(I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh)

Soundofmadness223: See, I told you things would get better. Do you love me again? ;)

*************Chapter 12*************

After buckling an unconscious Yami into the passenger seat, Seto flipped open his cell phone, dialing his father's work number. His secretary answered.

"Kaiba Corp. can I help you?"

"Hey, it's Seto. I need to talk to my father." Although he was polite, she knew by his tone that something was very wrong.

"Right away, sir. Please hold for just a moment." Less than thirty seconds later, Seto's father came on the line.

"Seto? What is it? Shelly said you sounded upset." Seto was impressed with the woman; she never missed a thing.

"Dad, I have a... friend whose father is a... well, to put it very nicely, he's a complete bastard. I have Yami with me, and I'm taking him to the house. I was wondering if you could send someone to get his things, because there is no way in hell he is going back to that house."

"Jesus, Seto. What did the guy do to him?" He was met with silence. "Oh. Shit. I don't want to know, do I? Alright. Go ahead and call Roland; tell him where to go. Will we need legal council?"

"I don't think so. I scared him pretty badly, and he's too drunk to do much anyway. Thank you so much, Dad." His dad was amazing.

"You're welcome. Just get him home. Is he staying with us, then?"

"If that's okay, I would prefer that."

"Alright. I guess I'll meet him tonight, then. See you later." As soon as that call had ended, Seto called Roland, who answered on the first ring.

"Hey, Roland. I need a favor." He gave him directions to the house and told him which rooms were Yugi's and Yami's. After instructing him to retrieve any belongings that looked to be of value, he gave him permission to use any force necessary with Yami's father. He couldn't help it; the thought pleased him.

Just as he was nearing the mansion, he received a call from Roland.

"What's the matter, Roland?"

"Um... Sir, I don't know what to do... There is a... a rodent in the upstairs room. In a cage. What do you want me to do about it?" Shit. He'd forgotten about Viktor. He knew Yami would be upset if Viktor was left at the house, and Seto knew that his father wouldn't hesitate to take out his anger on the innocent creature.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, Roland. If you wouldn't mind too much, could you please bring it with you? The cage and all?" He heard a small sigh on the other end, and he remembered Roland's irrational fear of anything that scurried. "Pleeeease?" He tried to sound as pathetically sad as possible. Even though technically, he could just order the man to do it, he liked Roland, and preferred to stay on a friendly basis with him.

"Very well..." The man sounded miserable.

"Thank you so much, Roland. I really appreciate it. I promise to make it up to you."

Yami was extremely confused. He remembered his father's angry face, his mother leaving... and Seto. Seto had rescued him. As that realization sunk in, he remembered something else that had him completely puzzled. Seto had said something about Kaiba Corporation... Of course, Yami had heard about the oil tycoon's business, but the thought that Seto might be connected in any way to Kaiba Corp. hadn't even crossed his mind. After all, why would the owners of a multi-billion dollar company move to Domino, of all places? And come to think of it, what had happened after Seto had showed up? And where the hell was he?!? He struggled to sit up as he opened his eyes, groaning as the piercing sunlight assaulted him.

"YAMI!!! You're alive!!!" He was flattened by someone launching themselves at him.

"Wha-huh?" He mumbled stupidly.

"Mokuba, get off of him this instant!" Seto's irked voice was the most beautiful sound Seto had ever heard. He struggled to extricate himself from the younger boy's grasp.

"Ooooh, are you jealous, Seto?" He taunted his older brother.

"What- Where am I? What's going on?" Yami felt slightly panicked, and he still couldn't see Seto from where he was.

"Mokuba, move, dammit!" The younger boy reluctantly released his death grip on Yami, allowing his brother to take his place.

"Fine. You're no fun, you know that?" He stuck his tongue out at the couple, fleeing in mock terror from the look that Seto shot him. Yami turned to Seto.

"Seto, what-" A look of concern crossed his face. "Yugi! What about Yugi? Where is he; is he okay?!" Seto stroked his hair comfortingly, shushing him.

"Hey, calm down, Yami. Yugi's perfectly fine. He called me and told me what had happened. He's at some friend's house. Bakura? I dunno." Yami nodded, remembering that Yugi had said he would be at Ryou's, now that Seto mentioned it.

"Yeah... that's good. Oh, god," he moaned, covering his face with his hands. "I'm so fucked... Dad is gonna kill me..."

"No, he isn't. He's never going to touch you or Yugi ever again. I promise." The words sounded nice, but Yami shook his head sadly.

"Seto, there's not anything you can do. You can't help me; you can't save me. My mom doesn't give a shit about either of us, especially me, and he has custody. He... he's got control of us until we're eighteen..." He felt his head spin as he worked himself further into a panic.

"Yami, please just breathe, okay? Listen to me, love. Listen..." He lightly kissed Yami, shutting him up for a few seconds, until he calmed down slightly. "Yami, listen to me. He has no control over you. Technically, your mom still has custody over you. I talked to her... she was more than happy to allow you and Yugi to stay here or whatever for a few more weeks until you turn eighteen. The day you turn eighteen, you will get custody of Yugi." Yami shook his head.

"Seto, you can't know that. No one else knows how... different... Dad can be when he isn't around other people. He can pull off the 'loving father' act well enough to get by."

"Yami, you underestimate me. My dad... my dad is the owner of Kaiba Corporation. If we need to pull a few strings here and there, then so be it. Your dad wouldn't even dare try anything. If he did try to get you or Yugi back, our legal team would just 'happen' upon some very, very incriminating evidence. So don't worry, okay? You two will never have to worry about him again." Yami was speechless. This was... not possible. He rarely ever happened upon any good fortune, and he already had Seto. There was no way this would work. But if it did... he thought about what that meant. He had a hard time envisioning being able to just relax, completely and totally, without having to watch his back. He wouldn't have to walk on eggshells every time his father had a bad day, for fear of catching his attention. He wouldn't have to fear for Yugi all the time, wouldn't have to fear for himself. He turned to face the blue eyes that had been studying him kindly, and he was unable to stop his tears.

"Seto, I-I-" He couldn't even finish the sentence. God, he was pathetic. "T-thank you, thank you s-so much..." he couldn't stop sobbing. Seto's strong arms tightened around him, holding him close and rubbing his back.

"It's okay, love. It's okay...I wish I could have helped you sooner..." Once he was able to breathe more normally again, he furtively glanced at Seto, who was still gazing at him. He tried to speak, but was unable to, so he pulled Seto closer to him. When Seto's face was practically touching his, he leaned closer so that he could whisper in his ear.

"Seto? Seto, I..." He swallowed, gathering his courage. "I-I love you..."

Yami's voice was so quiet that Seto wasn't sure he had heard him correctly. He must have misheard him... he thought he'd said...

"I'm sorry to put this all on you, but I... I can't help it. I'm sorry... I know you probably don't really feel the same... I know, I know how... disgusting and... and- just- just... dirty I am! God, I'm disgusting... But I-I love you..." The smaller boy was sobbing, his entire body trembling violently. "God, I love you... I feel so stupid. I don't- I sh-shouldn't love you. I d-don't fucking deserve someone like you....You're the first person who-who was ever nice to me... no one has ever actually tried to h-help me... and no one else knew about-about-about-" His voice gave out. Seto couldn't believe he was hearing this.

"Yami, that's ridiculous!" Yami turned injured eyes to Seto.

"W-what!?! I-I-I'm s-serious! I d-do... I do l-love you..." What? No! NOT what he had meant at all!!!

"Yami, I- I love you too! I mean, it's ridiculous that I wouldn't want you! You are not dirty and you are NOT disgusting! You're... wonderful. Of course you deserve to be happy. Hell, you deserve someone better than me. Yami... please, try to see this... You're an amazing person. I would like nothing better than to stay with you..." Yami kept shaking his head, for some reason.

"No, no, NO! You don't mean that!!! You don't love me! Please, don't... just don't say that you do, because I'm not that stupid! I know that you couldn't love me..." He was hysterical by this point, and Seto was beginning to panic. What was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to make Yami just listen to him? Frantically, he desperately held on to the boy who had his heart.

"Yami!" He shouted urgently. "Yami, calm down, breathe! Yami, baby... please, please... dear god, please just listen to me..." He was at his wit's end. Without thinking, he pulled Yami in even closer, covering his lips in a passionate saw Yami's eyes widen in shock, and after a few moments, he stopped struggling. Tears still ran silently down his flushed cheeks, his eyes squeezed shut, but now he was pulling Seto closer to him instead of fighting to push him away. When Seto finally broke the kiss off, Yami stared desperately at him.

"S-Seto..." His voice was no more than a whisper. "Seto, I'm sorry... I-I... I didn't mean it... I'm sorry. Please, don't leave me..." His knuckles were white from gripping Seto's shirt, and his general demeanor was... heart-wrenching at best. His expression, his posture... he was so broken.

"God, Yami. Of course not! Stay with me always?" This time, it was Yami who moved in to kiss Seto. He pulled him back onto the bed so that he could lay beside him and share his pillows with him. He was exhausted... He clutched at Seto's chest, and Seto held him protectively, shielding him from the world. It was like that, holding each other and taking comfort in each other's presence, that Yami finally slept peacefully, safe from nightmares, for the first time in years.

A/N: Hi, everybody. I don't know how long this is going to be, but I'm not planning on ending it yet... They still have some things to work out... plus, Seto's mom has to meet Yami still!!! heh heh heh...

Yeah. So please, review! I would love you forever if you would please review? not that I don't already love you all immensely...

~alex~