Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ How Do You Like Me Now? ❯ Chapter 10

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

When Mokuba returned home, he found Joey sprawled out on the couch, one arm draped over his eyes and the other hanging lazily off of the cushion. He was mumbling incoherently about something, and as he moved, his knuckles rasped lightly on the wood of the floorboards. Mokuba walked toward him quietly, not really wanting to wake him, but all the same curious as to whether the blonde had been laying there all day. He was, after all, in the same spot Mokuba had left him in that morning, and he could distinctly remember instructing Joey to talk with his elder brother sometime during the day.

"Joey?" he whispered, poking at the blonde's shoulder with one finger. "Joey, you awake?"

The other made no sign of acknowledgement, in fact even began snoring some, and Mokuba placed a hand on his shoulder, pushing his body slightly. "Joey, wake up!" The blonde stirred, snorted, and finally opened his eyes.

"Wha…? Mokuba?" he mumbled, his vision still coming into focus. "You home already?"

"It's 5:30," Mokuba replied. "I get off at five." He stood up straight, looking down at the other with a stern look. "You didn't talk with Seto, did you?"

Joey gulped. Those two cobalt eyes staring down at him with a glint of frustration seemed eerily familiar. "You… You look just like your brother when you do that."

Mokuba's frown deepened. "You didn't answer the question."

Joey sat up, staring at the young man before him. Should his hair have been chestnut brown and his eyes a cerulean blue, he would have sworn that he was confronting the Seto Kaiba from his past. "I uh… Uh…" he stammered. "No."

"Didn't think so," Mokuba frowned. "Joey, it's not going to get better by avoiding it. You need to talk to Seto and work something out."

A slight smile spread on Joey's face. "You sound like a damn mother."

"I have to," the other responded, lowering his voice some. "Who do you think had to take care of Seto after we lost the corporation?"

Joey fell silent. He really had not given any thought to that. But now it dawned on him. How horrible was it for this young man, then only in his teens, to have had the responsibility of another human being's life thrown on his shoulders? Of course Mokuba would have d to take care of Kaiba after his downfall. They had none else to turn to but each other. A giant wave of guilt suddenly overtook the blonde and his throat suddenly felt uncomfortably dry. There was an awkward silence, then Mokuba said,

"Will you talk to him? If anyone can pull him out of this depression, it's you."

"You think?" Joey asked, standing. "You got a lotta faith in me, Kid." The smile crept back onto his face. "I'll see what I can do."

Mokuba's eyes lit up and he returned the smile. "Thank you, Joey."

The blonde nodded, took a deep breath, and walked down the short hall, stopping outside of the closed door to Kaiba's bedroom. Great, now what? he thought. He had no clue as to what he wanted to say to the brunette, nor had any idea how he was going to react upon seeing the blonde again, in his own apartment no less. But then, it was more than likely Mokuba's apartment… Joey took another deep breath and held it, grasped the door knob, and slowly pushed the door open.

The room was dark and dusty, thin, off-white curtains blocking out the fading rays of the sun on the horizon. The wallpaper was dirty and peeling at the corners and odd places such as just above the single cot pushed up against the far wall. The only other décor in the room was an old rugged bureau in the corner, a short metal stand beside the cot, and an old rickety chair in front if that. The courage Joey had built up to enter the room vanished in the instant he realized that Seto Kaiba was awake and upon his entrance, had dawned a horrific glare that would freeze water. The blonde found he had to restrain himself from turning and running out the door then and there. Instead, he locked his gaze with the brunette's icy one, trying to match the intensity, but failing completely and having to turn away. Kaiba's eyes had always been too much for him to handle, even now though they had faded from their original sharpness and held but a fraction of the power Joey had once known. The blonde's throat had gone dry and his legs felt like rubber, but he knew that if he backed out now, neither he nor Mokuba would ever forgive him for it. And so he let out the breath he had been holding and began walking slowly, steadily over to the chair beside the cot.

"Get the hell away from me, Wheeler," Kaiba snarled, his voice raspy and rough. Joey guessed he had just woken up as well.

"What would you do if I did?" he countered, placing himself on the seat of the chair.

The question obviously caught the brunette off guard. "That's not the issue," he said in response. "I don't want you here, and you damn well know it."

"Don'tchu at least wanna… talk?" Joey ventured. He knew too well that Kaiba would refuse to talk to him, no matter how much he begged him. He would have to find some other way of getting across to him.

"Why would I want to talk with you?" Kaiba retorted. "There is nothing the two of us have to talk about. Not anymore." His voice dropped a bit, and Joey looked up toward the brunette's face. He looked pained, and the blonde thought for a moment that there was a glint of tears in his faded eyes. Joey gathered his courage again and slipped off of the chair, onto his knees on the floor. He took a hold of one of Kaiba's hands and placed the fingers at his mouth, the familiar scent of his former lover caressing his senses. The thin digits flinched, felt cold to the warmth of his lips, and for a second Joey feared they would retreat from his embrace. But they did not, and to his ultimate surprise, they wrapped around his own hand.

"Why're you doing this?" There was no doubt in Joey's mind that he had heard Kaiba's voice shudder during the question. He was breaking down, and the blonde was suddenly frightened that the brunette might begin crying. What would he do then? Kaiba had always been the strong one, the column, the support. The tables had never been turned where Joey was charged with comforting.

"Because… I love you." A simple statement as a reply, but it was far more than just a statement. It was the truth, the utter truth deep down in Joey's heart and soul. He lowered his head, placing Kaiba's fingers against his brow as he felt his eyes burning. The only guy who can get me cryin' like a fucking baby…

"You can't," Kaiba responded, his fingers releasing their hold on the other's hand. "You can't possibly love me… Not after what I did to you… To us…" He trailed off, his voice betraying his weakness, how close he was to letting his strong exterior fall.

"Kaib, it wasn't your fault." Joey was not entirely sure of why he said that. For all these years, he had always put the blame squarely on Kaiba and nothing else. He was, after all, the one who had broken them apart. Still, letting him know that and take all of the blame right now did not seem to be the best idea. "We just… I dunno. Maybe it was meant to happen. And it was also meant for us to meet up again, right here and right now. Y'know?"

Kaiba turned his head away. "I don't believe in fate, Wheeler."

"Do you believe in love?"

Silence followed. A thick, grisly silence that settled over the two males like a stuffy quilt. Joey swallowed, his lungs struggling for a full breath of air in the condensed space of the room. Kaiba remained still, his face turned away from the blonde. Even so Joey could see his eyelids shut, quivering just the slightest bit. It pained him to see him this way, lost and afraid, helpless even. This was definitely not the Seto Kaiba he had once loved.

"Kaib, I've had about enough of this," Joey declared, setting his hand down. Kaiba turned toward him, watching as the blonde returned to his chair beside the cot. "You gotta pull yourself together. It ain't like you to be like this."

The gray, emotionless eyes lowered themselves. "What would you know? Times have changed Wheeler, and so have I."

"For the worse," Joey added. "You've changed for the worst."

"And what do you expect of me?" Kaiba responded. "How would you have reacted if your entire life, your career, your future all ended in the extent of thirty seconds? I lost everything Wheeler, in that one moment. Now… Now I have nothing to live for. Nothing to hope for. Everything is gone. I have nothing." He lowered his voice to just above a whisper. "I am nothing."

"Only because you let yourself be," Joey replied. "Kaib, tell me something: Back in high school, did you have any clue that I'd one day be a famous pop singer? Huh? That I would actually have a job that supported me with plenty of cash left over to live it large?"

He shook his head. "No. What're you getting at?"

"That anyone can make it big if they just try at it," Joey said. "I used to be nothing, now I'm world-famous. You used to be nothing, right? Back in the orphanage…"

"That's all in the past," Kaiba snapped sharply so as to warn the other to stay away from the subject. "It has nothing to do with now."

"Yeah, sorry," the blonde apologized. Kaiba had never been one to speak up about his past, ever. "The point is, even now you can still pick yourself up and be something, Kaib. You're smart, you're good-looking, you're capable… You could probably get any job you wanted. You just gotta put out some real effort." Kaiba had turned his head toward him, but his eyes refused to look at the blonde. "I know you. The real you. You can do anything you put your mind to."

It was silent again for several moments. Joey watched Kaiba's eyes moving, searching the wooden floor with interest, as if all the answers were hidden somewhere between the planks. Then, ever so quietly, the brunette whispered, "I can't."

"What?" Joey had heard him. He just wanted him to explain himself.

"I can't, you bastard!" Kaiba snarled at a much louder volume than the blonde had expected. He jumped slightly. "You're wrong; I can't do anything now! It's just not possible!"

And that did it. Joey distinctly heard the moment where Kaiba lost his self-control and broke through his hard exterior shell. The brunette took a sharp breath, his body trembling and a pair of lonely tears falling from his faded eyes. The blonde sat, dumbfounded at this new development. He wanted to help him , to comfort him, but he had never been very successful at either of those things. His mind raced with possible things to do, then finally decided on taking the other's hand in his own again. He petted the long digits lovingly, hoping that somehow his touch might bring the former CEO back to his senses. It was many minutes later that it finally began to take effect and Kaiba began to recollect himself. He stopped his weeping, then wiped the fallen tears away with his free hand.

"Kaib," Joey ventured. "It's okay… Things are gonna be okay."

"You're just saying that," the other responded. "Everything is gone and nothing can change that."

"You can change that," Joey insisted. "You will change it. And I'm gonna help you."

Kaiba cocked his head slightly. "How?"

"Any way I can," the blonde replied. "You and I, we're gonna make this happen. I'm gonna help you back up on your feet and get your ass in gear, you got that?"

Kaiba closed his eyes and a slight smirk spread on his face. "You persistent little bastard. You haven't changed at all."

Joey watched him for a moment, relishing in that little smirk. Things were starting to look up. "I'm gonna help you in any way I can," he repeated. "Don't you worry about a thing. Nothing's gonna stop us now." His free hand went up to the other's chestnut hair, brushing a few strays from his forehead with gentle fingers. "Nothing's gonna stop us."

It was only a few moments before Kaiba fell into the best sleep he had had in ten years.