactly the same. Sure they die together but what's so happy about that!? I mean… Cinderella is happy love… Snow White… me and Yami…" he paused and then lay down on his back. "What am I saying… that's not happy love either…" Yami frowned. "It's over… that's not exactly happy. Arghhhh!" he rolled over onto his front. "I'm just so confused! I want to tell Yami but I can't! I want to patch us up… but I can't!" Images of their past romance flashed through his mind, bringing tears to his eyes. Even the scene last week came to mind, when he leant his head on Yami's shoulder. The same magical sensation had come over him that day. It was as if things were like they once were. Only that kind of sensation came from Yami. "I can't even look him in the eye anymore! It's that bad!" he gulped. Tears began to roll down his cheeks. "I don't want to deal with this anymore! I can't take this pain! I have to get it sorted!" he wept. Yami bit his lip.

'Does Yugi still feel uncomfortable with our past? Is he starting to regret it… regret us?' He looked back over to Yugi. His head was buried in his arms.

"I've put him through too much pain!!" Yami bit his lip again. He never liked seeing Yugi like this. Maybe it was also time for him to let go… He shook this thought out of his head.

"Never… I…I…love him…" he breathed, wiping a single tear of his own away. "And that's never going to change. Even if Yugi doesn't return my same feelings again, I can go through love's pain for as long as it takes." He pushed himself up onto the stage and made his way towards Yugi. It was like Yugi's sadness was seeping through his skin and making him feel the same way- lonely, afraid and confused- all at once. He sat down next to Yugi and immediately brought him up and pulled him into a hug. Without even questioning Yugi wrapped his arms around him and cried into his chest. Something inside him knew it was Yami so he didn't need to look. Only Yami could turn a simple hug into something beautiful.

"Yugi… shhhh… please don't cry…" cooed Yami, rocking him slightly. Yugi sniffed and wiped away his tears with the back of his hand. "I can't recognise you behind all these tears…" he said, almost in a whisper. Yugi closed his eyes at the sound of Yami's voice. For the first time in weeks he felt safe. The embrace of Yami's arms protected him from the world around him. He felt warm inside. He felt whole. Yugi laid his head against Yami's chest and listened to the gentle beat of his heart. Yami stroked Yugi's hair and closed his eyes. "The world is sad enough without your tears Yugi…" he said softly.

"I…I'm sorry…" gulped Yugi, wiping more tears away.

"Why should you be sorry?" asked Yami looking at him with concern. Yugi shook his head.

"It's… just I keep ending up looking weak…around you. And…"

"Yugi! For god sake worry about you for a change rather than everyone else…" he wiped Yugi's face with the sleeve of his jumper. "Look… I know that something is wrong. But if you don't want to talk then fair enough." Yugi looked at him, still holding tightly onto his top. He sniffed,

"Sometimes… a person needs to take care of things by himself…"

"Well, a wise true friend said to me only a couple of days ago 'you shouldn't carry the burden of your problems by yourself,'" he quoted, before smiling warmly down at Yugi who gave a small smile back.

"I guess…" he shrugged slightly, laying his head back down on Yami's shoulder.

"Is that all you've got to say?" laughed Yami, "I guess?" he shook his head and tutted, "You should respect your own advice Yugi. It was one of the most meaningful things I heard that day. Now come on… I hate seeing you like this… I want my Yugi back." He smiled, stroking his hair gently. Yugi blushed at the gesture.

"I'm surprised that you still care and act so sympathetically towards me…" he sighed with a hint of sadness. Yami's grip tightened around him.

"This is what I'm here for… to keep you safe. To keep all the people I love and care about safe."

TBC…

Thought I'd end it there lol. Hope you liked it. Please leave your comments so I can hopefully get the next chapter up a bit quicker. Thanks again for the reviews on the previous chapter. Take care xx