"So let me get this straight," Yami growled, his face tinted red with rage," because of us, Yugi nearly-" He cut himself off, not wanting to repeat what he had just been told. After seeing the dark bruises decorating his partner's torso and being told Yugi came so close to ending his own life he was fuming. Not because of Yugi, he could never be mad at the boy, no, he was angry with Ushio and himself.

Yugi sat on a large bed in the same room, staring at the floor in shame and embarrassment. A young looking doctor had just finished giving Yugi a checkup and left. Yugi learned that his ribs were severely bruised and a few slightly cracked and was informed to keep his torso properly wrapped and to not do anything too strenuous for the next few weeks. Tea, Joey, and Tristan, upon learning this new information, had left the room in order to give Yugi and Yami some privacy. The three were currently downstairs with Bakura, Marik, and Malik, waiting for the others in awkward silence.

Kaiba stood in the corner of the room while Ryou stood as close to Yugi as possible without invading his space. Yugi gave Ryou a look.

"I gotcha. Well, we should head downstairs and give these two some space." Kaiba reluctantly nodded and followed the white haired boy out of the room, leaving the door open behind them. A few minutes of heavy silence filled the room.

"I'm so-" Yugi began only to be interrupted by Yami.

"Don't you dare say sorry." Yugi flinched at the dangerously angry tone in Yami's voice. Yami inwardly kicked himself for not watching his tone. "I'm sorry, Hia- Yugi." Yami had to stop himself from calling him Hikari because he felt he no longer deserved the privilege of doing so which unintentionally made Yugi sadder than before. Yami calmed himself down a bit before continuing.

"You don't need to be sorry for something like that. It was my fault that you felt that doing that was your only choice. If I hadn't been so stupid none of this would have happened. So please, Yugi," Yami got down on his hands and knees in front of a now shocked Yugi. "Please forgive me! I swear I'll do whatever it takes to make it up to you! Anything!"

"It's okay Yami. You don't have to do that." Yami lifted his head and was about to protest when the noticed the tears rolling down his Hikari's face. Yami found it hard to say anything after seeing such a sight.

"Yugi." He whispered guiltily.

"I'm so happy." Yugi continued through heavy breaths. "I thought you guys hated me for so long. I thought I must have done something wrong. I was so lost, Yami. I tried to hold it all in but it was too hard. Ushio wouldn't leave me alone- I didn't want to die, but I just couldn't take it anymore. I was just so tired of it. Tired of wondering why, tired of the bullying, and tired of no one caring. I couldn't do anything but give up. I'm such a coward." He added silently.

Yami stood up and placed his hands on Yugi's shoulders, surprising the younger boy by the sudden action. "You are no coward!" Yami insisted. "You didn't do anything wrong! As for Ushio, you don't ever have to worry about him again. I'll make sure of it. You are not alone anymore and I won't let you be alone ever again. I promise. I wish I had said this a long time ago, but Yugi. I love you."

Yugi's eyes widened as he felt his heart flutter from the declaration.

"I know you couldn't possibly feel the same, especially after what I put you through, but I just had to tell-"

Yami was suddenly cut off by an intense and emotional hug.

"I love you too, Yami. I loved you for so long, but I was so scared that you didn't- but after you started ignoring me I thought there was no way that you'd- no I'm so happy, Yami, but I-"

"It's okay, I know I broke your trust in me and that's all on me. I don't blame you for being unsure so just take your time. I promise I'll be right here for you when you're ready. You don't have to rush anything. We'll take this one step at a time."

Yugi felt really relieved that he didn't have to make a decision so soon and happy that Yami was being very considerate and patient about that. He nodded but continued to hug his Yami.

After a moment Yugi ended the embrace and broke the calming silence. "Please don't do anything to Ushio. Promise?"

Yami chuckled at the statement. Of course, Yugi would be concerned with the wellbeing of his bully. Yami had to admit his caring and compassionate nature was one of the many things he loved about his Hikari. However his honest reply, "I love you, Yugi, but not gonna happen."

Yugi rolled his eyes at the comment. He knew that nothing he said would be able to stop him. Instead, he merely said. "Just don't go overboard. I don't want you to get in trouble because of me."

Yami sighed. "Okay, just for you. Now I think you need to get some rest. We can head back to the game shop when you feel better. That is if you want to."

Yugi nodded. "I'd like that." Yugi laid down in the bed as Yami made his way to the door. "Thank you, Yami." He whispered barely audible.

Yami smiled, "No, thank you." He replied as he turned the light out and softly closed the door. For the first time in a long time, Yugi slept with a small smile on his face.

The next night

Yugi and Yami had decided to skip school and stay home to watch some movies and just hang out together which is where they remained the entire day. Yugi, despite being glad, couldn't shake the feeling of dread that it may all be just another dream and he would awaken at any moment to find himself alone once again. He decided to try and ignore the feeling and enjoy the dream while it lasted. Joey and the others had visited after school to check in on Yugi and to notify Yugi that Ushio would no longer be a problem. Yami had grinned and Yugi sighed but politely thanked them followed by a lecture that they shouldn't pick fights. The group hung out for a little while before heading to their respective homes.

It didn't take long afterward for Yugi to fall asleep. Yami smiled at the sight of Yugi resting his head on his shoulder. He scooped the boy up bridal style and carried him to his room. After placing Yugi in his bed he went to exit but stopped in his tracks.

He realized just how long it had been since he had been in the room. It was different than he remembered. The mirror was sitting on the floor faced down, glass shards littered the surrounding area. The picture that once hung above his bed was gone. There were piles of papers on his once neat desk and upon closer inspection he realized they were poems and apparently song lyrics. The poems were all depressing and had obviously expressed Yugi's hidden feelings from when he was alone. He noticed something sitting on the desk, hidden under the piles of papers.

"A box." He had a sinking feeling he knew what the contents of the small dark gray box were but, Ra did he hope he was wrong.

Upon opening the box he felt all the guilt and nausea hit him ten fold. Inside the box held many different blades, each with a decent bit of dried red liquid.

Yami rushed out of the room, box in hand, and raced to the bathroom to empty what little food he had consumed that day. Once he was finished he realized he still held the box tightly in his hand. Not wanting to look at the box another minute he chucked it into the trash bin, promising to apologize for invading Yugi's privacy the following day.

Yami proceeded to make his way to the kitchen to grab a broom and dust pan. He reentered Yugi's room and got to work cleaning up the broken mirror. As he lifted the mirror frame he was horrified to find blood stains around a fist shaped hole in the center of it. 'Just how much did did he suffer?' Yami thought solemnly.

He quickly and quietly cleaned up the glass before heading off to his own room. He knew the road ahead of them would be a long and hard one, but he realized for the first time that he would gladly take on any hardships if it would make Yugi happy again.

Just a couple more chapters to go! I want to give a special thanks to everyone for sticking with me for so long and I really hope you guy aren't disappointed with my telling of the story. I know I tend to rush things and believe me I'm trying no to rush this one, but old habbits die hard I guess. Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter.