第３話
"Night"
.:.10 YEARS.:.
After three years of knowing Mello, being as close to him as possible, and spending the night at his house almost every night, there was one thing Matt had never realized: Mello was afraid of the dark.
Sure the television was on every time they went to sleep, but they had usually been watching it. Matt had never thought of its use being a night-light. Then again, Matt was the one Mello forced to venture down into the dark depths of the kitchen for snacks every night; but Matt had chalked that up to being lazy.
The night the power went out, Matt realized this fear for the first time.
When he came back into Mello's bedroom, he saw the other boy sitting in the window seat, fully cloaked by the moonlight. Matt went over and sat beside him, handing the other boy a handful of chips. "I nearly tripped down the stairs when the lights suddenly went out."
"Yeah, it's the storm," Mello replied, shivering a little. He didn't like storms, either, Matt later found out.
When they finished the snacks, Matt yawned. "I'm tired. Since we can't watch TV, why don't we go on to bed?"
"Um, sure..." Mello said, but didn't move when the other boy stood up and went over to the bed.
"Hey, aren't you coming?"
"I think I'll sleep on the window seat tonight," Mello replied.
"Are you crazy? Why would you want to do that?" Matt asked, bemused.
Mello shrugged in a nonchalant sort of way. "I like seeing the sky."
Matt sighed and walked over to the other boy, sitting down beside him again. "What's the matter? Is something wrong?"
"No..."
"Mello, you can tell me."
"I...just don't like the dark," he said.
Matt stared at him for minute, and then laughed – which was probably not a very nice thing to do. "You're afraid of the dark?" he said in disbelief. "Since when?"
"Since there ever was such a thing, stupid!" Mello replied hotly.
"Sorry, but I never knew this. Are you seriously going to sleep on the window seat?"
"Sure, why not?" Mello shrugged. "It's light over here."
Matt sighed. "Mello, come on. Nothing's going to happen – it's just dark."
"Haven't you ever seen the horror movies?"
"Those are only movies."
"Yeah, but it could happen."
"Mello...you won't get any sleep over here."
"So, sure I will."
"You know, lightening could strike the window any minute. Then you'd be fried to bits. What do you say to that?" Matt teased.
"You're lying. Stop trying to scare me," Mello said, his voice shaking a little.
"What are you so afraid of the dark for?"
"You can't see anything. There's no telling what could be anywhere. It's creepy..."
"You're only scaring yourself by thinking of what could be in the dark. There really isn't anything there," Matt assured him. "Come on. I'm tired, and I'm not letting you sleep on the window-seat." He reached for Mello's arm, but the other boy jerked it away.
"No way!"
"Mello, please. It'll be fine – I'll be right next to you."
The other boy gave a small whimper-like moan and buried his face in his arms. Matt put a comforting arm around his friend's shoulders. "I promise it won't be as scary as you think. Just come lie down, alright?" he said in a soothing voice, stroking Mello's hair. By now, it had grown out to the other boy's shoulders.
Mello raised his head slightly and looked up at Matt. "You promise you won't scare me?"
"Of course I won't," Matt assured him. "Now come on."
Reluctantly, Mello stood up and followed Matt to the bed, clutching the other boy's arm as tightly as humanly possible.
They both got under the covers, Mello moving as close to Matt as he could.
Matt put his arm around the other boy and stroked his hair, trying to soothe him to sleep. At every little noise, Mello would jump up in bed. "What was that?!" he cried.
"It was just thunder," Matt assured Mello, pulling him gently back down beside him, and wrapping him tightly in his arms. He took the other boy's hand and gave it a small squeeze. "You're fine. I'm right here."
Mello was still restless. Matt could hear him whimper slightly, and jump at every crackle of thunder.
"What's that!?" Mello cried, jumping up once more in bed, and pointing to the corner. "I saw something there!"
"There's nothing there," Matt replied.
"I saw it!" Mello repeated; he was crying.
"Sh..." Matt sat up and took Mello into his lap. The other boy wrapped his arms around him and whimpered into his shirt, shaking. "You're alright, Mello," he said gently, running his fingers through his friend's hair. "I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."
A soft whimper was his reply.
"There's nothing in here that can hurt you," Matt whispered. "I won't let it." He began to rock slowly back and forth. "Nothing in the dark can hurt you, Mello. I promise. As long as I'm here, you'll be alright."
Mello quieted slightly as Matt spoke, and relaxed in the other boy's arms.
"I'll always protect you," Matt whispered. "I promise. I'll never let anything hurt you."
Comforted by Matt's words, Mello was soon fast asleep.
After that night, Mello was no longer terrified of the dark. Any time he was frightened, he thought of Matt, and that was enough to ease his mind and soothe him to sleep.
第３話 － 終
Author's Notes:
The way Matt holds Mello at the end is similar to how he comforted him in Chapter 2 of "SECRETS". This is what Mello means when he says, "Remember what you used to do for me when we were kids?"
I think this scene is sweet :)
I wish I had someone to do that for me...even though I'm not afraid of the dark.
I love MattXMello :)
I was going to make them younger in this scene, but every time I do a scene when they're little kids, I make them talk too grown-up. I try and think of my friend's eight-year old brothers when I write scenes from Mello and Matt's childhood...but I could never picture them talking to any of their friends like Matt and Mello talk to each other. They're way too immature, but maybe that's just them. I'm sure there are some eight-year olds who care more about each other. But anyway, that's the reason I made Matt and Mello a little older for this scene.
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