Disclaimer: Journey Maker doesn't own Yugioh

Chapter Two

When Joey decided to leave Domino, he went to talk to one of his Art Teachers, "Could you recommend a good place that I could go to continue my career as an artist?"

Mr. Thomas told him, "I know one place, it's in New York and the owner of the Gallery there is a friend of a friend, I'll contact him and tell him about you and that you're on your way there, I know that he's the best person to help you."

When Joey arrived in New York, he was terrified, he didn't know anyone, let alone have a place to stay. As he was walking through the terminal, he heard someone call out his name and when he turned around; he noticed an older man and he said, "I'm Joseph Wheeler."

Jasper smiled and held out his hand and he said, "Welcome to New York, Joseph Wheeler, my name is Jasper Hollander, Greg called and told me about you, so you want to become a artist do you, well I guess that you need to show me just what you can do."

As they climbed into Jasper's Mercedes, Joey looked around and it was a different place, he was almost homesick, but he knew that this was the best thing he could do, start a new life, a life without Seto.

Jasper looked at Joey and he could see the sorrow in his face, he must be homesick, but what caused him to leave and come here, maybe one day he'll tell me. Jasper then said, "Want to go somewhere and get some dinner, you can show me what you can do tomorrow."

Joey's stomach growled and Jasper laughed, "I guess we stop for dinner, if you're as hungry as your stomach sounds, I think that it's burgers, fries and a thick chocolate shake, how does that sound?"

Joey smiled and said, "That sounds great, then he said, do you know a place that isn't to expensive that I can rent while I'm here?"

Jasper pulled into the best burger joint that he knew and as they got out and walked inside, he turned to Joey and said, "I have a loft over my house that I can let you rent."

Joey looked at him and he asked, "How much is the rent?"

Jasper laughed and then he said, "We can work out that later, lets eat, I'm starving."

When they were done, they got back into the car and as Jasper drove, Joey wondered, "I hope that I'm not fooling myself, I hope that I can be an artist someday."

Jasper parked outside this huge house, Joey couldn't take his eyes off all the beautiful art hanging on the walls. He asked, "Who painted all of those?" Jasper smiled and said, "I did some and some were done by friends."

Jasper then said, "Why don't we sit down and you can tell me a little about yourself."

As Joey sat down he said, "I've lived in Domino for most of my life and had a lot of friends, and when we graduated, well we all went our separate ways. I stayed in Domino, because I guess I was afraid to move on, but then I knew that if I didn't leave I probably be there and never be able to see if my dreams could come true."

Jasper knew that there was another reason why he stayed, but he didn't press. Alright, let's go upstairs and I'll show you where you will be living." They walked up the stairs and when Jasper opened the door, it was almost like a small apartment.

Joey couldn't believe it, the place was roomy and had lots of light that would be great for him to do his paintings. Joey turned and said, "I love it, now how much are we talking about?"

Jasper said, "First of all, I need to see some of your work, then if I think that I can help you we'll talk about the rent."

Joey went over, opened one of his bags, and took out two of his favorite paintings and when he showed them to Jasper, he was nervous to find out what he thought about them.

Jasper looked at them and he couldn't believe how talented this young man was and why he took so long to follow his dreams. He turned to Joey and he said, "How about if you pay me one hundred a month and when you start making money for your paintings, you can pay me more."

Joey held out his hand and he said, "It's a deal, and thanks for helping me out."

Jasper shook his hand and he said, "You're welcome, now why don't you rest and when it's time for dinner I'll let you know, by the way, there's some supplies over by the window if you want to do some painting."

"You got a deal." Joey said. He went over and started unpacking his things. He wondered what Seto would do when he found out that he left, hell he probably won't give a damn.

Then Jasper walked out of the room and he went downstairs and as he sat in the living room, he thought about the call from Roland and it brought back memories, he wondered how he'd feel when they met again after all this time.

Joey walked over to the window and as he stood there looking out, he couldn't get Seto out of his mind. Joey's eyes filled with tears and then he thought to himself, "Why do I let him get to me, he never told me that he loved me or even that if he wanted us to continue being together, I need to stop thinking about him and get on with my life."

Then he turned, picked up the pallet, put some paint on it and as he took a brush, he started painting, he stopped to look what he did and then he covered it up and decided to complete it tomorrow. This is just what I need, I know that I made the right decision to come here.

The phone rang and brought Jasper out of his thoughts and when he heard Roland's voice, his hand tightened on the receiver. "I wanted to let you know that Seto, Mokuba and I will be arriving in New York in three days, can you meet us at the airport?" Roland said.

Jasper took a deep breathe and he said, "I'll be there, and Ro, it'll be good seeing you again."

Roland sighed and he said, "Yes it will." Then the phone went dead and Jasper hung it up.

Jasper got up and walked to the kitchen to figure out what to fix for dinner, he found out that there wasn't really a lot there, so he decided to do was order some food, but what did Joseph like other then burgers, I guess I'll go ask him.

When he knocked on the door, Joseph opened it and Jasper asked, "What would you like for dinner?"

Joey laughed and said, "I'll eat almost anything except for sushi, I can't stand raw fish."

Jasper then said, "Great, I'll call Domingo's and order some really great Italian food."

Joey told him, "I love Italian food, then he got misty eyed and Jasper said, "What's the matter?"

As he walked over to the window, Joey took a deep breathe and then he said, "I haven't been truthful with you, yes I love to paint and want to see if I'm good enough to make a life doing it.

But I'm also running away from a situation that, well it wasn't going anywhere, so I decided to leave and start making a new life for myself.

I know that if I go back to that life again, I'll loose myself and I don't want that to happen, I hope that you're not going to throw me out for not telling you the real story."

Jasper then said, "Let's go wait for our dinner to be delivered, and if you want to talk about it, I'm a really good listener."

Joey smiled and they left his room and walked down the stairs and when they got to the living room, Jasper turned to Joey and he said, "I have something that I need to tell you, but I'll wait until we're done eating."

Jasper picked up the phone and ordered their dinner and as they sat there waiting, Jasper picked up a book and started reading and Joey walked around the room, looking at the different paintings and when he came to one, he stopped and stared at it and then he turned to say something to Jasper, when there was a knock and when he opened it, Jasper said, "Dinner's here."

Please R&R..

Chapter Three Coming Up..