Miko: Hey! Not bad time for making a new chapter, huh? I've been trying to write this since I finished the last chapter, but I couldn't get it to sound right. For this chapter and the next(aka the last) I will have one part from Matt's POV and the next from Mello's.
Also, I have an idea for an AU story with these two that will include Matt punching Mello in the face, one of them becoming a rockstar, and murder. Would anyone be interested in reading it? I won't start until I finish Flashes.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
The Plan
Matt's POV
When the blonde finished talking, Matt stood in a daze. His brain couldn't seem to comprehend the words he had just heard, and a slack expression filled his face. He mumbled something about leaving before grabbing his jacket and a pack of cigarettes and nearly sprinting to the door. The blonde may have shouted something after him, but Matt wasn't able to distinguish words.
Once out of the hotel, he broke all pretenses at feeling normal and took off at a sprint. Even going on his tenth year as a chain smoker he could run a fair distance. When he finally stopped, panting and exhausted to the core, he was able to process the conversation he had just had.
"Do you remember when I asked what you would say if I wanted you to die?" Matt nearly laughed, but Mello's face was totally serious. He made a conscious effort to appear as though he was trying to remember the conversation, though in truth he could recall every word the blonde had spoken to him since they were children.
"I'd ask you how." He whispered, surprised at how weak his own voice sounded.
"Did you mean it?" He had to catch his breath as Mello leaned closer to him, eyes locked. Matt cleared his throat, not wanting to sound weak or unsure of himself when he answered.
"Of course, Mello." He said, satisfied with his voice. "I meant every word." The blonde leaned back and bit his lip before reaching for a bar of chocolate sitting open on the table beside them. Matt waited for Mello to snap a bite off and have time to finish chewing before expecting an answer.
"Then Matt, I need you to help me with something." The blonde's eyes shifted away from Matt's. Not wishing to break Mello's tenuous concentration, the red head said nothing, content to look at Mello's face without the harsh glare he usually received. Suddenly, he was all too aware of how the sun filtered in through the window, illuminating the smooth half of the blonde's face while casting the burnt part in the shadows. Matt was so consumed with the beauty of the man sitting before him, that it wasn't until Mello's eyes flickered towards him and the blonde's face contorted in anger that he hadn't been listening.
"Did you hear a word I just said?" Mello asked, eyes flashing.
"No." Matt said, letting a sigh escape his lips as the blonde's head turned and the illusion was shattered.
"Fine. Just pay attention this time." Matt just nodded and listened to Mello in stunned silence. After the first sentence Matt wanted nothing more then for the blonde to laugh and call it all off as a joke, then toss an insult at the red head for believing something so stupid. But Mello continued on, apparently oblivious to Matt's growing horror. Finally, Matt couldn't sit still any longer so he stood up and began pacing, head always tilted towards the blonde's toneless voice.
Matt hadn't been able to give any reply to the end of Mello's plan, so he had left. Now he was standing in the middle of some park, totally alone. Even with the trees surrounding him, Matt felt as if the walls were closing in on him, threatening to squeeze out every ounce of sanity his possessed.
Calm. He thought. I need to be calm. He focused on his breathing, slowing it down enough so he was no longer gasping for air like a fish out of water. With the slowing of his breath, the sobs he hadn't realized he had been emitting also slowed. Mello just asked me to walk towards death with my eyes open. Why does that upset me?
The red head knew that one day Mello would be the death of them both, but it had never bothered him before. Even now, the thought of facing certain death did not bother Matt. He had come to terms with death as a child watching his mother kill his father and then herself. He courted death himself with every cigarette he lit. Then he realized the cause of the problem. Mello.
Never before had Matt realized that Mello would die one day. To his mind, Mello was invincible. Mello was the one constant in Matt's world of constantly altering values. But the plan Mello had just spouted involved certain death for himself, while only a high probability for Matt. What if –
Matt couldn't even follow that train of thought. There was no chance he could survive loosing Mello again. Once had nearly torn him apart at the seams, and the only stitching holding him together was the hope that one day they would be reunited. Matt would literally die from heart ache, not from heart attack from the all-knowing god Kira, but from the pure agony of existing in a world without Mello.
Of course Matt couldn't tell Mello that. The blonde had never understood the illogical emotions that Matt was prone to. Mello, Matt knew, could live in the world alone. Mello was strong enough to forge on, to make a life for himself. So that was that. Matt would take Mello's place when they carried out their plan. For now, Matt wouldn't let on a hint that anything was wrong. He would force himself to walk back into the hotel and set up for his surveillance of Misa Amane without a whisper of complaint. Matt could do that much. He had to.
Mello's POV
When Matt slammed the door shut, Mello allowed himself to stand. He couldn't help the surge of anger directed at the red head, but he quickly quelled it. Who wouldn't deserve to be angry after being told they needed to die? Mello had sat in the hotel room for two days trying to come up with some alternate solution that would force Kira, or the second L if everything was as Near suspected, to tip his hand.
Mello had left out Nears involvement in the plan when he spoke to Matt. As much as Mello hated Near, if hate was indeed strong enough to encompass Mello's feelings towards the albino, he had come to realize that they would have to work together to find Kira. The man was clearly just as cunning as L had been, and Mello had never met anyone who could play at L's level.
Mello couldn't help but secretly hope that Matt would refuse to help. If the gamer wouldn't lend his support, the entire plan would fall apart and they would both be spared a painful but necessary death. He knew he had no right to ask Matt to die, but he also knew there was no other choice. He regretted bringing the red head into this twisted game at all. If only Matt had known what was good for him and had stayed in England safe at Whammy's.
Even as he wished it, Mello felt a stab of pain. He relied on Matt so much more then he would ever let on. He had always considered Matt the one constant person in his life. Matt was the only person who ever took the time to understand that the hostility he projected at the world wasn't to be cruel, but to hide the weakness inside. Not that Mello would admit that even to the blonde.
After almost an hour, Mello began to worry that Matt had simply left and would not come back but the sound of the door opening dispelled that fear. When Mello looked at the red head, he saw beads of perspiration rolling down his forehead. The boy's eyes were red, as if he had been crying. But his lips were set in a thin line of determination. Mello knew the words before they were spoken.
"I'll help you." Unable to control himself, Mello strode towards the younger boy. He knew his eyes must look as haunted as Matt's, so he quickly rearranged his features into the haughty mask that had become so natural.
"It's about time you made up your mind." He said quirking one corner of his mouth. Matt smiled back, but it was forced and only flashed across his features for a second before the calm mask returned.
"I never had a choice." The words enraged Mello. He did not want Matt to be forced into anything. He needed the red head to see that there was always a choice. Before he could get any words out, however, Matt's lips were pressed to his and the gamer's hands were wrapped around his head. As quickly as it started, Matt pulled apart, a glint in his eye.
"Oh no you don't." Mello growled, pouncing on the younger boy and pulling him towards the bed.
