An hour later, I had my French essay completely finished. I yawned, celebrating my small victory, before glancing over in Winchester and Mello's direction.

Winchester had his head resting on his front paws, which were crossed just under his chin. He glanced at me and his ear tip twitched slightly.

Mello was sound asleep once more, curled on his side with his cheek resting against Winchester's back.

I bit my lip thoughtfully. It was true he had to be home by eight, but... Shit, I didn't want him to get in trouble for being late; but I didn't have the heart to disturb him either with how little sleep he seemed to be getting lately. I grabbed his notes, pulling them towards me as I opened my laptop and brought up his half finished site. It wasn't cheating, after all. He'd already done the work, it was just putting everything together. At least this way he could get more sleep.

Five minutes later, I had everything sufficiently set up on the site. I held myself back from going completely graphic with a shitload of animations as I usually did. This was supposed to look like Mello had put it together, after all. And, given he could barely master basic HTML codes, it would have been a dead give away that the project wasn't his if there was something that advanced present.

The blond mumbled something in his sleep and then sat up suddenly, breathing hard, his eyes wild.

"What's wrong?" I swear I'd heard B's name in those mumblings, but I pushed that thought away. It didn't matter anyway.

"Wha' time is it?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes, his voice slurred slightly from sleep.

"It's about quarter till eight," I answered, saving the progress on the site and shutting everything down. "You will make it home in time, right?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah," Mello mumbled, trying to stifle a yawn. "I don't live that far away, actually..." He started gathering his notes together, slipping them into some semblance of order before shoving them into his notebook.

"Really? You never mentioned that," I said.

"Oh, I didn't? Sorry. But I do; I live...Here." He tugged a blank sheet of notebook paper out, scribbled something down on it and shoved it into my hands. "There's my address. I gotta go, okay?"

"Thanks. Yeah, sure. I'll walk you out."

OoOo

The rest of the week went by smoothly. It fell into a practical rhythm. School, spend time with Mello, work. It almost became ritual; a good ritual though.

We passed our projects even. I'd pulled one of the highest scores I'd ever made in Henderson's class with my paper; Mello managed to scrape a very high B. It wasn't the best, but it was a pretty good improvement considering his previous assignments had barely scraped C's. He just honestly sucked with computers. I'd have to find a remedy to that.

Which brought us to where we were on a Wednesday afternoon, two weeks after we'd met. I was pretending to be semi-interested in what two girls were blathering on about in French. (They were supposed to be practicing. I thought they were simply using it as an excuse to go on about their love lives.) I jumped when my phone vibrated suddenly. I glanced toward Madam Amadieu's desk.

She was focused on the two idiots' pronunciation.

Good. I probably wouldn't get in much trouble either way because she loved me so much, but it would still be easier if she was distracted. I flipped my phone open.

Mattie?

Yeah, Mels, what's up? I texted back. I glanced up from my phone.

Madam Amadieu was still focused on the two girls.

I glanced back down when my phone vibrated again.

Can u meet me somewhere? Plz?

I sighed. I got a bad feeling from him asking that, especially with his use of text talk. Mello was practically a fucking grammar Nazi even when texting.

Yeah, sure. Just lemme come up with an excuse. Where u wanna meet? I responded.

The roof.

Great. I flipped my phone shut and shoved it into my pocket before raising my hand.

"Oui, Matt?" Madam Amadieu asked.
"Puis-jeutiliser les toilettes?"
"Oui, vous pouvez. Essayez d'être de retour bientôt, s'il vous plaît." She let her attention drift back to the girls before she motioned for them to continue.
"Oui, madame," I responded, before getting up and slipping out the room.

I barely made it onto the rooftop before I found myself on the ground with my best friend practically on my lap with his head resting against my chest who was in the process of breaking down worse than I'd ever seen. "Jesus Christ, Mels," I muttered, glad he hadn't managed to knock my head against the bricks. "What's wrong?" I said softly, trying to gently pry his hands away from his face. "Don't pull away from me; tell me what's bothering you."

He flung his arms around my neck and buried his face against my shoulder, still crying hard.

I sighed quietly, closing my eyes. I wound my arms gently around him, pulling him just a little closer. "Will you please tell me what's wrong?" I murmured.

The blond swallowed hard, pulling back but keeping his arms wrapped loosely around my neck. "My dad's gonna kill me..."

"How so?" I whispered, reaching up and wiping his tears away gently, though they kept falling despite my efforts.

"Coz. They called me to the office just a little while ago. And Negron informed my dad that even with the grade on that project, it would take a miracle for me to make an A in the class..."

"C'mon, the lowest you would make then is a B. That's not too bad," I insisted.

"If you're not first, you're last," Mello mumbled dejectedly, drying his eyes and climbing off of my legs. "That's what Dad always says. He's gonna kill me."

"For a B? That's the most fucked up thing I've heard. 'Sides," I said, grinning. "I can help you, you know, silly."

"But it'll take a miracle to-"

"Oh, shush. Pessimist," I chuckled, playfully flicking his nose. "Your best friend's a techie and you don't think that's miracle enough to pull an A in a basic Computer Programming class, even if you've barely been passing before? Have you that little faith in me?"

"No, of course not," he insisted. "I have faith in you; I'm just trying to be a realist, here."

"Well, stop. I'll help you, alright? You don't have to worry about losing your perfect A average. I'll make sure of it," I said gently.

"Okay," he said, sniffling quietly. "I'm sorry I tackled you and blew this so far out of proportion. Crying like I did..."

Rolling my eyes, I pulled him in a hug so tight he squeaked quietly. "It's alright. You don't have to worry about it. You're my best friend, okay? The best way I can repay that is to be everything I can for you. So stop apologizing coz there's nothing to apologize for." I loosened my embrace, but he didn't move away. "Don't worry. I won't let your dad kill you."

Mello smiled. "Thanks, Matt. But...and be honest please, I don't bother you when I get this emotional? I'm worse than a fucking girl sometimes..."

I snorted. "It doesn't bother me at all. It's just something I over look coz you're my friend, and that's just the way you are."

He frowned slightly. "From anyone else, that answer would piss me off..."

I laughed. "I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment, or protect my face," I said.

"It was meant as a compliment, idiot."

I stuck my tongue out at him playfully and ducked a purposely un-aimed swing. "Haha! You missed me!" I taunted.

"Oh, I'll 'miss you' alright," Mello laughed, as he lunged after me.

I jumped to my feet, barely missing his outstretched arms and causing him to stumble to his feet, before taking off to the other side of the roof and darting behind the Ag greenhouse.

"Get back here you, dork!"

"Un-uh!" I laughed. "You're gonna have to catch me! Which isn't—Shit!"

He tackled me and pinned me against the greenhouse. "Isn't what, Mattie?"

"...Happening?" I tried, smiling sheepishly.

"I think having you pinned against the Ag greenhouse counts as caught, dork."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I chuckled.

"But I still haven't got you back yet," he continued.

"Oh, I'm so scared."

And then, Mello did something he'd never done before. He let go of my wrists and shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever. I'm going back to class."

"What the hell's wrong with you?" I said in confusion. Borderline bipolar in nature or not, that was weird for even him. "You sure you're not getting sick?"

"Dunno," he replied, shrugging again. "I'll see you in Lit." And then he disappeared back into the school.

I just stood there in disbelief for a few minutes. What the fuck was wrong with him lately? This time a week ago he'd been bouncing off the walls. Friday he'd seemed all mopey and out of it. Now this? Something was definitely up. But what the hell was it?

As if to further my confusion, he didn't so much as greet me in Lit. True, we had a test for practically the length of the entire block, but still. And then he left before I was even fully packed.

His bike wasn't parked beside my car when I reached it.

I bit my lip, wondering if I should text him to see what was up. I decided against it, given he probably wouldn't answer it until hours after he'd gotten it anyway. I shrugged my discomfort off as best as possible and left to head home.

OoOo

The next morning was like nothing had ever transpired the day before. Mello was the same hyperactive bombshell that he always had been.

I shrugged it off though. It was more than likely just the worry and stress caused by his dad that had caused him to act so weird the day before. Nothing to worry about.

"So, Mom says I can either come over today but I'd have to leave by nine, or, I can wait til tomorrow and spend the night. Which is better for you, Mattie?" he said cheerfully.

I took a second or two to process what he'd said before I answered. "Well, I have to work tomorrow night, so I guess it would be best for you to come over tonight."

"Oh, okay. That's fine. I'll just have to tell her this afternoon. Don't we have to do that moronic re-enactment tomorrow? Aren't we doing a piece from A Midsummer Night's Dream?"

Why was it taking so fucking long for my brain to process him today? I shook my head to clear it. "Yeah, we have to do some scene between Titania and Puck, I think," I replied.

"Ah, okay. Yeah. That's right. Well, anyway..." He trailed off, and for once my brain actually had kept up with him.

"What's up?"

"Isn't that the scene where Titania kisses Puck on the head?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Could be. I can't remember right this moment."

"Oh."

OoOo

The day flew by; it was always like that when Mello was acting particularly ADD, though. Seriously, he would not shut up at all when we were together. First it was about assignments, then his mom and dad. Hell, he even ranted about B for the entire time we sat in Lit.

Half of it I barely paid attention to though. I just couldn't no matter how hard I tried. His words ran together so horribly it was like the entire day was a giant run on sentence with all the words crammed together. Which left me sitting cross legged on the floor by my bed as he rambled on about God-knew-what. "Mello, will you please SHUT THE FUCK UP?" I snapped. I couldn't take it anymore; I really couldn't.

His jaw dropped open and he blinked at me in shock. I'd never yelled at him before, at all. I'd always just ask him nicely to slow down a bit so that I could understand him, or to be a little quieter. But I never told him to shut up. He bit his lip a moment, before... "What the fuck is your problem today, bastard! I can talk if I fucking want to."

I sighed and looked down at my hands in my lap; they were shaking, that was a very bad sign. "Mello...please. I didn't mean it like that," I amended. "I just cannot for the life of me understand you today. All day it's sounded like one giant ass run on sentence and it's given me migraine. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell, or to tell you to shut up. It's just frustrating to not be able to understand you."

"No...I guess it's my fault. I should be apologizing. I didn't mean to get like that."

I shook my head. I could feel my left eye twitching now; I knew without even looking in his direction that he was watching me. "D-don't..."

"Are you okay? Matt?" I could hear the worry in his voice.

"I..." The word died on my lips. I couldn't begin to fathom how to answer that question. I felt so...out of it right then, and it wasn't due to the fact that I hadn't had a cigarette since that morning. "I need a smoke," I said finally, stumbling to my feet and hurrying out the room. I walked outside and sat on the railing of the porch. I didn't pull out a cigarette though; I just closed my eyes and tried to breathe normally.

"...Mattie?" a voice said hesitantly. I heard Mello pad across the planks of the porch and come to a stop beside me. "You gonna be okay?" he said quietly from my right side.

"I don't know," I sighed. "I just feel weird lately, and I don't know why..."
"I felt that way yesterday," he said. "It was almost like...like it wasn't really me doing somethings, like I was just observing passively; even if I was against it, it still happened at times."

I set my head against his shoulder. "I'm kinda scared to be honest," I mumbled. "I don't know what's going on and I don't know how to fix it."

"Just smoke a cigarette," Mello offered. "It'll probably help you clear your head a little. I know chocolate helped me last night."

"Kay, I'll try." I moved off the railing, settling down on the wooden floor of the porch and leaning back against the railing, before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it, taking a slow drag.

"Better?" He'd settled down cross legged beside me, watching me intently.

I sighed, letting the smoke out of my lungs. "A little..."

"Good."

I went back to my cigarette, pushing away all the 'weird' feelings and just relaxing as much as I could. I felt him settle his head onto my shoulder and I smiled a little. The only thing missing now was...

Winchester nosed the door open before padding across the porch to lay down beside me and put his head in my lap.

I chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Mello mumbled.

"I've got my best friend and my dog right here. I'm starting to feel even better already," I answered, taking another drag off of my cigarette.

"Well, that's good. What time is it?"

I held my right wrist out so that he could check my watch.

"Hmm, six. I've got three more hours. Why don't we just stay out here a little longer?"

"Sounds good to me," I replied. After a few minutes of silence with Mello's head resting on my shoulder, and he was humming softly to himself, I said, "Halloween's Saturday. Do you have any plans?"

"Huh? Oh, not that I know of. Mom and Dad don't let me celebrate Halloween," he mumbled.

"Well, then let's see if we can hang out, just the two of us," I said. "We could go to the movies."

"What would we see? Not like we can see any of the good ones coz we're not old enough. 'Sides, Dad would probably kill me if I did anyway, whether I was old enough or not."

"Well, then I would doubt they would object to not having to feed you for a night, am I right?" I asked.

"I'll see, Mattie. But I can't make any promises, especially on this short of notice," he sighed.

"Alright."

An hour later, long after my cigarette was gone, Mello's stomach growled loudly.

"Sorry," he mumbled in embarrassment.

I laughed. "Don't worry about it. You want some dinner?" I said.

"Mm, yeah, that'd be nice, Mattie, if it's not too much trouble," he said.

I rolled my eyes. "What have I told you, Mels?"

"That...nothing's ever too much trouble when it comes to me?"

"Exactly. Now let's get inside before it starts to get chilly and you catch a cold," I said, standing.

"I'm not gonna catch a cold, mother," he grumbled.

"And I'm not your mother, Mels. I'm just a concerned friend." I walked inside, catching his reply despite his attempt at silence.

"You're more than that and you fucking know it."

I smiled. Yeah, I guess I was more than just a friend. He'd said himself that I was like his little brother. "C'mon and tell me what you wanna eat. Hell, we could even order pizza if you want, and watch a movie."

"Doesn't matter to me," Mello said. "Just so long as I get to spend time with you, I could care less what we eat or do."

"Okay, okay. Pick out a movie to watch, and I'll order the pizza. Anything you don't want on the pizza?" I asked, picking up the phone.

"Mm, I hate anchovies," he said, settling down on the couch.

I laughed. "Well aren't we easy to please?"

"All personal opinion, Mattie-kins," the blond replied blandly. "Though you're the first to ever say that."

I shook my head and went to the kitchen to find the number to the pizza place and make the order. By the time I'd come back, Mello had picked out a movie I recognized almost instantly, it being one my grandmother had loved to watch when I was younger. "Really, Mel? 'True Romance'? It's a romance movie," I said.

"It's a crime," he insisted.

"Whatever," I said, flopping down on the couch beside him. "The pizza should be here in twenty minutes."

"M'kay."

OoOo

By the time 8:45 rolled around, Mello was sound asleep next to me, curled against the arm of the couch.

I yawned. "You hungry, Winchester?" Mello and I together had managed to eat almost the entire pizza, but I'd caught him slipping some to Winchester when he didn't think I was looking.

Winchester was sound asleep. Well, that answered that question.

"Mello?" I nudged him.

"Mm, stop it. Lemme alone..." he mumbled sleepily.

"You know, I could just tickle you," I said.

"Do that and I'll break your hand."

"Yeah, I'm so scared of that, Mello," I answered. "You know you wouldn't really."

"Okay, maybe I wouldn't," he said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "What time is it?"

"Quarter to nine."

"Well, I guess I should get going, I suppose," he mumbled.

"Yeah..."

"See you tomorrow, Mattie," Mello said, hugging me before getting up.

"Yeah, see you."

After the door shut, I found myself mumbling, "I wish you could stay..."