I Put Your Picture Away


Rating: PG 13


~~Livin' my life in a slow hell
Different girl every night at the hotel
I ain't seen the sun shine in 3 damn days
Been fuelin' up on cocaine and whiskey
Wish I had a good girl to miss me
Lord I wonder if I'll ever change my ways~~





Seto Kaiba was not the picture of a healthy, happy teenage boy these days. As a matter of fact he wasn’t even the picture of his usual cold-hearted, damn the world and everyone in it, rich, successful, business man CEO self. Heartbreak could do that to you, love ripped out, torn up, spit out and crushed under foot, would do that to you. He tried to get up from the bed he had been in and out of the last few days, not even taking noticed of the person he had been sharing it with. Walking over to the dresser in the room, he took a glass sitting there, turned and threw at the girl, “Get out.” Tipping the glass back, he downed the warm liquid, the feeling of heat from the Jack Daniels running down his throat. He went into the bathroom, catching a glance at the mirror. Reflected there he could see bloodshot eyes, a face a lot paler than usual, hair that was a mess, and someone who could defiantly use a bath. He threw his now empty glass into the mirror, causing the image to shatter into millions of tiny pieces. Today he had to start getting his life back in order; a warm shower was the first step. Stepping carefully so he would not pick up any of the glass in his feet, he made his way over to the shower. The water came rushing out cold, and then warming up to a near boil. Feeling the water pounding out of the spray, pouring over his worn out body, he could feel his mind trying to clear of the self-induced fog it had been in ever since…no he wasn’t ready to think about that yet. ‘How the hell did it come to this?’ He couldn’t remember the exact reasons, knew there had to be more than one, wasn’t completely his fault, but maybe it mostly was. How was he supposed to change who he was? How could he ignore what had been impressed on his psyche all those years? He did have obligations he had to take care of, other people who depended on him everyday. “Damn it!” It wasn’t fair to expect him to drop everything, give up everything for…’stop, not going there right now.’

Getting out of the shower, again trying not to step in the broken glass on the floor, he walked out of the bathroom to get dressed. The girl, what ever her name had been, had taken his words to heart and left, taking his wallet with her. “Good thing I don’t carry ID around with me…or credit cards and only a little on hand cash…” He picked up the phone on the table by the bed and called for his driver, “No questions, just come get me okay?” Finally, at home, surrounded by too many memories, it all came crashing down on him again. He sat at his desk, starring at the picture of the only one he’d ever loved. ‘Have to do something about this, have to get over it…he left, it’s over…’ He placed the picture, frame and all in the drawer he kept locked in his desk.


~~I put your picture away
Sat down and cried today
I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to her
I put your picture away, sat down and cried today
I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to her



I called you last night in the hotel
Everyone knows but they wont tell
But their half hearted smiles tell me
Somethin' just ain't right
I been waitin' on you for a long time
Fuelin' up on heartaches and cheap wine
I ain't heard from you in 3 damn nights~~

Katsuya Jounouchi couldn’t get the thought out of his head, ‘Why the hell hasn’t he called me?’ That was how it was supposed to go between them wasn’t it? He acted stupid, made Seto feel like an ass, Seto apologized, and they made up. But this time had he gone too far? He had gotten tired of there never being anytime for them, tired of all the late night interruptions, the business meetings that took forever. So he told Kaiba that, he had come back with some speech about how it was his responsibility, how everything depended on him. “Well so did I!” he’d screamed back before slamming out the door, “That’s right, did. It’s over!” Jou had cut it off right then between them. Still, even though he felt he moved on to the point of going out with others, he thought Kaiba would fall in line and call him, sorry for hurting his “puppy”. Kaiba hadn’t been seen by anyone since Jou walked out that night; even Jou’s friends had noticed his absence. They hadn’t known about the two of them, but Jou was sure they might have suspected.


He finally broke down himself and called the Kaiba residence, “Hello, may I speak to Seto please?” “I’m sorry sir; Mr. Kaiba is not accepting calls at this time. If you’d like I can take a message for him, I’m sure he’ll get back to you as soon as he can.” The voice on the other end sounded so cold, even for one of Seto’s employees. Jou knew something was wrong but couldn’t do anything about it. “No, I don’t think he would actually. Sorry, no message, but thank you.” Jou sat down on his bed, looking at the picture he had of the two of them together. Better moments, happier times, “Man I so fucked this up.” He placed the picture in his sock drawer, hidden from view, to keep his thoughts off such things.




~~I put your picture away
I wonder where you been
I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to him
I put your picture away
I wonder where you been
I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to him~~


School started for the boys a few months later, it was going to be tough. Same grade, would most likely have some classes together. They still had some of the same friends, what was that going to be like? Seto hadn’t seen Jou since that night, had spent most of his time at work or alone. He still hadn’t come to grasp what went wrong, but he was doing better, there was a light somewhere a head of him even though it hurt like hell some days.

~~I saw ya yesterday with an old friend

It was the same ole same "how have you been"~~


Jou couldn’t believe it. First day of school, first time seeing him again. ‘This is too weird, glad everyone is here, won’t have to do this alone.’ There he was up a head, still the loner, strong and silent. “Hey, Yugi…” he tossed his head in Kaiba’s direction. Yugi understood, Jou had finally confessed all to him trying to cleanse his soul of what had happened. They walked over towards the tall brunette, Yugi stopped short letting Jou finish the walk. “Hey, how’s it going?” Jou asked. Seto looked down at the brown-eyed boy, the one he had loved for so long, the one who ripped his heart to shreds…

~~Since you been gone my worlds been dark & gray

You reminded me of brighter days~~


Slowly his heart started beating again, “Getting better.”


~~I hoped you were comin' home to stay
I was headin for church
I was off to drink you away~~


”Been worse, a lot worse.”


~~I thought about you for a long time
Can't seem to get you off my mind
I can't understand why we're living life this way~~



Jou looked up into those crystal blue eyes, “We need to talk…”

“Later, come by.”


~~I found your picture today
I swear I'll change my ways
I just called to say I want you to come back home
I found your picture today
I swear I'll swear change my ways
I just called to say I want you to come back home
I just called to say, I love you come back home~~



After school, after talking things over…two pictures were brought back into the light of day, with a promise to try again.