HALLO!

Next fic, new chapter, new readers, hopefully. For fans of TGP, I will updating and I am on hiatus. If you don't like it, oh well.

I don't own Death Note, but I do own Eva, Marc, Kuro, Quarter, Maria and Purdy. Wow...

"You've been running for such a long time, haven't you? But you've just realised that you've been running in the wrong direction and now you want me to fix it. I'm right, aren't I?"

As a child, Mello had a wall around him. That way, no one could get in and hurt him. Moving to Wammy's caused a hole to appear in the wall, a hole just big enough for Eva to get in. After all, everyone said that Mello and Eva would ALWAYS be together.

1: Obećanja

When it rained, as it did all the time in England, everyone crowded into the two playrooms of the Wammy's House for Gifted Children and watched T.V. Today, the 10 year olds and over were in the larger of the playrooms watching a England vs. France football match, much to the chagrin of Marc, our only French resident over the age of 5.

"Go Eng-a-laaaand!"

"That is a foul! That is a foul!"

"I swear the referee is blind!"

"Stupid French! Uh, sorry Marc."

"S'alright, Max."

My best friend, or rather one of my two best friends, sat next to me, playing on his stupid Gameboy.

"Matt, do you ever put that bloody thing down?" I snapped.

"Alright." Matt looked up. "Then what do you wanna do? E's with one of the little kids and the football match is as boring as arse."

"Im going to the library." I stood up. "I've got a migraine coming on."

"Alright then, Mells." Matt replied, turning back to his infernal Dragon Quest.

The library was my haven, where I went if I wanted to be left alone - but today I was not alone.

A small boy of about four and a girl of 13 sat together, the boy on the girl's lap. She was whispering words in her rough Kansai accented Japanese as she played with the boy's spiked hair.

"So what did he say?" she asked.

"He said that I was stupid and there was no point in me being here." the boy replied.

"Kuro, you shouldn't listen to him," the girl soothed, "just because you're not as good at Maths and understanding English as well as he is."

"Yeah, just tell him to shove off." I leaned against the door and sneered.

"B-but Mello-san," the little boy, Kuro, piped up as the young woman glared at me.

"Mello…" she growled.

"This guy is obviously bothering you." I sighed, "If you won't do anything, why are you telling Éva?"

The young woman tipped the boy off her lap and stood up.

Eva, real name: Janina Darcy, my other best friend, was a small Swedish girl with dark eyes, unruly brown curls and pale white skin. Eva meant "Life" and was exactly what she was - she was lively and connected with nearly every member of Wammy's. Eva also wanted a name that was pronounceable in every language and had many different variants. Why? Well, Eva was fluent in over 7 languages, excluding English. She also liked to get grouchy with me.

"Mello…" Eva growled.

"Hai, Éva?" I smirked.

"You can leave now, Kuro, dear." Eva flashed a sweet and innocent grin at the young Japanese boy.

As soon as the door banged shut, Eva was onto me.

"Omae aho chau ka?! (Are you stupid?)" She spat. "You cannot tell a three year old to tell someone to shove off!"

I rolled my eyes.

"Žana." I muttered.

Eva paused at the use of the Croatian form of her real name.

"Hei? (Yes?)" she asked.

"Uzai. (Shut up.)"I said in what would be called 'normal Japanese'.

Eva went ballistic and started to scream insults at me in Japanese, and with each insult she jabbed my chest, shoving me backwards until I hit the library wall.

"You love me though." I replied in English, grabbing her hands.

"Why would I?" Eva growled "You love to tick me off!"

"Žana…" I crooned.

Eva pushed me away, but her face softened.

"Forgive me?" I asked.

"Of course, I forgive you, stupid." Eva smiled.

"Good, 'cause I hate apologising." I replied.

"You hate many things." Eva chuckled.

"I don't hate you." I said "Or Matt or chocolate."

Eva smiled before she took my hands again.

"Mika?" she asked, Mika being the Finnish variant for my true name, Mihael.

"Yes?" I replied, fixing my gaze on Eva's astounding mass of curls. How many colours were there?

"What will you do if you reach 15 and L is still around?"

"That's very likely, as L is very careful." I replied, counting the black, caramel brown, honey blonde hairs. "But, in answer to your question, I'll stay here until it is time for me go be his successor."

"What if he doesn't choose you, what will you do?" Eva whispered.

From a distance, Eva's hair was the same shade as Milka chocolate. Hang on, what did she just say?

"He will choose me." I said firmly.

She frowned.

"What if something happens though?"

"Look, everything will be fine. I'm not going to die, not for a very long time. I'm going to grow old solving cases, then when I'm 90, I'll retire and move back to Croatia or somewhere in Europe."

I had no idea what I was rambling in about. Eva ducked her head away and chewed her lip.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm worried about you, Near and L," she whispered.

"You shouldn't worry about me. You shouldn't worry about L either. You certainly shouldn't worry about that big-headed arsehole Near," I replied. "Worry about all the languages you need to master. Worry about your Russian exam."

"It's only a listening exam." Eva laid her head on my chest.

"Then it'll be a breeze." I shrugged.

"I know…" Eva whispered.

The sound of footsteps echoed on the cold linoleum flooring. Eva retracted and took a step back.

"Back to being cold and unfeeling towards each other." She chuckled.

"Of course." I smirked. "I can't have people thinking that I care about anyone apart from myself."

The door to the library opened and Matt waltzed in, still playing that that accursed Gameboy.

"Hey Mello, Hey Eva," he said.

"We thought you were someone else." I muttered.

"Is that why you have guilty expressions on your faces?"

God, Matt could read us like books.

"I hope you two weren't doing anything." Matt glanced up.

"What are you on?" Eva cried, turning scarlet.

"We weren't doing anything, stupid!" I glared.

"I was holding his hands, but that was it!" Eva glowered. "I don't hold any attraction towards Mello! No way! None at all!"

Ouch…

Matt roared with laughter.

"That was a bit harsh." he cackled.

"Thanks Eva," I grumbled, "that's made my ego feel amazing."

"Have I told you that I love you?" Matt was now in hysterics. "Cause I love you, Eva, I blooming love you."

Eva paled.

"Oh God, I mean, yeah, you're a good looking guy, but you're, like, my best friend." she stuttered.

She was just digging a deeper hole.

"Would you like a ladder to help you get out of that hole?" Matt whiped a tear away from his eye.

Eva glowered.

"Oh shut up." She grumbled.

"What was the score at the end of the game?" Eva asked that night at dinner.

"1 all." Quarter said before shovelling potato into his mouth.

"Marc was happy." Linda added, toying with her sausages.

"He was dancing around with us," laughed Matt.

"Where were you, Eva?" asked Linda.

"Little Kuro was telling me that someone was being mean to him," she explained, cutting her pasta up.

Kuro was a piano virtuoso, passed his 8th grade this year. Because he wasn't English, his language and social skills weren't very good and thus he got bullied a lot.

"Poor Kuro." Matt glanced up and over at another table where Kuro sat away from everyone else.

"Rochan!" yelled Eva suddenly.

Kuro looked up.

"Daisuki! Love you!" she yelled.

"Daisuki, nee-chan! (I love you, big sister!)" he replied with a grin.

Eva smiled.

"He's happy now," she giggled.

"Oh, I love you!" Matt chuckled.

I continued eating my peas. I had stayed silent throughout the meal.

"Mika, are you alright?" Eva asked in Croatian.

I nodded.

Eva frowned.

"You're very quiet and calm." she added.

"Žana, I'm fine," I grumbled.

"Mika-"

"For God's sake, drop it," I snapped.

Linda stared; Quarter froze, his mouth open, his fork centimetres away from his mouth; and even Matt looked up. I might not have been talking English, but I didn't normally snap at Eva like that.

Almost instantly I regretted it.

"I do care about you, Mello," Eva said quietly after a while. "I honestly do. Please let me in."

She had said it in English for everyone to hear. She knew I didn't like people getting involved with what went on in my head. What was my business, stayed my business. It wasn't that I didn't trust Eva, I just thought that she would scold me or worry.

"I'll explain later." I said, fixing my eyes on hers.

She chewed her lip and stared down at her pasta.

"I'm full." she said, suddenly standing up.

We all looked at each other. She had barely touched her food and knew that she must still be hungry.

I stood up as she left, but she swept past, not even looking at me. Her scent lingered like a flowery ghost. It was then I realised what Eva smelt like. Heather. The flower of protection.

Normally girls weren't allowed in boys rooms and vice versa, but I didnt want Eva to be angry with me. I found her in the room she shared with Bliss, a tall blonde with a pixie cut, almond green eyes and a passion for the guitar. Eva was sitting on her bed with an alabaster white acoustic guitar, plucking at the strings and singing in her native tongue of Swedish when I found her.

I stood in the doorway, watching her, until she looked up. She glared at me.

I sat down next to her. "I'm going to tell you what's on my mind."

Eva placed the guitar on the floor next to the bed and watched me intently.

"I came third on a test." I muttered. "First time ever. I spent all night studying and I came third."

Eva gave a sympathetic look and reached under the bed. She emerged with a bar of chocolate and passed it to me.

I bit into it.

"I was so certain that I was gonna beat Near, but someone else beat me as well as that…twit!" I spat.

Eva started to play with her hair.

"Who was it?" she asked.

"It was Matt." I muttered.

Eva nodded.

"I see. Mello, you haven't been sleeping well and you haven't been eating much."

I was surprised that she had noticed.

"I've been worrying about you." She took my hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Žana, I'm so scared," I whispered.

Eva almost fell of her bed, she was so surprised at what I had said.

"What if I become a failure? Will I get kicked out?" I cried, all the fear I had ever had about Wammy's suddenly exploded in a tumble of Croatian

Hot tears began to pour down my face and I leaned forward trying to crush the angry and pain-filled sobs that threatened to escape. For the first time since I had come to Wammy's, this iron wall I had around me was starting to break.

"Mika?" Eva whispered "Mihael?"

"I'm such a failure!" I whispered.

"No, no, no." Eva stroked my back, trying to calm me. "You are not a failure."

I placed my head in my hands as Eva soothed me. She rest her head on my shoulder, crooning in a mixture of Croatian and Swedish.

I don't know how long we sat like that, me with my head in my hands and Eva attempting to calm me, but the door suddenly opened and Bliss and Matt strode in. I didn't look up, but Eva did.

"What do you two want?" she asked.

"You alright, man?" Matt asked.

"Headache," I muttered. "Just a headache."

"I'm just here for my guitar." Bliss piped up. "Uh, Eva, we're going to go to the music rooms and jam for a bit. You can come too if you want."

"I might do, but a bit later." Eva said.

I lifted my head and looked over.

"Your eyes are all puffy." Matt peered into my face.

"Shove off," I muttered, "it's hay fever."

"But it's October." Matt pointed out.

I shot him a look.

"Matt, we should go." Bliss pulled on Matt's sleeve. "Let's leave Mello and Eva."

The door slammed shut after them.

Eva lay back on her bed, yawning.

"You tired?" I asked.

Eva nodded.

"Shattered."

"Go to sleep." I replied with a smile.

"I want you to stay." She sat up.

"It's not allowed, Žana." I replied.

Eva sighed and lay back down.

"Stupid rules." she grumbled.

"I agree, but I suppose it's so Roger knows where we are." I tucked the covers round the pouting Swede.

"I'll see ya in the morning then." Eva frowned.

I chuckled,

"Night, Žana

"Spokoynoy nochi (Goodnight)." Eva almost whispered in return.

An hour later, I returned to see Eva, but she had fallen asleep. I smiled to myself, sitting on the floor next to the bed.

Eva could never stay up late for our late night conversations. I'll stay here tonight, I decided to myself. I didn't know why, but that night I just wanted to be close to Eva. Call it a hunch or whatever.

So there you have it. I know that I have made Mello slightly OOC, but that's just how he is will Eva. He's a little softie around his best girl pal :3