Four Seasons of Love

Thank you to everyone who’s read the story.

~:+:~

Jou loved Yuugi in the spring when the world came to life, fresh and new like their relationship. At first they tried to keep it quiet and to themselves, but it proved difficult to have alone time when it simply sounded like two friends making plans to hang out or go for dinner. So, after many potential dates had been imposed on by unsuspecting friends, Jou and Yuugi came to the decision it was best to let their friends in on their little secret. They were trying to figure it out one day when their problem was solved by Honda.

“What are you two up to?” Honda demanded one afternoon when he, Jou, Yuugi, and Anzu were sitting at a booth at Burger World.

“Which two of us do you mean?” Anzu wondered.

“The other two. Jou and Yuugi have been weird since Jou’s birthday,” Honda tried to back up his theory.

Jou remembered his birthday very well. Yuugi had made a big fuss about it and Jou wondered if that would not tip off the people they knew to their clandestine activities. Luckily, Anzu, Shizuka, and Honda had all been busy the actual night of Jou’s birthday so he and Yuugi were able to have a romantic dinner and Yuugi had convinced his grandfather to let Jou spend the night at their place. It was the first time they had slept in the same bed since they had started dating and Jou had been happy to fall asleep with his arms around Yuugi’s warm body.

“I know,” Anzu agreed with Honda and pulled Jou from his reminiscing. “I feel like you guys are hiding something from us.”

“Ooh, my birthday’s coming up, are you planning something?” Honda looked excited.

“Sorry, pal, that’s not it,” Jou shook his head.

“Fine, but you’ll see how big a deal I make over your next birthday,” Honda harrumphed.

“Oh, get a grip,” Anzu rolled her eyes. “You said that’s not it, Jou, that means that something is it, right? Well, come on.”

“Okay, but you have to promise not to overreact. Either of you,” Jou glared at Anzu and Honda and, out of the corner of his eye, he could see Yuugi’s cheeks burning with colour.

“Would I overreact to anything you could tell me?” Honda looked affronted.

“Neither of us will overreact,” Anzu put her hand on Honda’s arm as she promised this.

“Yuugi and I are…” Jou realized revealing their relationship was going to be harder than he had previously thought.

“Dating,” Yuugi added, the colour high in his face, but he did not look ashamed and Jou could have kissed him then and there for his bravery.

The reaction this elicited from Honda and Anzu was muted compared to what Jou had expected from them. True, Honda fell off his chair and Anzu was rendered speechless, but the aftermath was better than Jou could have hoped. Yuugi took his hand and they faced their friends together. Anzu, as usual, was the first to gather her wits and she smiled at them.

“Wow, you two. Honestly, I never saw it coming,” she admitted. “Honda get off the floor. I doubt it’s been washed this week.”

“I don’t know if I can move. Ouch!” Honda was unceremoniously dragged up from the floor by his ear by Anzu.

“Listen, you need to sit here and be happy for them because (look at them) they're happy. We are their friends and they need our support,” Anzu instructed.

“I'm happy. I'm allowed to be a little shocked, though,” Honda defended. “Since when has this been going on?”

“Since New Year’s Eve,” Jou informed. “You two are being really cool about this.”

“This isn't the calm before the storm, is it?” Yuugi looked nervous and Jou gently squeezed his hand.

“Don’t be silly,” Anzu still looked a little dazed, but she smiled.

“New Year’s Eve? It’s April! That’s four months and you didn’t tell us sooner?” Honda had moved on from being surprised to being affronted again. “Wait a minute, that time you two were going to that restaurant and I asked if I could come, that wasn’t a date; was it?”

“Yes, Honda, it was,” Yuugi nodded.

“And that time Anzu and I tagged along with you to the movies?” Honda continued.

“That would be another date you ruined,” Jou pressed his lips together.

“We’ve been cock-blocking them,” Honda looked embarrassed at his actions and Anzu looked embarrassed at the term. “Are you two having sex?”

“Honda!” Anzu looked positively mortified. “You can’t just ask these things. What if I was dating someone and we were out for dinner. You wouldn’t just ask him if he was sleeping with me.”

“This is different, they're both our friends,” Honda rationalized.

“It’s still totally personal!” Anzu fairly shrieked. “Don’t answer his question, guys. Even if you are, I don’t want to know.”

“Relax, Anzu, we're going slowly,” Jou assured her.

In fact, they were taking things painfully slowly in Jou’s opinion. Jou and Yuugi had been together four months and they had only just begun exploring each other’s bodies. Yuugi had not even allowed Jou to see him naked; when they had slept together on Jou’s birthday, Yuugi had still insisted on changing in the bathroom.

“That’s way too much information,” Honda faked vomiting on the floor.

“You're the one who asked!” Yuugi looked incredulous.

“Right. Something I'm deeply regretting right about now,” Honda neatly avoided being hit in the back of the head by Anzu.

“Well, I'm happy for you,” Anzu declared. “I have to go to dance class, but I’ll see you in school on Monday.”

“Bye, Anzu,” the boys said together and watched her leave.

“So,” Honda immediately looked uncomfortable.

“We're the same as we used to be, we're just together now,” Jou said, trying to reassure Honda. “You didn’t treat us any differently between January and yesterday.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t know,” Honda explained. “Now that I know, it’s like I've lost some guy friends.”

“Lost guy friends?” Yuugi was obviously confused. “Did we switch genders?”

“Okay, so maybe I didn’t lose guy friends, but it’s different. Who am I going to check out girls with now that you like guys?” Honda demanded of Jou.

“I always liked guys. That never stopped us from checking out girls before, I like both,” Jou shrugged.

“But I didn’t know,” Honda repeated. “And even if you do like both, it’s not as though you and I can go cruising when you’ve got a boyfriend.”

“When did we ever go cruising?” Jou pointed out realistically.

“And now we never can,” Honda exclaimed dramatically. “Don’t get me wrong, I'm happy for you guys—”

“Sure sounds like it,” Jou grumbled.

“I am. You two are the cutest guy/guy couple I know. But things are going to change,” Honda predicted. “Just wait and see.”

“They don’t have to change,” Jou protested.

As it turned out, things hardly changed at all in Jou’s opinion (which was grudgingly back up by Honda when asked), there were just fewer group outings and more dates. At school, they still ate lunch together and, when they were out the four of them, Jou and Yuugi kept their couple-ness to a bare minimum to avoid making Honda and Anzu feel uncomfortable. Ryuji had reacted calmly to seeing Yuugi and Jou as boyfriends and Shizuka was overjoyed for them.

Eventually, Yuugi decided they should tell his grandfather about their relationship; it was not that Jou disagreed with this idea, but he worried about the older man’s reaction to the news. Firstly, Jou did not want Sugoroku to have a heart attack upon hearing his grandson, his pride and joy, was gay. Secondly, Jou did not want to be banned from the Moto house as it was his place of refuge from his crazy home life. Jou had no idea what he would do if Gramps threw him out of his house on the spot.

“Grandpa,” Yuugi called into the living room one Friday night after he and Jou had cleaned up the dinner dishes.

“Yes, Yuugi?” Sugoroku came into the kitchen.

“I have something to tell you,” Yuugi continued. “I don’t know if you're going to like what I have to say, but, please, just hear me out.”

“Of course,” Sugoroku shot Jou a questioning glance, but Jou tried to keep his face as blank as possible.

“Well, Grandpa, I'm gay. I've known for a while now, but I didn’t want to tell you until I was serious about someone. Jou and I have been dating for a few months and…it’s serious,” Yuugi did not say this rapidly. Rather, it all flowed out consciously and coherently, and Jou was impressed at his boyfriend’s eloquence.

Sugoroku said nothing for a moment then his face broke into a smile. “Katsuya, didn’t I tell you that cooking was the way to this young man’s stomach?”

“Yes, Gramps,” Jou felt himself go scarlet.

“You're okay with this Grandpa?” Yuugi was making sure, but Jou thought he should not try to push their luck.

“If you’re happy, I'm okay with just about anything,” Sugoroku declared. “I have one condition.”

“Keep the door unlocked?” Yuugi guessed.

“Good lord, no! I may be okay with it, but I don’t want to walk in on you. Just be safe. You hear so much about those sexually transmitted diseases these days,” Sugoroku looked concerned.

“They call them sexually transmitted infections now,” Yuugi corrected automatically. “Wait, Jou and I can still have sleepovers?”

“The same rules apply,” Sugoroku shrugged. “Not on school nights and you have to have permission from Katsuya’s father, but you're both almost adults and you're going to do it with our without my blessing. I might as well accept it.”

“Thanks, Grandpa,” Yuugi gave Sugoroku a hug.

“Thanks, Gramps,” Jou shook Sugoroku’s extended hand.

“If you hurt my grandson, I will hire a couple of thugs to make you hurt,” Sugoroku threatened jokingly.

“Yes, Sir,” Jou nodded solemnly.

“I think he was kidding, Jou,” Yuugi sounded uncertain.

“Was I?” Sugoroku looked at his grandson and then laughed. “Whether I was or not, I know you’ll do your best to keep him happy.”

“I will,” Jou nodded again.

“Grandpa, we’re done the dishes, can we go upstairs?” Yuugi inquired.

“Of course. Heaven forbid you spend time with your dear old grandfather before he shuffles off this mortal coil,” Sugoroku teased.

“You're not even close to dying, Grandpa. Jou and I are going up to my room, I'm sure you can find some way to entertain yourself,” Yuugi rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Good night boys,” Sugoroku gave Yuugi and affectionate pat on the shoulder and the teenagers went upstairs.

“Your grandpa took that really well,” Jou observed.

“Yeah. But he's good like that,” Yuugi explained. “He takes some things in his stride. Even though he can make a big deal about little things on occasion, big things are always met with a cool head and an open mind.”

“That’s good. I was half afraid he was going to die of shock when we told him. Or forcibly remove me from the building,” Jou confessed.

“He would never do that. He likes you too much,” Yuugi assured confidently.

“Let’s hope it stays that way,” Jou crossed his fingers.

“Just don’t break my heart,” Yuugi advised.

“I will do my very best,” Jou promised, taking Yuugi in his arms and kissing him. “Yuug’, I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Yuugi replied immediately. “It’s not too early for me to say that, is it?”

“Only if it’s too early for me to say it. I did say it first,” Jou smiled and sat on Yuugi’s bed. “I meant it, Yuug’. There’s no one in the world I care about like I care about you.”

“Thanks, Jou,” Yuugi sat next to Jou and rested his head against Jou’s arm.

“Now, lie back,” Jou instructed. “I'm not going to do anything but kiss you, I swear.”

“Okay,” Yuugi looked like he had no problem with this arrangement and happily lay back on his bed.

Jou covered Yuugi’s body with his own, but rested his weight on his legs and arms so as not to crush the other boy. Yuugi put his hands on Jou’s shoulders and tilted his head up to meet Jou’s lips with his, moaning a little as the kiss deepened. The blonde boy broke the kiss to undo Yuugi’s choker, pepper kisses along Yuugi’s neck, and run his hands over Yuugi’s body. The smaller boy wriggled in pleasure and the hands that had been resting innocently on Jou’s shoulder began to roam, touching his face, chest, and…

“Hey!” Jou yelped in surprise, he had been enthralled in suckling at Yuugi’s collarbone when an astonishingly adventurous pair of hands had slipped over his rear end.

“I'm sorry?” Yuugi said, not looking the least repentant.

“Don’t be sorry,” Jou nipped at Yuugi’s neck. “I was just surprised to feel you touching my ass. Someone’s getting bold.”

“I wanted to pull you closer,” Yuugi explained.

“Closer, huh?” Jou stopped bracing himself around Yuugi and collapsed onto the smaller boy. “How’s this for close?”

“Perfect,” was Yuugi’s strangled reply. “If only I could breathe.”

“Breathing is overrated,” Jou nuzzled Yuugi’s neck, but shifted his weight.

“Thank you,” Yuugi took a deep breath.

They resumed kissing and Jou was taken aback at how unapologetically Yuugi’s hands were exploring his body, they touched Jou all over, even brushing against his crotch which had Jou arching his back and holding back a moan. That did not seem to satisfy Yuugi who began to rub Jou’s most sensitive area through his jeans, the repeated friction broke Jou’s restraint into pieces and he began to lean into the touches and moan. Yuugi grinned against Jou’s lips and moved Jou’s hand under his shirt. Jou felt himself harden even more as his hands traveled the soft expanse of Yuugi’s bare torso, he removed his hands from under Yuugi’s shirt and, reluctantly breaking the kiss, Jou lifted it over his boyfriend’s head and threw it on the floor, immediately followed by his own.

“We’re not going to take this further than you want,” Jou assured Yuugi, lightly running his fingers down Yuugi’s sides.

“I don’t know how much I want to do,” Yuugi looked torn between pleasure and fear.

“Say the word and we stop,” Jou looked into Yuugi’s eyes then kissed him on the forehead. “I won’t do anything you don’t want. I love you.”

“I trust you,” Yuugi nodded.

“Good,” Jou wrapped his arms around Yuugi and flipped them so Yuugi was on top of Jou.

The feeling of Yuugi’s chest against his almost sent Jou’s senses into overload, it was warm and he could feel the other’s heart pounding. Jou tried to calm Yuugi by rubbing circles on his back and not moving his hands from their places, but when Yuugi was tweaking his nipple, there was nothing he could do but cup Yuugi’s behind and knead it. Yuugi took deep shuddering breaths through his mouth and Jou looked at him, concern etched in his face.

“Yuug’, you okay?” Jou put his hands on Yuugi’s shoulders and furrowed his brow.

“I don’t know what I'm doing,” Yuugi enlightened.

“What do you mean?” Jou struggled into a seated position.

“There’s so much I'm feeling and so much I want to do, and I'm scared,” Yuugi continued.

“Hey, there’s no reason to be scared. It’s just us, just the two of us,” Jou put his arms around Yuugi’s shoulders. “You don’t need to be scared with me.”

“I know, but I'm not scared of you. I'm scared of… I don’t know why I'm scared I guess,” Yuugi looked frustrated.

“You feel whatever you need to feel, I'm here,” Jou promised.

“And there you go again,” Yuugi laughed a little.

“Again? What am I doing?” Jou was confused.

“Making me want to jump on you and let you,” Yuugi paused, “fuck me.”

“You said fuck. Yuug’ you never say fuck,” Jou wondered what kind of effect he was having on Yuugi.

“That’s what you do to me, I want to be…” Yuugi coloured. “But, like I said, I'm scared.”

“There’s no rush,” Jou told Yuugi. “We’ll get there when we get there.”

“We’ll get there, though?” Yuugi looked hopeful.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt of that,” Jou looked at Yuugi’s lap and saw his own state or arousal mirrored there. “I think we should do something else until bedtime.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Yuugi bit his lip.

“I mean, we can continue, but I'm going to need some release before I go to sleep if you keep getting me hot and bothered,” Jou gave Yuugi a lopsided grin.

“Do you have your deck? We could duel,” Yuugi suggested.

They dueled and Jou actually held his own for a while, but it was nearly one in the morning by the time they finished and they agreed it was time for bed. Yuugi still changed in the bathroom, but when he returned to the bedroom, he was only in his pyjama bottoms and Jou grinned at his boyfriend’s bashful expression. Jou, who was already lying in bed, pretended to wolf whistle which made the smaller teen’s cheeks turn pink.

For the next couple of weeks sex was a non-issue as they spent a lot of time with Honda and Anzu making plans for Honda’s birthday; Honda was excited and Jou felt it was his duty to be excited with and for his friend. After Honda’s birthday, there were a lot of group outings and Honda invited Yuugi and Jou to sleep over at his house which left little time for the latter two to have much time alone. One afternoon, the four friends went to a movie and Jou and Yuugi trailed behind Honda and Anzu, talking heatedly.

“Come on, Yuug’, no one’s even looking,” Jou swivelled his head around, scoping out who could be looking at them.

“People move around, Jou,” Yuugi stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“Why are you so scared of someone seeing us holding hands?” Jou demanded.

“Not everyone is as accepting of us as my grandpa and our friends,” Yuugi explained.

“Can we cuddle in the theatre at least?” Jou requested.

“Someone’s very touchy-feely today,” Yuugi observed.

“You're my boyfriend, I want to be able to touch and feel you,” Jou retorted. “It’s holding hands for Christ’s sake, I'm not asking for a blow job here in the middle of the parking lot.”

“Jou!” Yuugi hissed, flushing.

“Loosen up, Yuug’,” Jou laughed harshly.

“Meaning “do what I say or you’re too uptight”,” Yuugi interpreted.

“Meaning “I love you and I want to hold your damn hand”,” Jou corrected. “But you are a little too uptight.”

“I'm interested in self-preservation,” Yuugi grumbled, but took Jou’s proffered hand.

“That’s better,” Jou smiled and squeezed Yuugi’s hand.

They watched the movie with Honda and Anzu, and Jou made sure to hold Yuugi’s hand tightly throughout so he could not get away. After the movie, Jou and Yuugi went to the park where the trees were growing brand new leaves and the ducks were walking with their brand new ducklings. Hand in hand they strolled along the paths, Jou was glad Yuugi had relaxed a little, but then he had the sense something was wrong. Jou noticed there were two men following them and muttering to each other.

“Yuug’, let’s take a right here,” Jou indicated a break in the path.

“Sure,” Yuugi agreed.

“Hey, you two have a problem?” Jou asked of the two men walking behind him and his boyfriend.

“I have a problem,” one of the guys grimaced. “I have a problem with fairies.”

“Me, too, Al,” the second guy cracked his knuckles.

“We’re not hurting anyone. Why don’t you two just leave us alone,” Jou dropped Yuugi’s hand and glared at the men.

“You know, we could, but then you wouldn’t learn your lesson,” Al glared at them. “You know what I think, Bob? I think we should teach these two that it’s not a great idea to flaunt your sexuality in the faces of those who would rather not know.”

“We passed another couple, a few metres back, holding hands. You going to beat them up, too?” Jou sounded a lot braver than he felt. It was one thing to defend Yuugi from high school bullies, but these were two grown men and Jou was one teenager, but he would be damned if he let them get away with saying what they were saying.

“There’s nothing unnatural about an old man and his wife walking hand in hand,” Bob advanced on Jou.

“There’s nothing unnatural about this either,” Jou knew it would only provoke the men, but he was pissed, so he kissed Yuugi on the lips. "What are you doing" was written all over Yuugi’s face, but Jou thought he had come up with a plan.

“So, they're frisky,” Al looked angrier as Jou held Yuugi.

“Gets my blood boiling,” Bob scowled.

“You liked that? How about this?” Jou thrust his tongue into Yuugi’s mouth, holding on tightly to his boyfriend because he knew the smaller teen would fall over without his physical support.

“Hey, Al, what if they have AIDS?” Bob whispered loudly enough for Jou to hear.

“You're scared of AIDS, huh?” Jou let go of Yuugi and moved closer to the two men. “What if we do have it? You going to risk swapping bodily fluids with me? Because there’s no way you could “teach me a lesson” without beating it into me.”

“Is he threatening us?” Bob was visibly scared now.

“He doesn’t have AIDS,” Al barked.

“Bet your life on it?” Jou cocked an eyebrow. “I've heard it takes up to ten years to intubate—”

“Incubate,” Yuugi corrected, looking scared, but also slightly amused.

“Thank you. It takes up to ten years to show up. I might not even know I have it yet, but it’s there,” Jou taunted.

“I'm not risking it,” Bob took off running.

“And you?” Jou felt he could take on one by himself if necessary.

“You know what, Fairy,” Al forced all his venom into the last word, “it might almost be worth it to put you and your “friend” in traction.”

“Come on, then,” Jou clenched his fists.

“No, it’s not worth it,” Al shook his head. “Two infected queers aren’t going to fuck up my life. I'm out of here.”

“Nice meeting you,” Jou called out as Al stalked away from them. “Guess my plan worked.”

“You had a plan?” Yuugi’s voice was shrill.

“Of course. Got them thinking about us having AIDS,” Jou had to admit he was pretty proud of himself and what he had done. “You don’t think I could have taken them on by myself, do you?”

“I was hoping you weren’t going to try,” Yuugi still looked shaken.

“Then I needed a plan to get us out of here without a scratch,” Jou put his arm around Yuugi’s shoulder.

“You realize this proves my earlier point,” Yuugi said as they started walking again.

“Which one?” Jou asked.

“The self-preservation one when we hold hands. We were nearly beaten for holding hands,” Yuugi reminded.

“What’s life without a little excitement?” Jou wondered, taking up Yuugi’s hand.

“You're going to get me killed one of these days,” Yuugi sighed, but did not let go of Jou.

“I will never let that happen,” Jou promised. “It’s us against the world, Yuug’.”

“That’s a depressing point of view. I like to think we have a few people on our side,” Yuugi mused. “Grandpa, and our friends, and your sister are with us.”

“You're full of points today,” Jou chuckled.

“Well, you can’t just write off the people who care about us,” Yuugi insisted. “Are you going to tell your dad?”

Jou thought about that for a moment. Yes, his father was still working on his sobriety and on being a better and more supportive father, but Jou was hesitant to reveal his sexuality to his father. “No, not yet.”

“I understand,” Yuugi’s face was hard to read. “I guess we won’t be spending nights at your place anytime soon.”

“You want to sleep at that hell-hole?” Jou queried.

“It’s not so bad,” Yuugi lied.

“You know you like sleeping in your own bed,” Jou pulled Yuugi close to his body. “At my place, you're going to have to sleep in a sleeping bag.”

“I wouldn’t get to crawl into your bed and snuggle with you?” Yuugi was so adorable Jou had to kiss him. “Why’d you do that?”

“You're too cute sometimes,” Jou grinned.

“I am?” Yuugi blinked.

“You are. You know, I think I'm going to keep you,” Jou kissed Yuugi on the cheek. “God, I love you.”

The world may have been an imperfect place, but for the moment, the love between Jou and Yuugi was all the former needed to feel perfection. Jou loved Yuugi in the spring when they were building up their relationship and falling in love with each other. Jou loved Yuugi all year long.