Maybe Forgiveness is right where you Fell.
Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here...

The silence dragged on for minutes, hours, no...not hours. But fuck if it didn't feel that way.

By this time, Mello was in his right mind, or more so, he was borderline sane now. His eyes weren't as clouded as they had been earlier. He could reason. No one knew how to ask what Matt knew they much all be dying to ask. How? Yes, that was the question. Everyone wanted to know the 'How' and the 'Why' How had this happened? They had all seen the car wreck months ago. They had all seen him buried. How was it that he could be speaking to them now in this body? Why? Why had it happen to begin with? These sort of things just didn't happen. It was not possible.

Matt simply sat on his side of the large bed. He was not going to speak first. He had died and swam through the fires of Hell to end up right back with them so they owed him at least to speak up first. But it didn't seem as though that would happen and hell, that was fine. As long as they were here. As long as he was here with them, breathing and Mello was only a few feet from him, staring back at him with those icy blue eyes...

"How?"

There it was. After what seemed like an eternity, L had broken the silence. Matt had predicted this, only because L was the no nonsense type. He wouldn t to take this...well, you could say it was a miracle, yes; he would not take this miracle sitting down. He wanted facts. logic and statistics. Fuck if anyone was going to tell him this was all just God's fuckin' miracle. No. That s not how L's mind worked.

Matt licked his lips before his eyes rose to meet L's. "I honestly don't know." The young boy replied. Sighing, he looked down at his lap where his hands were fiddling with the silver crucifix. How indeed? Honestly, it might just be best left alone but...he wanted answers too. As amazing as this was, answers sounded very comforting and inviting. As amazing as this was...it was still unnerving. "But I have a theory."

And at this, everyone seemed to thaw from their various frozen positions. "Theory?" Light finally lowered his hand from his lips and crossed the room to sit at the edge of the bed. "What is it?" Genuine curiosity rang in his voice and it made Matt that much more confident that they finally believed him.

I Dare you to Move.

His eyes moved from Light's, to L's and then finally came to rest on Mello's. The blond had yet to blink it seemed, but he had finally gotten to his feet and was watching Matt expectantly. He had yet to say a word though. Probably, Matt guessed, that it was because the sobered up part of him was catching up to his actions and feeling guilty for earlier actions. Although, there was a flash of something in those deep eyes, something that yearned to touch the young boy once more. Odd as it must sound, they all knew who the boy was, and a part of Mello was kicking the illegal aspect his mind was coming up with in the shins.

Matt understood. He wanted Mello as well. But now was not the time. So, it was with a deep breath that he finally spoke. "I believe that this was all Mello's doing." And the silent shock was booming around him. "Look at it this way," He added, voice small. Suddenly, he didn't feel so confident, but they had asked for his theory and he was going to give it. It was just a theory after all. "lets go back to the night of the accident." Mind you, he had put this theory together only last night. He had laid in Light and L's bed, remembering every detail of that night, looking for clues, for hints that might lead to the answers pertaining his current situation. Only one thing had made sense. Two, actually but the other was still puzzling him a little.

More silence, but it was obvious that all three men were doing exactly as Matt had told them to do. Going back to the night of the accident. They were all brilliant, and it was amazing to watch their minds work. "Right, what do you see?"

"Smoke."

"Blood."

"Cruelty."

Both Light and L had turned to look at Mello as soon as the word had left his lips. Cruelty. Now, this too is something that can be witnessed. Maybe in the way someone kicks a dog when its down, it could be considered cruel, but, what had happened that night to be cruel? His death? Was that what Mello thought to be cruel? Of course. Mello.

"Good. What do you hear?" Matt asked.

"Screeching. The breaks of the cars behind yours."

"Sirens. From the on location team."

"The screams of a world that has stopped moving..."

Once again, all eyes were on Mello. Mello. "My theory," Matt whispered, eyes downcast as he fingered the silver crucifix. "this was something that Mello must have triggered. B-because he's the one that had seen and heard what everyone else had not." A short pause. "Think back one more time, listen to what he says. What he keeps repeating over and over again. I believe it plays a key role in all this." He could simply write this out for them, but then it wouldn't be the same. They had to find it themselves; had to dig deep and find it...or else they would never understand.

I Dare you to Move.

The silence reigned on. Matt was becoming nervous but he kept quiet, though he was unable to bring himself to look anyone in the eye. Merely kept playing with the crucifix, praying that they would find the answer soon. They did.

I Dare you to lift yourself Up off the Floor.

"I challenged God." Mello whispered in a voice so hollow and bleak that it was all Matt could do to keep himself from bounding across the room to embrace him. He let the blond continue. "I challenged him. This isn't a miracle. This is a punishment..." He staggered a little and his face blanched, and for a second it looked as though he might faint, but he braced himself against the dresser behind him and stared back at the young boy that he knew was his dead boyfriend. "He's punishing me because I said you were mine. I said he couldn't have you...I claimed you, Matty. And now he gave you back to me, but...this way. In this...body, to punish me for challenging him." He choked on the last word, tears streaming down his face. "I did this to you."

"That doesn't make sense, Mello." L piped in and was planning on continuing but the blond was shaking his head.

"It doesn't have to make sense to you, L. The punishment is not for you, it s for me. My religion...my God is punishing me." Mello took a step towards the bed, paused and then quickly crossed the distance between himself and Matt and gathered the boy up in his arms, holding him tight against his chest. "I'm so sorry, Matt." He sobbed. "But I'm not going to apologize for doing this to you. I can't." Though, technically he had just apologized, Matt understood well what he meant. "I'm not going to apologize for having you back in my arms."

Matt held him. "You don't have to." He whispered. "Just wake up, Mello." He pulled back to look deep into his tear filled eyes. "Wake up."

Confused, the blond looked to L and Light, but they were no longer there. They had simply vanished from the room, though Mello was sure they had been there not two seconds ago. He would have heard the door open if they had left, which, he doubt they would have. They wouldn t leave Matt alone with him this way. "What?..." He whispered and looked back to Matt. "I am awake, Matty."

"No you're not. Wake up, Mells."

I Dare you to Move...

- -

Sunlight was pouring in through the curtains and spilling over him. He groaned as he forced himself onto his side to avoid having to open his eyes to the full force of the sun. "Hmm?" He blinked and was met with a familiar grin, and bright green eyes. "Matt?" At this, the blond sat bolt upright in bed, the sheets were tangled around his body, almost as if he had been wrestling with them in his sleep, and he could feel the thin layer of sweat that covered him. "What?"

The redhead laughed and reached out to touch Mello's forehead. "I think you're getting sick, Mells. Were you having a nightmare? It must have been pretty damn scary...you kept screaming." The grin was gone and his hand fell away from the blond s forehead, but Mello quickly took it, holding it tightly between both of his own. "You were screaming my name and crying and I couldn't wake you up." Matt licked his lips. "You were scaring me. What were you seeing?"

Reality came down hard on his shoulders, and for a second he was breathless. It was a good dose of reality. It had been nothing more than a nightmare? But it had felt so real. Everything...the high of the drugs, the sex, the emotional pain. Everything had felt real enough to the touch. How could it have simply been a nightmare? Was his mind really that twisted? Whatever the reason, tears were welling up in his eyes and he was pulling Matt against him tightly, crying into his gorgeous dyed red hair, feeling his smooth skin against his own. He wasn't a child. Matt wasn't dead...and he wasn't a child. God wasn't punishing him...And as he reached up to grip his rosary, he found that it was hanging there along with his crucifix. It had all just been a nightmare.

"Mello?" Matt cooed, pulling back to brush blond hair from his face. "Why are you crying? You're scaring me, Mells. Talk to me."

"It was just a nightmare, Matty." He replied through his tears. A smile was slowly beginning to form on his lips. "It was just a nightmare..." He paused to place a soft, meaningful kiss to the redheads lips. When he pulled away, he placed another to Matt's forehead.

"Lets just pretend like today never happened."

Today Never Happened Before...

A/N: Done. I said it was short, right? Self explanatory. I have mixed feelings about this Fic. Because two weeks after I decided to continue it, two weeks before I decided to even write this, I never would have thought I'd end up losing someone the way Mello does here. I lost my dad to a heart attack three months ago, and yet it feels like so much longer. I don't know...it feels strange that I was tempted to write something like this before it happened. And I just really wish that I could say "Today never happened" but I can't. In short, I'll dedicate this to my dad. For supporting my love of gay boys and their happy endings. I'll shut up, now. Thanks for sticking with this story for as long as you did. Review?

~ Matt.