A/N: Happy Thanksgiving! Yay, turkey and reading week all rolled into one! It makes for a very happy Elle ^_^' And on that note, I'd just like to say how very THANKFUL I am for everyone's amazing support of this story. I've enjoyed every single one of your reviews and I certainly hope you enjoy this chapter :)

Disclaimer: Not Mine!

I remember that the next day was, unsurprisingly, miserable.

Pounding head, dry mouth, everything seemed to bright…not bright enough for me not to notice the black eye Ryuji was sporting when I saw him in the hallway.

He was joking and talking animatedly about his 'wild night' but I could see stiffness in his actions. I wondered how exactly Bakura had straightened him out last night.

Was it bad that I felt a little jealous?

Just thinking his name seemed to call him, because the next thing I knew, I was being dragged inside an empty classroom. I was starting to get used to being dragged around by those strong, pale hands.

When my head cracked against the wall, I was significantly less pleased.

"Ow. The fuck? Do you understand what a hangover is?"

"Yes, and you have no reason to complain. Did you see Ryuji this morning?"

"Yah, he had a nasty black eye. You do that to him?"

"I don't beat or fuck drunken idiots."

"Let me guess, family rule?"

"Something like that."

"So if you didn't give him that shiner, who did?"

"You were the one getting drunk with him, you tell me."

It was a lot harder to remember that than I thought it would be. After spinning my wheels uselessly for a minute, Bakura let out a harsh sigh, glaring at me furiously.

"Remember that expensive car that you were throwing up all over last night?"

"Oh Ra. No. His dad? He did say…oh…"

"I hope you feel better about yourself now."

"There's nothing to feel good about. Ryuji doesn't…no one deserves to get beat on for me."

I shoved Bakura away, suddenly feeling ashamed. My back started to itch, though I tried to ignore it.

The mere thought of Ryuji getting beaten for me…I could still feel the knife slicing its way through my flesh in big block letters.

"Faggot…"

"Excuse me?"

Whoops, didn't mean to say that out loud. Bakura seemed ready to jump me again and not in a sexy way, so I decided it might be best to explain myself.

"Just something my father used to call me. He had a heavy hand too."

"At least he's in prison now."

"How in the hell do you know these things? And for that matter how did I end up at my apartment last night? I don't recall telling you where I live."

"…You may not have realized this, Marik, but I'm a thief. That means I case places before I steal from them. I like to keep close tabs on places where more precious things are held."

Well what do you say to that? I was both flattered and stunned.

"I don't understand you. One minute you're yelling at me and the next I'm pretty sure you're hitting on me."

"Don't bother getting a big head about it. You're hardly the only one. Ryuji is my friend. It's my job to make sure he doesn't make too much of an ass out of himself on his dates."

"You still called me precious. And I will be getting a big head about that, thank you very much, there's nothing you can do about it."

"You're insufferable."

"You don't make any sense. It's kind of hot."

His head snapped up, a burning intensity to his gaze that made me feel self-conscious. When he took a step towards me, I felt the need to move away from the wall carefully.

He gave an amused smirk, stepping closer again which in turn sent me back another two steps –nearly right over the desk that was lurking maliciously behind me.

Who put that there?

I steadied myself against the desktop and looked up casually, but it's hard to look casual when Bakura is suddenly a foot away and puts a hand on top of yours and oh Ra why was he leaning so close like that?

Needless to say, it was doing unhealthy things to my innards.

"Hot, eh? You really are a piece of work. I wouldn't want to make Ryuji jealous though."

He was teasing me. That ass, he was looming over me, just out of kissing reach, and he was teasing me! And he called me insufferable.

"I don't think Ryuji's going to want another date, anyways."

"That's true. He doesn't usually go for second dates."

"So, you want to make out?"

Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes…

"Keh, you wish. You're going to have to try harder than that to impress me."

With that, he backed off and slipped out the door, once again an impossible to catch ghost.

Now both my lips and my back were itching, and dammit, he had enjoyed that way too much.

Annoyed, but heeding Bakura's words and trying not to feel too bad for myself, I decided that I should probably at least apologize to Ryuji.

I had only made it two steps out the door when I was once again pounced on, but this time strong fingers hooked under my jaw, dragging me forward for a short lived but passionate kiss.

About a second into it, I realized it was Bakura. I dropped my bag in shock. The second after that, it was already over.

"That's how you impress a person."

His purring voice coiled around my head and by the time I had the presence of mind to look for him, he's was just a disappearing blob of white hair in the crowd.

Glancing around, I saw a gaggle of females giving me wide eyed stares. Giving a modest shrug to my audience, I picked up my bag (again) suddenly in a better mood for talking to Ryuji.

It seemed kissing Bakura was a learning experience, because both times I had definitely learned something new about myself.

With this second kiss, I had learned something important about being gay.

I knew that if you were good enough at something, people were bound to notice and be impressed, and Bakura was such a good kisser that he would never go unnoticed, even if he was kissing another boy.

Maybe it was selfish, but I knew I wanted that, and I wanted his kisses, and I definitely, absolutely wanted him.

A/N: Just to clarify because I know someone will be dissatisfied by that line at the beginning about Marik being 'jealous' of Ryuji's black eye –he wasn't jealous of the black eye, he was jealous that Bakura supposedly stuck around and cared enough to straighten him out, unlike Marik who can't even remember the previous night. As someone who suffered abused, I don't think he'd desire to be beat up…who would? Anyways, other than that, I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you all liked it! Once again, happy thanksgiving, and enjoy :)