Show Me Love


"You hate me for saving you from doing something stupid?" Matt asked, importunely.

Mello groaned. "Well, you didn't have to kiss me! I could taste those goddamn cigarettes the entire time! I-I'll tell Roger you're a child molester!"

Matt raised an eyebrow, noting, "You're older than me."

The argument didn't last long and soon Mello had given up, but the words he had said left their relationship tainted. The words had slipped from his lips, merely an accident, but it couldn't be taken back. There was a wall between them that both of them felt, though they laughed themselves to sleep that night. As strange as it may have seemed…

-

Mello woke up in Matt's bed. He cursed silently, his cheeks flushing, and jumped out of the bed. The fact that he woke there was no importance to him, but the reason why was of all the importance in the world. It frightened Mello to wake up there, his body inches away from Matt's. It was his roommate, for Christ's sake! And it was his best friend. He'd woken in Matt's bed many times before, but never did he wake there without a reason. One night, when Mello was sick, Matt lay there with him until the sickness was gone. When Matt caught it, Mello did the same to repay him.

Mello dressed and watched Matt eagerly until he rose from his sleep.

"Good morning."

Matt, who had just woken up, had not noticed that Mello had been in his bed and yawned, "Morning…"

The two of them walked to their first class together, and, as awkward as it seemed, they looked like a couple. After class, the lists were up again. The same name hung at the top of the list, barely above Mello's, reading Near. Mello glared at the small albino and clenched his fists, ready to hit the boy. The same routine was used, and Matt had to hold Mello back with all his strength. He had to comfort Mello with everything he had.

Mello bit his lip, frowned at Matt and murmured, "I'll be back," before trudging down the long hallway to the bathrooms. Once inside, he checked his appearance in the mirror. His eyes were red, as were his cheeks, but his knuckles were a pale white from tightening his grip. He lifted the black cloth covering his wrist and took out the needle he'd kept on his shirt tag. He pressed it deep into his skin and waited for the small beads of red to emerge from his skin. Since when had he cut himself? Mello wasn't sure. He let the cotton fall back over his wrists and watched the rubies sink into the black cotton.

"Mello!" came an echo through the entire bathroom.

Mello locked himself in a stall and waited for the person to leave before emerging again. He wanted to yell or scream. He wanted to be heard, but, out of fear took out a piece of chocolate to calm himself. Swallowing was the hardest part, but he did and sauntered back to his room. Something was missing when he returned, and that something was Matt. He must have been searching for Mello, who'd been gone longer that he'd planned. But Mello yelled out his name, choking, and wondering if Matt could hear a single word.

-

Matt watched a last bit of snow fall from the evergreen tree just beyond the gate. The only tree that still kept its leaves. And there was Matt, the only child at Wammy's orphanage who still kept his sanity. He sat, staring into his knees which were pressed to his chest, watching cigarette smoke fade to nothing. He knew he'd be killed by Mello had he been caught smoking, but Mello was nowhere to be found. He choked on his own smoke just thinking about Mello.

Matt heard either the crunch of the leaves as Mello walked toward him, or he'd heard the crunch of a chocolate bar between Mello's teeth. From what he could tell, it had been both. Mello's skin no longer looked red and rough, but pale as the snow from the evergreen tree, and probably just as soft. Mello wore his tight coat with the hood shielding his face, which probably meant his skin was just as cold.

"I've never seen you outside before," Mello said, his eyes darting around the grounds.

"I come out here all the time," Matt replied, breathing out a cloud of smoke.

"Didn't I," Mello said, sitting next to Matt, "tell you not to," and took the cigarette from his grip, "-not to smoke anymore?" Without a care in the world, Mello pressed his cold lips to Matt's. And then, as though summer had come too fast, all the cold was taken from the world.


A/N: I apologize that it turned out so short. I have a bad case of writer's block tonight. It only took five hours to write this. xP