Chapter 3

"Der Wasserfall"

(The Waterfall)


"Hey, Matt!"

A hurried whisper caught Matt's attention as the boys prepared for classes that morning, and he turned to see Mello standing beside him, tugging his sleeve anxiously.

"Oh, hey – need something?" Matt asked.

The other boy's brilliant blue eyes lit up with excitement. "Why don't we skip classes today? There's something I want to show you." Mello looked around as he said this -most likely- to make sure Emil wasn't watching.

"Skip? Are you serious?!" Matt cried.

"Ja – it's not like the counselors pay any attention anyway." Mello pulled Matt over in the direction of the woods, as the other boys began to go their separate ways to class.

"I don't know..." Matt began uncertainly.

"Come on!" A grin lit up Mello's face. "We'll be back before anyone notices."

Although hesitant, Matt followed the other boy into the woods, though it was more like he was being dragged. The blond practically had his arm in a death grip as he tugged him along through the brush, not saying a word.

"Where are we going?" Matt asked, once they had gone a few minutes in silence.

"You'll see – we're almost there!" Mello began to walk faster, and Matt ducked out of the way of stray tree branches.

Matt had to practically run to even keep up with the blond as he stumbled along behind him. He briefly wondered how far they had gone, or whether they'd ever be able to find their way back.

Just as he began to have these thoughts, Matt suddenly slammed into Mello's back as the other boy came to an abrupt halt. "Ow! What the...?"

"Look!" Mello pointed ahead of him, and Matt followed his gaze, his own eyes widening when he saw it.

Right in front of them was a huge rushing waterfall, flowing over a cliff and down into a small cape enclosed by tall rocks. Just behind the waterfall was the opening to a cave. The drop down to the water was at least twenty feet or more; Matt could feel his stomach lurch at just the thought.

"Wow..." was all Matt could say at this point. The word 'romantic' came to mind, but Matt refused to acknowledge that thought right then.

"Come on!" Mello anxiously pulled Matt over to the edge of the small stone cliff, and immediately began to strip down to his boxers.

"The hell --- ?!" Matt flushed pink more out of seeing Mello half-naked, and less for the fact that the other boy was obviously about to jump off the cliff and into the water.

At the other boy's petrified voice, Mello turned to look at him and laughed. "Come on, jump in too!"

"But --" Matt began.

"It's perfectly safe," Mello assured him, standing back up and tossing his clothes to the side.

Matt stared after him in disbelief. "Are you seriously...?"

"Come on! It's fun!"

Before Matt could say anything, Mello had turned back and jumped off the side.

A few seconds later, a loud splash came from below, and Matt looked anxiously over the side. It took a moment, but Mello came up out of the water, laughing at Matt's horror-stricken expression.

"See! It's safe! Come on, jump in!" he called, swimming over to a strip of land and flinging wet hair out of his eyes.

Matt swallowed the lump in his throat and stood back up, looking over the side with a sickening feeling. He refused to think about the distance of the jump as he stripped down and stood at the edge, his eyes closed.

Taking a deep breath -and holding it- Matt threw all caution to the wind and jumped forward, plunging down through the air at a frightening speed.

He almost felt relieved when the rush of roaring water surrounded him, and he felt something semi-solid beneath his feet. The cold water pierced his skin like daggers, chilling him to the bone and nearly taking his breath away. His lungs screaming for air, Matt kicked his way up to the surface and gulped in the fresh air as though he was a newborn taking its first breath. Immediately afterwards, he felt someone's arms wrap securely around him and pull him towards somewhere that he couldn't see with his eyes closed. When he finally opened them, however, he realized Mello was treading water beside him, and that he had been pulled to a small bank on the shallow end of the creek.

Still panting heavily, Matt sprawled out on the bank and -after taking a few more deep breaths- started laughing.

Mello -who had been hovering over him the entire time- gave a sigh of relief as he realized Matt was okay, and soon began laughing as well. "See? It was fun, wasn't it?"

"Hell yeah...I've never felt like that before!" Matt said, sitting up and grinning. "It was like a high!"

"Ja?" Mello laughed again. "You looked scared half to death."

"I was. But once I hit the water, it wasn't so bad...." Matt shivered slightly, and slipped back into the water to stay warm, though the water was the same temperature – which didn't help. "Jesus...it's freezing!" he exclaimed, just now realizing this fact.

"You'll get used to it." Mello pried Matt's arms from around his body, and took the other boy's hand, pulling him out in the middle of the creek.

"This place is really.... wow..." Matt looked around; everything looked totally different from the bottom of the cliff.

"Ja, I know, right?" Mello gave a satisfied smile. "Much better than classes, ne?"

Matt nodded agreeably. "Much better."

Mello began to swim lazy circles around the other boy, looking up towards the sky as he treaded water on his back. "So, where did you live again?" he asked.

"France," Matt replied. "Paris."

"Hm...I've always wanted to visit there." Mello smiled slightly. "Why'd you move to Germany? If you ask me, there isn't much interesting here."

"Oh..." Matt could feel a small lump rise in his throat. "My...parents died," he said softly. The reluctance of his voice surprised him; he hadn't known that it'd be so hard to talk about it.

"Oh, I'm sorry..." Mello said, ceasing treading the water and looking at Matt; his eyes were sincere in their sympathy. "Really, I had no idea...or I never would have asked."

"It's fine, really." Matt smiled to show that the question hadn't bothered him, though it might have been a little forced.

"So...how did it happen? If you don't mind me asking!" he added quickly.

"No, no – it's fine, I don't mind." Matt took a deep breath. "It was a plane crash. They were on a business trip to America."

"Wow...I heard about that crash a few days ago. I'm really sorry – that must have been awful." Mello's voice sounded concerned.

"It's really okay... You don't need to spend time feeling sorry for me or anything," Matt told him.

"'kay, well...if you ever want to talk about it..." Mello began. "Or anything..."

"Thanks, but I'm alright," Matt replied, giving a shrug. "I'm over it."

"Matt...no one gets over losing their parents like that," Mello said softly.

The other boy was silent for a minute, looking down into the water. "They weren't really around much anyway...so it's not very different," he said quietly.

"Matt...." Mello began, but closed his mouth. Instead, he attempted to change the subject. "Want to check out the cave?"

At this suggestion, Matt's face broke into a smile and he looked back up at the other boy. "Sure! Let's go."

Relieved, Mello started to swim over to the waterfall, Matt following closely beside him. When they reached the opening, the roar of the water was louder than ever, and the two boys had to be careful not to be dragged down by the current.

They slipped in behind the waterfall and sat down in the cave, which was much roomier than they'd imagined. Both boys gazed out through the waterfall, listening to the rush of water above them.

"It's quiet here..." Matt commented, closing his eyes with a contented smile on his face. "It's peaceful."

"Yeah." Mello smiled as well, and hugged his knees to his chest as he sat beside the other boy. "I came out here a lot last summer, when I wanted to get away from everything. It helped me think."

"Thinking is nice," Matt agreed, turning his gaze to the blond beside him. A sudden warmth arose in his face as he realized how close they were, their arms almost touching. Mello's blue eyes shone, even in the semi-darkness, and for a second he looked twice as beautiful as he was, if that was even possible. For a moment, Matt couldn't even register what he was feeling as he looked at the other boy, only that he wanted -very much- to just lean in a little closer, until...

He quickly turned back to the waterfall, his face burning just from his thoughts. Maybe being this close to another boy only reminded him of Alex, and that was why he was feeling so strange. Even though this was what he told himself, Matt knew it wasn't true. Deep down in his heart, he knew it wasn't Alex he wanted to be close to right now. Alex hadn't even entered his mind in the past three days, something that was very rare lately.

Holding his knees to his chest, and resting his chin on his arm, Matt gazed out through the veil of water shielding them from view and felt his vision misting over. "Hey, Mello...?"

"Hm?" the other boy tore his eyes away from the blue scenery to look back at Matt.

"Why'd you bring me out here?" he asked softly, his gaze never wavering from the waterfall.

He heard a low chuckle from beside him. "Do I need a reason?" Mello asked, his voice amused. "I just wanted to."

"Yeah, but wouldn't you rather take Emil, or someone else...?" Matt trailed off.

"Emil is with me practically twenty-four seven. It's nice to spend time with other people, you know. Besides, you're much more fun to be with than him." Mello smiled. "I want to know more about you, is that a good enough reason for asking you to come with me today?"

Matt was quiet, and when he didn't reply, Mello reached over and brushed the hair away from his neck, the small skin contact making Matt shiver. "Is something the matter?" Mello asked, his voice taking on a concerned tone again. "You're really quiet."

Shaking his head, Matt gripped his knees tighter against his chest and fixed his gaze on the stone floor of the cave. Just thinking about what I want to do to you right now...and all but forcing myself not to look at you...

Slightly frustrated with no response from Matt, Mello gently grabbed the other boy's chin and forced Matt to turn his gaze to him. As soon as their eyes met, Matt's glazed over look melted and he stared at Mello with a look similar to a lost puppy. The same look Mello had noticed the other boy giving him on the bus.

Slightly surprised by this expression, Mello's reaction perfectly mimicked Matt's, and for a minute both boys simply stared at each other.

Matt almost did it, almost leaned forward and completed the small gap between their faces, but finally recovered himself enough to pull away. "We should get back to class," he said quickly. "We've been out here a while..." he stood up to go, and Mello followed, reaching for his arm.

"Hey, wait a minute -- !" he began, grabbing Matt's wrist as the other boy tried to walk away.

Startled -as usual- by the physical contact, Matt attempted to pull away, but slipped on the wet floor. He could feel himself falling backwards, and -as Mello had a hold of his arm- felt the other boy falling with him.

"OW!" Matt cried out and winced as his head hit the hard stone surface, and the other boy's weight fell on top of him. The breath knocked out of him, it took a moment for him to register exactly what had happened.

"Ow..." Mello gave a small moan. "That hurt...."

"Not my fault," Matt gasped, attempting to push Mello off of him.

"Ow! Hold on a sec!" the other boy snapped, trying to sit up at the same time Matt was. "Scheiße!"

Giving a sigh, Matt glared up at Mello, who was sitting on top of him, the extra weight not very pleasant. "Nice going, genius," he said sarcastically.

"You're the one who slipped!" Mello retorted.

Matt simply glared and was silent, not wanting to admit how much he liked having the other boy on top of him.

Then, suddenly, the both of them froze. Mello's eyes met with Matt's, and for a moment, they simply stayed like that, wordlessly. Then, as if in some sort of trance, Mello leaned forward – and next thing Matt knew, their lips were touching.

It wasn't that he didn't like it, because he really did. The shock was so great, however, that he barely had time to comprehend anything. His heart skipped a few beats, and when Mello drew back, Matt could feel a deep blush creeping up his face.

The other boy's expression mimicked his. "Uh...I- uh..." He quickly sat up, relieving Matt of the weight that the other boy had all but forgotten in his daze. "I- I'm sorry.... I uh, wasn't thinking...."

"Yeah, same here..." Matt agreed. "So, anywho...you wanna head back up to the cabin now...?" he suggested. "We've probably been out here a good while...."

"'kay...Sorry about falling on you like that, by the way..."

"Don't worry about it." Matt wondered for a fleeting second if Mello had enjoyed their previous position as much as he had, but refused to think about it for longer than that. Mello had never really struck Matt as the type to like other boys... Though his actions just then prodded other assumptions now.

It took them a while to climb back up to the top of the hill, and the two of them were silent the entire time. Matt was slightly grateful for the silence, as it gave him time to think and reflect over what had happened.

When they got to the top of the hill, they wordlessly redressed and began the walk back to camp, staying a careful distance from each other.


-End of Chapter 3-


Author's Notes:

The waterfall scene was inspired by the movie 'Tuck Everlasting'. If you haven't seen the movie, WATCH IT. I don't know what you'd call the waterfall place with the rocks, but I thought it was really pretty, so I decided to put it in here.... Please watch the scene in 'Tuck Everlasting' so that this chapter is ever the more vivid to you!

I know I used the big writing clichés of 'impulsive kiss' and 'person falling suggestively on another person' but surely this should be different as it's two boys...?

The only thing I DON'T like about this chapter is that the same type of cave was in the movie 'Teeth', so when I re-read the part where they're in the cave I have a sick feeling in my stomach... (haha...) (Only those that have seen the movie will understand why...)