A/N; Written as part of the Reviewer rewards I am writing to celebrate receiving over 1,000 reviews on my story Constant Temptation. Thank you all so much!

This story is written for Himizu and friend. I hope you both enjoy it!

Please read and review!

Friendly Denial

"Trying to leave without me?"

Mello turned back, pausing in his heavy stride, the road stretched out before him. He looked at the one who had spoken with a harsh and critical gaze. The tall figure moved out of the shadows of a nearby tree and shifted closer, his face finally illuminated in the pale light of the moon; even with the rain that was falling. Mello sighed in annoyance.

"Go back Matt," Mello growled.

"No."

"You won't like where I am going, or what I am going to do," Mello sighed, his eyes still fixed coldly on his friend.

"Don't care," Matt sighed, then he laughed, "and if that is the case, ya'll probably need a techie."

"I don't need anyone," Mello said hotly, but his anger faltered in the calm gaze of his friend, "fine, you can come along. Follow me if you will."

Matt laughed and dived back into the shadows and remerged with a large backpack.

"You really are serious about following me," Mello murmured, eyebrows raising as he looked at the size of the bag.

"Without you this place is going to be dull," Matt sighed, "I don't like being bored."

Mello laughed, and clapped Matt on the shoulder. It would be nice to have the red head with him, but he still wished he wasn't here.

"You are just like an annoying piece of chewing gum you find stuck to the bottom of a shoe," Mello said finally, "you never go away."

"That wasn't a very good metaphor," Matt commented.

Mello's growl of annoyance had Matt laughing.

…

Matt grinned as he watched Mello interact with the mafia on the screen in front of him. It hadn't taken long for Mello to be integrated into it, or to rise to a high position of power; it had only been four years. It astounded Matt just how quickly Mello could do such things, even Near would have had difficulty doing this so quickly. Of course Near would never had the motivation to do something as daring as what Mello was planning.

Matt burst out laughing as once more the mafia jumped to obey Mello's orders. It was always so amusing to watch grown men jump to obey the commands of a teenager. Gradually they left on the missions they had been given, and Matt held back a sudden groan as Mello's head flopped back and he smirked at Matt through the hidden cameras.

It was a smirk that contained far too much promise for what was to come. Or perhaps with Mello it was far too much a threat, no matter how willing Matt was to participate in such events, with such a look it felt as though he was becoming Mello's prey. Matt gulped as he felt his trousers beginning to feel too tight, a tightening made all the worse as Mello's smirk increased. It was almost as if Mello knew what he was doing to Matt.

Then Mello was up and moving and Matt watched him stomp along the corridors with some trepidation on the monitors. His hands reaching reflexively for his cigarettes as he heard Mello's footsteps in the corridor; fingers fumbling as he pulled one out. It wasn't that he was scared of Mello, well okay he was, but it wasn't the fear you would feel before a monster, it was the fear you felt because what was coming was going to be so good.

"If you start smoking one of those damn things before I kiss you," Mello said softly as he stalked up behind Matt, "I will tie you up and burn the lot of them in front of you."

Mello smiled evilly as the cigarette Matt had been about to light fell from his fingers and rolled irretrievably under the desk in front of him.

"This'd better be a good kiss," Matt commented, spinning around in his chair to grin at Mello. If Mello was doing this immediately then he must have thought the day went well.

"Oh, you know I never do anything second rate," Mello said softly, moving closer to Matt, his hands gripping the sides of the chair.

"Oh I don't-"

"It's worth more than your life for you to not finish that sentence," Mello growled, his hand clamping over Matt's mouth. He felt Matt chuckle beneath him. "You really are so difficult to put up with."

Mello removed his hand and replaced it with his mouth, gradually deepening the kiss until his tongue pressed for entry into Matt's. With a groan Matt gave him entry and shuddered as Mello fought with him for control and won easily; the taste of chocolate suffusing his mouth. His groan turned into a yelp as Mello withdrew, drawing Matt's bottom lip into his mouth as he retreated and bit down slightly.

Matt was used to it now, to Mello he must have been just another type of chocolate because Mello liked to bite and taste him too. Something he immediately demonstrated then as Mello's warm tongue ran along his neck before his teeth bit down once more. Matt groaned and arched out of the chair, no he would never complain about Mello biting him at all. He was just grateful he didn't appear in front of the mafia, he was covered with bite marks and a hicky always glowed on his neck.

He didn't resist as Mello grabbed his hand and led him to the bed; this was where they knew they would end up anyway, so why draw things out? Their movements were hurried as they stripped each other, pausing to exchange brief kisses and caresses, hands dipping lower to tease the other, never quite touching the other's erection. That would come later.

For now they just worked at reaffirming they were still alive, that they had got through another day surrounded by the people they, well Mello, had to deal with, unscathed. They knew it wouldn't last, and so they celebrated each day the only way they knew how; with each other, scaling the heights of ecstasy and learning new ways of tormenting the other.

They weren't exactly lovers… they were more friends with benefits. Neither had interest in others, they recognised other humans for their worth, or perhaps found others cute, sometimes pretty even, but it was only with each other that they could truly trust and understand such things as love, not that they would admit it. Only with each other could they truly let go, truly believe they had the permission to explore and excite the other without reprisal. No they weren't lovers… they would go on believing that as long as they could.

Matt shuddered as Mello worked at his chest, teeth and fingers leaving tingling trails across his flesh, leaving fresh marks of ownership atop the ones that already adorned his body. Still their movements were rushed, almost as if they would regret their decision if they slowed and had time to think.

With impatience Mello forced his fingers into Matt, barely lubricated from their brief visit into his mouth, but Matt still pressed down onto them evidently wanting them deeper. They had done this so often that the preparations were almost routine, swallowed up in the heady need to be together.

Matt begged silently with his hands, fingers digging into Mello, wanting more. He always wanted more by now, the promise of what the other could offer filling his mind. The promise he could see reflected in Mello's eyes, that Mello wanted the same thing from him.

In a sudden rush their moans and cries of passion returned as Mello finally claimed Matt for the first time that evening. His movements harsh even if his expression told Matt that behind the forceful thrusts and bruising passage of Mello's hands over his body, his caring friend still remained. But they both needed this, both yearned for the harsh contact and confusing mix of pleasure and pain. This was the easiest way of affirming their existence with the other. It helped that they both loved it and didn't shy away from the discomfort it caused.

With a grunt Mello's speed increased yet further, and Matt was hard pressed to match his movements as his body was assaulted. His cries of pleasure finally echoing in the room, eyes opening and closing uselessly as he neared the edge, he pushed it back though. He needed this feeling of completion too much to have it end so soon. It came though as he knew it would, coursing through him in a torrent of ecstasy and mind numbing release, his own climax forcing Mello to join him in that bliss, his arms collapsing as he fell down onto Matt, their breathing ragged and chests heaving.

Many silent moments passed until slowly they began again, this time their actions slower and more gentle as they took their time. Once more beginning their spiralling ascent upwards into the oblivion they both craved.

It seemed like hours if not days passed in this repetitious cycle, moving from fast to slow in their desperate craving need for more, and for each other. In reality it was perhaps only two hours at most, but time was immaterial in such instances, such events made their own time.

…

They lay entwined on the bed, neither able to continue both completely spent emotionally and physically. Mello rolled his eyes as Matt slowly reach up and began to play with his hair.

"Would you have left me forever if I had not chased after you that night?" Matt whispered, his words shattering the silence that surrounded them. The mood was further ruined then by the sudden crack of chocolate that followed Matt's words.

"What, Wammy's?"

"Yeah," Matt sighed.

"No," Mello replied calmly, "I would have come for you, but I didn't want to risk you getting hurt if the mafia were a problem."

"Why didn't you say then?" Matt murmured, his fingers twinning in Mello's hair still.

"When you chased after me I couldn't send you back," Mello sighed, "I need your company. No-one else talks about games in quite the way that you do."

Matt laughed even as he caught the hidden meaning. He smiled and leaned forward to place a kiss on Mello's chest. He too needed Mello, without the other he didn't feel quite whole.

No they weren't lovers, but they weren't quite just friends either. Perhaps there wasn't a word for what they were, but they didn't care. It was just another label, and they didn't do labels. Those were for other people, not for them. Who cared how they were defined as long as how they were suited them, and they found it suited them perfectly.