Matt's POV
Mello was already awake when I woke up at about ten. He almost always woke up before I did, no matter how late he went to bed the night before. Like he had been before I had talked him into going to bed last night, he was reading furiously over some information. I don't know why he always tried so hard. No matter what he did, he never thought it was good enough. It was sad, really.
"Mel?"
"Hmm?" He responded without looking up from the array of papers spread across his desk.
"Wanna do something fun today?" I asked as I crawled out of bed, pushing pale blue sheets out of my way as I did so.
"I'm busy."
"Too busy for me?" I asked, putting on my best puppy-dog face.
He sighed. "Matt, I really can't right now…."
I ran my fingers through his golden hair. "Please, Melly? It'll be lots of fun." I stood behind the wooden chair he was sitting in and wrapped my arms around him. "Please?"
He sighed again and combed through his hair with his fingers. "I don't know, maybe in a while."
"Fine." I finally said, defeated. I pulled away from him then plopped down on our unmade bed, pulling my DS out of my jeans pocket as I did so. I had been playing Super Mario Bros—a classic—when I got an idea. I turned my DS off without even saving my game—something I never did—and stood up, stretching. "I think I'm gonna call Near and see if he wants to hang out. That okay with you, Mel?" I didn't really like Near, but if pretending got my Mello to spend time with me then I'd pretend.
Mello slammed his hand down on his desk and whipped his head back to look at me. He gave me a death glare as he growled, "What the hell did you just say?" For a minute or two, I thought he was going to leap out of his chair and rip me apart… but he didn't. He just waited for me to speak.
"I…" Crap, I'd really pissed him off, hadn't I? "I thought if you were busy, I could go do something with Near and leave you alone so you could work."
"You crafty bastard." He spat. "I'd be a little worried, but I know you won't do it."
"I won't?" I pulled out my cell and went through my address book, looking for Near's number. I was surprised I still had it. "There. All I have to do is press 'send'."
"Go ahead. Do it." He challenged.
I mentally punched myself in the face. Now, no matter what I did, I was going to make him angry. I could call Near… or I could not call Near and tell Mello I was sorry; I'd only wanted to spend more time with him…. Although that seemed like the best option, I pressed the green button on my phone anyway. The phone rang, and Mello glared at me once more. Finally, Near picked up.
"Matt?" He sounded slightly annoyed.
"Hey, Near. How are you?"
There was a pause, then, "What do you want, Matt?"
"Do you want to hang out today?" I'm certain I sounded like a complete idiot.
"Not really."
"Are you sure?" I saw Mello smirk at this. He knew Near didn't like people, so he had nothing to worry about.
Near sighed. "Where do you want to go?" He sounded like a babysitter finally giving in to a small child's begging.
"We could go to the arcade!"
"That will be fine." He mumbled, not sounding very amused, though the arcade was something that would have made me jump for joy, if I wasn't in this awkward situation.
"Okay. Do you want to meet me there or should I pick you up?" Mello's jaw dropped when I said this. I was actually going to do something with Near, and not Mello. My jaw almost dropped.
"Either is fine."
"All right, I'll pick you up in a little bit. See you then!" I said, a little too enthusiastic. I hung up, not waiting for Near to say goodbye (though I doubted he would), then I closed my phone and returned it to my pocket.
Although Mello looked speechless, there was a lot he had to say. Most of his sentences were dripping with expletives, but I didn't really blame him.
"I could call him back and tell him something came up and we could go to the arcade." I said after Mello had finished cussing me out.
"Or you could call him back and tell him something came up before I kick your ass." Mello swore, his hands clenched into fists.
"Are you mad, Mello?" I asked, trying to sound completely ignorant. "Do you not want me to spend time with Near?"
"Why the hell do you need Near? Am I not good enough for you?" He screamed. Shit. I'd hit a nerve.
"Mello, I didn't…." I dropped my head. "I didn't mean it like that. I just wanted to have fun with you. You've been working too hard."
He shook his head. "Go." He commanded, pointing to the door.
"What?"
"Go. I don't want you here."
I opened my mouth to say something, but realized there was nothing I could say. I sighed, then turned to leave, grabbing my keys off of the nightstand as I walked out. Now I'd made Mello angry and I had to hang out with Near. Today already sucked.
Near was waiting for me outside when I pulled up. He twirled his hair as he got into the passenger seat, never bothering to say "Hello" or "How are you". Not that I'd expect anything different from Near.
"Where are we going?"
"The arcade?" I gave him a confused look. Shouldn't he know where we were going? He'd agreed to it over the phone.
"Oh."
"I told you that."
"Sorry, I got another call after I'd started talking to you, and I didn't hear anything you said until 'I'll pick you up in a little bit.'"
"So… you were talking to somebody else?"
"Yes."
Ouch. Not even Near wanted to hang out with me today.
After a painfully quiet ride, we finally arrived at the arcade. On any other bad day, the flashing lights and low-quality sound effects would have cheered me up instantly—but today was different. I'd really screwed up today.
Near and I walked inside; Near anxiously twirling his hair. I doubted he'd ever even seen an arcade, much less been inside of one. I shoved a crumpled twenty dollar bill into a machine and gathered the tokens that fell out of it in my hand. I then took Near's hand and deposited the tokens there. "Go find some game you like. I'm gonna go out for a smoke." I needed a smoke.
When I returned—after not one, but three cigarettes—I found Near standing in the same spot I had left him, his expressionless face unchanged. "Didn't see anything you wanted to play?"
"Why are you being nice to me?" He asked. He really knew how to get to the point.
"I don't know. Do you want me to be mean?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he took my hand and gave me the tokens back. I shoved them in my pocket. "You ready to go home?" Near nodded.
Although I'm sure Mello would be glad I wasn't around Near for too long, I doubt he'd be glad to see me back so soon. When I had left, I wasn't sure he ever wanted me to come back. But Mello wouldn't stay mad forever… right?
"Matt, are you upset about something?"
"What?" It was unlike Near to even realize that something was wrong, but even more unlike him to care. "Why?"
"You're over the speed limit," he remarked, pointing to the speedometer.
He was right. In fact, I was thirty miles over the speed limit. I thanked whatever God was up there that I hadn't already gotten pulled over. I slowed down, then pondered whether or not I should tell Near what had happened. I needed to tell somebody before the stress made my head explode. I couldn't stand Mello being mad at me.
"Mello and I got into a fight." I sighed.
"Oh."
"I'm afraid if I go home, he'll just get even angrier. He's been working himself too hard, lately. He barely gets any sleep. I'm worried about him. I thought if he could stop stressing out all the time, he'd feel better, so I asked him to do something with me, but he yelled at me, and…." I sighed again.
Near didn't say anything. No "I'm sorry" or "I'm sure you'll work things out". I don't know why I was telling him all of this. What did it matter to him, anyway? I doubted he was even listening.
"Matt?"
"Hmm?"
"You're speeding again."
I don't like Near. I mean, I don't hate him—at least, I don't think I do—but I don't really like him. When I was writing this, I was trying to come up with some way for Near to get injured.
…Maybe I do hate him….
