A/N: Yes, I update. Be amazed. The whole chapter has enough Mariku/Ryou to drown you. I think I’ll just stop referring to what I write as ‘romance’ and start calling it ‘disturbing fluff’ or something. Hello? is disturbing fluff (and SC is… fluffy macabre xD). I don’t know where these things come from 0.o For those who wished I’d continue right where I left off: please don’t try and take my life; I need it for writing.

Ryou couldn’t feel the other with him. He forced his eyes open and when he saw no one, reached behind him. Nothing but wrinkled sheets. The realization woke him from slumber to near panic. He told himself to calm down and turn around to see the rest of the apartment. The wall he was facing wouldn’t give any answers. Mariku couldn’t have abandoned him.

When Ryou turned around, he saw Mariku sitting on the couch, staring at the wall opposite. Relief rushed through him. Mariku hadn’t reacted to the movement so Ryou decided to take the opportunity to watch the other. As he looked, he noticed that it wasn’t the wall the eyes were fixed at; it was the back of Mariku’s head. Ryou was in no hurry to snap Mariku out of it. It’s wasn’t every day Ryou could openly stare without being noticed. Whenever the other noticed, he started to stare back, amused or questioning, and Ryou had to look away out of embarrassment. Mariku, though, didn’t get embarrassed.

What was he thinking?

A frown worked its way on Ryou’s face. There were some signs in Mariku’s posture and on his face of his inner workings. He was relaxing against the backrest but the way his hands would twitch betrayed some tension. His brows knitted together in a deeper version of Ryou’s expression, and where Ryou’s frown was contemplative, his was angry. Ryou didn’t find it surprising. There seemed to always be some resentment in Mariku.

Whatever it was that the other was dwelling in, Ryou didn’t want him to dwell too deep. Should he snap Mariku out of it? The decision was made for him when the frowning face turned to him. He flinched like he had done something to deserve the look but Mariku’s face softened a touch, the anger disappearing.

“You’re awake.”

Ryou tried a smile. “Good morning.” Mariku didn’t return the gesture but his frown continued to become less severe.

“I made breakfast.”

The words took a moment to register. “You-?” He stopped before he could sound too disbelieving. He didn’t even know how long the other had lived alone. “Thank you,” seemed like a good way to cover his near blunder. When Mariku just nodded, Ryou felt the need to make him talk.

“Have you been up long?” Ryou sat up slowly, spotting his clothes in a neat pile next to the mattress.

“A while.”

For a moment it seemed like that was all he was going to get so Ryou pulled on some pants, figuring the breakfast could give them something to talk about.

“I don’t sleep much,” Mariku continued and Ryou looked up to face him again.

“How come?”

“It’s something I just don’t like doing.”

The small piece of information made Ryou so happy he felt pathetic for it. But the source of the emotion wasn’t the knowledge about Mariku’s sleeping patterns. Mariku was talking about himself.

“Is there a reason for that?” Ryou tried. He wasn’t sure if asking questions made him too imploring but containing them was difficult.

“Yes.” Mariku looked straight at Ryou as he spoke. The pause stretched again and Ryou wondered if the other was trying to decide how much to say or if he was fighting an urge to shy away.

“Some time back, a long ago it feels, I realized that I no longer wanted to live my life like other people expected me to.”

“Other people…” Ryou whispered, the long answer throwing him back and off balance.

“My father and most of the family,” Mariku answered Ryou’s unasked question. “They didn’t like my… defiance if you will, and connections were cut.”

“Did they,” Ryou started as he regained some coherence. “Did they kick you out?”

“I was told to leave and I did.” Mariku’s eyes strayed to the side and he smirked. “They’d tell you that I ran off.”

Maybe Ryou’s senses hadn’t come back yet because he moved, careful not to be too sudden, and went to sit next to Mariku. The other had time to arch his brow in question before Ryou wrapped his arms around him. He felt Mariku tense within the embrace. Ryou prayed that Mariku would just let himself be held.

Mariku put his hands on Ryou’s sides and for a moment, Ryou thought he was going to push him away. “You don’t know what I did to be told to leave.” The hands remained, not pushing nor pulling closer.

“I thought you told me,” Ryou said against Mariku’s shoulder.

“Not the specifics.”

Not seeing Mariku’s face made Ryou hesitate but there was no anger in his voice or hands so Ryou ventured further. “Do you want me to know?” He swore he felt Mariku’s breathing stop for the shortest of moments.

“You should know.”

They both slipped into silence. Ryou found himself wondering once again what was going through Mariku’s head. To tell the truth, Ryou wasn’t sure if he wanted to know. He had the feeling that Mariku was capable of terrible things. Would he be ready for the feeling to turn into knowledge? He doubted that loving a person like Mariku would ever be painless but could it get too severe?

“My father and I got into a fight,” Mariku spoke. “I was disappointed when he was only hospitalized.” He moved to remove the other’s hold on him. Ryou only tightened it.

“Don’t,” Ryou whispered and the fingers on his sides dug deeper. He winced. “Please. Don’t push me away.”

Mariku loosened his grip out of surprise, or maybe he realized he was hurting Ryou. To Ryou, the reason wasn’t important. After a moment of stillness, the hands started to move on his sides and the other nuzzled his way to Ryou’s ear.

“Put a shirt on or I won’t be able to keep my hands off you.”

Ryou laughed. “Maybe I don’t want your hands off me.” He felt more than heard Mariku chuckle.

xxx

Mariku watched Ryou eat. The other looked so happy, just because Mariku had let him cling onto him. The kitchen was too small to eat in so they had brought everything to the living room. The food was something Mariku had thrown together from what he had. Ryou ate it as if all it took to make it taste great, was the knowledge that Mariku had made it for him.

He had tried to be civil to Ryou’s friends and tried to get in good terms with his father. Neither was something he would have done hadn’t Ryou asked it of him. Ryou had power over him, yet Mariku wanted to believe that power wouldn’t be used against him. He gave some of his control to Ryou who in turn accepted him with all his flaws. If that was how ‘love’ worked, it didn’t seem like such a bad thing.

“Ryou.”

The boy looked up from his food and stopped chewing.

“I have something for you.” Before Ryou could finish chewing, swallow and start protesting, Mariku continued, “I know you told everyone not to get you a birthday gift. It wasn’t you real birthday and neither is today so,” he smirked at Ryou’s baffled expression, “this is just a regular gift. Is that acceptable?” Mariku rose from the couch without waiting for an answer. He had gone out of his way to get something for Ryou. The boy wasn’t rude enough to refuse.

“You didn’t have to,” Ryou told but Mariku chose to ignore it. He dug out an envelope from under a couch cushion and handed it over. Ryou reached for it, pulling it to him. He looked the envelope over and fingered one corner.

“The gift is inside, you know.”

Ryou ducked his head but it was to hide a smile. “I know. I’m just savoring the moment.” He glanced at Mariku who was still standing. It wasn’t that Mariku was preparing to escape if Ryou didn’t like the present. He had just forgotten to sit back down.

Finally, Ryou opened it and looked inside. Mariku stood by, waiting a reaction and telling himself he wasn’t anxious.

“Movie tickets.” Ryou turned his eyes on Mariku. The look in them was questioning. “I thought you didn’t like crowds.”

Mariku smirked. “I hoped you’d conclude that the other one is for me.” Ryou smiled up at him. “It’s a late screening and the movie isn’t mainstream so I figured there wouldn’t be many people,” he felt compelled to explain. It hadn’t been a decision made with reason and logic. Ryou needed to get out.

xxx

Ryou met his father in the kitchen after coming home. He was greeted with a ‘good morning’ and an interrogation.

“Where were you last night?”

Ryou stood in the doorway for a moment longer before taking a seat opposite to his father. The man put his cup down and folded the newspaper.

“With Mariku, at his place.” Ryou hoped it would be left at that. Hoping didn’t do much, though, as his father looked ready for a longer talk.

“I see.” Mr. Bakura’s eyes trailed from Ryou’s and stopped somewhere near his shirt collar. The man frowned. Ryou lifted his hand, eyes widening when he felt a bite mark.

“Dad, it’s…” His father glanced at Ryou’s wrist before locking eyes with him.

“He’s a bit rough, isn’t he?”

“Well, he-”

“If you don’t… like it, don’t defend him.”

Ryou shifted on his seat. “Dad…” He didn’t want to have this conversation.

“He didn’t seem horrible when I talked to him yesterday but he’s,” the man stirred his tea, not looking at the cup, “very dominant, isn’t he?”

“He-,” Ryou wasn’t allowed to continue yet.

“Won’t that cause trouble for you? If not yet then later on? And you’re...” He didn’t look too comfortable about the subject either. “You have, um, been intimate with him. For how long?”

Was he asking what Ryou thought he was? Ryou took a deep breath, realizing there was no way out. “This was the second time.”

The man nodded. “Is the bruising somehow, uh, a part of it, with him?”

Ryou felt his face grow warm and he had to look away. “Um, he’s not very gentle but I… I don’t mind.” His father didn’t need to know any details. “And Mariku is, he’s dominating, yes, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

The answer wasn’t satisfactory. “It’s not about whether or not you can handle it, Ryou, it’s-”

“Father, please!” Ryou surprised them both by raising his voice. “You don’t understand him and you know nothing about us. You have to trust my judgment this once.”

“Son, you’re a child. You don’t know how these things work. I just want to protect you.”

The child rose from his chair. The chair legs screeched against the floor and his hair fell on his face. Ryou’s voice was muffled with tears and anger. “You’ve done a great job so far.”

He left the kitchen and run upstairs to his room. Ryou decided to shower and change, and stay behind a locked door until it was time to meet up with Mariku.

xxx

There were people in the lobby of the movie theater. Not enough to form a crowd; one could spread out his arms at any given moment without hitting anyone. Ryou looked around, realizing it had been a while since he had last been to the movies. He hadn’t felt like going alone, back in the day. Now that he had someone with him, he wasn’t sure if Mariku was part of the reason he felt nervous.

Ryou quit studying the moviegoers and took a look at Mariku. He had a scowl on his face, his jaw clenching and relaxing again. It wasn’t the usual permanent frown; Mariku was agitated. Ryou took his hand, smiling when the other turned his frown on him. The scowl faded away faster than the smile did and Mariku gave Ryou’s hand a squeeze.

They didn’t have to wait for long until they were let in to take their seats.

As it turned out, the wait was more interesting than the movie. Ryou tried to see Mariku in the glare of the screen and from what he could make out, the other had stopped paying attention after the opening credits. It made him wonder why Mariku had offered to come if he wasn’t interested. Too deep in thought, Ryou missed most of what was going on. It did occur to him halfway through the movie, that Mariku had done quite a few selfless deeds in the past couple of days. There was nothing Mariku could gain from coming to see a boring flick with him, was there?

Ryou decided to pay close attention to the ending. The only reason he could think of for Mariku bringing him there was that the other wanted to do something nice for him. For that reason alone, he would enjoy the moment as much as he could.

xxx

Mariku was walking beside him, heading for the doors and to the night air. There seemed to be more people in the lobby than before or were they just making more noise, Ryou couldn’t tell.

A group of people, around his age, were talking near the movie theater doors. Once in a while, one of them glanced his way. Ryou didn’t think he had ever met them but then again, he wasn’t the most attentive of people. Perhaps they went to the same school.

Ryou tried not to make it too obvious he had noticed them. After taking another careful look at the group, Ryou glanced at Mariku. Their eyes met and Ryou froze.

“Does it bother you?” Mariku asked, tilting his head to one side, eyes narrowing. The accuracy startled Ryou dumb. He should be used to it by now.

“Does w-what?”

“Stay here.”

A realization hit Ryou when Mariku left him and approached the people huddled together near the exit. Mariku had calmed down around him but towards others, he could be as cruel as ever. Ryou took a couple of fast steps, taking hold of Mariku’s arm. “Please, just leave it alone.”

Mariku glanced at Ryou without turning to face him and pulled his arm free. “Stay.”

“But…” Ryou wanted to protest further, to go and stop the other but his feet refused to move. It made him angry. “I’m not a dog,” he muttered.

The anger was replaced with worry when he saw the group’s reaction. A couple of them had stepped forward in defiance but the fight faltered when Mariku stopped before them. Ryou guessed something was said. The other had his back towards him and Ryou couldn’t make out any words from where he stood. The people, who had stepped up, paled and backed closer to the group. Ryou felt helpless as Mariku turned on his heel, a satisfied smirk twisting his face. He came over and guided Ryou out with a hand placed on his lower back.

“Let’s go.”

Ryou couldn’t tell Mariku about the fight with his father. It was a family matter. Mariku would do something about it if he knew.

“What is it now, Ryou?”

The voice made Ryou jump. Was he this easy to read?

“It’s nothing.” He regretted the words once they were out. Since when had he lied to Mariku?

Their walk down the street halted when Mariku grabbed Ryou’s arm and turned them face to face. “Haven’t I told you not to lie to me? What is it?”

“I-I just…”

“Tell me.”

The grip on his arm was next to painful but as Ryou studied the other, he noticed that it wasn’t anger distorting Mariku’s features. He couldn’t look away.

“My father saw the bruises. We had a fight.” Spilling wasn’t difficult. Ryou felt a hand on his other arm and the hold grew gentler.

“So dear old dad doesn’t think I’m treating you with the gentle care you deserve,” Mariku remarked and Ryou found himself smiling. “What do you think?” Mariku went on, more serious.

“I really don’t mind.”

The other outmatched Ryou’s smile with a grin. “I figured as much from the sounds you make.”

Ryou knew the grin and the purr that accompanied it. Despite how his pulse quickened, he knew he had to go home tonight. He didn’t want the tension between his father and him rising any higher than it had already.

“I need to get home.” The mood broke and the cold night air came rushing back. Mariku let go.

“I’ll drive you.”

A/N: The response chapter 19 got was amazing. In fact, I was so taken off guard that I wrote this chapter almost without realizing that I was about to update. Because two months is way less than a year, this was a fast update.

Review?