YES THIS IS THE PROBABLY-FORGOTTEN-BY-ALL-OF-YOU SEQUEL THAT TOOK ME 2+ YEARS TO WRITE. FORGIVE ME FOR BEING SO PATHETICALLY LAZY AND DSJFLKDJ.

I apologise to those of you who have waited a very long time for this sequel, and I'll understand if some of you aren't even Deathnote fans anymore -sweatdrop- (even though this story is completely hardcore AU and has nothing to do with DN but the names) but I hope everyone will enjoy this story just the same. I worked hard on it, and it recently went through some harsh editing to cut out a lot of repetitive things and things that I didn't like. Yes, it is all finished, all of my fanfictions have always been prewritten. I'm just cruel and don't publish it all at once. Mwahaha.

Et, pour mes "fans" français: vous pouvez écrire un commentaire en français, je peux vous comprendre parfaitement ! Bien que mon français ne soit pas parfait, c'est pas un problème pour moi si vous m'écrivez en français.

I would like to thank "Off in Her Own Little World" for correcting the main title. And also a big thanks to Aysa-Millana, who corrected the German titles and phrases throughout the story, along with helping me with cultural things! I appreciate you guys so much.

ALSO KEEP IN MIND THAT THE FIRST LIKE, 9 CHAPTERS OF THIS STORY ARE ABOUT A YEAR OR TWO OLD AND MY WRITING STYLE PROBABLY CHANGED HALFWAY THROUGH OTL. AND I'M REALLY SORRY IF IT SUCKS, I TRIED.

Kapitel 01
Chapter 1

Wiedersehen
"Reunion"
Réunion

The gruelling anxiety and anticipation that seized Matt that June morning had nothing to do with the onset of summer before him, nor with the afternoon approaching and the prospect of spending the rest of the night cosied up in the house. In reality, the redhead was never this anxious. He always managed -or rather, made an effort to- disguise his emotions quite well, no matter whose particular company he happened to be in. His fidgeting this night was very unusual, so much so that anyone who knew the boy well would be slightly concerned. However, with no one around to see him, he gave way to the solicitude and restlessness that overpowered him that afternoon. Though by no means was this brought on by the darkening of the sky in anticipation of nightfall, or the knowledge that he would be free of his boring, stuffy classroom at school for a period of two months. No, the twitching and shaking of his hands and severe dryness of his mouth was brought on by the clock.

It had chimed six o'clock just mere minutes ago, and since then Matt had been fretfully pacing the room, so much so that there was now an evident trace of footprints scattered around the perimeter of the room. It was six-eleven now, and every minute passed was another pace around the room. Time seemed to drag by so slowly.

Then it was six-thirty. The low crunching of gravel in the driveway sent Matt straight to the window, his eyes locked obsessively on the taxi now parked in the driveway.

The sound of the doorbell a few seconds later startled Matt and he jumped away from the window as though stung. At first, he made to bolt towards the door and throw it wide open, but then he regained his composure. He stopped, took a deep breath, and then went to the doorway, opening the door without trying to show his obvious enthusiasm.

The blond boy standing on the doorstep smiled warmly. "Hey – long time no see, huh?" He set his stuff down in the hallway, and before he'd even gotten completely inside, Matt had promptly thrown his arms around the other boy's neck, jumping straight into his arms.

"Haha, missed you too," the blond laughed, breathless with the effort of supporting Matt's weight.

Taking into consideration how heavy he must be, Matt courteously hopped down to the floor, studying the blond standing before him.

In reality, Mello was a year older (now at fifteen), yet he was still quite a bit shorter than Matt, and the childlike features of his face still lingered somewhat, but all Matt could see was the fourteen-year-old boy he'd fallen in love with just one year ago.

"I can't believe you're actually here!" Matt shook his head in disbelief, placing his hands on either side of Mello's face to feel the familiarness beneath his fingertips.

Before he could come to his senses completely, Matt pulled Mello forward and hurriedly pressed their lips together in a long-missed gesture of affection. The kiss sent a sudden spark of flashbacks before Matt's eyes, and he smiled as he and Mello parted. "I've missed that."

"Me too." Mello affectionately tucked a strand of red hair behind Matt's ear, before turning his head and looking curiously around the interior of the room. He let out a long whistle. "Wow...nice place."

Matt laughed and ran a hand through his tousled hair. "Yeah, uh...my uncle isn't here right now, but he'll be in time for supper."

"Cool... So uh, where's your room?"

"Upstairs." Matt inclined his head toward the staircase, and Mello picked his things back up, following the other boy upstairs. As Matt walked ahead of him, his thoughts began to run together into one huge jumbled mess, leaving him incapable to think. Just the idea of being alone in his room with the blond sent all sorts of shivers throughout Matt's body. At camp, they hadn't had a room to go to. The privacy they'd be allowed this summer was new to the both of them. Matt rather enjoyed pondering the prospect.

The redhead lead Mello down the long, upstairs hallway, to a door at the end. He promptly swung it open and walked nonchalantly inside, while memorizing the look of utter amazement that crossed Mello's face at that moment.

"Holy..." Mouth open, the blond eagerly scanned every inch of the room in wonder.

To Matt, the room didn't seem that great. It was just a room, after all. Though Mello's obvious admiration still made him smile.

Mello walked over and fingered the silky red covers of the large bed in the center of the room in awe, tracing the white lace embedded on the edges. He then laughed. "You never told me you were rich!"

Matt blushed. "I'm not!" he protested. "My...uncle is, sort of."

"That's amazing!" he tossed his bag on the bed and went over to the window, gazing out longingly into the broad countryside. "I would love to live somewhere like this. You're so lucky!"

"Not really." Matt shrugged, shifting his feet, and Mello -realizing what he'd said- immediately sobered up.

"Sorry. I didn't mean..."

"It's fine." Matt smiled to assure the blond that he hadn't taken offense. "I suppose I'm luckier than a lot of people."

"So um...what time will your uncle be home?"

"Around seven. He told me that we could help ourselves to the food in the kitchen - or whatever."

"Cool. So...what do you want to do until he gets back?"

"Uh well...we could play video games," he suggested, knowing it probably sounded lame. Though it wasn't as if there was anything else to do; he was sure Mello would find -quite soon- that the country was rather devoid of any amusing activities to partake in.

To his surprise, Mello smiled. "Sure, that sounds fun! I never get to play them much at home."

Both boys plopped themselves on the floor in front of the TV and X-box, after randomly choosing a game from Matt's obsessive life-long collection.

"I feel I should tell you, though," Matt said with a wry smile, "no one has ever beaten me at 'Mortal Kombat'."

"Well, we'll just have to see about that, now – won't we?" Mello replied, his voice challenging.

They started the game, and for the first two rounds, Matt won effortlessly. He was proud of this, taking no hesitation to boast and declare himself the 'Game Master'. Mello -thoroughly irritated with losing- simply began pressing random buttons on the controller in hopes that he would click something right. It only served to weaken his chances, and Matt received three flawless victories in a row.

"That's not fair!" the blond whined, as he lost once again. "You keep beating me!"

Matt laughed. "I told you no one has ever beaten me," he gloated.

"Come on, at least give me a chance!" Mello protested.

"I'm not going to just let you win!" Matt said.

Mello sighed and engaged in another fruitless attempt to defeat Matt's character.

He lost again.

"Dammit all!" Mello groaned, tossing the controller aside. "There's no point in playing if I'm just going to lose!"

"Oh stop whining, you sore loser." Matt brushed him off.

Mello glared, and then pounced on Matt, pushing him to the floor and pinning his arms above his head.

The redhead simply grinned, enjoying the attention. "Is someone upset because they keep losing?" Matt pouted in a mock sympathetic voice.

"Shut up...!" Mello pleaded. "It's not funny!"

With a smirk, Matt broke free of Mello's grip and rolled over to where the blond was underneath him, pleased with the surprised yelp he received. He could feel Mello squirming beneath him, trying to push him off. It gave Matt an odd sense of pleasure.

"H-hey, get off me!" Mello grumbled, his face flushed a light pink. Whether it was out of anger or embarrassment, Matt knew not.

"Hm...let me think about that..." Matt mused, putting a finger thoughtfully to his lips. "I don't think I want to."

"Oh? And why is that?" Mello inquired, raising an eyebrow at Matt's response.

"Maybe I like my position up here," the redhead stated, giving a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.

Mello's glare this time was slightly half-hearted, as was his next attempt to push Matt off of him. Finally, he gave a defeated sigh, and looked up at Matt with a hint of his familiar devilish smile curling at the edge of his beautiful lips. "Then I guess I'll have to make you get off of me," he suggested.

"And what means do you have in mind?" Matt asked, leaning in closer to the blond, a disguised hint of insinuation in his voice.

"Hm, let me think..." Mello imitated Matt's previous look of thoughtfulness as he mulled over his options. He reached up and brushed his fingertips lightly across Matt's cheek, causing goosebumps to rise on the redhead's skin. "I could always use my most...forceful methods," the blond hinted suggestively.

"Forceful methods, you say?" Matt raised an eyebrow and smiled. "You, Mello, forceful? I hardly think so."

"Watch me," Mello replied, and in mere seconds, he'd shoved Matt roughly off of him and took his rightful place on the other boy's lap. He grinned playfully as he pressed his hands to Matt's shoulders to keep him pinned down. "You know, you look really cute all flushed like that," he giggled.

Flushed? Matt was flushed? The redhead hadn't noticed. Matt pulled Mello down and captured his lips in a surprise kiss, hoping the boy hadn't noticed his sudden transfixion.

Slightly caught off guard -as Matt had hoped he would be- Mello's grip on his shoulders slackened, and the redhead was able to roll over and have the other boy beneath him once more. Even then, their mouths didn't separate from each other. Mello closed his hand around the material of Matt's shirt in what was practically a death grip, and kept their lips pressed tightly together, moaning slightly as Matt's tongue slid its way into the dark, succulent space that was his mouth. Instinctively, Matt pressed his lips harder against Mello's, gently biting the other boy's bottom lip, earning a louder moan from beneath him.

As he heard the noises Mello made in response to his actions, an unfamiliar twinge of something stirred within Matt, that of which he had never experienced before; a certain feeling of...what was it? 'Lust' didn't really seem like the word to describe it, but there was definitely something sending shivers up his spine and making him subconsciously rub against Mello as they kissed. The more contact, the stronger this feeling became. His body moved as though on autopilot. Gods, he was so hot... When had it suddenly become so hot? His breath came out in short, ragged gasps, and he could only think of how badly he longed for the boy beneath him at that moment. How good it felt when he moved beneath Matt, trying -and failing- to free himself once more. As their bodies pressed closely together, Matt could feel a familiar blissful wave of heat collect in his groin, which tempted him to continue rubbing himself blindly against the blond beneath him. It felt so good, so wanted. Yet he knew the heat was a starting point, the one warning before one ventured past the point of no return. It was the moment where you either had to give in or summon the near-impossible willpower it took to stop.

And judging from past experiences, Matt had about four seconds.

As though he'd been electrocuted, the redhead roughly and swiftly pulled himself away from the surprised blond, breaking their kiss. He sat up, panting, his face red and his heart hammering. Mello regarded him with a curious, slightly concerned, look. "Are you okay?" he asked, reaching over to touch the other boy's face.

Almost like a reflex, Matt flinched away, sure that one more touch from the blond would send him past that point he had so narrowly avoided just now. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine. It's just, uh, I think I heard a car pull in the driveway..."

As if on cue, the loud squeal of tires in the driveway alerted the two enraptured boys that they were about to be joined by another party. Hastily, Matt jumped up as though he'd touched a hot wire, and quickly straightened his clothing and smoothed down his hair. Mello did the same, and both boys frantically checked themselves in the mirrors, praying that the pink in their faces would disappear by the time Matt's uncle saw them that evening.

As soon as the clinking of keys in a lock was evident, both boys exchanged a nervous glance at each other and began the trudge downstairs. Matt stared down shamefully at the floor, trying not to think of exactly what he'd felt up there. The blond seemed equally chagrined, and more sober than usual. The events upstairs had obviously surprised him as well.

Matt had experienced those feelings with Alex before, but they hadn't been nearly so potent then. What he'd just felt back there had startled him, though -thinking back- it shouldn't come as a surprise. The sort of reaction was expected; friction equals pleasure. He mentally noted that he would need to be very careful with just how far he and Mello went, to avoid accidentally overstepping boundaries that Matt didn't feel needed or were ready to be crossed at this point.

When they arrived downstairs, a tall, brown-haired man was just making his way through the door, a briefcase in one hand and keys in another. Shutting the door behind him, he set his suitcase down on the floor and proceeded with hanging his hat on the stand by the door, before shrugging out of his large trench coat and leaving it to join the hat. As he bustled about for a few minutes, he didn't seem to register the two boys standing awkwardly at the foot of the stairs. They weren't completely ready for him to notice them yet (as they weren't quite sure if the pink was gone from their faces) so they simply stood, waiting for him to finish putting things away.

Finally, the tall man -after setting his briefcase in a room to the side- glanced up and was taken aback by the two silent boys at the stairs. However, his face soon lit up into a welcoming smile. He was rather young, the dark brown hair on his head not yet showing the onsets of balding, though the signs of aging were faint against the youthful features of his face. There were a few wrinkles scattered here and there, but the man could be judged as no more than in his mid-thirties. "Matt," the man addressed the redhead, and Mello was surprised to find that the man didn't call his own nephew by his real name. He wondered if he did it by request of Matt. "I'm sorry I took a little longer than usual getting home," he explained. "Late day at the office again." Taking no longer than that to speak to his nephew, the man's eyes traveled to the blond behind him. "Ah, and you must be the famous 'Mello' I keep hearing so much about?" His smile warmed as he greeted the boy.

Mello could feel the blush creeping up his face. Had Matt really talked about him that much? "Um, yes..." He offered a friendly smile. "It's nice to meet you."

"Feel free to call me Marc. I'm so glad to finally be meeting one of Matt's friends. He never brings anyone home, so you must be quite a good friend," he said, giving a small chuckle.

Mello noted that he had only referred to him as a friend, and he glanced at Matt as though wondering if he was going to correct him. The redhead just blushed a little, but didn't say anything. Had he not told his uncle that they were together? Had he not even told him he liked boys?

"So, who's ready for supper?" Marc said, clapping his hands together. "I thought that lasagna would be good for the occasion, non?"

Matt could see Mello's mouth practically watering at the mere prospect. "That sounds delicious," he said.

"Très bien." Marc paused, and then waved his hands toward the kitchen. "Well, what are you waiting for?" he said. "Go on, it'll be ready in a little while. Make yourselves at home, watch TV...whatever teenage boys do at this age." As they began to walk down the hall, Marc continued his felicitous chatter. "Feel free to go outside, but not after dark, mind you. Well...okay, after dark. But take a flashlight. Go to bed whenever you want, I'll be asleep like a log, so it won't matter to me how much noise you make. Eat whatever, whenever, do whatever. D'accord?" The three of them reached the -surprisingly spotless- kitchen, and Marc began to open cabinet after cabinet, pulling out ingredients and utensils for the meal. "There are absolutely no rules whatsoever in this house. Wait, yes, just one: don't break the law or do anything otherwise illegal, compris?"

"Yes," Matt said with a lazy roll of his eyes. Mello could tell that he had heard his uncle's long rants a lot. Hoping to spare them of any more, Matt took Mello by the arm and announced that they would be going outside until dinner was ready. His uncle agreed, waving them off with promises to call them when it was done.

"I'm so sorry about him," Matt apologized profusely as the screen door slammed shut behind them a few moments later.

"Oh, I don't mind. He seems nice," Mello replied, plopping down in the swing on the porch. As he sat down, he studied the thing a few moments, moving slightly as though to test its weight limit. "I've never seen one of these before..." he said, almost incredulously. "Living in the city and all. It's kind of neat." He smiled and began the childish tactic of swinging a little too high, succeeding only in firing up Matt's already fragile nerves. The redhead was quick to deflate Mello's childlike curiosity by abruptly stopping the swing and sitting down beside Mello to ensure that he wouldn't try it again.

"You're no fun," Mello pouted, crossing his arms over his chest and sticking out his lower lip.

"And you're a child."

"But that just makes me all the more adorable, right?" Mello said sweetly, batting his eyelashes at Matt.

The other boy gave a single exasperated roll of his eyes. "I'm so not answering that question."

"Come on, you know the answer is yeeeeeeees..." Mello sang, poking Matt playfully in the forehead. "You know you looooooooove my childish naaaatuuuurrrre!..."

"Shut up," Matt grumbled, swatting Mello's hand away.

The blond pretended to be hurt. "Ouch... You're being mean!" he whined. "And here I thought you'd changed since last summer!"

"I haven't changed, you idiot."

"But you seemed so cheerful when I arrived. You're never cheerful," Mello pointed out.

"I am too!" Matt protested. "And I was happy when you came..." He trailed off as he realized Mello would win this argument undoubtedly. "But now that you're here, there's no more excitement," he deadpanned, crossing his arms in a dignified manner.

"That's no fair! Are you saying I'm boring?" Mello asked in mock offense. "Well you're not exactly the funnest person to be around yourself, you know."

"I am quite aware of that," Matt replied flatly.

"Fun-sucker."

"Wha...what did you call me?" The redhead asked in surprise.

"Fun-sucker," Mello repeated. "Meaning that you suck the fun out of anything and everything."

"I am not!"

"FUN-SUCKER," Mello insisted, jumping up from the swing with a childish giggle. "Fun-sucker, fun-sucker, fun-sucker!" He chanted.

"Shut up!" Matt griped, glaring the blond's way.

"Fuuuuun-suuuuckerr!"

"Gods, would you shut it!" Matt snapped, pulling Mello down towards him and capturing their lips together in a passionate kiss. Parting only for a breath of air, Matt gasped, "You stupid child."

"Who are you calling a child?" Mello said.

"You are a child," Matt informed him. "You act enough like one, anyway."

Mello grinned. "Better than being a fun-sucker."

Before Matt had a chance to retort, a voice called to them from the house. "DINNER!"

"Yay, I'm hungry!" Mello piped up, and before Matt could protest, the blond was sprinting in the house in search of food.

Such a child.

But Matt loved him.

XxX

Matt didn't look for dinner to be the highlight of his evening, but he deemed it something he would have to endure. Quite surprisingly, though, his uncle didn't ask nearly as many questions as the redhead had predicted. Marc seemed to realize that there was a certain limit as to what Matt could take, and thorough inquiry of his friend was a big 'no'.

"So, Mello, what do your parents do for work?" Marc asked nonchalantly as an attempt at polite conversation, while the three of them ate the lasagna, which was cooked surprisingly to perfection for a man to have been in charge of it.

Mello -who had had a piece of the delicacy he called food halfway to his mouth- froze and set his fork back down. His answer was slightly reluctant. "Um, well...they're unemployed."

"Unemployed?" Marc repeated, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Well, they find odd jobs here and there, but they don't really have anything set in stone..." Mello shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and Matt racked his brains to find possible ways to save him from the conversation. None came to him.

"I see. So, you say you're from Berlin?"

"Yes," Mello answered, giving a mental sigh of relief that the topic had changed to something less personal. "I live with my mother in Berlin, and then my father in Munich during the summer."

"I see," Marc said, and the two boys could tell that he was quite fond of those two words. "Now, why do people call you Mello?" he asked. "Just out of curiosity."

"Oh, well..." Mello gave a small laugh, casting a sideways glance at Matt. "My friend Emil gave it to me, when we were younger, because I always used to like this drink..."

Why did the mention of the jealous little leech Emil send Matt into an internal fit of rage? Hadn't he gotten over the whole ordeal at camp by now? He had thought that he and Emil had made amends, and that the ground between them was neutral now. Still, discovering that Emil was the reason behind Mello's nickname made Matt furious. He didn't want the other boy to own any part of Mello, including his name.

It took Matt a few seconds before he realized he was being spoken to.

"..what?" he said, jerking out of his daze with a start. "What is it?"

Mello laughed, clearly amused with Matt's spaciness. "I was asking your uncle why your nickname was Matt," he replied, and then giggled. "A TV show character? Really?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, Gods... It was just this stupid show I used to watch. One of the characters was, and I..." he grumbled to himself. "...and it sounded a whole hell of a lot better than 'Mail', in the English language."

"I get it," Mello said, though Matt could tell it was taking a great deal of the blond's self control not to burst out laughing.

The rest of the dinner conversation continued in a similar fashion, and Matt was only too grateful when they had cleaned their plates, and his uncle excused them from the table. The redhead took no hesitation in dragging Mello up to his room, where a paused video game was still awaiting them on the screen. "I'm sorry about all the questions," Matt started.

"Oh, stop apologizing," Mello griped, plopping down on the bed. "I like it here. Your uncle isn't so bad, really. Pays more attention to me than my own parents. It's nice."

"Nice?" Matt repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, nice," Mello insisted. "Stop worrying."

Matt glanced at the clock on his bedside table: eight-thirty. His uncle would probably go to bed around nine, he deduced, and then he and Mello would have the entire house and its contents to themselves. This thought pleased him greatly, though the incident earlier still had him bothered. Though Matt didn't know what had him so terrified; feeling like that was normal, wasn't it? That was what was supposed to happen when you were in a physical situation like that. It was to be expected.

So why did it scare the complete shit out of him when he thought about it?

He'd never been...intimate...with anyone before. Even his and Alex's bouts of physicalness had been limited to just kissing and touching. It had never gone farther than that. Yet, even when it had become a little more, or when they'd found themselves in a situation similar to where Matt had been with Mello earlier, Matt had never felt that way. Sure, he'd liked it a hell of a lot, he'd felt those small twinges of attraction, but he'd never become so...hot. So desperate for...

For what?

For Mello, that was what.

The fact of the matter was, Matt was a teenage boy, and teenage boys thought about one thing and one thing only.

SEX.

It wasn't like he could rightly ignore that need, especially if he and Mello were ever in that situation again. The need had already informed Matt that it was pretty much out of his control. They hadn't even gone that far, though! They had just been kissing...really heavily. Surely something as small as that couldn't turn Matt on! It had, though, and Matt couldn't discern whether it would happen again. The prospect wasn't a pleasant one, and he sure as hell didn't want to mention it to Mello. Mello was practically a child... The thought of sex with him was just...

Well, in all honestly, it was appealing.

That was what frightened Matt.

Mello seemed like such a child, and yet Matt was contemplating sex. Sex with a child.

'Stop being silly' he scolded himself. 'He may act like a child at times, but he's still the same age as you. It's not pedophilia, for Christ's sake.'

Could Matt even picture Mello wanting sex, though? His nature made these thoughts seem very unlikely, though Matt reminded himself that Mello was a teenage boy as well, so sex must be on his mind at some point throughout the day.

Sex, sex, sex.

Jesus, he was using that word a lot lately. He really needed to think about something else. He couldn't rightly just forget it though, as Mello was sitting quite near him, and he was quite beautiful. Matt's mouth suddenly went dry.

"Heyyy..." Matt felt a sudden poke to his forehead. "Spacey McSpacer, pay attention to me."

"Wha...huh?" The redhead was once again brought unceremoniously back to earth, and he shook his head viciously to clear his thoughts. His perverted, pedophile thoughts. "Sorry," he muttered.

"Now, if your attention is focused back to the present now, I was asking you a question."

"Oh, uh – right. What is it?" Matt asked, his thoughts thoroughly muddled.

"Forget it. What were you thinking about just now, anyway?"

'Ah, and we come to the center of the shrubbery maze...' If Matt was correct, Stewie had said the exact same thing on Family Guy once. Dammit, Stewie was a child. Mello was like a child. Thinking of child-Stewie brought his thoughts back to child-like Mello.

Shit.

"Ah, nothing important," Matt lied.

"Nothing important my ass. You were staring off into space like a schoolgirl ogling her professor."

"Sorry, I uh – I'm just tired, I guess. I didn't mean to drift off like that," Matt said.

"Something isn't wrong, is it?" Mello sighed.

"No, nothing's wrong," Matt assured him. "Just tired."

"If you say so..." Mello yawned and stretched out on the bed with his hands secured behind his head. "I can't believe your uncle is just letting us do whatever we want. Is he usually so lenient?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Matt replied, going over to his -quite roomy- closet and searching for a large shirt to wear.

"Man, my parents would never give me so much freedom," Mello commented.

"Yeah, well maybe that's because I don't act like a giant toddler," Matt suggested, beginning to undress.

Mello simply stuck his tongue out. "You just don't know how to have fun."

"I do too," Matt argued, pulling the clean shirt over his head and shrugging out of his jeans. He tossed them carelessly into a pile in the corner, and went over to close the curtains against the darkening sky.

"Hey, Matt, come over here." Mello's sweet voice floated over from the bed.

"Hm? Why?"

"Just come over here," he said, a slight demanding tone in his voice.

Giving a heavy sigh, Matt trekked over to the bed and plopped down on his knees beside the blond. "What?"

Wordlessly, Mello reached up and gripped the collar of Matt's shirt, jerking him down and pressing their lips together. The sudden gesture startled Matt slightly, and for a minute he stayed completely still. Then he felt himself melting, sliding forward, and suddenly there was no space between his and the blond's bodies, Mello's arms wrapped tightly around his waist, keeping him pinned down without hope of release. His heart thudded wildly against his chest, and Matt yelped a little as he felt the other boy's nails in his back. Soon, their tongues were engaged in a battle with little recognition of whose was whose. The all too familiar feeling of earlier washed over Matt, and he tried to break free of the position without Mello noticing what he was attempting to do.

Quickly, he detached himself from the clingy blond, panting heavily, and Mello looked at him curiously.

"S-sorry," Matt breathed in a quick apology.

"What's wrong?" Mello's brow furrowed in concern as he took note of the redhead's flushed face.

"N-nothing." Matt shook his head, hoping he could simply get away from the situation without further inquiry from Mello.

"You're acting strange..." The other boy commented, brushing the hair from Matt's face.

"I'm fine, really," Matt assured him, hopping off of the bed. Mello sat up and followed his movements unflinchingly with his striking blue eyes. Matt took great care to avoid meeting them, knowing that he couldn't lie once he did; as pathetic as ever, he never could lie to those beautiful eyes.

"Are you sure?" he asked, unconvinced by Matt's fake attitude. The blond walked over and wrapped his arms affectionately around Matt, resting his chin on the other boy's shoulder.

"Yeah, just tired. It's late, we should probably go to sleep."

"But it's not even nine o'cl-"

"It's been a long day, tired," Matt said quickly, nonchalantly shrugging out of Mello's arms and walking over to the bed, pulling down the covers to reveal the appealing red satin sheets beneath. He thought he saw an irritated frown cross the blond's face, but ignored it. "Oh, um..." He stopped as he suddenly realized something.

Mello's brow furrowed further as Matt hesitated at the bed. "Hm, what is it?" he asked.

"Uh, well, we..." Matt trailed off.

The other boy cocked his head to the side, still wondering what was provoking Matt's strange behaviour. "What is it?" He repeated, crossing his arms over his chest. The two boys continued staring wordlessly at each other for a few moments, and then Mello suddenly caught on. "Oooh..." His blue eyes widened briefly in understanding, and then he found his own expression to closely resemble Matt's, as both boys contemplated the situation.

They had never slept in the same bed before.

Ever.

"Um, I can...sleep in another room if you want," Mello offered slowly.

"No, no – it's fine, you don't have to do that," Matt quickly contradicted, shaking his head.

"You sure?" Mello raised an eyebrow, once more unsure of the honesty of Matt's statements.

"Yeah, really. Um, it's no problem." Secretly, he liked the thought of the blond sleeping beside him, but then the thoughts of his...responses...to being close to Mello began to resurface, and he found himself wondering if it was a good idea to be sleeping so near to him. He shrugged it off quickly, telling himself that as long as they didn't start kissing, there should be no immediate problem with the arrangement. Then again, Mello was still quite a clingy person, and Matt was uncertain of whether his reactions were simply limited to kissing, or a wider range of physical contact. It seemed he would have to find out tonight.

Matt slowly crawled underneath the covers and waited for Mello to do the same. The satin was quite comfortable to sleep against, but it couldn't help but give the redhead more than simply PG-rated thoughts. Why was that, anyhow? It was just satin, for Christ's sake. Why did satin, above all things, give him dirty thoughts? He stopped no longer to ponder these curiosities, for fear that it may aide in his current problem. Once the blond was beside him, he reached over to turn out the bedside lamp, cloaking the room in immediate darkness, save the dim moonlight outside peeking through small slits in the curtains and making eerie shadows dance across the polished hardwood floor.

With every intention of falling asleep as soon as possible, to save himself the torment of his thoughts, Matt turned over on his side and closed his eyes tightly shut – as if somehow by doing this he could block out his mind as well. Of course, as one is surely well aware of, it is only when one is trying so desperately to fall asleep that one finds that they absolutely cannot sleep at all. Matt discovered this about ten minutes later, whilst lying wide awake and staring at the white ceiling of the room, memorizing the complicated pattern etched into the wood. However hard he tried to divert his attention elsewhere, his thoughts continued to unwillingly stray to the sleeping boy beside him. The redhead hadn't glanced over at Mello once, hoping that by doing so his thoughts mayn't be so painfully vivid. Despite his wavering attempts, the thoughts were still clear as daylight against the hazy muddle that was his mind.

It was only while praying desperately for sleep (not that Matt was the religious sort), that the redhead felt something nudge his side and he looked over -involuntarily- to see the blond curled up close against him, his hair shielding most of his face as he slept. Taking a deep breath, Matt tried not to think of the situation, but Mello's warm breath against his arm constantly brought him back to reality, however much he wanted to escape it. He honestly didn't think he'd ever seen or felt anyone so impossibly irresistible.

Things had changed so much since camp, it was hard to believe. Even little things he hadn't noticed before, like the dimples in Mello's cheeks when he smiled, or the way his hair always fell in his face, were now so apparent. Was it possible...that Matt had fallen even more in love with Mello since the previous summer? Was it simply that being without him so long had caused Matt to pay extra attention to these insignificant details of the boy, and to respond so strongly when physically close to him? It was a possibility, though a slim one. Matt honestly didn't know what was provoking his reactions and thoughts lately, other than the usual teenage-boy complex.

Giving an inward groan to himself, he pressed his face deep into the pillow, with every intention of suffocating himself to sleep. It must have worked, because a few minutes later his arms went limp and the soft sounds of light snoring could be heard throughout the room.

-End of Chapter 1-

I want to apologize for the boringness of this chapter, but the story had to start somewhere ;; I'm not too satisfied with the first couple of chapters, but I'm too lazy to rewrite them.

Translations:

(all French)

'Très bien' – very well/good
'D'accord?' - okay?
'Compris?' - understood?