Hi, everyone, I hope you all had a great Easter.
Sorry, I've taken so long to update this time, I'm normally a lot faster.
Here's chapter 21 of Roommates. Thank you for reading it so far and for the reviews, I hope you enjoy this chapter too! :3
I don't own YuGiOh or the characters. D:

(Marik's POV)

My dream was a memory.

I laid on a cold floor with an everlasting, throbbing pain in my back. I felt the bare skin off my arms touching a warm liquid that gave off a metallic smell. I forced myself to sit up, creating a sharp pain in my back in the process, so I could fix a glare on the dark, shadowed feature that must have been my father.

"So, you're up? You've been out of it for days," Father said, darkly. I've been laying in my own blood for days. Why haven't I bled to death? I looked down at myself; someone had wrapped bandages around my torso. So this is what stopped me from bleeding to death? "Ishizu insisted on wrapping those around you to stop you from bleeding too much."

"Where's Melvin?" I tried to sound strong but my voice just came out hoarse and fearful. I searched the room but couldn't find a sign of my brother.

And then, it was no longer my old memory, but a terrible nightmare.

"It's not Melvin you should be worrying about."

Father came into the light and I saw the threatening smile on his face and the glint of the blade of the Millennium Rod. This is it. He's going to kill me. But I noticed his eyes trail away from me to something in the shadows, the figure of a body. Who? Who could it be?

"I can't kill you, Marik. You're needed. So I'll kill something... someone very dear to you."

Who? I stared at father expectantly.

He pulled the figure from the shadow. I wouldn't have been able to recognise him from this new expression on his face but when I caught sight of the messy, white hair, I knew.

Bakura.

"NO, FATHER! DON'T HURT HIM, FATHER! DON'T, PLEASE!" I screamed. I stared at my Bakura. He wasn't himself. He was scarily thin and his hair was even messier than normal. His eyes were wide and mad and filled with unknown fear. He was wearing filthy rags. He must have been in here a while and tortured during his stay. I took in his wrists which were bounded by a rope that was so tight on them, it had made them bleed and his mouth was gagged by a filthy piece of fabric. I welled up as the realisation hit me. I'm powerless and I will never be able to protect those I love. Bakura's going to die and I can't do anything about it because of this monster. It's my fault too. Mother died giving birth to me and as I took my own mother's life, I took away any love that my father had in him. Maybe I'm a monster too.

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?" I screamed at the father who I had always hated. I felt my tears drop down my face.

"To teach you a lesson, Marik," was his reply.

I watched in horror and agony as the blade impaled the boy I loved. Bakura was dying because my stupid father wanted to teach me a lesson? So many emotions went through me. Sadness, agony, depression, loneliness over losing Bakura. Hatred, anger, murderous intent towards my horrible, disgusting father. Self-loathing and regret for being the whole cause of this and for not being able to do anything. Because father couldn't kill me, he was taking away the thing most dear to me, my one source of true happiness.

"Never leave the tomb again," I heard father whisper coldly as my mind faded back into reality.

"Another nightmare, Marik?" I heard someone with a British accent mumble in my ear. My eyes shot open and suddenly, I was in new surroundings. It was just a dream, father is dead. It was just a dream, father is dead. Bakura's okay. He's right here with you. I took in reality. There was no longer the throbbing pain in my back, but there was a throbbing sensation in my head and I felt tired and irritable. Bakura was holding me in his arms to calm me down; the bare skin of our torsos touching, giving me butterflies; our legs entwined. I stared at him, his face so close, our noses almost touching.

"I'm so glad you're okay," I whispered, taking in his healthy appearance, trying to shake the image of his helplessness in my dream.

"Why wouldn't I be?" He asked.

"My father... you were in the tomb... my father was going to... my father did... he stabbed you, Bakura," I replied, my eyes filling with tears.

"Marik, it was a dream, your father is dead."

"I know... but my dreams always feel so real..."

"It's okay. Everyone's safe now. I'm safe and I'm here with you."

His arms tightened around me and I leaned in to kiss him gently. When we pulled back, I smiled at him.

"Bakura, you snuck into my end of the bed."

"Only because you were screaming in your sleep and I was trying to comfort you."

"Aww, Fluffy, you're such a softy around me."

"Shut up."

"No, you!"

"No, you."

"No, you!" I said, raising my voice but as I did so, the pounding in my head intensified, "ouch."

"What is it?"

"My head is pounding and I don't know why."

"Oh, dear Marik, you're experiencing your first hangover, serves you right for having that little drinking contest with Ryou. I bet Ryou's experiencing the bloody same."

"You drank more than me, why are you fine?"

"Because I'm not as much of a lightweight as you... My head is pounding a little bit though."

"Well, mine kills!"

A loud shrill ringing came from my trouser pocket and the pain in my head increased. I sighed, wriggled out of Bakura's grasp and climbed out of bed. When I pulled my mobile phone from my pocket, I didn't bother to look who was calling. I put the phone to my ear.

"Hello," I grumbled irritably.

"Marik? What's wrong? Are you sick? Are you upset? You sound upset? And you're late for work! You said you could do a shift today!" My older sister's concerned and loud voice came through my phone.

"Oh fuck, I did, didn't I?" I replied. But my head kills...

"Yes you did, and don't swear, young man!"

"Geeez, sorry, mum."

I heard her sigh. "Anyway, where on Earth are you?"

"At Melvin's... they had a birthday party for me and I stayed the night because it was late."

"A party? There wasn't any alcohol, was there? I hope you weren't drinking... Wait a minute... Do you sound grumpy because you're hung-over? You didn't get anyone pregnant did you?"

"No, Ishizu, I did not get anyone pregnant!" Bakura laughed. "And I didn't drink any alcohol."

"Okay, Marik, I can tell you're lying at the last part! You're an obvious liar!"

"Ugh, why does it matter?"

"Because you're hung-over! My baby brother got drunk last night. I can't let you work in your state which means you won't get any pay, I'm afraid."

"No, Ishizu, I'm fine! I can work!"

"Marik, you have a hangover, I can't allow you to work! Just go back to bed."

"No! I need the money, it's going towards my house!"

"I'm sorry, Marik. It's your fault for getting drunk last night!"

"But, Ishizu-,"

The phone was taken out of my hands.

"Hi, Ishizu. This is Marik's friend and roommate, Bakura. I was wondering, since the money was going towards our house, if I could take his shift instead. Don't worry, I didn't drink at all last night."

Bakura's a really believable liar.

(Bakura's POV)

"Oh, hello, Bakura. You're Melvin's... um... boyfriend's brother right? Ryou's a lovely boy, so I'm sure you're nice too." She sounded awkward when she said boyfriend... She must not be used to the idea of it yet... Best not tell her about Marik and me.

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Wow, you're much more polite than Marik said. He complains about you often, although a lot less as of late." Oh really, Marik? "Are you sure you want the shift? You'll need to be here as soon as possible."

"Yes, I'm sure. Thank you so much. I'll leave now."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye."

I hung up.

"I'm taking your shift," I said to Marik, quickly putting on my clothes and flattening my extremely wild hair.

"I heard... and since when are you so nice?"

"I had to make a good impression."

"Whatever, you better get going. I'll see you at home, yeah?"

"Yeah, I'll see you later."

I quickly kissed him and headed out of my old house and to the museum.

(Marik's POV)

As Bakura left, I got dressed and then looked at the clock. It was half past 11 in the morning already and I was supposed to start work today at half past 10. I shouldn't have let Bakura convince me to drink. I headed downstairs and saw a very different looking Ryou. Oh my Ra, he looks awful. He had huge bags under his eyes, messier hair than Melvin and Bakura put together and he looked slightly green. He was sitting at the kitchen table in bunny-print pyjamas; I stifled a laugh and walked over to him.

"Good morning, Ryou," I said.

"What's good about it? I feel like crap, I'm never drinking again if it means I have to go through this," he grumbled, sounding an awful lot like Bakura, "and please, speak quieter."

"Oh, come on, your hangover can't be that bad, you drank less than me, Bakura and Melvin."

Ryou mumbled something about him clearly not reacting well to alcohol and that he never wanted the stuff in his house again. I laughed and he gave me a pained look and informed me not to laugh as it made his head worse.

"Why did Bakura practically run out of the house?" He asked.

"He's taking my shift at the museum; Ishizu wouldn't let me work, even though my hangover is clearly not that bad... Seriously, she should see you. Speaking of which, are you okay? Do you have any aspirin? We should probably both take some to get rid of some of the pain."

"Um, yeah, in that cupboard," he said, pointing to a cupboard, "Bakura's working? That's new."

I found the aspirin and had some, I then put it on the table for Ryou and he had some too. The throbbing died down slightly and I realised that I was hungry.

"Do you have anything to eat? I would like some breakfast, please," I said, trying to sound polite, but I doubted that in his current state that Ryou would care whether I was polite or not. He nodded and pointed to some waffles, I smiled at him and asked if he wanted any but he shook his head. He looked nauseous. I toasted my waffles and then sat opposite to him, eating them. When I finished them, I leaned tiredly on my hand.

"I feel like crap," we both said together and then started laughing. My head began pounding again at the loudness of our laughter, and it was clear Ryou's did the same as we both stopped laughing abruptly.

"So where's Melvin?" I asked.

"He went to work and he better bring some milk home, we're running low."

"Oh... cool. So, do you want to hang out today and just watch some TV?"

"Yeah, okay. As long as we don't put it on too loud..."

"Yeah, I'd rather it be quiet too."

"Um, Ryou, thank you so much for the party. It was fun."

"You're welcome, Marik. I'm glad you had a good time."

And that was it.
Bless little hung-over Ryou and his bunny pyjamas. I love Ryou. :3
Carlos_de_Citron, Decagonshipping, that's genius! XD thanks so much haha. And Marik says thank you and he is wondering if you'd like to change your name to Steve and become his mindslave. :)
LiquidSugar27, haha! Thanks. I love MarikPlaysBloodlines . I hope LK makes a new one soon. :O
Darkelf777, I'm so glad :3 Thanks!
Queen_of_Commas, you were right! Haha, Ryou and Marik are half-dead (especially Ryou...) Maybe we'll find out how Yugi's taking his hangover at a later date. :D Thanks!
auroramcchickenatmcdonalds, you were right! IT WAS WAFFLES! Mm... waffles. haha :3 Thanks!
Abzstar, woaaah, that's scary. That must be a ghost, changing your time to creep you out! o.o Thanks!
Yami_The_Dark, so do I, I want something to happen when they do but it's too soon... D: Yeah, maybe it isn't so good for Ryou that he drank :o Thanks!
ArcherAzzure, Thanks! Haha, your review made me giggle. :3
PiWrite, yay, drink contests are fun! :D Hahah, I'm glad you liked it, thanks! :)

My replies to all the chapter 20 reviews ^ Woohoo. :3
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and now it's time for the suspense-y questions which sometimes don't get answered and sometimes doooooo.~

What will Ishizu think of Bakura? Will she find out about him and Marik? What happened when Anzu and Yami took the drunk Pandalike Yugi home? How will Otogi take Marik and Bakura's relationship? Will he be able to break them up and take Marik for himself? What happened in Seto's limo with Joey? Nyeh! Did Tristan get home okay? Does anyone actually care about Tristan?

And most importantly...

Will Melvin bring some milk home on his way back from work? Because they're running low.

Haha, thanks for reading! :D

-Dani.