Chapter 4: Condemned

Matt jumped in his spot when he heard the door open and then slam behind his infuriated roommate. Oh, great. He hadn't expected things to go over well with Roger, but he also hadn't expected Mello to come back this angry. What had gone wrong?

"Mel?" He attempted in a soft tone. But Mello went straight for his desk, extracting a bar of chocolate and biting into it viciously. Matt watched as he took in a deep breath, slowly letting it out and probably trying to count to ten forward, backward, and sideways in his mind. Matt paused his game as Mello moved to sit on his own bed, staring at a spot on his comforter as he idly nibbled his chocolate. He supposed he should just enjoy the moments of silence while he had them, but Mello being this quiet made him a little concerned. He sighed and placed his game down before moving to sit in front of his friend on his bed.

"Mello. What happened?" Ah, a response. Mello looked up at him, his icy hues hard with anger and a frown set upon his lips.

"Roger's changing my room," he growled, "and putting me in Near's." His bright eyes were sharp as he watched Matt, his expression one of utter fury.

Matt's eyebrows rose in surprise. Roger would go that far just to make Mello study better? Study with Near? Matt, to be honest, didn't like it much himself. For one, now he'd either have the room to himself or worse... get a new roommate. Matt frowned at the thought but sighed and gave a shrug, tying to pull himself together for his friend. "Well... maybe it won't be so bad, Mel-"

Mello's eyes shot back up to Matt and his own brows rose as if daring him to repeat that. "Excuse you? Might not be so bad? Matt, I'm getting stuck with fucking Near! It's going to be fucking hell! Now I have to live with the fucking little prick!"

"Well, maybe if you comply and study and get a better grade to show for it, then maybe Roger will put you back here?" Hopefully he would, anyway. Matt really didn't feel like getting to know any of the other kids there, and he wasn't fond of the idea of losing his only friend to a different room.

Mello scoffed, shaking his head with a roll of his eyes. "Yeah, right. They probably think it'd be beneficial to have the top two getting along or some bullshit like that." He frowned, taking a deep breath and another angry bite of chocolate.

Matt sighed, glancing around their room as he raked his fingers through his bright messy hair. He knew he wasn't much in the way of comfort, and he just felt awkward sitting there trying to coax Mello out of his flaring temper. But how could he really be of any use when he was growing angry himself? Why did it always have to be the top Two, anyway? Why couldn't it at least be the top Three? Then they could all share a room, and Mello wouldn't have to be so upset about it because at least Matt would be there with him. He clenched his teeth, frowning as he hesitantly placed a hand over Mello's.

The blond's gaze softened when he looked up to his friend. The gesture was comforting, and he found himself giving a slight smile when Matt squeezed his hand. He knew Matt wasn't great with words and expression, so this was more than significant for him. Mello sighed, licking his lips free of chocolate before speaking softly.

"Thank you, Matt. I don't know what I'll do without you in there to keep me sane. I'll probably strangle him on the first night." He chuckled softly, shaking his head. "At least it's not like we can't still hang out. I should just sneak back in here at night."

Matt scoffed a bit. "Tch. You can't do that, Mel. You know they'd notice. You'd get in trouble."

"Ask me if I give a shit, Matt." He groaned, and leaned forward to rest his head upon the other boy's shoulder. He made himself comfortable there, closing his eyes. He would find some way around spending too much time with Near.

Matt blinked, sitting still for a moment when his friend moved to rest against him so casually. Sure, they were used to rough-housing and wrestling and being physical with eachother in general, but this felt different somehow. Matt licked his lips and sighed, finally moving a hand to rub Mello's back in small circles. "Mello, aren't you being just a little ridiculous about all this?" He asked, peeking down at his friend who was nearly snuggling against him. After saying that, however, Matt wondered if he might not have worded that too well. Mello became still, and a silence fell between them for a moment.

"About what?" Mello asked slowly, carefully. It was a tone that made Matt tense a little. It was as if there were little warning alarms blaring in his mind. Mello's tone sounded a bit dangerous. But Mello never really lost his temper with Matt, so he should be fine...

"About this whole thing with Near." He ventured, trying to sound casual even though he was sure he was stepping into a minefield. "I mean, all you have to do is sleep in there and study with him. You don't really have to interact much otherwise."

Now Mello pulled back from him, sitting up to look him in the eyes. "Matt. Living with him means I will be annoyed every moment I'm in there. I'll have to breathe in his scent at night and look at him in the morning, and before I go to bed. And I have to spend time with him in the evenings to study, and hear his voice more than I already have to-"

"Mel, he barely speaks."

"And it already annoys me this much, Matt, now I'm gonna have to deal with him talking directly to me, for hours. Every day."

"Mello, you are overreacting."

Mello's chest heaved and he shoved at his friend, pushing him away as he moved to stand from his bed. "You think I'm overreacting, Matt? Wait until you find someone you hate with a fucking firey burning passion. When you find someone that you hate as much as I hate Near, then you can tell me if I'm overreacting. When you get forced into something like this, then tell me I'm being ridiculous. Until then, I don't need your fucking comfort anymore, Matt. It's useless."

With that, he turned and stormed from the room again, leaving a stunned and angry Matt sitting upon his bed.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Near sighed as he returned to his room from the office. He'd just been told that Mello would be moving into his room that evening, and that they were to study together from now on. Truth be told, he could care less one way or another about the whole Number One thing. He just did as he was told, did the work he was assigned, and it just happened to be superior to the others. It wasn't his fault he was so smart. And for that reason, he couldn't understand why Mello would blame him for something so silly. It wasn't like he was going out of his way to beat Mello in all of his efforts.

He entered his room to find that things were going a little faster than he'd expected. There was already a bed for Mello placed in his room, and another desk. He gave a deep sigh, letting the momentary aggravation pass through him as he headed to his toy box on the far side of the room. He didn't mind having to acquire a roommate. And it was nice to be warned ahead of time. But having it be done nearly instantly was annoying. He would deal with it, however. It wouldn't be too terrible. Maybe this way, he'd finally be able to learn a bit more about Mello. The boy was like a mystery to solve all in his own, and Near was interested to learn a bit more about him.

He set out two doll beds before him, and placed a doll on each bed. Roommates. Such a binding term. As roommates, they would be confined to this room together in the mornings and evenings, and forced to spend time with eachother whether they liked it or not. And he was more than sure that Mello would not like it in the least. Having observed Mello interacting with others, he knew the boy was more than capable of socializing. It was a skill Near knew he himself lacked, so he could only hope that Mello would be the one to initialize conversation and such.

With a slight frown, he put the dolls and doll beds away. With the sort of behavior Mello typically exhibited around him, he was pretty sure Mello wouldn't make an effort to initialize any sort of contact. His coal eyes dark and hard, he threw one of the dolls hard against the wall.

Yes, he wanted to learn about Mello. Roommates? ...No. Not like this.