OMG.

Here it is. The Epi…

Eep.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters of Yu-Gi-Oh! They all belong to Kazuki Takahashi! But I do own the plot X3.

WARNING: This contains alotta shounen-ai and alotta Yaoi . Meaning boyxboy shit. Fuck off if you find it offensive.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O- Indicates end of scene. Because, c'mon, you can tell which one's a dream and which one's real, right?

THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE REVIEWS! I will now not give personalized reviews, because this story has reached over 100 reviews, on this site and others! Plus, we aren't allowed to do it anymore! But thank you for supporting me despite the lack of updates!

When All Else Fails, Chapter 16

I'm searching for something
That's so hard to find
I'm falling down mountains
I can't seem to climb
Driving down highways
That don't have an end
I can't find the sign, am I lost again
When all else fails - You will be there
When all else fails - I'll hold on to you
When all else fails - You'll still be there
When all else fails - I'll turn to you
I'm selfish and jealous
I'm proud and a fool
I'm walking with strangers
And strangers are cruel
I'm praying to gods
That I don't even know
I'm ready and willing
Where do I go?
When all else fails - You will be there
When all else fails - I'll hold on to you
When all else fails - You'll still be there
When all else fails - I'll turn to you
I know I might be mistake
But it's the chance I'm taking
I'm walking on the wire
I have been burned by temptation
I'm drawn into that fire
I'm lost in my desire
When all else fails - You will be there
When all else fails - I'll hold on to you
When all else fails - You'll still be there
When all else fails - I'll turn to you
-John Farnham

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

"Don't look at him, Katsuya. Don't look at him and you'll be fine."

Those were the words Kaiba had spoken to him before the trail had began, and even if his voice was calm and wholly unaffected, the words had a twinge of anxiety in the way they were worded.

Funny that, after something like a week, he could tell when the brunet was worried.

The trail had gone well- no hitches, no disruptions, the judge was calm and fair and the jury wasn't judging him by his appearance.

(Probably because Kaiba had bought him a suit and said that Jou would have to pay him back later. He probably never would, even if he tried. The taller teen would probably brush it off and make Jou pay for pizza for the next week or something. So, in a way, he wouldn't really be paying.

Never the less, the suit looked slightly odd on him; one sleeve had no substance in it and the lapels were left open, since his arm was still attached to his side. That was doing okay, too. He had no infections or anything. Just the twitchy pain that came and went.)

And Mea, who had been found days later, beaten up and in her 'boyfriend's' apartment, had been confident and explained in full detail what had happened, not flinching for the descriptions she gave or from the horrible pain her face must have been causing her. She had another trial coming up soon, a much more important one then this, too. At any rate, he was glad she had been found.

Not to mention the fact that Kaiba had hired some investigators to help and find his friend.

There were plenty of rumors about him and Kaiba, too, of course; what with the big piggy-back ride incident and the fact that Kaiba had stayed by his side the entire time. But the brunet ignored them all, or made up elaborate (but believable) excuses for all the points the press threw at them. After a few days, the rumors had died down and the trial had began.

The rumors were probably picked up again when Kaiba had shown up with him, he was sure.

He tried not moving his arm as his sister clung to it desperately, causing the blood flow to cut off. He had to be strong, for her, at least.

They had decided to keep their relationship under wraps, until Mokuba ran the company, or they both decided that the world was comfortable enough with homosexuality to come out about it. He really hoped that day was soon.

He was generally an open person, yeah. He'd have shouted from the buildings roofs that he was dating Seto Kaiba, hottest millionaire on the planet and the greatest thing to happen since Duel Monsters. But since Kaiba liked his secrets, and since Jou… loved him (he'd have to get used to the fact that he loved Seto Kaiba, his ex-enemy), he was compliant with his boyfriend's demands.

Never mind the fact that he'd used some… persuasive methods.

As if the object of his thoughts knew what he was thinking, a small nudge was administered to his foot and he looked up curiously to the other boy, who stared straight ahead as the Judge spoke.

"We will take a recess so that the Jury can decide it's verdict and it's punishment for Mr. Okada Jounouchi. The trail will take place tomorrow morning, on November16th, at 11:00 am. You're all dismissed."

Before he (or his sister, who had her head stuffed into his shoulder) could look left, to the glass case where the offenders were kept, the older Jounouchi was led away and they were left sitting as everyone got up and shuffled out of the small courtroom.

They sat there for a few more seconds before Shizuka shivered, and it was only then that they stood up and left the courtroom.

The flashes of light from the cameras was numbing, to say the least- but, making sure that they were far apart, with the only contact between them being Shizuka's accidental bumping into the tall CEO, they filed into the limo silently, taking off without hesitation.

The ride to the hotel where Shizuka and their mom were staying at was entirely silent, only broken by the breathing and slight hitches of his sister's breath.

He felt bitter that mom hadn't felt the need to come and comfort her daughter on the day of her father's trail. Even if his mom hadn't wanted to see her ex-husband under the pretense that it was too painful to do so, it had been a very selfish decision on her part.

As soon as Jounouchi had seen Shizuka up to her room, made sure she was going to be OK, said goodbye because she had to leave the next day, mother had to work, and got into the vehicle, the ever-silent brunet shifted his eyes towards the blond and ordered that the car be started, waiting until they had pulled out into the street before speaking.

"You weren't paying attention."

He chose to stay silent for this, snickering in the back of his mind about how the roles had been reversed. He was the silent asshole and Kaiba was the oh-so talkative one. At least he had reasons to be an asshole.

… Not that Kaiba didn't. But beside the point.

Kaiba's voice rang in his ear and he snuck a glance at him, noting that Kaiba was calmly sitting, poised and elegant, even if his whole body screamed 'tense!'.

"What were you thinking about?"

… Touchy-feely stuff. Eck.

He guessed he needed it though, right? His dad was going through a big ass trail and… well… At least the brunet was trying to be there.

Not that he could say that for his mother or father.

The shorter teen took a moment to answer, and his voice was quiet. "You."

… Goddamn honesty! He sounded like he was… in love and sighing and all that lovey-dove crap.

Seto took it in a stride though, voice calm and collected and steady, as it always was. "What about me?"

… Talkative today, aren't we, Kaiba?

Another pause before he spoke.

"You're.. Always there! Not that's it's a bad thing…" He said quickly, shifting his eyes to the streets of Domino instead of the boy who was sitting next to him. "But… You're always there. You are. It's different for me. And… Well… Shit. You're there."

… He wasn't a master of being articulate. No siree.

The blond held in a sigh or a scream of frustration, he didn't know which.

When the brunet 'hmm'ed', though, and they pulled up to the drive way, he felt like Seto knew what he was talking about, anyway.

The blue-eyed boy never ceased to amaze him with all that smart in his head.

When they got into Kaiba's house (mansion. Whatever), Jou immediately started walking to the room he was staying in, even if it was only 2:00 in the afternoon and he wasn't sleepy or tired, even if he had stayed up all night an-

A hand gently snagged his wrist and he and his thought process paused, looking back at the silent brunet who stared silently back at him.

Without a word, he let himself be taken to Kaiba's room, his hand relaxing and traveling down until he held the other's hand freely in his own.

Kaiba would never cease to amaze him, no. He looked at the back of the brunet's head and, all of a sudden, felt like sobbing. He didn't deserve this, Kaiba was too good for him, ever-

As if he sensed Jou's distress, his lover turned around and pinned him with a stare that made his thoughts halt and his breathe quicken

Once inside the room, the tall teen locked the door and pushed him against the door, kissing his lips tenderly and holding both of his hands together. The blond thankfully gave into the kiss, melting and mind going blanker than it had been before.

This was one thing Kaiba was good for: taking his mind off anything, no matter what the case. He didn't want to think about his father's ugly face, staring at him hatefully from the glass, mouthing soundless obscenities and death threats-

Kaiba took his bottom lip into his mouth and he was fully distracted again, breathing through his nose as he pushed himself against the other.

Seto was eve-

The kiss got more passionate, hands flying away from each other to clutch something more solid, something to keep them both held down and together.

They stumbled towards the bed when Jou started to push Kaiba's suit jacket off, and, after a brief struggle to take off both of their shirts, they landed on the bed, Jou beneath the CEO and his right arm clutching his shoulder tight.

And, out of nowhere, a flash of what would happen to his dad came to him, in prison, lonely, dying without his family and being hated by many people… Crying and hating…

He let out a small gasp as Kaiba bit his neck lightly.

His thoughts were… they were-

Shutting his eyes, he arched up into his boyfriend, the sigh he let out sounding more of a pained whimper. He felt Seto hesitate.

Had his father ever thought he'd end up like this when he was younger? In prison for disrespecting women? He had seen a picture of his father when he was younger- handsome, smiling, fit, with his arm around two of his nameless friends. Had his father wanted to become this?

Seto seemed to finally realize that the sigh/whimper had been one of pain, but before he could lift his head and ask what was wrong, the blond slid his good arm around Kaiba's neck and firmly held it there.

"I-umm… sorry, I'm sorry…"

Without realizing it, Jou clutched his eyes shut and tried not to let any tears drop, despite the fact that his cheeks were already wet and dampening his lover's hair.

"Just… uh… Don't look at me, alright, Kaiba?… please?"

The other teen wrapped his arms around Jou silently in comfort, as if telling him that it was all going to be ok (with 'maybe' fading in the background).

It was only when Jou finally fell asleep before the brunet sighed, not even bothering to lift his head and instead rolling over so that he lay beside Jou with his eyes closed.

Jou wouldn't like him seeing him crying in his sleep, anyways.

-----------------

"Jounouchi-kun, a word please…"

"What is going to…"

"Jounouchi! How do you feel about your father's sent-"

Fucking paparazzi. Sure, he had dreams about being a big-ass movie star when he was younger, but now that he was being subjected to this, he hoped that he grew up to be a modest-living whatever-he'd-be.

It wasn't even him that was 'famous'. It was his Dad, for fuck's sake!

Tucking his shoulders into himself as he barreled through the crowd with a couple of police officers holding most of the camera equipment and excitable news-dogs away, he scowled. Every time he saw Kaiba on TV, he saw him wearing sunglasses or farther away from the press. Now he knew why. At this rate, he was going to be blind.

The black limo awaited him, door wide open and two more officers holding back eager protestors, with signs such as 'Rights For Women!', and 'Better Sentences for Perverts!' and other various slogans.

Before he barreled into the much needed darkness of the vehicle, he turned around and waved at Mea Tenako, who smiled sweetly (even though he knew that it was just a different way of saying 'You asshole, you brang all the attention to me now!') at him before walking as fast as she could (in high heels, no less!) towards the other limo that was directly behind him.

Before he could get into the vehicle, again, he almost tripped and choked at another question thrown at him through the crowd.

"Jounouchi-kun, what is your relationship with Seto Kaiba?!"

Luckily, his tripping managed to get him into the limo well enough that the 'guards' managed to slam the door and guard it, while the driver clicked the locks closed.

He lay on the floor for a full minute before grumbling out lowly. "Is this why you hardly appear on national television, Seto? I think I'm fucking blind."

The other snorted, profile hidden almost completely by the coat, glasses, and hat he was sporting. "You get used to it."

He moaned, turning over and throwing a hand over his eyes. Shit, he was still seeing dots. "I will never, ever get used to that."

A pause before the other spoke. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there today."

Crooking his head so that he was looking at the brunet upside down, he grinned. "Naw. It's alright. You have other things, right? Plus, you were there yesterday!"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean there are more im-"

He snorted and cut the other off, flipping over so that he could scoot up onto the seat opposite of his lover. "Yeah, yeah. But this can manage to screw you up royally, too. And we all know Mokuba isn't ready to handle the business yet, right? Gotta let him be the kid!"

Kaiba let a little half-smirk, half-smile on his face and there was an abrupt silence, where Jou loosened his tie and sighed in a stressed contempt.

The blond was the first to speak, looking up and away from the other. "At least Shizuka wasn't there. She wouldn't be able to handle it."

The brunet 'hmm'ed' and he continued, laughing mirthlessly. "Dad, what an asshole! He managed to freak out in the little booth when the judge announced his sentence, ya know? Managed to turn the little speaker that let him talk on and let out a buncha things that made the priest in the jury blush. 'Fucking piece-of-shit kid, when I get my hands on you, I'll fucking kill you this time!'"

He laughed again, this time trying to cover up the tightness in his throat. "First time in a long time that he was actually sober."

He felt more then heard the taller boy's first syllable, but interrupted him, trying not let his voice crack as he said the next few sentences. He only was able to do so by supreme force of will.

"31 years with no chance of bail or anything of the like. And I'm supposed at go find a home under the advice of Sakura Benachi. Fucking… Fuck."

He sat there, boneless, until he peeked out of the corner of his eye and saw the brunet look to the side in embarrassment.

Immediately, his head snapped up and he narrowed his eyes, trying to guess what his lover had done for him, good or bad. "Kaiba…."

Hearing the growl, and the use of his last name, the brunet looked up, not missing a beat. "Yes?"

"What did you do? And remember: your answer depends on the amount of sex you get!"

The other teen raised an eyebrow. "You're usually the one begg-"

He cut him off, refusing to let the blush slide past his neck. Geez, the guy always had to be so cool and calm and… Yeah. Himself. "None of that! What did you do!?"

"I asked Sugoroku Mutou if he would take you for the next 2 months, until you're eighteen. He said that he would be glad too, as long as you don't…" Kaiba raised an eyebrow at his next words. "skip work."

Jou stared at him, then blushed, then stared some more.

Then he promptly launched himself at the taller teen's middle and laughed into his stomach as if it would be the last thing he would ever do.

"You!" he gasped out between little bursts of breathe, the sound muffled by the other's shirt. "Asshole!"

He felt Kaiba's stomach tense as he gripped harder. He didn't know if it as from the name-calling or the fact that he was digging his nails into Kaiba's back. He didn't know which, but… it was probably the nails, yeah. Seto never flinched when he called him all kinds of names.

He giggled a little more, letting the humor and the bit of anger mixed in there die down until he was sufficient enough to talk and look up at Kaiba from his awkward position on his lap.

Which was kinda like Deja vu for him. Hadn't he be sitting like this at the hospital when him and Seto managed to finally choke out the words of undying… uhh… lust and be all manly about it?

… Yes, he was trying to convince himself that they hadn't been all lovey-dovey and hadn't almost made-out on his bed, and instead had been very masculine about the whole ordeal.

Yeah. But back to topic.

"You!" he spat out again, this time with a grin on his face and a heated glimmer in his eye. "All these months, I've been worrying about where to go, I didn't want to ask the Mutuo's about it, etc, etc! But then, out of nowhere, you ask them. Behind my back, might I add!"

Was it him, or did Kaiba look just a teensy bit guilty?

Served him right. Stalker.

He paused, then let the angry glimmer fade out of his eye in turn for a happy one. Well, Seto had done it for him. So yeah.

"So… actually… you're the moocher! Not me! So, if they get sick of me, I'm blaming it on you, got it?"

The brunet teen raised an eyebrow at him, which basically meant that he had stupid logic and that Seto was not a moocher, not then, not now, not ever.

He, in turn, whapped his lover's arm, who just looked at him even more… Kaiba-esque. He couldn't really describe it.

He was still an Asshole.

After a minute of staring at each other, Kaiba finally gave in and lifted a hand to ruffle Jou's hair. Without even willing it, Jou growled. Like a dog. And Kaiba smirked.

"You sure you aren't a d-"

"Shut it. I'm in a prime position to bite the family jewels off, Kaiba-boy."

And, if his boyfriend was a normal boy, he could practically see him gulping and covering his sacred parts with his hands.

But, instead, Kaiba just smirked at him and clenched his hair tighter.

"I wouldn't say 'bite'…"

"Well, I do. Now shut up and help me up. No one can say I haven't faced the day in the life of a one-armed man no more."

After a bit of a struggle, Jou ended up sitting on his lover's lap instead of beside him, but he shrugged inwardly. Kaiba wasn't bony, but he wasn't like a pillow, either. But it was still comfy enough that he could enjoy it.

Plus, if he felt up to the task, he could have teased the guy so he'd be more…

He coughed. Now was not the time to have his head halfway down the gutter to look for silver and other shiny things.

Instead, he lay his head down on Kaiba's collarbone and sighed through his nose, silent.

After a few seconds of that silence, however, he spoke up, trying not to sound too… clingy. "You know your awesome, right Seto?"

His boyfriend 'hmm'ed', too occupied in pressing his face into Jou's hair. If anyone knew Kaiba was a snuggler, they would certainly be dead in a matter of two seconds form the infamous, patented, and lethal Kaiba glare. Not distributed out to Mokuba Kaiba. Mokuba had the infamous, patented, and lethal Kaiba pout.

He continued, trying not to sigh and get distracted by the warmth of Kaiba. "You're always there, and it's like… Woah. Yeah. Sure, Yug's always there too, but he has to handle saving the world and his other needs attention too, so it's kinda hard to pay attention to me. Same with Anzu and Honda. And, sure, you got your brother, and a company, and you have to be smart and all that, and all at the same, and…" He paused. "It's a 'when all else fails' mentality, ya know."

Kaiba chuckled in his hair. "Am I around that much?"

Jou grinned, tapping his fingers on Seto's pale collarbone and liking the sound it made. "Yeah. You're like a cockroach, I swear."

"You have a cockroach fetish?"

"What?! The hell was that? I think you're tired. Go to sleep." He paused again, then laughed. "Sick pervert."

Kaiba hmm'ed again.

The blond stayed quiet for all of two seconds before he started humming, the song sticky in his head but making it out ok when it slipped past his lips.

After a moment, Kaiba spoke up, interrupting his humming.

"What's that?"

"What's what?"

"You're humming."

"Yeah, it's an American song that I just remebered. 'When All Else Fails'. It's a kinda cool song."

Kaiba smirked. "'When All Else Fails?'"

"Yeah. When All Else Fails."

-------------------------------Owari/End-----------------------------------

…….. OK. Now it's done. And I'm so sad and it took so long and this chapter really is shit but, HOLY CRAP.

…Yeah. The chapter sucked. But I'm done.

…Not to mention that that was a weird ending. I didn't know how to finish it though.

…Yay? Aww, now I'm sad XD;;.

But, if you want me to not be sad, the first chapter of the SEQUEL is halfway done XP! SO LOVE ME MORE.

…-cough-. Yes. Happy Days, WAEF is FINISHED.