Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Common Ground ❯ Chapter 5

Indeed, Joey was right about Marik and Bakura. The two demented yamis carted everything off that they were sure could fetch a price and demolished the rest. The others came to keep the two under control in their little destruction frenzy and had to bribe them to give up the lighters they snuck in.

Once they were all gone, Joey surveyed the damages with a satisfied grin. There were holes in the walls, burnt carpeting, shredded pillows, feathers scattered everywhere.. It was completely chaos. And Joey was happy.

Seto agreed to the remodeling. He wanted everything to be completely different so he would not be reminded of his past anymore. The only problem was that he and Joey could not agree on what to build instead.

Mokuba cheerfully suggested a giant playroom across the entire floor for himself, but the brunette talked him out of it. Joey still wanted his pizza parlor. And Seto was wondering if he should just cut off the mansion at two stories to make it easier.

"Ya could make Mokuba's playroom an' a corner be a pizza parlor?" Joey offered.

"For the last time, Joey, I am not turning my home into some kind of Chuck E. Cheese," Seto warned.

The other two collectively pouted. "Aww.."

"You could build a private dueling arena, big brother! For me and Joey to use. Then I wouldn't have to come to the Kaiba Corp. lab or Kaiba Land to practice."

"Hey, that's not such a bad idea, squirt. That could be pretty fun having our very own dueling stadium upstairs," the blonde mused.

Seto waved his hand dismissively. "Fine, I'll put in a dueling arena. However, that's only going to take up part of the entire floor. What are we going to do about the rest of the space?.. And no, it will not be a pizza parlor, Joey."

"Hey! I didn't even say anything yet!"

Mokuba giggled softly before giving a tug on his brother's sleeve to make him bend down. He cupped his hands around Seto's ear as he whispered something to him. The brunette's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed before he turned to look at the child and give him a stern gaze.

"What did I say before?"

The boy gave his best puppy dog eyes. "Please, big brother?..."

"Mokuba..." he warned.

A short nose turned up slightly before crossing his small arms in front of his chest. "Yes, Seto!.. Or do I have to get the 'you know what'?" Mokuba flashed a rather cocky grin and knew he had his brother right where he wanted him.

Seto paled slightly, then gave an angry sigh. "Fine. I'll do it. But you're grounded from your video games for the next three days."

He pouted, but he seemed satisfied at least. Joey just looked at the brothers with a confused expression.

"Did I miss somethin'? What'd ya tell him, Mokuba?"

"Oh, nothing! Well, gotta go!" and the raven-haired child scurried off.

"I'll go contact someone about the blueprints," Seto grumbled slightly.

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Plans were drawn up for the new third floor of the Kaiba mansion. Seto kept them to himself though, but Joey didn't really mind. He was just excited for when it would all be finished.

Plans were also drawn for the new building that would be constructed on the site of Joey's former home. Since the blonde knew little about architecture, he did not try to help with the blueprints. Seto explained everything as best he could about what the finished project would look like and Joey was pleased.

"This is gonna be great. Finally somethin' good's gonna come outta that place.. I hope it does well."

"I'm sure it will, pup. And construction will begin upon it tomorrow. It should be finished in a few months."

The shorter youth embraced the brunette and felt a tear run down his cheek. "Thanks, Seto."

Seto felt a bit choked when he was hugged, but he returned the favor nonetheless.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Construction for the third story remodeling was to start soon. Joey managed to coax Seto back upstairs and miraculously into Gozaburo's bedroom. They stood in the center of the bare room.

The brunette was shaking hard and tugging at Joey's hand to get away from him. He felt his heart pounding hard and the adrenaline rushing through his body. Nervous sweat ran down his face as he stared at the floor and tried to fight away his growing anxiety.

"Let me go, Wheeler! I don't want to be in here.. I can't be in here anymore.."

The blonde squeezed Seto's hand tightly. "I know.. But this is yer last chance ta face it.. Ya gotta do this now.. Here."

He placed a sledgehammer into the trembling teen's hands and took a few steps back. "Trust me on this one.. Go ahead."

Seto tightened his grip around the long, wooden handle as he stared at the instrument. Flashes of all the times he had been in here whirled through his mind.

His breathing came in heaving panting before he suddenly jerked the sledgehammer up over his shoulder with a grunt. The brunette walked to one of the walls and stood before it silently in thought.

Joey stood quietly by the doorway and watched.

With a cry of released anguish, Seto swung as hard as he could and smashed the hammer into the wall.

And so, it began. He tore holes through the walls of his adoptive father's room. He broke through the windows, crashed through the floor, and bashed the walls into oblivion before he finally dropped the tool of destruction to the floor and fell to his knees.

Joey came to him quickly and pulled the brunette into his grasp. For the first time, he watched the young CEO sob out all the years of grief as he clung to the blonde like a lifeline.

Seto's head was cradled into Joey's chest. The shorter held the other tightly and rested his head atop the crown of sable tresses.

"It's over now, Seto.. He can't hurt ya anymore.. I'm here for ya an' I promise that I won't nothing happen ta ya either."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And so, construction upon the third floor as well as the teen safe house began. Joey was finally completely healed. He had received a clean bill of health from the doctor. That night, Seto found Joey gathering his things from the bedroom.

"Where are you going?" Seto inquired.

"Well, I ain't busted up anymore, so I thought ya'd like your bedroom back. I'll head back into da other bedroom I was in before. Now ya don't have ta put up with me snoring in yer face all night long." Joey held his armload and readied himself to leave.

A hand came to his shoulder and the blonde tilted his head.

"What? Don't ya wanna have your room back? I mean, I've been hoggin' it for a couple weeks now."

The taller teen found his throat dry as he tried to think what to say. In a soft reply came, ".. You don't have to leave, Joey.. I.. I'd rather you stay, if you would."

Joey blinked and felt his heart flutter slightly. "Ya want me ta stay in here with ya?"

He nodded slowly, brown bangs hiding his brilliant blue eyes and softly rising blush. "Yes.. I enjoy your company."

The blonde grinned a little and fought back his own blush. The time he had spent together with Seto helped him grow close to the icy CEO and see past his hardened exterior to the person inside. In short, he really felt as if he were falling for the teen.

"So does that mean I can go around tellin' people that I'm 'sleeping' with da mighty, Seto Kaiba?" he joked.

Seto looked up and sputtered. The pink in his cheeks only grew deeper as he tried to regain himself. "Wheeler!"

Joey started to laugh hard. "I was just teasin' ya!"

The brunette turned his gaze away and seemed to almost look.. hurt. The shorter youth stopped chuckling.

"What's up with ya? Can't take a joke?" Joey set his things aside before coming back.

".. This is hard for me to say, Joey.. So I'd rather not have you making jokes at the moment."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry.. So what's eatin' ya?"

Seto licked at his dry lips as he summoned up his courage to speak. He tried to avoid looking into those beautiful hazel pools or he knew he would lose his voice right there.

".. As you may have noticed... What Mokuba has been hinting at.... These past few months, I..." No matter what he tried, nothing sounded right or would die before it reached his throat.

"Ya can spit it out anytime now, Seto," the blonde smirked as he crossed his arms before his chest.

"Dammit, Joey! I'm trying to be serious here! I'm trying to tell my feelings for you."

Joey perked his head in surprise. "Feelings? What are ya talking about?"

Seto looked at his companion with a bit of frustration. "Joey, you've been here for a few months now and we've been through many ordeals together.. I shared with you something that had been plaguing me for years that I had tried to keep locked away in secret.. When you fell into a coma, I was terrified that I was going to lose you before I got the chance to tell you.. I wanted to tell you that I care about you. More than a friend."

The shorter teen was taken aback slightly and put his hand to his head as he tried to comprehend everything that was just said. He shrunk into his shoulders shyly and combed his dirty blonde locks back absently as he turned his eyes away. His cheeks grew dark and a sheepish smile drew upon his face.

"Eh heh heh.. Well, um.. I feel da same way, actually.. I didn't think ya'd want ta, but I was hopin'."

The taller seemed to noticeably relax some and took a step forward. With some effort, he forced himself to initiate some physical contact. Gently, he brushed a few golden wisps from the boy's face.

".. If you think you would be alright with it.. Perhaps we could be closer friends?"

Joey grinned a bit. "Are ya askin' me out, Seto?"

The brunette gave a slight smirk. "To put it simply."

The shorter teen's grin grew wider before he threw himself into Seto's arms and dramatically laid his hand over his forehead.

"Oh, my knight in shinin' armor has come ta take me away at last!"

This time, Seto actually gave a soft smile before he spoke seriously again.

"..Are you sure you want to do something like this, Joey?"

The youth's hand dropped as he looked up into those shining, azure orbs. ".. It felt sorta weird at first ta think about wantin' ta be with another guy.. But, I'm okay with it if you are. And like ya said, ya really opened yourself up ta me and I did ta you.. Now, it just kinda feels right, ya know?.. And look at da others. Yugi's with Yami. Ryou is with Bakura. Marik an' Malik.. And I think Duke is really startin' ta check Tristan out."

Seto gave a slight nod as he listened. "Yes.. But I'm referring to our particular circumstances.."

Joey nodded solemnly. "Yeah.. I know.. But yer nothin' like my ol' man, so I'm not afraid. And ya know that I'd never hurt ya either, right?"

"Yes," he wrapped his arms slightly around the shorter teen's back.

Resting his cheek gently against the brunette's chest as he returned the embrace, Joey smiled gently. ".. I never thought that I'd ever say it but.. I love ya, Seto."

Seto's fingers lifted the boy's chin up to face him before he timidly brought himself down. The other took up the slack and leaned in to press their lips together in a tender kiss.

The two felt an electric fire shooting through their blood. The feeling was addicting and neither could pull themselves away until air became a necessity. Once they pulled back to gaze into each other's eyes, they were aware of their deepened breathing.

".. Wow.. That was... wow.." the blonde stammered as his head continued reeling from the kiss.

Seto shifted his weight slightly, bumping lightly against the growing bulge in the front of the boy's pants, and pulled back out of the other's embrace suddenly. Joey blinked in surprise.

"What's da matter? Did I do somethin' wrong?"

".. No, Joey.. I enjoyed it, but I just feel a bit uncomfortable.."

The shorter shuffled his foot against the floor a bit. "I'm sorry, Seto.. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all."

The brunette turned back and placed his hand upon Joey's shoulder. "No, Joey. It's not your fault. It's just going to take me some time."

Joey took his hand and interlaced their fingers. "I can wait. Ya stood by me when I needed ya and I'll stand by ya now that ya need me."

Breaking the contact for a moment, Joey went back to his pile of belongings and picked up his two dragon plushies. He brought them to Seto and gave him the Black Eyes.

"I want ya ta keep this one. Just think of it as a symbol that I'll always watch out fer ya. I'm gonna keep da Blue Eyes and do da same."

Seto accepted the toy. "Thank you, Joey. I'll do that."