Hikari: Hello and welcome to chapter two of my story. I hope to be posting the chapters fairly regularly since I have a good deal of them written down already.

Hikari: I am dedicating this chapter to my good friend Chris, since after this chapter he will probably want to stop reading it.

Disclaimer: If I owned, Mello and Matt would have gotten together long ago.

Enjoy!!

Love Me Closely

Chapter Two

Return My Love

"So that really does shut people up," Mello smirked as he took a step away from me.

"..." I stood gaping. Mello...the boy I have like for years...just confessed he...loved...me. I could not believe it. I was elated, but at the same time slightly wary. Why now? What brought this on? Was he really telling the truth or was this just some game to him?

"I'm not lying to you, you know," Mello stated as went back to his desk. "I'm not that much of an ass."

"I'm in a bit of shock," I replied. "I think that's understandable."

"Whatever," Mello said, rolling his eyes. "I have to finish my work and study."

"Wait," I said as I moved over to Mello and bent down to place a kiss on his lips. When we seperated, I whispered to him, "I love you too Mello." In my happiness, I did not see his eyes fall for a moment. "Alright, go study. I'm gonna hook this up and try Army Of Two."

"Good luck," Mello mumured as he buried his head back in his books.

"Yea," I smiled. "You too."

LoveMeCloselyTillTheEndOfTime

"Hey Near," I smiled as I walked into the common toom of the right wing of Wammy's, where the three of us lived.

"Hello Matt," Near nodded as he continued to play with his white L puzzle.

"Are you still fooling aroung with that thing?" I asked as I sat down next to the genius and pulled out my PSP.

"I have actually completed this puzzle many times," Near corrected in his normal monotone voice, still not looking up at me. "I have found this to be a particularly enjoyable puzzle, thus I often redo it."

"Makes sense," I shrugged.

"Is Matt playing another new game?" Near asked, looking up briefly to take in my face. Despite Near's own lack of emotion, he could actually read other people extremely well.

"Ah, yea," I smiled. "Once I beat a game for the first time, it just loses something and isn't as fun as before."

"The game loses it's "virginity," so to speak," Near nodded.

"I guess you could say that, but doesn't that make me seem like a horrible person?" I asked.

"I believe it better describes Mello," Near stated bluntly.

"You really don't like him, do you?" I sighed.

"I just do not believe that Mello really loves Matt," Near continued tonelessly, though I could tell that he was actually worried.

"I think you're just bitter that I broke up with you," I argued half-heartedly. I had only dated Near to try and forget Mello, but it only last a few months before I broke it off. I felt bad about it since I had never really had feelings like that for Near in the first place, but it was not like I would take it back or anything.

"I would like to assure Matt that I would not sink to a level such as jealousy. I am simply stating my opinion on the topic that we are now discussing," Near stated.

"But you began the topic. I was talking about games," I debated.

"Matt pursued the topic though."

"I was just defending Mello."

"Mello has proved he can defend himself on various occasions."

"But he isn't in the room right now, so there is no way for him to defend himself."

"Will it really do Mello any harm to be left undefended for once?"

"Will you two shut up!" a girl in the lounge who went by the name of Sora shouted, smacking us both on the back of the head. "You're bickering is throwing off my concentration."

"Sorry," Near and I muttered at once. Sora was not the smartest student at Wammy's, though she was by far not the dumbest, but she was the only one who could bear Mello in a fight, so that earned her a good deal of respect from almost everyone else, including Mello himself.

"Good," Sora smirked as she went back over to her latest victim. He was a fit looking guy, but he still had no chance of beating Sora. The girl had almost inhuman strength.

"That boy will lose to Sora," Near stated after watching the fight for a few moments.

"Does that even need to be said?" I sighed.

"Yes, the obvious always needs to be stated to ensure it is known."

"But it's obvious, so everyone already knows it. Why waste your breath?"

"All points should be out in the open when being discussed."

"But this wasn't being discussed until you stated that unnecesary fact."

"You just got glared at by Sora you two. I suggest you be quiet unless you want to be her next victim," Sora's older sister, who went by the name Mayu, suggested. She was much nicer than her sister and was an academic genius like us. She was the one competing against me for third, and, in truth, got better scores than me. But for some reason Roger still puts me as third.

"Mayu-San has a point," Near agreed, using a term of respect since Mayu was a few years older than him.

"Guess I'll go then," I nodded.

"Smart move," Mayu smiled before she went over to where her sister was to monitor the fight and make sure the boy did not get hurt too badly. It was okay to bruise their egos a little, but not to beat them to a bloody pulp.

I walked back to the room so I sould either play video games or cram for my upcoming history test since Mello would most likely still be studying for the aforementioned test. I found myself to be pleasantly mistaken however when I walked into our room to see Mello napping on his bed. He stayed up late a lot of nights, so he usually had to take naps during the day.

Even though I tried to shut the door quietly, Mello was an extremely light sleeper, so he slowly turned towards me before speaking, "What time's it?"

"It's two," I replied softly. "Go back to sleep, you've been studying non-stop for three days, ever since that day." I trailed off towards the end when I realized how true my statement was.

"Sorry," Mello muttered as he say up to face me.

"It's fine," I smiled as I went over and say next to him on the bed. When I hugged him, he leaned into the embrace and eventually dozed off on my shoulder. I gently stroked his hair, lulling him into an even deeper sleep.

"I love you," I whispered into his hair, once again not noticing when Mello's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Hikari: I would like to appologize for the OCs in this story. They are merely there because they allow for Matt to interact with various other people besides Mello and Near. So far, there will only be two more named OCs. I hope they do not annoy anyone and if they do, please tell me how to make them better.

Thanks! Please read and review!