Things were quiet. Not just the nervous quiet when you find yourself alone in the dark and don't know where you are or how you got there, but a more painful, isolated kind of quiet. It'd only been a week since the incident at the arcade, but to Joey it felt like months.

He'd locked himself in his apartment, turning it from a home into a solitary confinement cell. All the phones were disconnected. The tv remained off and silent. The curtains were drawn, only allowing a dim glow from the sun during the day.

It was so quiet...

Joey was constantly restless and unsure what to do with himself. On occasion he would do some light dusting. Maybe he would even arrange a few things strewn around the apartment, if he was feeling ambitious. But most of the time he found himself just lying in bed, unable to sleep and unable to leave – tossing and turning, almost waiting for something else to happen. Something bad.

It was too quiet…

Yugi and Tea had stopped by a couple times. When he didn't answer the door they left, only to return a couple hours later. Joey didn't want to see them. Rather, he didn't want them to see him. After a while, they had settled on slipping letters under the door.

'Hey, we really miss you. Are you alright? Tristan said to tell you that there are no hard feeling about the other night. He had a minor concussion, but the doctor said he was going to be just fine. Please call us soon! We are really worried about you…

-Tea and Yugi'

The other letters pretty much said the same thing. On Tuesday, Tristan's name was added to the list of signatures.

It was Friday again. Joey was lying on his back on the hallway floor, staring at the ceiling. There was no real reason why he'd chosen the hallway. He just kind of ended up there, tired of laying on the bed, or the couch, or the floors in the other rooms. To his disappointment, the ceiling looked the same wherever he was, but the dull cream color was somehow comforting.

It was incredibly quiet…

He hadn't slept in days. He caught himself dozing off every now and then, but nothing too deep. Joey was afraid to sleep – afraid that the nightmare would get him again, and that he would hurt people. He didn't want to hurt people, because if he hurt them, they would start to hate him. Wasn't hating himself enough?

Joey missed his friends. He thought of them all the time. He remembered all the good memories they had. He remembered dueling Yugi at school, with Tea and Tristan watching, and the tournaments, and all they had gone through together. Through thick and thin, they were inseparable. Best friends through everything.

Then he remembered the nightmare, and seeing his friends battered and bloody at the arcade. All the good memories before that seemed to shatter, leaving his heart cold.

It was very quiet…GROWL!

Joey bolted upright at the sound that suddenly cut through the silence, startled. He looked around, but couldn't spot anything that would make such a noise.

"What the-"

Another loud growl sounded out. The blonde looked down at his stomach and blushed, embarrassed by his own stupidity. His stomach roared again, this time tightening painfully. When was the last time he'd eaten?

"I don't wanna get up," Joey moaned to his stomach, lying back down. "Now shut up!"

…

GROWL!

…

RAWR!

…

GRRRROOOWLLLL!

"Alright already!" Joey yelled. He heaved himself off the floor. The stomach wanted what the stomach wanted, and it wanted food. Who was he to deny it that?

He shuffled groggily to the kitchen and opened up the fridge, only to find it empty. The cabinets were just as barren. Short of eating the rotten cheese that was shoved in the corner of the drawer in the bottom of the fridge, there was no food.

Joey sighed and closed the fridge door. His back pressed against it and he slide down to the floor, pulling his legs up to his chest and hugging them. What should he do?

'Starve,' he decided stubbornly. His stomach gave another twist. He bit his lower lip and looked at the front door. It looked tauntingly at him, like a huge beast. 'Gotta go out sometime…'

GROWL!

Joey groaned and stood up, his mind made up by the noises of his stomach. The door knob was cold in his hand as he slowly turned it and the door opened with the light squeal it always had.

The main hallway was no different than he remembered it, but it felt like it'd been so long since he last saw it that it had a nostalgic feeling, even though it was only a week or so. He took a step out and stopped for a second to soak it up, wondering if leaving was a good idea. He hadn't lost it in the week alone, but….

"Joey?"

The blonde nearly jumped out of his skin, spinning around towards the voice. Sitting on the floor yawning was the small, spiky haired teen that Joey easily recognized. Yugi rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Joey fumbled for words, but was too surprised to say anything but "W-wha-? Whe-? Wh-?"

Yugi smiled, "Hey, I was waiting for you. I figured that you would have to come out eventually."

"Y-yeah…" Joey replied dumbly. His eyes fell to the floor, unsure of what else to say. His stomach snarled. "Uh…..what are you doing here?"

Yugi lifted himself up, and his smile fell away. "We need to talk. Something happened."

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Yeah...bad chappy, but I figured it needed to be updated badly. Thank you all for your support! This will be updated with a better chapter soon. =p

-BV