"Shhh, don't cry." I whisper softly to Matt. It's been two months since Mello left and he is still torn up about it. L always told us to not let our emotions get the best of us, Matt never could and he still can't. "Why?! Why did he have to go?!" Matt cried pathetically. I really don't see why he's so torn up about it. Mello wasn't that great. Matt looks at me and mumbles "You're so lucky Near. If L saw me like this I would be banned from video games for a month." He pulls his goggles off his face and wipes them out. "you were right…" he laughed, "I should have taken my goggles off." He lets out what can only be described as a useless giggle-like-thing. Tears roll down his soft white cheeks. "Come here." I gesture to him and he walks over and soon collapses in my arms. "Thank-you Near." He looks up at me and I reply with a puzzled look. "What for?" He wipes away some of the tears. "For looking after me…"
*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP* I lazily bat at the alarm clock to shut it up. I look around the dim room. *KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* "Near! Are you up?!" Matt yells through the door. "I'm sleeping!" I yell back, curling up into a ball under the covers. The door opens and Matt walks in. "Come on…" He pokes at me, "L's back and he wants to see you." I swiftly throw off my covers. "L's back?!" I scream in excitement. Matt nods. He reaches around me and picks me up. "God, you're getting heavy." Matt laughs.
He carries me down to the main room where screens cover almost all of the walls. Mello sits on one of the black leather couches, playing with his new gun again. "Near!" The familiar voice making me jump and almost falling off Matt's hip. L soon appears in front of me. "Hey there!" He takes me off Matt's hip and places me on his. He carries me towards to the other couch. "How have you been little guy?" Damn it! He knows I hate him calling me that. I put on the most childish voice I can and reply, "I've missed you!" I wrap my arms around his head. "Oh Near!" We laugh. He sits me down on the couch. "I got you something" He says, pushing the hair out of my face. "Watari!" No response. L turns and runs off to find him. "Was he just running?" Matt looked up from his game and Mello gazed at the door L just ran out of. "Yeah, I think he did." An eerie silence came over the room.
"Oh shit!" Matt furiously pushes the buttons on his PSP. "What?" Mello slides down the arm of the couch to sit next to him. Matt turns to look at Mello, "I died." Matt sighs and pulls his goggles off. "I nearly had him!" Mello places a hand on his cheek. They stare into each others eyes and I look away. They whisper to each other. "You should keep your goggles off, your eyes are to pretty to hide." Matt replies with, "You are so amazing. So beautiful, so talented." I turn back around to see them kissing. I swiftly turn back and mumble "Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew…" L walks into the room and yells, "Mello! Matt! If you are going to do that then do it in your room!" Matt and Mello laugh as they leave the room. "You ok Near?" He wraps his arms around me. "So gross." I mumble into his shirt. He sits next to me and pulls his legs up like he always does. He hands me a box, "Open it." His eyes sparkle and he smiles. I carefully open the box to see the thing I had been dreaming for, "A ninja-force dice spitting robot?!" I scream and hug my angel. "Thank-you!" L hugs me close to him. "You're welcome." He insists. He picks me up and walks over to my dice tower. "You hungry?" I nod obediently. "Are you leaving the robot here?" I gently place my gift down next to the tower. "Alright, let's go."
He carries me down the corridor to the kitchen and places me down on a chair. *THUD THUD THUD* "Matt!" "Mello!" L quickly covers my ears, blocking out the noises. The world seems so different when you can't hear anything. I look up at L, my angel, my saviour. I can see he is yelling something. Suddenly I can hear things again. L gets some chocolate out of the cupboard and puts the kettle on. He puts the box of sugar cubes on the table and hands me the chocolate, only after taking a bite himself. He pours his tea and sits down. "So, has anything exciting happened while I was gone?" I shake my head knowing all too well Matt and Mello have been 'jumping on their bed' everyday. I start building a tower with the sugar cubes. It grows in front of my eyes. Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen… twenty cubes, it grows. "Near." My mind returns to reality, "Yes L?" I look up from my project. His eyes in a piercing stare. "Why don't you walk?" I look away, too embarrassed to say anything. I pull my phone over from the other side of the table, where I left it last night, being careful not to look at L. "Matt, can you come get me? I'm in the kitchen"
I hear Matt run down the corridor. "Hey Near. You Ok?" I look at Matt. His bare chest shiny with sweat, his red hair all messed up and his pants not done up. I hold out my arms to be picked up. "Ok…" He picks me up off the chair, unknowing of what had occurred. "Where do you want to go?" I pull myself close to him, "Toy cove." I mumble. Toy cove is a place in my room; it's like a cave full with toys and dice. Mello walks into the room as Matt, carrying me, goes to leave. "I'll be back in a minute." He reassures Mello. I sit on Matt's hip silently. "What Happened Near?" He says almost breathlessly as he climbs the stairs, "You were so excited to see L." He pushes the door at the top of the stairs open with his foot. "He asked me the question." I mutter. "Oh, I see." He puts me down in toy cove. He sits down next to me. "You know it's ok to talk about it right?" I nod. He picks up my talking Optimus Prime transformer and sighs disappointedly. "Maaatt!" Mello sings, "Oh my dearest Maaatt!" Matt chuckles and yells, "In here Mello dearest!" I hide; worried that L might be with him. "Oh there you are!" Mello sits on Matt and whispers, "Is it ok?" I curl up in a ball and look at Matt. "L asked him the question." Matt replies as he gazes at me. "Come on hot stuff, leave it to play." Mello says, tugging on Matt's pants. Matt looks at Mello in that weird way they always look at each other with. "Oh alright then." He laughs. Mello gets off Matt and Matt spanks him. "Ooh." Mello grabs his arse and the two of them laugh as they walk out the door. I yawn and pick up my fuzzy dice. I close my eyes tight and try to sleep.
MEANWHILE… downstairs.
"So you asked it the question?" Mello munches on chocolate while he waits for L to reply. "Near is almost thirteen, he should be walking." L stirs his tea with a lollipop and then proceeds to put it in his mouth. "It's not something we can just force him to do. This kind of stuff takes time," Matt stands up for Near, "He is still young and shouldn't be forced into doing anything." Mello glares at his love. "Why do you stand up for the twerp?" Matt retorts with, "He is a special kid and for all we know he could be L's successor." The two gaze at L. "Would you pick him over us?" L pulls the lollipop out of his mouth and takes a sip of tea. "I'm not going to have this discussion with you Mello, how many times do I have to tell you that?" The room goes silent. Suddenly a scream is heard.
