Chapter 5

Joey couldn't believe what he was seeing, never in his life had see someone with so many bags. Well not so many bags from one shop. He was leaning against a railing watching his friend in a nearby clothing store. From where he was standing he could see Tea standing at the counter with many bags around her, another was one being past to her by a shop employee. He had to wonder how in the world she was going to be able to carry all that. Standing beside him were his other two friends, who were also watching Tea thinking similar things.

"She's nuts." Tristan said, staring at Tea, "I mean how in the world is she going to pack all that?"

"Surely she's not bringing all of it." Joey asked, his eyes widening slightly, "Is she moving out there or something?"

He didn't receive an answer from either of his friends, but it mattered not as their attention was on Tea. She was carefully picking up each bag with a rather determined look on her face. It seemed she was determined to prove that she could carry everything. It crossed all of their minds that perhaps they should offer assistance but they found watching Tea's stubborn effects was too amusing. It wasn't that much of a surprise to any of them when Tea succeeded in her efforts and appeared by their side looking rather impressed with herself.

"Well, shall we?" She said.

Without waiting for a response she began leading the way with the other three trailing behind her. Their next stop, as per Tristan and Joey's request, was somewhere with food so they set off in search. Being it was still rather hot outside they discovered it harder then expected to find somewhere that they could sit in. There was the option to sit outside in the glorious sunshine but they weren't feeling up for that. Eventually they found a small café which was quiet enough for them to sit inside. Although Joey had to wonder for a moment whether Tea and her numerous bags would actually take up all the available space but much to his surprise she managed to place them tidily in a corner. Whilst Tristan and Tea moved up to the counter to order for everyone, Joey and Yugi remained at the table seemingly to guard the bags. Joey turned to look at Yugi but he found him looking at his phone. This hadn't been unusual for Yugi today and he knew the two people Yugi was most likely contacting. But this time was slightly different. There was a frown on Yugi's face as he, presumably, waited for a response. But apparently none had come as when the other two returned with drinks a couple of minutes later Yugi placed the phone to his ear. Looking over Joey kicked Yugi under the table, trying to gain his attention. Yugi's gaze turned to Joey, but he did not return his phone to the table.

"Who are you calling?" Joey asked, although he was sure he could guess.

"Atem." Yugi replied, confirming Joey's guess.

"Is he alright?" Tea asked.

Yugi nodded, "I'm sure he is, he's just gone quiet so I feel I need to check in but he's probably gone to sleep."

There was a pause as they waited for the former Pharaoh to either answer the call or not. But after a few more moments Yugi replaced his phone on the table.

"He didn't answer. Hopefully he's sleeping."

"Poor guy, What do you think he's got?" Tristan asked, stirring his drink absentmindedly.

"I have no idea, me and Grandpa have been fine so I've got no idea what it is or where it came from."

"Well if you want we could head to yours after we're done here." Joey offered, "That is unless Tea needs to go to yet another shop?"

Tea turned to Joey looking rather disgruntled, in response Joey merely shrugged.

"You just appear to have purchased the whole shop back there so I'd be surprised if you need more things."

She thought about making so sort of retort but thought better of it. Instead she glared at Joey before turning her attention to Yugi.

"I think it's a good idea we head back, I'm more then prepared for this trip unlike some."

She shot a look at Joey who just grinned in her direction leaning back in his chair. Yugi exchanged a look with Tristan before grinning himself. Neither of them thought it was wise to wade into this, they rather preferred being on Tea's good side.

After enjoying their refreshing pit stop, they braved the heat once more, heading in the direction of the game shop. Despite the stop they'd made they were all rather looking forward to getting out of the heat. Tea, in particular, was starting to regret the number of things she'd bought but she was not going to let a single complaint out. If she did then Joey would never let her live it down. It wasn't a particularly long walk back to the game shop but when they arrived they were all in need of another drink. Yugi led the way inside up and into the living room where they all flopped on one of the chairs in the room. All except for Yugi who moved straight into the kitchen, making drinks for everyone. As he pulled glasses down from the cupboard his eyes spotted a piece of paper on the countertop. Casting his eyes over he proceeded to roll them, a smile made its way on his face. His grandfather had left a list of things for him, ranging from what night was bin night to what to do if the shop is burgled. Sometimes he wondered whether he needed to remind his grandfather that in a years' time he'd be a legal adult and more then capable of taking care of himself. Handing the drinks to his friends in the other room, he returned to the kitchen to fill another glass but not for himself. Moving out the kitchen he headed to the stairs, his friends watched him climb them but did not need to ask where he was going.

He made his way up the stairs and to the closed door of Atem's room. He'd not heard a word from the once King for quite a while now. Judging by the lack of noise Yugi guessed that it was highly likely that Atem was still asleep, something he was grateful for. Despite his efforts to lift the once King's spirits it had been clear from his messages that he had been desperate to sleep but something had stopped him doing so. Yugi knocked quietly, trying to keep the noise down in case the occupant was still asleep, before pushing the door open. His eyes were drawn immediately to the bed where he saw his closest friend. Atem was indeed asleep, his shallow breathing confirming that. He was lying on his front, the sheets tangled slightly around him showing he'd clearly had a lot of trouble getting to sleep. Unfortunately, his sleep did not appear to be a deep, peaceful one. It was restless, he would move or twitch every few seconds. But at least he was sleeping. Yugi moved quietly to the bedside table and set the glass down gently next to the empty one. Yugi had to admit this was probably the least graceful he'd seen the former Pharaoh. Had he not been so unwell Yugi would have laughed and made a point of teasing him about it. But that did not seem fair at the moment. Moving to the window he drew the curtains, trying to keep the room as cool as possible. It was lucky Atem's room didn't seem to get too warm but Yugi wasn't taking any chances. Returning to the bedside table he gazed at his friend, he looked much the same as he had done that morning. Leaning carefully across he put his hand gently on the latter's forehead, withdrawing it quickly when Atem moved. There was no doubt Atem was still running a nasty fever, but Yugi was sure it hadn't got any worse which had to be a good thing. He continued to watch the former Pharaoh for a moment, wondering whether he should try to detangle the sheets around him. But he concluded that it wasn't wise given Atem's response to his hand, any slight movement might wake him which was the last thing he wanted to do. Instead he picked up the empty glass and quietly left the room.

Descending the stairs he heard the voices of his friends, by the sounds of it Joey and Tristan had engaged in their usual disagreement. But as he made it to the bottom of the stairs they seemed to sense his presence, immediately looking round at him.

"Is he alright?" Joey asked.

Yugi smiled, "Yeah, he's alright. He's asleep."

"Good," Joey sighed, "The quicker he recovers the better."

"I'm hoping this is as bad as it will get for him," Yugi replied, moving briefly into the kitchen to set the glass in the sink before settling himself in a chair, "I'm certain he's still got that fever but I don't think it's any worse so maybe this is the worst it will be."

The others nodded their agreement. Silence fell briefly as each of them was taken up with their own thoughts before conversation about the upcoming trip broke out. They went over the plans for the journey to the airport and details about the flight. They weren't sure what would happen at the other end but decided that would be irrelevant as they would be met by Grandpa who would definitely know what was happening out there. As the afternoon rolled by and evening drew closer the conversation turned to their thoughts on the last week at school.

"I swear if we are the only ones to get homework I'll stage a rebellion." Joey stated.

"And how are you going to do that?" Tristan asked, "A one man rebellion would never stand."

"Who says it would be one-man?"

Tristan just looked at Joey, a certain look on his face. In return Joey just scowled at him.

"Well, if you don't have the guts then that's on you."

But whatever retort Tristan was going to make they didn't find out as at that moment a new sound caught their attention. They could hear a cough coming from upstairs, although it was muffled due to the physical distance all of them couldn't help but wince at how painful it sounded. Yugi sat up right, ready to jump up if he needed to. He'd been beginning to wonder if Atem would be out for the whole night or not. But by the sounds of that cough, he was definitely awake. He had a suspicion though that Atem would not show himself with their friends still here. His pride would not allow him to show weakness in front of them, even though he knew that they knew how unwell he was.

"I feel for the guy." Tristan remarked, a slight grimace on his face, "That sounded like it sucked."

Yugi nodded slowly but said nothing. He was still listening out for movement upstairs. But he could not hear much of anything. All he knew was that Atem was awake, where exactly he was upstairs he did not know.

"Do you think he'll come down?" Tea asked.

Yugi shook his head, "You know what he's like Tea, he won't want to be seen when he's not at his best."

Tea nodded slightly. There was a slight pause, it seemed as though Yugi's three friends were waiting for him to decide whether or not he needed to head upstairs. It was obvious from his body language he was listening for movement upstairs. When he finally settled back in his chair they relaxed.

Joey's gaze moved to the window, the sun was starting to set. The faint streaks of orange were starting to appear in the sky signalling that the day was coming to an end. A thought crossed his mind and he glanced at the clock.

"How far do you think Gramps has got?" He asked.

Yugi glanced at him before he too looked at the clock.

"I'm not sure, maybe halfway? It's a long flight, I don't reckon he'll be there before tomorrow morning."

"I might need to rethink my inflight entertainment." Joey mused, stroking his chin as he thought.

"Come off it Joey." Tristan scoffed, "We all know what you'll be doing on the flight."

Joey's head snapped to Tristan.

"No no, that will not be happening. Not this time."

"Whatever you say dude but we all know you won't be able to stop yourself."

"Shut up Tristan."

"And who knows what could happen when you do."

"Tristan." Joey growled.

Tristan merely looked at him.

"What? I am merely speaking truth Joey. Just wait and see."

There was silence for a moment as Joey just stared at Tristan, who was daring him to make a move. The other two in the room weren't remotely bothered by the tension. Tea was staring at her nails, whereas Yugi leant his head on one hand looking between the two boys knowing exactly what was about to happen. To his surprise though Joey sank back in the chair, glaring at Tristan.

"Just you wait, it will be you this time." He said.

Tristan laughed, "Whatever you say man, but I guess we shall see."

Joey opened his mouth to respond but decided against it. Another brief pause occurred before Yugi decided the best way to break the tension was to start talking about both Joey and Tristan's favourite thing, food. After a very brief discussion it was decided that they would order in pizza, after all Yugi was sure he couldn't cater for them. He could cook, for himself, but cooking for others was certainly not his forte. As they waited for the pizza to arrive they descended into their usual routine when they hung out in the evenings, Yugi and Joey discussed duel monster cards and even had a quick game which of course Yugi won. When the pizza arrived they dimmed the lights and found a film to watch. Yugi settled himself on the sofa whilst Joey and Tristan positioned themselves nearest the pizza box which, eventually, they would end up arguing about when there was only one piece left. Tea curled up in the nearby armchair, her head propped up with one hand. They managed to watch at last half the film in peace before the argument over the last piece of pizza erupted.

Yugi shook his head at his friends before standing, he knew all too well that once this argument was settled they'd be forced to rewatch the parts they'd missed during the argument. Which gave him the perfect excuse to return upstairs to check on the former Pharaoh. When he knocked and gently pushed the door open he found the once King lying with his back to him. But as he moved further into the room he saw that Atem was in fact awake. His tired gaze was locked on the window, which Yugi noticed was no longer covered by the curtains. It was a testament to how unwell Atem was that it took him a fair amount of time to realise that he wasn't alone in the room. He attempted to smile when he recognised Yugi.

"How are you feeling?" Yugi asked, quietly.

Atem shrugged, ever so slightly, "No different than earlier."

His voice was still quite weak, clearly what little sleep he'd managed to get hadn't done much. Yugi nodded slowly, his gaze fell on the half empty glass on the bedside table.

"Have you taken anything else to help?"

"Not since you gave me it earlier."

Yugi threw him an exasperated look, "That was hours ago! You could have taken more to help, you know that right?"

Atem held his gaze weakly as the realisation dawned on Yugi.

"You didn't know that."

The once King made no response but maintained his weak gaze on Yugi as Yugi understood what he was silently telling him.

"Ok, well I'll go get it and some food. You really should eat, I don't remember the last time I saw you with food."

Atem made to protest but was cut off before he could say anything.

"Just try Atem, you might feel better after that and the medication."

Yugi heard his friend sigh in defeat before that sigh turned into a coughing fit. He winced at the sound before hurrying out the room and downstairs, where he found Joey and Tristan still arguing. He threw Tea a reassuring smile as he past her and entered the kitchen. Once there he made quick work of gathering the few items he'd come for before heading back upstairs. Upon his return he found Atem had manoeuvred himself into a sitting position, although he was massaging his temples with both hands. After ensuring Atem had correctly taken what he needed, he retreated out the room giving the once King space to sort himself out, knowing he'd hate being watched. As he descended the stairs he heard the tell-tale signs that the argument was finally over. He exchanged a look with Tea before resettling himself on the sofa and watched the rest of the film peacefully with his friends. As he watched he couldn't help but think that once Atem had recovered they would do more of this, after all that was what the summer holidays were all about. Hanging with friends and this summer were sure to be the best yet.