"What?!" I stared at Mello, my eyes wide as he jammed his clothes into a bag. His eyes were hard and full of anger, his motions quick and deadly. I stood in the doorway to his room, scared to take a step close to him but scared to leave him by himself.

"L is dead. He didn't choose either of us and I sure as hell won't work with Near," he growled out, zipping up the bag forcefully. I looked down at the ground before falling onto my butt, staring at the wood floor. L…was gone. He couldn't be. He was L. But that meant that Kira had killed him. How? He was L!

"Aly?" I looked up to see Mello staring at me in concern, the anger gone from his face. I just stared blankly.

"He can't be dead," I whispered. Mello dropped his bag on the floor before walking towards me, closing the door and sitting down next to me, taking my face into his hands. An unknown tear escaped from my eyes and landed on his thumb as he stared at me.

"I don't wanna believe it either but he is. Kira killed him," Mellow growled, anger returning to his face. I felt my heart break as I fell into Mello's body, wrapping my arms around his neck and sobbing quietly. L had been like a father to me when he would come to visit. He took care of me and spoiled me like nobody else could or would do. Now, it felt like someone else had left me. It hurt.

"What happens now?" I asked, pulling away and wiping my eyes. Mello looked at me in concern before looking back at his bag, his eyes blazing with thought.

"I'm leaving. Roger says I should partner up with Near." He banged his fist on the floor, making me jump. I had seen Mello angry but this was bad. He was gnashing his teeth together, his eyes now burning with anger as his fists turned a pale white. "I wouldn't work with Near if we were the last two people on Earth."

"Where are you going?" I asked, worry in my voice. Ever since that day that Mello chased me into the rain, we had a tendency to stick together a lot more often. When Rachel and Anna picked on me, Mello or Matt, my other new friend, stepped in and pulled me out to hang with them. It wasn't that I couldn't defend myself. It was just that the only way I could truly defend myself was by use of a hand held weapon, preferably a gun. I hated having to actually use physical strength to fight. A gun with bullets was the best way to defend myself. But if anyone would ever actually try to hurt me physically, Mello and Matt stepped up to be my fists and my shields. I owed them both so much. And with that came worry whenever they were thinking of doing something that would most likely get them in trouble or hurt.

"America. I'll try to make some connections with the mobs there and I'll kill Kira that way. And this time, I'll do it better and faster than Near."

I stared wide eyed, my heart dropping. America? The mobs?!

"Mello…" He turned back around and gripped my hands, his eyes looking down to the ground.

"At least come with me. There's nothing here for you and I know you can't survive without me." My breathing stopped as I stared at him.

"What did you say?" I asked, my eyebrows knitting together as I pulled away from him. He stared in surprise and confusion as I stood up, looking down at him. "Did you just say I can't survive without you?"

Mello's features lightened as he stood up as well, stuffing a hand into his leather pants while the other reached out to lay gently on my cheek. I pulled away, though, my face contorted in anger. Mello once again looked shocked before it turned to annoyance. "It's not like it's a lie."

"For your information, Mello, I can survive without you."

"I'd like to see you try. You can't stand up for yourself. If I remember right, Matt and I are always getting you out of trouble."

"Well I never asked you to!"

Mello advanced on me, pressing my back into the wall as he grabbed my arms, his face inches away from mine. "Why can't you just be accepting about it. You need me. And anyways, you owe me," he whispered, his voice lowering harshly. I stared wide eyed at him, the only thought going through my mind on how close he was to me. Never in the time we had been hanging out had he gotten this close. His breath was tickling my lips and I could taste chocolate.

"Mello," I whispered, my eyes darting up to his. The annoyance and anger left his eyes as he stared at me, his blue eyes confused.

"Admit it," he mumbled, leaning closer to my face.

"What?" I asked, my eyes drooping as his nose touched mine. It was scary, him being this close. But it also felt safe.

"You need me. You owe me." His breath fanned across my face as his body pressed lightly against mine, his hands releasing my arms to rest on the wall above my shoulders.

"Mello," I whimpered, my fingers grasping onto his long, sleeve shirt.

"Say it," he urged, a smile gracing his lips as he drew closer.

"I…" And then my eyes snapped open, realizing what was going on. Never had Mello and I been this close. Or at least, not this close with these intentions. We weren't like this. No, this couldn't be happening. Sure I had probably been and still am attracted to Mello but…this was too fast. We were only fifteen or at least, close to being fifteen. We couldn't be like this…we just...couldn't...

I quickly inhaled a large gulp of breath, tasing chocolate once more, as I ducked under the little room Mello had left open and backed away from him, my face burning hot as Mello turned around, a confused, annoying and angry look on his face.

"When are you leaving?" I asked, trying to change the subject and calm down my racing heart. Mello inhaled deeply before standing up straight and walking towards me. I backed up and fell down on his bed, my heart racing even faster, as if it was going to burst from my chest. Mello just stared in confusion as he stopped and bent down to pick up his bag.

"Now," he stated bitterly, swinging the bag over his shoulder as he turned towards the door. My heart was racing again but not from any hormonal emotions. He really was leaving. My heart started hurting again. He couldn't leave. I felt selfish wanting to keep him here but...he was my friend. I wouldn't survive without him. He was right.

"Mello!" I called, sitting up on his bed, staring wide eyed at his back. He stopped and only let his head turn sideways, glancing at me. I couldn't read him at all. He seemed as if he had some hope but at the same time, anger. I sighed, looking down at the ground, "You're really leaving."

I knew he was serious. After knowing him for close to eight years and hanging out with him for the majority of the time I was at the orphanage, I never really needed to double check with him. He never changed his mind and this time was no exception either. And as much as I could try, not even I would be able to change his mind.

Mello nodded his head curtly, his eyes turning down to the ground, "Maybe one day we'll meet up again."

My head snapped up, staring wide eyed at his form. No. I…he… That meant-

"Goodbye, Aly." And just like that, he grabbed the doorknob and pulled it along with him, shutting it quietly and cutting off my view of him. And just like that, tears began sliding down my cheeks as I burst into sobs. It hurt so much. How would I be able to survive like this?

*Three Hours Later*

I sat back, closing my eyes and taking in a deep breath. The chair wasn't comfy like I hoped but at least I was able to finally relax. I needed a good nap. Crying so much really did take away your energy.

"Move your legs." I opened my eyes and stared up at the person who addressed me, a slight glare forming on my face. It dropped, though, as the person standing over me glared back. Turning my head down, I pulled my legs closer to the chair as he passed by me, taking a seat next on my left. Another person sat on the other empty seat to my right, closing his eyes and laying his head back.

"I like your goggles, Matt," I said, poking the lens, a small smile crawling across my face. One eye opened as he stared at me, a small smile making its way to his face as well.

"I like what you've done with your hair," Matt said, taking a strand of my newly, dyed dull blonde hair and tugging on it gently. Yes, I had dyed my hair blonde. Why blonde, I'm not sure. The color on the box looked extremely nice but unfortunately, the color turned out to be a little duller than I thought. Okay, a lot duller but still, it actually looked way better than I thought it would. Why did I dye it, though? Well…

"Matt." We both turned to left to look at our last counterpart who was sitting, staring out the window. He looked deep in thought and a little tense. "Get some sleep."

Matt sighed, scratching the back of his neck, "Alright. Damn, I need a smoke," he mumbled. I sighed and sat back again, taking in deep breaths. The last time I had been on a plane was when Roger had brought me back to the orphanage. And the first time hadn't been so good. Really bad turbulence, lightning and the fact that I had to sit next to the window and watch as the plane shook didn't put me at ease. I couldn't believe I was getting back on. I can't believe he was able to make me change my mind that easy. I really was dependent on him. And I knew that one day, it would kill me.

"You too, Aly," he said, leaning against the window of the plane. I sighed and closed my eyes, resting my head on Matt's shoulder, a faint scent of cigarette smoke lingering on his jacket.

"Good night, Mello," I mumbled, slowly falling into a deep sleep.

I would never see the look of longing and pain on Mello's face as he whispered back, "Night, Aly."

Nabi-Jinju says: Hi everyone. I'm really sorry about how I'm really bad at updating. In all honesty, it sometimes takes me a while to get parts of my stories onto the computer. Not to mention my laptop has a tendency to crash because I think there's a virus and I'm not allowed to buy a new computer :( So sometimes I'm forced to wipe my computer's memory and restore it to it's original factory setting which means taking up time to restore my Internet connection and getting all my stuff ready again. I really will try, though. I will warn you now, my stories maybe be put on hold due to the fact that it is my junior year and I do have SATs coming up as well as a bunch of other clubs that I'm associated with and my Korean school. And let's not forget the drama that comes with having friends. We're all having a really hard time and it's taking a while to sort everything out so I really hope you will forgive me and just be patient. I love writing stories for people to enjoy and I really appreciate all the feedback that I get. You guys are really kind and very motivational. ^.^

So once again, I will do my best to update and make new stories. I probably will start making one shots since they're really fun and a lot easier to get on instead of doing long stories. I'm also thinking of starting a modern Bleach story so we'll see how that goes. Also, I love taking requests to make stories. So if you have an idea and want to make it into a story, just let me know and I would be more than happy to write a story. Thank you again for your reviews. (I don't require them or ask for them because, hey, I don't even review the stories I read so why should I become a hypocrite?) Have a good day :D