"So, he asked you for a day off to see this Kenji, and you felt like he was abandoning you, but you didn't say anything. Then it got worse when he wasn't back in the morning, and you decided to drive yourself to work, even though you knew you were having symptoms. You got into an accident, but when you called to talk to him, you hung up without explaining anything and now, you're here?"

Kaiba crossed his arms in front of his chest, glaring at Dr. Takashi. Did he have to make Kaiba's actions sound so ridiculous? If he was expecting Kaiba to have some sort of epiphany by laying everything out, it wasn't going to happen. In fact, the CEO had half a mind to just walk out of there and never look back.

Kaiba glanced at the door, pursing his lips. He couldn't leave. The last time he had ignored his feelings, after he had found Jou's letter...it didn't end well. He couldn't risk having another episode.

"I didn't say he abandoned me," the brunette gritted out.

The doctor knelt forward. "But did you feel like he did?"

Kaiba sighed. "He was going to come back. I knew he was going to come home."

"Sometimes, what we know and what we feel are two separate things."

Kaiba stared at the doctor, saying nothing. How the hell was this helping him?

"You knew the phone call worried him. Why did you hang up on him without calming him down?" the doctor asked.

"I didn't feel like it."

"You're normally very keen on making Jou feel better. Why not this time?"

"I don't know."

"Could it be because he left you and didn't come back, and you felt like it was so easy for him to leave you forever without giving you an explanation?"

Kaiba's treacherous heart twinged at the words. His left eye twitched as he suddenly grew very uncomfortable with the conversation. "Where are you going with this, doc?"

"Mr. Kaiba, he left you without an explanation, and he never gave you a chance to voice your opinion or change his mind. Doesn't this all sound familiar?"

Oh, God.

Not this again.

"I've told you a thousand times I don't want to talk about that," Kaiba said, looking the doctor in the eye, trying to intimidate him into letting it go.

"Yes, I understand, but I saw your face after I handed you that letter, after you read it. It affected you deeply, even if you refuse to admit it. Every time your health has deteriorated, the cause was somehow linked to it. Don't you see? You're making yourself unable to move on by not talking about this. If you don't want to discuss it further with me, perhaps you should at least try to find closure by talking to Jou."

Kaiba's eyes widened. "Absolutely not! You want me to just walk up to him and say 'Hey, Jou, you know how I act weird sometimes? It's because I found your letter months ago and now I'm terrified that everytime you walk out that door you're going to disappear forever?"

The brunette was panting by the end of his speech, not having taken a single breath throughout. He blinked a few times as he realized he had raised his voice more than he needed to.

Where did that come from?

The doctor scribbled something on his notepad. Kaiba frowned. Gods, he hated it when Takashi did that. It made him feel like some animal being studied.

"Sorry, that was just important," the doctor said after he was done, putting the notepad away. "Can I ask…what's stopping you from saying those exact words to Jounouchi? What's the worst that can happen?."

He'll remember how bad things got between us, that I was the reason he wanted to die.

"It might trigger him."

"And you believe he won't come to you if he has those types of thoughts again?"

Kaiba chuckled bitterly. "I know he won't."

"Don't you think he'd be more open to talking to you if you were open to being vulnerable in front of him? What if-"

Takashi's phone started to ring, and Kaiba sighed in relief. He really didn't want the doctor to finish his question.

"It's Mokuba," Takashi said before looking at the phone. "He's the only one that can hack my phone and put it on the ringer so I'll be forced to answer."

Kaiba smiled, reaching for the phone. "I did a damn good job raising that kid."

"Hey, Moki," he said upon answering.

"Seto? Why are you with Dr. Takashi and why is your phone off?"

Kaiba grimaced. How the fuck did he forget to call Mokuba before he turned off his phone? God, his brother must've been going crazy with worry.

For the first time in his life, Kaiba contemplated lying to Mokuba. His brother worried enough, and Seto really didn't need to give him any more nightmares than he already had.

Kaiba dismissed the idea immediately. That letter had fucked with his mind enough. He didn't need it to come between him and his brother as well. They always told each other the truth. Always.

"It's nothing. I was distracted and missed a stop sign. It's just a scratch, but I wanted to stay and talk to Takashi for a bit."

Mokuba was silent for a bit and Kaiba prayed he wasn't overthinking the entire thing.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay, but I should tell you that if you don't want anything stressing you out, you'd better just spend the night there," he finally said with a chuckle.

Seto furrowed his eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"

"Jou has been pacing your office for the last two hours. He just went to Yugi's, because he couldn't concentrate. He's going to be all over you when you get home, and not in a good way."

Now that brought a smile to Seto's face. Mokuba always knew how to lighten the mood.

"Thanks for letting me know. I'll call him now and go pick him up. Should I come get you, too?"

"No. I'm already leaving. I couldn't figure out how to do everything, but I organized it enough so you'll know what to prioritize tomorrow. I handled the ones that needed to be done today, but-"

"Don't worry about it, Moki. I'm sure you're doing great."

"You don't even know what I did."

"I don't need to. You're brilliant, and some day you're going to be the best CEO KaibaCorp has ever seen."

Mokuba chuckled. "Considering the last two CEOs, that's not much of a compliment."

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Insult my ways all you want. We have private jets and a mansion with a pool so I consider my strategy a success."

"You're the biggest success in the world, Seto, and you always will be."

Kaiba couldn't help but grin. God, he really did have the best brother anyone could ask for.

"Thank you. I'll see you in a bit."

"See you."

Kaiba pursed his lips as he gave the phone back to Dr. Takashi and stood from the couch.

"It's getting late. I think it's about time I went home."

"You don't have to bring up the letter," the doctor said just as Kaiba put his hand on the doorknob. "Just talk to him about your worries. See what he says about it. He might be able to put your mind at ease so you'll stop getting these symptoms."

Seto sighed. "I'll try."

"Hello?" came Jou's voice from the phone.

"Hey," Kaiba said. He waited for Jou to start yelling or asking questions, but the blonde remained silent.

Kaiba gripped the steering wheel even more tightly though the car was in park. He had no idea what to say. Jou was usually the one who guided their conversations.

"I didn't mean what I said earlier," he said slowly, forcing every word out of his mouth with strength he didn't know he had. "It's not like…"

It's not like the last time you asked to leave and I told you not to.

You can leave anytime.

I'm not keeping you against your will or anything.

Forget what I said about bad things happening when you leave.

Bad things also happen when I force you to stay.

Like what you wrote in that damn letter.

I still don't want you to leave me but Takashi says I'm being crazy, and after what happened to me I can't really blame him.

But I didnt tell you what happened to me so none of this will make any sense to you so why the hell should I bother saying anything if I'm not going to tell you?

"Mokuba said you were upset," Kaiba finished lamely.

Jou sighed. "You done that early, huh?

Kaiba furrowed his eyebrows. Had Mokuba told Jou that Kaiba was with Dr. Takashi? "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Yeah, I'm over here at the game shop."

Kaiba closed his eyes, the realization sinking in. "I don't care whether you tell them about us or not, but it'll annoy the hell out of me if I can't talk to you everytime you're over there."

"I'd say you should cut me some slack on this one, boss. I've only seen them twice since I started working for you, and one of these times I couldn't even see them because of the bandages so…"

Kaiba clenched his hands into fists. "I didn't say you couldn't hang out with them. How about you stop putting words in my mouth?"

"Sounds good, Boss," Jou said then hung up before Kaiba could respond.

The brunette slumped back in his seat. This day just kept getting better.

It took him a few minutes to work up the courage to move the car, and even longer to apply his foot to the gas pedal. It was the slowest he'd ever driven a car in his entire life.

He called Jou as soon as he was near the game shop. The blonde didn't respond. Kaiba groaned. Was Jou seriously going to force him to go inside and spend time with these people?

Kaiba sighed in relief when he pulled up in front of the shop to find the blonde already waiting outside for him. Jou's jaw dropped and his honey-colored eyes widened upon seeing the huge dent on the right side. He'd barely even put the car in park before the puppy had jumped in the passenger seat and crushed the brunette in a very tight embrace.

"Oh, god. What happened? Are you hurt? Is this why you didn't come into work today? Why didn't you tell me? Fuck. I should've been at home by morning, then I would have driven you and everything would've been fine. But seriously, don't you know how to drive? You drove yourself yesterday, and when I asked for the day off, you said you could drive yourself. Were you lying?" Jou rambled, pulling away from the brunette to look at his face.

"I'm fine," Seto said. "I just got a little distracted when I was driving. I didn't mean to worry you. I was...in shock. I didn't know what I was saying."

"You said I shouldn't have left you," the blonde whispered. "But I was coming back, Kaiba. It was just one day."

Kaiba frowned, looking away.

I guess it's too much to ask for him to let it go.

"Did you think it was going to be more than that?"

Kaiba said nothing.

"I told you I only needed one day off! I was coming back!"

"Well that request didn't exactly include you not being back the next morning, so I didn't know what to think."

Jou huffed. "That's just a small technicality. It has nothing to do with anything! Is that what you were obsessing over all day so much that you had your car totaled?"

Kaiba looked away from Jou. He hated how the blonde could read him so well after these months they spent together. Although, it meant he didn't need to say these incredibly humiliating things out loud, so it was both a blessing and a curse.

He glanced at the game shop then back at Jou. "It doesn't matter. Your contracts with me all end next week. Then you'll be free to do whatever you want."

Nobody said anything for a minute.

"Yeah, and it'll be great," Jou said with a smile, then reached out and put his hand on top of Kaiba's, "Because I know what I want. I've wanted it for a very long time."

Seto's heart fluttered in his chest. "Really?"

"Really. But I gotta be honest here, Seto. I wanna be with you. I don't want it to feel like I'm in a relationship with myself, and it's been like that for weeks between us. I mean, were you even paying attention to anything I was saying to ya? And…today was just…I don't even know what to say. I don't understand why you just hung up on me. I could've helped you."

"I was going to tell you," Kaiba said firmly, then continued in a whisper when Joey crossed his arms in front of his chest, waiting for an explanation. "But you already knew I'm a possessive bastard who doesn't like their partners away from them for a minute. Maybe you thought I got over it. I didn't want to tell you that I never would. And the last time I made you stay by my side, you left and you got…really hurt."

For a second, the blonde looked confused, then it clicked, and a look of pain flashed across his features. He instantly snatched his hand away from Seto's, curling in on himself. Kaiba felt like the world's biggest jackass.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it-"

"He's gone." Jou said, his voice quavering. "The guy who did that to me…he's gone. And Kenji Jounouchi is my father. You would've found that out if you had just talked to me about everything instead of going out and getting your pretty little face scarred for life."

He was trying to lighten the mood with that face comment, but Kaiba had soured it beyond repair. The brunette wanted to ask more about what had happened to Jou's attacker and how the blonde had found out about it. Had he been arrested? Killed? Executed? One look at the blonde told Seto it was a bad idea to continue with that topic.

"I didn't know your father was alive," he said.

"Where has he been all this time?"

"We've been estranged for years, and you would've known that if you were listening to me."

Seto reached out and placed a hand on Jou's cheek. "I'm sorry. How can I make it up to you?"

Jou smirked. "I was hoping you'd ask that. See, Mokuba came over here after work and now him and Atem are in the middle of a duel and neither of us really wants to leave. Besides, they're my friends and I do want to tell them about you sooner or later, and it'll be weird if we're a couple and you never spend any time with them, so…"

Kaiba grunted. He just couldn't catch a fucking break that day. "Fine, but we're leaving as soon as the duel ends."

Jou kissed him on his cheek. "You're the best!"

Kaiba touched his cheek with the tips of his fingers, smiling to himself as he exited the car with Jou. "Yeah, yeah. I'm the best."

The second he walked into his living room, he was greeted by all the dweebs. Jou, Shizuka, and Honda sat together on the couch with Shizuka in the middle. Otogi, Mai, Anzu, and Yugi sat on various arm chairs, and Mokuba and Atemu were seated on the floor in the middle, focused on a duel monsters game that they were all watching intently while conversing about random things.

Kaiba did his best to hide how annoyed he was and closed the door. All of them looked up at him.

"Join us, Seto! I'm about to beat the pharaoh," Mokuba said before he got sucked into an argument with Atemu about whether he would win or not.

"Sure," Kaiba said then took a seat behind the pharaoh.

Judging by the cards he was holding, Atemu could've won the duel ages ago, but the pharaoh was trying his best to prolong it. Turn after turn, he went on the defensive, using his weakest monsters and trap cards to protect his life points without causing any damage to Mokuba's. Kaiba smiled. He knew bringing back that asshole from the afterlife was a good decision. He was quite literally the only one of Jou's friends that Kaiba could tolerate. The pharaoh can rejoin his Egyptian friends when he dies seventy years from now and not a minute sooner. Kaiba wasn't going to spend the rest of his life surrounded only by Jou's annoyingly cheerful and bubbly friends. At least Atem was similar to him.

"So what did you decide for next week?" Shizuki asked Jou, drawing Kaiba's attention.

Jou paled at the question. "Haven't really thought about it yet. Umm…I'll let you know."

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. He could always tell when his puppy was hiding something.

"Oh, come on," Shizuki. "I know it's far from everyone, but you can just take mom's car and come whenever you want."

Kaiba's stomach clenched. Jou was moving out of the mansion? When the hell had that been decided? "What are you talking about?"

Shizuki glanced at him. "His contract ends next week, doesn't it? He'll need a place to stay until he gets something else."

"You can also take my room if you want to stay nearby," Yugi chimed in. "Atem and I are used to sleeping in the same place so I can bunk with him. Grandpa is off on that trip with Professor Hopkins, but I'm sure he won't mind either.

Kaiba stared at Jou, silently asking if the blonde was actually considering moving out of their home. The way Jou avoided his gaze was all the answer he needed.

"But there's a possibility of extending the contract, isn't there, Kaiba?" came Atem's voice.

Seto glanced at the pharaoh, who was giving him a pointed look. Atem knew. Well, at least Jou had told one of his friends, though his choice was a little odd. Kaiba had thought Yugi would be the first that Jou told.

"Yes," Kaiba replied, saving his puppy from having to give his sister and Yugi a response regarding their offers. Jou threw Kaiba a grateful look.

"It's getting late. Maybe we should finish the duel another time," Mokuba said, much to Kaiba's relief.

He rushed outside as fast as he could after absentmindedly bidding goodbye to all their friends.

Mokuba chatted throughout the car ride, sensing the tense atmosphere between them. Neither of them contributed to the conversation.

When they finally arrived at the mansion, they both hung back after Mokuba left the car.

"About what they said…don't you think it's better for us if-"

"Sleep with me tonight?" Seto blurted, not wanting Jou to finish that sentence. Yes, it didn't make sense for Jou to stay after his contract ended. Yes, their relationship would be more balanced if they lived separately. But no, Kaiba did not want Jou to leave under any circumstances.

Jou suddenly looked very nervous. The CEO realized how that request sounded and hurried to say, "I don't mean it like that. I want to just sleep next to each other. You know, like we used to do before?"

Jou smiled. Oh, okay. I have a very important question for you first."

Kaiba held his breath as he nodded.

"Can I have the left side this time?" the blonde finally said. Kaiba let out an exhale, a little annoyed by the prank, but relieved that the question wasn't something uncomfortable.

"No. Only I sleep on the left side," he said with an equally serious expression, then smiled when Jou started to laugh.

They would be okay.

One way or another, Seto would make sure of it.