Carry On

Chapter Four – Peer Pressure

“I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it! She couldn’t even wait one day before yelling at me? AND she finds a reason to yell at me every night! Can you believe she actually told me that she shouldn’t have allowed me to go to college because it has been” – and here Yuugi raised his hands to make quotes in the air as he paced – “a Bad Influence on me? How can college be a bad influence? She’s the one who’s always told me that I should go and when I do it’s suddenly a bad and reckless decision on my part!”

Yuugi’s friends grimaced in sympathy. The group of four was sitting in the living room, spreading themselves out among the loveseat, the recliner, and the remaining space on the floor next to the coffee table that was the focal point of the room. It was early afternoon on the fourth day of Yuugi’s return home. The sun shone brilliantly through the second story windows, casting light on the friends and trying to lighten the hectic energy that emanated off Yuugi. The cramped space never felt small when the four of them were together despite the fact that they could all reach out and touch each other without moving. Though the space was perfect for fun and intimate moments between the friends, when Yuugi was ranting about his home life it became as loud and cramped as a city bus.

“Geeze man, I’m sorry,” Jounouchi said, rubbing both his hands over his face.

Yuugi threw his hands into the air in futility. His blond friend had heard this complaint from the day Yuugi had brought him home during his first year at college, and he knew he didn’t want nor need to hear it again. He was just so frustrated inside that he didn’t know what else to do other than release his tension in the loudest, most animated way he could think of, if only to tire himself out so he would stop. “I don’t know,” he said, letting himself drop heavily into the recliner he had vacated during his rant. “I guess… I guess I just wish it could be different, you know?”

The only woman of the group – and therefore stronger and more tolerant than the rest of the lot combined – looked sympathetically at Yuugi. She had known Yuugi since they were children, but they were only in each other’s lives sporadically. Different schools, different neighborhoods, different interests and personalities; there was much that kept them apart, but that couldn’t overcome the affection and comfort that came from knowing someone your entire life. It meant that you didn’t have to be in constant contact to still care about the other’s well-being. The young woman tucked her auburn hair behind her ear, reminding herself yet again that she should not have cut it so short.

“It’s hard for things to change when you’re not around all that much,” Anzu said softly.

“That’s a little harsh, don’t you think?” Honda, the other male in the room whom Yuugi had met through Jounochi, interrupted before Yuugi could respond. “It takes two to argue, you know.”

“Three in this case,” Jounouchi contributed.

“You know that isn’t what I meant,” Anzu said wearily. “All I’m saying is that if you aren’t here to work on the relationship, the relationship isn’t going to change.”

Yuugi narrowed his eyes at the corners. He was fairly certain of the reprimand in Anzu’s voice and the momentary bitterness that passed over her features. He wasn’t in the mood for another argument, but he was going to have to talk to her about her slip later. The past was the past and they needed to stop allowing it to affect the present.

“Yeah well,” Jounouchi said from his position on the floor. He pulled over the bag of pretzels Honda had brought with him and opened it. “Let’s not let this spoil things. It’s the first time we’ve seen you in three years. We’ve got dirt to dig out of ya!”

Yuugi chuckled. “I’ve always admired your ability to focus on the important things. Besides,” he said, crossing his legs and slouching in the recliner, “it’s not like we haven’t talked in all that time.”

“Yeah, but this is different,” Jounouchi said.

“It’s harder to lie in person,” Honda said with a smirk.

“So!” Anzu clapped her hands together in her eagerness to begin her questioning. “Is it true that your grandfather has a girlfriend?”

Jounouchi’s eyes bulged out of his head when Yuugi nodded. “Oh man!” he said. “I don’t know if I want to hear that or not! The imagery… it’s just too much to think about.” He stuck out his tongue for emphasis, then placed a pretzel on it and pulled it into his mouth.

“Tell me about it,” Yuugi chortled.

“How’d your mom take it?” Honda asked, leaning back on the couch cushions.

Yuugi smiled through his grimace. “Um. Well, it was pretty much a shock for her. I guess grandpa’s done a good job of keeping it secret. You know, he actually told mom that he was going out to underground gaming tournaments at night?”

Yuugi’s friend stared at him in open surprise. “And she believed that?” Anzu asked.

“My mother,” Yuugi said, waving his hand dismissively.

Jounouchi whistled and Honda smacked him over the back of his head. Jounouchi gave his companion a pitiful expression and rubbed the sore spot. “I didn’t say nothing,” he grumbled.

“Your whistles say more than your mouth ever does,” Honda said. The group laughed at Jounouchi’s indignant look as he crossed his arms and pouted. He roughly grabbed the pretzel bag and shoved a handful of the baked snacks into his mouth.

“I’m more surprised than anything,” Yuugi continued. “I mean, I’ve never even considered that grandpa would want to date after grandma died.”

“Does it bother you?” Anzu asked.

Yuugi rolled his shoulder, averting his eyes. “Not really. It’s no business of mine.”

“Not your business? Of course it is.” Honda sat forward on the couch, leaning toward Yuugi. “It affects the family so that makes it your business. Besides, it’s not like she’s being brought into calm waters. I’ve got sympathy for her already.”

“So who’s crazier?” Jounouchi asked, the pretzels having gotten him out of his sour mood. “Grandpa dating at his age, or, the woman dating at her age, or, Yuugi coming home without bringing his best buds some gifts?”

Anzu and Honda stared at Jounouchi. Yuugi looked confused. Jounouchi shrugged his shoulders. This was not an atypical scenario for this foursome, and the moment quickly passed without much thought.

“So do you get to meet her?” Honda asked after giving a perplexed side-glance to Jounouchi.

“Yeah,” Yuugi sighed. He closed his eyes and relaxed fully into the recliner. “After a full minute of being stunned, mom demanded that she be invited over to dinner.” He smirked, a dark line on his face. “Dinner’s going to be spicy tonight.”

Anzu chewed on her lower lip. She was disturbed by Yuugi’s apparent enjoyment over the impending fireworks. “Yuugi?” she asked.

“Mmm?”

“Uh, well, it’s just that…” Anzu hesitated, pulling a pillow into her lap, looking to Jounouchi and Honda for support that was not openly given. “I’m sure your grandfather wouldn’t be involved with a woman who was, was-”

“A skank?” Jou offered.

“After his vast fortune?” The boys cringed at Anzu’s reprimanding glare.

Yuugi opened one eye, his mouth holding a frown. “What are you saying Anzu?”

“Just, wouldn’t it be easier not to assume the worst? To try and get along?” Anzu folded her hands on top of the pillow and waited anxiously for Yuugi’s response.

Yuugi’s frown remained on his face. He didn’t feel the need to assuage Anzu’s insecurity by answering right away. It appeared that his friends still perceived him as a judgmental fool, bypassing first impressions in favor of preconceived notions. He never understood why they thought him so shallow. He had never, as far as he was aware, given them reason to think that way of him. Yuugi simply made decisions faster than his friends, and he didn’t waver over if they were correct or not. He was a man who knew what he liked, and he knew it instantly. It was just they way he was. The concept didn’t appear to be compatible with his friends’ rolling view of the world.

Yuugi shook his head lightly. “Yes, Anzu, it would be easier.” Acquiescence was the path of least resistance in this scenario.

“His timing is weird,” Honda said to break the silence that followed Yuugi’s comment. “How long have they been dating?”

“Three months,” Yuugi said.

Honda held his hand at his chin in thought. “Why would he wait that long to tell you? Or at least tell your mom. I’d think it’d be happy news.”

“I dunno,” Yuugi said. “Maybe he wanted to get it all over with in one go, so he had to wait for me to come home.”

“Is it that bad?” Jounouchi asked.

“No.” Yuugi brought his feet up and folded them on the recliner. “But then again I haven’t been home, so I don’t know what’s going on between him and mom. Frankly, I don’t really care as long as they don’t involve me.”

“Yuugi,” Anzu scolded. “That’s an awful thing to say.”

“I have to agree Yug,” Jounouchi said. Honda nodded his head.

Yuugi rolled his eyes. Oh, what a bad little boy he was not to want to be involved in family quarrels. “Whatever,” he said with a voice dripping acid. “I don’t need to know the details. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

“What about him?” Jounouchi asked, sensing the dire need to change the topic before the four of them started bickering with each other. “The guy you brought home. What was his name again?”

“Atemu,” Yuugi said. He took and released a deep breath, forcing himself to let go of the defensiveness that kept pervading his mood. “Yeah, he’ll be there. I’m not going to go and kick him out just because grandpa is having his girlfriend over.”

“What’s he like?” Honda asked. He took a seat on the floor next to Jounouchi, and the two of them proceeded to fight quietly over the pretzels.

“Oh, he’s interesting, alright.” Yuugi chuckled. “He’s different from all of us, that’s for sure.”

“That might be in his favor,” Jounouchi said to the amusement of the group.

“How old is he?” Anzu asked. Unable to hold herself back any longer, she too went to the floor and started pilfering the pretzels from her boys.

“Twenty-eight, I think. He mentioned it so off-handedly that at first I didn’t understand what he meant. Thought he was talking about how many shirts he had or something.” Yuugi held out his hand, palm up, and easily caught the pretzel Anzu tossed to him.

“He’s old,” Honda blurted.

“Only four years older than us,” Jounouchi pointed out. “Yug’s always liked older men.”

“There’s more wrong with them,” Anzu said, failing to hide her grin behind her hand.

“Har har.” Yuugi graced his friends with a rude hand gesture that his mother would have been ashamed of. The movement brought his gloved hands into prominent view, and it was only now that his friends realized that Yuugi was wearing something on his hands. As smart as they were collectively, observation was not their strongest suit.

“Where’d you get those gloves?” Jounouchi asked, pointing at Yuugi’s hands. His diverted attention resulted in the loss of the pretzel bag to Anzu.

Yuugi looked at his hands in the manner of one who is trying to understand a complex work of art. “Got’em from Até,” he said. “They look kinda cool, I think. They’re comfortable.”

“You’ve nicknamed him already?” Anzu asked. She gave a suffering sigh at Yuugi’s grin. “What would you want to wear them for? You’ve never talked about wearing gloves.”

“It seemed like the thing to do at the time,” Yuugi explained.

“Have you slept with him yet?”

Honda whistled at Jounouchi’s comment, while Anzu and Yuugi gaped at the blond, her in disbelief and him in amusement. The question was not completely out of line. The group of friends had never had a problem with sex, discussing it or participating in it. They didn’t sleep around just for the hell of it, but when they met someone they liked they saw no reason why they couldn’t share the experience with them. Yuugi and Anzu had been together long before Honda and Jounouchi were brought in, and it was well known that Honda was attempting to seduce Jounouchi’s younger sister. Unfortunately for Jounouchi, he appeared to be succeeding.

Yuugi brought home one or two people a year, depending on how often he came to live with his family. While he was on his own in college he didn’t have the need to find people. Living in the dorms provided him an endless supply of people to look after, and his proficiency at math guaranteed he’d be invited to many rooms. He had been told several times that he should have majored in psychology or, at the very least, anthropology, because of his love for studying people and the roots of their actions. Yuugi was a philanthropist in his heart, but he wasn’t interested in choosing a career that required him to care about others. He much preferred the freedom of the unexpected, of that chance encounter waiting around the corner.

“Sorry to disappoint,” Yuugi said with a cheeky grin.

“You’ve kissed him at least, right?” Jounouchi persisted.

“Nope.”

Anzu was rather quiet during Jounouchi’s questioning but it went unnoticed by the men in the room. It wasn’t that she was jealous of Yuugi’s new companion, but she found it strange how Yuugi was approaching the situation. He obviously liked Atemu to some extent if he brought him home, but waiting four days without making any kind of advancement was quite un-Yuugi like. She shook her head softly as Jounouchi and Honda teased Yuugi about having not yet scored, and pushed aside her feelings as the unease that came from not having seen her childhood friend in years.

“I say the next time you see him you grab him and kiss him, get it over with so you can move on to more interesting things.” Honda winked at Yuugi, who snorted his amusement.

“Just go and lay one on him with no warning, right?” Yuugi asked, smirking at the thought.

“If you warn him he might run away. Then you’d have to chase him down and that’s just too much effort. It’d be better to save that energy for sex.” Honda crossed his arms and nodded matter-of-factly.

“You implying I don’t have stamina?” The four friends laughed heartily at Yuugi’s comment. “Not everyone’s like us, Honda,” Yuugi said after calming his laughter. “Some people don’t like to be rushed into things.”

“Won’t know ‘till you try,” Jounouchi mumbled around a mouthful of pretzels.

“Assuming you want to, of course,” Anzu said. “Do you want to?”

Yuugi leaned his head back against the recliner and looked at the ceiling in thought. To be honest, he hadn’t really considered if he wanted to initiate a relationship with Atemu. He wasn’t against it by any measure, but he had the feeling that Atemu was currently too vulnerable to attempt such an aggressive act. Even with his snippy attitude, Yuugi had grown fond of Atemu, and his desire to help him was increasing by the day. When alone in his bedroom Atemu dropped some of his defenses and allowed Yuugi to see the kind soul that lurked beneath the self-loathing and hurt façade. Yuugi had been a little careless with his words in the beginning, resulting in Atemu withdrawing from him. He didn’t really want to see what an unwelcome act would do to their slowly building relationship.

“At least tell me he sleeps in your room?” Honda asked.

“Of course,” Yuugi said.

“In your bed??” Jounouchi’s question was too eager for a man of his age.

“Once I was able to drag him off the floor. On the first night, when I was cleaning the kitchen, he found some blankets and a pillow in my closet and laid them out next to my bed on the floor. I had to literally pull him to his feet and push him down on my bed to convince him that he was not sleeping on the floor while he stayed with me.”

Jounouchi and Honda laughed at the imagery of Yuugi’s story. “Ah man,” Jounouchi said, “that’s rich. I can see you doing it too. You can be as stubborn as an ass.”

Yuugi grinned. “It makes life so much easier when you get your own way.”

“Where is he?” Anzu asked.

“I’m not really sure,” Yuugi said. “He just said that he would be back later when he left this morning. He’s coming back,” Yuugi said, holding up his hand to halt his friends’ questions. “He didn’t take his bag, so he’s coming back.”

“Do we get to meet him?” Jounouchi asked.

Shrugging, Yuugi stretched his legs out and rested his feet on the coffee table, crossing his ankles and folding his hands on his stomach. “Guess that all depends on if you’re here when he is or not.”

Yuugi fidgeted in his chair, arranging his legs several times before settling on sitting on his feet. Unexpectedly he found the thought of his friends meeting Atemu an uncomfortable notion. There was no foundation for this feeling and it had him confused. He’d been eager to introduce Jounouchi to Anzu, Anzu to Honda, and had invited all of them to meet everyone else he had brought home. He tapped his fingers on his knee as his thoughts unwound themselves in his mind with the slothfulness of a slug.

Hmm. It was an interesting idea. Was he perhaps possessive over Atemu? Wanting to keep him secret and to himself until he had satisfied his own curiosity? He had done it before, and it wouldn’t surprise him if he was doing it again. He liked having his secrets, enjoyed owning that one bit of information that no one else had. It made him feel… important. His family had the habit of making him feel like a burden rather than a member. This was the driving force behind many of their fights.

“… I think we should dare him.”

Yuugi had tuned out his friends and the remark caught him off guard. “Dare who?”

“You of course,” Jounouchi said. “We were thinking you need to loosen up a bit now that you’re home and since it doesn’t look like you’re going to do it yourself, we need to help you along.” Honda closed his eyes and nodded in agreement while Anzu displayed a mischievous grin.

“What do you propose I should do?” Yuugi asked.

Yuugi’s three friends looked at each other, a silent agreement passing between them, and Honda issued the challenge. “You are to kiss him.”

Annoyance wasn’t a strong enough word to convey Yuugi’s feeling at that moment. “Oh come off it,” he said, unfolding one leg and propping it on the coffee table. “What’ll that do?”

“Entertain us,” Jounouchi said.

“Take your mind off family troubles,” Anzu continued.

“And you haven’t heard the whole dare yet. Not only are you to kiss, but you’re to do it like you mean it.” A dark shadow of cleverness fell across Honda’s face, and it became blatantly obvious to Yuugi that his friend was evil beneath that head of brown hair. “And, of course, you have to do it in front of us so you don’t back out.”

Anzu swiped at Yuugi’s foot when he scowled. “Please, you’re acting like we’re torturing you or something.”

“Meddling, absolutely,” Yuugi said.

“You need to get this guy out of your system Yug,” Jounouchi offered. “If he’s distracting you so much that you haven’t even made an advance on him yet, you need to have your fun and get out.”

“Leave it to a man to make it sound like a hit-and-run,” Anzu muttered.

Yuugi rolled his eyes and stood, clasping his hands and stretching his arms high above his head. Releasing a loud sigh he shook himself to loosen his limbs and reached for the pretzel bag. “You’d think I’ve suddenly turned green or something,” he said. “I’m not acting any different around him than I did around you three.”

“You sure about that?” Honda asked.

Yuugi tossed a pretzel into his mouth in lieu of answering that question. “Stop trying to be insightful,” he warned. “It doesn’t suit you.”

“Then prove us wrong,” Jounouchi said.

Yuugi turned his back on his friends and crossed his arms. Just what did they think he needed to prove? That he hadn’t changed? He felt like some taught piece of rope that was being unceremoniously used in a game of tug-of-war. Family tells him to change, friends tell him to stay the same. Maybe the five of them should get together and draw up a plan for his life that they could agree on. It would almost be worth it if it would get everyone off his back.

Perking up when he heard the side door open and close, Yuugi relaxed his arms and waited to see who had come home; his friends had gone quiet in their curiosity as well, momentarily forgetting their ribbing of Yuugi. The sound of shoes being removed and of feet walking up the stairs reached the quartet, shortly followed by a head of deep red hair. Yuugi stiffened when he saw Atemu. There could not have been a worse time for him to come home when his friends were over. Not when they were so adamant in proving a point to Yuugi about his reactions to his latest interest.

“Is that him?” Anzu whispered. She grinned widely when Yuugi nodded his head. “Score.”

“Now’s your chance to prove us wrong,” Jounouchi goaded.

“Get to it man,” Honda said.

“We’ll never let you live it down if you don’t,” Anzu concluded.

And Yuugi knew this was true. His friends were not a bunch who let you forget your embarrassing or less than stellar moments, especially when they were witnesses to the event. He could feel the three of them staring at his back, urging him to jump Atemu with all his prowess. As much as he didn’t want too, he couldn’t stand the pressure his friends were placing on him. He was already tense and edgy from four days of insults, tension, and fighting as a result of being home, not to mention the effort he had put into getting to know Atemu and breaking down his barriers. He couldn’t fathom the added task of bearing the brunt of his friends if they were displeased.

Reacting before he could figure things out, Yuugi called to Atemu to halt his progress into the kitchen. He took hold of Atemu’s wrist and looked him in the eye before placing his free hand behind Atemu’s head and forcing his head down so he could kiss him. He ignored the sudden tension in the other body and focused on the kiss and getting it over with as quickly as possible. Yuugi closed his eyes so he wouldn’t have to watch the confusion that no doubt had plastered itself onto Atemu’s face.

Yuugi knew how to kiss. He knew how to softly invite his partner into applying pressure so they were pushing against each other. He knew how to coax lips apart with a gentle playing of his mouth, parting his lips just enough so the other person would have to follow the gesture in order to maintain the pleasurable contact. Knew how, with just the simplest of nibbles of his partner’s lips, barely involving his teeth but certainly including the softer sides of his tongue, how to make someone’s breath hitch and body lean towards him. And there was no greater pleasure than initiating a sweet French-kiss and, right when things were getting heated, draw away, inducing his partner to follow him and continue the kiss with a little more passion than before. Mutual participation added depth and heat and an overall heady sensation, making a kiss the most beautiful experience in the world.

Yuugi was not employing an ounce of his knowledge of kissing as he held Atemu somewhat stiffly. He felt his own actions to be aggressive, borderline intrusive, as he forced Atemu’s mouth open and plunged his tongue in with no amount of skill or grace. It was kissing for the sake of kissing, with no emotion or reason behind it other than to prove a point to his friends. It didn’t feel right to him. He wasn’t enjoying it, and by Atemu’s shuffling he was pretty sure the other man didn’t like it either. Funny thing was, Atemu wasn’t pulling away completely. He certainly had the strength to stop the kiss. Yuugi’s brows furrowed in confusion, his kiss loosing momentum as Atemu settled into a rigid, but obliging, partner.

Hearing whistles and clapping distracted Yuugi from his thoughts. He withdrew his tongue and lips from Atemu’s mouth and placed them by his ear, whispering a quick, “I’ll explain later Até.” He frowned at Atemu’s grunt and the rough jerk to free his hand and push past Yuugi, marching purposefully back down the stairs. With the slam of the door that led to the backyard Yuugi winced. Atemu was pissed, and Yuugi couldn’t really blame him. He wasn’t happy with himself either.

“Alright Yug!”

“I knew you hadn’t left us!”

“That’s my boy!”

Yuugi turned his back to his friends, directing his scowl to the wall. “Happy now?” he asked, his voice flat.

“And some!” Jounouchi shouted cheerfully. “Sorry we ever doubted you. Same ol’ Yuugi. Wouldn’t have you any other way.”

“Right,” Yuugi said slowly. “Same, old Yuugi.”

----

to be continued…