A/N: OMG I KNOW. It's been waaaay too long. What, like… two weeks? That's bad for a daily updated story (o.o does that sentence make sense?)

I'm going to skip the name by name thanks for this chapter because it's almost midnight, I'm hungry, and I want to play games. Sorry! But rest assured you have my eternal thanks ;3

EXCUSES: none of them are completely legit… I had Writer's Block. I was watching movies (Despicable Me=WIN). I was playing games. I was watching Jake and Amir. I was watching Death Note flashes. I was playing around on Gaia. (These ones are somewhat legit!) I was celebrating birthdays (My mom was yesterday, my brother was today, and I had to get the present ready for my friend, whose is tomorrow). I was making peace with my brother. I was bitching about school. I was picking flowers. (AND THE GRAND FINALE-) I was making cake as a distraction from the unwritten story sitting on my laptop.

There you have it! Hopefully my fluffy presentation will compensate for the craptastic excuses I gave you.

LISTEN TO THIS:Sympathy by Karmina IT WILL HELP WITH THE MOOD. DO IT.

DISCLAIMER: … I can't come up with something witty right now, so I'll just quote Jake and Amir: "SHEESH, Y'ALL, TWAS A DREAM!"

Matt continued to have nightmares for days. Each time he would wake up shaking uncontrollably and searching for Mello. If the blonde wasn't in the room, Matt would call out for him weakly until he got a response. If he didn't get a response for some reason, the gamer would force himself out of bed and seek out Mello. The blonde would come back into the cabin and find Matt slouching against a wall, passed out from overexertion.

And as Matt's sickness reached its peak, the worse his nightmares got. At first Mello thought it was just because the redhead hadn't eaten anything in days. But they continued even after he managed to get Matt to eat a full plate of food.

He could never get Matt to tell him what the nightmares were about, though. Every time he asked, the redhead would shut down and refuse to talk until his DS was placed in his hands.

Based on his reactions, though, Mello could take a guess as to what his lover was dreaming about.

After one particularly bad night, Mello decided to stop giving Matt the decision.

"How are you feeling?" Mello asked as he brought the gamer another plate of food.

"It feels like someone stuffed my head full of Lisa Frank crap," he groaned as he continued playing his DS.

Mello paused. "What the hell does that mean?"

"I don't know, but it fits somehow,"

"Well, if your head hurts then stop playing that damn game!" Matt watched as Mello snatched the DS out of his hands and snapped it shut.

"Hey, I was playing that!" Matt protested. He moved to grab it but ended up in a coughing fit.

"Shut up and eat your food," Mello handed the plate to Matt, but the gamer didn't take it.

"I'm not hungry," he huffed, turning on his side.

"Matt, eat the goddamn food before I shove it down your throat!" Mello grabbed his shoulder roughly and turned him back to where he was facing the blonde.

"I don't want it!" Matt smacked Mello's hand away and pulled the covers over his head like a child.

"Quit being a drama queen!" Mello yanked the covers off Matt and quickly pinned him down before he could run.

Matt struggled weakly as the blonde positioned himself on top of him, trapping the redhead's arms under his legs.

"Get off me!" Matt yelled, turning his head to the side as Mello tried to feed him.

"Eat the food!" he grabbed Matt's chin and forced his mouth open, shoving the fork in.

He held the gamer's mouth closed so he wouldn't spit it back out. Matt reluctantly chewed and swallowed, paling a bit as he did so.

"You're a fucking asshole," Matt growled as soon as he was finished.

"Tell me something I don't know. Eat the rest of the food," He was about to scoop more food onto the fork, but Matt's hand shot out from under his leg and grabbed his wrist.

"If you feed me any more of that, I'm gonna puke," Matt warned.

"Quit being a baby," Mello sneered, but he didn't move to feed Matt again.

"I'm serious. And your sitting on top of me is not helping the nausea." Mello wondered if the green tint to Matt's skin was just a trick of the light.

After a moment's consideration, Mello stood up and placed the food on the floor next to the bed. Matt immediately turned on his side and cradled his stomach.

"Can I have my DS back now?" Matt asked.

"Is your head feeling better?"

"…Yes?"

"You're a terrible liar."

"Well, what am I supposed to do?"

"Talk to me. I'm not just here to play nurse, you know."

"Yeah, sorry about all this."

"Shut up. It's not like you got sick on purpose."

"…Yeah."

"I miss you."

Matt pondered the meaning of those three words as he said them.

"Miss- to be absent of; to lack; to feel or suffer from the lack of; to be without," he recited the definitions over and over out loud in his room.

"I miss you. I'm absent of you. I lack you. I'm suffering without you."

None of them quite fit his feelings. They all lacked feeling. They missed him.

Matt hardly ever attended classes after Mello left. He didn't care that his rank was quickly slipping. He had only cared about it before because he wanted to the one behind Mello. He knew he could surpass the blonde with enough effort, but he didn't want to be first.

He wanted to follow Mello.

He wanted to follow him in every possible way.

But he couldn't follow him now. Mello had disappeared into thin air.

Well, not exactly. Matt had seen the blonde fleeing Wammy's elaborate halls that night. He hadn't been completely sure at the time, but once he reached the empty room, Matt knew.

"I miss you," he repeated. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he hoped Mello could hear him. He wondered if the blonde would ever come back.

It had been over a year since Mello took off. It was the longest year of Matt's life. He couldn't help but count every last minute, hoping it was the last one in which he would be alone. 655,200 excruciating minutes, and none of them provided any salvation.

The only reason Matt wasn't sitting in the corner with a knife was because he had taught himself how to track someone via a computer. In the first few months, he had received nothing.

But just as he was about to give up, he received a single hit. It was a vague and well covered up hit, stored in the database of a computer located somewhere in LA, but it was enough to keep Matt going.

"I miss you." No matter how many times he said it, he was never satisfied.

Matt didn't know what he was expecting. He knew Mello wouldn't suddenly burst through the door, sweep Matt up in his arms and gently whisper, "I heard you missed me."

No, Mello would never do that. He was probably very happy wherever he was.

LA?

Matt didn't know for sure. It could have been a false lead for all he knew.

655,213 minutes.

Matt growled and threw himself into a laying position. A knock came at his door.

Matt didn't move. He never did anymore. He didn't want to see anyone unless it was a certain blonde.

"Matt? Dinner is ready," a voice on the other side called.

Linda. Not the blonde Matt wanted to see.

He said nothing. He figured she would just give up and leave as usual.

"Matt?" she tried once more.

Just as Matt was sure she had left, the doorknob turned. It surprised Matt, but he still didn't move. 655,218 minutes.

Linda stood in the doorway, her hand still on the knob.

"Matt? Are you okay?" her voice held concern.

"I'm fine," he mumbled. His voice was hoarse from repeating those damn three words over and over.

"Are you sure? You haven't been downstairs in months…."

655,221 minutes to be exact. "I'm fine." He said it with a little more force this time in hopes that she would leave.

"If you say so…" Linda turned to leave, but she hesitated. She turned back as if she wanted to say something, but ended up sighing and closing the door behind her.

"I'm fine." The words tasted bitter. He knew they weren't true.

655,227 minutes.

"I'll be alright. I just need time," he reassured himself. They still tasted tart, but not as bad.

655,228.

"Matt."

He opened his eyes to find Mello staring at him. The blonde had the same look in his eyes when he had to wake Matt up from a nightmare.

Matt hadn't even realized he had started to drift off.

"What were you dreaming?" Mello asked as Matt pulled himself into a sitting position.

"I wasn't dreaming," Matt told him. It wasn't a lie this time.

Mello gave him an incredulous look anyways. "You started whimpering in your sleep."

"Well, even if I was dreaming, I don't remember it." Matt eyed the spot where his DS was hidden longingly.

"What do you usually dream? I'll bet it was the same one."

Matt said nothing. That horribly familiar feeling crept up his spine, clutching all his muscles on its ascent.

"Matt, don't you dare clam up on me. These nightmares are what are keeping you sick." Mello's hand met Matt's tense shoulder.

Matt hardly felt him. He wanted to tell Mello that it was bullshit, but he couldn't find his voice.

Realizing he was losing Matt, Mello shook the redhead, trying to snap him out of his spell.

"Matt, tell me what you're fucking dreaming!" Mello forced the gamer to look at him.

Matt's eyes were unfocused and dull as he was forced to face his lover. Mello wondered if even the DS could bring him back from this.

No, Mello wouldn't get anywhere if he retrieved the DS.

But he wasn't getting anywhere now….

There was only one option Mello could think of. He loosened his grip on Matt's shoulder and slowly moved it up to his neck, stroking it softly.

He gradually pulled Matt closer to him, his breath coming out in pants.

When their lips met, he received no response. Desperate, Mello mashed his lips onto Matt's even harder.

Hope sprung in the blonde's chest as Matt's lips parted ever so slightly, as if unconsciously.

He seized the opportunity and deepened the kiss, shoving his tongue into Matt's mouth.

Matt could feel Mello's lips through the numbness of his body. They were desperate and hurried. His tongue prodded Matt's as if he were trying to wake him up.

Matt managed to will his lips to apply pressure against Mello's. The blonde rewarded him by stroking the back of his neck. It sent shivers down Matt's spine, chasing the feeling away bit by bit.

When Matt could feel his hands again, he brought them up to Mello's head, clutching those blonde locks for dear life. Another light stroke was applied to the back of his neck.

As the last of the feeling was chased away by Mello's strokes and their kiss became sloppy, Matt found himself fighting back tears.

Once a single tear escaped, though, he couldn't hold back any more. They quickly streamed down his cheeks.

He broke the kiss once the sobs started to explode from his chest. He fell into Mello's arms, unable to hold back any longer.

Mello held the gamer as he usually did, but this was somehow different. This struck Matt on a deeper level, if possible.

It was as if Mello had reached into Matt's secret box and pulled out the heart he hadn't known he had misplaced.

A/N: Ooh, I hope it wasn't crap. I had to force myself to write while under the influence… of Writer's Block. Serious disease, people. I don't know if I made that clear before.

Please let me know how I did! I need some serious feedback on this one. Give me the Good, the Bad, and the Lava.

I'm going to go eat and play games. REVIEW, YO! And play The World Ends With You for DS! It's Zetta awesome, yo! Hey, you could let me know if you've already played that or not via a review! Smart, no?