(A/N: I seriously don't want to keep apologizing, but I'm so, so, SO incredibly sorry for taking so long with this chapter! It's not even that great to begin with. But I have good news! I have a perfect idea of what next chapter's gonna be about, and I can probably have it by Christmas, on the 26th at the latest! Hopefully it makes up for the lack of Puzzleshipping writing in the last month or so.

WARNINGS: Not really any. There's a TINY, TINY bit of angst. Seriously, you may not even notice it, I tried to make it as fluffy as possible because I missed these two as much as you all did! I also tried to make it realistic, and what happens here, I've only seen it happen on one of the scenarios on ABC's What Would You Do?, so I don't know if it could really occur... Enjoy, my loyal readers! Thank you so much for your patience!

Disclaimer: Too bad, but I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of its characters!)

Chapter 16

The first time they're kicked out of a public place nearly gets Yami arrested.

It's Yugi's birthday, and the only thing Yami wanted was to take him out to his favorite restaurant as his birthday wish (and call both of their parents so that they could come, too) to have a nice dinner and spend some time together in celebration of Yugi turning seventeen. It wasn't much to ask.

Unfortunately, the restaurant thought it was.

Everything had been fine—they'd sat down, ordered, chatted for a while, waiting for their parents to arrive—until Yami had leaned in and kissed Yugi's cheek, the one with the scar resulting from a cut he received the day of the beating; he still has his bandage wrapped around half of his face. Their waiter had just come back with their drinks, and he stopped so abruptly that Yami asked him if there was something wrong.

"I'm sorry, but, are you two together?" the waiter asked.

"Yes," Yami answered immediately. "Why?"

"Excuse me, but I'll have to ask you to leave."

"Wait, what?" Yugi demanded. "Why's that?"

"Our manager has a strict policy about not accepting your kind into our restaurant."

"I'm, I'm sorry," Yami frowned, standing up, "our kind?

"Sir—"

"If either of us was dressed as a girl, you wouldn't be kicking us out, now would you?"

"Yami, hey…" Yugi stood up as well, taking Yami's arm. "Let's not cause a scene, all right? It's okay, we can go eat somewhere else—"

"No, it's not okay," Yami replied as he held Yugi's hand. "You should be allowed to eat in your favorite restaurant on your special day, and even if it weren't, this is just not fair."

People were beginning to stare now. Yami sort of expected them to say something, whether it was to defend them or the waiter, just so that he didn't feel like this was only their battle, but no one said a word. Everybody simply glanced at them out of the corners of their eyes before returning to their meals, always keeping them within their sight range.

"Sir, if you do not leave," the waiter threatened as some clients started whispering between themselves, "I'll be forced to call the authorities."

"That won't be necessary," Yugi said, and he began to drag Yami away from the table. "Yami, c'mon, let's go."

Twenty minutes later, Yami breathes in as he tries to calm his anger. He seriously wanted to punch that guy in the face, maybe ask to speak with the manager to punch him as well. "Your kind." What's that all about? It's not like they're freaks or, or weirdoes or… they're normal people, for God's sake. It's so ridiculous that they were kicked out of Yugi's favorite restaurant just because they happen to like boys instead of girls. So if two girls walk in and happen to kiss each other—on the mouth, because for some reason invented hundreds of years ago, women are allowed to be more affectionate than men—they'll be kicked out, too?

"Mom, Mom, I honestly don't mind… I know it's my birthday, but seriously—Mom…"

Yugi's on the phone attempting to calm his mother down. Amelia is as angry as Yami, but she's threatening to press charges and sue the restaurant. Yugi tells her it's not necessary. He doesn't want to cause trouble, and he keeps saying that it doesn't matter that it's his birthday and that all he truly wants is to spend quality time with his family and his boyfriend.

"We can go eat some other place… What if I call you later? Yeah? Okay, I'll see you later. Love you too, Mom."

Yugi sighs and sits down on the bench where Yami's at with his arms resting back, leaning his head back. "Did you convince her of giving up?"

"Yeah," he says, his eyes closed. "So much for a birthday dinner."

"I could've handled that guy."

"And make him call the police? It wasn't worth it, Yami."

"The hell it wasn't!" Yami exclaims, managing to catch himself before he explodes. He's so, so angry because what happened in there was simply bullshit, and he's not one to use that language but damn it. He groans in fury and buries his head on his hands.

"Yami?" Yugi calls him softly, almost shyly. Then he wraps one of his arms over Yami's shoulders and pulls him closer, his other hand resting softly on Yami's arm. "Hey, it's okay."

"It's not." Yami's voice is muffled by his hands, but Yugi can clearly hear the frustration in it.

"We knew it wouldn't be easy," Yugi reminds him, leaning his head against him. "And maybe we'll have it rough for a couple more years, even decades. But someday it'll be better. I promise."

Yami lets his arms drop from his face to rest on his thighs. "You can't promise that, Yugi." He smiles ruefully, but it's a smile, nonetheless.

"Okay, I can't," Yugi admits, chuckling slightly. "But I'm sure of it. I'm sure one day it'll get better for people like us."

"I hope so," Yami says. "I want to believe it too."

They remain in silence, the only sound being their breathings against each other's before Yami speaks again. "What did the doctor say about your eye? Is it getting better?"

Yugi's hand moves to his bandaged eye almost automatically. His last visit to the hospital was yesterday, and he was too tired to give details to his boyfriend, so he promised to do so today. "He said we have to wait for a while more. The ointment he gave me is supposed to make it better, but he also said that I might lose sight on it completely."

Yami grips his hand. He knows Yugi's trying to be strong, trying to hide the fact that he's scared. The idea of losing one of his eyes terrifies him, and Yami can't exactly blame him. He gives his hand a comforting squeeze.

"It'll turn out just fine," he says, praying that it happens that way.

They get up from the bench and start walking, one of Yami's arms around Yugi's shoulders while one of Yugi's circles Yami's waist.

"Are we going to walk random and endlessly until it's time to go home?"

"What, you don't like it?"

"I never said that. I was merely wondering. It's sort of relaxing, to be honest, being away from everything."

"It's kind of nice, isn't it?"

They've walked for a while now, half an hour, perhaps. Their path led them to a park, trees surrounding them and birds chirping as the sun starts setting. From time to time, Yami turns his head and presses a kiss into Yugi's hair, to which Yugi giggles and leans into his embrace. Being close to each other is more than enough for them, especially without ugly glances and whispers.

"It's getting late, though," Yugi says. He's loved this up to now, but his mother may be expecting him home by now.

"Let's take you home, birthday boy."

The walk home is like the one at the park—quiet, simple, calm, and comforting, and it's only interrupted when Yami apologizes for not being able to grant Yugi the one wish he wanted. "Yami, seriously, don't worry, it's fine."

"I just…" Yami shrugs. "I mean, you just wanted to be taken there to have dinner. And I couldn't make it happen because I had to kiss you." He laughs before turning to Yugi. "This is all your fault."

"My fault?" Yugi repeats, a flirty smile on his lips. "How come it's my fault?"

"You're irresistibly adorable," Yami responds, his voice serious but his eyes twinkling with humor. "See, you make certain impulse light up inside me. I have to kiss you every time I can, it's impossible for me to resist it." As if to prove it, he cups Yugi's cheek and presses a kiss to the tip of his nose. "See? Impossible."

"You're impossible," Yugi laughs, playfully punching Yami's arm. Then he sighs, yet the smile remains. "Honestly, though, I'd rather be here with you than back in there without being able to hold your hand or kiss you." This time it's him who cups Yami's cheek and kisses his nose.

"Yeah," his boyfriend agrees. "Me too."

They end up having a family dinner at Yugi's place, the Atemu family invited, right before Amelia brings in a cake she baked herself. They talk and laugh and eat and have a piece of cake for dessert, all of them together, and at one point, Yami lowers his eyes. He remembers Rebecca, remembers the last family dinner they had together, the day before she was found dead. But he quickly pushes that memory away and instead wonders how she would react if she were here, if she was sitting next to him. She'd probably try to embarrass Yami in front of Yugi, because no matter how much she loved him, she was still his little sister.

Remembering Rebecca also makes him remember 'mini-me.' He's been gone for some time now, probably because he hasn't needed him anymore. Yami's not sure of how it works. 'Mini-me' was sort of a younger version of himself—the version of himself while Becky was alive—that was always by his side to remind him of what, who he was.

Perhaps the little fellow's gone because Yami doesn't need someone else to remind him that.

Yami wonders if he'll see him again. Maybe one of these days he'll pop back into his mind with a SQUEEE! He doesn't doubt it. In fact, he kind of wishes it.

For now, though, he tries not to laugh at the embarrassing baby stories Mr. and Mrs. Mutou tell him and his parents as they sit on the living room about their son, Yugi next to him, groaning as his head falls forward in his hands, begging them to "please, stop it already!" But Yami loves every single one of them—he feels like it helps him get to know Yugi better.

It doesn't matter if for now, he can't take his boyfriend to his favorite restaurant for his birthday or hold his hand or kiss him at certain public places without getting kicked out. For now, he's content with being able to hold him tightly to him as Yugi buries his face on Yami's chest and pleads with him not to laugh at him.

And he wouldn't have it any other way.