Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, or any of it's other trademarks, characters, blah blah blah. Enjoy!
**This sucks, because I had this entire story done in one night, and then i went to save it but it was gone... It was so sad i almost cried...
Matt walked slowly down the hall, dragging his feet and wishing he didn't have to go to his room... He missed the fresh air of the front yard, and his cigarettes... But his roomate would never let him smoke in the room. Just one of his many rules. All he ever did was complain about him, that he reeked of smoke, and he was to loud. Well Matt didn't exactly enjoy Mello's company either. Mello was arrogant and emotional to the extreme, and Matt had to be extremely careful not to set him off. Just one little thing could be the difference of a black eye, or a night of awkward silence. He constantly ate chocolate and he snored, loudly. When Matt had confronted him about it, he'd gotten away with a bloody nose. But that was normal, and Matt had grown used to it.
He turned the last twisting corner and bit his lip before clicking open the shiny red door that proudly proclaimed Mello's Room. Scrawled messily beneath the plaque on a torn sheet of note book paper read: and Matt's. He took a quick look around, then removed his vest, making sure to hand it on his side of the coat rack. He held his breath and then glanced over to the bottom of their shared bunk bed. Mello was on his back, snoozing gently and peacefully, a crumpled chocolate wrapper in his limp hand. His soft blond hair splayed out beautifully on the dark green blanket, creating what Matt thought was a nice contrast. You know what else was a nice contrast? Mello's black shirt was halfway up his flat stomach, and the milky white of his skin made the fabric appear darker.
Shaking his head to clear it, he tiptoed to the ladder and climbed up onto his bed. He reached a hand under his pillow, withdrawing his game boy. With a soft beep he turned it on and he held his breath nervously. There was a soft creek of the bed springs beneath him and he sighed, then froze as the Pokemon theme song blared loudly in their silent room. He hurriedly tried to turn down the volume, but his hands fumbled and he just waited it out...
"..... Turn it off Matt..." He winced and obeyed, switching it off and jamming it back under his pillow. He heard Mello's position adjust on the bed and he swung his head down to look at him. He was on his stomach now and he saw a soft curve of Mello's back, arching off the blanket. He smiled and then winced as his reddish hair swung into his face, covering his goggles. Sighing, he pushed himself back up and put his arms behind his head, losing his eyes. He thought about Mello, and how stubborn he was. They had never seen eye to eye, but Matt knew better that to test him...
Suddenly he felt himself blacking out and he grew dizzy, the corner of his vision going fuzzy. He needed a smoke, now... He turned his head slightly to look out the window, but it was growing dark, the shadows of the trees were slowly fading away. Curfew had begun, and he couldn't leave...
"Mel-...Mello...?" he breathed, and he heard a soft noise of attention from beneath him. That's all you ever got with him, when you were lucky. He tried to say something, but he'd lost his voice, and then he was falling, careening slowly towards the floor beneath them and he seemed to take forever to fall, and he finally hit it with a dull thwak!
Mello had always liked Matt. Well, not really, but he was the one person at Wammy's House that pissed him off the least. He was careful around Matt, because he didn't wanna scare him. He didn't want Matt to be afraid of him, like all the other kids. When they had been younger, Mello had instilled fear in all the others, to protect himself, except Matt. Matt had come to Wammy's House a year after Mello, and they'd been assigned to room together, (something Mello hadn't been very happy about.) Matt was a cautious and shy child, quiet and sensitive to Mello. He knew what to say and what not to, which Mello liked about him. Although Matt had never found out, Mello used to beat up kids that would pick on Matt. He was a good kid in Mello's opinion...
"Stay down, don't move." Matt heard faintly the voice of Mello, but it sounded far away and echoey. He felt soft sheets caress his bare arms and he winced, trying to open his eyes. They hurt to badly and he shivered. He flitted in and out of consciousness, listening to a frail voice argue with an impatient and defiant one. He was then engulfed in blackness again and he succumbed to it, not waking up again for what seemed like ages...
He blinked his eyes open and winced as a drop of water ran into the corner of one of them. There was a wet washcloth on his forehead and he wondered why. The room was dark now, the lights were off in all the lamps. He shivered and tried to sit up but strong arms pressed him down firmly onto the soft sheets. He opened his eyes again and winced, not recognizing things properly without the red tinted hue he saw through his goggles. Who'd taken them off?!
Turning slightly on the mattress he saw the open window, through which moonlight flitted and pooled onto the carpet. He shivered at the slight breeze coming through it, rustling the curtains and making him cold. His chest stung and he looked down, just in time to see Mello drip water onto it, cascading off his fingertips. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, pressing his cold fingers against Matt's hot cheek. His skin was a chilly blue color through the moonlight and Matt winced, wondering why his shirt was off and his chest was wet.
"Roger said you would get a fever throughout the night." Mello said quietly, and Matt was thankful for the explanation. He felt him drip more water onto his chest and he shivered as a gust of wind made his skin sting. He tried to sit up again but Mello wouldn't have it, pushing him back down. He glared at him a moment, his dark red hair plastered to his forehead and dripping down his face. Mello sighed softly and turned away from him.
"Why'd you roll off your bunk?" Matt blinked, his mand still a little fuzzy. He remembered vaguely the need for cigarettes and he blushed.
"I needed to smoke. I... I get dizzy sometimes when I don't..." He mumbled, and Mello's fists clenched on the chocolate bar clutched in his hands.
"Matt, how many times am I gonna have to tell you God dammit!! That shit is gonna be the end of you, you hear me?! For Christs sake, please stop!! It's gonna kill you!" Mello said loudly, and Matt winced like a child being scolded. He hung his head in shame and Mello's gaze softened slightly. He reached up and took the wash cloth from his forehead, wringing it out onto Matt's chest and making him shudder. A few lonely trails of water dripped gilded down his boxers but Mello didn't notice. He had stood up and walked over to the window, holding the cloth up so it could catch the freezing air.
"I... I'm sorry Mello..." Matt whispered, and he felt hot tears in his eyes. That was the closest Mello had ever come to admitting he cared about Matt. All this time he'd pretended the smoke was bothering him, when in truth, it was Matt getting hurt by the cancer sticks that was pissing him off... He adjusted slightly to a sitting position, propping himself on his elbows and gazing at Mello's beautiful frame, shillouetted outside the moonlit window. His hair ruffles slightly in the breeze and Matt closed his eyes, the water on his body stinging again.
Mello came back and draped the cloth over Matt's entire face, elicting a tiny choked sob from the redheaded boy. Mello frowned, furrowing his brow. It... Sounded like Matt was crying...
"Matt? Are you okay?" he asked softly, and Matt's body shook with trapped emotion. He was thankful the washcloth was covering his face... He didn't want Mello to see him like this. He hadn't cried in front of anyone since his parents had passed away...
Matt felt something press against his lips through the cloth and he blinked, tasting chocolate and something bitter he couldn't explain. Mello tasted tears and regret from him, as he kissed Matt through the fabric. A few seconds later the cloth had slipped down onto Matt's chest, and they broke apart from their almost lip-lock. Matt had his eyes closed, lips pressed tight together, as though wanting to keep Mello's kiss inside him. Mello was gazing at the redhead, lips trembling with the need to tongue him. He tilted his chin up and kissed him once, softly on the mouth.
"Matt, look at me..." he said quietly, and his eyes opened slowly, red from the crying. He didn't say anything, just waited for Mello to say that he'd slipped, or that his lips were hot and he wanted to cool them down, or some other excuse that was worthy of him. None came, and soon Matt felt his face grow hot, and he looked away from the blonde's gaze. Mello sighed and backed away from Matt slowly, turning and going back to the window. He rested his head on the top of the sill, looking out at the black trees, shadowed on the cold lawn in a dark gray. He wished he could be out there, sitting on the dewy grass, away from his roomate and his feelings. Matt was watching him with a broken heart in need of mending. He wanted to say something, but nothing came to mind... Minutes passed in silence, neither of the two boys saying anything. They were reluctantly consumed in their thoughts, a vicious circle of depression twisting through the fragile spiderweb of their minds and turning the moment before into nothing but a frosty memory of thread, as delicate as the web itself.
"Matt?"
Matt's head snapped up, for yes he had put it in his hands. His eyes swiveled over to the window, which Mello was still gazing out of in such concentration that the speech couldn't have come from him. He sighed softly and turned to look at the door, slightly ajar. A little white head was peering in, sleepy eyes rubbed by a cute little fist. He carried a transformer in one dangling arm, a blanket draped around his shoulders.
"Yeah Near?" Matt said dully, standing up shakily. He looked down at the boy, who was swaying on his feet.
"I want a bedtime story..." replied little Near, and Matt sighed. Near always had nightmares, and Matt was the only one who could put up with the strange boy... So of course it would be Matt who had to take care of him.
"Okay..." Matt said, guiding Near out of the room, a hand on his slender shoulder. He threw a glance back at Mello, who was still looking out the window, not having moved. Matt sighed again and bit his lip.
He took Near to bed. Instead of Mello...