Matt and I awkwardly sat in our room, there was a lot of tension between us. Matt lay on the bed, with his legs touching the ground and his arms covering his eyes. I sat on the swivel chair near the desk, facing Matt. He hadn't spoken to me since what happened in the afternoon. Roger told us that he was disappointed in us and yada yada yada…those long speeches you see in movies. Our punishment? Matt's game console and lighter was taken away, and my…chocolate, we also had to write an apology letter to Near, if we didn't we couldn't leave the room, except for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner in the cafeteria. If I didn't say anything to Matt now, we wouldn't speak for the rest of the night, which would lead to a restless night.

"…Matt?"

"Mello, this is all your fault." He replied instantly as if he waited until I spoke to say it.

"It's not all my fault…Near's always beat-"

Matt sat up hastily "Yes, Near's always beating you, I get it! But it doesn't mean you had to go to the extent of crushing him! Do you think what you did made you a winner?" Matt hardly ever got angry, no matter what I did. It felt strange seeing him act this way. I guess without Matt's eyes on a game or his lips on a cigarette, he could get so cranky.

I didn't want to reply but he stared and waited for my answer, his eyes were burning through my head, it made me uneasy.

I looked down at the ground, I couldn't look at Matt. "…no…I feel horrible about what happened."

"Good-"

I lifted my head back up at Matt.

He smiled. "-then you can write the apology letter." With that Matt lay back onto the bed.

It was easy repairing our friendship, it wasn't so easy figuring out what to write on the letter. I spoke while I wrote.

"Dear…Near." I paused. That already sounded like a corny letter, I can't rhyme his name in the first line. I tried a few more times, good, I had a few sentences. I couldn't seem to get my words on the lined paper, I didn't know writing an apology letter would be so hard. As time passed Matt walked around the room, he really had nothing to do, until he fell asleep on his bed. I was almost done.

"Sincerely, Mello and Matt…done…" With that I sighed and stretched my arms, I had been writing that letter for 3 hours. I swivelled the chair around and saw Matt lying with his head hanging off the end of the bed with his mouth wide open, his left arm and leg dangled off the bed while his right arm was squished under his body, and his right leg was tucked under the pillow. He certainly looked comfortable.

I crept up to him, unsure whether to wake him up from his peaceful sleep or leave him and go to the cafeteria for dinner.

"M-Matt?" I whispered close enough that if he was awake he would hear, unfortunately not while he slept. I poked his face but all he did was frown his brows and wiggle his nose.

"Matt…Maaatt." Okay obviously this wasn't working, he's going to hate me for this.

"MATT!" That time he heard me, so startled his eyes flew open and he shrieked while his arms and legs flew in the air.

"What!" Matt sat up while rubbing his sleepy eyes.

"Do you want to go to the cafeteria for dinner?"

"No, I'm catching up on my sleep…" With that, Matt lay back into his position and closed his eyes.

"I also finished the letter" I said in a proud voice.

"Good job…you can...give it to him…after dinner…" He already was beginning to drowse off.

"Okay" I gave Matt a smile, even though he couldn't see it, and put the letter in my pocket.

"While you're there…you can tell him…how much you care about him…"

"What!" I quickly turned my head at Matt, now he wouldn't answer, he pretended to sleep.

I left the room and walked down the hall to the cafeteria. On the way there some of the other orphans congratulated me for cracking Near, others glared me off, and insulted me. It was hard ignoring them, I didn't want to fight back anymore. I glanced at the food in the cafeteria and decided not to eat, if only I was allowed my chocolate, I'd eat it any day over this food.

Hmm…I wonder if Near is around here, I scanned the room looking for an albino by himself, I guess he was still in his room... I really did feel sorry for him now, the way he stared into that fire made my heart drop. I began making my way to Nears room, I was actually nervous, my stomach hurt and my hands were getting sweaty. Was I just going to give him the letter or talk to him?

I reached my destination. I stood at the door for a while, figuring out what to do. When I got close enough to the door I heard soft sobs…Near was crying. What was I going to do now? Without another thought I quietly knocked on the open door and slowly peeked my head in.

"N-Near..?."

The albino didn't say anything, didn't look up or move, he kept sobbing on his bed, one leg curled up to his chest while the other dangled off the bed. I gradually walked towards him, unsure of what to do, I now stood in front. I reached out towards him but hesitated, last time I tried to comfort him he ran inside, but I guess he has nowhere to run now. I gently put my hand on his head and stroked through his hair. He began to look up at me, his eyes were bloodshot and his face was damp, I tried to give a comforting smile to him.

"Mello…" he didn't give much emotion but his voice was quiet and soft. I sat down next to him and wrapped my arm around his shoulder.

"I-I'm… sorry Near." I had so much going on in my head, but I couldn't seem to say anything.

"You know…my favourite puzzle was given from my mother..." He voice drifted off, he wasn't trying to hold back his tears anymore.

I didn't know what to say, do I ask about his mum? Or will that bring a bad memory up? I couldn't believe what was happening to me, it wasn't like me. I was speechless.

"…Mello?" Near lift his other leg onto the bed curling them up to the side, now he was facing me.

"Yes, Near?"

"What was your mother like?"

"My…mother? Umm, well she was pretty good I guess, I didn't see her much though..." I felt awkward now, I only talked about my life before the orphanage to Matt, but when we talked it was different.

"What about your dad?"

"Well, my dad was always with my mum, they went on heaps of vacations, while I stayed with the nanny. I guess we were in the…upper class. I always had to do what I was told, play by the rules."

"H-How did you become…an orphan? Near wasn't sure to ask or not, maybe he thought I'd go all sensitive like he was at the moment.

"When they went on vacations they were dealing drugs, that's why we were so rich, and one day when they came home from their trip, the police tracked them down and arrested them at the house. I escaped from them, and found myself outside wammy's, roger saw me and offered me a piece of chocolate, after that they took me in."

Near watched me, he was waiting for me to break down and cry. I didn't feel the need to, I had done my crying a long time ago and since I didn't see them often I didn't have a strong connection with them. His large dark eyes were still looking at mine, I couldn't keep my gaze and felt a heat on my cheeks, I knew I was blushing so I turned my head away quickly. I now looked down frontwards, my blond hair covered my face from Near.

After a while, Near realised that I wasn't going to start crying, and was no longer waiting.

"My mother…she was beautiful."

I lifted my head back up towards Near, I had to engage while he told his story, I had some respect for the boy.

"My mother and I always used to do puzzles together, I had so much fun with her. For Christmas she gave me that puzzle, my favourite one." Near used emphasis on favourite, I knew which one he was talking about.

"On Christmas night my Mother and I had almost finished completing the puzzle, but my father had come home." After mentioning his father, his tone had changed.

"My father was an alcoholic and was very drunk on my birthday, he accused my mother of many things, and used so many unforgiving words, he blamed me for the way we lived. We weren't poor, but we were just managing. My father raised a gun to my head, but my mother carried me into the bathroom and locked me in. I watched through the keyhole as my mother struggled to keep him away, as a result she was shot."

The way he was right now, he was letting his tears run down, and wasn't hiding anything to himself. At this moment I felt so close to Near, even though I wasn't saying anything, I felt that he trusted me enough to tell me about his past.

"After shooting my mother, he kept trying to break down the bathroom door, at this point I was terrified, I had just seen my mother's blood oozing from her still body. I didn't know what to do, I stood and watched as the door fell down, and my father held the gun pointed at me. I closed my eyes, there was a bang, but I didn't feel pain. Once I opened them, I was covered in blood, my father's blood. After my father collapsed onto the floor, the police behind him were revealed. There were police scanning the house while others tried comforting me, then I met Roger, he offered to take me in, I accepted as I had nowhere else to go. "

I had never really had to comfort someone before, so I was unsure of what to do. Was I supposed to say something now? I felt so useless.

"Near, I am truly sorry about what happened today, and I did regret it. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

"No it's okay, I just like talking to you." He tried to smile a little bit, to show me that he was fine, but I could still see sadness in his eyes.

"A-are you sure?"

"Yes, it's fine. Just promise me that we will still talk to after this."

"Yeah…of course." I smiled then lay back on the bed. I felt relieved but still guilty, I knew he was still upset but he wouldn't say. Near didn't lie down, but observed me. Those eyes made me nervous, I felt my cheeks go hot again. He knew I was blushing, nevertheless he didn't say anything. I wasn't sure what Near thought of me, I wasn't even sure how I felt about him. We weren't friends…but we weren't enemies anymore.

Near and I talked for a long time about many things, although I still didn't know how to react to a few things, I didn't feel awkward anymore. It had been more than 5 hours before I started getting drowsy. I didn't usually have such long and endless conversations with people…not even Matt. Now I felt tired and exhausted, I couldn't move…or stand...I just wanted…to…sleep…

When I opened my eyes I realised I wasn't in my room…did I sleep in Nears room? I tried to sit up before realising Near was laying on me, his head rested on my chest. I see he decided to lie down…

As much as I wanted to, I couldn't stay here. I slowly moved to the side so Nears head could quickly rest on the bed. When I leaned to get off the bed, it made a loud creak, making me swiftly hop off. I turned around to make sure Near didn't wake up.

awww…he looked cute…

I shook my head, trying to get rid of those thoughts. I can't think of him that way…I had something else I needed to concentrate on. I needed Matts help on this. I quietly snuck out of Nears room, hopefully everyone else was asleep as well, so no one would notice me coming from Nears room. I guess I wasn't hoping enough, of course Matt was awake he slept for long enough yesterday.

"Hey Mello, what were you doing in Nears room, did you 'sleepover'?" Matt spoke loudly as he walked over towards me.

"Shhh Matt! What's wrong with you, people are sleeping! And no, it's not like that…" I kept waving my hands everywhere, in a way of trying to tell him off. While also trying to keep my voice and yell at him at the same time. Obviously it wasn't working so well.

Matt had stopped walking and stood with a confused expression on his face. "Dude, it's like 2 in the afternoon…"

"Oh…well, umm… let's move away from Nears room. I need to discuss something with you." I turned Matt around and pushed him back down the hall until we reached our room.

Matt sat on the bed while I closed the door. "Okay so what's there to discuss?"

I turned around and leaned on the door, I wasn't sure what he was going to think about this.

"…I have a plan..."