Heyy guyyysss. I'm back from the dead! Here's an advance Christmas gift for all of you. :DD Sorry if I haven't updated until now. Gaah. Busy with school. As always. Anyway, I hope you guys haven't left me yet. T.T I'm still going to finish this. Don't worry. :)))

Please enjoy and leave me a review. I would really reallyyyy love it if you did! Merry Christmas to everyone!

March 17, 2018

2:39 pm

Matt pulled his phone out from his pocket and typed away.

Where are you? It's almost time to pick up Roice. I'm going ahead.

Send.

He put his phone back in his pocket and started to walk to the parking lot. He didn't know what was up, but it was very unlike Mello to be late. Well, when it comes to him that is. Somehow, he feels pretty worried. Getting his phone out again, he dialed Mello's number.

The number you have dialed-

He ended the call and tried again. After about 5 tries, Matt was panicking. He quickly got into his car and drove to his son's kindergarten. He'll get Roice first before looking for Mello. He didn't want to leave his son hanging.

His heart thumped as he drove. I hope nothing bad happened to him. His grip on the steering wheel tightened and he drove faster. The light turned red and he could only tap his fingers and wish the light would turn green soon. A few moments later, his phone rang. He quickly grabbed it and put it to his ear.

"Hello?" Matt spoke.

"Hey, Matt. Sorry, I was– "

"Holy fuck, Mels. Do you know how worried I was? Are you okay? Why didn't you return any of my calls? Where were you?"

Mello winced and put some distance between the phone and his ear. "Geez, Matty. Chill will you? I was on my bike and couldn't hear my phone. I was on my way to your office but when I got there, you were already gone. What's with the 14 missed calls anyway?"

The redhead blinked. 14? Did he really exaggerate that much? I'm such an idiot. This is so embarrassing. "U-Uh… Nevermind that. I'm picking Roice up. Just wait for us at the restaurant." He said, his face tinted with pink.

"Got it. Oh, and Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry I made you wait so long, I love you."

If it was possible, Matt's face got even redder. He pretty much resembled a tomato right now. "I love you more. Be careful." He ended the call quickly because one, he already embarrassed himself too much for one phone call. And second, the driver behind him was honking like a mad man.

It was 3:05 and Roice was on the swing in the playground. His dad was late and there were only five of them left. The other four weren't his friends so he was waiting all by himself. Somewhere not far away, he could see a slouched man dressed in white slowly approaching him, or he assumed it was him since he was the only one on the swings. He's never seen that man before so he got interested. His posture was bad, his eyes had dark circles under it and his hair looked weird. His dad always taught him to never talk to strangers so he chose to ignore him. Which he found quite hard since the man was now talking to him.

"Your name is Roice, am I correct?" The guy in white asked him.

Roice took a glance at the man and then quickly looked away. He didn't answer and just kept swinging. I'm… Not being rude, am I? Dad said not to talk to strangers… He tightened his grip on the chains on the swing. Who was this man and how did he know his name? Was he going to get kidnapped? Roice got nervous, not knowing what might happen to him.

Then the man spoke again, "Don't worry, I'm certainly not anyone suspicious. I used to be a friend of your father. My name is Near."

This guy is really, really strange. Not only did he have a strange name, he also spoke as if he was dead. There was no tone in his voice at all. But somehow, he calmed down a little, knowing that he was a friend of his dad. "You… You have a strange name." He said. His eyes caught something that Mr. Near was holding. It was a robot. "That's a toy right? Why do you have one? I thought toys are just for kids?"

"Is that so? Well, anyone could own one, regardless their age."

Roice nodded slowly. "Oh…" He looked at Near and tilted his head. "So, is there anything you want with me, Mr. Near?" He asked.

"Just call me Near, and no. I just wanted us to be… Friends. I guess."

"Huh? Well, okay. Let's be friends! You're really weird but… I guess we can be friends." He said with a grin. No one has ever asked him to be friends in this manner, but Near seemed pretty cool even though he looks and sounds weird.

"Thank you. Also, may I ask you a favor?" Near asked.

"What is it?"

"Don't tell your father that we met, okay? I'll just tell him myself." He said.

"Sure!" Roice giggled, happy that he had a new friend.

"I will be going now, nice to meet you, Roice." The albino said, waving goodbye to the child.

Roice waved back with a smile and continued his swinging once the man was out of sight. He wondered why his dad had such a strange friend. But oh well, his dad was weird himself anyway. He looked to his side after hearing his dad's voice. His face lightened up as he ran towards Matt.

"Hey, sorry I'm late." Matt said.

Roice shook his head and smiled. "It's alright, dad." He got in the car and placed his bag beside him. He was still curious about the man he met earlier. He wanted to tell his dad about it but he remembered that the man specifically told him not to.

"What's wrong?" The redhead asked. Roice seemed to be in deep thought. It was as if something was bothering him.

"Nothing! Where are we going?"

"We're gonna eat out with Mello. Is that alright with you?"

"With Mello? Yes! Hurry up, dad! You don't want to keep Mello waiting."

Matt laughed. "Alright, alright. Behave yourself now, we'll be there soon."

They got to the restaurant after just a few minutes. Mello was already seated inside. As usual, they were at a family restaurant. Roice quickly ran to the blonde the moment he saw him. He caught the kid with his arms and gave him a big hug.

"I see you're as energetic as ever. How was school?" Mello asked as he pulled Roice up to his lap. He smiled as he saw Matt walking up to them.

"It was fine. I got three stars today! Look," he showed them the back of his hand which was stamped with three blue stars.

Both Matt and Mello laughed at how hyper Roice was. "Good job! I guess you deserve some ice cream for that." The redhead said, which made the kid's eyes beam up.

"Yay!" He got off of Mello and sat next to him. They were both facing Matt now.

"Alright, let's eat then." Matt grabbed the menu and searched for something to eat.

After eating, the three went to Matt's apartment to retire for the day. Roice wanted to go to the park first but Matt was too tired and the child still had some homework to do. Yes, he's suck a killjoy. Roice walked to his room with a pout on his face since he had no choice but to obey.

"Jeez, you're so mean to your son." Mello commented.

"No I'm not. It's a school day and we all need some rest."

"More like you need some rest. You're stressing yourself out too much."

Matt just groaned in reply and made his way to his room. He took his shirt off and flopped down on his bed.

Mello raised an eyebrow and followed his stressed out lover. He removed his jacket and lied down beside him. "Something wrong, Matty?" he asked.

The redhead looked at him in the eye and asked, "Mels, are you hiding something from me?"

Mello stiffened at the seriousness of the other. "Why would you ask that?"

"Nothing. Never mind."

"Seriously, Matt. What's wrong? You're scaring me."

"I told you, it's nothing. Let's go to sleep." Matt wrapped his arms around the blonde and closed his eyes.

"I love you, Matty. Goodnight." Mello kissed his forehead and closed his eyes too.

"I love you too."

The next morning, Matt woke up with the blonde missing. He looked at his nightstand and saw a note.

Hey, Matty. Sorry, I had to leave early.

I love you.

- Your Sexy Blonde

He shook his head at the sexy blonde part. Mello was still Mello. He stretched his arms and stood up to wake Roice up. And yet another day has begun.

Mello walked inside the hotel and got into the elevator. He pressed the button to the seventh floor and waited. He just wanted to get this whole thing over with. It needed to stop. This is the reason why he hates Fridays.

The doors opened and the blonde stepped outside. He turned to his left and walked towards room 139. He rang the doorbell then waited for his worst nightmare to open the door.

A few clicks were heard before the door finally opened.

"Ahh, Mello, you're finally here." And albino with disheveled white hair appeared. He stepped to the side to let Mello in. "How've you been?" He asked monotonously.

"That's none of your business. He stepped inside the spacy room and went to the bedroom. He threw his leather jacket on a chair and sat on the bed. Yes, it's like this every Friday. But it's not like Mello wanted it, he didn't have a choice. Near threatened that he'd get him arrested if he refused, but right now, prison seemed much a much nicer place than here. In fact, anywhere would be a nice place if Near wasn't there.

"What's wrong, Mello? You seem stressed out. Do you have a problem?" Near asked as he made his way onto the blonde's lap. He took a band of his hair and twisted it around his fingers. "I'd be glad to help you out." He said, staring at Mello with his emotionless eyes.

Mello glared at him. "Is that so? Then why don't you just get out of my life. That would make things much better."

The albino's lips curled a little to one side. "You know I can't do that." He leaned closer to Mello's neck. "You're back with Matt, correct?" The smell of his shampoo and soap was different. The smell of chocolate overpowered it a little but Near could tell.

Mello pushed him away. "I thought we talked about this. If we're gonna do this whole thing, you have to stop spying on me."

"I did no such thing. You smell different today. Not like your usual smell." He got off the blonde's lap, now crawling to the bed. He lied down and turned to his side to look at Mello. "So how does it feel, cheating on your boyfriend? Is it exciting?" His lips curled into a smirk. "Though I am surprised, I never thought you two would be together again."

Mello turned around and got above the albino. "You disgust me, Near. This is the last time I'll be going here. You've been blackmailing me for far too long. I don't even know why I agreed to this stupid deal of yours."

Near wrapped his arms around Mello's neck. "I see you've finally seen the light. I was wondering when you'll be yourself again. It seems that being with Matt really affects you. I was never really planning on reporting you to the authorities. You could say… I was just testing you out. Well, it's been fun."

"Tch. You really are low. You're so desperate to have me that you had to do all of these things." Mello moved away, standing up to grab his jacket. "But let me tell you something, you will never have me. I will never choose to be with you." He slid into his jacket and made his way out.

Near sat up, watching Mello as he was leaving. "This isn't over, Mihael. I will have you. And you will choose me. The time will soon come."