Fun and Games

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Yu-gi-oh gx; I do own my own characters though.

Summery: It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt. After a strange moment with Sartorius, Aster sees a side of Zane he's never seen before

Chapter 14: Two Weeks Later

Zane's POV

It was Friday when they told me I could go home. Aster was coming to pick me up with a driver, saying that he had a surprise for me. He didn't what it was exactly, just that I should have someone bring me overnight clothes. I'm sure the doctors didn't approve of the sounds of that.

The news was playing on the T.V.; Shroud had pleaded guilty for hit and run and was going to serve a two year sentence. Plus, they expected him to agree on a 10 year term for attempted murder. 13 years in prison with the possibility of parole, so how it didn't seem like enough. But I didn't argue it; I doubted any court system would let him out before his term was served.

Ollie on the other hand was still on trial. It was one argument after another really. Whether he should be tried here in Japan or in England, his home country. Whether he was insane before or after he committed his crimes. Whether he was guilty of kidnapping, attempted murder, assault, or all of the above. The only thing that seemed sure was that Ollie would spend some quality time seeking mental medical attention. After Aster explained what Sirena had done to him, I accepted it as a fair punishment.

It showed a clip from yesterday's news story. Larius and Aster were on T.V., holding a press conference to clear things up about the 'jealous lovers' scandal. It seemed rather odd how chummy they were now.

"I do want offer my apologies to any media damage Larius Jables and my dearest friend Sartorius may have suffered for this." He leaned on his crutches as he spoke to Larius. Unfortunately, Larius had suffered a broken arm and had stitches implanted on his forehead, which would leave a gnarly scar. Compared to the alternative, I think he considered himself lucky. "At first I'm blamed him for the actions of his father, but if hadn't been for Larius, we may never been able to bring the true criminal to justice. In fact neither I nor would Zane Truesdale would be alive right now. For that, I consider him a true and honorable friend."

Larius mouthed a thank you to him and Aster gently leaned down to hug him. The crowd erupted into a roar of questions. Aster took them one by one.

"So Sartorius will continue to be your manager then?"

"Yes, sadly I won't be able to finish out this dueling season, but next year I plan to be back stronger then ever with Sartorius, and Larius acting as my new assistant manager." He answered, pointing to another reporter.

"How do you respond to rumors that you and Mr. Zane Truesdale are now a couple?" I paused when I heard that question. Aster didn't tell me they had asked about that. Maybe because he didn't want them to know. I expected him to try and suppress the rumors as much as possible until they were under control, and maybe then come out with the truth.

But sometimes Aster could be plain unexpected.

"I say…Well, they're true. I'm currently in a relationship with Zane Truesdale." The reporters were more excited by that report than anything else he had said. Aster stood with a cocky grin and I realized that the grin was for me. Wasn't expecting that, were you? I could imagine him asking. No, No I wasn't. "Zane and I have been dating for over a month now and are quite happy together."

"That's all, I'll be saying." Aster walked away, doing that simple little wave that was as powerful and commanding as a Caesars thumb. I was impressed, truly I was. I had always been upfront and honest about my sexual orientation, Aster for whatever reason had always been a little more conscious about it. To hear him finally tell the world that yes, he loved another man; it made me proud that he was able to break the barriers of his own mind.

"Not bad, eh?" I turned and Aster was standing in the doorway. Weight balanced mostly on his crutches. I noticed a backpack was hanging off his left shoulder. He guided across the room to me.

"Surprising, to say the least." I kissed his cheek and smiled. "I'm almost done; I just need to get my pills around."

"Take you're time. I actually came early to tell you that I figured it out."

"Figured what out?"

Aster released me. I got my pill bottles out while he explained. "Remember how I told you that Sirena prophesied everything that would happen and said that if I made love to you Sunday night it'd happen? So I did my best to avoid it?"

I rolled my eyes; remembering just how frisky I was that night. "Don't remind me."

He smirked. "Really? You were that offended? Well I'm sorry to say that it was for complete nothing, because by the time we actually made love for the first time, it was after midnight Saturday. I just wasn't paying attention to time."

"So, if we never had sex at all, this whole thing could have been avoided?" I asked. This time, he was the one who looked offended. I knew on the inside, he found it all humorous—he did now anyway.

"Well, technically speaking, no. Sirena said not to bother with fighting fate because if it's meant to be, it will happen anyway. Although….I don't really believe that completely. There are ways we could have avoided Ollie's wrath but abstinence was not one of them."

Aster watched as I separated the pills into their proper containers. "I should get one of those. It's always so hard to keep track of my pain and anxiety pills." I turned around and stared at him. Anxiety? He looked as if he had let an embarrassing secret slip. "Opps, I guess the cats out of the bag."

"You're taking anxiety pills?" I asked my voice heavy with concern. "Since when?"

"Since…" He began and stopped, wondering if he should continue. It was too late now; he had to tell me. "Since I started having nightmares."

I was afraid that might happen. Like I did when Atticus and I were dating and I thought about being Hell Kaiser. I was afraid I would never sleep again thanks to everything Ollie put me through. But I didn't dream at all, I just slept embracing the temporary darkness provided that it was so. I never once considered that Aster would be the one suffering from nightmares.

He frowned, his confident shell pushed away. "Zane, its okay… They'll pass eventually; I just need to get through it for a little while."

I sighed and continued my separating, but my joyous mood was broken. "How bad are the dreams?"

"Well…without the pills, it's…pretty bad. I can hardly sleep." Aster explained in the gentlest way possible. "With them, it's not so bad. Sometimes I don't dream at all, other times, I still have the nightmares but it's like… I'm calm. I can handle it. It will pass…"

"I know it will, hero, it's just…" I closed the pill container and the bottles of pills and put it into my bag. "It's just like how you felt when you saw my heart medication for the first time. It's shocking, hard to grasp and …. It makes me feel guilty, if it wasn't for me, it never would have happened."

"You told me that we made our own choices and decisions." Aster spoke with a stern voice. The defiant boy I fell in love with showing himself. "I choose to go after Ollie, and I choose to be with you. And I'd take the nightmares, the injuries, everything all over again to be with you. I love you..."

"And…it's not like I'll be on them forever." He said softly. "I'm already reducing my dose of pain medicine, and when the nightmares stop, I'll get off the anxiety pills too….You're the one who has to take more heart medicine."

I was tired of this sadness. We had both had gone through so much of it that I honestly was growing weary of it. Screw the pills; we're young, alive, and we have each other. "Well, who knows? Maybe one day, I'll be able to reduce my dose too. I'll probably never be able to stop taking them completely but, if I lost a couple, that'd be great."

I zipped up my bag and threw it over my shoulder. His smile returned slowly. "All packed?"

"Yeah, let's get out of here."

()

Aster never exactly told me where we were going, but about half way there; I realized that we had gone this way before. I couldn't quite remember when, but we did. We didn't talk very much along the way. Aster had made himself comfortable on my shoulder and the driver was in the front solely focused on driving. It gave me a lot of time to admire the scenery outside.

When I saw a grass meadow leading up to a lake, I realized why Aster had brought us out here. This was where we came on his birthday, the lake his dad use to take him to.

He perked up when he noticed my amazement. "Seems like so long since we've been here huh? Even though it's only been about a month."

It did. The memory of that day seemed like a fuzzy memory to me. Yet I remembered how beautiful the day had been, and despite the sober mood, how close we had become that day. "This is a nice surprise…but why do I needed an overnight bag?"

His lips tugged upward in a secretive way. "You'll see."

The driver made a curvy turn around the lake and to the other side where we hadn't ventured. We stopped in front of a thin, narrow path leading into the woods. I helped Aster out of the car. I took both my bag and his backpack. For once, he didn't seem to argue it, since he had the crutches.

"Thank you for driving out here." Aster told the driver. He nodded politely.

"Shall I return about noon Sunday?" I raised an eyebrow, noon Sunday? That was the entire weekend.

"Yes, that will be fine, thanks." Aster pulled out his wallet and handed the driver a wad of money. The driver tucked it into his coat and returned to his car. We watched him drive off before Aster led me away. "Come on, you'll have to follow me."

The walk, as it turned out, wasn't very long at all. We made it past the clearing when I saw it; a rather homely cabin. Aster had rented this place? "Nice cabin." I said simply.

"You don't sound so impressed." He joked lightly. "Don't diss my cabin! I think it's quite cozy."

"You're cabin."

"Yeah, I bought it." He pulled out the key and limped over to the front door. He unlocked opened the door and stepped aside to let me go in first. "I figured it'd be nice to have a little vacation spot to go to."

I walked in the front door and was honestly surprised. The cabin had a nice screen t.v. and two leather couches. In front of the couches was a glass coffee table. The kitchen was remodeled and modern looking from where I could see. I noticed the walls were painted recently painted blue, giving the room a calming feel to it. There were three doors to the second half of the house. Two assumedly bed rooms and perhaps a dining area.

The cabin was actually looked really new. "I had to do a bit redecorating but it all came together well. I was almost afraid it wouldn't be done before you got out of the hospital. Do you like it?"

I nodded slowly. "I guess you didn't like the color they had before."

He stilled for a moment, and then proceeded to lock the door. "It was white…Ollie kept me in a white room and it just reminded me too much of that."

Guilt overcame me once more, but Aster smiled gently. "The blue looked better anyway... Put the bags down and sit down, I'll make us a couple drinks."

I let the bags fall to the floor and made myself comfortable. After the initial tension-filled moment, everything seemed relaxed and calm. Maybe the cabin was a good idea—he gave him something to do while he recovered and it was nice to have someplace private to go to. I too off my shoes and laid my feet up on the couch.

He limped out (this time, without his crutches) with wine glasses in his hand. One with red liquid, the other with orange. He handed the one with red liquid to me, and eased himself on to my lap. When the smell hit me, I realized it was red wine.

"The doctor said it's okay for you to drink wine as long as you only have a glass or two." He explained. I wrapped a free arm around him and took a sip. It was sweet and tangy as it drifted down my throat.

"Why aren't you drinking any?" I asked. He took a sip of what I assumed to be orange juice.

"I can't with the medication I'm on." Aster set his wine glass down on the table. I followed suit. "And the last time I drank wine with you, you got me so drunk I threw up on your bathroom floor."

I laughed at the memory fondly. "That wasn't nearly as annoying as you not remembering where you lived. And don't even get me started on the kiss."

He looked at me interested. "What about the kiss?"

I think he was expecting me to say it wasn't good. If only he truly remembered it, he'd know better. "It was a tease…I was going to kiss you again, but you fell asleep. I must have been a boring kisser."

"Are you kidding? The next time you kissed me I was over-whelmed. I'm pretty sure it was all effects of the alcohol."

"You're just a light-weight drinker."

"You know…" He leaned closer to me, his arms around my shoulders as he pulled himself closer. "As embarrassing and screwed up that night was…It did bring me to you."

"So, no regrets?" I asked curiously. He kissed me gently on the lips.

"Maybe that I wasn't sober for our first kiss."

He kissed me again, and I held him closer. Bringing him completely on top of me. "What about my poor bathroom rug?"

"You deserved it…That's what you get for getting me drunk to satisfy your own curiosity." I licked my tongue over his lip to encourage him to open his mouth. He moan softly and gave me entrance. I explored his mouth eagerly, feeling a rush of adrenaline spike through me. I needed this boy, and I needed him now.

He pulled away. "Are you sure it's safe to do this? What about you're heart?"

I reached up his shirt and grazed his chest with my fingers. "That doctor can tell me not to do a lot of things, but telling me not to make love to you is a tragedy in itself." He giggled at what I said. I brushed myself against him. I felt him shiver against me. "I swear to god, Aster, I'll have a heart attack if you don't make love to me."

"Well…" He started, but I cut him off with a long, intoxicating kiss. That was he needed. "We're not going to do anything rough….In fact, we'll have to be as gentle as we can be. I'm still hurting too, you know."

"Deal." And I gathered him into my arms and carried him off into our bedroom.

Aster's POV

"Wow…" That was all I could say as I laid beside him breathless. He laughed at my reaction. I worried about his heart, because mine was racing. But he seemed perfectly fine. Actually, he seemed great.

"Wow indeed."He rolled on to his side and watched as I tried to catch up with my body's vitals.

"I guess you don't get bored working with someone as inexperienced as me?"

"Not all." He sat up onto his forearms, running one hand through his sweaty hair. "In fact, I find your innocence to be endearing—it's like we're always making love for the first time."

"And you like that?" I asked, watching him with a careful gaze.

"I love it….You enjoy it too, don't you?"

I snorted and sat up as well. "Doesn't 'wow' give it away? You have this weird habit of blowing my mind."

"The feelings mutual." He said, wrapping an arm around me and bringing me closer to him. I fit into his arms like a puzzle piece and sighed contently. So this was what I was missing out on all those years? Maybe all that time made this moment special.

I had a greater feeling that it was the man who was holding me that made it so. In any case, it felt great just be to be alone with him. Not a care in the world, not a person to break it up.

"So…" He said slowly, gently lifting my hand into his. "When are you going to move into your apartment?...I hope you're not in any hurry; I still have a lot of catching up to do."

I pondered it for a moment; trying to decide if now was the time to tell him or if I should surprise him with it later? For whatever reason, this moment seemed better than any other one. "Actually, I took the deposit off the apartment."

He leaned over to look at me. "Why? I thought you really liked it." He thought it had something to do with my dad's memories, and maybe part of it did. But that wasn't the reason I did it.

"I did, and I'm glad you suggested but…I was thinking that we're both going to need a lot of care for awhile and…well, if the offer's still available…" I paused, giving myself one last chance to take it back. I guess it wasn't like I was marrying Zane or anything. I could still do the things I want to on my own while remaining close to the one that I loved. "I was hoping maybe I could move in with you."

His eyes narrowed in shock; his aura taking on a nervous energy. This confused me—and he caught that. "Of course it's still available; I'd love for you to move in. I just… Thought you weren't ready for that yet."

"Well, I wasn't when you first offered but after Ollie tried to kill us, I kind of realized how short life is." I leaned back against the headboard of the bed. I was beginning to realize the truth in my words, which had all been just reasons before. "And once you face death, you're pretty much ready for anything."

Without warning, Zane pulled me to him and embraced me. For a minute, I didn't react. Then I wrapped my arms around him. Finally able to accept that everyday would be like this. At least it could be.

I acknowledged a long time ago that happy ever after didn't exist. There was no such thing as living an uncomplicated life because it was the complicated things that made it worth living. Being so close to death made me realize that you earned your living facing the challenges head on and if you were meant to survive, you would.

That's how this relationship would work. Zane and I will face great challenges and if we were meant to last, we would. If not, we'd get by without one another the best way we knew how. We weren't quitters, and we certainly weren't prey.

But until the next challenge came; I was happy to be in his arms. To know that at least for this moment, I belonged to him.

I was happy to know, that we had won the game.

And that's the end! Again, I'd like to thank all the readers, reviewers, and supporters for their unending patience and love for this story. And I hope that the sequel (to be named Give and Receive) will reach your expectations.