A/N: I feel like every time I write a chapter, it starts off with an apology. Not breaking that streak, I'm sorry! I had state testing and have been studying for my SAT's. This chapter has sat unfinished for a while. Again, I'm very sorry.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

~Two months later~

The bright California sun streamed through three humongous windows that stretched from a pure white ceiling to a creamy tiled floor. They made up one of four walls in the spacious living room of Near's house. All of the other walls were plain and undecorated, except for a large framed photo of L, Near, Halle, Rester, Gevanni and Matt.

A large alabaster sectional couch dominated the center of the room. Small pops of color in the form of toys were scattered here and there. Sprawled on top of the couch was Near.

Ding Dong

As the doorbell continued to resound through the house, Near dragged himself up, groaning quietly. Shuffling quickly over the slippery tile, he pulled his sleeves up in preparation to open the door.

The imposing bone white door had stained glass panels running down the sides and a silver handle on both sides. As Near pulled the door open, he took a startled step back and then immediately fell into a defensive pose. Standing on the other side, a manicured garden and winding driveway behind her, was Naomi.

She was wearing a pink Bedazzled belly top, ill-fitting tan shorts and a towering pair of neon pink heels. From her heavily made up face, it was clear she was fresh off a movie set. "Hello Near. Could I come in?"

*Flash back*

"You are such a moron! You couldn't have told that to Near before you got together? Oh no, Mello has to keep important things a secret--" Matt ranted, turning slightly red from lack of air.

Mello through up his hands. "You told me not to! And how was I to know how much of a big deal it was? I thought- I thought that we were starting over. A fresh slate."

Matt sighed, settling back onto the kitchen counter he was seated on. "Mello, Mello, Mello." He said, slowly shaking his head. "It is never a 'fresh slate'. Face it, you've done some things you're not proud of, and so has everyone. Now we need to focus on you getting Near back." Again. he added mentally.

Mello visibly perked up. "Okay! I've got a few ideas..." He trailed off, pulling a list out of his back pocket and unfolding it. It was about two feet long.

Oh, this is going to be fun. Matt thought sarcastically.

*End flash back*

Naomi was perched awkwardly on one end of the sectional couch. Near was sitting, one leg up and one leg down, on the other. In his hands were a large toy robot, whose head he was twisting very alarmingly. Naomi gulped and pushed some of her long ebony hair behind one of her ears.

"Um, I just thought I should clear some stuff up for you, because Raye told me that you and Mello got together again and then broke up. I hope it wasn't my fault." Clearly waiting for a response from Near, she paused here. After about a minute of silence, she gave a small cough then resumed talking.

"Mello probably told you we were drunk and so forth, but I don't think he really remembered what happened."

*Flash back*

With a loud click, Mello's door swung open, and he and Naomi walked in, giggling. Their gait was unsteady and they ended up falling to the ground. Laughing, Naomi rolled over and landed a kiss, while not directly on Mello's lips, was pretty close to them. He shoved her off and began to back away, fairly unsuccessfully, as he was still on the ground.

"Noo Nao'i. I don't like you. We're friends remember?" His voice, while slightly slurred, was still fairly discernible. Naomi sat up and pouted.

"Is this 'cause of Near?" She was probably less drunk than Mello, mainly because she didn't really enjoy alcohol, so she had only drunken a small amount.

By this time, Mello was also sitting up, leaning against one of the walls. "Yeah." He said, sniffling softly. Not many knew, but Mello was definitely an emotional drunk. "I loves him soooooo much. But he just- he just-" And with this fascinating sentence, Mello burst into tears.

"Okay, it's alright." Naomi crawled over to Mello and rubbed his back soothingly. "Let's get you into some pajamas."

*End flash back*

"And then when we woke up, he kind of just assumed. I didn't correct him, I just persuaded him to go out with me. I think he felt bad, so he agreed." Naomi twisted her hands around in her lap and looked nervously up at Near.

Sometime around Mello refusing to kiss Naomi, Near had dropped his robot and began to hug his knee tightly. "He's not paying you to tell me this right?" His face was closed, and he seemed to be bracing himself for bad news.

Naomi shook her head, hair flying everywhere. "He doesn't even know I'm here." A small smile stole over Near's face and he stood up. Dragging his feet along the floor, Near stuck a chalky hand in front of Naomi's face. Slightly surprised, she shook it, before getting up and walking to the door.

With one foot outside, she quickly turned around. "Good luck!" And with a final wave of her tanned hand, Naomi disappeared.

"L. L. L!" Light was standing angrily in the doorframe of a soothing blue room. Seated in the middle of it, print-outs and various sweets surrounding him, was L. Glancing up with his big black eyes, L swept over Light's fancy suit and well-groomed hair before glancing right back down.

"L, you promised we would meet up some time after New York. I fly all the way to California, using my now very low frequent flier miles, and this is the thanks I get?" Light had entered the semi-pissed zone, which involved lots of hair-flipping and biting remarks made in slightly raised tones.

L rose from his crouching position and carefully picked his way over to Light. "If you want to go out with me, all you had to do was ask." Light began to sputter and turn a rather alarming shade of red. "I'll meet you here at three o'clock this afternoon. Wear something...casual." With this, L shuffled out of the room.

"Now boarding flight nine hundred and four." A cool female voice rang out over the bustling airport terminal.

Matt gave a happy dance that was scarily reminiscent of Elaine's dance from Seinfeld. "That's us Mello! Oh, I am so excited. This plan is defiantly going to work! So what, we failed eight other times. I've got a feeling this time."

As Matt continued to chatter away, Mello shifted anxiously. He was wearing his lucky leather pants, the one's he had met Near in, his rosary was resting comfortably against his chest and his gun was polished to a shine. Everything was going great. However, his previous failures haunted him.

Seemingly sensing his nervousness, Matt lay a reassuring hand on Mello's arm. "Don't worry man. This is going to go off without a hitch. Come on, you've got a CD that's currently rocketing it's way up the charts and you're about to go get back Near. Nothing to stress about."

Taking a deep breath, Mello nodded. He pulled his ticket out of his pocket and handed it to a male flight check-in. With Matt right behind, Mello boarded the plane to California. To Near.

A/N: Whew! I think this story will be wrapping up in the next chapter or two. Already thinking about my next story, I have a question. Would any of you be interested in reading a Kingdom Hearts/ The World Ends With You crossover? It would be kind of like Survivor. Not quite sure on the details yet. Anyway, let me know! Reviews are awesome.