I
let another tear slip as I ran to Nears room. Without caring, I
thrust open his door, only to see him sitting on the floor, playing
with a plain puzzle.
"You're not going too, are you?"
I asked, my voice cracking. I made a attempt to close the door, but
ended up slamming it.
Near just shook his head no and stood
up, walking towards me.
I shakily took a step forward into
Nears outstretched arms. In a strange way, his awkward hug was sort
of comforting. But nothing could help me now.
I wrapped my
arms around Nears scrawny neck and cried silently. Nears thin fingers
were gently placed on the small of my back, as if he was afraid I was
going to break. In that moment, that's what I was thinking, also. I
felt as if i was going to just shatter into a million pieces right
there, in the center of the room, leaving poor Near to dispose of my
jagged remains. I didn't feel real. Reality seemed to be slipping
away from me. Like a bad soap opera. Or maybe that stupid American
Ashton Kutcher was going to jump out and yell "You just got
Punk'd!" then run behind a laughing Mello to escape my fury.
I
pulled away from the hug and met Nears gaze, wiping the tears from my
eyes. (Though, of course, they still kept coming.) It was on a very
rare occasion Near showed his emotions, but I suppose this would have
been one of them. His eyes showed a slight bit of sorrow.
"Mello
told you everything we just were told, right?"
I nodded
my head and sat down on his bed.
"Of course," he
said as he handed me a box of tissues that had been sitting of his
dresser.
As I grabbed a single tissue and balled it
up to wipe away the tears that were coating my face, Nears eyes
focused on his left shoulder. "You got my shoulder soaked..."
he said in his usual monotone voice.
I gave a slight laugh
and sent a soft smile towards him. "Then change. Braniac."
"I was going to..." he mumbled, unbuttoning his
shirt slowly.
"Oh my God, you loser. Don't over think
the fact that I'm a chick. Just friggin' change. Besides, you're
like, eleven. Even if you have hit puberty, you don't have to worry
about me thinking anything, y'know," I said with a grin.
Near
blinked and went back to unbuttoning his shirt (a bit faster) and I
stared at the ceiling.
After a moment of nothing but the
sounds of Near dragging his feet across the floor to get another
shirt, I sighed loudly and grimaced.
"I still can't
believe it, though. I mean, I do, but I don't want it to be true. I
mean, L is dead, and Mello, being the pompous ass that he is, stormed
off and didn't even consider working with you. But..." I lifted
my head up and stared out the window, "that's life, I suppose. I
mean, It's not necessarily natural, I guess, but... It's still real.
Doesn't feel like it, though. Ugh. I'm talking too much,"
I said as tears came back to my eyes.
Near sat next to me
and stared at me intently. "Stop crying. L's death will be
avenged."
I nodded and leaned my head against his
shoulder.
