Hey yall, here is another chapter for all my lovely reviewers. Also, one of my reviewers commented about making a fanart out of one of my stories. If anyone wants to do that, I would absolutely love to see it. I will even use it as my cover for my stories if the artist gives me their permission. Feel free to draw for any of my stories.
Téa woke up in bed only to find the other side empty. She sat up and looked around the room. She heard running water and assumed that Seto was in the shower. She crept over to the closet and started to dig through it in search of her uniform. She sat her clothes on the bed and stood by the dresser mirror to pull the pins out of her hair from last night. She couldn't believe that she fell asleep in her dress last night.
When Seto came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, he saw Téa's clothes laid out on the bed. "You're not going to school today Téa," he said with a mildly irritated voice.
Téa turned away from the mirror and asked, "Why not?" She couldn't help but blush when she saw Kaiba's current lack of attire.
He smirked when he saw her turn away, knowing what had her flustered. He then grabbed the remote and turned on the television. "There is a scandal at Kaiba Corp. As I anticipated, the media put together that you are the same girl Yugi attacked last week and now they suspect that you are having an affair. Also, that blonde…God, what's her name?…" He now had all his clothing so he entered back into the bathroom.
"Airey?" Tea asked.
He called out from behind the bathroom door, "Yes, that blonde, airhead, decided to discuss our past with the media. As humiliating as this is, I want to focus on trying to get your name cleared. My reputation was ruined long ago, there is no reason to let yours get ruined over nothing. You're going to have to make a statement at the press conference. My PR people have prepared it and it is sitting on the nightstand." She looked over at the nightstand and saw a set of note cards on top. By this point Seto was fully dressed and exited the bathroom. He turns to her and says, "Wear white, it projects innocence."
"But, I am innocent, why would I need to project anything." She asked.
"Just trust me," he said as he exited the room. After Tea showered, she pulled on a white button down blouse and a navy skirt. She wasn't exactly sure what to expect at a press conference, but she was sure it was a safe option.
She met Seto downstairs and he seemed to approve of her attire. He handed her a plate of breakfast and said, "The press conference is going to be at 12:00. Eat up, I don't know exactly how long it is going to last."
He had a couple newspapers he was reading through the articles about him. If he wanted this to go smoothly, he had to know exactly what was out there and what type of questions they were going to be asking him. His eyes got big as he read, a video was posted online by a women who claimed to have been with him.
"I'm ready to go Seto," Téa called out as she washed her plate by the sink. He nodded and followed her out to the limo.
When they arrived at the Kaiba corp. building reporters and paparazzi were waiting for them. He pushed through them the whole way to the door, ignoring all comments. When they made it inside the safety of the elevator, Téa let out an exhausted breath. Seto looked over to her and said, "Things will get better after the press conference." Although Seto said it, part of him didn't believe it. He was nervous to find out what type of video that gold digger had posted and even more scared as to how Téa was going to react to whatever it was.
He arrived at his office to find all his PR people scattered around his desk. He swallowed hard knowing that whatever it was, wasn't good. He sat at his desk and looked down at 30 or more magazines spread out with photos of him and random women. Some he had actually been with some were complete lies. He also saw photos of Téa and Yugi in the magazines as well. One was the day he attacked her, others were from tournaments a couple of years ago. Finally, he looks up at his computer screen and sees the video he had been reading about. He looks over at Téa and said, "Whatever you see here, I just want to say I'm sorry in advance." She nodded and he pressed play.
The video had a date in the corner from 6 months ago, Airey was wearing a black bustier. Seto narrowed his eyes, in irritation and watched.
VIDEO
Airey whispered, "Looks like I won this bet Ebony. And just to prove that I slept with him…" she started to gently pull the sheet that now covered his body. Seto turned over in his sleep and his face was now visible to the camera, as the sheet hit the floor.
END OF VIDEO
Seto put his head in his hands and closed his eyes in shame. How could he have been so stupid? Téa could feel the distress radiating off of him. She looked up to the men and women who were standing in the office and asked, "Can you give Seto and me some privacy please."
When the last person left, she sat in his lap and waited for him to talk.
"You can go home if you want. When my PR people called me I expected the media to be bashing you over your past with Yugi. They didn't prepare me for this. Believe me when I tell you, that if anything should come up with Yugi, I will address it. But I will not force you to stand through this press conference with me." Kaiba said with shame.
Téa wrapped her arms around Seto and replied, "I'm not going anywhere Seto. I am not just going to go into hiding when things get rough. We are going to go to this press conference and say what we have to say. Then we can go home and I will make something nice for lunch. This will all blow over eventually, you'll see."
When the time came for the press conference, they had read over their speeches several times. As they walked towards the side of the stage Téa squeezed Kaiba's hand to let him know that she was still there. Once in the center of the stage, photographers flashed their cameras and videographers started to roll the tape. Kaiba felt a tug on his sleeve and looked over to see Téa looking terrified. He looked to where she was looking as she said, "My parents are here."
"I'll get them out of here." Kaiba said as he motioned over to two of his body guards.
Kaiba then walked to the podium to begin his speech when he heard Téa's parents fighting with the security. "Téa we're sorry," Téa's mother screamed out.
Téa's father screamed out, "You won't take her without a fight Kaiba. We are going to take this to court! How could you possibly think of trying to buy our daughter's affections?"
Kaiba smirked and replied, "As easily as you seemed to sell your daughters love. Now get out of my sight before I have to throw you out personally."
They tried to fight security but were failing miserably. Finally Téa's mother yelled, "Téa, say something!"
Téa stepped forward and pointed to the door, "Leave."
Finally Téa's parents left the room and the press conference began.
…
When the press conference finally ended, both Seto and Téa were mentally and physically exhausted. They entered the limo and headed back towards the mansion. Téa rested her head on Kaiba's shoulder and asked, "What do you want me to cook for lunch?"
Kaiba looked at her like she was crazy and asked, "You feel like cooking after a day like this?"
Téa shook her head honestly and replied, "Not really, but I promised you I would make something, so what do you want?"
Kaiba snorted and answered, "I want you to make a call and order a pizza."
Téa chuckled and joked, "I knew there was a reason I was marrying you."
…..
Mokuba came home from school and saw the two sitting on the couch. Seto was sitting up straight watching the television set while Téa was asleep with her head resting on his lap. There was two boxes of pizza and a bottle of coke sitting on the coffee table.
"I suppose we don't have to eat in the dining room anymore?" Mokuba asked?
Seto chuckled and replied, "The little tramp is rubbing off on me."
Mokuba frowned and asked, "Did you hear about the video?"
Seto nodded and answered, "I addressed it and several other issues at the press conference today. I can't believe how stupid I was."
Mokuba pulled a magazine out of his backpack and said, "Well, this isn't related, but I think I found something that will make you feel a little better."
Kaiba looked at the magazine and saw the title, "Top 3 Best and Worst fashions at Yakiota Industries Celebration." Téa was the number one best dressed, followed by Airhead, and Ebony. In the worst categories there were 3 women he didn't recognize. In the men's section he and Mr. Yakiota were tied for first and a man from Tombstone Toys was in third. None of that he really care about. But when he turned the page, he cracked a smile as he saw the 3 men he hired to wear Isabelle's suits. He chuckled and said, "This is going on the refrigerator."
Mokuba hugged his brother and asked, "Seto, how did Téa take seeing the video?"
Seto shrugged and replied, "She hasn't left me, but I don't really know how she feels about it."
"Don't you think you should ask her?" Mokuba continued.
Seto shook his head and replied, "I don't want to stir up any more trouble and make her leave."
Suddenly he felt Téa move. She yawned and sleepily said, "I'm not going to leave you Seto…YAWN…" She nuggled back into the couch and finished, "Besides, you have a cute tooshie!" She smiled as she saw his complexion turn red.
Mokuba went into a fit of laughter and they all ended up spending the night in the living room.
…
The next morning, Téa woke up in the bedroom and assumed Seto carried her up when he left for work. Téa walked to the dining room and found Seto with his usual newspaper and cup of coffee. Kaiba looked disgusted as he literally saw his ass in the news. Téa snatched the paper away from her and said, "Seto, you are just going to make yourself crazy by reading this stuff."
"Maybe, but there is something I wanted to show you." Kaiba said as he pulled out the magazine Mokuba gave him. "Before the ball, you said that you were going to stick out like a sore thumb because you were 'average looking.' Well according to this article, you were the belle of the ball."
Téa smiled and retorted, "You paid for this didn't you?"
"Do you honestly think I would waste my money on something like this? You were stunning that night. The only one who doesn't see your beauty is you," Kaiba answered honestly.
Téa kissed him on the cheek and asked, "Can I go to the office with you today?"
Kaiba shook his head and replied, "I have a few meetings and I need you to watch Mokuba. I shouldn't be long though, so we can go somewhere together afterwards.
"Okay, how about we take Mokuba to go see a movie?" Téa asked.
Seto picked up his briefcase and answered, "That's fine. I'll see you two later."
…
Téa and Mokuba sat patiently in the living room. They expected him to be home around 2:00 p.m. She called him twice but he didn't answer. They waited up until 9:00 p.m. At that point Téa sent Mokuba to bed. She looked at Mokuba's disappointed face and turned angry. How could Seto get this child's hopes up like that and not follow through. She was going to stay up and see what was so important that he couldn't take time out of his day to spend time with his brother.
A knock sounded at the door. She found that odd, Seto wouldn't knock. She walked to the door and peeked through the hole in the door. It was Joey and Tristan. She opened the door and asked, "Joey, Tristan, what are you doing here?"
Joey answered "We found moneybags beaten to a pulp in the park. Neither of us are sure of what happened, but whatever it was, it wasn't good."
Téa ran to the car and shrieked when she saw him. "Bring him upstairs please! I am going call his doctor."
Téa scurried into the kitchen and grabbed the first aid kit and emergency numbers from the kitchen drawer.
After she called the doctor, she ran upstairs to Seto's room and wet a rag to clean him up some. There was blood everywhere. "What happened exactly?" She asked the two.
"We were on our way to Yugi's house when we saw a fight going on. As we got closer, we realized that it was one person against six. We didn't know what was going on, but we ran over there to help. By the time we got there, he was on his knees and they were holding his arms behind his back. They were using him as their personal punching bag. They dropped the guy they were attacking on the ground to fight us off, but we managed to gain the upper hand. When the fight was over we went to see who their victim was. We were shocked out of our mind to find Kaiba lying there," Tristan explained.
Joey then said, "He became conscious during part of the ride here. We asked him what ya doin out der? And, he mumbled 'Limo broke… Téa… danger… He blacked out again after that."
The doorbell rang and she ran down the stairs to get the door. Margaret looked at her like she had gone crazy when she swung the door open and literally dragged the doctor up the stairs.
The doctor asked them all to leave the room while she examined Seto. Téa paced up and down the hallway nervously while Tristan and Joey watched.
Joey commented, "Téa ya gonna wear a hole in da floor. Stay still before ya fall through."
The doctor stepped out and said, "Mr. Kaiba is going to be fine."
Téa let out a sigh of relief, "Nothing is broke?"
"Surprisingly enough, no bones broke. He will still need to rest for about a week before he can go back to work," the doctor answered.
Joey snickered and said, "Scrooge Mc. Duck isn't going to like this very much."
Téa surprised Joey with the expression she gave him after he said that. Her glare could have rivaled that of Kaiba's. The doctor then handed her a prescription with a sticky note stuck on top. She said, "I have to get back to the hospital, but if you follow these instructions Mr. Kaiba will be better in no time."
Téa nodded and entered the bedroom. She sat on the bed next to Seto and combed through his hair.
Joey couldn't believe what he was seeing. How could she fall for a guy like Kaiba? After all they had been through, she completely ignored Yugi's feelings towards her and then she falls for his enemy.
Tristan stood up and asked, "Téa, Seto said that you were in danger. I think it would probably be best if we stayed the night to make sure nothing happens."
Téa wiped away a tear and nodded. She brought them both to a room several doors down and said, "This is one of the guest rooms. You two could either crash in here together, or find another guest room."
"This will be fine," Tristan said as he pulled Joey in the room. He shut the door and held his hand over Joeys mouth until he heard Téa's footsteps fade.
When Tristan removed his hand and Joey yelled, "What the hell man?!"
I saw your expression when you looked at Téa and I know your mind. It's obvious that Téa has indeed fallen for Kaiba. Don't you go putting your nose in their business and causing trouble. She is happy, isn't that what you always wanted for her?"
"But, she is happy with the wrong guy! She is supposed to fall madly in love with Yugi. Yugi has always been there for her and he would be willing to die for her. Don't you think he deserves her love more than Kaiba?" Joey asked.
Tristan shrugged and replied, "Yes, I would have preferred her to fall in love with a guy like Yugi, but you can't force it."
Joey retorted, "Kaiba did!"
Tristan threw his hands in the air in disgust. There was no point in trying to get through to Joey. Tristan crawled into the bed and replied, "Whatever man, I'm going to bed."
Joey left the room and headed back to the room Kaiba and Téa were in. He was about to barge in when he heard crying coming from the other side the door. The door was slightly ajar so he peaked in. Téa was kneeling next to the bed holding his hand. Her forehead rested on their joined hands. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she whispered, "Please Seto, Don't leave me….I love you."
A strange feeling shot through Joey's heart as she whispered those last three words. 'She really does love him,' he thought to himself. He then saw Kaiba's fingers start to twitch, like he heard what she had said. Kaiba's hand suddenly started to wrap his fingers around hers. She looked up and saw that Seto's eyes were barely open. "Seto," she whispered breathily, she dropped his hand in surprise.
Seto struggled tried to reach out for her, but his arm fell limp. He could barely move. Téa saw him reaching out and asked, "What do you need Seto? I will get it for you."
Kaiba then did something Joey had never seen. Kaiba smiled and said, "I…ne…need…you…"
Joey pulled at his hair, as much as he hated seeing them together, he had to admit they both seemed to care deeply for each other. He turned on the balls of his feet and made his way back to the room Tristan was in. "You win," he said as he turned off the light.
