AN: These two are like a drug addiction and I am in short supply haha. Matt and Mello have been my main obsession for two years. I can't even believe it! They're too epic to give up.

Anyway sorry for the delay, I am a bit uninspired, mostly because school is just killing me. End of the semester is very stressful, but three weeks from now I will be DONE and I cannot wait.

/…/…/…/

Chapter 11: Celebration

"So what do you want to do for your birthday?" I asked Mello several days later from my spot sprawled across his bed. I was flipping through my chemistry textbook, reading but not absorbing the chapter we had been assigned to read by tomorrow. It didn't matter; he never called on people unless they volunteered anyway.

"I don't know," he said, messing with his stereo. "I used to go out with friends but you're the only person I really know."

"Good to know my company is appreciated," I grumbled as I turned the page.

He rolled his eyes at me before settling on a station and walking towards me. "Whatever. My parents usually make a big dinner; you can come if you want. And I guess we could go out and do something, as long as no one will see us."

I was really getting sick of this 'no one seeing us' thing. We had been dating for over a month. We'd had sex, we should be able to kiss in public. I flipped the page in the textbook disinterestedly, not saying anything.

He crawled onto the bed and sat on my back. I make a small 'umph' sound and craned my neck to glare at him, but he merely smirked and leaned towards me, connecting our lips. I complied easily, trying to turn towards him. Instead of facing him, I threw him off balance, and we landed on our sides, facing each other. This didn't stop us and our lips were connected again instantly, his hand slowly trailing down my neck, past my shoulders and down my back-

"Boys."

We sprung apart and looked up. Mello's mother was standing in the doorway, arms crossed. I smiled weakly. "Hey Mrs. Keehl."

"Hi mom," he echoed.

She glared slightly and we both cringed guiltily. Mrs. Keehl was one person you did not want to make angry. She was an incredibly sweet person, and even before I was dating Mello she treated me extremely well, but she had a temper on her. Plus, she had the ability to make you feel bad about whatever small thing she disapproved of. I wasn't used to it.

"I've told you boys to leave the door open," she stated sternly.

"Sorry," we both muttered.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Honestly. Anyway I just came to ask Matt if he was going to stay for dinner." She turned towards me and I nodded. "Alright, it should be done in about an hour." She turned and left, keeping the door open.

We listened to the sound of her footsteps as she left, the stairs creaking creepily under her feet until she reached the bottom, the type of creaking that would freak you out in the middle of the night if someone ventured downstairs for a cup of water. Mello flopped back down on the bed and rolled over so his head was settled comfortably on my lap, smiling up at me. "Where were we?"

"But, your mom-" I started to say.

"Oh she doesn't care," he insisted, sliding upwards until he was seated in my lap.

"So, about your birthday," I said, trying to distract him.

He rolled his eyes. "Matt, it's not a big deal. Just come over and hang out." He leaned towards me to connect our lips but I pulled back. This didn't bother him; he simply redirected his attention to my neck, making it very hard to focus.

"We do that all the time."

"And it's fun, so don't worry about it. You're having fun with me now, right?" he questioned, moving upwards to face me.

"Of course, but-"

"Then stop worrying about it," he insisted, kissing me again, and the thought fell away carelessly in favor of regaining my motor skills enough to pull him closer.

Mello's lack of enthusiasm did not detract from me wanting to celebrate his birthday. I didn't have a lot of personal experience with birthdays of course, but I knew how people usually celebrated. My birthday was a reminder of mom's death…for most people it was a celebration of a life. But there was cake and gifts and parties, and surely I could manage one or more for Mello.

A party seemed like a stretch, since he wasn't really friends with many people here, but a gift was doable. I had money so I could afford something; my problem was I had no idea what to get him.

But, a small thought was working its way through my brain. Several years ago Michelle, who could bake absolutely anything and make it taste like the best sweet you'd ever eaten, and Joe, who probably just stood around and watched since he couldn't even make ramen, had baked me a German chocolate cake for my birthday and had presented it to me in the café. It had been one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for me.

So that settled it, I would make him a German chocolate cake! He liked chocolate, and sure his parents would probably buy him a fancy decorated cake from the store with his name printed on it in swirling blue letters, but I was sure he'd appreciate it, so I'd bake him one anyway. After all, how hard could it be?

/…/…/…/

Baking a German chocolate cake in fact, turned out to be very hard.

Baking was a messy business. First I had needed to skip school one day because I would get nothing accomplished if my dad and David were home. Plus I had to spend money on all the ingredients, because why the hell would my dad ever buy any?

And it was messy. Really…fucking…messy.

The recipe said to mix the "dry" ingredients in a separate bowl, which seemed rather pointless to me, but I did it anyway, quickly measuring the baking soda and sugar and pouring it into the bowl. I was supposed to 'sift' the flour, but I had no idea what that meant or what to even use. "What the fuck?" I muttered to myself as I dug through the drawers and cabinets, looking for something that may be able to 'sift' flour.

My dad had left all my mom's old baking stuff under the sink so I dug through it, thinking maybe the contraptions would have labels. I pulled out a mixer, extra measuring cups, pans, a rolling pin with cookie cutters, along with weird items I'd never imagined existed for baking like some weird handle with tons of blades and some light thing that almost looked like a strainer. I gave up and just poured the flour in without 'sifting' it, cursing to myself when I spilled a bunch of flour on the floor. I'd get back to it later…

I melted the butter next, having to melt an entire new stick since I burned the first one in the microwave by mistake. The second attempt worked so I added the other ingredients, accidently bumping the open bottle of oil with my elbow and spilling it across the floor. I growled and moved to grab a paper towel but my feet slid on the oil and slipped out from under me and somehow I ended up on the floor, the back of my head falling smack dab in the middle of a sticky mess of spilled flour and oil.

"Gross," I grunted, rolling over and sitting up. I could feel the oily substance dripping down my neck and under my shirt. I pulled off my shirt abruptly, wiping the oil and flour off my neck and back. I tried to get it out of my hair but was rather unsuccessful, so I tossed my shirt to the floor and continued baking.

By the time I finally finished adding all the ingredients (and trashing the kitchen, I'd have to clean up quickly) I was exhausted. I tried to brush some melted chocolate off my face, which only succeeded in getting more melted chocolate on my face, then opened the oven and shoved the cake batter in.

It was halfway through cleaning the kitchen that I realized I had never turned the oven on.

Somehow, I managed to clean the kitchen and hide the completed cake in my room before my dad and David got home, so overall it was a successful day.

Mello's birthday came a day later, on Saturday. I was supposed to meet him at his house at four for an early dinner, proceeded by whatever we felt like doing for the rest of the evening. It gave me plenty of time to go out and buy his gift, which I hoped he would like.

I arrived a little early, cake and gift (stuffed into the cheapest birthday bag I could find, since I'd spent a weeks' paycheck on the gift and cake) in hand. Mello's mother met me at the door and invited me in warmly. She placed my gift with the small pile of presents sitting on the floor besides the leather couch. "What a lovely cake," she said as we took my creation to the kitchen.

I shuffled awkwardly. "Yeah, I've never baked before so I'm not sure how it turned out."

"I'm sure it will taste wonderful," she stated optimistically, in that confident way that caring mother's do. She'd probably be one of those people to smile and compliment someone's baked goods as she swallowed pieces of egg shell. "Well dinner is not for another half hour or so, you can go up to him if you like."

I smiled and thanked her, thundering up the stairs to Mello's room and slamming through the door, laughing when he jumped in surprise. "Happy Birthday!"

"God, Matt, you nearly gave me a heart attack," he grumbled, but rose from the bed and sauntered forward, falling easily into my arms.

I grinned and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "That would suck, since you have just officially become an adult! Excited?"

He shrugged. "I guess there are perks, but there are downsides. For example," he said, letting his fingers trail up my arm in some sort of teasing walk before leaning closer so his mouth was by my ear, breath hot against it. "It means I can't fuck you anymore without it being rape."

"I won't call the cops on you," I practically purr and he chuckles.

"Doesn't make it any less illegal," he reminds me, pulling back and taking a step away.

I pout and catch his hand with mine, moving closer. "Oh come on Mels."

"Aw, aren't you just the cutest thing?" he coos, pinching my cheek and laughing when I scowl at him. "I'm sorry, but I am far beyond your maturity level. You are still a child while I am a legal adult." He laughs again when I launch myself forward and pin him to the bed, instigating a rather heated kiss.

We occupied ourselves with kissing until dinner was ready. Mrs. Keehl had made a rump roast with roasted potatoes and green beans. Dinner passed quickly, alive with conversation and laughter. I loved eating dinner at Mello's house because the atmosphere was completely carefree, so unlike my own home.

"Why are there two cakes here?" Mello asked sometime later.

"Um, I made it," I said and Mello turned towards me, looking surprised.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"What kind?" he questioned, staring down at it. It wasn't the most brilliant looking cake in the world, frosting spread unevenly across the surface and probably a little flatter than it should be.

"German chocolate," I answered.

We lit candles and sang happy birthday in loud obnoxious voices then ate slices of both cakes. The store's cake was certainly better than mine, but it wasn't bad, and Mello ate every bite of it.

Next was presents, and he saved mine for last, first tearing the colored paper from his parent's gifts. He revealed several new books and headphones, along with a pair of tight black jeans and a shiny black belt. He opened mine more slowly, and gaped down at it when he pulled away the cheap tissue paper.

It was a leather bound notebook, the leather dark brown and soft, with a silk bookmark attached to it. A small, thin strip of leather ran around the notebook to keep it closed. The notebook was thick and would hold plenty of words, the blank pages pristine and ready to be used. Finally he looked up at me and I shrugged slightly. "You're always writing in class when you're bored, and you seemed more like a notebook type than a computer type, so I thought you could use something nice to write your thoughts down in."

He smiled one of the most breathtaking smiles I had ever seen from him. "I love it."

We retreated to his room not long after, bidding his parents goodnight as we climbed the stairs. We were lying together on his bed, limbs intertwined, when he asked why I baked him a cake. "Well," I told him, shifting into a more comfortable position, cuddling even closer in content as he ran his hand through my hair. "You know how my family is, so we don't celebrate, you know? But, a couple years ago, Michelle and Joe baked me this amazing German chocolate cake and it just meant a lot, you know?" I asked, feeling his nod above me. "And you like chocolate so I thought you'd like it."

"I love German chocolate cake," he said quietly. I smiled and closed my eyes, dozing slightly as Mello's hand stroke lazily through my hair. "Thank you; it's been a great birthday."

/…/…/…/

The entire situation left me feeling nostalgic the next day, and I realized that since I had started dating Mello, I had seen less and less of Michelle and Joe. Just because I had a boyfriend didn't mean I should just drop my friends. Guilty, I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Michelle's number.

The phone rang once and I sat on my bed. It rang two more times before Michelle picked up. "Hello?" she answered. I could hear music blaring in the background. I smiled as she hummed along with the song, knowing she had probably been dancing around and singing at the top of her lungs moments ago, despite it being after eleven at night.

"Hey."

"Hey, Matt," she said, sounding pleased. The music grew quiet. "What's up? I haven't talked to you in like, forever…or it feels like forever."

"Yeah I know, I've been busy," I told her. "How are things going with Joe?"

"He seems to flirt with me but he hasn't asked me out yet," she said after a few seconds of hesitation.

"You should ask him, he's being a total loser," I advised.

"You think?" she asked. "Maybe…" she trailed off. "So what did you do this weekend?"

"It was Mello's birthday so I hung out with him. Oh, you'll never guess what I spent half the day trying to do on Friday. You remember that German chocolate cake you made me a couple years ago?" I asked. As I told her my baking tale I thought about how my life had changed recently, and really everything was going rather well. I had good friends and a wonderful boyfriend, and I had never been happier.

/…/…/…/

AN: A fluffy chapter for you all, but don't worry, it's not over yet! I'll try to update soon…just a couple more weeks of school!

Side note: You know how on Microsoft word it tries to make you fix grammer and change words to other words? So when I typed "we were lying together on his bed", it wanted me to change it to "we were playing together on his bed." Good to know Microsoft knows Matt and Mello XD