(I don't own anything)

~Chapter 17~

**A/N: Here's the second part of the original chapter 16. again, sorry for the confusion.

"Malik!" Yugi shrieked- yes, shrieked, like a little girl- throwing himself at me. "I missed you! Oh, hi, Marik. How're you doing? Not that I didn't miss you too, but you know what I mean!" Marik laughed.

"Shit, kid. How much caffeine have you had today?" My friend grinned.

"Enough. I didn't sleep last night; Portal 2 came out, and I had to beat it." I was honestly a little surprised it had taken it that long. Yugi was a whirlwind when it came to any kind of game (of course he was a whirlwind anyway).

"Was it good?" Marik asked, seeming genuinely interested. Yugi nodded, but before he could respond, his nearly identical cousin, Yami, entered the room, rolling his eyes.

"So good, apparently, that it was necessary to play that 'Still Alive' song at top volume at three in the damn morning, while making brownies and downing coffee." I should have known he hadn't been playing it all night; of course, when Yugi gets wound up, there's no sleeping for a while- sometimes two or three days. "Hello, Malik. How're you?" I nodded politely to him. "And I don't think I've met you, but you must be Marik?" Oh!

"Sorry! Yes, this is Marik. Marik, this is Yami, he's Yugi's cousin."

"No family resemblance there," Marik joked as he shook Yami's hand.

"Ryou!" Yugi suddenly shouted, scaring the crap out of me. "Malik and Marik are here!"

"So Bakura is your friend?" I heard Yami ask Marik. Marik nodded.

"Yeah, we've known each other for a long time, since we lived in Egypt." Yami's eyes widened, giving him a Yugi-esque look.

"Egypt? What part?" He asked excitedly. I'd forgotten that Yami's father hailed from Egypt.

"We both lived in Cairo; my parents moved here when I was 16, and Bakura moved here a couple of years later." Yami nodded.

"My father is from the southern part of Egypt, and he still owns his home there." Marik's eyes widened, and he looked slightly excited.

"Very nice! It's a beautiful area..." Yami nodded.

"Yes, and once I finish my schooling, he's giving it to me."

"Well, that's pretty awesome," Marik mused. "Talk about motivation."

"Ooh, I see you've met the pharaoh?" Bakura sneered as he entered the room. Yami stiffened slightly, and Ryou glared at him.

"Huh?" Yeah, I'm a smart one.

"That's a weird nickname, and it doesn't even make sense!" Yugi pouted, and Yami seemed to agree. I sensed a bit of tension between Yami and Bakura; I wondered if they'd known each other before, or if they'd just clashed instantly.

"Not really; he's Egyptian, has a rich family, and is going to have his own estate in Egypt. Makes sense to me... and then there's his major to consider." I looked at Yami.

"What are you going to school for anyway?" He sighed.

"Alright, it sort of makes sense; my major is historical anthropology, with a focus on Egyptian history." Okay, even I had to admit that it was a pretty clever nickname. "And a minor in linguistics, but I'd almost have to. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to read most of the relevant texts."

"What about translations?" Ryou asked; I could tell he was interested in all of this. Yami shook his head, almost scornfully.

"I don't trust most translations. No matter how well you know both languages, and how good of a translator you are, there are still things that just don't quite translate. Certain things have to be read in their native tongue, or you'll miss something- maybe something crucial." Marik nodded.

"That's legit. Especially with such ancient languages, I'm sure there's a lot to be lost in translation." Well, it was good to see that Marik got along with Yami better than Bakura did... although I couldn't really tell what Yami and Bakura thought of each other. They didn't seem overly hostile, but they weren't exactly friendly. Of course, that could have something to do with the fact that Yami lived in the same house as Ryou, and Bakura seemed a bit jealous and protective wherever Ryou was concerned. The doorbell rang, and Yugi sprang from his seat (it was shocking enough that he'd sat down in the first place, as hyped up as he was).

"I'll get it!" Judging by his hopeful demeanor, he was expecting someone. He threw open the door, beaming at the tall, brown-haired man who stood there. "Seto! Hi." A smaller boy, with long, dark, bushy hair darted past Seto and practically attacked Yugi.

"Oh my gosh, Yugi! Did you beat it?" he gushed, seemingly unable to sit still.

"Oh my gosh YES, wasn't it amazing?" They marveled over the awesomeness of Portal 2 for a minute, before the boy even noticed all the company.

"Oh! Hi!" He bowed toward Marik and me, then toward Bakura. "I'm Mokuba. That's my brother, Seto." He pointed toward the tall man who was standing a bit awkwardly by the door, Yami clutching his arm.

"Seto, this is Bakura," Yami told him, "And this is Malik, and Marik. Everyone, this is Seto." Clearly they were an item. Bakura looked a little friendlier.

"Good to meet you all," Seto said stiffly. It was a bit crowed in the small apartment, and he didn't seem comfortable being so close to so many people- I could relate. I cleared my throat.

"You know... it's really nice out. Why don't we go to the park or something? It's a little cramped in here." Mokuba apparently liked the idea.

"YES! And we can get ice cream!" Seto rolled his eyes.

"As if you need more sugar."

"Actually," Ryou spoke up- I'd been waiting for him to say something, like always. "Sugar has the opposite effect on the body, and can even make one sleepy."

"Whatever," Seto muttered, sounding annoyed, but I could see a ghost of a smile. Ryou tidied the small room, before giving it a once-over inspection and deeming it acceptable- for now.

"Okay, let's go." He sighed. I knew the mess was bothering him, but it was also futile to try to clean with Yugi and Mokuba on full-speed mode (or maybe just on speed). "Ok- everyone out," he demanded, his tone leaving little room for argument. Once everyone was out, he locked the door, checking twice to ensure that it was locked.

"OCD, much?" Bakura muttered, earning a halfhearted smack on the arm.

"Oh, shut it," Ryou countered, smiling fondly at him. "At least I'm not a psychopath." Bakura didn't have much to say to that.

As we walked down the sidewalk, Marik put his arm around me, and for once, the public display of affection didn't concern me. We were the least-noticeable pair in the group. Seto was (aside from being very attractive) fairly ordinary-looking, but Yami's hair attracted enough attention for both of them. Bakura just looked intimidating, and the sun reflected brightly off of Ryou's stark white hair, making it appear to almost glow. Throw in the midget-sized people running around, getting louder and louder the more excited they got, and Marik and I seemed downright normal, compared to our companions.

"Hey," I turned to Marik, remembering my sister's request. "I was wondering... well, my sister wondered if you would would be an usher in her wedding. You don't have to, but I told her I'd ask you, and-" He put a hand over my mouth.

"I'd be honored," he told me, smiling. "I'm surprised that she'd want me in her wedding, and surprised that Patrick would agree to it."

"Well, it's not just Patrick's wedding," I snapped, irritated at the very thought of him trying to run the wedding. Marik laughed.

"I know, it's just usually more of a family thing, especially with a small wedding like they're having."

"Well of course," I replied softly, giving his hand a squeeze. "You are part of our family."

"Thanks, but I'm not sure your actual family agrees." He looked troubled.

"Whatever, Isis likes you, and I love you, and that's all that matters. Patrick will come around, and even if Isis didn't approve, it doesn't matter." I shook my head. "I never understood what Isis saw in that jerk Patrick, but if he makes her feel the way you make me feel, then I can't blame her. And I can't hate him... he loves her, and that's all I could ask. It's been just Isis and me for so long... it's weird to say, but you are my family. You make me feel like I'm home, no matter where I am. I'm safe with you; I can be myself. I feel... for once, I feel like I'm part of something." I paused. "I feel like I belong." I was embarrassed to look at Marik after such a sentimental, revealing speech, but when I did, I was shocked. "Marik? I-I'm sorry, what did I say?" He shook his head, wiping away the lone tear that had fallen.

"All the right things." He pulled me closer, planting a kiss on the top of my head. "Thank you, Malik."

"For what?"

"For making me feel like I belong."

A/N: ugh. for some reason, when I uploaded this chapter, it changed all of the quotation marks to either g or h. why? anyway, I just spent like 10 minutes changing them, so if I missed any (or messed anything else up in the process), I'm quite sorry.

thanks so much for reading, I'll have the next chapter up soon. :)

~alex~