Chapter 20

Joey had ended up staying the night at the Muto residence. With no spare room in the house, he'd crashed on the sofa, but he hadn't minded at all. He could sleep anywhere. The morning sun was creeping into the room from behind the curtains and the birds were singing gleefully to each other. He lay on the sofa, staring up at the ceiling. He'd been awake for a while now but had no desire to get up. He wasn't sure exactly what time it was but from the birds singing outside it was early. He also didn't want to accidentally wake anyone up by moving around. After letting him crash here for the night he didn't want to be rude and wake them. Letting out a yawn he stretched, closing his eyes in the hope that by some miracle he'd fall asleep again. But no sooner then he'd closed his eyes a noise caught his attention, it sounded as though something was moving behind him. He opened his eyes, as he did there was a small click behind him. Sitting up Joey turned around. The door to the kitchen was shut and from the noise he could hear, it seemed as though the kettle was boiling. Getting to his feet he stretched again before moving towards the door. If there was someone else awake, then he might as well keep them company. Joey opened the door and stepped into the kitchen. The former Pharaoh was bracing himself against the counter, his head bowed. He was still in his pyjamas, the short-sleeved t-shirt he was wearing couldn't hide the damage done to his arms. Joey couldn't help but look at the cuts, all at various stages of healing. Only his left arm remained bandaged so he couldn't see the damage there. But Joey's eyes locked on the exposed wrist. A deep cut encircled his wrist, it still looked rather angry. Joey also noted that Atem was carefully keeping his weight off one foot, which he safely assumed was the broken one. He could just see the black straps encasing it, keeping the ankle stable. His blood boiled at the thought of what the once King had been through, but all that mattered now was that Atem was on the mend.

He moved further into the room, which caught the attention of the other. Atem looked up, he looked almost surprised to see Joey.

"Forgive me, I did not mean to wake you." He said.

Joey shook his head, "You didn't, I was already awake. Why are you awake so early?"

He took in the other's appearance. Atem looked rather tired, his eyes looked dull, a tell-tale sign that he'd not slept well. This didn't seem right as he'd been the first to retire upstairs the previous evening.

"I found…" He started slowly, "I found it hard to sleep."

Joey frowned, "Because of pain? Do you need something?"

Atem shook his head quickly as Joey looked round to see if he could find anything that might help.

"No Joey, I have that side of this well under control. That's not –"

But he broke off, looking away, wishing he hadn't spoken. He'd given away too much. Joey was sure to have caught on to what he'd almost said. Next to him the kettled whistled as it finished boiling. He just caught what Joey said over the noise of the kettle.

"You can't sleep because of what happened, can you?"

He really didn't want to answer that. This was not something he should talk about. He could handle it, he was handling it. In an attempt to not answer he busied himself with dropping a tea bag into the mug in front of him and filling the mug with water from the kettle. But in the moments he'd not been looking, Joey had closed the distance between them.

"Does Yugi know about this?"

He sighed, there was no way he could get out of this.

"No, he does not need to."

"But he'd want to know, he'd want to help. Don't keep this hidden."

Atem closed his eyes, bracing himself against the counter again.

"I'm not hiding anything. I will deal with this, I have done it before. I will be fine."

Joey supressed a groan of frustration. He knew the Pharaoh could be notoriously stubborn when he wanted to be, but this was different. It was apparent he was struggling to deal with what had happened. He didn't have to do this alone, which he seemed to believe he had to.

"I know you don't want to talk about what happened. I don't think I'd want to, but if it's causing you this much trouble then you need to talk about it."

Joey watched as the once King pushed away from the counter and limped away. He looked a bit like a cornered rabbit, wanting to run from the situation but unable to. He was just able to mask the worst of what he was thinking and feeling, but Joey did catch the hint of distress on his face.

"Please Joey," He said finally, "I can deal with this, it will be ok."

"I'm not doubting you, Atem. Hell, I have no doubt you can deal with this, you're the strongest person I think I've ever met. All I'm saying is you don't have to do it alone."

Atem wasn't looking at him, he had his back turned to Joey. Watching him for a while Joey suddenly had an idea. Picking up the mug, which was still on the counter, he moved over to his friend's side and offered him the mug. After a couple of seconds, it was accepted.

"Why don't we all go out later?" Joey proposed, "You've been inside since this all happened, some fresh air will probably do you the world of good."

The former Pharaoh looked at him but didn't say anything. He wasn't completely opposed to the idea, he hadn't been outside since all this had started. Maybe some fresh air would help his current situation, but he had a slight issue with it although he really did not want to have to admit to it.

"What do you think?" Joey prodded.

A sigh.

"As much as I think it would help, I won't be able to get far." He confessed, hating himself for saying it.

"That's no problem." Joey replied, brightly, "There's that park nearby, we'll go there and then we can come back here when you've had enough."

The former Pharaoh seemed to consider this for a moment, he took a sip of his drink whilst he thought. Eventually he nodded, agreeing to the proposal. Joey grinned broadly at him and the two of them moved into the living room to wait for Yugi to wake up.

It was obviously much earlier in the morning then Joey had realised as it was a good couple of hours before Yugi eventually appeared. When Joey put the proposal to Yugi, he agreed it was a good idea and immediately got in contact with the other two members of their group to tell them the plan. Atem was grateful to Joey that he did not disclose the whole reason to this proposal. He'd simply stated that Atem had been indoors too long, and some fresh air would do him good. Although Yugi was on board with the idea, Grandpa needed some persuading. He wasn't convinced that Atem should be out just yet but eventually backed down knowing that Atem was more than capable of knowing his own limits. He did, however, insist that the former Pharaoh made sure he wrapped up properly. Winter was moving in fast, and he did not want him catching another infection.

With them all suitably dressed the three of them left the shop. They almost immediately stopped outside as the former Pharaoh was slightly overwhelmed with the freshness of the air, after so long indoors getting this much fresh air into his lungs was an odd sensation but a nice one. With a smile to his two friends, who were watching him closely, they kept moving. Joey was leading the way with the other two following behind. Yugi kept close to the former Pharaoh's side. Their pace was slow, Atem was still limping quite heavily. But he didn't complain once, although the walk was causing him some discomfort. Joey had been right about the fresh air helping, the further they got from the shop the more everything seemed to get more perspective. As they entered the park, Atem paused. Yugi moved in front of him and gave him a look. Knowing what Yugi was asking he nodded to which Yugi patted his arm encouragingly. It was in these moments he was thankful that Yugi knew him as well as he did. Although he was glad to come out, he'd been right when he'd said to Joey that he wouldn't get far. His body was starting to scream at him in protest. Ahead of them Joey had found a suitable bench and waved at them to join him. Upon reaching the bench Atem gratefully sat, taking a breath and resisting the urge to put a hand to his ankle which was throbbing painfully. Joey clapped him a little too hard on the back.

"You did it buddy! How do you feel?"

Atem simply nodded, "Better."

Yugi sat next to him and gave him a knowing look. Atem tried to give him a reassuring look, but he could tell Yugi could see straight through it. Pulling out his phone, Yugi looked through the messages.

"I think the others should be here in a minute," Yugi said, still reading the messages.

"Good." Joey replied, clapping his hands together, "I can't wait to have the whole gang back together. It's been too long."

Yugi glanced at the former Pharaoh, worried Joey's comment might affect him, but he was staring distractedly around the park. Yugi could tell by his body language he was in pain, but despite the pain the once King looked content. Good. Yugi took a look around as well, he hoped that there was no press out today, with the next duel tomorrow he half expected them to be out in force looking for either himself or Joey. Luckily, apart from families and dog walkers there was no one around he should be worried about. If the press found him that was one thing, but he didn't want them pestering Atem which they surely would since they knew what had happened to him.

As they waited, Joey began quizzing the two of them about Kaiba's deck, obviously looking for some pointers for tomorrow's duel from two people who'd actually beaten him. The three of them talked strategies for a while before a movement caught Yugi's eye. Looking he saw their two other friends approaching and waved at them to attract their attention. As Tea and Tristan arrived there was a round of greetings and enquiries after Atem as this was the first time they'd seen him. But after being assured by the former King that he was alright, the group began to discuss the tournament amongst other things. Time seemed to fly by as the group chatted and Yugi couldn't help but feel that everything was back to normal. It was like it was before Atem had disappeared, all of them hanging out together and having fun like teenagers should. Around them the park started to get busier as more people headed out for walks or to meet friends. With more people around Yugi noted people beginning to spot him. They pointed and stared, whispering to their friends. He hoped that no one came up to them but alas they did.

"Yugi! Hey look its Yugi!"

Yugi glanced at Atem, who was watching the approaching fans, before getting to his feet and moving towards them. Hoping that by intercepting them before they reach the group, they wouldn't spot Atem. The fans wore huge smiles as they stopped in front of Yugi.

"Yugi! I can't believe it's really you!" One of them said, practically bouncing up and down, "Can you sign this for me?"

"And me! Can you sign my favourite card?"

As Yugi obliged and began signing, more people seem to notice them and moved over as well to get the King of Games to sign something. A small crowd formed around them. Questions were fired at him from every direction. Joey ended up joining in as some of the group noticed him and began asking him questions. Behind them the other three watched on. Tea took Yugi's vacated seat beside the former Pharaoh. Tristan was still standing, watching the group but something caught his eye. A couple of the fans waiting for Yugi had spotted Atem sat on the bench. They began pointing at him. The former Pharaoh had spotted this as well, he shifted on the bench. Tristan looked between the boys and the former Pharaoh before casually strolling over to stand in front of him, blocking him from the boys' view. With his back to the boys, he looked at Atem, who shot him a grateful look.

"I think they might be busy for a while." Tea said, watching the crowd which was gaining a few more people.

The other two nodded, observing the group. Even with Tristan blocking Atem from most people's view, some were still able to see him. He knew it was only natural that people would look, after all the news channels had been talking about the rescue of the King of Games' cousin for a while. It was to be expected that people would look but hopefully they'd let him be. Atem really didn't fancy talking about his current state to people he didn't know. As they watched Yugi and Joey continue to interact with the fans, a rather nasty looking young boy pushed his way to the front and pointed at Atem.

"Yugi! I want to know what happened to him! The news tells us nothing, I want to hear the whole story."

Yugi glanced back at Atem, who was trying to avoid everyone's gazes. He looked at the boy, who was looking expectingly at him.

"I'm sorry but I'm not going to talk about that."

The boy looked genuinely disappointed.

"But why not? We have a right to know! For all we know you might have staged the whole thing."

Yugi looked disbelievingly at the boy. Had he really just said that? The boy glanced around at the people around him before shrugging at them. It seemed the people around couldn't quite believe what he'd said either.

"Oi, what do you think you're playing at?" Joey snapped, walking round to stand next to Yugi.

"Come on we're all thinking it. That this was just a stunt, completely faked!"

Yugi looked back at Atem again, he was watching the boy now with an unreadable expression. Yugi couldn't even pick up a hint of his thinking from the look in his eye, which was rare. He saw Tea lean in and whisper something to the former Pharaoh, but he didn't respond.

"I think it's best that you leave now." Joey growled.

The boy just shook his head.

"Not until I get answers. I want to know what happened."

The boy looked again at Yugi, but he simply shook his head and moved away from the group towards Atem. Behind him he heard Joey continue to argue with the boy, as he approached the others Tristan moved towards the group to back Joey up. When he reached the bench Atem was still looking at the group, but his gaze moved to Yugi when he drew close enough.

"Are you alright?" Yugi asked, watching the other for any hint to his thinking.

The former Pharaoh didn't speak, he simply nodded. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Joey and Tristan still arguing with the boy. He glanced at Tea, who bit her lip not knowing what to say.

"Come on." Yugi said, finally, "Let's go back home."

Tea nodded her agreement and stood. The former Pharaoh stood as well, refusing the help the Yugi offered him. They left the other two boys behind, knowing that they'd catch up and moved towards the gates of the park. Their pace was far quicker than it had been on the way here. Atem was either keen to put as much distance between him and that boy as possible or his pride was not allowing him to show weakness after all that. Yugi suspected it was a bit of both, he was just worried that he'd do himself some damage. They didn't speak as they left the park and moved up the street in the direction of the game shop. Yugi did note, however, that their pace was slowing down. He looked towards the Pharaoh, who was looking at the floor, before exchanging a worried look with Tea. As the game shop appeared in front of them their pace had slowed right down. Yugi was keeping close to his closest friend, who'd gone quite pale, he could also see pain in his eyes though he was still trying to mask it.

When they entered the game shop they found Grandpa behind the counter, sorting through a few boxes. He looked up and smiled as they entered but when he saw Atem's face his smile faltered.

"Everything alright?" He asked, hesitantly.

Yugi looked between his friend and his grandfather, not really knowing what to say. Tea wasn't sure what to do either, she glanced over her shoulder hoping they'd not been followed which thankfully they hadn't been. The only person who moved was Atem. Without a word he limped past them and disappeared upstairs. They all watched him go, Grandpa moved out from behind the counter and stood between the two remaining teens and the stairs.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Some fans spotted us in the park." Yugi sighed, "There was this one boy who was quite nasty to Atem. He demanded to know what had happened and accused us of making it up."

Grandpa looked at him incredibly before shaking his head.

"People can be so insensitive these days. Is he ok?" He motioned behind him to where Atem had disappeared.

Yugi shook his head, "I don't know, he's not said anything."

Grandpa made to say more but behind them the shop door opened again, and the other two boys appeared. Joey looked rather angry.

"The little brat." He said, "I can't believe what just happened."

"Is Atem ok?" Tristan asked.

"We don't know." Tea replied, "He went straight upstairs."

"You guys go into the living room, I'll go see if he's alright." Yugi said, motioning to them to follow him up the stairs.

Joey was the first to follow Yugi up the stairs. Whilst Tristan and Tea took seats in the living room Joey remained standing and watched as Yugi moved up the next flight of stairs. After the conversation he'd had with the former Pharaoh that morning he was even more worried about him now. The last thing he had needed was to be accused of faking all that especially when he was struggling to process what had happened. There was a fair few minutes of quiet. Yugi's grandfather had moved into the kitchen, although he kept popping his head out to see whether Yugi had reappeared. Joey had braced himself against the back of the sofa, gripping it so hard his knuckles had gone white. He pondered his next move, he did not want to break Atem's confidence by revealing what he'd almost said to him but after this he felt he had to. A few more minutes past before Yugi reappeared. When his friends looked enquiringly at him, he merely held up a hand meaning wait and hurried into the kitchen. He re-emerged a moment later holding what looked like a bag of frozen peas before disappearing upstairs again. A few more minutes past before he appeared again and joined them.

"How is he?" Joey asked, as Yugi sat down.

"He says he's alright." Yugi sighed.

"Do you believe him?"

"Nope, but he doesn't want to talk just now."

Joey bit his lip for a moment, "Yuge, I think you should know that he is struggling to deal with all this. He almost told me that this morning, he's not been sleeping well because he can't stop thinking about what happened."

Yugi sighed, "You don't surprise me, I had a feeling that he might not be as ok as he's been telling us. I'll talk to him later, he just wants space right now which isn't unusual for him after something like this."

The group fell silent as their thoughts turned to their friend. None of them liked to hear he was struggling but after everything that had happened was it any wonder. They just all hoped that, for his sake, that he didn't let this affect him too much. He'd been through enough for an entire lifetime.