Chapter Thirty-One: Life Support

Song Ideas: All about Me – Drowning Pool

It was almost comical how out of place the limo was parked outside of a lower middle class apartment complex. Seto gazed out the window of the backseat while musing to himself. He had made certain to get off work early in order to make this special visit. "You're sure this is the place?" Seto asked his driver, Roland.

"Yes, sir. According to the records this is where Mr. Wheeler lives." He paused shortly, as if gathering up courage before asking, "Mr. Kaiba, is this really wise?"

"It's not like I'm breaking any laws," Seto replied before opening up the door and stepping out. He ordered Roland to wait in the car before going upstairs to the apartment Joey was supposed to reside in. "I'm not breaking my promise," he thought to himself. "I don't plan on telling his father anything. But I have every right to meet with him."

When he reached the door of the Wheeler residence he gave a firm knock and waited for someone to answer. He waited for several moments and tried knocking again. After waiting a full thirty seconds and still no answer, Seto tried the doorknob. It turned and the door opened. Seto almost took a step back when he got a whiff of the air inside; stuffy, warm, and saturated with alcohol. The interior was poorly lit with the shades of the windows drawn. He took a breath before stepping inside. Three steps in and he felt his foot make contact with an empty bottle lying on the floor. The living room was filthy, littered with paper, dirty dishes and empty containers. The furniture was worn and tearing, and the carpet had several stains. There was an old dial television that was playing some cop show. Sitting several feet across from it was an armchair. Snoozing in the armchair was a man, although Seto used that word very loosely in his mind.

The older man was not bad looking; Seto noticed that Joey did in fact look quite a bit like his father. They both had the same golden blonde mess of hair and a lean but muscular body. There was stubble on his face which made it obvious that the man had not shaven in a while. He looked like a man who might have been a punk back in his youth. In the man's left hand was a half empty beer bottle that looked like it would fall to the floor at any given second.

"No wonder Wheeler didn't want me to meet his father," Seto thought as he got closer to the old man, debating on whether to wake him or not. "No one should have to live in an apartment like this."

The beer bottle finally fell to the floor, crashing against the hard wood and causing the sleeping man to stir. "Joey, where are you?" the man shouted, his eyes still closed. It was clear to Seto that Joey's father was not only a bum, but a lazy bum at that.

"He is not here," Seto said in response to the man's yelling. The sight of this fueled him with anger such as he had never felt before. "And frankly, he should never have to come back here, you useless old man."

The older man's eyes finally opened. They were not the same shade of brown as Joey's but they were just as expressive. "Who the hell are you?" The voice was not the same sloshed sounding voice Seto had heard moments before but a serious tone of a man who was used to putting everything on the line with no regrets. It reminded Seto of Gozaburo, which just made matters worse.

"Who I am should be the least of your concerns," Seto said in disgust. While robbing Seto of his childhood, Gozaburo had pushed him to become better in everything he did and more. This man on the other hand had taken everything and left Joey to clean up his messes.

The sound of the door being thrown open and thudding footsteps alerted Seto, momentarily distracting him from the man in the chair. Joey stood white faced and furious. Seto could see even more clearly the resemblance standing in between the two males, but Joey's eyes were much clearer and more vibrant. His screamed with life whereas the old man almost seemed to have given up completely.

Seto half expected Joey to start spitting insults and accusation, or even force Seto to leave. Joey, however, seemed too beside himself to say anything, and Seto immediately saw why upon closer inspection. Amidst the anger there was hurt and, above all, shame. The silence might never have been broken had it not been for Joey's father.

"About time you got home, boy," he stated gruffly. "Now you can make yourself useful and toss this home wrecker out."

Joey, too shocked to be able to do anything about the current situation, just went straight to his room to clear his head. There was just too much going on for him to handle. Usual Joey felt that nothing could ever bring him down, however this was a completely different case. Seto was in his home, seeing his father, and too many of the pre imagined scenarios Joey had in the past about this day were going through his head. His friends were not here to cheer him on, heck; his friends still didn't know he was dating Kaiba. The truths he was trying so hard to keep enslaved was slowly making it way to the surface. The only positive right Joey could possibly see was that his father was not sober enough to put two and two together.

"What do you think you're doing, boy?" his father shouted at him as he walked away, but there was no reply.

The front door swung open once again. "I'm sorry, Mr. Kaiba," Roland said in standing in the doorway. "I tried to stop him."

Joey's dad now looked confused at this scene, not sure what to make of it. First, and unknown teenager makes his way through their door, followed by his silent son, and now a man that looked like a butler to him. He just wanted all two of these people out of his house for sure, and the third was slowly becoming an option in his mind.

"It's fine, Roland. Just go to Wheeler's room and help him pack," Seto said pointing up the small stair way that Joey went up. Roland nodded in agreement and disappeared from the living room.

"Pack? What do you mean pack?" Joey's dad asked finally analyzing the situation. Despite the large quantities of alcohol the man seemed to drink, he was quick at recovering from hangovers.

"Your son deserves better than this shit hole," Seto stated now that the older man was finally back to his senses. "He is coming with me." Seto's eyes narrowed as he looked down upon the man. "Wheeler, doesn't deserve this life. I came here to better understand his life, but just by seeing his father I know now, that won't be the case."

Up in Joey's room, the teen was sitting on his bed, his hands were wrapped up in his blond locks as he stared down at the flooring, when a knock came. "Mr. Wheeler, may I come in?" Roland asked through the door.

Joey got up and opened the door to let Roland in, but only because he had questions, and he knew Roland was the only one who could answer them. "What the hell is he doing here?" Joey asked angrily. "Who the hell does he think he is? Coming here after he promised…"

"With all due respect, Mr. Wheeler," Roland interjected. "Mr. Kaiba had no intentions of telling your father about your involvement with him, but you never did say the two were forbidden from meeting."

"I would have thought that was obvious," Joey fumed then thought, "What do I have to do? Write out a detailed contract for the two of us to sign in blood?"

"Well, while we're here, shall we start packing your things?" asked Roland. When Joey stared at him blankly, Roland explained. "Mr. Kaiba has asked me to help you pack. I have no doubts he intends to have you start living with him and Mr. Mokuba."

Joey was almost stunned at the incomparable gull Seto Kaiba possessed. He had not only barged into Joey's house uninvited but harassed his dad and now after all that expected Joey to live with him. The blonde teen sat back down on his bed like a defiant ten year old. "I'm not going. Why should I go anywhere with that guy? If he thinks he can run my life then, sorry pal, but that ain't flying."

"If I may, Mr. Wheeler," said Roland, unabashed by Joey's declaration. "While I don't claim to understand everything Mr. Kaiba is thinking, I believe he simply feels that this isn't the ideal environment to live in at this stage of your life. And quite frankly, I agree."

"I've lived in this sort of environment all my life. I can handle it," Joey stated. "Besides… if I leave, who's gonna look after the old man?"

"Mr. Wheeler, it is the job of the parents to look after the child, not the other way around. Shackling yourself to this place will get you nowhere. I'm not telling you to abandon your father completely, but you have your own future to think about." Roland gave a sharp bow. "I apologize if anything I said was out of line."

"It's fine," Joey said unsure what to do now. Roland did have a point, but Joey still had hope in his dad. "But I still don't think I should leave." Joey looked at Roland hoping he'd understand, but he knew this man would listen to Kaiba over him.

"I apologize, Mr. Wheeler, but Mr. Kaiba told me to help you pack, and that's what I am going to do." Roland went into Joey's closest and found a duffle bag and started folding up clothing and placing them neatly in the bag.

Joey finally stood up from his bed and took his posters down from his walls. His head hung low as he did it, showing a sign of defeat. "I can't go…I shouldn't go. My dad needs me. At the same time. Roland is right. If I stay here with my dad…" Joey didn't want to finish the thought. "I'll go, but this doesn't mean I'm giving up on my dad. I will pay off the rest of his debts, and maybe my leaving will help my dad find a job, gamble less…Kaiba, also isn't getting off of this easy. He's gonna tell me, why he did this in the first place. What was he thinking, when be decided to come here?" Joey started to fill his mind with false hopes and a few ideas of the "conversation" he was going to have with Seto. He knew there was no way out of not leaving, unless he resorted to violence, so he was going to try to make the best out of his current situation.

The room was silent and Joey listened as hard as he could hoping to hear something from the living room, but Roland stopped him every time saying that it would be best to leave them be. After most of the essentials were packed Roland declared it was time to leave and they headed down the stairs only to see the CEO and older man were in the same deadlock they had been when Joey left.

The living room was thick with tension making it hard for Joey to breathe. Roland left the apartment with Joey's bags in hand to take them to the car.

Joey's dad's eyes soon moved from the blues of the CEO to his son's. "If you leave, boy, don't you ever come back." He took a swig from a fresh can of beer waiting for Joey's response.

"Be safe, dad," Joey said as he headed out the door. He still didn't want to leave even now. His dad needed him, and Joey wanted to do everything he could to save his dad. To go back to the old days when he was a kid.

Joey and Seto left the apartment in silence, but Joey was ready to interrogate Seto as soon as they got in the car. "What was that about, Kaiba?" Joey demanded, wanting answers from the source himself. "What gave you the right to interrogate my old man like that?"

Seto looked back at Joey, "A life support."

"Huh?" Joey was confused as to what Seto was getting at.

"Your father called you his life support. He has no right to be a parent if that's all you are to him."

"He is my family and family should always stay together! You and Mokuba know that better than anyone."

"There's a difference," Seto declared. "Your father was using you so he could live his inert life style..."

Joey was quick to interrupt. "Don't bad mouth my dad. It was my choice! He was not using me."

Seto closed his eyes and shook his head. That blind loyalty that made his pup so endearing was truly a double edged sword. Both teens sat in silence for the rest of the car ride, knowing the other would not change his mind on the current situation.

KD: Wow, Seto really cares about his puppy. Enough to even adopt him! =^_^= So how will Joey adapt to this new lifestyle? And will he be able to forgive Seto for this? Stay tuned to find out!