Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. I'm not making any profit with this, other than my own satisfaction. Yusei and Jack approve of that. Crow and Kiryu had nothing to say.

As I post this, it's October 25th, so happy birthday, my beloved Seto Kaiba!

Rated M for male-on-male action! Yeah baby! Oh, and language.

I don't have a specific date for the story to happen; it's just after Duellist Kingdom.

By the way, this is a multi-chapter!

Summary 1: Joey confessed, Kaiba has a proposition. Something strange is going on. Will you uncover the mystery before they can?

Summary 2: It starts out as your typical "Joey likes Kaiba, can Kaiba like him back?" story. Then there's an unexpected turn of events. How unexpected? Well, you'll just have to read it and see for yourself.

(I wrote two summaries because I have no idea how to summarize this story without giving anything up. They ended up saying basically the same thing, so… er… sorry!)

High Stakes

1. Let the game begin

"Can you explain why you felt the need to come bother me in my own house?"

"Umm… well, you haven't gone to school in a while. Everyone is worried, and…"

"If you came here to lie to my face, you might as well leave."

"Okay. Okay. I was worried."

Seto Kaiba smirked disdainfully. "Right. Whatever. And I'm supposed to explain myself to you because…?"

"Well…" Joey Wheeler closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. "If you weren't such a dick all the time maybe you'd realise that I like you. That's why I was worried." Hoo boy, I said it.

Kaiba examined the boy in front of him, feeling almost disgusted by the obvious lie. At least that's what he thought it was at first, but looking at something he took from his pocket, he was shocked to find out Joey wasn't lying.

The shock lasted for almost two seconds, and then he recomposed himself. "Go away. I'm too busy with work and I don't have time for things like school. Or… you."

Joey was surprised; that went better than he expected. Kaiba actually answered why he wasn't going to school, and they didn't fight to the death after his confession. He stood up and walked towards the door. "Well, thanks for seeing me anyway."

When he heard the front door closing, Kaiba rubbed his temples and returned to the project in his lab that was taking all of his time, not thinking once about the boy who had just confessed to him.

oOo

A week later

The phone rang and Joey woke up with a jump. He ran to answer it before his father would wake up and bitch about it. "What."

"Come to my house."

"Kaiba? It's…" He glanced at the clock on the wall. "…one-thirty-six in the morning."

"If you want me to answer you for the other day, come now." The line went dead, and Joey just stood there, bamboozled. As soon as his brain started working again, he dashed to the bathroom to wash up and get ready, while reassuring himself that what just happened hadn't been a vivid dream or something.

On the way to Kaiba's house, he thought back to Duellist Kingdom, when his crush on the other first showed up and punched him in the face. He knew Kaiba was a prick, if the way he treated Yugi and grandpa was any indication, but he couldn't help being attracted by that jerkass side of his. It reminded him a little of who he used to be before he started hanging out with Yugi. And if they were even a tiny bit alike, Joey knew part of it was just a façade.

Well, and the fact that he was insanely hot also counted too.

He was in denial at first, insisting he had only eyes for that Mai chick who had showed up out of nowhere, with her big boobs and bad personality; that's what made her interesting to him in the first place (the bad personality, not the big boobs), but then he started having some weird dreams about Kaiba, and he'd wake up way too many times having to come up with an excuse to run to a secluded place and… take care of himself.

There was no way around it, between the girl and the boy, the one he was attracted to was definitely the boy. That part didn't really bother him when he stopped to think about it; what bothered him was that it couldn't have been any ordinary boy; it had to be that bastard Seto Kaiba.

Arriving at said bastard's house, he took a deep breath and rung the intercom.

oOo

They sat in the same meeting room from the previous time. Kaiba was wearing a red shirt. Red. That in itself was pretty weird already, considering Joey was used to seeing him only in dark, gloomy colours, but the fact that he had also chosen a red t-shirt before leaving his house that night made things feel even weirder than they should.

He cleared his throat, since Kaiba wasn't saying anything. "I like your taste in clothing."

"Can you say it again?"

"I like your taste in…"

Kaiba snorted. "Not that."

Joey blushed and stared at his hands. "Right. I… I like you."

"Are you in love with me?"

"Well… yeah."

"Are you sure of that?"

The third degree was starting to burn. "I came here, didn't I?"

"What, do you think it's easy to believe something like that?"

"Why wouldn't it be? You're super hot and smart; you probably have to beat people off you with a stick."

"I'm also a dick, remember? Having people wanting to fuck me is different than having someone liking me. And you, of all people. What's next, Yugi sucking at Duel Monsters? That pointy-haired friend of yours doing something useful?"

Joey coughed embarrassed and got up to sit closer to Kaiba. "I ain't bullshitting you. And I wouldn't put up with your assholery just because of your… good looks. I guess… despite you being a jerk and all, I kinda like your personality." I wonder what that says about myself.

Kaiba smiled amused, crossing his arms. "Gee, thanks. Are you going to compliment me some more or can I release the hounds yet?"

Joey smiled as well. "Sorry. But it's true, you know."

"And here I thought we had established a nice hate/hate relationship. Didn't I humiliate you in front of all your friends?"

"Eh… not really. It's not a humiliation losing to someone like you. You and Yugi are the best duellists I know."

"And what makes you think I would even consider?"

"Well… I know I'm just a Joey Wheeler, while you're the Seto Kaiba. But I'm not the type to just stand there and do nothing when there's something I want. I go after it, no matter what it is. You can consider that I got balls for starters."

Kaiba seriously looked like he was holding back laughter. "Yeah, that much was a given, seeing as you're not exactly a lady."

Joey's face matched his shirt. "Ehh… that came out real wrong. I uh, I meant to say that I got guts. Yeah, that's better."

Kaiba studied the boy in front of him and finally decided to say what had been on his mind. "Right… okay. I told you to come here because I would answer you. The truth is… I don't feel the same way."

Joey paled, unsure of what to say.

"But I do have a proposition. Would you like to hear it?"

"S-sure." What have I got to lose?

"It's really simple. Make me fall in love with you."

"W-what?"

"You're not up for it? Or isn't it worth it?"

"No, I… this is… well, I wasn't expecting you'd say something like that, it's kinda out of the blue."

"Out of the blue? More than your confession? And that was not the best way to confess to someone, by the way. Though I did think about it for a week. Do you want a week to think about it too?"

"No, no. I don't need a week. I'll… I'll do it. I'll make you fall in love with me."

Kaiba rested his head on one hand, with his elbow on the table, displaying a Cheshire cat grin. "I can't wait."

Joey gulped, hoping his cluelessness wasn't showing too much.

"S-so, um… that Blue Eyes White Dragon, huh? It's like, pretty strong. And cool."

"I'm wasting my time, aren't I?"

"No! I can come up with something better. I know! What would you do if you had to get someone to like you?"

Kaiba threw his hands behind his head and yawned. "Nothing. Or be an asshole, apparently. I'm sure you're at least smart enough not to try that on me."

"I wouldn't even know where to begin."

Kaiba laughed, startling Joey with the unusual sound.

"Of course you wouldn't." He got up and opened the door. "I'm going to bed now. You can stay here for the night if you want to. It's late, and I wouldn't want my favourite suitor to be attacked by a villain or anything like that. All the rooms in the west wing of the first floor are unoccupied."

"Okay. Wait, what?" But Kaiba had left the room already.

TBC

+ Next chapter after I get 10 reviews. LOL, j/k. Who does that? Next chapter in like 4 or 5 days.