Hello everyone!

It's been a very long time since I've updated this fic. I know I have some explaining to do so that's what I'm going to do. My uncle passed away and things seemed to be unraveling around me. The place I worked at closed last year so I was out of a job then I got a job but that place closed too so I lost it again. Then I had a break down and tried to harm myself this February. After that I decided I need help so I went to a place called Tropical Behavioral Health. There I was officially diagnosed as depressed and having a panic disorder. I received medication and I'm feeling way better than I was. I'm looking for a therapist because I might have gotten the symptoms kind of in check but not the problems themselves. So that's what happened to me.

I want to thank everyone who was still reading this fic and following, favouring and reviewing. It really meant a lot to me to read the reviews and get alerts when someone else followed the story. Now that I'm feeling better I know I owe it to you guys to finish this. Luckily, I had some of this chapter written out three years ago so it was easy to pick up where I left off.

I want to thank Ariana, itsallguchicauseyolo, crimsonstrawberry17, MyllaMD, wannabeasian, PointedEars3401, Miss Tako and DisShattered for their reiviews. Hopefully most of you are still in the fandom because I want to hear from all of you. I also want to thank everyone who added this fic to their favourites and alerts. It all means so much to me. Thank you.

Now on with the chappy!

Chapter Five: You Make Me Glow

The restaurant wasn't so fancy as Yami had thought it was going to be but, it was still more upscale than what he normally went to. Most of the time, he and his friends would go to Burger World when they all had some extra cash to spend. Those days were the teen's favourite days because for once, he got to ignore his problems and was a regular teenager.

Moving into the restaurant's more private section made Yami feel better. At least he wasn't going to be ogled by the people who would wonder why the hell he was having dinner with Kaiba Seto. The private section was filled with all kinds of business moguls and although Yami didn't know their names or anything of that sort, he figured Pegasus knew them all. He smiled at Mokuba who smiled back at him brightly as they took their seats.

Now going to one of these restaurants and experiencing the ambiance was one thing, looking at the menu and noticing that there were no prices was a completely different thing. Yami had been used to seeing prices on menus and was shocked that neither Kaiba nor Mokuba seemed to care about it. Getting a rather worried feeling in the pit of his stomach, he pulled out his cell phone and was about to send a message to his dear friend BlueEyes1025 when he heard someone clear their throat. Looking up from the menu he was surprised that the person who took him from his thoughts wasn't the waiter he was expecting to see, but Kaiba himself. Obviously Kaiba wanted his attention, so what was he going to say that wasn't going to sound silly?

"Um…" Yami said and then mentally scolded himself.

'Way to sound smart there,' he thought.

Kaiba refrained from rolling his eyes and said, "What were you going to want to drink?"

That was when Yami noticed that Kaiba had some sort of tablet with him that apparently belonged to this restaurant. So that's why he hadn't seen a waiter take anyone's order while he was sitting there. He looked at the little machine in fascination and was glad when Mokuba spoke up first.

"I want to have a soda!" The young boy said with a smile.

Kaiba pressed something on the tablet and then looked over at Yami with one of his eyebrows lifted up.

"I'll have a soda too," He said simply.

He watched the chestnut haired teen press something on the tablet twice and then a few seconds later, a waiter came in and placed the drinks with the right people and left without saying a word. Yami didn't know what to make of this place. He figured it had to be a feature exclusive to the private section. With all of those busy people conducting business over lunch or dinner, not dealing with the waiter sounded like something wonderful. It could be the difference between getting a deal or not.

He made a mental note to remember everything he saw just in case someone asked him about this place which, considering his friends, he was bound to be asked. He kept eyeing the menu, not wanting to ask questions about what things were but not willing to admit his slight confusion over everything. He still glanced down at his phone wondering if BlueEyes1025 was going to text him or was he going to have to send the text first? Then came the mental debate of how rude would it be to text during dinner, he decided to refrain from texting anyone unless it was an emergency. Not that he cared if Kaiba thought he was rude but he didn't want Mokuba to think that and feel guilty for inviting him. He came back to reality when Mokuba broke the silence.

"Brother you promised not to do work while we were out today," He said with a pout.

Seto sighed and looked over at his little brother, "I wasn't doing business, I was checking in on a friend of mine."

"You can text them later," The boy said, "Right now it's family time."

Seto didn't like the idea of not knowing how Dark_Magician318 was fairing with his dinner plans. He supposed he could humour his brother for the night and once they were in the limo, check up on him. Yami hid his smile behind his menu and thought it was funny how the little Kaiba had so much power over the bigger Kaiba. He was so going to be telling Ryou about this when he got to his apartment later on tonight. He wanted to chime in with Mokuba but he knew if he did, he would hear about it on Monday.

"Are you trying to memorise the whole menu?"asked Kaiba.

Yami looked from said menu to the other teen, "Well, it's my first time being here, I want to make sure I know what I want."

"And what do you want?" He asked.

Yami replied, "The chicken ceasar salad looks very promising to me."

The last thing he had expected was the expression the other made at him. He didn't think the brunet was capable of making such faces. Even Mokuba seemed a bit surprised and mumbled something like thinking Yami had actually broken his brother. Though it was funny to hear, it really did seem like the boy actually broke Kaiba Seto. He was so going to use this moment against him if he decided to be an ass on Monday. He was even considering taking a picture but thought against it.

"I didn't bring you all the way here just for you to eat like a rabbit," Kaiba said slowly, "I know what you should get and it'll be better than any salad."

Yami raised his eyebrow and was about to retort when he realized that he had nothing to come back with. In fact, he was at the best end of this deal, this way it wouldn't matter how expensive his meal was because he didn't actually pick it. How could anything be better than that? The pair didn't notice Mokuba taking the tablet and placing the order. He knew what he wanted, what his brother wanted and knew what his brother was planning on getting Yami. Plus, this way he was going to be able to order his desert already without giving his brother a chance to change his mind. He was glad he decided to ask Yami to come with them; he brought out a side of his brother that he never got to see. It was very refreshing.

Yami and Seto had been in their own little bickering war that when their food came in, they didn't even question it, they just began eating. In the back of his mind, Seto was sure he didn't order anything but his order was perfect even to how he liked his sides to be cooked. He quickly glanced over at his brother's side and noticed the tablet sitting innocently right next to him. He hid his smile and got the tablet back to look over what his brother had done. He didn't really care; he knew his brother had wanted some desert. He swiftly paid for the bill so all they had to do was get up and go when they were finished. Yami was glad that he didn't get a salad. His order was something that Mokuba told him was a Steak Diane, he wasn't sure what that exactly entailed but it was so good. His rice pilaf was great as well as the broccoli. He honestly was glad that he came along. Once the banter between him and Kaiba was over, he got to see just how tender the teen was to his younger brother and it melted his heart.

It seemed very soon they were back in the limo with Mokuba talking about all of the things he had done in school. Yami was dropped off in front of the shop where Ryuji was waiting for him to take him to Ryou's. Apparently, Ryou couldn't wait for him at home as he was there with Ryuji waiting with him. Yami wasn't entirely convinced that the white haired teen was waiting for him. He knew Yugi had worked late with his grandfather. He figured he used waiting for him to be a guise to go to see Yugi before the store closed that night.

"Thank you for tonight and for dinner, it was very good," He said once he got off of the limo.

Mokuba grinned at him, "It was nothing! Thank you for saving me from being crushed by those boxes. Have a good night Yami!"

With that the limo left, if Kaiba had wanted to say something, he didn't have the chance but they did meet each other's gaze before the window had rolled up. Staring into those eyes had sent shivers down Yami's spine. He wasn't sure if the shivers were good or bad; he shook his head and got into Ryuji's car. The ride to Ryou's was filled with music and Ryuji singing off key which made them all laugh. It was a very different car ride than the one he had in the limo and it made Yami feel more at home. He felt his phone vibrate and sure enough he had a text.

{How did it go?}

'Well that's the million dollar question, isn't it?' thought Yami before replying, 'It was pretty much like what I expected it to be. How was your night?'

{Virtually the same, but my brother had fun so that's what matters the most.}

Seeing that made Yami smile. He liked that BlueEyes1025 was so caring and thoughtful of his sibling. Of course, he wasn't going to admit it but he was trying to emulate that same care and thoughtfulness with Jou and Anzu. Naturally loving someone other than you isn't easy, he learned that with Pegasus, but he was lucky to have surrounded himself with friends that showed him that having love for someone was easier than he'd thought. He didn't even notice they had reached Ryou's apartment until they were already inside.

Ryou's apartment was very nice, a bit big considering only one person lived in it the majority of the time. There were three bedrooms, one for Ryou, the other for his always out of town father and the third for guests. The white haired teen was a great host and made sure his friend had gotten settled in and even offered if he wanted anything to drink. Yami should have said no but he knew he wouldn't be going home early tomorrow anyway. He still wasn't sure when he was going to be heading back home. He played with the idea of staying until Sunday night and then Ryou offered staying there Sunday night and going to school with him on Monday. He wasn't sure if he could pull that one off, not that Pegasus really bothered to check on him or his siblings. But, if he did for some reason only to find Yami absent, there would be hell to pay.

"It's just an idea," Ryou clarified, "I thought maybe a break from the normal would be nice for you."

It would be way more than nice but Yami didn't say that. His response was that he'd sleep on it and let him know in the morning before wishing his friend a good night and heading off to bed. The bed was comfy and that seemed to be the important thing for him at the moment. Once he got snuggled into the blankets and pillows he pulled out his phone. Should he send a text? It wasn't like his friend didn't stay up late, he seemed to never sleep. Yami couldn't explain why he would sometimes feel tentative to be the first one to begin a new conversation. What if he was disturbing him? He shook his head, if anything he was the one that was usually disturbed at random hours with questions that seemed to make no sense to him. Like one time when he was woken up at three or so in the morning all because BlueEyes1025 wondered if he preferred room service or a kitchen inside his room when he stayed at a hotel. He responded with room service because he wanted to go back to sleep and he cooked at home so why go on vacation just to cook again? Certainly he was owed an odd question too.

So giving into his want for a conversation, he typed out, 'If you had the option to stay with a friend longer knowing it might anger a few people if they found out, would you take it?'

{Why not? You always say you're exhausted so you could actually rest for once. The benefit outweighs the risk.}

That did make sense but now he was looking at previous messages to see if he had actually spoken about being tired. He didn't realize how many messages they sent to each other until he gave up and sent, 'Okay. Final question: If you had the chance to change your fate, would you?'

{You've got to be kidding me.}

He covered his mouth to keep from laughing. BlueEyes1025 had taken his brother to see the movie Brave when it came out and was texting Yami the entire time nit picking every single thing. Of course a movie about magic, family and bears wasn't going to appeal to the realist he was friends with. Yami on the other hand enjoyed the movie and had quoted parts of it to his friend who hated it until it got boring. Then when Frozen came out, he got better reactions. Snickering, he texted, 'Oh let it go. In summer love is an open door but for the first time in forever, do you want to build a snowman?'

{You need to go to sleep before I knock you out.}

'Okay okay I'll stop and drop the Disney movie thing. Goodnight Mr. Cranky and I'll text you in the morning.'

{Night.}

He couldn't complain much about the abruptness but he supposed he had to go to sleep. Ryou was either in bed or talking to Yugi and he didn't want to interrupt that. So he turned around and closed his eyes. It took him a long time to actually fall asleep, his mind didn't want to stop thinking about dinner with Kaiba and every little detail about it. He didn't know exactly what to make of it, if he was being honest about the whole ordeal, it made the brunet seem more… human? Was that it?

Atem had luckily been able to escape before the prince or his family showed up. For that he was grateful he could still play this little game with the Prince. He bit his lip and wondered for how long he would be able to pull this charade of sorts before getting caught. Mahado had made it clear to him the longer it went on the more dangerous it would be for him. He was enjoying the rush, thrill and pleasure it gave him to have the Prince, of all people, fooled that he was someone of importance. His father might not be exactly proud of his actions but his mother would have thought it funny. Of course, she'd tell him he needed to come clean of this early on before he got in too deep. Everyone in his family would be telling him to do the exact opposite of what he was doing. So he mused.

Why was he being so reckless with his life?

The answer wasn't coming as quickly as he wanted it to thus, he decided, he needed a break to clear his mind. He had already finished with his chores for the day and as far as he knew, Dartz and Siegfried were going to be in court all day today trying to throw the pink haired teen at the prince. The thought of that made Atem laugh and feel sympathy for Prince Seth. At least Siegfried wasn't throwing himself at him, not that he would be interested, his stepbrother was definitely not his type. Regardless of those thoughts, he had the free time and no prying eyes so why not go to the lake and take a nice swim? He used to do it all of the time when he was younger. Surely he remembered how to swim or float, if anything. Reaching the lake and going behind the tree, he took off his top and bottom, leaving his under clothing on and dove into the water.

Close by, unbeknownst to Atem, Prince Seth and Kisara were by the lake. Kisara was testing out her newest invention- the water shoe. She wanted the ability to walk on water and Seth wanted any reason to escape the court. His father was more than happy to let him go with the artist. Seth was very happy at how reasonable his father was being. If he had to mingle with Lord Dartz and Siegfried again he was going to try to run off. If there was one thing he couldn't understand it was those two and why Siegfried wanted to spend time with him. Okay, he understood it, he was the prince but why insist when he was obviously not interested?

"Perhaps you're not being clear enough with this Siegfried person," Kisara offered as she was putting on her water shoes.

Seth rolled his eyes, "How can I not be as clear as I am? Either he's daft or refuses to give up."

"Judging from what you've told me about him, he could be a bit of both," She said, "But what I want to know is why you're so reluctant to find someone to settle down with."

He scoffed at her before replying, "Why should I? Why is it so important that I settle down? Let's say that I do settle down with someone I love but then for some reason or another they die. Why would the gods or God tease me like that with my true love just to steal them away? Or if the same situation happens but I find someone else and marry them then are they my true love? Is the first one my true love and what of the second?"

"You're over thinking it M'lord," She said as she got in the water and waded for a moment, "I'm just concerned that you're trying to leave it all to fate, she has enough things to do than fix the mess that is your love life."

He made a face of annoyance and glared at her to which she either didn't notice or care he was giving. Both ideas were new for the prince to experience. He was used to being noticed and the servants who received his glares were usually terrified of him. He also wasn't used to being at the end of any jokes. Surely this was going to take some getting used to on his part.

"Try to see your situation through the eyes of a common person as well as I can give it," She explained, "You're a very wealthy man, practically having other wealthy people throwing themselves at your feet and one person who seems to have sparked your interest is virtually a ghost."

He sighed in frustration. Yes. Ever since that day at court, he couldn't get Akai out of his head. There was something about that young man he found appealing and he wasn't sure if it was solely on how aesthetically pleasing he was or for his intellect. Yet Kisara was right, Akai was a ghost. No one at court recalled seeing him there that day nor had they heard of him or his cousin. If it wasn't for Kisara who also saw him, he would have thought he was touched in the head. At this point, maybe he was mad, Kisara was an artist and everyone knew artists were strange. But how could they have both imagined the same person? It just wasn't possible for that sort of thing to occur. He was tempted to call it a day when he heard yelling and looked up to see Kisara fall into the lake. He was about to go in and save her but all of a sudden he stopped. There was Akai. He was as radiant as ever albeit wet from the lake, but smiling and laughing as he helped Kisara out of the lake who was also laughing.

"I was trying to walk on water like a god but suddenly I find an angel floating in the water," She exclaimed.

Atem flushed and shook his head, "I'm no angel. Had I known I was going to be in the presence of an esteemed artist and the prince once again, I would have been sure to bring an extra pair of clothes."

Kisara went into a fit of giggles and she excused herself to go fetch her shoes from the water. That was when Seth noticed that Atem was practically naked except for his underwear. He thought possibly this mysterious Egyptian was aesthetically appealing. He looked away to get his mind from thinking really wrong things and took off his coat and placed it on the other male before looking at him again.

Atem, on the other hand, hadn't expected to run into the prince so soon. He wasn't as prepared as he was the day before, thus he was a bit off his game. He didn't want to slip up and say something incriminating but he kind of did have the short end of the stick being in his underwear standing before the prince. He had gone from being embarrassed to trying to hold in his fit of laughter. He had never seen or heard of Prince Seth being pulled off guard before. He took the coat and covered himself with it, assuming that his body was much too magical for the prince to handle all in one go. He was half tempted to say something sarcastic but he decided that now would not be the right time to be sassy with the prince. If Siegfried could see him now, he thought before imagining the pink haired boy to wither away in jealously and possibly turning green with envy or taking off his own clothes. Both ideas were funny to think about and they helped him keep his confident smirk plastered on his face.

"Why are you here by yourself unaccompanied?" Seth asked.

Atem shrugged, "I gave my servants the day off."

"Why on earth would you do a silly thing like that? It's unheard of," The prince replied, surprised.

He looked deeply into those cobalt eyes and responded, "Don't you think your servants get tired of serving you every single day? Yes, they may be servants but they are people just like we are. So I give my servants the day off, I'm not sure about you or others but I for one am capable of fending for myself for one day out of the week. I usually try to make sure it's the day they worship but we traveled so far and they were worn out."

Seth wasn't sure what exactly to make of Akai. First, he didn't understand this whole fascination with servant's rights and what not because they were servants for crying out loud. Secondly, what kind of master would give his entire serving staff the day off? It just didn't even seem logical to him but apparently all logic went through the roof when Akai was thrown into the mix. He was incomprehensible to the prince and that was something that both scared and enthralled him all at once. He wanted to get into this mysterious nobleman's mind and see if anything he believed in was actually successful.

"You're an enigma Akai," He said finally, "It bothers me that I have yet to understand you."

Atem raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Perhaps I bother you because the less you understand me the less control you have on any situation which involves me. You don't exactly know what I plan on doing next and possibly that kind of adventure you're not ready for since, it won't be on your terms."

"It seems Sir Akai might be able to read you like a book," Kisara said once she returned from fetching her shoes.

Though this was going to be the second time she was going to see these two young men together, it was playing out as their first encounter had. Seth was taken aback and Akai seemed to get under the prince's skin in a way no one else would. Akai was self aware and seemed to be very kind and probably humble. If anyone was mad enough to free servants, give them a day off and see them as personages rather than objects then said person had to be kind. Just knowing that alone said more to her about him than words could. She wondered if the prince had noticed that as well or if it was just her. She could tell that the prince was trying to make sense of the boy before him but wasn't sure how to go about it. She did have a choice, help him or not. She chose the latter; if anything she would use it as a way to tease the prince later on.

"You weren't at my game yesterday," Seth stated.

Atem shifted slightly, "I was but you didn't see me. I was attending to other things plus you had that noble with the pink hair hanging over you."

"So you were there. How could I have missed you then? You do have a way of sticking out in a crowd," The prince countered.

He gazed up at the sky and responded, "If you were actually seeing rather than seeing what is only in front of you then you might have found me. I thought you were going to see me; of course, I was kind of busy so I didn't exactly have the time to engage in a conversation with you. Then there was your friend, he appeared to want to be the only person to touch you."

"Siegfried is not my friend nor do I personally enjoy his company like you keep insisting I do," Seth said.

Atem said, "Is that so? From what I hear, he truly believes he has a chance to win your heart. It's not good to lead anyone on in such a way."

"Oh? I'm sure you've led several people on before with how flamboyant you are," Seth retorted.

Atem blinked, "Excuse me, but the last thing I am is flamboyant. Confidant in myself, perhaps but that's because I do love myself as one should."

Seth was going to respond with something else when in the background, the three heard a voice in the distance. Atem froze knowing that it was Leon and he was calling for him. Not wanting to leave but knowing he should go before he got closer, he took off the prince's coat and headed for the water again. But before he could swim away he felt his hand being grabbed and seeing the prince way too close for comfort.

"Where are you going?" Seth asked.

Atem answered, "I'm going back to my cousin's, it's late as it is and I might be missed."

"I want to see you again. Promise me that I'll see you again and soon before you're due back to your homeland. If not I might not let you go," The Prince said with a smirk of his own.

He should have said no. He should have found a way out of the prince's grip and swam off without saying a word. But, Leon's voice sounded like it was coming closer and closer and he didn't want to get caught in his lie yet. Yes, he pushed it today and he would be pushing it ever further if he saw the prince again. He couldn't help himself. He felt himself nodding and replying with a yes. He was promptly let go of and he left as fast as he could. He found Leon near his clothes and was glad they were a good distance from Seth and Kisara.

"Where have you been?" Leon asked, "I was getting worried. I didn't want Father and Brother to return to find you've gone missing again. Father was about to tear up the whole house the last time you went."

Atem shook his head as he put his clothes on, "You worry too much Leon. I was out for a swim. I finished my chores early so honestly there would be no reason for them to be 'tearing up the house' in search of me."

"But you know them. You know they don't like you up and leaving even if you finish your chores early or not if you go alone. I might worry too much but I think we both know it's within merit," Leon said.

That was true and possibly that was yet another reason that no matter what little game he played with Seth, he would have to concede in the end. If Dartz and Siegfried were to ever find out about this, not only would they be the first to tell on him but they might be in the front row to witness his death for that. Or if they didn't reveal him, they would lock him away forever. It didn't matter how fast his heart had beat when Seth had grabbed his hand and refused to let go of it, he could never be free from Dartz while he was living and breathing. The cold truth was the only way he would ever be free from his controlling stepfather was if he was dead. Little did he realize, as he was walking home with his favorite stepbrother, was how far Dartz was willing to go to make that actually happen.

So what did you think? LET ME KNOW!

I don't know why it got so dark at the end there but I think it kind of works to be honest. I do have the next chapter in the works so that will be posted like next week or so. It depends on the day but I'm thinking of trying to consistently once a week or once every two weeks. What day works the best for you or does it not matter? You can message me or put it in a review to let me know your thoughts. Your voice matters to me.

Other than that, I got nothing else to talk about. Remember, reviews = love and it's just so nice to hear from people who read this. I'm always open for ideas or thoughts. Not only is this my story but yours too. Thank you all so much and I hope to hear from all of you that read this.

With Love,

SanguisRubeus