When I first started this, I imagined it to be a one-shot in which Bakura would complain about how whenever he sees purple he thinks of Marik and his heart beats faster. I would make him see purple a lot, make him angst and tell us about his life, and then Marik would show up and *insert fluffy, yaoi scene here.* Sooo… yeah. Hope you enjoy this!

Summary: Purple clothes, purple books, purple everything! Bakura hates the color purple because it reminds him of someone, and Marik hates remembering the nick-names a certain someone calls him because that reminds him of someone too. They're both avoiding someone because of the things they hate. Unfortunately, they come face to face with these things inside their brothers' house! (Thanks to their brothers' scheming). So what do purple books have to do with anything? Read to find out! (Sucky summary FTW!) Thiefshipping, yaoi, and fluffy!

"Every time I see the color purple… every, single time… my heart beats just a little bit faster…"

I groaned as I walked outside and saw a giant billboard advertising purple hair-care products against a violet background. Right on cue, a familiar face popped into my head and my stupid, freaking heart sped up. Why did it have to be purple? Why? Why couldn't it be blue, or red, anything but purple!

I turn away from the stupid, purple billboard, imagining it going up in flames and burning to a crisp (but of course that doesn't happen), and walk through the town, bored out of my freaking mind. I start kicking a rock that I find off the sidewalk. Totally third-grade, I know, but I'm so bored! My house was crystal clean (thanks to a little help from my twin, Ryou, heaven knows I couldn't have cleaned that thing by myself), there wasn't any good books to read (not that I read that much anyway), and I didn't want to hang out with any of my friends, because most likely…

Let's just say, that the reason I hate the color purple is because it reminded me of a certain someone. A certain someone who happened to be my friend, my best friend, and would most likely be hanging out with my other friends. And, let's just say, that I don't want to meet and/or talk to that purple boy yet. So, hanging out with any of my friends is out of the question because they'd probably call purple boy and ask him to come along.

Stupid purple!

I just kicked the rock under a parked, purple mini-van, though I now wished that the rock had been a bit larger and that instead I had thrown the rock as hard as I could at the offending purple vehicle. As it was, the small, white, rock was under the car and there were no other one's nearby, so I walked away as my eye twitched. Ah well, I thought, at lease the sky isn't purple… That would really suck if that were true… I keep walking, hoping that I'll cross paths with something interesting soon because as I said before, I'm so bored!

I flip my phone out as it vibrates once - meaning a text message. I flip it open and see that Ryou texted me saying, "Where r u?"

"Walking around town. Y?" I text back, wondering why he wanted to know.

He replies quickly with: "U promised ud come help me pack 2day!"

I groaned. That's right, my brother was moving in with his boyfriend, Melvin, today. For your information, Melvin is purple boy's older brother… hopefully he won't be there, he looks waaay too much like his brother for my liking - they're practically twins themselves. I text back quickly, "Sry, 4got, b there in a sec." I start walking towards my twin's apartment building, thinking that at least I'll have something to curb my boredom - even if it is work. I was surprised though when my phone vibrated again - Ryou texted me saying, "U better! Especially since I helped u clean ur house!" I roll my eyes, he was going to hold that one over me for a while.

I suppose at this time you're wondering how old we are, well I'm 27 (do the math for Ryou), Purple Boy is also 27, and Melvin is 29 (he constantly brags about being the oldest in the group…). Most of the other friends I have are 27 as well, though one looks like he's still 16, pointy-haired freak… it's weird too because his twin actually looks his age.

I suppose you're also wondering why I have a house and Ryou has an apartment, well he didn't want to buy an actual house since he declared he would be "way too big and lonely," so he bought an apartment instead and even got himself a roommate. I just bought a house (small though… and still paying for it… a thousand bucks every month… it's bloody annoying) because I don't really care if it's empty. I'm perfectly fine by myself.

And then Purple Boy showed up.

I growl as I see a kid walk past with a purple balloon - causing my freaking heart to speed up again… why did purple boy have to wear a purple hoodie everyday? And why did that purple hoodie just happen to be sleeveless and cut just above his midriff? And why did he not like to wear a shirt under that freaking purple hoodie?-! Though not that I'm complaining about the last part… Wait, what am I saying, wear some proper clothes you fruity Purple Boy! I should scream that at him… Maybe then he'd wear a freaking shirt. At least his brother didn't wear purple, he generally wore any black article of clothing he could find, which was fine by me - I love black, even though my hair is as white as freshly-fallen-snow and my skin is as pale as Snow White's. Freaking genetics… but I'm not an albino because my eyes are brown, granted, sometimes they attain a little red tint when I'm mad or excited, but… Enough about my looks, another freaking purple sign stating there was a Garage Sale! straight ahead in - guess what - darker purple writing.

Damn it all to bloody hell.

I show up at my brother's apartment building and ring his number at the front door. I soon hear a buzz and open the door, walking up three flights of stairs (the stupid elevator is being renovated) and appearing at my brother's room - number 303. I walk inside the small room, complete with mini-kitchen, mini-sitting room with a flat-screen TV, and a mini hallway leading to the bathroom and the two small rooms. There's a mountain of boxes blocking the TV though, and my brother is right in front of them, looking at them all as if he might have forgotten something.

"Um…" I say, causing him to turn around and beam at me with that somehow-still-innocent face of his.

"Bakura!" he said, for that's my name, "There you are! Here, can you tell me if I'm forgetting anything? I can't help but feel that I am…"

"… It looks to me like you're all packed, what do you need me for?"

"To help me transport it all of course!"

I groaned. "You mean we're going to your boyfriend's house?"

Ryou pouted. "Helping me move insinuates that you're helping me transport it all!"

"Why isn't Melvin helping you with this?"

"He's helping Marik with something else."

"Freaking Purple Boy…" I curse at his name. Yes, Purple Boy's name is Marik, but I refuse to call him that.

Ryou giggled. "You still call him that?" he asked amused, "Geez, get over your crush already Bakura!"

"It is not a freaking crush!" I yell at him, a tint of pink going into my cheeks. But that's from rage, I'm not… blushing or anything stupid like that. "Weren't you forgetting something?"

"Right! But I think I got it all…" he taps his lip for a few seconds before his face brightens. "Oh! I remember!" he says rushing back into one of the bedrooms. I roll my eyes at him - no one should be so energetic all the time. He soon came back in with a - guess what? - purple leather-bound book. Freaking hell! WHY? Sure enough, my stupid heart kicks in again. "What the hell is that…?" I growl murderously - I am freaking sick of all the damn purple around here!

Ryou smiled at me with a look that I knew all too well - he was daydreaming about Melvin again. Ugh, for once I wish he could shut up about that guy! Yes, I understand that he's "the best boyfriend ever" and that "he can be really sweet when he wants to be!" and that Ryou "loves him~!" now could he please just shut up about it? God! You know, the thing is that he's kind of psycho and that one time he told me that Ryou 'changed him' and all that crap… Yeeeeaaaaah, you tell me that at one point you wanted to see the world erupt in flames and the next you say you're a changed man because of my brother? I don't think so psycho! And the other thing is that Ryou knows I don't really like Melvin, and yet he still tries to make us get along. (The other thing is that he scares that bajeezus out of me because sometimes he gets a… murderous glint in his eyes and it's even scarier than mine!)

He cuddled the blasted purple object against his chest, and it was then that I noticed it had a slightly darker purple half-heart on in. It ended at what appeared to be in the middle of a heart straight at the edges of the book. "This," Ryou finally answers me, back from "Melvin-land," "Is a book that Melvin gave me…"

"… Oookaaay," I say after he doesn't continue, "so what's inside the stupid purple book?"

"It's not stupid!" Ryou all but screamed at me, "it's… well…" he flushed red, which immediately made me think it was something bad, or kinky, but it's really the same thing in my opinion. "… Inside Melvin wrote some… things…" he practically whispered.

"Ryou, tell me what's inside that thing before my mind wanders with that crappy explanation… too late, but still tell me."

Ryou looked up with what I like to call, "Bambi eyes" and said, "I-it's not any of the things you're thinking!" he quickly assured, "He just wrote… everything he likes about me in here… and how I've helped him… and he added some… cute pictures of us."

Oh great, it was worse than bad and kinky combined - it was romantic! Blurg… "Whatever… how could you forget that thing?"

"I put it under my bed for safe-keeping, but you know that phrase - "Out of sight, out of mind"! I just forgot about it…"

"Why does it have half a heart on it…?" my curiosity couldn't help but ask.

Ryou flushed more, making me roll my eyes. The thing is, our porcelain skin highlights any and all blushes, so my light pink ting of rage probably looked red… And right now, he looked more red than a flipping tomato - though he probably would have just been a tomato if we didn't have such pale skin… You know someone asked us if we were vampires once? Crazy right, I mean I could imagine me biting someone and drinking blood, but Ryou? He'd deem it 'impolite' and probably starve himself to death, if he could even handle the transformation in the first place… But moving on.

"Um… that's 'cause I wrote some things in a book just like this," he flipped it over, revealing the same sort of half-heart on the other side. "When you hold the books together at the ends, it forms a heart…"

I groaned. "Can we please leave before I hurl from all this romance? I didn't even think Melvin was capable of such a thing! In my opinion he just wants you in his bed -"

"Bakura!" Ryou yelled at me, his face so red that now it was turning… purple… damn it! WHY!

I closed my eyes and started rubbing my forehead as Purple Boy's face popped in my head, making my heart go again. As if the stupid purple book he was holding wasn't enough!

"Whatever…" I mumble, "Let's just put all these god-damn boxes in your car…"

"Right!" Ryou said, his face slowly going back to it's normal color. He put the bloody, purple, half-heart book on the top of a box filled with clothes gently, his eyes revealing that he hoped nothing bad happened to it. What can happen to a freaking book in a box full of clothes? My brother worries too much…

Anyway, we pack all the boxes in his blue, not purple thank goodness, mini-van (he claims he feels safer in a mini-van) and start driving to his boyfriend's house. I sit in the front passenger seat, still bored… Ryou obviously notices because he asks, "What were you doing walking around anyway?"

"Trying to stop being bored."

Ryou smiled. "If you're so bored, go see Marik."

"Why would I go see that purple-wearing freak?" I snap at my twin.

"Because you two are so natural together it's like you're already married."

"What do you mean, "already married"? We're not even going out!" I yell, my face going red again. From anger, not from anything else.

Ryou laughed. "Are you sure about that 'Kura? You argue like there's no tomorrow!"

"That's because we can never agree on anything!"

"Oh please, you agree on everything, from the best type of music down to your favorite type of movie. You just get into meaningless fights about nothing, just like a married couple -"

"Shut up about marriage!" I scream, my face going redder. Still, from the anger.

Ryou giggled. "All right, fine. Be in denial~! But just so you know," Ryou grinned mischievously, "I still know where you keep you journal~!"

My face paled. "What are you talking about? I don't have a journal."

"Oh?" Ryou asked knowingly, "Then what do you call that purple book you have buried in your desk-drawer?"

My face burns, this time from embarrassment. That's right, I'm not ashamed to admit it (though I am embarrassed). "How… How did you find out about it…?" I ask quietly, hoping beyond hope that he had remembered to be polite and hadn't read any of it. Though I knew that this was the only type of situations where Ryou wouldn't act polite and be respectful of my privacy. Call it a sibling weakness or whatever, but the idea of your brother keeping a journal…? I mean, what could he possibly be hiding! Must find out…

"Oh please, I grew up with you 'Kura!" Ryou said, "You always liked keeping a journal, and you always buried it in your desk drawer. It wasn't that hard to find."

It was silent in the car before I asked, "… Did you… read any of it…?"

Ryou grinned. "Oh, just a few pages. That I memorized. Want to hear me recite them?"

At this point, I don't know if my face paled or flamed an even bigger red. I think it paled before enflaming, but I'm still not sure. "Please don't…" I say, even using my least-favorite word, please.

" 'Dear Journal,' " Ryou started reciting anyway, the epitome of happiness, " 'Today Ryou finally introduced me to his boyfriend after months of talk,' " my face grew hot - I remembered this entry. I remember it oh so well. " 'It turns out, that psycho-pyromaniac has a brother that looks just like him, but they're not twins. How messed up is that? I'll just call them twins - makes it easier. Anyways, remember when I said that Melvin was not attractive, like, at all? And that I wish Ryou would just break up with him?' Not gonna happen by the way 'Kura," Ryou put in for my information, which I rolled my eyes to. " 'Well… I may have to take that back because his brother looks… interesting… of course, that's what I'd say if I was talking to someone else, but since this is my freaking journal and I can write whatever I want in here, I'll say exactly what I think.' "

I glare at Ryou. "If you finish that entry, so help me I will -" But Ryou, completely ignoring me, continues, and his recitation of my private journal makes me shut my mouth and makes my face turn even more red.

" 'His hair is hypnotizing,' " Why did I have to say hypnotizing? I think to myself, covering my face with my hands. " 'His smile is bright like the sun,' " WHY?-! " 'And his personality… well, while it annoys me, I find his sarcastic, arrogant, cocky, slightly-childish habits to be rather…' "

"Don't you dare finish that -" I warn him, but of course he ignores me as if I hadn't said anything at all. " '… sexy,' " he finishes. All the while through that verbal torture I'm thinking to myself, Shit! Why did I write that all down?-? Though I can't help but answer myself with, Because it was meant to be for me and only me! And because you're a descriptive writer. And if this wasn't peachy keen enough, we passed that freaking purple billboard again. Life just really likes to mess with me doesn't it?

"That entry shouldn't count," I said, my face looking like it had a sunburn, "that was when I first met the guy and didn't really know how bitchy and annoying he could be. I swear, he acts like a freaking girl sometimes with how quickly his moods change…"

Ryou smiled. "All right, I seem to recall an entry closer to today…"

I narrow my eyes at him. "Ryou, just how much did you memorize?"

"Well… I read the whole thing, and only memorized the best parts." I groan. Translation: "I memorized the whole freaking book."

Ryou just laughed at my obvious embarrassment and said, "You wrote it! I'm just reading something you wrote, isn't that your profession anyways?" It was true, I was a novel writer. But I'm not famous or anything, I've just written a few horror novels that might become movies - no big deal. To help with money though, I also play guitar and sing at a club on the weekends. My twin works at a five-star Italian restaurant as the head chef because he's that damn good of a cook. Melvin better count himself blessed… That guy works - guess where - at a demolition company. Wow, big shocker. Oh! This is the funniest part. It's so funny… I'm laughing just thinking about it! Purple Boy works… (HA HA HA!) he works at a fashion agency - designing clothes. It cracks me up!

Although my fun is ruined when Ryou decides to continue with his torture.

" 'Dear Journal,' " Ryou began, clearly enjoying himself too much. I glare at him, but I'm also wondering which entry he'll spout. " 'I swear that Marik wears the same god damn purple hoodie every single freaking day. Or at least every day that I see him, which is every day so never mind. I mean, honey, it's obvious you're gay, you don't need the added purple. The jewelry and eyeliner is far fruity enough. Though I guess I'm not complaining too much, since it's a sleeveless hoodie that ends just above his midriff and he doesn't like to wear a shirt under it. I wonder if he realizes that everyone (boys and girls alike) stares at his chest - ' "

"I still wonder that," I cut in, "And that entry's not closer to today's, that's around the same time as the other one."

Ryou smiled, "I know, but I love this one."

I feel my eye start to twitch, "It's like your saying your favorite line from a novel…"

"I am!" I face palm myself. Should've seen that one coming.

"I thought that purple book you found this morning was your favorite novel?" I ask with a playful smirk.

He flushes. "W-well…" he stutters, "That's not really a n-novel… it's more of a… memory book."

I shake my head slightly - oh Ryou. Poor, blushing, young, wonderful Ryou, why did Melvin have to corrupt you? That's the reason I'll kill him more than anything…

"Anyway," Ryou cut in, " 'There's one thing that both he and I agree on with our whole hearts - our hatred for Melvin. Apparently, he's not only a horrible person, he's a horrible brother.' Why must you say such mean things about him anyway?" Ryou asked me. His switching form my journal to his own thoughts were starting to confuse me… But I glare at him anyways. "Those words were not meant for you to hear," I seethe at him, "And you should hear the stories Marik tells about that guy. Did you know he tried to carve into Marik's back with a hot knife? He was lucky his sister showed up in time…"

Ryou shook his head. "I will not listen to you!"

I roll my eyes, Ryou just will not admit that Melvin used to be messed up. Even when he tells him himself. "It doesn't matter what you were!" Ryou always says, "It only matters what you are now!"

"Skipping all the stuff about Melvin -" Ryou started, but I interrupted with, "How about we skip all the entries?" But of course he doesn't listen. " 'I've also found out that Marik drives a red motorcycle, if that's not sexy, I don't know what is.' "

I groaned. "Why do you have to do this…?" I ask him, knowing that the only way he'll stop is if he's killed. And since he's driving and I don't really feel like killing my brother, that's not really an option.

"To get you out of denial!" Ryou tells me.

I roll my eyes. "You're just saying all the few good things I've said about him," I complain, "what about the million bad things? Like this one: 'Dear Journal, I saw a movie with all of my friends today (surprisingly, Ryou and Melvin came too, and they even promised to actually watch the movie this time!) and, guess what? Marik complained throughout the entire thing. God he's so annoying, he commented on everything, from the dialogue to the outfits to the freaking food they ate. "It's so unhealthy!" he claimed. Although from this I did find out he's a vegetarian, never would have guessed…' " I don't finish my sentence as my face goes red again. Crap, I forgot about that part…

Obviously, Ryou remembers it too because he smiles and finishes for me, " '… never would have guessed, seeing as how muscular he is.' See! Even when you're saying something bad about him you still say something good!"

"Well excuse me for noticing cold hard facts!" I yell at him. "Come on, both of those Egyptians are muscular! You should know about Melvin's muscles especially…" I comment coldly, causing Ryou to flush again.

"We don't do that type of thing!" Ryou hissed at me.

"Yeah yeah, whatever…"

"I swear we don't!"

"I believe you," I said in a voice that clearly said I didn't believe him one bit. How could I with what Melvin's told me…? Another reason I want to murder him with a rusty carving knife.

Ryou huffed. "Well, at least I can admit when I like a guy."

I groan. "You're still on this?"

"I was never off it!"

"Whatever."

Ryou took his eyes off the road for just a few seconds to glare at me, then turned his attention right back to driving. "I think my favorite entry is this one: 'Dear Journal,' " my mind races trying to think of what entry might be his favorite, " 'I was taking my usual, forced midnight stroll around the block to rid myself of my insomnia when I ran into Marik.' " Oh no, I think, my heart speeding up rapidly with this memory. I swear, my face must have been hotter than the freaking sun, this is worse than if I saw everything in a tint of purple…! My mind went ahead of Ryou's recitation as I remembered this night for myself:

"Stupid insomnia…" I muttered to myself as I walked around my block. An occasional car passed by, but not many. It's not like this was New York City or anything. I was just about to head back to my house after another failed attempt of trying to tire myself out when I saw Marik not too far up ahead. Since I was already wide awake (and since whatever words that would spout out of that boy's mouth would be far more interesting than any dream I could ever have [if I actually managed to get to sleep]), I decided to go talk to him. "Hey Marik!" I call.

He appeared to be in a daze, because he gave a tiny, startled jump and turned towards me with a cute, slightly-surprised look on his face. He quickly straightened himself out though, his face returning to the more natural, arrogant-yet-childish look I was used to. "Hey 'Kura," he said casually, "what's -"

"WHAT did you just call me…?" I ask low and dangerous.

He seems shocked by the amount of anger in my voice. "Um…" he starts, "I called you 'Kura… Why?"

"Only Ryou can call me that!" I tell him.

Marik scrunches up his eyebrows. "Why?" he asks genuinely.

"Because I grew up with him and he's the one who thought of it. Come up with your own bloody nick-name!"

Marik smirked, "But 'Kura just sounds soooo cute~!" I blush a little this time because it sounded like he actually thought that…

"Just don't call me that, okay?"

He rolled his eyes. "What the heck can I call you then? Bakura's getting too long to say - I like two-syllable names."

I shrugged. "I don't know. Come up with something, you're always saying how you're 'so smart,' even though everyone knows you're not," I taunt him, simply because it's fun when we argue and banter.

He glares at me. "Well at least I don't look like a freaking albino," he retorts back.

I chuckle. "I'll take looking like an albino over looking like a gay boy any day fruitcake."

His fists clench and his teeth start gnashing - I can tell he's seething. This is a topic of which he's most sensitive - his looks. "For the last freaking time, I do not look gay!"

"But you are gay…?" I ask, since it was never really clarified, I just kind of assumed he was… you know, in the closet.

He hesitates, his mouth slightly open. He closes it and scrunches up his eyebrows, stuffing his hands in his pockets and avoiding my gaze. I can tell he's having an internal debate on what to tell me, when he says, "Yeah…"

I stare at him. I can tell by his tone of voice that that was hard for him to admit, has he been denying it all this time…? Why would he admit that to me of all people? Someone who will just use it against him later?

"What about you?" Marik asked, still avoiding my gaze, "What's your preference?"

I blink at him. Preference…? Honestly, I never labeled myself that way. I was attracted to whoever I was attracted to, male or female, and I liked who I liked, male of female. I shrugged, "Bi I guess."

He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "You guess?"

"Never really thought about it."

"But, surely you just know…?" he said, his face going red. Hm… for someone who was supposedly in the closet just a few short seconds ago, this conversation must be awkward for him… I stop thinking this, however, when his face brightens and he says, "It's funny, don't you think?"

I have absolutely no idea what the hell's running through that random head of his at this time, so I ask, "What?"

"That two sets of brothers are… gay. It's kind of funny."

I crack a smile. "That is pretty funny… What do you think homophobes would think of the situation?" Now, I know for a fact he hates homophobes. We were out one day while Ryou and Melvin were holding hands and someone told them, and I quote, "Get a room fags!" and Marik yelled at them like he wanted to kill the guy. Which he probably did.

"I have no idea… they'd probably just yell at us or something and tell us to be 'normal.' "

"There's no such thing as 'normal,' " I comment, "that's a hoax to make slightly weirder people to feel special and to make others fit in."

Marik laughed. "You've thought that our haven't you?"

"Maybe."

Marik laughed again and then stared at the stars. "You know," he says, "I usually have a hard time making friends…" I raise my eyebrow at him, but he's not looking at me so it's wasted on the air. Why is he telling me all this stuff today? My thoughts halt when he turns to look at me with a… honestly, I don't know what kind of look is on his face, it's sort of a cross between happy and… flirty. "People usually think I'm too annoying or arrogant… or sarcastic, but you don't seem to mind," he smirks again, obviously getting ready to insult me and start another petty argument, "probably since you're worse than me in all three categories."

I smile at him and bow graciously. "I thank you for the compliment dear sir, say anymore and I may faint."

Marik laughed at my antics. "That wasn't a compliment and you know it."

"So I can't take it as one?"

"No."

"I beg to differ! I can take anything the way I want it to."

Marik opened his mouth to retort back, when all of a sudden he stopped short and his face shot up in flames. He turned away from me. I just stared at him, wondering what the heck just happened to make him blush like that. "What's wrong?" I ask him, greatly curious.

"N-nothing," he stammered in the way I'm used to hearing from Ryou, so I know it's something. "I was just thinking… you only take things the way you want…?"

I scrunch up my eyebrows in confusion, wondering where this could possibly be going. "Um… yes, why?"

"I was just thinking…" he turns to look at me, and I have to fight the urge not to blush myself - he looked so dang adorable right now! … Did I just say adorable? That never gets out… "How would you take it if I…"

"If you what?" I ask him, getting impatient. I am not a patient man, at all.

"If I… kissed you."

I can feel heat slowly crawl its way up my neck - his question caught me completely off guard! Where the hell did that even come from? "Well…" I say, simply to get rid of the awkward silence that had come up. I start rubbing the back of my head. "It uh… depends…"

"On what?" he asks quickly, probably wishing he wouldn't have said anything. But he also sounds a little… hopeful. No, I am not going there, I am not getting my hopes up…! Not that there are any hopes to get up in the first place… It's just… metaphorically speaking.

"On, um…" my face goes entirely red and I look down to avoid his eyes, "On… well, how long it is firstly, and… uh…" This is so freaking awkward! I think to myself in between this, "how… deep it is, so to speak…"

"Well…" Marik says, rubbing the back of his head, "I kind of consider you my best friend 'Kura… Er, I mean Bakura."

"You know what?" I decide on the spot, "You can call me 'Kura. It sounds so natural when you say it."

He smiled at me, his face still a bit red. Mine however, was still in flames. " 'Best Friend 'Kura.' It has a nice ring, don't you think?"

'Boyfriend 'Kura' would sound better, my mind immediately comes up with, not helping my blush any. We stand there, looking at nothing in particular, when Marik decides to grab my hand.

It's a tentative touch, almost as if he expected me to pull my hand back in horror and run away screaming or something. Which, I'll admit, crossed my mind… but out of shock, not horror. In no way was I horrified… I was actually kind of… I don't know… happy…? I guess…

His hand was warm, and soft, and felt nice… and I was sure it smelled like some sort of body spray or body wash or whatever, and most likely some seductive, sweet, fruit smell. Or lavender, or violet, or anything else that's purple. He turned to look at me, cocking his head to the side slightly. He looked like he wanted to ask me a question, but probably second-guessed it based on the fact that I wasn't looking at him and my face was probably lit up like a Christmas tree. Thank god that the night sky concealed at least some of my face… WHY did he decide to do this now…?

As seconds turns to minutes and he still hasn't let go, I turn my head slightly. He turns his head back to me, since he had been looking forward, probably waiting for me to respond. I hesitate for a long time, wondering what I should say or even do. On one hand, I would really just love to stand there like an idiot and hold his hand for the rest of the night (no matter how much I hate to admit it), but on the other hand, I reeeaaallly want to try what Marik had suggested earlier and kiss him. But so many things are holding me back…

What if he doesn't like it? What if the idea just popped in his head and he just said it without actually meaning anything? What if he doesn't like me, and just wanted to see if I did to decide if he should avoid me or not…? What if he'll be horrified afterwards and never talk to me again? I can not handle that. What if he's just testing something and doesn't know for sure? Has he even kissed anyone before? I don't want to steal his first kiss!

But then my mind brings up the fact that… what if he does like the kiss…?

… I think my mind exploded with all the positive outcomes that rushed into my brain all at once. But I'm still hesitant to go for it… I don't deal with rejection well, just ask Ryou.

All of my thoughts (positive and negative) are stopped once Marik says, "So… what're you thinking about…?"

I look down. "Well…" I find myself saying, "Like you said before… I consider you my best friend too…"

"… Oh…" Marik said, releasing my hand almost immediately. I find myself wishing he hadn't, but I'm frozen and can't reach forward and claim his warm hand again. "Well um…" I can read the atmosphere fairly well, so I could tell he was getting ready to bolt any second. I need to stop him…!

Just as he starts walking away (which would have no doubt turned into a run once he was farther away), I grab his arm and say. "Hey… best friends kiss… right…?"

Now he's frozen, thinking over what I said. With is back still turned to me, he says, "I'm not so sure about that one 'Kura…"

Every time he says 'Kura, it's like my heart gets warmer… or some corny crap like that. "Well…" I say, not wanting him to leave, "why not?"

He turns and looks at me. "Wouldn't it just make things awkward?"

"No," I answer almost too quickly, "it doesn't have to mean anything…" He still looks doubtful, so I say, "If it helps, we could just… do it and then pretend it never happened…"

Marik seemed to ponder this, and I almost expected him to decline and run off (which is why I still had a firm grip on his muscular arm) but then he moved towards me, wrapped his arms around my neck, and kissed me.

Obviously, he had taken me by surprise, so it took me a few seconds to kiss him back. Since I didn't know how long this was going to last for, I made the best of it and wrapped my arms around his waist, closing my eyes as I did so - pressing back into him with all I had. I sensed that he… wanted this, wanted me, and I was all too happy to comply to his wishes.

You know, I'll admit, I had dreamed of kissing Marik (I usually woke up happy on those days) but it was nothing compared to the real thing. His lips were oh so soft and very moist somehow (mine were always partly chapped and dry), and they were so warm and inviting… and luscious, might as well throw that adjective in there too. As soon as our lips had made contact (even if it had shocked me and taken a while to respond), a shiver of pleasure went up my spine and I felt… overjoyed, proud, complete, like I was floating on a cloud, or like I was dreaming. I wanted more, so much more, I wanted to go deeper than this.

Just as I was about to ask for entrance, he seemed to snap out of… something, and he pulled back and stared me right in the eyes which I had opened as soon as the lip contact had ended. His face lit up like the Fourth of July, and he immediately stepped out of our embrace, making my heart have a sort of… longing, if you will, wanting him to come back. He coughed nervously. "Sorry…" he said, "I just… um…"

I silence him by stepping forward and putting my finger to his mouth. I lean in slowly and kiss him gently, hoping that this time he'll stay longer, even if it's just a little bit…

I'll tell you, I could easily become addicted to this happy, floaty, dreamy feeling. Now if only this would happen often enough to satisfy my cravings…

This time around I can tell he's more hesitant. Before, that was obviously on impulse and he hadn't been thinking properly, but now that he was thinking properly, and he was staying (even if it wasn't as hearty as before), it made that good feeling inside me grow even more, sending more pleasurable shivers up my spine and making my kiss Marik harder. I can still tell he's hesitant because I can feel a sort of wall he's instinctively put up, but I can also feel it weakening. I put my hands up and gently hold his face, weakening his defense more. I start running one of my hands through his hair gently, sensually, making him shiver as well and forcing his wall to crumble completely. He wrapped his arms around me again, pressing us closer and deepening the kiss even more. I gently licked his bottom lip, making him shiver again but also making him open his mouth. Our tongues… let's say, argued for a little bit about who was going to visit who, but eventually mine won and I explored the wonderful world of Marik's mouth…

That was when he realized just how far this had gone and tore apart from me. He backed up a couple steps, his face redder than I had ever seen it, and he seemed… almost regretful.

I think then my heart shattered. Not that it had been completely whole or 'normal' to begin with, but still. Now it was no more.

"I-I'm sorry…" he said once again. I wish he would stop saying that, is he sorry we kissed? Because I'm certainly not… I mean, not that I like him or anything, I'm just attracted to…

Oh who am I kidding, I love this boy. But there's no way I'm ever admitting that, not even to myself ever again.

"I should…" Marik started again. Now I start to get angry, I could tell he was enjoying that kiss just as much as me, and he has the gall to act like he didn't? Oh hell no!

"Coward!" I yell at him.

He stops and looks at me, obviously confused by my outburst. "What?" he asks.

"You heard me!" I say, no longer yelling but still pissed, "I know you enjoyed that… so don't be a coward and pretend you didn't feel anything!"

Marik blinked at me a couple times, but then his face turned angry. "You said that 'best friends kiss,' " he said, obviously trying to control himself from lashing out at me, "You said that it doesn't have to mean anything, and you saidthat we could just do it and pretend it never happened! So don't go calling me a coward when you provided a way out for yourself too!"

"Yeah, but I didn't plan on taking it."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"What do you think it means?"

He looks at me, pondering what I had just said. At this point, he probably knows that I like him, and if he doesn't then he's just in denial or he's dumber than a box full of rocks. "I just…" Marik said, frustrated with himself, "I can't deal with all this right now! It's too much!"

"So you admit you felt something!"

"What?" Marik said, his face going red again, "I-I never said that!"

"But you implied it!"

"Well…" Marik said, searching for something to say, "Why does it matter to you?" he spat, his rage bubbling over, "Don't you always say how annoying I am all the time? Don't you always say how a 'princess' like me only wishes he could be with someone like you?-? Don't you always say how if you had to spend more than a day with me then you'd go insane and kill yourself?-!"

"I didn't mean any of those things and you know it!"

"I can take it any way I want!" Marik screamed, using my words against me. I'm silent, shocked by the fact that he actually believes I was serious about any of that stuff - it was just some of the stuff we say during out stupid arguments… none of it was serious, I thought he knew that, I thought he knew how I felt…

"I'm gonna go…" Marik said, walking away. "Wait Marik," I call, making him stop. "… I guess, if you really want to…" I can't believe I'm about to say this… "We can just… forget this ever happened."

Marik paused, turned around and said. "I might… take you up on that…" I think I saw unshed tears glisten in his eyes, but I'm not sure, "I just… can't deal with this right now 'Kura," oh the cruelty of using my nick-name in this situation… "I… need some time to think…"

"… Take all the time you need…" I say quietly, but just loud enough so he can hear.

He looks away. "Thanks… 'Kura…" "On one condition," I continue as I walk towards him again. He looks at me questioningly before I peck him on the lips again and smirk at him, enjoying how red his face goes. I keep my face close to his as I say, "You have to dream of me tonight, and I'll dream of you."

He blushes like a tomato farm. "Wh… What kind of condition is that? How would you be able to tell if I even kept it or not?"

"Because I trust you Marik," I say, my lips still provocatively close to his, "and because of tonight… that never happened…"

Marik clamped his mouth tight together, then loosened it to say, "Right. Never happened…" he walks away, but stops after a few feet and turns around with a cocky smirk - his previous blush not yet gone. "I think I'll have sweet dreams tonight," he says before turning and running off.

I stare after him, wishing that we wouldn't just forget about this night, but… he needs time to think… and…

Even though I actually want to be patient with Marik, I just can't help but feel angry about how he rejected me like that… He enjoyed that freaking kiss! I know he did! Why can't he admit that? Isn't that proof enough that we like each other…? What does he need to think about? Is he still partly in the closet? (Who am I kidding, he's so deep in the closet he's practically in Narnia). As more questions and wonders start to bubble up with rage inside me, I clench my fists, I grind my teeth, I feel bile rise in my mouth… and then I yell this to the sky, "You no-good, girly, heart-crushing, in-denial, confusing, cowardly, princessfruitcake!" I briefly hope he's out of ear-shot before continuing, "You idiotic, annoying, arrogant, childish, argumentative jerk! You… You Jewelry-wearing, make-up'd, vegetarian, Purple Boy!" I stand there panting, feeling only slightly better. I then turn around and head home to see if I can salvage some sleep for tonight. Ironically, I did dream of Marik that night, of kissing him again. And since now I had experience doing it for real, the dream was a million times better than any past ones.

And actually, that's how I got into the habit of calling him Purple Boy. It was all because of that night…

"It's just like a romance novel!" Ryou gushed at the end of his recitation, "I mean, he says you're his best friend, but it's obvious that he thinks of you as more too! But he just doesn't want to ruin his best friend relationship, since I'm pretty sure he's never had one before and -"

"Ryou," I interrupt, though I'm still a little dazed from the memory, "I understand how you analyze romance novels and their relationships and such, but seriously, this is my life you're talking about. Besides," I say as I lean on the car door and look out the window. There's no blush on my face anymore, because now I feel sort of depressed, "I think he forgot about that night… just like he said he would. Like it never happened…"

"Why do you think that?" Ryou asked.

I looked at him. "Because, he doesn't act any different around me. And you know how people refer to the thing they said never happened? He doesn't do that either…"

Ryou put his thinking face on, which looked sort of like a pout with his bottom lip slightly over his upper. "Well… I guess he does just need time…"

I chuckled. "But you know, if it wasn't for that night, I never would have started calling him "Purple Boy," and I'm confident he knows that, because the next day I started calling him that…

"Purple Boy!" I yelled at Marik the next day as soon as I saw him.

He gave me a confused look, not unlike the one he gave me last night when he first saw me. "Purple Boy?" he asked, "Where did that come from?"

I glared at him, grinding my teeth. I was still pissed off form last night. I cross my arms angrily, "Oh, I just thought of it last night. What did you do last night?" I know I told him we didn't have to bring it up… but I'm just really mad.

He scratched his head as if he didn't have a clue what I was talking about, which pissed me off even more. "Um…" he said, "Slept? And then I took a walk, but it's kind of blurry after that," he avoided my eyes, which told me that he did in fact remember, but he just wasn't going to acknowledge it. EVER.

I feel my eye start to twitch. "Oh really, have pleasant dreams?"

"… Yeah actually…" he had the brains to admit.

That confession calmed me down somewhat, so I said. "Well, just so you know, I suffer from insomnia, so I took a walk too, only I actually saw someone…" I got angry again at this point, and my eyes narrowed, "but then the rest is a 'blur,' " I said the last part sarcastically.

Marik looked at me with sad eyes, and I thought he was going to apologize, but then he smirked and said, "You probably got drunk or something 'Kura."

'Kura… I thought, I told him he could call me that last night… He was being so unfair, remembering that night and yet not acknowledging it. Was it really that small of a deal that he could just… forget it like that? Was it only a big deal for me? A stepping stone to something more? I felt anger hit me again, so I said, "Well you must have been drunk last night too you purple fruitcake!"

"Not as drunk as you obviously, you look horrible, whereas I look fabulous."

I scoffed at him. "Only gay men say fabulous Marik."

He shrugged. "That would explain why you say it."

"I have never said that word in my life!"

"I beg to differ! I recall you saying that word perfectly."

"Well you're a complete idiot, so I'm not surprised that you remember something that never happened."

"At least I don't go back on my word," when I heard him say that, I thought Marik was going to blatantly talk about last night now instead of avoiding the subject, but then he said this, "you promised you'd help me steal some of Ryou's cookies from Melvin and you never did!"

I stared at him and then burst out laughing. "If you want some of Ryou's five-star-restaurant cookies, why not just ask him yourself? He's be happy to make some for you."

"It's not about the cookies!" Marik explained, "I just want to steal something from my brother, and I thought since you hate him too that you'd help."

"Oh please, I can take anything from that psychopath anytime I want."

Marik smirked, "Yeah right, he terrifies you doesn't he?"

"No!" I lied, even though it was true. The guy said he dreamt of killing people and setting the world on fire! And he was happy about it! Wouldn't that scare you?

"Yeah right! I see the way you act when he gets all insane. I'm used to it, childhood and all."

"And that's why you're messed up in the head."

"At least I don't have a twin-complex."

I feel my eye start to twitch. I have told him more than once that I don't have a freaking complex! It is simple, plain, honest-to-goodness brotherly love. All right? "At least my brother didn't try to kill me more than once!" I yelled back at him.

"Hey!" Marik yelled, now angry again, "He was just unstable okay? He's gotten much better!" I couldn't believe that Marik was actually defending his psychotic brother… "And at least he didn't!"

"Whatever Purple Boy."

"Stop calling me that!"

"Why? It suits you, Purple Boy!"

"Just because I like to wear purple doesn't mean I'm a purple boy! And it's totally a third-grade insult anyways!"

"It's better than stealing my brother's nick-name."

Marik ground his teeth together, "Fine! Then how about I call you Kitty instead? You know, 'cause you look so much like a damn cat it's scary!"

I blinked at him. Did he seriously just call me 'Kitty?' Did he realize how… boyfriend-ish that sounded? No, he didn't, he was just being Marik… "If you call me Kitty I'll change Purple Boy to Purple Princess."

Marik paled, since I already called him Princess in public once (to which he immediately yelled at me for - "That can only be used during our arguments!" he said). I guess Purple Princess would be much worse. "All right, whatever, don't do that!"

I smirked, "Say the magic word!"

Marik's eye started twitching, "Please don't call me Purple Princess," he said, the magic word laced with venom.

"Sure thing Purple Boy."

The fighting continued for a while, like it always does, but then we got over it and decided to go see a movie.

"Besides," I told Ryou, getting out of my memories, "that happened over a year ago, he probably did forget about it, you know how brain-dead he gets sometimes."

"I don't think anyone can forget something like that 'Kura," Ryou insisted, "who knows? Maybe he's thought long enough and he'll tell you that he -"

"LALALALALALALALA!" I drown him out while putting my fingers in his ears. I can tell where his sentence is going and I can not let him finish it. He just rolls his eyes at my immaturity and continues driving.

Eventually, we get to Melvin's house and I stare at how small it is… It bordered on cozy for two people. I shuddered at the thought of Ryou living in there with… him. "Time to unload!" Ryou told me happily. I just rolled my eyes and got out of the car, but before I could actually step out, Ryou said, "Could you open the glove box for me 'Kura?"

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Can't you open it yourself?" I ask.

"Pleeeeeeaaaaasssee?" he begged, giving me his undeniably cute face. I think that's how he controls Melvin… so you can imagine how powerful it is. I roll my eyes, saying, "There better not be a freaking raccoon in there or something…" and open the bloody glove box.

What's inside is much worse than a raccoon or something.

Inside was my journal. My freaking journal. My freaking purple journal. My freaking purple journal! I glare at my brother who just smiled cheekily back at me. I look at the offending book again, still glaring. I can't believe he stole the thing from me! And I can't believe that, out of all the odds, the journal I had bought had been purple even before I met Purple Boy.

Stupid purple!

This story will probably be only 2-4 chapters long, depending on certain things… And I already have 5 pages on the next chapter (of course this chap was 15 pages long… XD over 8,000 words baby! DRAT! I SHOULD HAVE MADE IT OVER 9,000! Ah well…). I actually was planning on finishing this story and then posting it all together, but then I thought I'd post this and see if anyone likes it XD

For some reason I felt like torturing Bakura… XD 'Twas fun…

PS: For those of you reading my on-going multi-chapter fics, I will try to update those ASAP, but I got this new babysitting job so… I don't really have much time this summer ^^" Sorry!