This is slightly AU. Its based after Joeys match with Marik and instead of having the match straight away, Seto leaves it till the next so he can be with Joey... INCONSPICUOUSLY!

Disclaimer: I shall never, unfortunately own Yugioh. I mean, if I did it would be the BEST yaoi program in the world. And I mean the BEST.

The roomed was deafeningly silent. The only real sound was the beeping of the machines attached to the small body on the bed, and the small sniffs that came from Seto.

He felt crushed. He felt like a right idiot.

Setos eyes trailed down to look at the calm, serene but still unconscious face of Joey Wheeler, his blue orbs glistening.

He'd refused to allow them to land so they could move the blond to a proper hospital, due to the fact that he was determined to beat Yugi, determined to get those stupid god cards and determined to shame Joey as much as possible.

With another sniff, Setos arm tightened around the knees that he'd pulled up onto the chair up to his chest, while his other hand clenched the limp, tan one on the bed even harder. Joeys hands had been freezing when he'd first walked in, in fact the blond was completely frozen all over until Seto had shrugged off his coat and draped it over Joey, after not seeing any spare blankets. After that he'd plopped down ungracefully into the chair closest to the bed and reached out, taking Joeys frozen hand and beginning to gently massage it.

He could feel his heart wanting to burst out of his chest and beat him to death as he stared longingly down at the blond puppy, moisture beginning to gather up in the corners of his eyes. It had torn him apart inside when he'd watched Joey fall to the ground senseless, just moments before he could have actually won the duel.

Anger filled the young CEO as he thought about how much of a moron he'd been. Joey wouldn't have been in this state if he'd just stopped the duel. Stopped it right when Mokuba had said Marik had crossed the line. Right before Ra had gone all out and tried wiping Joey off the face of the earth. If only he hadn't let the thought of how much power Ra had gone to his head, he might have just saved Joey from… from the state he was in now.

"M-Mr K-Kaiba?" he heard a trembling voice ask and he looked beside him to Serenity looking up at him with big brown eyes, no so unlike from her brothers. Seto felt his heart melt the slightest bit when he saw the gentle compassion in those sweet orbs.

"Yes?" he replied simply, not knowing whether to call her Serenity or Miss Wheeler. The girl glanced away from where she was curled up in her chair to gaze at her brother for a long moment before looking back, her eyes settling on Seto own ice blue eyes, the coldness radiating off them making her flinch.

Much like her brother used to. Seto mused, a small smile wanting to attack his lips but he repressed the urge, forcing it back down in the pile of unwanted feelings in his mind.

"Is… Is big brother going to be okay?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper as the fear was firmly set in each word. Seto swallowed with some unknown feeling before tearing his eyes away from the forlorn girl and turned to gaze at the unconscious blond.

Joey was dead silent, even his breathing couldn't be heard and Seto had a sneaky suspicion that there was in fact no natural oxygen leaving or entering the boy besides the air that was being pumped through the oxygen mask. His shirt was pulled right up to just above his pectoral muscles, showing off his perfectly sculptured abs. When Seto had first seen them, he'd had to resist the urge to reach out and run his fingers along the toned skin let alone the urge to just stare at them forever. He couldn't help but let out a snort as he thought that if Mai was awake and in the room, she'd be all over the blond and vice versa.

"Seto?"

The brunet took another moment to stare longingly at the gorgeous face that was framed by soft golden locks, but was covered in cuts and scrapes, the oxygen mask obscuring the view of what Seto knew was perfect cupid lips that were almost always quirked up into a small smile… except when he saw Seto. The brunet felt his heart strings tug with pain as he realised he'd never been one to make those gorgeous eyes and lips light up with delight.

"I hope so."

Serenity nodded as Seto turned back to look at her, seeing the pained look on his face.

"You love him." It wasn't a statement.

"Yes."

Seto saw no reason to delay the inevitable. He did love the blond, so much that it kinda hurt. It didn't occur to him though that he'd just admitted it to Joey sister, who most likely kept no secrets from her older brother, and he couldn't help but cringe on the inside a little.

"Why?"

The CEO snorted to himself as he started to stroke the back of Joeys hand with his thumb, contemplating over whether he should tell the girl or not.

Why not?

"Mokuba asked me the same thing a while ago," he started, trying to figure out if he should be looking at Joey or Serenity as he talked, before finally settling on the girl beside him, refusing to let go of Joeys hand though. There was a small pause before he continued. "I didn't know how to reply. I didn't love Joey at the time, hell it was just after Duelist Kingdom and I was to busy making sure Mokuba would be okay alone again instead of worrying about my feelings towards my arch rival. But a few weeks later, right before I began this stupid tournament-"

Serenity's eyebrows rose as he said that, not quite believing that Seto could actually say such common words as 'hell' or 'stupid', let alone insult something of his own creation.

"-I woke up one morning and realised that I missed the insufferable dog," Seto muttered, but Serenity could hear the fondness in his voice even though he turned away to gaze at his object of affection. "I missed the fights, the glares, the occasional half-decent conversations we had. But I refused to admit the feelings as anything but a possible want for friendship."

He fell silent, his head spinning with multiple emotions. He took a moment to rearrange himself, stretching out his right leg in front of him before allowing it to drop to the ground, but he left his left leg still bent, his heel on the tip of the chair while his free hand settle on top of his knee. It made him jump though when a small, smooth hand reached out over top of his.

"Was that when you fell in love with him?" the owner of the hand asked, her big eyes staring up at him. Seto sighed and shook his head, surprised when he wasn't actually bothered by the affectionate touch he was receiving.

"No. I was raised by my stepfather to see all feelings as a weakness, Serenity. Something to twist and use to some one else's advantage," he gave a snort before his lips twitched. Serenity knew it wasn't a smile, especially when she saw the hollow eyes and worn out face that belonged to the CEO. "I grounded them down, pushed them away."

Silence rang around the room once again and Serenity could feel her heart breaking, the urge to reach out and hug Seto so great she almost acted on it. Instead though, she just smile knowingly at him.

"But you'd accepted them by Joey and Yugis battle over the harbor, hadn't you?"

Seto gave her an alarmed look, his eyebrows raised. "How-"

"You weren't exactly subtle." Serenity laughed. "It was obvious."

"But… you were-"

"Blind?" she asked, cocking her head to the side before giving him a small smile. "Mr-"

"Seto."

"-Seto," she smiled at the use of his name, and Seto grimaced. If it wasn't for him calling her Serenity, he wouldn't allow her to use his first name. But an eye for and eye was the way to go. Shaking his head, he tuned back in to listen to the young Wheeler.

"I was blind for a long time Seto. You should know that I would've relied on my other senses during that time." Her smile turned bittersweet for a moment and she gazed over at her brother. "I couldn't see peoples faces to read emotions, so I heard it in their voices. I heard the tremors, the way they became stronger-" she lifted her gaze back onto the stunned brunet, fixing him with a compassionate look, "-the way they sounded desperate, broken, hopeful, loving."

Setos heart rate went up a notch as Serenity said those words. When he'd called out to Joey, he'd always said neutral or insulting things, always kept his face impassive, always tried to maintain the look of one who didn't care. He'd never bothered to think about what could have been told from his voice.

"May I ask again? When did you fall in love with him?" Serenity pressed, having allowed Seto to mull things over for a minute or so. It surprised her when he refused to look at her when he answered.

"When he challenged me to a duel."

"Which time?" Serenity laughed, smiling sweetly. Seto smirked and glanced at the unconscious blond, remembering every time that Joey had ever challenged him to a duel.

"After he beat those Roba brothers." A small fond smile appeared on the brunets face and Serenity couldn't help but think how beautiful the man sitting beside her was. Her brother was truly lucky to have one such as Seto in love with him. Well, maybe not in love… but a girl can dream right?

A small yawn escaped Serenity's lips and Seto's smile remained as he looked at the tired girl, thinking of Mokuba as he did so. The boy was currently wrapped up in Setos bed, possibly awake, waiting for his older brother to come back and cuddle him back to sleep. It stunned him when Serenity sudden leaned over and rested her head on Setos shoulder, closing her eyes as she snuggled into Setos side.

"Look after him Seto," she whispered, another yawn interrupting her for a moment before she continued, "He's my only brother."

The brunet didn't reply, but just nodded his head as he fell into deep thought, becoming unaware of the girl slumbering beside and on him and focussing entirely on the hands he still held clasped in his own. Serenity had not let go of his, and he had not let go of Joeys. His thumb flicked over the tan knuckles of the blond as he stared at that gorgeous face.

He wondered if Joey maybe liked him. Serenity hadn't given any sign to not pursue her brother, in fact she'd subtlety encouraged it, but did that mean the blond liked him?

The hiss of the door sliding open interrupted his train of thoughts and he couldn't help but mentally groan as Joeys friends filed into the room, most wrapped in blankets and holding steaming mugs. He instantly assumed they'd come to watch over Joey so he let go of the blonds hand, making sure the others wouldn't see his display of affection.

"Kaiba? What are you doing here?" Yugi asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion.

"Leaving."

He got to his feet, mindful of Serenity's dead weight before raising his eyes as he held her in place. Tea seemed to instantly get the message and raced over, sitting in Setos seat and taking the girls weight. Stepping back, Seto snagged the blankets off of Tristan and covered Serenity in one.

"This is weird…" he heard Duke and Tristan comment to Yugi, but he ignored them and turned to Joey instead. He delicately pulled off his coat and draped it over his shoulder before gently spreading the blanket over the no longer cold body of Joeys. He bent forward for a moment, angling his body so the others would think he was just hiking up the blanket, but instead he placed his face close to Joeys ear.

"Stay strong," he whispered, "We… I need you."

As he pulled back, he placed a gentle kiss to Joeys temple, closing his eyes and enjoying the feel of the blonds skin against his lips

With one last squeeze of Joeys hand, Seto left the room, ignoring the confused looks of the others and threw on his coat.

He smiled when he smelled the familiar fragrance of Joey etched onto the material

Hope you liked it! Please drop a review! Even if its not that good, although I'm only new to writing Puppyshipping...

R&R