AN: Hi guys! So, I went to the doctor and it turns out I have tonsillitis, which is never good -.- So hopefully that clears up soon =)
And I know my update schedule's been really eclectic lately. Bear with me guys.
Also for those who guessed that Andy was Tristan's secret drug dealer, you're totally right. And I did put 'Slow Motion' by Third Eye Blind in there because the lyrics were kinda relative =)
PS: Thanks for all the postitive feedback I've been getting on this story, and other stories. It really, really means a lot, and I know I'm really bad for replying to reviews but one day I'm just gonna sit down and reply to them all, I promise =)
Borderline
"Sometimes we take chances; sometimes we take pills, I could write it better than you ever felt it."
-"Hum Hallelujah", Fall Out Boy
12 ; Rule Number One
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, and this storyline is absolutely, positively fictional. I mean no offense to anyone.
Tristan's room is nice.
Simple, but nice.
Its theme is blue. The walls are blue, the bed is blue, and the dresser and nightstand are covered with blue trinkets, including a candle.
Ryou swallows.
"So, I take it your favorite color is blue?" he asks, realizing that even though his conversation starter is pathetic, it's still a conversation starter. He looks up at Tristan, awaiting an answer.
Tristan is lying on his bed, arms folded behind his head, looking rather careless. His face shows no emotion as he replies,
"No, it's red."
Ryou blinks. "Okay, red's good too. One of my personal fav—"
"What do you want?" Tristan interrupts.
Ryou wastes no time, being Ryou, in replying,
"What did you and Andy just do?"
Tristan's eyes narrow.
"What are you talking about?"
Ryou begins fiddling with a guitar that's resting on the dresser as he responds,
"You know what I'm talking about. What did Andy just give you? Who is Andy, even?"
Tristan glares. He's not answering, and now Ryou's mad.
"Andy is Tristan's best friend. He comes once every now and again and brings Tristan a little something. However, I am at a loss as to what that `little something' is and would very much appreciate you explaining, Taylor."
Bakura enters Tristan's room, and it's shocking how quiet he was at first, just standing in the doorway watching. He explains the situation to Ryou so matter-of-factly, and immediately as the last word falls out of Bakura's lips, Tristan's eyes set on fire.
"GET. OUT!" the man exclaims, flies up, and chucks a pillow at Bakura's head.
Bakura easily dodges. He then saunters over to the other side of Tristan's room, ignoring the man's blazing anger.
"Now, now, Tristan, temper," Bakura scolds playfully, and picks up a picture frame from the nightstand that holds a photo of Tristan's family. Staring at it and walking around, he starts,
"So, Mr. Big Shot-Cardiologist-Dad buys you a private, and you don't let anyone in. You only come out for medication, and you always have a candle or some sort of air freshener in here…"
The picture is slammed down on the nightstand again, and Bakura's head flies up, his look all seriousness and no intimidation.
"All right, where's the pot?"
Ryou's jaw drops.
"Pot?" he repeats, disbelieving. "Bakura, what—?"
Tristan's face flushes a crimson red.
"DUKE! DUKE!" he screeches in fury.
Bakura gets a disgusted look on his face.
"Okay, okay, okay, Tristan, why don't you call in Duke, huh?" Bakura interrupts Tristan's hysterics, a clever smirk on his face. "Why don't you call in Duke so that Ryou here and I can get our butts kicked outta your room and stuck in seclusion for a couple weeks while you sit in here and smoke weed while you're supposed to be in rehab? Or, maybe, before any of that happens, Ryou and I can call you out and your entire room will get searched and your stash will be found and you'll be screwed. Is that what you want?" Bakura finishes, narrowing his eyes.
Tristan's shaking with anger, but Ryou sees that he's backed down.
Then, as Tristan swallows and averts his gaze, Ryou looks at Bakura, admiration in his eyes.
Bakura can really be amazing when he wants to be.
"There's no pot, Bakura…" Tristan starts, his voice meeker than Ryou's ever heard it.
Bakura purses his lips.
"Lying isn't good, Tristan," he says.
Finally, Tristan sighs heavily, reaches under his mattress, pulls out a book marked "journal", and opens it. There, in the front, is a small pocket filled with bags of marijuana.
Tristan plops it on the bed.
"There, Bakura. Happy now?" he sneers, glaring.
Ryou's mouth opens in shock.
And Bakura smiles and laughs.
Later that day, the boys hear news they never would have expected in a million years.
"Tristan is leaving in a couple weeks."
All five boys sit on the couch, staring wide-eyed at Duke (Ryou hadn't seen much of him lately. He wouldn't blame him though—he'd want to be as far away from Ward 227 as possible if he was working at the hospital), in front of them.
"…What?" Seto blubbers out finally, in utter shock.
Duke swallows.
"Tristan is leaving. He's clean."
Ryou and Bakura share a smirk.
"Ryou!"
Ryou stops only because the voice is unfamiliar. Then, when he turns around and sees Duke racing up after him through the hallway, he gets kind of a nauseous feeling in his stomach.
"Ryou, I need to talk to you," Duke says once he finally catches up.
Ryou purses his lips together, but nods.
Duke sighs.
"Ryou, are you okay?"
Ryou is truly surprised at the words, but he blinks and doesn't show it. "What?" he says instead.
"It's just that, lately, you seem…different," Duke replies.
Ryou stifles a laugh.
"`Different?" he repeats. "Like, how?"
Duke shakes his head. "Never mind. Maybe it's just me. But I want you to know that if you ever want to talk, I'm here. I do care about all of you boys, Ryou, believe me."
Ryou nods.
"Right. Okay, well, I gotta get going," he says, and starts to walk off.
"Ryou, wait!"
Ryou sighs, aggravated, but turns around nonetheless.
"Yes, Duke?"
Duke smiles.
"You're allowed to go into the Art Room whenever you want, now. You don't need anyone's permission."
Ryou blinks, and doesn't have time to even say `thank you' before Duke walks away.
"So, he's just letting you go in whenever now?"
Ryou sits up from his pillow and supports his head with his hand. He looks at Bakura, who's across from him on Yugi's bed, scribbling in a beat up brown notebook.
"Yup. It was weird. Do you think he has a crush on me or something?" Ryou asks, scrunching up his nose in distaste at the thought of Duke liking him in that way.
Bakura lets out a burst of laughter. Ryou frowns, insulted.
"What?" he says.
Bakura shakes his head, still kind of chuckling. "Nothing, it's nothing." He takes a deep breath. "But, no, Duke doesn't like you. They just give special privileges like that to people who are `concerning' them," the older boy explains, using air quotes and a mocking tone with the word "concerning".
Ryou raises an eyebrow.
"`Concerning them'?" he repeats.
Bakura nods and doesn't look up from the notebook that he's begun scribbling in again. "Yup. You've done something that's made them a bit uneasy about you, so they wanna give you extra attention or an extra freedom like free use of the Art Room so you don't go psycho."
Ryou looks down, and begins drawing circles on the sheets.
Bakura smirks, stops writing, and looks up.
"You don't want to go psycho, do you?" he asks wryly.
Ryou licks his lips.
"Not…really," he admits in a hesitant tone.
Bakura stares, still smirking.
"It's more fun than you think," he says, and then starts writing again.
For a moment or two, Ryou just continues drawing circles while thinking deeply, and Bakura continues scratching on the paper, writing down God-knows-what.
Then, Ryou finally jumps off of the bed and walks over to Bakura. He leans over the boy's notebook, and peers down curiously.
"Written anything about me in there?" he asks playfully.
The notebook is immediately slammed shut, and when Ryou looks up, playfully pouting, he's greeted with the extremely insulted, angry face of Bakura. The older boy flies up, and Ryou backs away, his eyes wide.
"Don't you ever do that again," Bakura sneers, and Ryou takes a shaky breath in.
He was not expecting that.
"I-I'm sorry."
Suddenly, the bedroom door opens, and there stands Yugi. Upon seeing his ex-best friend and his roommate together, he gets a disgusted look on his face.
Bakura simply narrows his eye only a little bit, and Ryou is still shocked at Bakura's outburst and therefore doesn't react to seeing Yugi.
Bakura swallows and turns back to Ryou.
"Good night."
Then, the white-haired boy is gone from the room.
Ryou stands there, un-moved, still with his eyes wide.
Yugi walks into the room and closes the door quietly. Then, he starts to pull out his pajamas, and as he does, Ryou catches his look. It's a devilish smirk. Then Yugi says in a mocking, spiteful tone,
"Rule number one as Bakura's `best effing friend'—never, ever try to read The Journal."
=) R&R