AUTHOR NOTES: So here it is 2 AM. I was trying to sleep, but inspiration struck me. And with that inspiration, I just had to get the laptop out and get this down. I'm quite fond of this one. It shows Near as something other than completely apathetic. It also shows that Matt isn't Mello's lap dog, as he has a friendship with Near. That's all this one is. A friendship, although if you ship that pairing (I don't on a romantic level), you could see it either way. And Matt has one of those slide-on game lights. I'm so used to my DS, I forgot what GBCs were like. XD

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Death Note. A My brain would have exploded trying to write it. XD

Without further ado, I give you the second one-shot to the series. Enjoy, and leave me some reviews please.


The Whammy House had gone silent and dark. All the children had been silenced and put to sleep, while all the lights had been extinguished. It was bed time at the orphanage, for tomorrow held more testing. And more testing meant that each orphan needed to get plenty of sleep. Of course, not every orphan was sleeping.

One orphan in particular who was not sleeping was the troublemaker known as Matt. The auburn haired boy was sitting up on his bed, the blanket tossed completely over him, playing an old Game Boy Color. The sound of crashing buttons and the faint sound of the game's music (Pokemon music to be exact) filled the room. The small light from Matt's Game Boy's add-on could barely be seen from the midst of the blanket. It was well past his bed time. Two or three in the morning by now, he had figured, only he couldn't quite sleep. He had vowed to beat the game before he went to sleep. It was too far into the game to go to sleep now. Mentally doing the math, the boy assumed he had been playing for approximately twelve hours and twenty three minutes. A quick glance at his wrist watch confirmed his assumptions.

As far as he knew, he was the only one awake. That was until he heard the sounds of struggling and blankets rustling coming from the other side of the bed room. Curiously, Matt peered his head out from under the blanket, briefly shining his Game Boy's light in the direction of the sounds, although the light was barely strong enough to shine to the other side of the room.

On the other side of the room, a small boy with white hair and white pajamas had shot up, looking around the room as though something was going to appear from the darkest corner of the room and attack him. It was Near just waking up from what appeared to be a very violent nightmare. The small boy was panting and shaking from the terror. The brief glimpse of him that Matt could see from the light was enough to tell him that the younger male was in distress. Pushing the blanket off his body, Matt rose from his own bed and made his way across the room, using his paused Game Boy as a flash light. He shined the light down on Near, and for the first time, he caught a glimpse of the true terror that filled the smaller orphan's coal colored eyes.

Near stared up at him for a moment, terrified at first, trying his hardest to figure out if he was awake or asleep. Matt looked back, unsure of what to do. He had his own share of nightmares, but he had never been on the other end of one. He ran his fingers through his hair and tried to remember what Mello had done when he had been awakened by one Matt's own nightmares.

"Near, it's Matt," the boy finally said, trying his best to act how Mello had the first time he had helped Matt with a nightmare, "Are you okay?"

Near continued to stare at him with those terrified eyes until he finally replied with, "It was just a bad dream." His voice, usually full of apathy, shook as he spoke. The white haired male brought his knees towards his chest and hugged them as if he were trying to curl into himself and escape the world.

Matt was unsure of what he was to do. He could leave Near there. Let the boy go back to sleep on his own. That's what Mello would have done, but Matt wasn't like Mello. Mello rarely had nightmares. Matt had more than his fair share of them, and he knew firsthand what Near was going through. With that in mind, he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Near close, hugging the boy tightly.

"It was just a dream," he stated, setting the Game Boy on the bed with his free hand, allowing it to illuminate the bed, before wrapping that arm back around the smaller boy. For the first time, he felt Near shaking. It was an unnerving concept in itself, to see Near, the one who never seemed phased by anything, so paranoid and so broken. What unnerved Matt more was just how tightly Near had clung to him, holding the older boy as though he were some form of lifeline. At that moment, Matt was afraid to move, afraid that if he did, the smaller boy would crumble before his very eyes.

"It was just a dream," he repeated.

Near managed a small nod, burying his face into the crook of Matt's neck, something Matt remembered doing to Mello so many times before. He lost himself in his own memories until Near's voice brought him back to reality. "Matt, do me a favor?"

Matt glanced down at the boy, raising an eyebrow slightly, though his expression could not be seen. "What is that?"

"Stay here until I go to sleep."

Matt nodded in reply, "One on condition."

"What's that?"

"Mello never finds out about this, got it?"

It was Near's turn to nod. And with that, the pair had their own secret. And should Near ever have another nightmare, he knew he could depend on Matt. Because even if Mello hated him, he always had a friend in Matt, and that was something that Near would secretly cherish for the rest of his life.