To Mend A Broken Heart
Chapter 7 - Stubborn Thoughts
As Yami and Yugi sat on the couch in Yami's apartment, Yugi continued his story.
"So the next day after Joey got a verbal bashing from that girl, he asked me what had gone wrong, thinking that I had been a jerk to her or something," he said. "So I had to explain to him that I wasn't interested in girls, that was amusing," Yugi laughed. "When he understood, he decided to continue his endeavor, hellbent on finding me a boyfriend."
Yami chuckled, "I can imagine Joey doing that actually, but not very successfully."
Yugi laughed, "Well he wasn't very successful at first. That is, until he ran into an old friend of ours from school, Ryou Bakura. Upon finding out that we had similar interests, he spared no time in organising us to meet up, and well, it went from there," Yugi said.
"I see," Yami said, "So what went wrong?" he asked curiously.
Yugi shrugged, "It was good while it lasted, but it just wasn't working out, it was kind of a mutual decision when it came down to it," he said. "So I luckily haven't had any heartbreaking experiences."
"Yes, well," Yami could feel his chest tightening again at the thought of Briana. "I'm going to make sure I don't go down that path again..."
"What do you mean?" Yugi asked.
"Love," Yami said, "It was stupid of me to fall into that trap, and it's not happening again," he said, as if trying to convince himself.
Yugi was surprised, "you can't possibly be saying you're not going to fall in love again," he said.
"That's exactly what I'm saying," Yami said, folding his arms across his chest. Yugi sighed internally, why does he have to be so stubborn? he thought.
"Well I wouldn't give up on the idea if I were you," Yugi said, "I may not have been in love before, but I'm not going to push it away out of fear," he said. "And I think that you wouldn't have much choice in the matter. You don't just decide to fall in love with someone, it just happens, so I don't think you'd be able to deny it either." Yugi's words had struck a chord inside Yami, but he stubbornly pushed it away. No, I'm not going to fall for it, I'm not going to let myself get hurt again, it's the only way, he thought. And if I can't control my feelings for someone, I just won't get close to anyone, he thought with finality. Well, I'm doing well at the moment, I haven't had contact with any women in days. Yugi could tell that Yami wasn't inclined to say anything, so his eyes scanned the room, trying to think of something to change the subject.
That's when Yugi realised, "So you live all by yourself?" he asked.
Yami nodded, "I liked the idea of having my own apartment to myself," he explained, "and when I was with Briana it was handy not having any annoying room mates," he said, trying not to show how much it bothered him by saying her name. "Also, I didn't have any friends to share an apartment with. But now it just feels empty and lonely here," he admitted.
Yugi nodded, "Usually it's just me and my grandpa where I live, but he's not here at the moment, and I can't stand being home by myself at night."
"How so?" Yami asked.
Yugi shrugged, "I don't know, I guess I'm just so used to being around people all the time, having my house so empty just bothers me because I've always had my grandpa around," he explained, "I'd gotten Joey and a few other friends to come over for the past week, but now everyone's busy," he said, resting his head on his hand, looking quite unhappy.
"Would you like me to give you some company tonight then?" Yami asked him.
Yugi looked up, "Are you sure?" he asked.
Yami shrugged, "I'm apparently not to be trusted by myself at the moment anyway," he looked up at the lightbulb that he had tried to replace, as if backing up his thoughts.
Yugi smiled and shook his head, remembering the previous events, "Then that's probably a good idea," he said with a laugh. He looked around the so called 'Death Trap' apartment as Joey had called it. Yugi knew it wasn't the apartment that was the problem. Joey had told him how Yami used to be so upbeat about everything, and always in control, never sloppy and clumsy like he was at the moment. At least if Yugi was with him he could stop the man from hurting himself, whether intentional or not. It seemed like he still had a disregard for his own safety, or he simply couldn't be bothered by it. Yugi looked down at Yami's hands, still sporting scars fro the previous week. The angry red mark on his left hand hadn't disappeared either, from when he had spilt boiling water on himself. Yugi decided he would do his best to get Yami back to the way he was before, not the clumsy mess he was at the moment. Not that Yugi minded, but he wanted his new friend to be happy, and if that meant hanging around to stop him from getting too depressed over his former lover, then he was willing to do it.
Yugi's eyes curiously wandered around the room and then landed on the deck of cards sitting on the coffee table beside the couch.
"You play Duel Monsters?" he asked, his face lighting up at the sight of the familiar cards.
"Hm? Yami was surprised by the change of subject, but turned to look at the cards, "Oh, yes," he said, picking them up, "I haven't played in a while though," he admitted.
"We should have a duel when we get back to mine," Yugi said with a grin.
Yami chuckled, "You're on."
...
Yami looked around curiously as he and Yugi walked into the game shop. He closed the door behind him as Yugi walked to the back of the shop.
"So this is where you live?" He asked, looking around at the shop's contents.
"Yep," Yugi said, turning on the lights, "Well, not here exactly..." he then opened the door at the back, walking into the part of the building that was his home, "here," he said.
"Ah," Yami followed him into the house, it was small and cozy, just big enough for two people. "So, where is your grandfather?" he asked as Yugi walked into the kitchen.
Yugi sighed, "he's in the hospital at the moment." Yugi offered Yami a glass of water, who accepted graciously and sat down on one of the stools next to the kitchen bench.
"I'm sorry to hear," Yami said, "Is he sick?"
Yugi shook his head, pulling up a stool to sit next to Yami, "No, he needs a hip replacement," he said. He decided to leave it at that and not mention the rest, that could be left for another day. He didn't want to worry about that right now.
"I see," Yami said, "Well I hope he recovers soon so you don't have to be by yourself for much longer," he said.
"Same," Yugi said. Yami noticed something in Yugi's voice that was odd, but he shrugged it off.
"Now, about that duel..."
"So the next day after Joey got a verbal bashing from that girl, he asked me what had gone wrong, thinking that I had been a jerk to her or something," he said. "So I had to explain to him that I wasn't interested in girls, that was amusing," Yugi laughed. "When he understood, he decided to continue his endeavor, hellbent on finding me a boyfriend."
Yami chuckled, "I can imagine Joey doing that actually, but not very successfully."
Yugi laughed, "Well he wasn't very successful at first. That is, until he ran into an old friend of ours from school, Ryou Bakura. Upon finding out that we had similar interests, he spared no time in organising us to meet up, and well, it went from there," Yugi said.
"I see," Yami said, "So what went wrong?" he asked curiously.
Yugi shrugged, "It was good while it lasted, but it just wasn't working out, it was kind of a mutual decision when it came down to it," he said. "So I luckily haven't had any heartbreaking experiences."
"Yes, well," Yami could feel his chest tightening again at the thought of Briana. "I'm going to make sure I don't go down that path again..."
"What do you mean?" Yugi asked.
"Love," Yami said, "It was stupid of me to fall into that trap, and it's not happening again," he said, as if trying to convince himself.
Yugi was surprised, "you can't possibly be saying you're not going to fall in love again," he said.
"That's exactly what I'm saying," Yami said, folding his arms across his chest. Yugi sighed internally, why does he have to be so stubborn? he thought.
"Well I wouldn't give up on the idea if I were you," Yugi said, "I may not have been in love before, but I'm not going to push it away out of fear," he said. "And I think that you wouldn't have much choice in the matter. You don't just decide to fall in love with someone, it just happens, so I don't think you'd be able to deny it either." Yugi's words had struck a chord inside Yami, but he stubbornly pushed it away. No, I'm not going to fall for it, I'm not going to let myself get hurt again, it's the only way, he thought. And if I can't control my feelings for someone, I just won't get close to anyone, he thought with finality. Well, I'm doing well at the moment, I haven't had contact with any women in days. Yugi could tell that Yami wasn't inclined to say anything, so his eyes scanned the room, trying to think of something to change the subject.
That's when Yugi realised, "So you live all by yourself?" he asked.
Yami nodded, "I liked the idea of having my own apartment to myself," he explained, "and when I was with Briana it was handy not having any annoying room mates," he said, trying not to show how much it bothered him by saying her name. "Also, I didn't have any friends to share an apartment with. But now it just feels empty and lonely here," he admitted.
Yugi nodded, "Usually it's just me and my grandpa where I live, but he's not here at the moment, and I can't stand being home by myself at night."
"How so?" Yami asked.
Yugi shrugged, "I don't know, I guess I'm just so used to being around people all the time, having my house so empty just bothers me because I've always had my grandpa around," he explained, "I'd gotten Joey and a few other friends to come over for the past week, but now everyone's busy," he said, resting his head on his hand, looking quite unhappy.
"Would you like me to give you some company tonight then?" Yami asked him.
Yugi looked up, "Are you sure?" he asked.
Yami shrugged, "I'm apparently not to be trusted by myself at the moment anyway," he looked up at the lightbulb that he had tried to replace, as if backing up his thoughts.
Yugi smiled and shook his head, remembering the previous events, "Then that's probably a good idea," he said with a laugh. He looked around the so called 'Death Trap' apartment as Joey had called it. Yugi knew it wasn't the apartment that was the problem. Joey had told him how Yami used to be so upbeat about everything, and always in control, never sloppy and clumsy like he was at the moment. At least if Yugi was with him he could stop the man from hurting himself, whether intentional or not. It seemed like he still had a disregard for his own safety, or he simply couldn't be bothered by it. Yugi looked down at Yami's hands, still sporting scars fro the previous week. The angry red mark on his left hand hadn't disappeared either, from when he had spilt boiling water on himself. Yugi decided he would do his best to get Yami back to the way he was before, not the clumsy mess he was at the moment. Not that Yugi minded, but he wanted his new friend to be happy, and if that meant hanging around to stop him from getting too depressed over his former lover, then he was willing to do it.
Yugi's eyes curiously wandered around the room and then landed on the deck of cards sitting on the coffee table beside the couch.
"You play Duel Monsters?" he asked, his face lighting up at the sight of the familiar cards.
"Hm? Yami was surprised by the change of subject, but turned to look at the cards, "Oh, yes," he said, picking them up, "I haven't played in a while though," he admitted.
"We should have a duel when we get back to mine," Yugi said with a grin.
Yami chuckled, "You're on."
...
Yami looked around curiously as he and Yugi walked into the game shop. He closed the door behind him as Yugi walked to the back of the shop.
"So this is where you live?" He asked, looking around at the shop's contents.
"Yep," Yugi said, turning on the lights, "Well, not here exactly..." he then opened the door at the back, walking into the part of the building that was his home, "here," he said.
"Ah," Yami followed him into the house, it was small and cozy, just big enough for two people. "So, where is your grandfather?" he asked as Yugi walked into the kitchen.
Yugi sighed, "he's in the hospital at the moment." Yugi offered Yami a glass of water, who accepted graciously and sat down on one of the stools next to the kitchen bench.
"I'm sorry to hear," Yami said, "Is he sick?"
Yugi shook his head, pulling up a stool to sit next to Yami, "No, he needs a hip replacement," he said. He decided to leave it at that and not mention the rest, that could be left for another day. He didn't want to worry about that right now.
"I see," Yami said, "Well I hope he recovers soon so you don't have to be by yourself for much longer," he said.
"Same," Yugi said. Yami noticed something in Yugi's voice that was odd, but he shrugged it off.
"Now, about that duel..."