A/N: I apologize for the delay (unforeseen circumstances prevented me from posting this sooner) bows in apology, but here is the final installment to How Do You Feel Now? I really hope you enjoy it.
The Feeling's Mutual
The next morning, Joey stared absent-mindedly out the window of his room. He was deep in thought about something or another when the door behind him opened. The blond looked up and turned his head to look at the intruder.
When Kaiba saw Joey staring at him, he hesitated for a moment. He side-stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.
"What do you want now?" Joey said solemnly as Kaiba entered the room.
"Joey…I need to talk to you…"
Joey said nothing, and continued to look out the window.
Kaiba stood directly behind the blond. When Joey didn't turn, Kaiba gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
Joey jumped at the sudden contact and hit his back against the window. Kaiba quickly drew back his hand. "What happened to 'don't touch me'? Or does that only apply when I touch you?" Joey asked bitterly as he stood up straight..
"Joey…" Kaiba hesitated briefly, then continued, "Look…about yesterday…"
"Save it, ok? I'm not in the mood." Joey proceeded with storming past the brunette, but was stopped short. Kaiba brought his hand down and slammed it on the desk. The blond jumped slightly and stared wide-eyed up at Kaiba.
"Joey, look," he began, his expression undecipherable. "What happened last night…look, I was just…mad, I guess. Not at you, not at Mokuba…at myself. You were just there, so I took it out on you. I know it was wrong, and I'm sorry."
There was a brief silence between the two.
With all the sincerity he could muster, Kaiba said again, "I'm sorry, Joey."
Kaiba dropped his arm to his side and hung his head.
The blond studied Kaiba's expression carefully. Joey's frown dropped and his anger dissipated. He thought for a moment.
"Why were you mad at yourself?" He turned to face the brunette.
Kaiba paused to gather his thoughts. "I've had a lot on my mind lately," he said carefully and evenly.
"Like?" Joey sat down on the end of his bed and looked up with a slight smile.
"Like…just stuff, ok?" Kaiba wasn't one hundred percent certain that he actually wanted to tell anyone what went through his head.
Joey gave a disappointed "oh" and slowly stood up.
"I have a proposition," Kaiba said suddenly.
Joey turned his head and said, "Huh?"
"A proposition. A proposal?" Joey looked at the brunette with a confused expression.
Kaiba gave a heavy sigh and rubbed the back of his head trying to think of a word that Joey would understand.
"A deal."
"Deal?" Joey looked at Kaiba suspiciously.
"You tell me what's been on your mind, and I'll tell you what's been on mine. Sound fair?"
Joey thought on this. "Deal."
The blond inhaled deeply and decided on a starting place. "I've been…keeping something from all my friends."
"What's that?" The two were now seated at the foot of Joey's bed.
"I…" Joey hesitated.
"That's the thing you told Yugi, right?" The blond nodded slowly.
"Well…I've just been thinking about some stuff."
"Like, if your friends found out, they'd abandon you?"
"Yeah." Joey dropped his head. Kaiba placed a comforting hand on the blonde's shoulder. Joey looked up suddenly and jerked his head to face the brunette to his left.
"I know what you mean," Kaiba said. "I've been keeping something, too."
"Really?"
"Yes," he said. "Now, you were saying?"
"Right. Well…that was what all those pictures were, I guess."
"What about the ones about me?"
Joey froze. "I don't know how to answer that."
"Meaning?"
"…"
"Just say it. I'm sure I can handle it," Kaiba said reassuringly.
"That's…how I thought you thought of me." Again, the blond dropped his head.
Kaiba tried to think of a response. Carefully choosing his words, he slowly said, "I don't think that way about you anymore, Joey. I don't think of you as a worthless anything anymore."
Joey looked up at him and processed these words. Kaiba gave him a small smile. "I don't. You may think I don't care or hate you, but I don't." He paused. "I do care, believe it or not."
"So, you still hate me, but you care about me?" Joey said playfully, nudging Kaiba gently in the ribs.
"Huh? No, wait. I don't hate you," he replied quickly.
Joey chuckled and said, "Anyway. So, spill. What's been with you lately? You were blowing hot and cold yesterday."
"I've been thinking about something. Just…something. And I feel like I've messed something up."
"Messed what up?" Joey's attention was completely on Kaiba now.
"A relationship." He said the word evenly as if he were unsure of it.
"Ha ha. I didn't know you had a girlfriend, Kaiba." Joey had a grin, but behind it hid a disappointed and defeated face.
"I don't."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"No, I never had one to begin with. It was a…crush." The last word was said more to himself, but Joey caught it nonetheless.
"Crush? On who?" Every name of all the girls he knew passed through his mind. He couldn't figure out which girl Kaiba would go for.
"Someone." Kaiba flushed bright red and shifted uncomfortably.
"Ah, come on, Kaiba, you can tell me!" Joey nudged him in the arm in attempt to coax him into telling.
"No, I can't." He flushed redder and turned away, suddenly interested with the sky outside the window.
"Fine. I'll just list off all the names of the girls, and I'll figure out who it is based on your reactions." Joey grinned with accomplishment.
"You could try that if you want," Kaiba said, his blush gone. "Won't work, though."
"Why not?" Joey thought for a minute. He gasped suddenly. Kaiba flushed again and quickly turned to face the blond. "What?"
Joey studied Kaiba's face carefully. "What?" Kaiba said again.
"It's a guy, isn't it?" Kaiba turned away, his face felt hot under his blush.
"I knew it!" Joey said suddenly, causing Kaiba to flinch.
"You did?" Wide-eyed, Kaiba turned back to Joey.
"Hmm…let's see."
Kaiba looked at the blond. Joey was thinking hard about something.
"Yugi?"
"Huh?"
"Is it Yugi?"
"What? No, it's not." Kaiba had a strange look on his face.
"Tristan?"
"No."
"Um…Bakura?"
"Who?" The name didn't ring a bell.
"Guess not."
"Uh…Duke?"
"Who?" That name wasn't familiar, either.
"Hmm." Joey was concentrating hard. 'What all guys do I know?' He thought to himself.
"Ah! I dunno…I guess it's someone I don't know." Joey said after a long pause. He stood up and turned to face Kaiba.
Kaiba gave Joey a brief look, then shook his head.
"Oh well," Joey said. "Anything I can do to help?"
"Well, actually--"
Kaiba was cut off by a knock on the door. Tristan's voice called, "Hey, Joey! Come on! You promised you were gonna help me with that one thing today!"
"Sorry, Kaiba, I promised Tristan I'd help him with somethin'…"
"That's alright." Kaiba put on some semblance of a smile. Joey started for the door when Kaiba said, "Wait."
"What is it?"
"Can I ask you a personal question?"
"A personal question?" Joey looked confused. "Uh, I guess so…"
"Are you…seeing…anyone?"
"Huh? You mean, like, do I have a girlfriend? No, why?"
"Just curious."
"Come on, Joey!" Tristan called through the door.
"Chill out! I'm comin'!" Joey yelled back. "See ya 'round, Kaiba."
"See ya." Joey closed the door behind him.
Kaiba thought about his next move. 'Alright. Next time I see him, I'll…' Kaiba sighed heavily. "I dunno what I'm gonna do."
--
"Kaiba's…gay?" Tristan thought about what he just said.
"I guess so," Joey replied. "That, or he just has a crush on a guy this one time or something."
"Huh." Tristan seemed confused by the news.
"Yeah, it was kinda weird," Joey said suddenly.
"What was?"
"Kaiba asked if I was seeing someone right before I left."
"He did?"
"Yeah."
Tristan got a look on his face that was somewhere between shocked and disturbed.
Joey caught the look and said, "What?"
"I don't believe it."
"Believe what?"
Tristan chuckled to himself.
"Believe what!?" Joey repeated, louder this time.
"I know who Kaiba's crush is on," Tristan grinned to himself.
"What? Who?"
"Ha ha! It's you!"
"Me?" Joey stared at Tristan in disbelief. He suddenly flushed slightly. "Really?"
"Yeah! Why else would he ask if you were dating or not?"
Joey hesitated. "Good point…"
"Man! Kaiba's finally got a thing for someone and it turns out to be with you."
"Yeah…that is something…" Joey said thoughtfully.
"Why?" Tristan got a suspicious look.
"Huh?"
"You don't like him, too…do you?"
"Uh…" Joey blushed a brighter shade of red.
"You do!" Tristan jumped to his feet.
Joey hung his head and shrank back, face redder than ever.
Tristan looked down at his best friend sitting before him. "Hey, hey…I didn't say there was anything wrong with it…" He knelt beside Joey and placed a comforting hand on his back. "Come on, man…I don't care if you like Kaiba or not. You're still Joey, aren't ya?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Hmm…"
Joey looked up quizzically. "What?"
"Does Kaiba know you like him?"
"No…"
Tristan got an evil grin on his face. "Then let's go tell him."
"Whoa, wait, no!" Tristan grabbed Joey by the wrist and dragged him back to his room.
--
Kaiba sat on his bed typing away. He was interrupted by a sudden, loud knocking at the door.
Kaiba stood up and opened the door. Tristan pushed his way with Joey close behind him. Kaiba shut the door.
"Joey has something to tell you." Tristan ran out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Joey flushed and turned his head towards the window.
"So, you wanted to tell me something?"
Joey jumped slightly. "Uh…"
"Well?"
Joey stammered, trying to figure out what to say.
"What is it, Joey?"
"I…I…" Joey gulped audibly. "I know who you have a crush on…" With this, he turned red and looked away.
"You do?" Kaiba flushed slightly. "What does that have to do with what you wanted to tell me?"
"I just wanted to say that…well…" Joey rubbed the back of his head. "He…feels the…same…"
"He does?"
"Yeah," Joey said. "I do."
--
Outside the room, Tristan leaned against the door, trying to hear the conversation on the other side of it.
"Tristan?" came an innocent voice from behind him. Tristan jumped and whipped around.
"What are you doing?" Yugi looked suspiciously at his friend.
"Uh…nothin', Yuge…" He gave a nervous chuckle.
"Right…" Yugi smiled slightly. He knew exactly what Tristan was up to.
"Oh, alright…I was eavesdropping on Joey and Kaiba."
"Why?"
"Well…I wanted to see how things turned out, is all…"
"Things?" Yugi tilted his head in confusion.
"Ok." Tristan inhaled deeply. "Kaiba likes Joey, Joey just found, Joey admitted that he likes Kaiba back, I dragged him up here and told Kaiba that Joey wanted to tell him something. I left, and decided to eavesdrop to see how it all panned out."
Yugi blinked twice at this. "Ok…say that again…this time, slowly…and in Japanese…"
Tristan gave a heavy sigh. "Kaiba likes Joey." Yugi nodded. "Joey likes Kaiba." Another nod. "I got the two of them to talk." Another nod.
"Gotcha," Yugi said.
"You know…we can hear you in there." Kaiba had the door propped open.
Tristan gave a guilty, nervous laugh. "So…how'd it go?"
"It's really none of your business, but if you must know, it went rather well."
"Does that mean you and Joey are…"
"Yes."
"Huh."
"Come on, Tristan," Yugi said as he grabbed his friend's arm and walked down the hall. "Let's let them be, ok?"
Within the span of fifteen minutes, everyone in the group knew about the new couple. Random assortments of comments and giggles came as responses.
"It's about time!" Alexa called out from over her chess match against Mokuba, whose comment was, "Joey? No way! I knew something was up with those two!"
Joey and Kaiba entered the main hall to join everyone. They all looked up with wide grins. The two gave strange looks and in unison, asked, "What?"
"Nothing." They all said this at the same time and went back to their respective activities with smiles.
"Does this mean you two aren't fighting anymore?" Mokuba asked as the couple sat down next to the chess board tables that were strewn about near the wall.
"Yeah, we're not mad at each other anymore," Joey said as he leaned against Kaiba, who in turn, smiled at the blond.
"Just one favor…" Tristan said suddenly.
"What's that?" Joey looked up with a puzzled look.
"Keep the mushy stuff to a minimum…at least around me, ok?"
The group started laughing, including Tristan.
Above the noise, Joey said with a smile, "Ok, Tristan…we'll think about it."
A/N: Well, that's it. I hope you liked the conclusion. I had trouble figuring out how to wrap it up, and this is what I came up with. Sorry if it isn't as good as you had hoped...I wrote this late at night.
On a side note...I won't be able to submit anything else until August, I'm afraid. I am going on a family vacation and will unfortunately be unable to access the Internet until I return.
To whom I owe a fanfiction (you know who you are): I am already working on your fic. It will be the very next thing I post. As soon as I am able to get back to my laptop I will type, edit, and post it. I'm sorry for any inconvenience or irritation this may have caused. bows in apology
-Satoshi