Title: Sugary Wine

Pairing: Heartshipping/RyouxYugi

Season Six. Round Two.

Don't own anything!

"Three cups of flour...then stir continuously for...five minutes?" Ryou read aloud, squinting his brown eyes at the recipe book, trying to make out the small print on the ancient yellow pages.

Shrugging, Ryou sighed and reached for the measuring cups and the pot of flour from their cabinets. Doing as the directions supposedly said, he added three cups of the powdery substance to the liquid dough he had already made and started stirring with the wooden spoon he had previously taken out.

As the batter became thicker and harder to churn, Ryou grasped the bowl for better leverage, grunting a little, trying to get at the flour that decided to stick to the sides of the bowl, trying to escape from being baked.

With his forearm, the albino wiped his forehead, smiling warily when the grunt work was done and over with. In all his years of cooking, he had never seen a batter be so thick for a cake...

"But never mind that!" he mused, "I need to get this cake finished by tomorrow!" He got back down into work, pouring the bowl's contents into two circular pans and then fed them to the preheated oven to bake.

Setting the timer for forty-five minutes, Ryou leaned against the counter, a smile coming back to his lips.

Tomorrow was Yugi's birthday. Twenty-first birthday to be exact. Ryou chuckled lightly, remembering that he'd have to go out and buy some wine for his boyfriend, already knowing that Yugi would want to indulge in some kind of alcoholic beverage since he was becoming the legal age.

With that thought came another, and how much they both had changed since graduating high school. Upon entering collage, both of them had grown up and as some would say...blossom into more outgoing men.

Ryou supposed that it was their yamis' faults, Yami and Bakura being darkness and he and Yugi being light. He and Yugi must've been tainted in some way before those two left for the afterlife...

But either way, both he and Yugi had grown up and matured a little more, taking more of a stand to themselves and building individual characters.

And with character came...attractions to others.

It was he who approached Yugi first, becoming his old self again, timidly asking the other out for dinner. His whole world shattered though when Yugi gave him a response of 'no'.

"You're just...I don't think it'd work out, Ryou," he could remember Yugi saying rather quickly. "I want someone with a little more, let's say...strength."

"...I understand Yugi, sorry I asked," he replied numbly, instantly looking down at his feet.

He didn't realize it at the time, but Yugi was in a somewhat struggling relationship at that time, and was promptly told to keep it secret. It turned out that Yugi did have similar feelings that Ryou did but was not allowed to say anything about it.

Ryou found all this out about three months later, after one of his night classes. Yugi had shown up at his apartment, tears trailing down his face, his shirt's sleeves ripped ruthlessly.

Yugi had told him that night about his relationship with one of their fellow classmates and how it had turned disastrous. He was told how much Yugi had secretly liked him and how much he'd like them to be together.

Ryou took his dearest friend into his welcoming arms that night, promising that no harm would ever come to Yugi ever again.

And so far, his promise had not been cut by something or someone, and he was grateful for it. He loved Yugi with all his heart, as did Yugi.

Pursing his lips and spinning around, Ryou's happy mood quickly dropped when he realized how much of a mess he had made for himself to clean up.

"I knew I should've just ordered a cake."

Yugi sighed, unlocking his and Ryou's apartment door, letting it slide close with a sharp click, his free hand going up to pinch the bridge of his nose, his headache increasing with the added noise.

So far, today was turning out to be a lousy birthday.

Climbing up the stairs to the actual apartment, Yugi shifted his shoulders, his heavy backpack also making his whole back hurt with how much stuff was crammed in there. Upon reaching the door, he lightly turned the knob and slid into the kitchen, trying to close the door as softly as he could.

Flicking the switch on, Yugi sighed as he let his backpack drop to the floor with a thud, his exhausted eye immediately locating the medicine cabinet.

After taking two Tylenol, Yugi suddenly thanked the heavens above that it was Friday, which meant he didn't have any classes until Monday afternoon.

Smiling to himself at the good news, Yugi ventured over to the small living room, plopping himself down on the comfy couch, kicking his sneakers off to free his aching feet.

'I wonder where Ryou is. He's usually home before I am,' Yugi thought idly, realizing that he hadn't come in contact with his lover yet since he arrived.

Sighing again, Yugi let himself go limp in the couch's cushy embrace, letting his aches and pains soothe themselves away. "Happy birthday to me..."

Suddenly, a small crash was heard to his right, and Yugi's gaze landed on the bathroom door. A soft grumble was heard, and then a low moan as obviously whatever had broken had to be cleaned up. Yugi bit his lip and smiled, happy that he had thought wrong about Ryou being home.

About ten minutes later, Yugi was still watching the bathroom door, wondering what was taking Ryou so long. Then finally, the bathroom door opened, revealing a nicely dressed Ryou.

A soft light blue shirt and dark dress trousers was what Ryou wore. The shirt commented his hair, and the pants hung loosely off his hips. Socks adorned his feet below. Yugi was slightly disappointed when he wasn't met with his boyfriend only dressed in a towel like usual.

Ryou spotted him. "Yugi! I wasn't expecting you home until later! What time is it?"

Yugi chuckled, suddenly glad that his headache had been pushed away by the medicine he took. Glancing at the VCR to the right, he replied, "six-forty-two p.m."

Ryou's brows scrunched together for a moment in slight confusion, and then he lightly smacked his own forehead. "Then I'm late. My bad, Yugi."

Neither said a word, Ryou obviously flustered by his own lateness to what he had planned for his boyfriend, and Yugi who was delightfully drinking in his boyfriend's dressed up image. Yugi sidled off the couch.

"Had a bad day?" Ryou asked, lifting his arms so that Yugi could wrap his own arms around his waist, burying his head into his chest. Yugi nodded slowly, and Ryou kissed the top of his head, his right hand reaching for Yugi's chin to lift it up so that he could see his boyfriend's face.

He inwardly sighed out in relief when he wasn't met with tears, so Yugi's day couldn't have been that bad. Just the usual bad that'd come and go.

"Well, since it's your birthday, I've got an amazing night ahead of us. All just for you," Ryou said gently, brushing his lips against Yugi's in a loving kiss.

"I love you, Ryou."

Yugi beamed as he stared at the masterfully made cake. "Are you serious? You made this, Ryou?" he asked astonished, unable to comprehend the fact that Ryou had made the cake set in front of him. "This looks so professional. How long did this take?"

Ryou blushed at the comments, finally finding his voice to answer. "Two days. And yes, I made it."

He stared down at his own cake, finding it a little less than perfect. It was a simple chocolate cake, covered with vanilla icing and then topped with a blue colored fondant. Yugi's name was written beautifully with stenciled prints no doubt made with sugar, and yellow stars filled the empty spaces.

"Do you like it?" Ryou asked, already knowing the answer.

Yugi looked at him quizzically, as if wondering why he'd ask such an obvious question. He was pecked harshly on the lips, a snicker following. "Of course I do! I just can't believe that you went through all of the trouble just for me..."

Ryou wrapped his arms around Yugi's middle, his front pressing against the other's back. He leaned down to Yugi's ear and as seductively as he could, he whispered, "it was worth it. You're worth it, Yugi."

He could feel Yugi go a little slack in his arms like he always did when he started whispering in his ear. It was his turn then to peck Yugi on the cheek. "Come on, Yugi! Let's dig in. But don't forget to make your wish!"

Yugi giggled at that, waiting as his boyfriend leaned over to their left to grab the matches, quickly lighting each awaiting candle. Ryou assumed his position over Yugi again, his hands tightening around Yugi's middle lovingly. Yugi hesitated, obviously thinking about what to wish for, then with a big gust, blew out all of the candles.

"What did you wish for?" Ryou asked curiously.

Yugi leaned his head back on his shoulder. "Like I'm telling you! That's bad luck you know!"

Ryou didn't know, as it wasn't a family tradition to keep wishes secret. He shrugged, letting go of Yugi to get the knife to cut the sure to be delicious cake.

It was nearing ten-thirty p.m. now, and Ryou leisurely sat back on the comfy couch, waiting for Yugi to join him. To make the moment more special, Ryou had lit a couple of candles, causing an irresistible scent of rain and roses to engulf the room.

He was glad that their extravagant dinner and cake had lightened his lover's mood thus far. All that was left were the two gifts he had bought him, and some wine.

After they had demolished about half the cake, the two had decided to change into something other than dressy clothes and casual class clothes. Ryou was currently dressed in his dark green long-sleeved comfort shirt he usually wore when just lounging around the apartment, solid black pajama pants covering his legs, his feet bare.

A couple minutes passed, and Yugi finally exited their bedroom, dressed in a simple white t-shirt, and his red and black checkered pajama bottoms. He quickly assumed his position next to Ryou, snuggling as close as possible.

"I got you presents," Ryou said, a small smile coming to his lips as he looked down at Yugi who was pressed to his side, the orange candlelight dancing gracefully against his face and in his purple eyes.

Reaching foreword, Ryou grabbed the two small presents from the coffee table just ahead. He handed the first one to Yugi.

Yugi opened it, and suddenly, a kiss was pressed to Ryou's cheek. "Oh Ryou! How did you guess! I needed new socks!" He chuckled, knowing that he overdid the exclamation, but also knew that he did indeed need the small bundle of clothes.

Ryou laughed. "Yugi, nobody gets that excited over socks. Not even me."

Yugi nudged him playfully, and Ryou handed him his second present. It didn't take Yugi much effort as it was an almost paper thin present, and once it was revealed, Yugi was speechless.

"It took me forever to find, and I know that it means a lot to you," Ryou said softly, looking at the Dark Magician card Yugi was holding.

During the time that Yugi had been in his struggling relationship, his partner had defaced many pieces of his property. The Dark Magician card was one of those damages. Yugi had told him after about a month of dating that this card was ruthlessly torn into pieces as a form of blackmail that went horribly wrong.

And from years of knowing Yugi, Ryou knew exactly how precious that card was to his boyfriend.

"I...I don't know what to say..." Yugi said, sounding like he was in a daze, trying to believe that the card he was currently holding was real. "Thank you! Thank you!" Without warning, two arms were thrown around Ryou's neck in a crushing, but loving hug.

Hugging back was just as much force, Yugi was the first to pull away after a few minutes, finally setting down the Dark Magician card back onto the coffee table. "Thank you..." he said again, a large smile locked onto his face.

Ryou kissed the top of his lover's head. "Like I said before, you're worth it, Yugi."

Yugi snuggled closer to him, and they stayed like that for a while until Ryou remembered an essential part to his plan for the night.

"Where are you going?" Yugi asked when he stood up.

"Be right back," he said with a quirky smile, going to the kitchen to fetch what he needed.

A few minutes later, Ryou returned with two wine glasses, and the wine itself. "I wasn't sure if you'd have a preference, but I hope red wine is fine."

Yugi chuckled. "You rhymed," he said a little dreamily. "But yes, that's fine. I've only had wine a couple times with grandpa when he'd let me take a sip or two, and whatever he had tasted too...dry. In other words, I didn't like it."

Ryou nodded. "Same here. I can usually settle with this kind or the fruity tasting wine." He started pouring the liquid into the glasses until he thought they were gracious amounts to satisfy them both.

Settling next to Yugi again and making sure that they were both snuggled tightly together, he handed Yugi his drink and took his own to hand. After a couple sips, Ryou felt Yugi lean his head on his shoulder.

"Don't tell me you're alrea-" Ryou started, but Yugi shook his head with a small laugh. "Just making sure," he started again, leaning his own head on Yugi's.

Silence engulfed the two for a while, both basking in their evening and how well it went and how lucky they both were to have each other.

"Ryou?" Yugi asked, sounding a little sleepy, his glass half full.

"Hmm?" Ryou answered, staring off at one of the flickering candles.

"I love you."

Ryou smiled, his eyes sliding half closed. He inhaled the sweet scent of his boyfriend's hair and answered back:

"I love you too."