A/N: And here it is, the last chapter! I'm actually rather sad to see this story ending, but all good things must come to an end, am I right?

Thanks to: xXI. Hate. TwilightXx, j bear, The Awesome Alchemist, seira-g, Fujimori Chikaru, EuphrasieTheOwl, and sandydragon for reviewing!

Knock, knock, knock. Mrs. Ishtar opened the door.

"Oh, hello, Ryou, Bakura," she said. "What can I do for you?"

"Hello, Mrs. Ishtar," Bakura said politely. "Do you think we could see Marik for a second? We came to drop off his homework."

The principal had gotten an "anonymous" tip that someone had been trying to frame Marik to get him kicked out of school. It also helped that the switchblade found in Marik's pocket had the initials "S.K." written on the handle. The principal had canceled Marik's suspension, but the poor boy still wasn't quite well enough to go back to school just yet.

"Really? I asked Malik to do that."

"Well, you see, Mrs. Ishtar," Bakura began. "Somehow Malik got the thought in his head that it would be funny to put a rubber snake in the math teacher's desk. She's quite afraid of snakes, Mrs. Ishtar. Needless to say, Malik now has a detention for today. Quite personally, I think that the rest of the basketball team put him up to it, but they won't admit it. In any case, Malik asked us to bring Marik his homework."

"I wonder about that boy sometimes. Marik's in his room, upstairs, go right in."

"Thank you, Mrs. Ishtar."

The two boys entered the house. Once they were out of Mrs. Ishtar's earshot, Ryou whispered, "So, when do you plan on telling her that you paid Malik to stick that snake in the teacher's desk so that you would have an excuse to come see Marik?"

"Shh!"

Ryou laughed, then knocked on Marik's bedroom door.

"Come in."

Ryou gestured for Bakura to go in first. "After you, Romeo."

"Shut up." Bakura opened the door and stepped in. Marik was sitting in bed, reading a magazine, but he looked up when the two boys came in. He blinked, obviously surprised.

"Um, hi, guys," he said.

"Hi, Marik," the two said in unison. Bakura held up a folder.

"We came to drop off your homework," he explained.

"I though Malik was gonna - "

"Long story."

"Oh." Marik reached out and took the folder. "Thanks." There was an awkward silence. Ryou cleared his throat.

"Uh, Bakura..." Before he could say anymore, Odion poked his head in the room.

"Either of you two know anything about computers?" he asked Ryou and Bakura. "My laptop crashed."

"Again?" Marik said. "Were you downloading one of those online games while doing college work and IMing people again?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I was." Odion shrugged sheepishly. "I thought it'd be okay."

"This is the seventh time this has happened, Odion!"

"Eighth," Odion muttered. "So, any ideas from anyone?"

"I can take a look at it," Ryou offered. "I'm pretty good with electronic stuff. Sometimes."

"Thanks, kid." Ryou followed Odion out of Marik's bedroom, leaving Bakura and Marik alone. Bakura shifted uncomfortably.

"Uh...do you mind if I sit down?" he asked.

"Go ahead." Marik gestured for Bakura to sit on the bed. Bakura sat.

"So, um, how are you doing?"

"Pretty good, I guess. I'm going to get the stitches removed in a couple of days."

"That's good."

"I guess. But my dad says that as soon as my stitches are out, I'm grounded for all eternity."

"That's a pretty long time." There was a brief pause. "But I think I'll be able to wait." Marik sighed.

"Will you stop that?" Bakura blinked, puzzled.

"Stop what?"

"Stop saying stuff like that! It's...weird."

"At the hospital - "

"Please don't talk about what happened at the hospital," Marik said, looking away.

"Why not?" Bakura asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You...kind of embarrassed yourself in front of my family, your brother, my friends, Yugi's brother, Yugi's brother's girlfriend, Yugi's grandfather, and that nurse who happened to walk in at that exact moment."

"You had a lot of visitors, didn't you? I'll admit it was a little embarrassing to have a nurse hear that, but I could honestly care less about everyone else."

Bakura put two fingers under Marik's chin and turned his head, forcing the Egyptian boy to look him in the eyes.

"Do you need me to say it again?" he whispered. "'Cause I will." Marik nodded.

"I-I guess so," he said. "Just in case I didn't hear you right the first time."

"Alright. I love you, Marik Ishtar," Bakura said, speaking quite clearly. Marik couldn't help but blush. No one (except for his parents, but that was different) had ever said those words to him before. It made his heart race and butterflies collect in his stomach as a smile made its way onto his face.

Long, white hair hung in the boy's face. His eyes sparked mischievously as he cupped Marik's face in one hand. Marik suppressed a small shiver as the boy leaned in closer...closer...

"Wait." Marik put a hand on Bakura's chest, holding him back. Bakura sighed and lowered his hand.

"What?" he asked. Marik smiled sheepishly.

"I don't really know. I guess this just seems a bit...strange," he said. Bakura smirked.

"I guess it is a bit odd, when one of your worst enemies becomes your boyfriend," he said. Marik's eyes grew huge and his heart sped up. Boyfriend?

"If that's what you want, that is," Bakura added quickly. "I don't want to force you into anything."

Marik looked at the rug, at the ceiling, and finally back at Bakura.

"Bakura, I-I think that's what I've wanted since I first saw you."

Bakura smiled and leaned closer to Marik.

"Good," he said. "That's what I was hoping for." He leaned in a bit closer and, when Marik didn't stop him, gently pressed his lips to the Egyptian teen's. Marik put his arms around Bakura's neck, closing his eyes. Maybe it was instinct, maybe it was all those stupid romance movies his sister always made him watch, but whatever the reason, Marik was pretty sure you were supposed to close your eyes while kissing.

Ryou started to come back into the room. Seeing his brother and Marik, he stopped, one foot in the doorway, and slowly stepped backwards until he was safely out of the sight of the other two boys. Not that they had noticed him, but it was still polite to give them privacy. Grinning, Ryou leaned against the wall and folded his arms.

"Atta boy, Kura-kun," he thought. "Maybe now you'll leave the bills to Mom, like she always tells you to, and you're life will be a bit happier." Ryou's smile faded as his train of thought continued. "But now the richest and meanest kid in school knows that you're bisexual. That might not be too much of a problem in itself, but now you're datingthe guy Kaiba hates most! Be careful, Bakura. You may think that our father was the worst person you ever had to deal with, but Kaiba has money and power, making him even worse. Congratulations, Bakura," he thought with a small shake of the head. "You've managed to get a boyfriend, an enemy, and a reputation that the entire school's gonna know about within a couple of days! And it's only freshman year!"

That's it. It's done. I would like to thank anyone who reviewed, favorited, alerted, or just read this story. Now, I have a question. Would anyone be interested in a sequel to this story? I have a plot in mind, but I won't write it if no one is interested in reading it.

As always, R&R