I've been here nine years now, at Wammy's. And so has Near and Mello and Matt. And the thing is, only now I realize I'm in head over heels for the snow-white haired boy.
I walked into my room and saw Near finishing off a card tower. Careful not to ruin it, I walked over and sat next to him.
"Hey," I smiled. "Hello," He answered. For a few more minutes of comfortable silence I watched him finish the peak of his card tower. "You have a lot of patience." I commented. "Thanks," He said. "I could never have that much patience." I said, getting up and walking to my notepad. I started planning out something I could write about. That's why I'm here at Wammy's, because I can write. Apparently, it's useful. I had no objections.
Seconds later, Mello and Matt came bursting through the door. Near stayed calm, but they made me flinch and draw a huge line across the page I was working on. "Damn it, guys!" I shouted trying to remove the pen-line even though I knew it was fruitless.
"Yeah, okay, whatever," Mello rushed. "But have you seen?!" He finished. "Seen what?" I asked, confused. At this, Near looked up. "Seen the snow!" Mello said. "You're joking." I said, getting up to go the the window.
Sure enough, bright white snowflakes covered the grounds and were only covering it deeper with each minute.
"Hey Near, don't go outside, we might lose you." Mello teased. I glared at Mello for throwing a comment like that. "I wouldn't anyway. I stay in here and you know that." Near said back, but quietly. "Well, I'm going out there, you coming, Ring?" Matt asked. "Hm? Oh, no, I don't like the snow." I said simply, sitting back down on my bed with my notepad.
"What?! You don't like the snow?!" Mello and Matt said in unison. "Nope, never really have." I shrugged. I saw Near look up and some-what tune into the conversation. "Well, why not?" Matt asked. "Well, you know when the snow turns into slush and in turn can turn into ice? Yeah I hate that. Plus it's too cold and I really don't like that. So, yeah, I don't like snow." I concluded, continuing to write in my notepad, around the pen-line.
"Well, suit yourselves, I'm going outside." Mello said, pulling Matt along. "Okay, you have fun with that." I commented quietly.
"I don't like the snow either. For the same reasons, too." Near said. "Really?" I asked, happy to find someone who shares my opinions. "Yeah." He said simply.
I threw my notepad down onto my bed and walked over and sat down by Near.
"Near, how long have we been here? At Wammy's?" I asked. Caught off-guard by my question, Near hushed a quick 'Um.' and told me it was around nine years. "We haven't had snow before...have we?" I asked, trying to remember if we had or not. "No, we haven't." Near confirmed.
We were sat there in comfortable silence, me admiring the height of Near's card tower, Near doing nothing at all. Just sitting this close made my stomach flip.
The door opened again and Mello walked back in. "I forgot something," He said, and threw a snowball in our direction. I ducked behind Near for cover and he wrapped his arms around me in a protective way, getting hit in the back with the snowball. Some of the parts of Mello's snowball had cascaded and knocked over the tower of cards, causing them to fall around us.
Laughing and taking a snap from his chocolate bar, Mello spun round and left the room slamming the door behind him.
Near and I were still in each others arms long after Mello had left and the cards had stopped falling. He pulled away first, looking round at the destroyed card tower.
"Oh..." I said sadly, seeing the cards astray round the room. "It's fine." Near shrugged. "You should know by now that Mello does this a lot." He finished. "I guess...but it's still really mean." I said, looking straight at Near, him looking straight back.
We were actually a lot closer than I'd realised, both of our pale faces slightly heating up with a pink-ish-red.
"Um...I should pick these up..." Near said awkwardly. "Right...I'll help you." I said.
Near stood up and held out his hand to help me up. I took it and enjoyed the tingling sensation it sent up my arm.
We picked up all the cards in a few minutes and I handed them all back to Near. Taking them from me, our hands touched breifly, he probably thought nothing of it, but I didn't. He sat on the floor once more, re-starting the tower, while I sat on the bed, continuing the story I was planning.
Sooner or later it was around 11 'o' clock at night and I was growing tired of writing.
Throwing my notepad down on the bedside table in defeat, I grabbed a pair of pyjama's and walked into the bathroom, changed quickly and came back out.
Near was still on the floor, but with his completed card tower, he had turned to a puzzle.
He'd switched the lights around so it was dim, but so he could still see what he was doing.
Near doesn't sleep much, I'm not entirely sure why, but it never bothers me. In fact, the soft clicking of the puzzle pieces is quite soothing. Usually I go to bed first, he stays up, doing a puzzle or building a small city out of lego or dice, then in the morning he usually wakes me up. It's been like this for nine straight years.

This night, however, was different.

I lied in my bed, listening to the clicks of Near's puzzle. My brain was too distracted for sleep. Click. Only distracted because I kept reliving today's...'moments' with Near. Click. Like the guarding hug, some part of me wanted Mello to throw a snowball at us again, just so we could hug like that again...I wanted to be close to him again. Click.
I tossed and turned to the soft clicking of the puzzle pieces before giving up entirely. Click. I sat up in bed and let out a sigh. Near turned around, probably thinking I was asleep. "Oh, you're up? Was the clicking bothering you?" He asked. "No, no, it doesn't bother me, it's nice actually, it's just..." I began. I looked at him, probably soft-eyed and said "It's just, I'm a little...distracted." I said, hoping they were the best words to choose. "Distracted? How? What's wrong?" He asked, getting up and moving towards me, sitting close to me on my bed.
"My brain is a bit...cluttered with thoughts." I explained. "Thoughts? What ones?" Near asked, letting his emotionless face show some concern, but it quickly disappeared as soon as it had appeared.
I looked at him, not sure if I should tell him that I like him. No, that I love him.
He was twirling his snow-white hair, with his head tilted to the side waiting for an answer. An answer he probably wasn't going to get.
"It's uh...it's nothing, don't worry about it, I'll fix it." I said. Near sighed and let his hand drop from his head. He shuffled round the bed until we were both sat cross-legged, facing each other. And we were facing each other closely. Very closely.
"Ring, do you not trust me? It's been nine years and we've told each other the utmost to everything." Near said. This was true, we did tell each other everything. And I'm not repeating it now. "Well, we have done that, but, I just suppose that this...this is different." I whispered. "Different how?" Near asked. I looked him in the eyes then looked back down, unsure what to say and how to say it. If I was even going to say anything at all.
I kept my eyes down and I didn't know what to expect at all. What to say, think or do. "Ring...look at me..." Near said. When I didn't look up he placed his hand under my chin and tilted my head upwards. We were a lot closer that I originally though, but it didn't bother me, because I wanted to be this close to him. I wanted to.
My hands held my forearms and my fingers were creating their own beat to a song that didn't exist, but before the could carry on, Near grabbed them, holding my hand in his own, fingers linked and a smile playing on the corners of his mouth and butterflies flying around in my stomach.
"I think I have an idea of what's bothering you." He said, leaning closer. I could see his face clearly, it was right in front of mine. "Really?" I asked. "Yes." He said simply. "Then what is it?" I asked. "It's me." He said, but before I could say anything back to him, I felt his warm lips press against my own.
They were soft and warm, and I could tell this meant something. This had emotion whether Near planned on showing it or not.
Once the initial shock had work off, I started kissing back. I started enjoying it. I started to realise he liked me too.
After about a minute, he pulled away. "So, was I right?" He asked. "Spot on, as always." I smiled.

A/N: Was it good? I hope it was:3