HEYA!

How's it going? It's been a little quieter this week, so I was able to complete this chapter earlier than I had expected. It will be a little busier in the future, so I can't promise that the next chapter be uploaded as quickly.

Please tell me if you want me to include anything in the next chapters. I write this story for you as well, so it's only fair to get your opinions in it as well.

Hope you enjoy!

Beta: Yugi16dm (THANK YOU!)

Chapter 6: Confession?

"Let's call a truce."

The sentence hung in the air, like the silence that stretched between the two boys standing across from each other. As one pause dragged into another pause and this one blended with yet another one, the older of the two seemed to get a little annoyed.

But Joey, as bad as he wanted to, couldn't find the words to answer. First of all, because it was effing Seto Kaiba standing in front of him. Under no circumstances had the blond ever seen him succumb, if that was really what Kaiba intended to do with his proposition. Which led Joey to his second theory: this was some kind of trick, in which case he should probably turn around, make a run for the stairs and hope that Kaiba did not find out where he lived.

There was a huff that made Joey fall out of his brooding. He looked at Kaiba who was still standing in the door, his arms now crossed across his chest, making a face as if he would be all too happy to deal with anything but him right now. Which was probably exactly the case.

"Wheeler, I won't stand here all day for your answer, so make a quick decision or I'm going to make it for you." This prospect seemed rather appealing to the brunet. Joey noticed the dimple that appeared on one side of Kaiba's face and he had to think of the talk Bakura and he had had last evening, after the 'incident caused by sexual tension between Kaiba and himself', or that's at least how the former spirit had put it. Even though Joey had vehemently denied it then, he couldn't deny the fact that he was somehow drawn to the little indentation now, even words like adorable or enchanting crossing his mind.

He was yet again drawn from further thinking, when Kaiba cleared his throat. Joey wasn't quite sure if this was because he had still not answered the brunet or because he had been staring quite obviously.

"Well?" Seto demanded, the smirk still present on his face.

Okay, Joey thought, let's look at the situation logically. There were only two options. Deal or no deal. If he did not agree it would be bad either way. If he agreed and this was a trick, he knew it would be bad as well, but if Kaiba was genuine with his suggestion, then this could actually lead to an improvement in their relationship. Not that Joey was keen on that. No, not even the slightest…

"Wheeler?" Seto demanded once again, the annoyance still clear in his voice, although there was something else in there as well. "What are you worried about? This should only be to your advantage, anyway," he continued, partially echoing Joey's thoughts.

Even though the blond was not completely convinced, he also couldn't argue with what Kaiba said.

"Agreed," Joey said finally, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. Maybe he was a little relieved that the other had made this proposal. He was still suspicious about the whole thing though. Nevertheless, he extended his right hand. If they were going to make a deal, then they should do it correctly.

Kaiba seemed to be a little taken aback, but he caught himself pretty soon, taking the proffered hand, shaking it.

Joey had expected Kaiba's hand to be cold. Maybe because of his personality, but when their hands met, Joey was quite surprised by the warmth of it.

The handshake only lasted for a second though and when Kaiba released Joey's palm the blond tried very hard to convince himself that he was not disappointed from the loss of contact.

Those feelings confused him a lot. Why was he reacting this way? Fifteen minutes ago he would have given everything to be as far away from the other boy as possible, so why was he becoming so sensible to Kaiba all of a sudden?

He put the blame on Bakura and his philosophical talk. Why had he even started the whole conversation in the first place? He had actually hoped for some advice from Ryo's part, but hadn't considered that the two were nearly inseparable and Bakura had a bad habit of butting in as often, and in the most inappropriate moments possible. He was not sure if he was even serious with his suggestions, they were mostly completely bogus to Joey, but he would give Bakura credit for nearly everything.

"Are you okay, Wheeler?"

For the third time that day, Joey's thinking was interrupted by Kaiba, who was eyeing him suspiciously. Joey felt really stupid by now, but tried to keep as much dignity as possible.

"Sorry, I was just spacing out", he answered lamely. Well, so much about dignity.

Kaiba nodded slowly, the suspicion still visible on his face. "If you're not feeling well," the brunet began, "I can ask for some medicine, if you need any. Just give me a call before something unpleasant happens."

Joey tried to look past the sarcastic comment, concentrating more on the slight trace of worry he had heard in the other's voice.

"Will do…" the blond said, a small smile making its way to his face. "…thank you." he added.

"Hn.", the other one gave as response, giving him one quick look, before he turned and made his way to his desk, leaving Joey a little self-conscious.

He would have to do some bad things to Bakura, the blond decided.

:::

By the time Kaiba's phone had rung for the twenty-seventh time that day, Joey was so used to it that he didn't even listen to Kaiba answering it anymore.

When the brunet let out an annoyed groan a few moments later though, the blond turned his head, trying to get what the conversation was about.

"And why am I the last one to hear about this?" Kaiba was just saying into his phone, seemingly pissed off. Joey was happy about the agreement they had reached in the morning, because he definitely never wanted this tone to be directed at him. Ever. It sent shivers down his spine. He was genuinely sorry for the person on the other end of the phone.

"…not happy about this, but we can't change it now anyway, can we?" the brunet continued, irritation all over the place. He brought his free hand up to massage his temples, silently contemplating whatever the person he was speaking with was saying right now.

"We will have to talk about this later" the heir of Kaiba Corp ended the call, his face in deep thought now, still angry, but somehow composed at the same time. He looked at his watch, then back up, seemingly calculating something. When he turned his head, Joey was not fast enough to look away in time.

And again he was caught staring. Well, crap.

Their eyes locked and Joey was not sure if he should hide under his table or if he was better off asking what was wrong. He decided for the latter, mostly because he was curious, but also because he thought that he, as Kaiba's personal assistant, should at least try to help him with his problems at work.

"Something wrong?" he asked, regretting the words as soon as they left his mouth. It was kind of pointless to ask him that, since it was pretty obvious there had occurred a problem. Kaiba must think he was a complete idiot right now, looking at him all the time, without even listening. The blond quickly tried to rephrase his question.

"Well, what I mean, I didn't want to sound-…"

"Mind your own business", he brunet snapped. There was a moment of complete silence, before Kaiba let himself fall into his chair, heaving a deep sigh. When he looked at Joey again his expression had softened. Then he said something that made Joey think he had developed some hearing problems in the last few seconds.

"I did not mean it like that. The harsh tone was not very appropriate."

Maybe Joey was thinking too much about the statement, but had Kaiba actually apologized to him just now? He didn't remember hearing Kaiba apologize to anyone before, let alone him.

"It's okay. Your job seems to be very stressing so I understand."

There was a silence again, but this time it could even be called comfortable. When Kaiba spoke again, his tone seemed really calm, but Joey could still tell the other was really upset about the whole scenario.

"Some business partners have canceled their meeting with us, which had been scheduled for tomorrow. They want me to meet them today instead." Kaiba paused.

Joey was a little confused. He was not really seeing the problem, he had to admit. He looked up and noticed the way Kaiba seemed to fidget for words. Something here seemed to be really nagging on the brunet's nerves.

"Today's Mokuba's birthday." Kaiba crossed his arms across his chest, staring at the keyboard in front of him.

Oh. So that was the problem. He had promised his little brother to spend the day with him and now he couldn't keep his promise. Joey thought about Serenity's last birthday, where he had not been able to visit her as well. He had felt really guilty afterwards, so he knew how Kaiba felt right now.

"Is there no way of postponing the meeting?" Joey asked. If they had called of the meeting, then those business partners should actually be the ones that should adapt to Kaiba's schedule, not the other way around.

The brunet shook his head. "They are leaving in the evening and the meeting is really important. It would not be wise to make it more complicated. Anyway, I'll just have to get a chauffeur to pick Mokuba up from school and dinner is just going to be a little late…" he seemed to be talking more to himself than to Joey now, falling into silence once again after he had finished the sentence.

Joey was feeling some connection between Kaiba and himself. He found himself looking differently at Kaiba from one moment to the next. Kaiba seemed to care so much about his little brother, the blond had caught glimpses of that over the last year and it was something he knew all too well himself. He found himself feeling a sudden rush of affection towards the boy in front of him.

"I'll do it."

Joey was as surprised to have said the words as Kaiba seemed to be when he heard them.

"You what?" the brunet asked, stunned.

"Uhm, well… you need someone to get Mokuba from school and to cook dinner for him, so I'll do it. I mean, I can cook, somehow at least and I know where his school is ..." Joey rambled until he finally reached a dead end. He still couldn't quite interpret the expression on the other boy's face.

"I thought you and Mokuba didn't get along?" he finally responded.

"We both worked in a coffee shop over the holidays last year. In the end, it was even fun." Joey had to smile. Firstly, because he thought back at that time (it had been a lot of fun, actually) and secondly, because the situation here seemed, now that he thought about it, strangely similar.

Kaiba nodded once, seemingly remembering his younger brother's job. "It would make things a lot easier if you were to do that", he finally said, his voice sounding as if he was calculating each word.

"Mokuba's school day ends in half an hour, so you need to hurry to pick him up. The instructions for the dinner are pinned to the kitchen cupboard." Kaiba stood, looking a little uneasy, but his voice was determined. Joey doubted that he had to do things like that very often. He felt somehow proud that Kaiba did actually seem to trust him a little, even though he knew that the older boy was kind of desperate at this point.

Joey got up as well, nodding to Kaiba's information, trying to memorize everything.

When they both reached the door, there was another pause where no one really knew what to say.

"I guess it's a good thing we decided to work together, it saved me a lot of work," Seto finally said.

Even though he knew in the back of his mind that this comment should be answered with some witty comeback, he didn't know how to form one at this point. Instead he said the following.

"That's what I'm here for, isn't it?"

Kaiba seemed a little surprised, but quickly composed himself. "I guess." The brunet looked as if he was going to say something else, but kept silent.

"Okay then, I'll see you in a few hours," Joey said, feeling a little uncomfortable all of a sudden. The other boy nodded. And there it was again, that touch of a dimpled smile.

Without another word the blond walked out, a strange feeling in his stomach. Maybe he really was getting sick or Bakura had not been completely wrong with his assumption after all.

:::

Keep cool, Joey told himself. There could be a logical explanation for all of this. Just because he was feeling uneasy around Kaiba and his stomach seemed to turn whenever their eyes met, it didn't have to mean anything. They had gone from arguing 24/7 to what could even be called a normal relationship, so it was only understandable for the blonde to be a little clueless on how to react around the brunet now. He was just now used to have a normal conversation with the other boy. That was all.

Joey groaned and hit the gas pedal a little too violently when he sped off after the traffic light he had been standing at turned green.

Who was he even trying to kid. He was somehow inexplicably, and for no logical reason, becoming attracted to one Seto Kaiba.

Joey had known he was gay for some time now. At first he had tried to deny everything, but after a rather embarrassing incident, when he had walked in on Yuugi and Yami at the worst possible moment, he had been pretty convinced of his sexuality. It was easier for him after that, mostly because his friends told him that they had known him to play for the other team for a while and because most of them were homosexual as well. He had never had much experience, though. He had kissed some girls over the years, but that had never really evoked too much in him. Kissing boys was another story whatsoever. Yuugi and he had kissed once, during a game of spin the bottle. It had felt quite nice, but they were best friends, so it had also been pretty awkward.

Now that he was experiencing those feelings for Kaiba, he was getting more frustrated by every second. Not only because he knew that the brunet could probably not reciprocate those feelings, but also because Joey was obliged to work near him for the next two weeks and he was not too keen on that. The words 'sexual tension' came to mind again.

He turned a corner, Mokuba's school coming into focus. He could make out the black haired boy standing around thirty feet away, his gaze focused on the green haired boy he was talking to at the moment. When Joey's car parked a little way off, Mokuba waved to the blond before he turned his attention back at the boy.

Joey got out of the car. He wasn't very happy on interrupting the conversation, but he had to. When he turned up right beside the two boys, Mokuba cocked his head to one side, one eyebrow raised, not really angry, but just confused.

"Hey."

"Hey, " Mokuba retorted. The green haired boy kept quiet, but smiled at Joey.

"Happy birthday, " Joey continued, "Your brother has some work he needs to tend to, so I'm getting you home today. He'll be home as soon as possible. He was really upset that he couldn't come here himself," he quickly added when he saw a tad of disappointment crossing Mokuba's features. The black haired boy seemed to accept the situation though, even if he didn't seem too happy about it. He looked at the boy beside him, then back at Joey, a look crossing his face that made it quite clear that he had not finished his talk yet and didn't want the blond to overhear it.

"Uhm…I'll just wait in the car." Joey turned and walked off. Well, that hadn't been awkward, Joey thought sarcastically.

He sat down in his car again, turning on the radio, switching channels until he finally decided on some alternative rock song. When he glanced at the two boys again, he was shocked at what he saw. It looked like they had ended their conversation and Mokuba was just turning into his direction. He made one step, but was prevented from any further action when the green haired boy caught Mokuba's wrist, tugging the boy back and swinging him around before he caught the surprised boy, planting a kiss at the other one's lips. Mokuba seemed completely paralyzed for a moment, before his hands clawed into the other boy's shirt's fabric, his eyes closing.

Joey looked away, thinking that this was a moment that was not meant to be seen by him.

When the black haired boy sat down in the passenger's seat a few moments later, Joey couldn't help the smirk he was throwing in the other boy's direction, who blushed a deep red before he glared at the blond.

"Don't you dare…" he threatened, blushing even more.

It was silent as Joey backed out of the parking space.

"You know, some people would kill to get a birthday present like this."

Mokuba groaned, burying his face under his hands, the nearly gone blush returning full force.

This is gonna be A LOT of fun, Joey thought happily.

A/N: Reviews make my day! They are the fuel that keeps me writing!

Oh, whoever can guess who that boy who kissed Mokuba is gets a cookie!