One of the first things you learn when you arrive at the Wammy's House is the fact that, yes, you will have to share a room with one, if not more than one, other person. If you expected privacy, that wasn't going to happen no matter how hard you try. Bedrooms are a no go, bathrooms are set up like public bathrooms, and there's so many other kids there that it doesn't matter where the hell you go, you'll still end up surrounded by other kids, usually asking what you're up to. Once you learn and except that fact, you'll have no problem fitting in, and will most likely end up with friends. And some of these kids turn into the best friends you could ever have.

Take Lawliet-chan for example. One of the most quiet and reserved kids in the joint, but once you got to know him, one of the most loyal people you'll meet--and probably the most helpful. Besides, if he got mad at you for something, you could beg for forgiveness by bribing him with sweets. That usually put you on his good side.

Then there's Near. I hate his guts, and he usually keeps to himself. But even so, I'd still defend him with my life--someone needs to show him he's worth something. He's usually playing with toys, being the youngest of our little group.

Lastly, there's Matt. Kind of a nerd, but we all were in our own ways. Played video games for every console you could think of, and any genre, really. If he could avoid confrontation, he would. My one complaint about him was his smoking habit…and the fact that he was oblivious to everythingwhen he had a game console/controller in his hands…you could cover his face and he'd continue playing…dumb ass…I don't know why I even bothered trying to get his attention.

Huh? Did I like Matt? What are you, nuts?! I'm not gay! I'm just a really good friend who was worried about him! Good friends worry about each other, right?

No argument there? Good.

Even so…Even while at the Wammy's house, I didn't see him as often as I would have liked--no, that wasn't a gay remark! He's just…my best friend…and…yeah…SHUT UP! You know nothing!

Matt roomed with Near and some other kids. Generally, he stayed in his room, playing his games, unless it was time to eat, or somebody kicked him outside--then he brought either his Game boy or PSP out and continued to play. I'm half convinced he's going to get carpel tunnel from all of that. Not counting the four laptops he has and the shit there.

No, really, I'm not obsessed. Okay…maybe…

It just so happened that, by chance, I got my chance to talk to him one day when the power went out--YAY ME!--and Matt couldn't find a single set of batteries.(Guess who's fault that was? Yup, all mine!) That left him to actually--le gasp!--TALK to people. What a tragedy, right?

Most of the younger kids were scared shitless from the thunder storm outside, most of which were running around trying to find their favorite care-taker. This left me to find Matt.

Matt's not a hard person to find. Like I said before, he's usually in his room. And he was, tearing the room apart to find batteries. I couldn't help but laugh when I walked in. From what I could see with the flashlight's beam, things had been thrown all over the floor in the red-head's attempt to find his precious batteries--hee hee, you'll never find them SUCKAH! My chuckle caught his attention, and he practically pounced on me, attempting to pry the flashlight from my hands. "You have batteries," he said frantically. "Give it."

I snorted a bit. "As if. I need this to see."

He looked at me, the light glinting off his goggles. He blinked his emerald orbs at me before scowling. "give."

I scowled back, holding the flashlight closer to my chest. "And if I say no?"

Matt looked thoughtful for a moment. "I don't know."

"I'll tell you what," I muttered, encasing him in light from the miniature beam. "If you sit and chat with me, I'll tell you where you can find a set of batteries." I smiled, though I doubted he could see it. "How's that?"

"Is that all I have to do?"

"Depends…do you have chocolate?"

"Yeah.

"Give me that too then."

I heard him laugh, and my face got really warm. I smiled a bit--he had a nice laugh. He turned to the desk next to us, and raided one of the drawers, pulling out a bar of chocolate and handing it to me. "It's all have."

I took it, hiding my blush behind the wrapper as I attempted to open it with my teeth. After a short struggle, he took it from me, despite my indignant squawk, and opened it himself before shoving it back in my mouth. I blinked at him for a moment, and giggled nervously before following him onto his bed, where he collapsed with a groan. "Not one for power outages, I'm guessing," I muttered, biting a chunk of chocolate off the bar.

He shook his head. "Especially when I don't have batteries to play my hand-held."

"What about your PSP?" I asked, remembering that the PSP didn't take normal batteries.

"forgot to charge it."

"oh…" I nodded, pretending I knew what he was talking about.

He glanced at me slowly, his goggles glinting in the flashlight's glow. "…You didn't get that, did you?"

Well, no use fooling him. I shook my head. "sorry."

He propped himself up on his elbow, eyeing me curiously. "What'd you say your name was?"

"I didn't." I smiled, taking another bite of chocolate. "They call me Mello."

"I meant your birth name."

I blinked. No one ever wanted to know that. "…Mihael Keehl…"

He nodded, sitting up. "Foreign…I like it." He kind of chuckled to himself before turning to me. "Sounds Russian." He leaned in a minute. "But you know, for such a boyish name…you look a lot like a girl." Then, he licked my cheek and sprung off the bed faster than I could register what happened. Once it all processed, I let out a disgusted cry and ran after him, flashlight in hand. I got a bit turned around in the dark hallways, the flashlight and lightning strikes my only source of illumination in the dark corridors. I actually got a little lost, and almost gave up. I sat down in the middle of the hallway in a huff, aiming the flashlight to the north end of the hallway, half hoping Matt would come back that way.

"…You looka like a lady…"

I jumped, emitting a small "eep" as I spun around on the tile floor, aiming my flashlight at Matt, willing my heart to return to its normal pace, despite the fact that I just nearly shit twice and died. Matt smiled sheepishly at me in apology. "Jesus Christ, Matt! You trying to kill me?!" I clutched a stitch in my chest, feeling my heart doing a frantic rabbit dance against my ribs almost painfully.

He leaned in, his face inches from mine. "If I was trying, I would have succeeded…" he smiled. "and, if I remember right, I didn't give you my name…"

"Thank Near for that…"

"Near…" he looked thoughtful for a moment. "Oh, you mean Nate River, right?" he smiled. "I'm not the least bit surprised. My birth name is Mail Jeevus, actually." His smile broadened. "Mello and Matt…hey, we're M&M's!" He giggled a bit, and it made me smile. He stood up before holding out his hand and pulling me up with shocking strength. "Sorry about that."

I smiled sheepishly. "It's fine. I don't mind too much."

"Obviously," he said with a smirk. When I blinked in bewilderment, he glanced down at our hands, which were still interlocked. I blushed furiously, and tore my hand away, tucking it behind my back. "Not like I do, either," Matt muttered, taking my hand back and kissing it tenderly, making me blush more. Randomly, Lawliet's voice popped in my head.

"He's a nice boy." he said. "I say you give him a chance. Gay or not, Mello, I know that you'll be one to experiment." I sighed a bit. Lawliet was right, I was the curious one of our group. I scowled suddenly, Near's irritating voice penetrating my skull.

"Matt is a flirt," he told me. "I wouldn't trust him, regardless what L said. He'll just end up hurting you, like he has the others." I shook my head furiously. I wasn't about to let what Near said get to me. I liked Matt--he was nice, and we hit it off pretty well. Besides, who said it was going to get more complicated than friendship?

………

You know it will, otherwise there wouldn't be a story, and there wouldn't be a Yaoi warning on the summary, huh? Damn…but chill, that won't be for a while. Just sit back and relax, kiddies, we'll get there soon enough.

Anyway, Matt and I sat in the hallway talking for maybe over an hour before the power came on, and we didn't really notice until Near and Lawliet came down the hall, followed by swarms of midgets--I mean, younger kids…(No, I'm not going to hell for that comment, I swear…)

To be honest, talking with Matt was fun. He was down-to-Earth, and understanding, and I could tell we were going to be the best of friends. I turned to follow after Lawliet to our room when I felt Matt's hand on my shoulder. "Hey…my room, noon. Kay?"

I blinked slowly. Suddenly, I smiled, though I wasn't really sure why, and my cheeks turned pink. "Yeah. Okay." I let Lawliet lead me down the hall back to our dorm, and Near dragged matt in the opposite direction. For some reason, I was really happy, and I guess I was humming to myself, because Lawliet was staring at me.

"did something happen?" he asked, curling into a ball on his bed and stuffing a lollipop in his mouth. "You seem overly happy since this morning."

I shrugged. "I don't know why I'm so happy."

"Seems like you two hit it off," he said, pulling the tootsie pop from his mouth. "Good to know. You need more friends anyway."

"Thanks, L-chan, that makes me feel sooooo good." I rolled my eyes, rolling onto my back and staring at the ceiling, fighting back a smile that was tugging at my lips. Matt had invited me to his room. That made me feel all bubbly inside, and I sighed. "He makes me, I dunno…happy."

Lawliet smiled to himself. "I can tell. I think things will develop between you two."

"Like what?" I yelped a bit, sitting up to stare at him. "What are you getting at?"

Lawliet shrugged. "Just call it intuition…but things will happen."

"Like?!"

He shrugged again. "It all depends on you, Mello."

I scowled to myself. I didn't like that answer. I eyed him cautiously. "You know something," I hissed, leaning forward slightly. "I know you do, L-chan. Otherwise you wouldn't make such weird comments…"

"I know as much as you do," he said slowly. His response was sincere, and I silently cursed him. "It's just a feeling I have, Mello. Take it as you will."

I huffed, folding my arms over my chest and flopping back on the bed. "Yeah, but knowing my luck, what I'm thinking and what you mean are on completely different levels."

"You never know," Lawliet mused. "They might be the same." I watched him roll onto his back, then turn to face the wall. I huffed again, turning my back to him as I reached for the light switch. There was no way we were on the same wave length.