A/N: I'll admit that this one is probably my favourite in the whole collection so far.

19. Far Away – Nickelback

Jounouchi leaned towards Honda without taking his eyes off the scene in front of them. "Reckon it was worth getting a ticket?"

"I told you before; you're not going to get a ticket. The light was amber, not red. You didn't run a red light." Honda considered this. "Not that it wouldn't have been worth it if you had."

"I hear you. This has been way too long in coming."

"You know," Otogi interrupted, walking up to them across the airport arrivals lounge, "you guys could've just waited for me to come and pick you up. It wasn't that far from Ryou's apartment to yours. You didn't need to steal your dad's car, mutt."

Beside him, Ryou blinked. "Is that -?"

"Yup," Honda and Jounouchi replied in unison.

"And are they -?"

"Yup."

"Wow."

"Wow is right. We would have waited for your slow ass to arrive, Otogi, but it would've been cruel to keep them waiting any longer than they already have. I mean," Jounouchi spiralled a hand at the wrist, "they've been really dumb about the whole thing since they were twelve. That's six years of dumbness, a couple of life or death situations, plus a few thousand miles of separation before they figured out they're completely in love with each other. Adding being late to meet her flight to all that would've been like the last steps in a long walk off a short pier into the Crazy Sea."

"'Dumbness'?" Otogi repeated. "Is that even a real word?"

"Shut up, pretty boy."

"Why Jounouchi, I had no idea you thought of me that way."

"Huh? No, I never meant -"

"Will both of you shut up and let me enjoy this?" Honda snapped.

"I never figured you for a closet romantic," said Otogi, but left off baiting Jounouchi to join in watching. "Have they come up for air yet?"

"Nope." Honda checked his watch. "Eight minutes and counting."

"Her arms have got to be tired." Otogi tipped his head on one side. "They're causing quite a stir. That guy in the Hawaiian shirt just took a photo of them."

"He was taping them earlier, but he ran out of battery. He must've gone to the gift shop for one of those disposable cameras."

"Shouldn't we stop him invading their privacy?" Ryou suggested.

"What privacy? We're in public. Besides," Honda added, "I'm considering asking him for copies."

Otogi formed a box with the thumb and index finger of each hand and used it to frame the scene. "They do make a really weird picture. Isn't it usual for the guy to lift up the girl to kiss her?"

"Yeah, but the guy isn't usually a head and shoulders shorter than the girl. She'd get total backache leaning down for this long."

"She must have arm muscles like iron bars."

"Yeah," Jounouchi said decisively, absently rubbing his arm. "She got them from always punching me. Ow!"

Otogi grinned. "I thought you might be missing the experience since she's indisposed."

As the pair of them took off, Otogi pursued by Jounouchi, Honda sighed and shook his head. Ryou looked between him, the two other boys, and their other friends and nibbled his lip, still unused to the strange nuances of their friendships.

To his credit, he then shrugged.

Honda smiled. "C'mon, we can see better from by that sunglasses stand."