A House Divided

Chapter Two: Lost

All I could hear was the distant calling of my name. I could feel a lot of people around but I couldn't seem to open my eyes for a while.

When I finally could open my eyes, I couldn't see Mello anymore and everything was moving too fast for me to comprehend.

"Matt!" I heard Mello say. I could hear the tears in his voice. I tried to move my eyes to look in the direction of his voice but they didn't seem to be working properly. I saw the yellow blur of his hair and then everything went black again.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I woke up on a stiff mattress and to a constant, steady beeping and I knew it wasn't my phone or my computer or any video game I owned.

"Mello," I tried to choke out, but nothing left my mouth. I felt a cold hand make contact with my wrist for a short minute and then disappear. I forced my eyes open only to have them greeted by bright florescent lighting, so I quickly snapped them shut.

"Matty, can you hear me?" Mello's voice said close to me. A hand brushed against my cheek and I took a guess that it was his. I wanted to see his face so badly. My eyes tried to open again, slowly this time.

"Mello," I whispered gratefully as I saw his angelic face.

"Oh Matt!" he sobbed. "I was so worried about you!"

"Yeah," I laughed nervously. "Sorry for passing out on you…"

"What? Are you kidding me? I would have done the same thing if I just got nailed by a sniper," he responded. "Don't be sorry!"

"What…what the—" I stopped short, finally taking in my surroundings. The annoying beeping was a heart monitor and the stiff mattress was a hospital bed and the cold hands were the nurses checking my IV's. I was…shot?

"Matt, do you remember anything? You were shot but luckily no one is as good at assassinating as we are and they just grazed your stomach. No puncture wounds, thank God."

"But…why?" was all that came out of my mouth.

"It was Duke. He had one of his goons try and take you out. They found out about us living and working together and thought we were too powerful—which we are," he explained quickly while the nurse stepped out of the room.

"It's not bad, is it?" I said, looking down at my lower half, though I couldn't wiggle my toes for the life of me.

"No, Matty. They gave you some drugs for the pain. You'll still breathe, walk, and live the same," Mello reassured me.

"Oh thank God!" I breathed. I released a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

Mello leaned over and kissed me on the forehead. His fingers brushed against my cheek as his blue eyes met mine. I felt pinned to my mattress. The intensity of his gaze was unbearable and pleasant at the same time. My thoughts flashed to the kiss we shared right before everything went dark.

"I got you something," he murmured finally, breaking the awkward tension. I felt something press into my hand but I didn't want to look away from Mello. Reluctantly, I looked down at the plastic in my hand.

My eyes landed on my goggles…fixed…good as new. I turned them in my hands I examined them. I could tell they were the same frames but the lenses were different.

"How—"

"I went to EVERY store within a sixty mile radius until I found orange lenses and place that would fix them for me!" he huffed, making his hair dance on his forehead. I smiled at his fake irritation and wanted to kiss him right then and there.

"Mello, you didn't have to do that," I choked out. My nose started to sting and my eyes started to water. Dammit. This guy was going to make me cry in the middle of the hospital. Stupid emotions…

"Yes I did," he said simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "But…when did you get this done?" He motioned to the engraving on the inside of the frames.

"After my first mission when I was fourteen…I had earned more than enough money to get it done."

"Forever," he read. My eyes closed at the way the word sounded coming from his mouth, smoothly rolling off his tongue. It gave me shivers to think of him saying to me someday…

"Yeah, I knew I would remember you forever, even if we didn't meet again for the rest of our lives…" I said lamely. I think he knew that I was half-lying because he raised an eyebrow at me.

"Matt—"

"Thank you," interrupted quickly. "For the goggles. You have no idea how much that means to me." Mello responded with a smile.

"I missed you…" I heard him say quietly as I looked at my goggles.

"How long was I out?" I wondered.

"A week!" he grumbled, obviously exasperated at the longevity of my induced coma.

"Oh I'm sorry, Mello…"

"Don't be sorry for getting shot," he said, shaking my shoulders playfully. I caught his wrists in my hands like he did the first time we had kissed. I heard his breath catch, though it might have been mine, come to think of it. The pause, the silence, the looks we shared…was this normal? Was it supposed to be like this? Cautious and hesitant?

"Kiss me," I quoted him from a week ago. A blush exploded on his cheeks as he leaned forward. Our noses touched and both of our eyes started to flutter in anticipation. I taste chocolate on his breath already and I hadn't even kissed him yet.

"Kiss you?" he quoted back with a small smile. I nodded at him and before he could respond I closed the gap between our lips with a soft moan. How was it possible to miss something that you had only had once? I guess once is all it really took for me to miss the taste and feel of his lips.

This kiss was different than the first. It was hungry and desperate, like we weren't close enough and we could never be close enough. We grabbed at each other's hair and caressed each other's faces. Once again, I was about to deepen the kiss when Mello pulled away with an awkward blush on his cheeks. Dammit, he as to stop doing that.

"I have to stop doing that," he echoed. I blinked a couple times, seriously contemplating if he could read my mind.

"Then stop pulling away and keep kissing me," I said quietly as I tried to bring his face back to mine. He pulled away gently with a small smile.

"No, I have to stop kissing you like that…" Mello voiced barely above a whisper. My heart sank. And when I say 'sank', I mean plummeted through my chest, through the mattress, and onto the floor. It was like my worst nightmare. It was like a dream I never wanted to have…how could this be happening?

Mello sat back in his seat with a pained look on his face. I reached out to him and this time he didn't pull away. I gently pulled his head onto my now empty chest and smoothed his hair. Curse those stupid hospital chairs! If only there weren't any and Mello would be forced to share the bed with me…oh darn.

"I just feel so lost, Matt…" I heard Mello say into my hospital gown. "I feel like the shooting is my fault. I wasn't careful enough the past few weeks when I planning our big day out. They must have found out when I started buying things and acting weird. I should have known that I was being watched, especially with my contract expiring."

"Mello, stop. This wasn't your fault. It was mine too. I'm the one who went out and bought brownie ingredients and giant chocolate bar. If that's not suspicious behavior, I don't know what is. Being close to me won't be put me in anymore danger than being away from me."

Mello scoffed. "You know that's a lie. The closer we are to each other, the more people can use us against each other to basically do whatever they want! I mean, I know I'd go to my death for you…" he added the last part quietly, but I still heard it. My heart resurrected itself back into my chest because I could feel it beating faster and harder than before….not to mention the stupid heart monitor beeping like crazy. Mello smiled at the machine and gave me a look, which I cooly dodged by examining my goggles once again as if I was fascinated by them all over again.

"I would do…anything for you…also…" I awkwardly got out of my mouth. God, why was I so bad at this? How can I be so awkward around someone I've been living with for the last eight months?

There was a throat being cleared at the entrance to my room. Mello quickly removed his head from my chest and sat up straight in his chair.

"Shit," we both said, knowing we were in trouble. Stupid adults and their awful timing.

"Good to see you too, boys," Light said as his sauntered into the room. We both waited expectantly for L to be close behind him but he was alone…for now.

"Light!" Mello said pleasantly. "What a…nice surprise."

"You're lucky L didn't just see you two. You know how much he…disapproves of relationships," Light lectured. Was that a hint of bitterness in his tone? Maybe a little resentment, even? I didn't need to be the world's greatest detective to see how much Light wanted to be with L. I assumed that Mello came to the same conclusion because we both shared a look when Light turned his back to look at the framed motivational poster on the wall.

"So…" I said. "What brings you to New York?"

"Well," Light's bored tone answered. "L found out about your little adventures and is, well, furious. He demands that you pack up as soon as you're released from here and come live with us at headquarters where you will be put into protective custody."

Light said these words as if it were the most normal thing in the world. He made it sound like we were just supposed to follow orders like we didn't have a life in New York. Because we were…because it was L and what L says, goes.

"So, where to?" Mello said, sharing another glance at me. Not California, not California, not California.

"California," he answered. We both dropped our heads. "But only for a week. We will obviously be relocating to a less popular place. Oklahoma, maybe? Or Utah. I hear Utah is nice."

Mello and I were about to object to the whole California thing when Light's phone rang. He quickly answered it. Light just listened and then hung up…which could only mean one thing. It was L.

"Change of plans. Michigan it is," he said unenthusiastically. "Tonight. Your release papers will be here shortly and there will be a car waiting for you downstairs by the front door. Get dressed with clothes that will be sent in to you, Matt. And Mello, try to keep your temper in check. We don't need a scene leaving the hospital, do we?" Mello shook his head like a child being scolded by his mother. "Good. Your belongings are already on their way to Michigan so don't think about running. I will see you in Michigan, boys." Light made his way out of the room only to come back three seconds later. "Oh and drop the 'love bird' thing when you get there. L has been especially crabby." And with that, he was gone.

Mello and I let out a long, heavy sigh together. This was going to be quite interesting.