Well, this is the last chapter. I'm a little sad to see it end, since this has remained my most popular story and everyone seems to like it... Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter and continue to read my other stories. Thanks once again to everyone who has responded to this. I love you all!

Warnings: OOCness. And Yami is a tease.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

Chapter 6

When we got home Seto went to his study to work for a while, and I decided to work on my plan a little more. Okay, so I didn't really have a plan yet. But he'd said I was adorable, so that must mean he liked me, right? And yesterday… I was so sure he was about to kiss me- maybe he was just scared. I would just have to make sure to be, well, accessible; to give him plenty of opportunities… just in case.

While he worked, I made Seto fudge nut brownies like I'd done for Mokuba.

I was beginning to feel a little like a housewife.

The thought made me grin (well, grin sarcastically anyway), and I carried the brownie tray upstairs to Seto's study, shaking my head resignedly. Knocking softly on the door, I brought the tray over to where he sat typing furiously on his laptop and set it beside him on the desk. I leaned slowly over his shoulder and lifted a brownie from the tray. "Hi," I breathed in his ear.

The typing stopped.

I backed away slightly, nibbling on the brownie, and watched carefully for his reaction. He stared at me for a moment before the junk food drew his attention. "Did you make these for me?" Seto asked, eyeing them. The brownies looked incredible, if I do say so myself- I'd gone to more trouble than I had for Mokuba's.

"I told you I would, didn't I?" I smirked, and turned so I leaned my back against the corner of the desk. "But I'm not making anything for that principal," I added, frowning a little.

"Good. That way I get all the attention," Seto teased.

"You're so arrogant, Kaiba," I told him with a smile. I leaned forward and gently brushed his bangs out of his eyes, letting my slim fingers slide across his forehead. He gazed at me neutrally and I slipped my hand down his face and lightly cupped his cheek before pulling away.

Seto cleared his throat. "Well… Thank you, Yami. I'm sure they're wonderful," he said, and went back to typing.

"Aren't you going to eat them?" I sulked, a little offended.

"Yes, of course. But I can't take a break right now," he told me shortly.

"Oh…" I watched him for a moment, wondering what to do. Kaiba confused me like nobody else could- one minute he says I'm adorable and the next he ignores me. Well, I'd just have to make it harder for him to ignore me, then.

Sliding away from the edge of the desk, I moved behind Seto's chair so that my whole body leaned against his and placed my hands on his shoulders. Seto stiffened under my touch and I gently began massaging his shoulders. "You're so tense," I murmured in his ear, and he made a tiny grunt of acknowledgement.

Slowly, I worked out knots in his shoulder muscles until I felt him relax beneath my fingers. I slid my hands up to his neck and rubbed tiny circles with my thumb just under his hairline. He moaned softly, and feeling braver I wrapped my arms lightly around his neck and rested my chin on his shoulder.

He tilted his head slightly, letting our cheeks rest against each other, and I let out a tiny sigh of happiness. At my sound, however, Seto seemed to snap back into reality and his shoulders stiffened once more. I reluctantly pulled away.

"Well, I hope you like those brownies," I said as neutrally as possible and walked from the room. I could feel his gaze on me until I was out of sight.

That night, I fell asleep on the couch watching television. When I woke, late that night, Seto was still upstairs working in his study. He had barely even come down for dinner that evening; either he had gotten really behind on his work or he was just trying to avoid me. After his lack of reaction to me that afternoon I was rather inclined to believe the latter.

I glanced at the clock, yawning. 1:00 A.M. I turned off the television and plodded upstairs, noticing the light shining under the study door. Hesitantly I lifted my hand to knock at the door, but I changed my mind at the last moment and merely trudged quietly to my room and crawled into bed.

The next thing I noticed was something tickling my cheek. I swatted at the object- and caught a hand in mine. My eyes popped open in surprise and I stared up into Seto's embarrassed face as he attempted to free his hand. "What…what time is it?" I asked stupidly, still clutching his hand.

"I don't know. Late. I didn't mean to wake you; I just didn't get to say goodnight," he whispered. I could feel the relieved smile suddenly plastered on my face. Maybe he wasn't avoiding me, after all.

"It's okay," I said, and reluctantly released his hand.

"Well…goodnight, then," Seto told me, shifting awkwardly.

"Good night," I smiled back at him. He gave me a sheepish grin and turned to go. "Wait!" I called softly, and he turned back, looking at me expectantly. "You…you don't have to leave. If you don't want to, I mean," I mumbled, blushing furiously.

What was I doing?

He stared at me for a moment in surprise before a slow smile spread across his handsome features. Seto nodded and climbed into bed beside me, and I immediately scooted over to him and curled against his side. He carefully rested his arm over me, as if I might break, and I stretched up and kissed his cheek. Quickly I laid my head back on his shoulder, not wanting to see his reaction.

We lay silently for a long time, until Seto shifted. He ran his fingers gently through my hair and planted a soft kiss on my forehead. "Yami? Do you remember when I asked if you loved Yugi?" he murmured.

"Yes," I replied.

"Well…Do you…" he paused and pulled back slightly so he could see my face, and studied it carefully.

"Do I what? Love Yugi? I already told you no, at least not in that way," I sighed, and closed my eyes.

"No… Do you love me?" Seto blurted.

My eyes shot open in shock and I met Seto's serious blue gaze, mere inches away. "What?" I gasped. He narrowed his eyes and pulled away from me, and started to climb out of bed.

"Never mind. I was just wondering, that's all," he muttered as he stood. I finally gathered my wits about me and jumped up as he crossed the room, and I raced to the door, blocking his exit.

"Wait! Stop, don't leave, please," I begged. "You just took me by surprise." I grabbed his hand in both of mine and tried to tug him back to the bed. He stood firmly, uncertainty swirling in his cerulean eyes. I sighed, and taking a deep breath, I wrapped my arms around his neck and planted a soft little kiss on his lips.

"I love you, I do," I mumbled and pulled away. My face burned red as fire; though I hoped he couldn't tell in the darkness.

"Really?" Seto asked huskily. I nodded, looking at the floor, until I suddenly felt his long, slim arms wrap around my waist. He drew me close against him and gently lifted my chin. Then he tilted his face down toward mine and I felt his warm breath for a split second before his lips caught mine in a searing kiss.

I moaned in bliss and wrapped my arms around his neck once more as he deepened the kiss, his tongue scraping against my teeth to slide against my own. He tasted like brownies. When I made another little whimper of happiness, Seto broke away from my mouth and trailed little kisses along my jaw line, ending just below my ear. He paused and pulled away slightly, then murmured in my ear, "Well, that's good to hear."

I flushed again and drew away from him in embarrassment. "Kaiba, you're so rude," I mumbled. What was that? Was he just playing some stupid game? He was supposed to say…

"I love you, too."

I just grinned and went back to kissing him.

The next two weeks were the happiest weeks of my life. Seto and I lived in our little bubble of new love, completely caught up in each other. Even my worries about Yugi were pushed to the back of my mind. But they couldn't stay there forever.

On Wednesday of our last week in the little country house, Seto worked furiously in his study while I lounged beside him in a chair I'd pulled from my room. He took frequent breaks. During one such recess, (which had already resulted in quite a large hickey under my ear) the phone rang and startled the two of us from our recreation.

"Kaiba," Seto answered croakily, pressing the button for the speakerphone.

"Sir, there's been a breakthrough in the investigation," Roland's voice said excitedly.

"Roland…" Seto began, glancing at me apprehensively, but Roland cut him off.

"We found him."

Oppressive silence dropped over the room for a long second. Then, "Seto, what is he talking about?" I asked quietly, hope and suspicion dawning simultaneously in my still lust-clouded mind. I blinked a few times to clear my head and stared at Seto questioningly.

"Where is he, Roland?" Seto asked, watching my face.

"You're not going to believe this…"

The tiny silver convertible squealed to a halt in front of the Kame Game Shop, leaving long black tire marks along the pavement. Almost before Seto had parked, I threw the door open and ran across the concrete sidewalk. "YUGI!" I cried, rushing through the open shop door.

He turned and observed me through dark-rimmed eyes that contrasted sharply with his pale, drawn face. "Yami," he said quietly, and hugged me gently as I ran over to him. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he muttered into my shirt.

"What? Why? Where have you been? Seto's had people out looking for you for weeks," I said in confusion.

"Here. I've been here," Yugi muttered.

"What? How?" I gasped. Yugi bit his lip and guiltily observed the floor tiles.

"When I woke up and saw you lying beside me I just panicked. I didn't know how it had happened, but you were there- real, right there beside me in the bed. I just couldn't face it, couldn't face you," Yugi said.

Shock roared over me in painful, noisy waves and I took a few steps backward. I thought I'd prepared myself for everything, but this? "You…you ran away because you couldn't face me?" I questioned disbelievingly. A warm hand gently rubbed soothing circles along my back, and I gave Seto, who had suddenly appeared behind me, a grateful glance over my shoulder.

"No, not exactly," Yugi muttered. "I did run- that first night; but then I changed my mind and came back, but you were already gone. I went all over town looking for you, until I ran into Bakura. He told me that you did some kind of spell to get your own body, and that you were out celebrating with Jou and the rest…without me. After that… I couldn't face any of you, so I hid out in the basement. I made Jiichan tell everyone that I was out of town, until one of Kaiba's goons came searching the house and found me."

"Goons? Those goons were trying to find you because I thought you were dead, and Seto was trying desperately to give me some hope that you were alright!" I shouted. I just couldn't believe this- how could Yugi have done something like that? Angry tears splashed down my cheeks and Seto moved his hand so that it wrapped tightly around my waist. I gave a choked sob and buried my face into his shoulder, and he drew me close and hugged me while I cried.

I could feel Yugi's shocked gaze against the back of my head, and I dug my face a little deeper into Seto's shirt. "Do you even know what you did to him?" Seto growled angrily. I could feel his deep voice reverberating in his chest. "When I found him, he was desperate, starving and exhausted. Your friends sent him into exile because you decided to hide from the world!"

"Yami, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. When I saw you, I was just…terrified. I was afraid because- because, well, every time you came out of the Puzzle, you just overshadowed me so much that no one even noticed me. But I could at least take comfort in the fact that I was the real Yugi, and that you were just a spirit, without a body of your own. When even that was taken away, I couldn't handle it; I knew my friends would only notice you and never pay attention to me again. So I hid," Yugi explained slowly.

I pulled away from Seto and looked Yugi right in the eyes. A few despairing tears trickled down his cheeks, and he lowered his dark-rimmed eyes under my searching gaze. "I was never Yugi, real or not. I've always just been Yami. And your friends would never choose me over you; in fact, they nearly killed me just because they couldn't find you," I said quietly.

He rushed over to me and embraced me desperately. "I know; I know that now. Please forgive me," he begged. I stroked his hair soothingly. It hurt, it hurt badly, what Yugi had done; but still, I couldn't stay angry with him. He obviously regretted it, and I could understand his motives, after all. Maybe now that we were separate Yugi would see how much his friends really did appreciate him- and how much I did, as well.

"Of course I forgive you," I murmured. "I love you, after all." Seto made a sudden movement and I rolled my eyes at him and grinned humorlessly. "But not that way," I added.

Yugi sniffed and raised his head to peer at me curiously. "Yami, are you and Kaiba… together?" he asked.

I blushed.

Stumbling under the load, I lugged the pile of my clothes and shoes into Seto's room and dropped it onto his neatly packed luggage. He glared at me. "What? I don't have a suitcase," I protested.

"Can't you at least fold them?" Seto grumbled. He removed my bundle and began folding the clothes himself, and put the boots aside with the rest of his shoes. I knelt on the bed beside him and teased him by nibbling his ear lasciviously while he tried to pack. When I scooted even closer, making wet trails along his neck, Seto swatted me away.

"Stop it. Mokuba's just down the hall," he told me, fighting a grin. I smirked at him and seductively strode across the room, then firmly shut and locked the thick wooden door. He started to protest but I ran back to the bed and jumped on him, knocking him flat on his back against the mattress. The suitcase bounced and tumbled to the floor, inevitably scattering its contents messily along the carpet.

Seto groaned in frustration until I took advantage of his open mouth by capturing his lips in a fervent kiss as I straddled his hips. I teasingly pulled his tongue into my mouth and lightly sucked on it, making his breath hitch in surprise and arousal. He wrapped his arms around me and eagerly drew me flush against his chest as I attentively massaged his tongue with mine.

Seto's hands slid lower down my back until they slipped under the waistband of my pants. As soon as I felt his warm fingers splayed along my hips I pulled away from him, smirking. "Stop it; Mokuba's just down the hall," I teased. I hopped off the bed and ran out of the room.

Several minutes passed before he could follow me.

A few hours later, Seto and I piled into the little convertible with Mokuba squeezed into the tiny space between the seats and the trunk. I watched sadly as the beautiful little country house disappeared from view, and I gave a tiny involuntary sigh. "I'll miss this place," I murmured. It held a lot of good memories now, even though I definitely hadn't arrived under the best of circumstances…

Seto took my hand and twined our fingers together as he casually drove down the country road. "I know what you mean. But we can always come back. Besides, you'll be near Yugi and all your other stupid friends again," he said.

Mokuba and I groaned. "Don't call them stupid," we chided simultaneously. Seto scowled, so I leaned across the seat to give him a quick pacifying kiss on the cheek, ignoring the mock gagging sounds coming from Mokuba's direction.

"I love you," I whispered in Seto's ear.

He smirked. "That's good to hear."