A/N: *pant, puff* I'm... back... *plops on floor out of exhaustion* God, I've been waiting for a computer for so long, but now I finally have one! *throws confetti and gets drunk off apple cider in celebration*

Thanks for all the waiting. A new oneshot, hooray! And it's my favourite pairing, too- puppyshipping, yo! Huzzah!

So much puke has happened in my life... sorry this took so long... Also, this is my first 3rd-person story, so... be nice! ^^

I want to dedicate this to Lace Kyoko. She proofread this and gave me courage in my time of despair. And also cuz she's awesome. Love you, Lace ^^

So, anyways, I don't own anything but my plot!

Enjoy! ^^

Songs listened to while writing this:
-Sinful by Marina and the Diamonds
-There Is A Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths
-Ievan Polkka re-created with Hatsune Miku Vocaloid Program
-Let's Never Stop Falling In Love by Pink Martini

"And stay out!" the voice resonated in the balmy, late-night air. A wiry-framed figure stumbled out from a dingy apartment building. The figure tripped down the streets of Domino, searching for possible shelter.

Joey Wheeler proceeded down dark alleyways and main roads, continuing his hunt for a covered area as it started to lightly rain. He stumbled blindly down a slightly familiar street. However, in his numb stupor, he couldn't put a name to it.

Once again, his father had come home drunk and beaten him to a pulp. This time, though he had gone a little too far. The blond's father had pulled a knife on him. Thankfully, he'd gotten out of the house before a possible impalement could happen, but his forehead had been sliced in addition to numerous bruises, a black eye, welts on his back (from the drunk's belt) and a sprained ankle.

Not being able to stand or walk any longer, he sat down, leaning against a huge building for support. He panted, out of breath from the strain of walking. His body started to tremble and his body was soon racked with empty sobs. He carefully pressed his ripped sleeve against his eyes, not wanting to cry.

Finally, he started to fade consciousness. Whether he was dozing off or passing out, he didn't know, but he didn't care. All blurred to a contenting black...

.XxX.

Kaiba stormed down the street, holding his metal briefcase over his head en lieu of an umbrella. He was in such a bad mood from overstress at work that he'd fired his driver. Naturally, he had had to walk home from Kaiba Corp, which was a good 10 miles. Not to mention it was 11:30 pm. He'd had to walk in the dark, too. His feet hurt so much! He couldn't wait to catch a hot bath when he got back to the mansion.

Rounding the final corner, he was almost at the entrance to the mansion when he spotted someone leaning against the wall of the building. "Fuck," he cursed under his breath, pissed off. Yet another homeless person hoping to get some cash from the famed Seto Kaiba? Well, the brunet thought otherwise. He went over to the person.

Said person was currently unconscious, deducted Kaiba. The person looked relatively young, though. He wore a torn green jacket, dirtied blue jeans, and black sneakers. A big mop of slightly greasy, matted blond hair hung over his eyes. Kaiba nudged the kid slightly with his shoe, peeved at the idea of getting the shoe dirty from the layer of grime covering the boy. "You. This is my estate," growled Kaiba, "so kindly get off the property before I call the authorities."

The kid started to wake up. He slowly looked up at whoever was intruding on his much-needed rest. He blinked several times, but when his vision finally came into focus, he nearly had a heart attack. It was Kaiba, from his class. "Kai...ba?" he breathed, incredulously.

Something flickered behind the brunet's eyes. Recognition. "Mutt?" he asked. "What happened to you?" Joey groaned at the name. Why his huge crush had to show up at possibly the worst moment, he didn't know.

Yes, he'd been crushing on the cold, stoic CEO. But hey, the guy was cool, handsome, confident and popular. What's not to love?

"Kaiba, why... are ya here?" Joey asked confusedly.

"This is my estate, Mutt. The question is, why are you here?" Moreover, the CEO wondered, why the fuck his crush had to be leaned against his mansion in such a disheveled, vulnerable state. He'd had a crush on the headstrong, golden retriever-esque boy ever since they'd first met in the hallways of Domino High School. He didn't mean for it to happen, it just... happened, really.

Joey winced. "Long story. I'm sorry. I'll get outta the way." He tried to stand up, but to his dismay he was far too weak to support himself. He fell-no, slammed-back against the wall with a dull thud. The blond groaned in pain. Kaiba smirked at him. "What's with the bruises? Get in a dog fight?"

Instead of the anticipated reaction (being something along the lines of "Kaiba, ya bastard!"), the blond just looked down at his feet. "...I ain't a dog, Kaiba," was all he said in response. Kaiba internally gasped at the boy's submissiveness in drastic contrast to his usual headstrong personality. He crouched down and felt Joey's forehead. "Mu-Joey, you're burning up," Kaiba corrected himself, pulling his hand back from the scorching forehead. His palm was now streaked with blood. Lifting the blond's head, he saw there was a cut above his eyebrow.

Now the CEO's attention was caught. His eyebrows slanted up with worry. "Joey, how did this happen? Did someone pull a knife on you?" Joey snorted disdainfully, a bitter laugh escaping his cracked lips. "Why should I tell ya? Ya don't care. Ya probably wanna hear all about it so ya can laugh in my face."

Kaiba rolled his eyes, in his trademark 'spoiled rich boy' way. "If you're not going to tell me now, then perhaps you'll change your tune when you're not bleeding down the side of your face." In one fell swoop, he brought Joey into his arms bridal style and carried him into the mansion.

As Kaiba walked into the mansion with the blond in his arms, heat flushed his cheeks and the pain in his feet was gone, if only for a moment. The beaten boy just kept at a still position, not really knowing what to do with himself. His face was as red as a tomato, but he just hoped that Kaiba would think it was from the fever.

Opening the door by undergoing an eye-scan test (only programmed to deactivate when detecting Seto, Mokuba or Roland), Kaiba set Joey on his leather couch. "I'll be right back," he told the other, "I'm just going to go get some medical supplies." He strolled briskly up the large staircase.

Joey just lay there in confusion. Why the fuck was Kaiba suddenly caring for him so much? Usually the rich teen would laugh at him, torment him, call him a few profane names, and walk away with a cold, successful grin. But now... he was nursing him back to health?

Soft footsteps resounded on the stairs. Joey supposed it was Kaiba with the first-aid kit, but when the figure approached him, he saw it wasn't Kaiba at all. Well, it was, but not the anticipated Kaiba. Mokuba stood above him, a puzzled look on his face. "Joey?" he spoke softly, showing a trace of a cracked voice. It was normal, of course, for the 14-year-old Vice-CEO to be going through puberty. "What are you doing on our couch? And how did you get so injured?"

Joey sighed tiredly, willing himself to smile for the boy. "Hi, kiddo. Long story. Apparently your brother's gettin' me some band-aids." He slowly sat up, wincing as he did so. Mokuba shrugged and went into the kitchen. "Want a popsicle, Joey?" he called to the blond. Joey smirked slightly, intrigued by the boy's easy hospitality.

"Uh... which flavors do ya got?" he called back weakly. He heard rummaging, presumably from the raven-haired adolescent going through the freezer. "Strawberry, Root Beer, Banana, Grape, Orange... and yeah, that's all," the boy answered. Joey asked for Root Beer. A few minutes later Mokuba emerged from the kitchen with two Root Beer popsicles. Sticking one in his mouth, he handed the other to Joey, who ripped the thing open and devoured it in a matter of seconds. Hey, who could blame him? The last time he ate was... two days ago, maybe? Mokuba stared at him, wide-eyed, and knew to go and get another just from seeing the hungry look on the blond's face.

He handed the next popsicle to Joey, who slowly ate it this time. The older Kaiba came down the stairs with the first aid kit at this moment, and upon seeing the blond eating a popsicle he nearly fainted. Seeing Joey eat the popsicle ever so slowly, twirling his tongue around the tip and massaging it every so often, well, that almost proved to be too much for the CEO. Was Joey possibly the only person in the world who made eating a popsicle sexy?

Mokuba just looked at his elder brother as he blushed, staring at Joey. At the raven-haired boy's 'ahem,' Joey looked up. He blinked innocently several times, taking in what was happening. "Uh... Kaiba?" he questioned shyly. "Why's your nose bleedin'?"

Scooping his mind out of the gutter, the brunet wiped his nose with a tissue, embarrassed, mumbling something about a pressure change and stairs. "Erm, let's get you cleaned up, shall we?" he brought the first aid kit over to the couch and started to treat Joey's cut. He dabbed at the blond's face with a butterfly's touch, and Joey was just about ready to melt into a puddle of Puppy-goo. The added heat in his blushing, feverish face made the brunet recoil at the touch. "Joey?" he asked, a bit taken aback by the boiling face. "Let's get you into a bath and to bed." He helped the blond off the couch, slowly, so as not to pull any muscles. However, when Joey stood up, his twisted ankle gave out under his meager weight and he toppled to the ground. The boy winced in pain, his face clenching and his jaw tightening. "Can't...walk..." he groaned. Kaiba lifted him into his arms again, wordlessly, and carried him up the staircase to his personal bathroom.

Setting the smaller man down on the chair inside the bathroom, Kaiba ran the bathtub and added bubble mix. Once the water was drawn, Kaiba turned to see that Joey had fallen asleep in the chair. He allowed himself a small smile, since no one could see him do so. He shook the blond lightly, rousing him. "Joey, it's time for your bath. I know you're tired, but you have to clean up. You can sleep afterwards." Joey blinked sleepily and nodded.

Sliding off his clothes, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Not because of his nakedness, Kaiba had seen him plenty of times in the locker room at school, but because of all his cuts, bruises and scars. He didn't want the brunet to see them and potentially blackmail him for them. However, when he slid off his shirt, he heard a small gasp behind him. "Joey," Kaiba spoke softy, barely loud enough to echo faintly around the immense master bathroom, "who did this to you?"

"What do ya mean, Kaiba?" Joey tried playing innocent. Kaiba merely scoffed. "You know full well, Wheeler. The welts and bruises on your back. Your black eye. Your twisted ankle. Your cut above your eye. I want you to tell me who did this to you," the brunet ground out.

A pause. "Later," the blond finally spoke, gingerly climbing into the tub. He sighed in content at the warmth and marveled at the bubbles. "I... I ain't never had a bubble bath before," he whispered. "M' family was too poor to afford those kinda things." As Kaiba began to slowly scrub his hair, he played with the bubbles, patting them onto his face and giggling like a small child.

The brunet smiled internally at the smaller's innocence. Who knew he could be so easily entertained by something so simple as a bubble bath? Of course, he'd had the same reaction to a complete meal after he'd been adopted by Gozaburo. The orphanage was low on funds, so the first thing to go was the full-course meal. Why they'd chosen to keep the basket-weaving classes, he didn't know.

Snapping out of his reminisce, he saw Joey messing with the shampoo in his hair that Kaiba had neglected to rinse out. Quickly ridding the blond of the remaining soap bubbles in his hair, he grabbed a washcloth and poured shower gel onto it. As he slowly scrubbed the boy with the washcloth, he earned a small shudder in response to the washcloth brushing across his nipple. Of course, being an extreme pervert, this gave Kaiba an extremely inappropriate idea.

Kaiba guided the washcloth down the blond's torso, submerging it after a while. He trailed his towel-covered hand down to the pelvic area at an antagonizingly slow pace... then, he did the unthinkable.

He brushed the washcloth against Joey's unclothed crotch.

The blond mewled in satisfaction, only to snap to his senses and scream bloody murder at the brunet. "YA MOLESTED ME!" he bellowed. This only earned a smirk from Kaiba. The bathroom door swung open suddenly, revealing Mokuba with a scowl on his face. "All right," he ground out, "who molested who?"

"Kaiba... he... he... he touched me!" Joey spluttered angrily. Mokuba turned red as a beet and slapped his elder brother across the face. "Fuck off, Seto! I'll take care of Joey now!"

Kaiba blinked in surprise at his brother's outburst, holding his now-red cheek. "Mokuba, don't use language like that," he scolded softly, not knowing what else to say. Mokuba took on the famous 'Kaiba glare'. "Well, you shouldn't be molesting people, Seto! Now go away and let me take care of him! At least I can do it without being a pedophile!" He shoved his brother out of the bathroom, slamming the door.

Smiling nervously at Joey, he blushed, handing the blond a bar of soap."Here, Joey," he said, "you can wash the rest by yourself." Joey cautiously took the soap from the teen and began warily scrubbing himself. Staring off into space, he murmured something that Mokuba couldn't quite hear. "Come again?" he leaned closer to Joey to hear him better.

"Dad touched me, too."

.XxX.

Mokuba pulled the covers up onto Joey. "Think you'll be okay, Joey?" he asked, rather like a mother. The blond nodded shyly. The Vice-CEO walked out of the room, turning around to look at Joey one last time. "Just holler if you need something, okay?" he smiled slightly.

"Hey, Mok'ba?" called Joey softly. Mokuba whipped his head around. "Thanks... for everythin'. I'm real grateful." Mokuba grinned and shut the door softly.

As Joey drifted off to sleep, he tried to believe he wanted to be touched by his crush in the bathtub.

Meanwhile, in Seto's room, a conversation was underway between the Kaiba brothers.

"Seto, what the hell was that dirty stunt you pulled back there?" scowled the younger.

"I just wanted to loosen him up a bit, that's all."

"Well, did you know his father molested him too?"

Seto's eyes bugged. "...He didn't tell me that," he whispered.

The raven-haired boy merely rolled his eyes. "Why would he? You never told anyone Gozaburo touched you." The boy had a point. The brunet had been too ashamed to utter to anyone about his sexually abusive stepfather.

The young teen walked away to his room. "Sit on that for awhile, Set'. Maybe you'll find some shred of sympathy for Joey."

.XxX.

"No! Please stop! No!"

Seto awoke with a jolt upon hearing screaming from down the hall. It definitely wasn't Mokuba, so it was...

"Joey," growled the brunet worriedly, stuffing his arms into the silk sleeves of his robe and shoving his slippers on. Racing down the hall, the pleading was getting louder and louder.

The tall CEO flung open Joey's door, only to see the blond sprawled across the bed, tossing and turning and screaming. Tears flowed out of his eyes at a steady pace, and he seemed to be swatting away at something near his crotch.

"No! Dad, please don't do this again! NO!" the blond shook with terror from his dream. The brunet crossed the room quickly to shake the smaller awake.

"Joey, it's okay. I'm here. It's just a dream. Can you hear me? Joey?" the CEO said softly, rubbing the other's back in comfort.

The blond started awake. "Kaiba...?" he asked, still bleary from sleep. "Oh, god, Kaiba... He was gonna touch me again! He was so drunk... An' I was so scared..." the blond trailed off, sobbing into his hands.

Finding deep sympathy for the blond, Kaiba hugged him tightly. Joey had no idea how to react, so he just sat there sniffling. Kaiba then made the boy face him. "Now, Joey, do you want to tell me what happened?"

The smaller sniffled. "Well, dad's always gettin' drunk, an' he beats me up a lot... He don't really give me much ta eat... A-an' sometmes he touches me. I hate it, but he says he'll kill me if I make trouble. But this time it was way worse cuz..." he stopped himself.

The brunet gave an expectant look. "Because?" The blond just shook his head. "No! Ya'll use it ta blackmail me!"

The CEO chuckled quietly. "I'd never do that if it's clearly hurting you, Joey."

Several minutes went by before Joey took a deep breath. "I... I..." he stuttered. He finally found the right words after a while, so he tried again.

"Dad pulled a knife on me cuz I came out."

Kaiba wasn't sure if he heard right. "Came out? Came out of what?"

Bad choice of words. "Came outta the closet! In other words, rich boy, I told my dad I'm a faggot!" Joey burst into tears, screaming angrily at Kaiba.

Kaiba was speechless. He softly took the blond into his arms and rocked him slowly. "That bastard had no right to hurt you because of your choices, Joey. You have a right to be gay."

Joey looked up at him. "B-but he touched me again for it!" And he started to recount what happened when the drunk got home from the bar.

The door creaked open. Joey's pen paused in midair. Hearing the unstable footsteps in the foyer of the small apartment, he knew he wouldn't be getting his homework done that night.

"Brat! Where are my slippers?" a voice slurred.

Cursing resentfully, the blond teen grabbed his drunken father's slippers from next to the door. Slipping the shoes onto his father's feet, he decided that now would be a good a time as any to let his secret out. Probably better when he was slobbering drunk than when he was sober and in his right mind.

"Dad?" the boy asked softly. "Can I tell ya somethin'?"

No response. Maybe that was for the best.

"Uh... please don't get mad at me, but... I-I'm gay."

Suddenly the drunk leapt up from the armchair. "You're what?" he roared angrily. His eyes were filled with the rage that his son hated seeing.

Joey flinched upon seeing his father's clenched fist. "Dad! I-I'm sorry, I can't help it! I'm sorry!" He whimpered as he was grabbed and carted off to his father's room.

"So you're a faggot, huh? Well, I'm really surprised that you never like it when I touch you. 'Cause isn't that what fags like? When other men touch them?" He proceeded to grope his son on his bed. The boy froze as a hand slipped down his pants and started to stroke his flaccid length. Summoning all his courage, he kicked the man square in the chest, knocking him back and without air.

"You're going to pay for that, you little shit," growled the drunk, getting up off the floor and taking off his belt. He ripped Joey's shirt off and whipped him hard with the belt.

"Dad, I-" Joey was then roughly punched in the eye. "Shut up, you cocksucking queer! I'm sick of your weak complaining!" his father shouted. From the impact of the blow, the blond crumpled to the floor, his ankle twisting in a stomach-churning manner.

Getting up from the floor, Joey turned around only to find a Swiss Army Knife in his face. His father chuckled darkly. "People like you don't deserve to be in this world," he slurred. He managed to press the blade to his son's forehead before the boy scampered away, out the door.

"And stay out!" the drunk called out the door as he retreated to his armchair to drink some more.

Joey cried, finishing his explanation. All the while, Kaiba rubbed small circles on his back, resting his chin on the top of the blond's head. "Don't worry, Joey," the brunet said consolingly, "he won't hurt you anymore. You can stay here."

Joey trembled. He could stay? He couldn't believe it. "But Kaiba, that's-"

He was not-so-rudely interrupted by Kaiba's mouth on his. Surely this couldn't be... what he thought it was...

A kiss?

The brunet pulled back. He stared meaningfully into the other's brown eyes. "Jesus, Joey... I love you so much..." he trailed off.

"Kaiba, I love ya too... In fact, you're the reason I came out. But ya know what? I don't regret it. Cuz now I got ya," smiled the blond.

Leaning in for another kiss, all Joey could think was, 'This is how it should be.'

That was how it should be.

A/N: Phew, that was 7 pages on Open Office! And like 4000 words! Heh!

I'd like to address something really quickly. Even though I'm not lesbian or bisexual, I understand fully that coming out is a really hard thing to do. I've never done it, of course, but I've supported my gay friend before he came out to his parents. He was actually kicked out for a while, and ever since his family let him back into the house, they've acted really differently to him. I'm not saying this is the case for all people, but it's really hard for a lot of gays/lesbians/bisexuals. So please, take the time to show some compassion. I wrote this story in part to show the courage it takes for someone to come out.

If you'd like to read a good story that touches a similar problem (coming out), I encourage you to go read Keeping You a Secret by RainbowFizzyPops. It's so wonderful how accurately coming out to a conservative family is portrayed.

I'm off to bed now, so... toodles, peeps~! ^^ *yawns*