Sorry if this chappie is a little short.

Give Me A Chance

Joey’s POV

I opened my eyes and found a blanket over me. Ow….my…head. Oh my god! Where am I?

Bed? Table with food? What the hell?

I threw off the covers…I’m naked! Beside my table wasn’t any money!

Shit! Someone stiffed me of my money! I went to stand up.

Ow.

I feel like I had been taken last night and the asshole never left my payment! I limped to the table and saw a note! The jerk is going to return here tonight.

I’ll meet him here and ask this person why he or she feels he or she doesn’t need to pay for services rendered!

During my shower I grumbled about the lost money. I really could have used that money. Cheapskate!

Who would stiff Joey Wheeler of money? Would you? Better not! I won’t stand for anyone who doesn’t pay me for the pleasure they received at my expense!

Well, I do have some money left. I’m gonna go get some food and go see my friends. I’ll have to make sure I’m back here in time to meet my cheapskate punk or my cheapskate bitch who refused to pay me for the simple use of my ass last night!

In speaking of ass……Ow.

When I was done my shower, I went to put my shoes on and I found a pin on the floor….”KC.”

What the hell? My punk or bitch was from KaibaCorp?

What….what if it was Kaiba? I hope so. But, it probably wasn’t. What would Kaiba want with me?

I guess I’ll find out tonight.

*******************

I left the hotel, still thinking about my mysterious visitor. Who the hell could have been with me last night? I wish it was Kaiba, but he wouldn’t want to waste his time with me. I mean, I’m nothing but a dog.

I’m a little nervous. It wouldn’t be the first time I didn’t know who I spent my night with. So, why does this particular night bother me? I think I need to talk to someone. And I know just the guy.

Ryou knows that my dad beat me and he knows that I had been living on the streets for a year. Ryou wanted and even insisted on bringing me into his house, but it was Bakura who threatened Ryou with bodily harm if I came to stay with him. I couldn’t let that creep hurt Ryou.

He was even nice to give me some food from time to time. Bakura found out that Ryou gave me food once and the effect wasn’t pretty.

I walked down the street and saw Seto’s limousine outside Ryou’s house. What does Rich Boy want with Ryou? I ran up to Ryou’s home and heard Kaiba yelling at the top of his lungs. I burst through the door and saw Bakura standing in the kitchen, his face red and his hair spiky and twitching angrily. Running into the kitchen I saw Ryou kneeling on the floor in Kaiba’s arms, crying, his body bloody and shaking.

“What happened here?” I asked angrily, turning to Bakura.

Bakura crossed his arms. “What are YOU doing here? This has nothing to do with either of you! Get out, Wheeler! Get out, Moneybags!”

Seto narrowed his eyes at the spirit. “I will not get out, Bakura! When Ryou calls me up at my office, crying and screaming, you bet your ass it concerns me!”

Wow. Seto is standing up for Ryou. Why is he doing that?

I turned to Bakura. “Ryou is our friend, you white-haired freak!”

Bakura laughed. “And he’s my nice little kitchen bitch! Aren’t you, Ryou?”

Seto helped Ryou off of the floor. Poor Ryou couldn’t even walk. Oh boy, I know that limp. No one needs to draw Joey Wheeler a diagram of what just happened.

“Pup, take Ryou upstairs and get him cleaned up. I will deal with Bakura.”

I took Ryou in my arms and I helped him up the steps. Seto and Bakura started a screaming match downstairs. Their voices were raised in anger. Ryou started to cry as I brought him into the bathroom.

“Bakura won’t stop yelling! Why won’t he stop?”

I sat Ryou on the toilet and I grabbed a bottle of peroxide for his injuries. “Ryou, how did you manage to call moneybags. Why did you call moneybags?”

Ryou looked up at me with large chocolate brown eyes. “I had no one else to turn to, Joey. Bakura wouldn’t stop. After Bakura was done with me, I grabbed the cell phone and called Seto. Gods, he won’t stop yelling!”

I cleaned Ryou’s injuries. I ran a hot bath for him and helped him undress. Yup…I was right. That’s why Ryou was limping. Bakura was using him as his own pleasure toy again. I helped Ryou into the bath and watched him sigh as his body hit the water.

“Do you always call Seto?”

Ryou nodded. “Bakura seems to listen to Seto. I don’t know why. If Seto tells him to stop, he stops.”

“But he doesn’t stop, Ryou! He just keeps becoming worse.”

Ryou looked down. “I know, Joey. I know. I wish I could have your guts, Joey. There’s times I would love to move out of this house and live on the streets. No more Bakura. No more beatings. But, I can’t leave this house. This is my daddy’s house. My mother died in this house. This house means a lot to me.”

I couldn’t say the same about my house. Nothing special happened in my house. “I’m not sure if you could live the street life, Ryou. You’re just too damn sweet to live on the streets.”

Ryou’s shoulders sagged. “Bakura would just end up finding me anyway. I couldn’t hide from him no matter how hard I tried. I just….I just hope that one day he understands. I just want the beatings to stop, Joey,” Ryou started breaking down again. Poor guy. “I just want him to stop! But he won’t! Oh, gods, I wish he would stop!”

I sat by the bathtub rubbing his back. What could I say? That’s how I pleaded with my dad when he was using me as his own pleasure toy, too. ‘I just want him to stop’ became a nightly prayer. It was a prayer that fell on deaf ears every night. It was a prayer that lead to no blessings….it was a prayer that gave me no comfort. A hollow prayer. A prayer unheard. A prayer ignored.

Poor Ryou. I knew what he was going through. Ryou rubbed his eyes and looked up at me.

“What…What were you coming over for, Joey?”

Even injured, Ryou always played the considerate host. What a guy! “I came over to have a nice chat.”

“About?”

“Well, I…I met someone in a hotel room last night, but--.”

Before I could go into what happened, Kaiba knocked and entered the room. “Ryou, how are you feeling? The mutt didn’t bite you or anything, did he?”

I growled at him. “Screw you, Rich-Boy.”

Kaiba laughed. “You wish! Ryou, how do you feel?”

Ryou reached out of the bathtub. Seto gripped Ryou’s hand. “Thank you, Seto. I’m sorry I had to interrupt you whatever you were doing.”

Seto yawned. “It’s okay, Ryou. I’m glad you could call me. I have to go back to KaibaCorp. You’ll be okay with the mutt, right? I could take him away if he is getting on your nerves.”

Ryou nodded. “Joey will be fine here, Seto. Thank you.”

Seto left and I heard him slam the door behind him.

Good riddance. He looked really tired. He must have been pulling an all-nighter at his moahogany desk sifting through files and such crap.

“You were saying, Joey?” Ryou asked as he began washing himself.

“Ryou, umm…I don’t know how to say this, but I met someone in a hotel room last night and I have no idea who it is.”

“How did you meet them if you didn’t know who they were?”

I have to come clean with Ryou. “Ryou, I’ve been selling myself for booze and food.”

Ryou dropped the washcloth. “Joey! That’s not a good idea!”

“What else am I to do, Ryou? Starve?”

“But, Joey, as your friend, I’m saying that I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“Promise me that you aren’t going to tell another living soul….including the dead one you live with!”

Ryou continued to clean himself. “Alright, Joey. I promise to tell no one. You are my friend. I have no right to tell you how to live. So, what is the problem exactly?”

“I got a note this morning from the person telling me to meet them in the hotel room again tonight.”

Ryou splashed water on his face. “Just be careful, Joey. I really don’t want to see you on a milk carton or something. You’re my friend, Joey, and I really don’t want to see you hurt.”

I didn’t care if I got wet. I had to hug Ryou! Had to hug someone! I hugged Ryou tightly. This guy is so huggable!

I helped Ryou out of the tub and I helped him dress into clean clothes. We returned to the kitchen where Bakura stood snarling in the kitchen.

“Wheeler, I can handle Ryou. Go back to the hole you crawled out of.”

“Not on your afterlife, buddy! I’ll leave when I am damn good and ready!”

I stayed with Ryou all day. I made him tea and made sure that Bakura didn’t get his hands on Ryou.

Ryou was glad to have me around. He cuddled up to me on the couch and fell asleep against my shoulder.

Bakura scowled at us. “What does he mean to you, Wheeler?”

“He’s my friend and he doesn’t deserve to be kicked around by a bully like you!”

Bakura laughed. “And just what are you going to do about it, Joey?”
I held Ryou closer. There was nothing really that I could do.

I closed my eyes and didn’t open them until 5:45. 5:45!!!!! I have to get back to the hotel room. I said goodbye to Ryou.

“Joey, please be careful! I don’t know what I would do if something bad were to happen to you.”

Ryou hugged me tightly and I could tell that he didn’t want to let go of me. If he didn’t want to let me go because he was afraid for me or whether it was because he was terrified of being alone with Bakura, I have no idea. I knew Ryou hated being alone with his other half. Who could blame him? I hated being alone with my dad.

*******************************

I ran back to the hotel and opened the door to the room. In the room stood…Seto Kaiba?!

“What are you doing here, moneybags?”

“Is that the thanks I get for getting you a hotel last night, feeding you, and giving you a good night’s sleep in a warm bed?”

My jaw dropped. “YOU! You stiffed me last night! You took me and you didn’t pay me!”

Seto folded his arms. “I didn’t take you. You were preparing yourself for me, but I didn’t take you. You were trying to seduce me.”

“If you didn’t take it, why does my ass hurts?”

“Having three fingers up yourself while touching yourself will do that, Joey! I didn’t touch you!”

I sat on the bed and hung my head low. “Why did you do this for me?”

Seto sat on a chair. “I’ll level with you, pup. I know you’re living on the streets. I know your father beat you up. I want to help you, pup.”

Tears came down my face. No one ever wanted to help me! Why would he?

“Why do you want to help me? I’m not worth helping.”

“Look, pup. You may not think you are worth helping, but I’m willing to take you home and give you a roof over your head.”

“Why?”

Seto hesitated. “Because I’d feel guilty. If something happened to you and I knew you were living on the street, my conscience wouldn’t stop bothering me. So, I’m asking you, Joey. Please come home with me. You’ll have a warm bed and food on a constant basis.”

I was silent. What should I do?

“Look, I know you may not trust me, Joey. But, I want you to trust me. I know you’ve been looking at me in school. You can’t be subtle, can you?”

“I wasn’t looking at you!”

“Joey! Half the school can tell you spend the first fifteen minutes of each morning admiring my ass! Whenever I do class presentations, you watch my ass! When I am making a class speech, the corner of your mouth waters and you drool like a salivating dog! I see you watching me eat in the cafeteria and once again you drool whenever I sip through a straw!”

Shit!

“I have a lazy eye and I’m quite sensitive about it, Kaiba!”

“Bullshit, pup-sicle! You watch me all the time! Don’t tell me I don’t see the sweat on your palms when you are near me! Look, I’m not going to beg/ All I’m going to do is ask you to give me a chance.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What’s the catch, Kaiba? What do I have to do to earn my place?”

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it. What do you say?”