:God life sucks at times. I'm sorry again for this, I've been having a bit of stress in my life and it's been messing with my head. Here's the next chapter, it's not very exciting but hey it's gotta be here. I hope you enjoy reading!:

Yugi stood off to the side, waiting patiently for any orders to be directed his way. Joey had been carried out by Seto, being told to be taken to the Nurse and for his injury to be taken care of. He looked down, glancing at his hands, trying to get his mind off of something. He shook his head, it wasn't something, it was someone.

He turned his head, looking in the direction the royal prince stood. He was surrounded by others, the students handing him scripts and instructing him on how to act and look in certain scenes. Seto had told them that he knew the play by heart, was that really necessary? But then again the royals could have performed their little play differently than theirs, so it made sense in a way.

He ran his eyes over Atemu's features, taking in how warm and smooth his skin looked, how his expression showed only the most determined and concentrated look, the way his eyes narrowed and revealed a slightly darker shade of crimson. Yugi gulped, quickly diverting his eyes back to his hands as his face grew hot.

What was he doing, staring at the royal like that? He had acted like a stupid little kid when Atemu had spoken to him, he could barely form any words into a sentence! Well, he couldn't either but it was rare for himself to become speechless, sometimes...

He shook his head quickly, trying to rid his mind of strange thoughts. God, would this please stop for five seconds?! He couldn't help himself as he turned his eyes back to the prince, noticing how he had a small smile on his lips, as if he was having fun. Of course he's having fun, he used to perform this play, why wouldn't he? But what if he doesn't like the way we're showing it? What if he doesn't want to be apart of the part? What if-

Yugi tried to calm his heart and mind down, questions were being thrown into his mind, forcing him to think of questions and answers to everything he was asking. Why should he care if Atemu wanted to be in the play or not? He was only being an understudy, nothing else! But you want him to be there.

He felt his heart stop for a moment. I what? He leaned against a nearby wall, forcing himself up so he wouldn't slump down. He knew what was going on, hell he had felt it with Anzu, but he couldn't let this happen! This stupid little thing would disappear, it only began because he kissed you, so it's fine!
But it wasn't because of the kiss, it couldn't be. Yugi felt his heart tighten, telling him he was correct. How can such an idiotic royal do this to him? Did the guy even know what was going on with him?! He had hated the prince, loathed him even, but now he couldn't say that sort of thing.

When he was kissed, he felt no anger. He was just shocked and confused, and he didn't like those feelings at all. The kiss wasn't bad, the kiss was just...He couldn't find the words, his tongue darting out to lick his lips without his consent. Stop thinking about the kiss, stop thinking about him.

Atemu's right there! He yelled at himself. How can I not think about him when he's right in front of me?! Well just look the other way, simple solution right? Yugi laughed at himself for that, yeah great solution and then when the guy pops out of nowhere you're gonna get worse.

He hated how he was feeling right now, he hated every bit of it. He wanted the tightening feeling in his heart to leave, the sensation of excitement he felt when he would see the royal to just disappear, he hated it! Atemu could never find out about how he felt though, if he did, well...

Wouldn't you like it though? His mind asked. Wouldn't you enjoy losing the bet now? Yugi answered himself quickly with a firm 'No'. He wouldn't enjoy losing the bet. He loved the school, he loved his family, and if he left he wouldn't be the same. If he got married he would become royalty, a person of higher power and status, he didn't want that. He enjoyed being normal, a person who wasn't that special, a person who was like everyone else. To be royal meant to be better than everyone else in certain ways. He could live without that.

So are you going to lie? Yugi furrowed his eyebrows. Was he going to lie? The bet was that if he had any feelings of love in his heart toward the prince, he would go with him and marry him, but if he didn't he would never see Atemu again. He wrapped his arms around himself, hugging himself so tight that he could feel his fingernails digging into his arms. He didn't want to lose the bet, but he didn't want to win it either.

He bit his lip, trying to figure it out in his mind. If he lies, he'll be able to stay and continue his education, but then he would never be able to see Atemu. If he won, he'd be able to see Atemu everyday, but he would have to become a royal. He hated royals, he despised them, he had never liked them. Yet the ones that had visited this year were different.

They acted like people, as if they weren't royalty. His friends liked them, it was obvious, and Yugi liked them too. If they could stay they would probably become part of their little group they had, they practically were already. He had to think about that too. If he went with the royals, would he ever see his friends again?

Sure, Mana and Anzu are together and the others look as if they might hook up at any minute. But he was used to seeing his friends everyday, could he get used to not being able to? Did he want to? The answer came to him easily; He didn't want to get used to it. He never could do that, he needed his friends and he needed his family. He sighed, shaking his head as he made a decision in his mind quickly.

"This'll be fun, won't it?" A feminine voice asked, coming right up beside Yugi. He flinched, turning his head to the speaker and sighed once he saw who it was.

"I dunno, Ms. Valentine..." He responded, his face blank of any emotion as he rose his eyes back to the royal. He bit the inside of his cheek, forcing himself not to react at the sight of him. "It'll be the first time a royal has ever participated in a play, right?"

"Yes that is true." She smiled, crossing her arms and looking across to the prince as well. "But he does seem as if he knows what he's doing."

"He hasn't done anything yet."

"He knew the song."

"A lot of people know the song."

"Are you against him taking Joey's place?" Mai suddenly asked, flustering poor Yugi.

"Of course not!" He argued quickly, his cheeks taking a sudden shade of pink. He turned brighter after thinking for a moment, he had answered that a bit too quickly. This, of course, made Mai allow a small smirk to arise on her face. Her student was simply adorable when he was like this.

"Then why are you arguing?"

"I don't want the play to be ruined."

"It won't be, if anything," She turned herself to face Yugi, forcing his instincts to come to life and look at her. She smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder, lowering her lips to his ear; "If anything, it'll make the play better for both of us."

Yugi's eyes widened, backing up quickly at this comment. What did that mean?! He felt his face and body becoming warm again, his mind swarming with thoughts and answers to his question. Shut up brain! Shut up!

Mai giggled, the sound vibrating through his skull as she stood up straight, her arms taking her previous pose; "Will you be a dear and show our royal where exactly his new station is?"

"Station?" Yugi questioned, regaining his composure as the question was asked. "What station?"

"He'll be taking Joey's station for now." She explained. "He needs to be shown there, after all where else will he do his makeup?"

"Backstage and not in the dressing room." Yugi grumbled, causing his teacher to raise her eyebrow at him. He sighed and nodded; "Alright."

Yugi turned himself, facing the direction where the prince was. He kept his arms at his sides, his hands beginning to clench up, he could feel sweat rolling down his back. Why in god's name was he so nervous? He gulped, swearing for a moment he could hear Ms. Valentine giggle behind him.

"And then we practice act three on Thursday." A student told Atemu, handing him a calender. The royal took it from them, moving his eyes to look down at it, but his mind moving onto a different subject. Act three, huh? He gripped the calender tightly, finding that the entire week he would be busy. Ah well, it didn't matter. He had nothing to do and also...

"Atemu." A beautiful voice sounded out, causing the hairs on the back of the prince's neck to rise in awareness. He turned around quickly, his face already turning bright red before he could even look at the small beauty.

The royal was only slightly confused at that moment. Yugi had acted so embarrassed and shy, just like he did, but here he was acting normal. His face looked completely normal (Despite his amazing features of course), he didn't look as if he were to be shaking, he looked calm. Atemu opened his mouth to respond; "Yes, Yugi?"

Ah, there we go. Atemu thought with a smile in his mind. As soon as he had voiced his interest's name, the boy began to turn a bright pink, a pink that he tried to hide by closing his eyes and exhaling quickly.

"I need to show you where you'll be getting dressed and doing your makeup." Yugi explained, turning around quickly and making a gesture. "Come on, we don't have all day."

"Actually we do." A student chuckled before a different student looked in Yugi's direction.

"Is something up with him?" They whispered before Yugi began to walk toward the curtains, forcing Atemu to blink in confusion before he could catch his mind up to speed and chase after him.

"He's probably just nervous-" The other student began to reply, only to find Ms. Valentine come up behind them with a smile on her face, looking in the direction the two teens had gone. She let out a sigh and giggled.

"Yes, they both probably are."

()()()()()()()()()

Atemu had to jog to catch up with Yugi, the teen had been speed walking, as if he wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. Perhaps he had misread his body language, he wasn't calm. Yugi was speed walking, he was avoiding his gaze, he talked faster than normally. If anything he was panicked without showing it, which was quite a good skill in a way.

"Are you alright?" Atemu dared to ask. He watched as Yugi's shoulders stiffened in the slightest movement, pausing only for a second.

"Yes, I'm fine." Yugi replied quickly, his speed only increasing as the seconds rolled by.

Atemu furrowed his brow. Yugi had been fine earlier, had he done something wrong again? He was fine and nervous before you got involved with the play. The prince cringed at this knowledge, perhaps Yugi was upset about that detail. But he didn't seem as if he was angered with him, just annoyed or something...

Yugi didn't break stride as he walked to a door, grabbing the knob and throwing it open quickly and heading in, the royal barely making it in as the door shut loudly behind them. Little Yugi was in a rush, in a panic, was he afraid of something?

"Here's your station." Yugi pointed at a dressing table that held a picture of Serenity, the words I LOVE YOU BIG BROTHER printed across the top in bright pink marker. "It used to be Joey's and it still is, but since you took his place you-"

Atemu wasn't paying attention, he couldn't. He was paying attention to only two things, one; The way Yugi looked at the moment and two; How stupid the prince thought he was. Yugi had every reason to be afraid of being alone with him! He had kissed him out of his own will! He'd be scared that he'd do something again!

He rose a hand to his forehead, shaking his head at his stupidity. Yugi blinked at this sudden action, he was only explaining what he did at a station, was it that hard to understand for a royal?

"Hey, what-"

"I'm sorry." Atemu suddenly blurted out. Yugi's eyes widened for a second, before placing a hand on Joey's station and leaning his weight onto it.

"Huh?" Yugi uttered out. What was he apologizing for? Was he not listening or something? He didn't really blame the royal, he didn't pay attention either when Mai had told him about stations. "It's fine, I-"

"No. It's not fine." Atemu stepped forward, causing Yugi to react by standing up straight. "I'm sorry."

"Okay, okay." Yugi rose his hands up in defense. "You don't have to be sorry about not paying attention." Atemu narrowed his eyes, before closing them and shaking his head. He reopened his eyes, suddenly taking a giant step forward and grabbing Yugi's hands into his.

Yugi felt himself react instantly. Atemu was holding his hands, and they were so warm...He gulped, trying to wiggle his hands out of the grip, but he couldn't. Atemu had wrapped his hands around both of his, holding them to the center of the two.

The royal stepped closer, raising the hands higher so they would help Yugi raise his head up, forcing him to stare into the crimson eyes of the prince. Yugi couldn't breath, oh god. Was he going to kiss him again?

"I wasn't apologizing for that." Atemu spoke, he gripped Yugi's small hands tighter, his own face turning a dark red. "I'm apologizing for...you know..."

"For-" Yugi stopped, his face becoming darker than Atemu's. "For the..." The prince nodded quickly, never dropping the gaze they shared.

"Yes." Atemu breathed out. "I am so sorry..." He shook his head, closing his eyes only for a moment before they rejoined Yugi's. "I was being stupid at the time and so angry and I just..."

Yugi's face was growing darker by the second, his eyes were becoming wider, his mouth was turning drier, his heart was racing faster. He could feel both of their hands becoming soaked in sweat, as if both of them were nervous. What was happening?

"I just..." Atemu couldn't help it when he stared down at Yugi, wanting nothing more than to do the action he had just apologized for, but he couldn't. It wouldn't be right. "I'm just sorry..."

"Don't apologize." Yugi whispered, hating himself immediately for the reply. "You did it to win, right?" Atemu shook his head quickly, not even controlling his actions.

"No!" He told him. "I didn't care about winning." He could almost feel the two of them drawing closer, as if a magnet was pulling them toward one another. "I only cared about making it known that you..."

"That I?" Yugi urged, finding himself to be wanting to know what he wanted to say.

"You..." Atemu bit his bottom lip, searching for the courage to tell Yugi what he wanted to say. "I'm sorry, I can't-"

"Don't apologize." Yugi repeated, his lips turning into a small smile. "If you didn't do it to win, then I guess that makes it a bit better." He knew it wasn't to win, what was he saying? He could feel his knees begin to wobble, this wasn't good. You promised yourself this wouldn't happen. Remember what you told yourself, don't let out any signs.

"Yugi...?" Atemu uttered out. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why shouldn't I apologize?" Yugi knew the answer, but he knew that he wouldn't, couldn't, say it.

"You just shouldn't..." Yugi responded shyly, taking his hands back and breaking the intimate gaze they had shared. He placed his hands slowly behind his back, intertwining his fingers together. He was shaking, he knew he was, he had never felt like this before and...

He made his way to the door, taking the knob gently into his hand before looking behind himself to find Atemu coming up to his side.

"Yugi?" Atemu spoke, asking Yugi with his name. What did he say? What did he want to say? Yugi smiled at the prince, freezing the royal dead in his place. The smile was more beautiful than he had ever seen before, it looked sweet, pure, and...no, it couldn't be.

"Atemu?" Yugi breathed out, snapping the royal out of his daze. He let out a laugh, the smile still pasted on his face.

"I'll help you in any way I can, don't hesitate to ask. Let's get back to practice."

:I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was only a little hard because of how stressed out I've been lately! Sorry again! I love you guys!: