Little Star

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Chapter Seven

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When I walked into our apartment, I could hear Duke in the shower. The place was quiet apart from the sound of running water, and casting a quick glance into the kitchenette, with its light on, I saw a few dishes drying on the rack. I guess he'd made himself dinner. Duke didn't normally come to the weekly meal at Joey and Mai's – he never got along well with Joey. Or Joey never got on with him. I guess my brother kind of resented that I'd left one of his best friends for 'Dice Boy'. Duke tried to ignore it for my sake, but my older brother always had some pointed remark about my wellbeing to counter him with. Not that Joey was being deliberately troublesome – he genuinely thought he had my back.

Brothers.

At least our – my – mother made up for it by referring to Duke as 'better to her than her own son.'

One big happy family, huh?

As I went through the apartment I flicked the lights on, dropping my satchel and schoolbooks – which had stayed in Mokuba's car during dinner – onto the desk on the far side of the living room, and then headed into me and Duke's room. I kicked my white sneakers off into the corner and allowed myself a moment to collapse on the bed.

I might have stayed there for a while, thinking with my face in a pillow, but decided I didn't want to look like I was lying there sulking when Duke came out of the ensuite. I quickly changed out of my pink knit top (soapy water had left a faint splotch across the front of it), dropped it into the laundry basket, and pulled an oversize t shirt I sometimes wear to bed on, over my jeans. It had a Red Eyes on the front of it – a gift from Joey. I was about to head into the lounge area and open a textbook at the desk when I heard the water shut off.

Flee into a book and wait for Duke to come find me, or stand here and face him. What a great set of options. Well, I couldn't wait for Seto Kaiba to burst in and rescue me this time around, and I didn't want Duke's silent treatment to go on much longer. The thought of all the things I had to say wasn't a good one, though. My stomach fluttered. Still, it was less than a minute before the door opened and a rush of steam entered the room. And there he was.

Duke stood in the doorway to the ensuite, staring at me. He seemed a bit surprised that I was there waiting for him. He was barely dry, his hair slick with water and pushed back off his face, which showed off his high cheekbones and startling, light green eyes. His black bathrobe made his neck and a gaping triangle of skin at his chest seem more pale than usual, but it was the nice kind of pale. White and smooth. There was a pout on his full, soft pink lips. Not quite a frown.

He cocked one eyebrow at me, but didn't say anything.

I stifled a sigh. I should have apologised yesterday. Not that he really gave me much of a chance to - but if I had, I could just pounce on him now instead of standing here not really knowing what to say.

Duke apparently got tired of waiting for me to speak up, and walked out of the doorway and into the bedroom. He carried an armful of clothing past to the laundry basket I'd just left my own top in. I turned, watching him drop his clothes, and then he looked at me again - not a whole room away, now, but only a few steps.

I finally opened my mouth to start with nothing more brilliant than I'm sorry, when a funny look crossed his face. He stepped forward quickly and grabbed my chin, tilting my face up towards his own.

" 'Renny, what happened to you?" He sounded alarmed.

My mouth went dry as he ran his thumb gently over my lower lip. In all my anxiety about confronting him I'd actually forgotten this part. I winced as he reminded me now that my split lip was actually quite swollen.

"I - "

"There's dried blood at the edge of your mouth! Serenity…" Duke's mouth formed a tight line as he paused. There was an angry look in his eyes like I'd never seen before – one I never wanted to see again. When he spoke now his voice was hoarse. "Did somebody hit you?" He let go of my face and put both of his hands on my shoulders, staring at me searchingly.

I shook my head.

"Then what happened?" His hands shook me slightly, involuntarily.

What was I supposed to say? I fell down the stairs? No… There were some things I owed him the truth about.

"I – I went to dinner at Mai and Joey's."

He continued to stare at me.

"And Tristan was there." I hadn't meant it to, but came out as a sob. Suddenly I started to cry.

"I'll kill him." Tristan's grip on my shoulders was getting tighter.

I tried to blink the tears out of my eyes. "What?"

He suddenly let me go as if he didn't quite trust himself not to squeeze me too tightly. "I'll fucking kill him." His voice was disturbingly calm. Cold. "Where's my cellphone?"

I laughed, absurdly, and grabbed at his sleeve. "Duke, I'm so sorry." I don't know if he could understand exactly what I said, since I was still crying.

"You didn't do anything?" He looked at me, actually uncertain as if maybe I had, and I shook my head furiously in response.

"No – I – He - " Was there a good way to phrase this? I'd thought he'd be mad at me. But I hadn't done anything. I hadn't wanted to – I didn't – and I couldn't – I was crying too hard to speak now, and suddenly Duke gathered me up in his arms to literally cry on his shoulder. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he picked me up, carrying me over to the bed, where he sat and pulled me into his lap. Here I wrapped my hands in the broad collar of his soft robe. He was kissing the top of my head and stroking my hair with his hands.

"That fucking bastard."

I shook my head.

"Yes, he is, Serenity."

I cried some more before I could finally tell him what happened. I was still afraid that any moment he'd get mad at me about it, and everything else we'd been fighting about.

"I went to Joey and Mai's - " I was speaking into his neck, where I sat curled up on him, "And Tristan was there." I swallowed. "I didn't know he would be! He was mad at me for hanging out with Mokuba."

Duke made an enquiring sound.

"… Mokuba came too."

Duke swallowed. "Go on."

"And Tristan and I were doing the dishes – and he was being bitchy about me and you fighting."

"How'd he know?"

I choked on a laugh. "The whole world watches the entertainment news."

"…Right."

"And he started digging at me because - "

Duke's arms tightened around me, and he sighed. "Why?"

"Mokuba offered me a job."

"…Did you take it?"

"I don't know. Maybe. I - "

"Okay, one issue at a time."

"He didn't hit me."

"…Okay…"

"He said something about wanting me in his life and the next thing I knew, he kissed me."

Duke stiffened.

Crying again. Geez, I was turning into a fountain, here. Get a hold of yourself, Serenity. I pulled away a little, and forced myself to look up – to look Duke in the eyes. "I didn't want him to! He was just – there! And he grabbed me and I couldn't – I had to get him off me."

"Oh Serenity…"

"He didn't mean to hurt me! Tristan wouldn't – he's not that kind of guy!"

"How can you say that?" Duke was very, very angry. It was hard to keep watching his face. "Obviously he IS that kind of guy, Serenity!"

"No… He just… I mean… It was just a kiss."

"Then why have I been sitting here for fifteen minutes with you crying on me?"

"A lot of girls would have reacted differently!"

"Fuck it, Serenity, I don't care how he feels about you, he should have been able to tell that he wasn't wanted!"

"…It just happened so fast." I glanced down. It hadn't really lasted that long. I'd just… Freaked out.

"So he let you go."

I shook my head.

"You had to force him off you?" His voice was rising in volume.

"I just – I panicked and I kneed him."

"You KNEED him?"

"Yeah…"

"You should have fucking cut his balls off with the kitchen knife!"

I giggled slightly. My emotions were going crazy. It seemed like giggling and crying was all I could handle. I trembled slightly. "Anyway – he accidentally bit me when I did, and that's why my lip is…"

"He BIT you?"

"Unintentionally."

"Like he unintentionally MOLESTED you!"

"He didn't molest me, Duke! It was just a kiss!"

"An unwelcome one!"

"…Yes."

Duke sighed, and this time he buried his face in my shoulder – sitting on his lap I wasn't too much shorter than him, so it wasn't as awkward as the movement usually would have been. I put my left arm around his shoulder, and wiped the tears off my face. A fair amount of eyeliner smudged off on my hand, and I realised I probably looked like hell.

"Duke… I'm so sorry."

"It wasn't your fault!" His voice was slightly muffled.

"No… About everything. About Saturday night. And Friday night. And for not apologising sooner."

Duke pulled back from me and kissed me softly on the lips, just briefly. "I'm a stubborn ass, too." He acknowledged. "I'm sorry I left you at the ball. And for going to work yesterday even though it was Sunday. And for leaving without kissing you goodbye."

He kissed me again, this time lingering a little longer.

"So… We're okay?" I asked him, my voice still wavering a little.

He paused, then nodded. "Come on." He nudged me. "Let's go ransack the kitchen. You must be hungry after all that bawling." His tone was light, a little teasing. He took my hand, and stood me up in front of him, before standing himself.

I shook my head. "I probably wouldn't have been so upset about it if I wasn't already… If I hadn't already been so upset about fighting with you." Not to mention that I'd been lying to him for months anyway.

"I'm still going to kill him."

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"Now, Sweetcheeks, just sit yourself down and your wish is my command."

"I'll 'sweetcheeks' you," I muttered.

"Okay, but not until after we get you some food." Duke was unphased.

He steered me over to the bench that separated our lounge area from the small kitchen, and sat me at one of the high stools on the lounge-side. Then he walked into the kitchen, running a hand through his hair. By now it was almost dry, and looking soft. He hadn't bothered to style it – he didn't usually at night since he was just going to sleep on it anyway, and then have to get up the next day and do it over. He must have put something in it to keep it off his face like that, though. His black hair was fairly long when it wasn't sticking up all angles – just past his shoulders.

Duke opened the freezer compartment. "Let's see… You already had dinner… So… Dessert." He pulled out a box of frozen waffles, as well as a carton of chocolate ice cream. The waffles went in the toaster and the ice cream on the bench, as he rifled around for two bowls, spoons, maple syrup and chocolate sauce.

"That's a lot of sugar."

"Sweets for my sweet," he quipped, with a wink. What a ham.

He soon sat himself at the stool next to me, and started to quickly eat his bowl of dessert-like goop. I watched him, poking at my own, not really sure if I had an appetite.

He swallowed. "You're supposed to be eating that."

I blinked. He leaned over and grabbed the spoon out of my hand, shovelling it with ice cream and waffle, and then making an aeroplane noise as he flew it towards my mouth. I laughed and let him feed it to me, kicking him as I did. He nudged me back with his own foot.

We sat for a while with our ankles and lower legs wrapped together, before he cleared his throat and pushed his dessert bowl away from himself.

"So… The job?"

"Oh… Right." How mad was he going to be about this? Tristan did have a good point. But then, working for Mokuba wasn't the same thing as working for my boyfriend, was it?

"Mokuba called me up today because he wanted to offer me a job. That's how he wound up coming to dinner with me."

"I didn't know you two were so close."

"We're not. Well, I mean… You know I've known him for ages."

"You've seen him a lot lately." Duke's green eyes were guarded.

"I know… You know when we were younger he used to get along with my brother, and Yuugi."

"Yeah?"

"I never spent much time with them after Battle City, same way you had your own things to do in the end…"

"Tristan and I got along fine for a while."

I glanced down. Yeah, they'd actually been hanging out before I started dating Tristan in highschool. It all sort of went downhill from there… Especially the way Tristan and I broke up. And then I started dating Duke right after… Yep, I'm a friendship-wrecker.

"Anyway, I told you he came into my work last week." Not a lie. "We just seem to get along well, and he's offered me a job as his PA."

"But I thought you didn't want to be an assistant. I offered…" His voice trailed off uncertainly.

I tried to think of the right way to phrase it. Damn these men. Since when did I have so many of them around me, anyway? I needed more female friends. "No… I guess, I didn't want to be your assistant, Duke, because I thought if we worked together it would mess up our relationship."

Fair enough. It was true. I also didn't want to be that beholden to him, but this was an equally valid point.

"What about Kaiba? The other one."

"Seto Kaiba? …What about him?"

"…Are you working with him?" Duke seemed quite serious. The older Kaiba was already a huge business rival. I guess Duke couldn't help but see him as a rival where I was concerned – let alone that I barely knew the guy.

"No… Mokuba's starting his own company, I guess."

"Doing what?"

"Television."

"So… This is something that will actually help with your career when you graduate?"

I nodded. I could see Duke weighing the points in his mind like a list of pros and cons.

"Better pay, I suppose?"

I nodded again.

"…Would you be working nights?"

I tilted my head to the side. "I don't know, we didn't get up to discussing hours, but he said he could work it to my class schedule."

"Why you?"

"…Why not me?" Should I be insulted?

He grinned. "Sorry, Cupcake, I just meant that there'd be plenty of other people who'd want the job, and with more experience."

I shrugged. Good question, but Mokuba had already answered it for me. "He needs someone he can rely on to boost his image as a responsible businessman."

Duke snorted. "Good luck with that…"

I kicked him again.

Duke wasn't willing to concede the point with only that rebuttal. "Hey, you have to admit it... As a twelve year old, he was a great businessman. But he totally vanished during the past few years, and now he's back it sure seems like he did not inherit that stick his brother has up his ass."

"Because your hairstyle is totally normal, and you NEVER wear black nailpolish to work." My boyfriend was a pretty, pretty boy. He wore more make up than me. Normal girls might be threatened by that. I was just amused.

Duke rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright…"

"I guess he just feels like he needs someone he can trust, and he figures he can trust my integrity like he could Yugi and Joey's…"

Duke started to laugh. "I'm sorry…" he gasped, "But you said 'integrity' and 'Joey' in the same sentence…"

I grabbed his empty bowl and my own, and stood up. "Yes, laugh it up, Chuckles." I smiled at him so he could tell that I wasn't really mad about the insult. I could feel his eyes on me as I rinsed out the dishes and put them in our dishwasher-drawer.

"Okay."

I glanced up at him. " 'Okay'?"

"Okay, take the job."

I felt myself grinning. "Really?" I was actually going to get away with this? Without any kind of yelling? And no more use of the phrase 'consorting with the enemy'?

He sighed. "Yes, really. How could I ask you to keep your current job when this one will be so much better for you?"

I felt a slight pang of guilt, but decided to squash it. Duke would never have to know about the strip club. I hadn't really done anything wrong by working there… It's not like I was a stripper, right? And I worked with nice people there. It had just been my best job option, especially considering how much more it would pay than a regular job waiting tables. And I'd tried regular cafes and restaurants, but there always seemed to be someone they liked more – someone who actually had job experience, or could do hours I couldn't with my class timetable.

"And I'm taking you out to dinner tomorrow night."

I ran around the counter and hugged him. "Thank you, Duke."

"Hey, I expect more gratitude than that for my calm and generous manner."

I stood on tip toe and kissed him. "How's that?"

Duke cocked his head to one side for a moment, than shook it. "No. Not good enough." He leaned over picked me up once again.

"Why Duke, what strong arms you have!"

"All the better to carry you off to bed, Baby."

I laughed. You had to hand it to him - Mokuba seemed to call everyone pet names as a kind of flirtatious joke. Since we'd started living together, Duke only ever used them on me – and he knew they were silly, but he still put on his best suave poker face to deliver them. It was a kind of over-the-top charm that some people would hate… But he was my over-the-top charmer. And maybe we'd actually be okay, afterall.

Maybe I'd even get a good night's sleep tonight - then again, from the look in Duke's eyes, maybe not.

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What'd ya think? Amused? Confused? Annoyed that there's no Kaiba? Wondering why the hell I said there'd be silentshipping in this fic when there's currently almost everything but? Hey, Serenity's actual boyfriend deserved a chapter. Kaiba will be in the next one. So, let me know what you think.