Atem sat completely stunned across from her, head spinning, with Yugi inside of it.

Anzu had a peaceful expression on her face as she retracted, but when she sat down and reopened her eyes, she saw Atem's slightly parted lips and wide eyes and mimicked the expression herself.

"Oh m… Yugi, I am so sorry," she said in a panic as the realization of what she had just done dawned upon her, her hands moving to cover her mouth.

"That's… It's…fine…" he mustered, still dazed. Despite all they had talked about, and her connection with Kaiba, she had still kissed him.

What…did it mean?

"I can't… I can't believe I just…" Before she let herself finish, she stood up and began running from the table.

But Atem caught her arm quickly. "Wait," he said, having snapped out of his stupor.

"Anzu…"

"Yugi, I can't; this is all just so confusing for me," she explained in exasperation. But she let him keep her there, her eyes looking into the depths of his for answers to the questions she desperately wanted the answers to, but was afraid to hear.

Atem returned the intensity of her gaze.

"Anzu, if you run, I will come after you."

Anzu's eyes struck wide and she drew a breath.

"So please, save us the legwork and sit back down."

The severity with which he spoke would make her afraid if he was someone, anyone else saying something, anything else.

But he wasn't. He was her best friend, and he was only asking her not to leave him like that.

"We can talk about it," he prodded gently. He had spent much of his energy putting on a commanding tone to the woman of all women in his life standing before him. Now, he just wanted her to feel comfortable again. After all, he was more than comfortable with the affection she had shown him. In fact, he was delighted, and willing to receive as much of it as she was willing to give him. The only question was her conscience as she did so. That was the sole wildcard.

Anzu shared his gaze for a while, then obediently sat back down. As she did, he let go of her wrist.

"Right, talk about it," she repeated, flipping the words over her tongue. "Well, to be honest, I didn't really think about it… I just did it," she admitted sheepishly.

"I…didn't mind, at all," Atem responded, feeling far less eloquent than usual. "I…really didn't mind," he underlined, and to say it was an understatement was itself the understatement of the century.

He thought back to the feel of her lips pressed ever so softly against his skin…

His whole body began to stir, and a shudder rippled through from his brain to his tailbone at the thought.

To Anzu, his repeated proclamation made it clear that he definitely didn't mind it, and not only that…but he actually…really liked it. She blushed at the thought of her best friend relishing her affection like that, as if it would affect him after all these years…

Anzu didn't know what else to say to him. He had been so nice to her, and she felt like she had just been a mess of emotions and confusion to him the whole time. She glanced back down at her steak and cursed herself for even considering that she could leave from such a wonderful dinner without even having eaten her painstakingly-acquired first.

"This looks amazing," she explained to Atem, her brows rising as she picked up her utensils and began to cut into her food, settling herself back down in the situation. It was still a bit tense, but it was worth it to keep going, for both of their sakes. After all, they were close, and he deserved her utmost attention after going to such lengths for her.

"I am happy it suits your taste," Atem replied sincerely. He looked down at his own meal and began cutting into it with his silverware in turn, able to relax and enjoy it now that she was staying.

They ate in relative silence, at least compared to how much had happened around the time she had kissed him. Their lack of words didn't mean lack of communication, however. Atem stared at her like she was the last woman on earth, and Anzu couldn't help but notice his looks of adoration as she self-consciously but happily bit into her perfect steak.

Then, Anzu's cell phone suddenly vibrated, breaking her focus on her almost-finished sumptuous dinner and equally enjoyable company. The first thing she garnered from flipping open her phone case was that had been an hour since they had arrived at the restaurant, and it was nearly five-thirty.

The second was that Seto was asking where she was.

She instantly began staring down at her phone with an expression of worry and concern on her face.

Atem noticed. "Anzu, what's wrong?"

"It's Seto. He's asking where I am." She showed him the time on her phone. "It's almost five-thirty."

"Aren't you meeting him at six?"

"Yeah, I am. I don't think he's asking because he's already there, I think he's just curious since it's getting close to our meeting time. Still, I should probably go," she said, disappointment filling her voice to the brim. She had been having a really wonderful time with him.

"I understand," Atem said, having just finished his duck. He waved the waiter over and gave him his card, which Yugi had agreed to beforehand.

As she watched him pay for the lavish meal they just had, Anzu felt guilty about leaving. "Yugi, I really appreciate this. It was amazing." As if to illustrate her point, she popped the last two small pieces of steak from her plate into her mouth.

"It's all right, Anzu. I understand, really," he insisted, standing up as the waiter returned with his card. "Thank you," he said to him, then waved his arm toward the door. "Shall we go, Anzu?"

"Yes, Yugi," she said, smiling all the way out the door of the American restaurant she'd not soon forget, beside the man who had clearly not stopped considering her important to him after all these years.