Another Drink

A/N: Hello, everyone! Welcome to the sixth and final chapter of Another Drink! Phew, it’s done now: ) I hope that you enjoy this chapter as much as you’ve enjoyed the rest of the story, and I hope to be back soon with another fiction! The gears in my head are always turning, but you just never know when I’ll get it down on paper – or in this case – computer. : ) Once again, thanks to my wonderful reviewers:

ONIX-21: Thanks! I hope Seto sorts himself out, too! ; )

Kalinovskaja: Everyone’s hurtin’! But have no fear, there’s always a solution to a problem!

Silver Tears 11: Thanks for reviewing! I’m glad you like the story!

Slate Grey: Hot, eh? Oh, well, you know... :P

AtemsQueen1: Thanks! I appreciate the compliment!

iloveatem: Haha, oh lemons! This was the first one I ever posted! –dies- I’m glad that people liked it, though!

Empress Satori: Oh, the great CEO... not everything is straightforward and business like! People have emotions! Haha, oh Kaiba... :P

evilgoddess1990: Thanks so much! Hope you like this chapter!

I would especially like to extend my thanks to Empress Satori, iloveatem, Kalinovskaja, and ONIX-21, for reviewing since the very beginning! Thanks so much, guys: )

Well, that’s that, and I hope you enjoy the last chapter! Please note that the ending is meant to be... slightly ambiguous. : )

Chapter VI: Breaking Down the Emotional Fortress

When Jounouchi awoke at 9:00 sharp the next morning, the first thing he noticed was that his head hurt fiercely. A dull thumping proceeded mercilessly against his skull as a wave of nausea crashed against his stomach. He felt positively awful.

He groaned as he struggled to sit up in the bed, vaguely noting the blinding sunlight streaming directly into his unopened eyes. He blinked several times before fully opening them. When he finally focussed, he noticed that he was not in his own bed or his own bedroom. “What the fuck did I do last night?” he whispered to himself in a raspy voice. He felt slightly uncomfortable when he realized that he did not recognize his surroundings at all.

Pulling the covers back, he swung his legs off the bed and stood up unsteadily. Slowly, pieces of the night before began to come back. He remembered being at the bar, and he remembered drinking more than he probably should have. Just as he was trying to shake off the faint taste of alcohol in his mouth, he saw himself sitting in the bar next to Seto Kaiba.

He stood there, frozen, as he remembered being in the bathroom; remembered kissing the CEO like he had kissed no other. The memory was so powerful that he was afraid to recall what happened next.

Grasping his throbbing head, he stumbled to the door, opened it, and found himself walking down a very long hallway.

He stopped, seeing a painting on the wall that he had noticed when he had come in. When did I come in? Whose house is this? Then suddenly, like being knocked over the head out of the blue, Jounouchi recalled, groggily, the events of the night before.

I let Seto Kaiba give me a blow-job, and then I let him fuck me. The words rang harsh and clear in his head and his nausea suddenly became worse. He was having a hard time comprehending the facts. Maybe he was still dreaming, or maybe he was still drunk.

Jounouchi felt a bitter pang when he also recalled that the brunette had left him all alone to bask in the regret of his drunken actions. He decided that he needed to get out of the house before it suffocated him. He needed to think. He had made it down the stairs and was walking briskly down another hallway when he collided with a solid figure.

“Good morning, mutt,” came the cold and calculating voice.

Jounouchi backed up as he felt his chest constrict painfully, and he suddenly feared that he would have a panic attack. Not knowing what to say, he remained silent.

Seto looked down at the blonde, and was slightly upset to see that he looked absolutely terrified. “What’s the matter, Jounouchi?”

Jounouchi’s hands trembled. “Kaiba, I have to go,” he said quietly. He couldn’t deal with this situation right now. It was too much. God, he wished he had gotten out of there sooner.

“The last I recall, Katsuya, you seemed to be quite enjoying yourself,” Seto snapped. He looked Jounouchi up and down and noted that he looked horrible. Blonde hair stuck up in all directions, his bangs matted against his forehead, and the wrinkled clothes of yesterday adorned his body.

“The last I recall, Seto, you seemed to be quite intent on getting me out of here by 11:00!”

“It’s only quarter after nine, mutt,” Seto said. He wasn’t letting him go that easily. The damned blonde had caused him a world of emotional suffering last night. He had sat at his desk, pulling at his hair, trying to figure out why he had feelings for him and where they had come from. Did he have feelings before and just not realize it or did he just recently develop them? God, Jounouchi’s body beneath his had been a beautiful sight... a sight he wanted to see again. It disturbed him that he had become so attached to the fiery little thing.

“What we did last night – I wasn’t in my right mind. I – I don’t know why it happened.” Jounouchi hung his head, feeling embarrassed and slightly ashamed of his actions. Why had he done it? Even though he knew somewhere in the back of his mind that it wasn’t true, he wanted to blame it entirely on the alcohol. When had he become so attracted to Seto?

“So you regret it then?” Seto spat angrily, snapping Jounouchi out of his thoughts. He grabbed him roughly, pulling the shorter boy towards him, and lowered his mouth to his, kissing him hungrily.

Jounouchi pushed him away, though. “Stop! I – I don’t want to deal with this right – ”

“Just like you never deal with your no-good-for-nothing father?” Seto’s eyes blazed and he was sure that he had never let himself get this upset in front of anyone before.

“How dare y – ”

“Do you want to know a secret, Jounouchi?” Seto said venomously through gritted teeth. He didn’t wait for a reply. “When Mokuba and I were adopted by Gozaburo Kaiba, I was abused in the name of education!”(1) He had never told anyone that, but he would do anything to make Jounouchi understand that even though they were different, their emotional suffering was one in the same.

For the second time, Jounouchi broke down in front of the brunette. He felt that all of his emotional barriers had been destroyed in the last twelve hours. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. But then... you must know how it feels, Kaiba, to be scared in your own home, a place where you’re supposed to feel comfortable and safe.” He felt the tears leak out of his eyes. “Please, I have to go. I’m probably already in enough trouble as it is.”

He tried to push past Seto, but instead felt himself be enveloped by a pair of warm arms.

“That’s why I want to help you,” Seto said softly, bringing his hand up to stroke the blonde’s cheek, “because I know how it feels. Let me help you.”

“You made it perfectly clear how much you wanted to help me after you left me alone last night,” Jounouchi said bitterly, trying to ignore the touch, the warmth. He pulled out of the embrace. “You took – ”

“You gave,” Seto cut in. “It takes two to tango, Jounouchi.”

“ – the one thing that I had left that was still intact!”

Seto’s eyes bore into Jounouchi’s. “And you think that I didn’t make any sacrifices, either? You’re the first one I’ve ever been intimate with, Jounouchi, but that was a risk I was willing to take! I don’t know what it is about you that’s making me act this way!”

Jounouchi was stunned. “You mean you’ve never – ”

“What I lack in experience, I make up for in confidence,” Seto snapped. He was furious – mostly at himself – for developing these stupid feelings. Everything would be so much easier if he could just leave it at a one night stand. But he couldn’t because he cared.

The blonde couldn’t take it anymore. “I’m just – Kaiba – I thought you hated me,” he blurted.

“I don’t,” Seto said flatly. “As a matter of fact, I – ” He was having a hard time admitting out loud what he had finally admitted to himself in the quiet of his office last night. “I like you; more so than you might think. I enjoyed being with you last night, even if you weren’t sober. You were honest, though, and I liked that. I think I’ve always liked you, somewhere in the back of my mind. It’s hard for me to admit this, Jounouchi. I’m not exactly a man of many words.” He looked rather uncomfortable.

Jounouchi was speechless. He had enjoyed being with the other boy as well – what he could remember of it, anyway – but to hear Seto say it caused an unnatural stir in the pit of his stomach. “You’re not lying, are you?” he asked suspiciously. He didn’t want to be hurt; he’d had enough of that in his life.

“I don’t lie.”

“I – I don’t know where I stand with you emotionally. I think you’re attractive, but you’ve invested so much venom in me, that it’s hard for me to accept the fact that you... you like me. I’m afraid... I mean...” Jounouchi clenched his fists. “I like you, too... but...”

Almost shyly, Seto grabbed Jounouchi’s hand and squeezed it. “I won’t hurt you. This... you just have to trust me.”

“It’s hard,” he whispered.

“I want to help you. I want to protect you. I don’t know where this will go or if it will go anywhere, but please. Give it a chance. I’m not how you think I am.” He brushed his thumb over the bruise on Jounouchi’s cheek and leaned forward. He captured the blonde’s lips, kissing him gently, softly, and passionately.

Jounouchi leaned into the kiss, feeling Seto press him against the wall. Their fingers intertwined, he pulled back, letting Seto press his forehead against his.

“Trust me, Katsuya,” Seto said quietly, wiping the last of Jounouchi’s tears away.

Jounouchi just nodded, suddenly feeling shy. No one had ever been this gentle or this tender with him, except for his sister. Of course, that was a different kind of affection from what Seto was showing him.

Seto pulled the blonde close once more and he felt Jounouchi rest his head against his chest. He was still unsure of how all of this would play out, but he was willing to take the risk. For the first time in a long time, he felt the whispers of a smile on his lips.

As Jounouchi finally – finally – let himself relax, he knew instinctively that he could rely on Seto for the time being, anyway. A small smile crept up on his lips, too, as he recalled the night before.

Perhaps it had been a good thing that he had ordered another drink.

Fin

(1) Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist, Volume 23, page 40.