Title: New Perspective

Rating: M

Summary: Humboldt, California is probably the most uneventful town to ever exist. Matt would know, he's lived there his whole life, fielding homophobes and surviving school one day at a time. Then Mello arrives and everything gets turned on its head.

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note


Chapter One: Welcome to Humboldt I Guess


Matt groaned as someone (Light)knocked on his door for the third time that morning. He bit out a curse and tossed his blankets to the side as he clambered out of the bed and onto the floor with a muffled thud.

"I'm up!" He shouted before Light could continue knocking, wincing as one of his X-Box controllers dug into his spine. The redhead looked at his Mario themed alarm clock, another curse tumbling from his lips as it glared the time at him. He had fifteen minutes before Light and Sayu left for school, which would have been plenty of time for him if he hadn't have shirked his Trig homework in favor of a Bioshock marathon. Running a hand through bed-ruffled hair he unfolded himself from the floor and made his way to his dresser for clean outfit to wear.

He was met with a pitiful choice of old and faded band and gaming shirts, not a stripe in sight. (He really needed to remember to put his clothes in the hamper.) Finally deciding on a pair of blue jeans and an Assassin's Creed long-sleeve, he pulled on the clothes along with a pair of socks and he toed on his shoes. Running into the bathroom down the hall to brush his teeth and wash his face, he barely remembered to grab his bag from behind his bedroom door before he was taking the stairs two at a time.

Light looked him over with pursed lips when he arrived at the dining table and rolled his eyes, which was Light-speak for 'I'm offended by your horrible fashion sense Matt'. Matt snorted in response (Matt-nese for 'I really don't give a fuck about your fashion sensibilities, Light') and a smile curved the brunette's lips. It was the kind of silent communication that they'd developed over the years.

"Find any good deals at Ambercrombie and Fiche?" Matt asked as Sachiko sat breakfast on the table in front of him.

"No, but I heard Hot Topic is having a clearance sale on graphic tees this morning." Light replied with a chuckle as his mother lightly smacked Matt on the head with a wooden spoon.

"Behave, both of you." She admonished. Sayu snickered from her seat between the two boys.

"He started it!" Matt protested weakly and Sachiko leveled the spoon at both her boys with a warning look.

"I don't want to hear it. Matt, you need to eat before it's time to leave." She turned to Light. "I'll be taking Sayu to school since your father needs you to drop off a few folders at the station for him."

Matt ate quickly after that and stacked the dishes in the sink. He grabbed an apple for later as well and accepted the kiss that Sachiko placed on his forehead. She had to stand on the tip of her toes now after Matt's growth spurt but he made up for it by letting her ruffle his hair. It was something that her other son never allowed, his obsession with his own hair amusing her to no end.

"Get to school. And no more sleeping in Mr. Lester's class!" She called as he made his way to the door where Light was waiting, his father's folders in hand.

Matt grinned but said nothing. Mr. Lester's Computer Basics class was something he could do (and had been doing) in his sleep, much to the teacher's annoyance. It honestly wasn't Matt's fault that he'd learned all of the class' curriculum before fourth grade though.

The drive to the station and then the school was uneventful, Light shooting Matt disapproving looks as the redhead belted out the lyrics to Re: Your Brains as loud as humanly possible. Pulling into the parking lot, Matt cut the engine and reached out the open window to get to the door handle. Light did the same as Matt rummaged in the back seat for his bag. He tossed it onto his shoulder and slammed the door shut, pressing his hip against it to ensure that the door didn't pop open again.

"You really need to get your car fixed." Light said with a disdained sniff. Matt kicked one of Chevelle's tires affectionately and leveled a glare at his adoptive brother.

"There's nothing wrong with my car, Raito." He said and Light scowled at the use of his Japanese name. His reply was cut off, however, by a roar as a motorcycle careened into the parking lot. A group of girls yelled curses and insults after the biker as he parked in the space opposite of Matt, but they shut up when the bike's owner pulled off his helmet to reveal shoulder length blonde hair and icy blue eyes.

"Holy shit." Matt gasped and blue eyes focused on him.

"Don't stare unless your hands plan on following your eyes, Ginger." The blonde nearly purred. "I don't need you fucking me with your eyes."

When Matt only gulped and averted his gaze to the motorcycle its owner scoffed.

"Great, a closet case." He heard the blonde mutter. "Figures that this hick town would be full of Narnians."

Matt snorted out a laugh at that and the blonde gave him an appraising look. Then he sauntered away into the school building, tight leather leaving little (very little) to the imagination.

...

Mello made his way through the halls in search of his locker, boots stomping and announcing his presence as he weaved his way through the congested stream of students. For such a small town with a body count the equivalent of pocket lint there sure as hell were a lot of high-schoolers.

It took a sizable amount of elbowing but he finally spotted the locker labeled B005. He picked the crappy lock instead of taking the time to bother with the combination numbers that the old hag in the office had given him and the door opened with a pitiful shriek. He tossed his books and helmet in, only keeping a pen and spiral bound notebook out.

Glancing over, he spotted the redhead from earlier above the sea of students (fucking giant) and smirked when green eyes met his own. The bell rang, the other boy's eyes shifting away from his, and he slammed the locker door shut.

He arrived to AP Literature with time to spare and made his way to the back of the room. The redhead skidded into the room just as the late bell rang and Mello distractedly sat in the first available seat as he watched the teacher scold Matt for barely arriving on time. It must have been a frequent argument between them if the broad's long-suffering expression was anything to go by. Then he took in the two blonde girls sitting to each side of him and groaned. He was just about to vacate his seat in Bimbo Alley when Red stopped beside him.

"Can I help you?" He drawled out as the redhead simply stood there like a dolt. Fuck, this kid had staring problems or some shit. It would be just his luck to pick up a stalker before the end of first period too. Even if said stalker was admittedly hot and had mile long legs that could easily wrap around his waist.

"You're in my seat." Red finally spoke up and Mello raised an eyebrow as he turned to examine the seat for any signs of ownership.

"I don't see your name on it." He said blithely and Red shuffled his feet before green eyes met his own. He wondered briefly how dark they could get when glazed with lust but focused on the present as the redhead opened his pretty little mouth again.

"It's not, I just always sit with Misa and Halle." He tried again and Mello raked his eyes over the taller boy's body before locking onto his eyes.

"And what would you be willing to do to get back?" he purred and the other boy blushed like a virgin on her wedding night.

"Just give him the seat." The amber-eyed blonde girl to his right snapped. Mello glanced over at her and stood.

"Take your seat." He said with an unnecessarily low bow. The blonde girls looked shocked for a moment and Mello smirked as he took the seat behind his previous one.

"Thank you." Red told him as the teacher called the class to order and Mello tilted his head slightly with a wolfish smile. He leaned forward and placed his mouth beside Red's ear.

"My pleasure. I like the view from back here anyway." He said huskily as he let his eyes fall to the redhead's ass and the teen in front of him turned as red as his hair.

Oh this is going to be fun.

...

The blonde continued to bugMatt throughout the rest of the class, distracting him with lewd comments that caused heat to rush to the redhead's face every few minutes. He was creative too and by the time they were half-way through the class his pants were uncomfortably tight, Matt having to shift to hide his hard on. Halle turned to glare at the blonde a couple of times but he only leered at her in return and flipped her off under the table. Misa simply watched them and giggled, assured in her knowledge that Matt would lend her the class notes if she needed him to.

It was the gentle nudge of the blonde boy's booted foot against the crack of Matt's jeans that had the redhead tumbling from his seat with an admittedly girly yelp. Matt heard the blonde chuckle behind him and inwardly flinched when a muttered "faggot" was thrown his way from one of the jocks in the last row. Picking himself up from the floor, he shot the blonde boy a withering look and apologized to Mrs. Bradley for interrupting the class.

When the bell rang Matt grabbed his things and headed toward the door, his antagonizer already out of the classroom. Halle stayed by his side since she had Government and Economics with him for second period and Matt sent her an appreciative smile.

"What a fucking asshole." She fumed as they waded through the crowd, her overlarge purse turned backpack hanging off her arm.

Matt nodded and gave her a somewhat lopsided grin. "He was a pain in the ass, that's for sure." He smiled and Halle turned to him open-mouthed.

"Mail Jeevas, did you just make a gay joke?" She scoffed and groaned when his grin only widened.

Lunch arrived quickly and Matt soon found himself making his way to the parking lot, and more importantly, his baby. He already had his headphones in and his volume up all the way. That's why it startled him so much when a hand slapped against Chevelle's driver side window, barring his way into the car and his ear-buds were yanked out.

"Hey faggot," A voice behind him growled out and Matt let out a hiss of annoyance. He turned around and found one of the school's resident neanderthals leaning over him with the rest of his team in a semi-circle around them.

"Brian," Matt greeted with a pseudo-smile. "Can't say it's nice to see you."

"Likewise." The jock growled out and it was a physical ache for Matt not to roll his eye. Even if they were idiots he didn't much like the idea of him versus half the football team.

"Well I can feel my IQ dropping by the minute, so I'm just gonna..." Matt attempted to duck around Brian but was caught by the throat and slammed back into the door of his baby. He could hear the metal groan from the abuse and that sound combined with the sharp pain of being slammed into a door drew a yelp of indignation from him.

A few of Brian's cronies laughed. "When are you gonna learn that you're not wanted around here, huh?" Another boy, Tyler, piped up with a domineering smile.

Matt made to reply but the hand around his throat tightened and nothing but a choking sound escaped.

"Yeah, nobody wants you here, fag." A squat potato looking boy sneered and Matt would've glared at him if he hadn't been trying to make Brian spontaneously combust with his eyes.

"Well I don't know about that." A new voice drawled and Matt glanced over to see the blonde from English. "I could think of a few places I'd want him. Now drop him."

Brian released Matt and turned to the blonde with a snarl. Matt sucked in a breath and coughed, his lungs singing praises to the leather-clad biker boy.

"Good boy." The blonde congratulated and shook a reprimanding finger when the taller boy made to lunge at him. "Whoa, down there boy. I don't need you humping my knee just yet."

Then he kicked Brian in the nuts, hand tangling in the jock's hair to yank his head back.

"Call off your goons before I have to kick their asses too." Matt's new-found hero commanded but didn't wait for a reply, just slammed his knee up into the other boy's jaw.

Brian fell and curled in on himself, the rest of his friend rushing at the blonde. He tripped Tyler, launching him face-first to the ground with a well-placed push at the back of his neck before grabbing Matt. He practically flung Matt onto the bike behind him, the redhead barely having time to lock his arms around his slim waist before they were roaring out of the parking lot.

Everything sped by in a blur, the bike racing through the streets as the blonde expertly weaved throughout traffic. Matt squeezed his eyes shut and tightened his grip, smiling at the annoyed sound that rumbled through the other boy's frame and into his own chest. He didn't know how long he simply held on but soon they were pulling into the driveway of a massive house. Matt would've even gone so far as to say it was a mansion.

After a few moments of Matt simply staring at the house the blonde he was holding let out a sigh.

"We've stopped moving, ya' know. You can let go." He drawled and chuckled when Matt released him like he was on fire. The redhead stumbled off the bike and took a moment to will his legs to stop shaking as they met the ground. The other teen merely ran a hand through wind ruffled hair and trudged up to the house, Matt following along after him.

The blonde pushed a key into the lock and opened the door with a flick of his wrist, gesturing Matt inside before he shut the door behind them with a kick of his foot. The inside was just as huge as the outside had been with an open concept, white marble floors, and a grand staircase that led up to the next level. The redhead let out a whistle as he looked around and the leather clad blonde watched him with sharp, calculating eyes.

"This is your house?" Matt finally managed to gasp out and the other boy just rolled his eyes.

"No, I just happen to own a key to the front door." He dead-panned and walked into an adjoining room that turned out to be an immaculately clean kitchen. Matt took a seat on a stool by the island and propped his elbows up on the marble surface as he watched Mello rummage around for food.

Surprisingly, the blonde pulled out fixings for something (vegetable oil, boneless chicken tenders, and potatoes) and smirked at Matt's incredulous look.

"Close your mouth before something winds up in it." The blue eyed boy told him and Matt snapped his mouth shut. He watched the blonde cook what he supposed was their lunch and then realized something that should have been obvious.

"I don't know your name."

The blonde jumped a little at the sudden sound of Matt's voice and their eyes met briefly before the blonde focused back on the food.

"Mello." He replied briefly and the redhead let out a little smile as he committed the name to memory.

"My name's Matt." He said before an awkward silence could set in and the blonde made a non-committal noise. Matt's leg started to bounce in place as he grew restless, needing to fill the quiet that Mello seemed content to let settle.

"So, what brings you here?" He blurted out before he could think better of it and Mello's brows furrowed when he looked over at him. "I mean, what brings you to Humboldt? It's like the asshole of California so I can't imagine it was because of this town's good attractions."

"My parents moved us here to get away from the city." Mello informed him and when Matt motioned for him to continue he let out a sigh. "They felt it would be a good idea to go somewhere peaceful after I got kicked out of my boarding school. Apparently my father grew up here or some shit."

"Oh," Matt paused. "Well then, welcome to Humboldt I guess." The redhead said and the other boy only snorted. He placed a plate of fried chicken with a side of french fries in front of the redhead. After grabbing a bottle of ketchup from the fridge he joined Matt at the island to eat. There was a stretch of silence as they consumed their lunch.

"Thank you for helping me out—" He began only to have Mello glare at him. Matt froze with a fry half-way to his mouth.

"You shouldn't let them treat you like that." The blonde said with a frown as he stabbed at his food with a fork. Matt winced in sympathy.

"It's not like I could—" He tried and Mello cut him off with an angry noise.

"You could've fought back." The leather clad boy corrected. "You could've done something instead of let them push you around like you're nothing. Believe me, it's hard enough being gay without having idiots think they can walk all over you."

"I'd rather have them walk all over me than get my ass kicked." Matt snapped back and Mello laughed.

"Oh yeah, because choking you is so much better." The blonde mocked and Matt scowled.

"Why are you being such a dick? I was just trying to thank you!"

The blonde sneered. "Don't. If I knew you were an idiot I wouldn't have bothered."

Matt hopped off of his stool and made his way toward the door. "Asshole." He yelled back, and maybe it was childish but he didn't care.

...

Mello let out a growland yanked a hand through his hair as he watched Matt storm out of the kitchen. He was being completely honest when he'd said that he wouldn't have helped had he known that Matt would turn out to such an idiot. It angered him that the redhead thought it was a good idea to just roll over for his tormenters. It bothered him because Mello was so used to fighting for everything and here was this dumb kid letting a bunch of idiots degrade him without even a thought of sticking up for himself. He placed the dishes in the sink, resisting the urge to throw them, and followed the other boy out of the house.

He felt anger boil up in him at the sight of the taller boy leaning against his bike with his arms crossed and briefly thought of leaving him to find his own way to school. The blonde clenched his fists briefly and then took a calming breath as he spread his fingers. Climbing onto the bike he waited for the other boy to join him before tearing off down the street. He was going way too fast but honestly didn't care; he just relished in the feel of the wind against his skin and the adrenaline that rushed through his blood as they sped away from his home.

Matt was holding on just as tightly as before but the other teen was rigid, no longer pressed up against Mello's back like he had been before. They made it to the school in record time and Matt practically lunged off the bike.

"Thank you." He bit out and Mello gave him a mock solute that caused the redhead to scowl.

"Ass." He hissed as he stomped away and Mello glared after him.

"Bitch." Mello called after him and Matt simply flipped him off.


Okay, so that's the first chapter! Tell me what you think! I have so much planned for these two. And trust me, things get better. *winks*

But leave a review, ohmigod! The next chapter will be up in a week.

[Edit completed 3.8.14]

Lot's of love and kittens,

Checherboardom