So, I randomly decided to take on this project when I randomly came up with the idea. Though I can't even remember how I came up with the idea in the first place...

This is The Notebook, Death Note style, or rather MattxMello style.

I took the synopsis from Wikipedia for the movie, sorry haven't read the book, and I changed it to fit on the Death Note timeline, crossing out the fact that Mello and Matt die. But you'll see how it all works out later.

Anyways, this may take a little while to write out, but I hope you'll all enjoy it as much as I know I will.

First chapter is a little long, but whatevs. I'm hoping to do chapter two tomorrow, so look for it then.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything, or anyone.

It was 2070. I'd been living in this nursing home for the past 10 years, though I guess that was not surprising for someone who turned 80 a few months ago. However, I had always thought that I felt young for my age.

As it stood, I was heading down the hall to meet an elderly man in the main living room, a book at my side. One of the nurses came up with me as I approached where he sat at a breakfast table.

"This is Mail," she smiled sweetly as she gestured to me, "He's going to read you a story today Mihael."

The man named Mihael squinted up at me slowly. "What kind of story?" his voice was gruff.

I held up the book for him to see, "It's a love story."

The glare that set in his eyes almost made me grin; it was more comical than scary, what with all the wrinkles. "I don't like love stories," he muttered.

"I'm sure you'll like this one, trust me." I pulled out a chair from the table he was at.

As I sat, Mihael scrutinized me, staring at my green eyes the most. I was deemed worthy of his trust as he settled back in his chair and nodded.

With a small smile on my lips I took out my reading glasses, settled myself into the seat, and cracked open the book.

"It all started in an orphanage in Winchester, England all the way back in June of 2004..."

Matt Jeevas stared at the wrought-iron gates, hating it already. If it wasn't for his parents dying in a freak automobile accident; he wouldn't be here. This place just screamed out-dated. Did they have internet here? Did they even have electricity? This house definitely looked like it could be one of those old manor houses that only had fireplaces, gas lanterns, and candles for light. So much for online gaming; Matt would have to stick with his PSP and Nintendo DS.

All his thoughts were disproved as he entered the main doors. The inside of the house was much more modern. He saw TV's in the living room, computers in the study, and best of all – though the previous things wouldn't work without it – electricity. Looked like Matt's new life here wouldn't be too bad after all.

There was a brief meeting with the head of the orphanage, Roger, and then Matt was sent to his room where he could unpack the boxes that had been delivered.

The first thing Matt noticed as he opened the door to his room, was the strong smell of chocolate. The second was a black line on the carpet that started from the middle of the doorway to the middle of the far wall. The third, and last thing, was that there was someone, dressed in black with bright yellow chin-length hair, sitting on the bed on the right side of the room.

"Just because we're roommates doesn't make us friends - got that?" The person, who Matt had previously thought was a girl, sneered in an obviously male voice.

When Matt didn't answer, the male, who really did look like a girl, shot him a death glare that sent Matt's head into a fit of nods.

"Good." Then the male stood up from the bed and walked over to the doorway, staying on the right side of the line. "Here's the rules. Right side is mine, left is yours. Don't ever step on my side or I will murder you in your sleep." Matt nodded again, not daring to speak. "Knock when you want to enter. Don't interrupt, disrupt, or distract me when I'm studying. And never, I mean never touch my chocolate."

He made the last point as he held up the chocolate bar that Matt hadn't noticed he'd been holding the whole time. "Now that that's settled," the male snapped off a piece of chocolate with his teeth and pushed past Matt, strutting down the hallway and around the corner.

Matt stood there dazed for a moment before he pulled himself together and went into the room; careful to avoid even touching the line on the carpet. As he went about unpacking his mind wandered.

Who was that guy, and what's with his attitude?

Matt wondered whether or not he could ask for a different roommate. In any case, Matt hoped the male wouldn't get angry about his gaming habits. Matt could stay awake for days playing a new game just to finish it. He once stayed up three days without sleep and ended up having to stop and rest because his eyelids would droop, and before he could get them up again his character would already be dead.

On another note, Matt wondered how a guy with a voice and glare like that could look so female. The golden hair looked so silky, his skin looked smooth and blemish free, and those hips. Matt could not deny that, as the male had strut down the hall, his eyes had followed those hips that swayed back and forth so seductiv-

Whoa, Matt stopped that thought right there. He was not gay, and would not be thinking those kinds of thoughts towards his seemingly evil new roommate – no matter how good his figure was.

It was at dinner that Matt learned his roommates name. A blonde-haired girl, Linda, came and sat with him – this one was definitely female. She said she didn't want the new kid to sit by himself, especially when his roommate was Mello.

Matt had asked a few questions about this Mello kid, and all Linda said was that he had a bad temper, and that he never hesitated to punch anyone – young, old, male, or female – if they made him mad.

Later, in their room, Matt sat playing a video game on the TV that he had set up earlier, sound off, as Mello lay sprawled on his bed reading and eating another chocolate bar. Matt leaned back against the foot of his bed as he waited for the loading screen to hurry up and take him to the next level.

"You're pretty good," a voice murmured.

Matt's head whipped to Mello. "What?"

Mello gazed lazily at the screen, "I said, you're pretty good. I've never had the patience to learn all the stupid button combinations and such to play a game like that."

"Oh," Matt said lamely, "thanks." Thinking the conversation was over Matt turned back to the screen and resumed killing zombies.

Then he heard the low voice again, "You make it look so easy. And kinda..." he seemed to struggle for the right word. It was a while before Matt heard, "fun."

The wistful voice made Matt pause the game and turn to Mello again. "Do you want to play? I can show you the basics."

Mello seemed surprised; at his own words or the offer, Matt didn't know. Mello looked from the TV down to his book, then back to the TV. "Okay," he said, surprising Matt, as he slipped off his bed, crossed the line, and sat so close to Matt they were almost touching.

Matt handed over the controller and pointed out what did what, then un-paused the game. As Mello struggled to kill the zombies that were overtaking the building he was in, Matt found himself gazing at Mello.

Mello's hair shone in the light, and his bright blue eyes looked like there were ocean waves moving in them; though that may have been the reflection of the TV images moving.

Matt's own green eyes lingered on Mello's lips. They looked so deliciously soft, and Matt wondered if they tasted like the chocolate he was eating all the time.

"I died," Mello announced, turning to Matt and catching him staring. Matt, flushed when he realized what he had been thinking and looked down, hair falling to block his face as he pushed the re-spawn button on the controller for him. Mello watched Matt for another moment, confused, but turned back to the TV when the controller vibrated signaling that he was being attacked.

Matt let out a silent sigh. Maybe the reason he seemed interested in Mello was because he looked like a girl. However, there was also the possibility that maybe the reason why he'd never been interested in girls, was because he wasn't interested in girls. But that was preposterous, wasn't it?

For some reason, it was then that Matt realized something obvious. "Hey! Why are you on my side of the room! I thought you said to stay on our own sides!" Matt complained.

Mello sighed because Matt's outburst caused him to die. "No," Mello stated, "I told you to never step on my side. I never said anything about me not going on your side."

"That's not fair!" Matt whined.

Mello stood up and went back to his bed. "All's fair in love and war," he quoted.

Matt's eyes shot open. "Love?"

A glare was shot in Matt's direction. "It's a figure of speech," was all Mello said as he turned away. Were Mello's ears a little red, or was that just Matt's imagination? He didn't know, nor understand, and just turned off the game and crawled into bed.

Over the next few weeks, Matt and Mello seemed to get along better, despite Mello's first comment about not being friends. Maybe that wasn't Mello's intention at first, but over time it seemed that friendship was inevitable. They found that they were excellent soccer partners and no one seemed to be able to beat them. Mello also continued to come over to Matt's side of the room to play the occasional video game. They sat together during meals and classes, and even studied together.

A little background on the orphanage may be needed here. Wammy's House was more of an institution than an orphanage; it took in all sorts of gifted children parentless or not. You see, this house was made to train intelligent and skillful kids, and after a rather successful boy, L, became the world's top three detectives, the goal of the house was changed to training children to be L's successor. At the current moment, the top three students were; a boy named Near, Mello, and then surprisingly Matt.

It became evident to Matt after the first little while, that Mello was determined with beating Near. It was his life's goal to become number one and succeed L. Unfortunately, Near was always one point ahead of Mello, and this often made Mello very angry. Numerous times Mello had sent Matt to find out their scores on the latest test and Matt would always fear for himself when he'd bring back the bad news. However, despite what Linda had said on the first day, no matter how mad Mello got, he would never hit Matt. It often made Matt feel special, and he began to waver on his feelings for the blonde.

One night there was a murderous thunderstorm that raged on and on. Matt was woken up by one particularly loud crash of thunder and all the pain of his parent's death came crashing down on him. There had been a thunderstorm much like that one when his parents car was struck by another and was sent flying off the bridge. Matt sobbed into his pillow, his whole body shaking, too scared to fall back asleep, to wake up all alone again.

That was when Matt suddenly felt an arm slip around him and a body press against his back.

"It's okay," Mello whispered. "You're not alone any more."

Mello's words only made Matt cry harder, but he relaxed into the embrace and, at some point, drifted off to sleep again.

It must have been the embrace because from then on Matt felt a keen sense of awareness towards Mello. It was almost as if he could feel him enter a room, almost like Matt was drawn to him, drawn to his presence like bees are drawn to brightly colored flowers.

One Saturday in early August, some of the older students decided to pull a prank on the two. Matt was leisurely stretched out on a couch in the common room when he was blindfolded, hands tied behind his back, and was carried off, a hand on his mouth to keep him quiet. He heard the sound of a door opening and then felt himself being carried down some stairs. Matt was then plopped down on concrete floor and was left in silence and darkness as the door to the basement, Matt assumed that's where he was, was closed.

Matt wasn't quite sure what he'd done to deserve this, and tried, unsuccessfully, to get his hands untied. It wasn't too long before he heard the door open again. Matt figured that someone had come to rescue him, but then he heard the struggling. It sounded like they were carrying someone else down here, but this person wasn't letting themselves be taken easily. And, he guessed by the muffled cries, that this person was gagged.

The thud signaled them dropping the person and then footsteps leaving the room and locking the door again.

When Matt sighed, the other person stopped struggling suddenly and was silent.

"Yes, you're not the only person down here," Matt murmured. "However, it seems I was luckier than you and got off without the gag. My hands are tied so I can't help you much, but if you can slide yourself over here maybe we can fix that."

The low grumble sounded kind of familiar. "Mello?"

Matt took the replying growl as confirmation. However, there was no sound of movement. Nothing to signify Mello moving towards him. "Mello? Are you not coming over here? Do you want me to go there?"

Mello grunted, and Matt started to crawl on his knees towards him. Mello was never one to come when told. Matt almost lost his balance a couple times, but saved himself from falling flat on his face.

Mello had to give a few more grumbles when Matt went off course, but he finally got to him and, back-to-back, they got each others hands untied. It wasn't until Matt got his blindfold off – though it was too dark to see anything anyways - that he noticed that Mello was shaking.

"What wrong?" Matt asked worried that maybe he was hurt.

Matt felt Mello shift towards him and automatically put his arms around him. Mello flinched at the contact at first, but then leaned into it. "I'm glad your here," he whispered into Matt's shoulder, avoiding the question.

"Mello," Matt chided, ignoring the blush that crept across his cheeks, "tell me what's wrong."

He was silent for a few minutes. "I was kidnapped once, a long time ago. They thought I was a girl." Mello's voice was so soft that Matt had to strain to hear it. "They tied me up like that, and when they found that I wasn't a girl, they beat me. This just brought back those memories, that's all."

Matt held his breath, he didn't know what to say to that. What could you say to that? In a sick and twisted kind of way it made Matt realize how much he actually loved Mello. This fragile side of him was hidden behind the layers of attitude and anger that he had built up over the years, and Matt loved him for it. Matt realized he loved everything about him, his personality, his emotions, his rare gentleness, everything.

"You're the first person I've ever told that to," Mello murmured, putting his head on Matt's shoulder.

Matt tightened his hold on Mello, pulling him in until there was no space left between them. "Thank you for sharing something so...so personal with me." They were both silent again.

Matt broke the silence. "I'll protect you."

"What?" Mello asked confused, and raised his head.

"I'll protect you," Matt repeated. "I won't let anyone hurt you again. I promise."

Mello squeezed him gently. "Why would you do something like that for me?"

Matt hesitated this time; his next words could ruin their friendship. "I've fallen in love with you."

There was an intake of breath, hands were removed from around Matt's waist, and then nothing. Matt was starting to worry, thinking that Mello would hit him, when hands found his face with the soft tingle of a caress and not the hard sting of a punch.

"Mello?" Matt asked, confused.

No answer came, but the touch of lips on his did. It was gentle, just a brush, and then it was gone. Matt whimpered in protest and was delighted when they came back with more force. Matt's hands pulled Mello back to him, and Mello dug his own hands into Matt's hair, deepening the kiss.

Mello finally pulled back letting both of them gulp in some much needed air. "And here I thought I'd have to hold back my feelings forever."

"Huh?"

Matt wished he could see the grin on Mello's face. "I love you too."

"But...but you're...you're not..." Matt stuttered. How could Mello love him?

"I'm not gay?" A hand ruffled Matt's hair. "Matt, for someone so smart, you can be pretty dumb sometimes. I thought it was obvious, but I guess it wasn't obvious enough."

Matt took a moment to think, and maybe Mello was right. There was all that time he spent getting his hair just right, the nail polish, the way he walked, and the way he was so emotional all the time – PMS(Pissed Mello Syndrome) was what the other students called it. Maybe Matt had been a little dense, or maybe it was Mello's attitude that made him think it was impossible. In any case, Mello had kissed him, had said he loved him, and that was all that mattered now.

Mello pulled Matt to his feet. "Now that that's over with, lets try to find our way out of here." All Matt could do was grin.

It took a bit, but they found the stairs and got someone to let them out after a lot of yelling and banging at the door. And during the whole thing, they tightly held hands, not letting go of their new bond.

So, what did you think of the first chapter? R&R please. Though, no matter what you say, I will continue writing this :P