Ryou lay curled up on his bed, sobbing quietly. Bakura was on the other side of the locked door, forehead resting against the wood. It had been two days since Marik had left him, and he’d only stopped crying when he slept. He still hadn’t eaten or spoken to anyone.

The yami had so far given his smaller counterpart plenty of space, as he’d been advised to do – although why he was taking advice on how to treat his hikari from the Pharaoh he didn’t quite know. However, he now realised that being alone like this probably wasn’t the best thing for Ryou. Yes, he’d needed time to cry, and mourn for his relationship, but now he just needed a friend to be there for him.

Bakura pushed the door open and slid through the gap. Ryou didn’t even glance up.

“Ryou? Do you want something to eat?” Bakura sat on the edge of the bed. Ryou shook his head against the pillow, earning a sigh from the white haired demon. “Come here.” Ryou looked up through tear-beaded lashes, chocolate eyes sparkling with grief. “I said: come here.” Bakura repeated. The boy crawled over to him, too upset to even be scared of his sometimes violent other half.

“Bakura…I don’t know what to do…” he sniffled, sitting next to the thief. He gasped slightly as Bakura wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him into a soft hug. Tears streaked down his face again. “I love him so much…why doesn’t he want me anymore?”

“Because he doesn’t see how special you are, Ryou.” Bakura murmured tenderly. “If he loved you the way he should, he wouldn’t have done what he did…you deserve better, baby.” Ryou snuggled into Bakura’s embrace, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat, allowing himself to be comforted by the warmth the older man offered.

“If he didn’t really love me, why did he say he did?” Ryou broke down again, sobbing into Bakura’s shoulder. “Why does it hurt so much?” the thief fumbled with his words, struggling to find the right thing to say.

“Maybe he did love you once, but you guys are so young…emotions come and go…you can be willing to sacrifice everything for someone one day, and then the next, you couldn’t care less…take it from one who knows, ok?” he mussed Ryou’s snowy hair, earning a weak smile.

“Will you tell me?” Ryou asked, not meeting his eyes. “Will you tell me about her?” Bakura frowned slightly. Her? Who? “The person who out you through this…” Ryou seemed to read his mind. “You sound like you know what I’m going through from experience…”

“Oh, gods, Ryou…I do know what you’re going through…but I don’t need to tell you about that person. You know them very well yourself.” Bakura felt tears prick at his own eyes. “I was abandoned, just like Marik is doing to you now…abandoned for the High Priest Seto…salt in the wounds, right?” he gave a bitter laugh. Ryou surprised them both by joining in.

“Who was it?” the boy asked after a while. “Who was she?”

“Not just a woman, Ryou.” Bakura felt Ryou shift against him, interested. “It was the Pharaoh…he left me for Seto…”

“Really? What happened?” Ryou sat up, and looked at his darker half. Bakura looked at him, surprised at how much interest the smaller boy had in the matter. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to…” Ryou added hastily.

“No,” Bakura rubbed his shoulder gently, “I don’t mind, Ryou.” He smiled a little. How had this fragile little boy managed to lodge himself into Bakura’s heart? How did he make the former Spirit of the Millennium Ring feel so comfortable? Bakura briefly wondered if he would have been like Ryou if he’d been allowed to grow up normally, with a family, and friends, and everything he should have had.

“Well, if you’re sure…” the boy snuggled into his arms again, sniffling occasionally.

“We met by chance.” Bakura remembered. “I stole something from a guard, and was caught. The short story is this: before I could be punished, the Pharaoh intervened and helped me out. I didn’t know who he was at the time, because he wasn’t Pharaoh then. His father was still alive, but he was ill. He was my first male lover, and I was his. We only had a few months together, and then everything went wrong.” The former thief took a deep, calming breath. “I loved him, I really did. Then his father’s health got worse, and the Priests increased his studies, so he could become Pharaoh immediately if he needed to.” Bakura blinked, suddenly realising that the mist in front of his eyes was in fact unshed tears. “We had less and less me together, and then, finally, it happened.”

“What? What happened?” Ryou tugged on his sleeve after a few minutes of silence. The hikari looked up at his silent yami and was startled by the single tear trailing down his cheek. “Oh, Kura…” he hugged him gently, feeling Bakura’s arms tighten around him in response.

“A girl who was friends with the Pharaoh told me that he’d asked to meet me somewhere. It was one of our usual places, a small oasis not far from the palace. We often met there, as did several other couples who didn’t want to be seen together.” He swallowed hard. “She’d been our go-between a few times before, so I didn’t question her about it. It seemed perfectly normal.”

“Kura…”

“I went to meet him. I didn’t know he hadn’t asked to see me, or that the girl was against our relationship, or that he was already seeing Seto. I was his first male lover, but definitely not his last, like he was with me.” Ryou bit his lip and stroked his yami’s hair gently. Bakura took his hand and held it softly.

“Looks like we were both screwed over then, doesn’t it?” Bakura couldn’t help it: he laughed at Ryou’s statement.

“Just a little, my friend. But I do wonder who had it worse out of the two of us?” He smiled and shook his head ruefully. “There must be something wrong with me…since this happened, I keep considering trying to get hold of both Marik and the Pharaoh, and kicking the hell out of them until they reconsider.”

“I understand why, really I do, but what would it accomplish?” Ryou sounded utterly defeated. “Neither of us wants to go digging up the past like that, do we?” Bakura shook his head, looking as beaten down as Ryou sounded.

“There’d be no point. Besides, I only just managed to get back on polite terms with the Pharaoh, and something tells me that given time, Marik will want to see you, just like before. He won’t want to wreck the friendship you had because your relationship didn’t work out.” Ryou hugged him, smiling softly.

“I guess you’re right.” he went to pull away, but Bakura kept his arm around him. “Ba-Bakura?” Ryou’s eyes widened slightly as the other drew him closer. “What are you-?”

“I just wanted a hug…” Bakura’s voice was soft, and Ryou instinctively wrapped his arms around the former Spirit’s chest. Bakura lay down, taking the smaller boy with him. “Just, stay like this for a while, ok?” Ryou nodded, a little sleepy now.

“Mmh…‘kay…” he yawned and allowed himself to relax into Bakura’s arms, and to be soothed by the steady heartbeat. Bakura held him close as they both drifted off to sleep, each taking comfort in the other’s warmth.

They had only ever been able to depend on each other, and now was no exception, Bakura thought to himself. Ryou would turn to him for help, and he had no-one else he could turn to other than Ryou. A soft smile curled Bakura’s lips. As long as they had each other, they’d be fine.