Author's Notes: So, I decided to change tacks a bit here. My other story wasn't getting much love (maybe just because really, who wants to see Matt die over and over again? Can't blame anyone there), so I'm gonna try to alternate updates between that one and this one, a much lighter, fluffier tale in which Matt makes some poor choices. Special shout-out, though, to CrazeeChibi, Puppies77777, and iamhidekiryuga, the three people who are now following my other fic—if you're reading this, you guys rock! :3 And yes, "Three Lives Left" will be finished. In fact, it already is, I just need to post the chapters but I like keeping to an update schedule. Cheers for now!

As a side note, if anyone has any suggestions on a better name for this story, please let me know. I'm not too happy with the current one, but the only other thing I could think of was "You've Got Mail (Jeevas)" and if I chose that one I'd be very, very ashamed of myself.

Disclaimer: I am the proud owner of a sick, sick mind and a laptop. I am not the owner of Death Note.

Secret Admirer

Chapter One: Him?

"I refuse to believe it!" the familiar blond fumed as he slammed open the door to Matt's room. "I mean, why would she… how could she… ugh, I just can't wrap my mind around it! Is everyone at that school on drugs or something?"

Matt, for his part, barely flinched at the barrage of randomness and rage being directed his way. He stayed slouched cross-legged on the bed, back against the wall of his bedroom, his fingers continuing to fly over the buttons of his 3DS without faltering. He was used to Mello's dramatic entrances, and just as used to his nonsensical ramblings, if not more so. But because Mello was his best friend (and because he knew where Matt slept), he'd at least acknowledge his rant. He was a good friend like that.

"Who did what to whom? And what kind of drugs?" Matt asked, his tone bored up until that last part. Hey, if it was anything good, then he definitely wanted in. Might make classes a bit more tolerable, at least.

Since his eyes didn't leave the screen of his console, he couldn't see the glare leveled in his direction, but he could tell it was there by the way the side of his face started to smolder.

"This is serious, Matty," Mello informed him. "Didn't you hear about what happened at school today? With Near?"

Ah, and there it was. If anyone could get Mello into this much of a tizzy, it would be Near. The sheer contempt in his voice just saying the name was enough to send lesser men cowering.

Fortunately, Matt was no lesser man. Or at least, he was immune to this particular brand of poison by now.

"Well, seeing as I'm not an incorrigible gossip, that'd be a 'no,'" Matt told him, smirking. He got a smack upside the head for that one as Mello settled next to him on the bed, but it was worth it.

"No, but you are an incorrigible shut-in," Mello pointed out, rolling his eyes. "You really do need to get a life, Matty. And extra lives in video games don't count," he added quickly, cutting off the gamer's retort. Mello really knew him too well.

Matt shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, that's what I have you for, isn't it? To tell me what's going on and let me know if it's relevant? So spill."

Mello kept glaring for another moment as he unwrapped a chocolate bar—the first of many that would perish this afternoon, if his mood was anything to go by.

"It's Linda," he said, taking a vicious bit out of the bar. "She confessed her love today. To Near."

Matt blinked behind amber-tinted goggles. "Er… so?" he asked, just slightly bewildered. "What, were you interested in her yourself, Mels?"

"God no!" the blond exclaimed, shuddering a little at the thought and making Matt roll his eyes. "It's just… him? Really? Why on earth would someone be in love with Near, of all people?"

The redhead gave a little snort of repressed laughter. Of course that's all it was. Mello was jealous. He would almost certainly kill Matt if he ever dared to phrase it that way out loud, but still. There it was.

"You'd be surprised, Mello," he drawled, saving his game so that he could give his friend the attention he demanded. "There are a few girls at school who have a thing for Near. They think he's cute. Like a puppy."

The look that Mello was giving him was priceless—mouth open, eyes wide, and face flushed, with just the slightest twitch right above his cheek. Pure shock warring with righteous fury. Beautiful.

"And how exactly do you know that?" he demanded.

Matt shrugged. "He told me," he said simply.

"When the hell were you talking to him?"

"At lunch one day. You were in the library," Matt explained. Truthfully, he and Near spent many lunches together—they were both antisocial enough that banding together was to their benefit, as it deterred others from bothering them in a way that sitting alone with a game or a puzzle would not. Some days they would chat briefly, but most days they would just sit together in silence, working at their respective tasks. It was actually a rather pleasant arrangement. Not that he'd ever tell Mello that. He valued his limbs, after all.

The blond scowled, crumpling up the wrapper of Chocolate Bar #1 before ripping into #2. "I don't know why you'd bother hanging out with such a weirdo"—oh hey Pot, meet Kettle!—"but at least you're not slipping him love notes between classes or anything. And what kind of fucked up girl wants to date a puppy, anyway?"

"I, uh… don't think that's exactly what they meant by that," Matt said, chuckling awkwardly. "Anyway, why's this got you so worked up, Mels? Just because you hate the guy doesn't mean the entire world has to, you know."

Mello glowered at him, but there was something off about the look. Lacking. It took Matt a moment to realize that it was because Mello was also blushing and—just barely—pouting at the same time. All at once, something clicked in his mind, like a piece of one of Near's puzzles falling into place.

"Mello," he started, trying and failing to suppress a grin of pure malevolence, "no one's ever asked you out before, have they?"

The blond's chin came up, proud and defiant and way too defensive, and Matt knew he had hit the nail on the head. "So?" Mello asked haughtily, trying not to look uncomfortable. "That's not the point, Matty. The point is that—"

"My Mello wants someone to looove him!" Matt sang out, throwing his arms around his friend's shoulders and swaying him back and forth slightly. "Mello's all grown-up now, and he wants someone to looove him and hooold him and fuuu—"

An elbow to the ribcage made him drop his grip, but he continued to giggle to himself, even under Mello's icy glare.

"It's not like you can talk, Mr. Voted Most Likely to Marry a Dating Sim," the blond shot back. Matt smirked at him, not saying anything. After a moment, Mello's eyes widened as realization dawned. "No. You? Really?"

Matt cackled with sadistic glee. He stopped when Mello chucked a pillow at him with deadly accuracy, but the shit-eating grin remained.

"Who and when, Jeevas?" Mello growled.

"Rachael, last week," Matt told him. "And Wendy, last semester. And Michelle, right before summer break last year."

The blond gaped at him. "How the hell did I never hear about this?" he demanded, turning bright red with frustration.

"Well, I don't go around telling people my business, and no girl wants to advertise it when she gets shot down," Matt explained. He didn't say that Near had known, because Near didn't gossip either and was therefore a safe outlet. Hell, if Linda hadn't been tactless enough to blurt it out in the hallway, it was likely that no one would have ever known about her crush. Poor girl.

Mello gave him an almost hurt look, and Matt felt just a little bit guilty for keeping this from him. That lasted all of the five seconds it took for Mello to turn away, mumbling "I don't know what those idiots would see in someone like you" under his breath.

Matt felt a pang of indignation at those words. Laid-back though he may be, his friend's jibe still stung a bit. Plus, the blond was acting bratty as hell.

"Is it really so hard to figure out?" the gamer asked, eyebrow raised and arms crossed defensively over his chest.

Mello bristled a little, then deflated, sighing. "Sorry, Matty," he said sullenly. "I forget sometimes that you are a sexy beast."

"Damn straight. Don't let it happen again."

The blond nodded, chewing sulkily at the chocolate bar in his hand. Matt sighed. Was there anything more pitiful than a repentant Mello?

Scooting closer, the redhead put an arm around his friend's shoulders. Mello tensed. Matt ignored it. "You know," he whispered conspiratorially, leaning in close as if anyone else might be able to overhear them, "I think the only reason you haven't gotten a confession or two of your own is because people are intimidated by you."

Mello glowered, trying to shrug him off. "Don't you fucking patronize me, Matt," he said warningly.

"I'm not!" the redhead insisted. "Seriously, man, I still know some people who practically piss themselves when they see you waiting for me after class, ever since that one time with Tristan and the fire hose."

"He shouldn't have been making fun of your goggles," Mello muttered, looking down with a dark expression. "And he really shouldn't have tried to struggle like that."

"See?" Matt asked, grinning. "You're fucking terrifying! Anyone who thinks you're hot—and you are—is probably too chicken-shit to face the potential Wrath of Mello. Plus, they'd probably think you're out of their league, anyway," he added as an afterthought, stroking the blond's ego. Hey, no one could say he wasn't a kick-ass friend.

Mello, predictably, preened at that. "You're right, Matty," he said, looking just a tad too pleased. "I mean, if a freak like Near and a nerd like you are turning down offers, what girl could possibly think she'd have a shot with me?"

"There's the arrogant psychopath that I know and tolerate!" Matt cheered, picking up his 3DS again and getting ready to put this stupidity behind him. "So, you up for pizza, or are you just gonna work slowly towards diabetes tonight?"

Mello rolled his eyes, finishing off the bar of chocolate he'd been working on. "Yeah, like pizza is so much better for you."

"So, meat lover's with extra bacon?"

"Damn straight."

The weekend passed with relative normalcy—Mello was moody, but then, when was he not? Nothing too bizarre happened, and Matt had no reason to think that the issue wasn't resolved.

Until Monday rolled around.

Now, Matt may not have been the most socially intelligent person in the world, but if there was one person he knew, inside and out, it was Mello. And Mello was… different.

The fire in him, that spark of defiance or arrogance or just sheer rage that was always waiting to ignite, was replaced by a distracted surliness. He didn't pick a single fight all week, which Matt would have been thankful for (somehow he always ended up in trouble alongside the blond) except for the fact that it was so damn weird. And nowhere was the change more evident than in his interactions with Near. Whereas normally the blond would glare or hurl insults or make challenges to the smaller boy, now he would just give him an odd look and walk away. Hell, even Near himself was concerned—he asked Matt over lunch one day if Mello was sick.

Matt didn't know how to answer. All he knew was that his friend was acting strangely, and that it had all started with a stupid high school love confession.

Friday night, Mello came over again, as per usual, to hang out and eat junk food, and things were almost, almost the same. But now that Matt knew to look for it, he saw the shadow hanging over his friend, felt that lingering feeling of wrongness.

And he knew that he had to do something about it.

So it was that as soon as Mello had left for the night, Matt sat down at his computer, fired it up, and made himself a new email account. Clicking on the "Compose" icon and typing Mello's email address into the "To" line, he stared at the blank message box on his screen.

And then, before he could think about it too hard and second-guess himself, he began to type.

End Chapter One

Author's End Notes: Hope you enjoyed! I'm not gonna lie, I'm taking a bit of a risk by posting this one—normally I don't post until I have the story mostly written or at least mostly planned out, and with this one, I'm not really sure where I'm going. I have the next two chapters ready to go, and a vague idea of what will happen for the next three or four after that, but then… Well, we'll see. Drop a review, let me know what you think, and let me know if you have any suggestions, and I guess I'll go from there! Later!