Yay for the second to last installment! I know this took forever; I'm sorry. I had lost my inspiration for this but then it snowed and made me so happy I had to write something. And really, wouldn't these two be adorable sitting cuddled up by a warm fire? So, I hope you don't hate me and please review!

Melt

"Hey, Mello! Look! It's snowing!" The young brunette, still clad in video game-themed pajamas, jumped on his friend's bed, jostling him awake.

"Leave me alone. I'm trying to sleep." Mello turned over to face the wall of their room at Wammy's.

"But Me-e-e-llo-o-o!" Matt whined. "You promised you'd show me how to make a snowman."

The blonde groaned and after much arguing, finally pulled on a thick pair of pants and a jacket and followed his roommate out the door.

"You're going to freeze to death, you know." Mello stated matter-of-factly when he noticed Matt was still in his pajamas, covered only by a thin green coat and a hat, obviously hand-me-downs from another student.

Matt shrugged, too excited to feel the cold properly. Mello shivered at the sight of the boy grabbing up snow with his bare hands and trying to form a pile. Pulling his scarf, a deep red to match his gloves, around him tighter, Mello intervened and demonstrated the correct snowman building technique.

After forming the base, Mello gave Matt the task of finding two sticks for arms and some rocks for the face. Matt still refused to admit he was feeling the effects of the cold but his purple fingers were starting to suggest otherwise. Mello rolled the last two sections himself and admired his work as Matt stuck in the arms and carefully arranged a smile on their snowman's face.

As normal kids do at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning, the rest of the school began to join them outside.

Mello barely dodged a rogue snowball and, after giving their masterpiece his scarf at Matt's request, he decided that it was time to head back inside.

"You want some hot chocolate?" Mello looked over his shoulder to see Matt following behind, convulsing slightly. The brunette nodded eagerly.

Mello sighed. "Why don't you go sit down by the fire? I'll bring your mug out to you."

"I'm fine. I can help." Matt smiled brightly, a failed attempt to hide his frost-bitten red skin and chilled body.

"Go on. Save me a seat." Mello rolled his eyes. As they both knew perfectly well, no sane person would be in the common room while there was still snow on the ground.

Slowly mixing the chocolate drinks, Mello let the warm aroma thaw his tense muscles. Feeling much better now that he was inside, he carried the cups into the common room to see Matt focused completely on a scene outside the window.

"They ruined it, Mell..." His voice was barely above a whisper but Mello understood perfectly. Wasn't it just like his classmates to destroy anything beautiful? Wouldn't he have done the exact same thing if he had been in their place?

"Don't worry about it. It would have melted soon anyway." Purposely avoiding looking out the window, Mello set the hot chocolate on the carpet by the fire and wrapped the brunette boy in a thick, soft blanket. "Come sit down before you catch a cold."

"Don't you want some?" Sniffling quietly, Matt offered his friend half the blanket. Mello shook his head. His blood was still boiling.

"I'm sorry about your scarf."

Mello was pulled out of his thoughts to meet the green eyes staring sadly at him. "I'm not upset about the scarf." He shifted so that they were sitting next to each other, facing the fire, knees touching. "I'm sorry about your snowman. We can make another one tomorrow."

The brunette shrugged. "That's ok. I never thought about them getting destroyed. If it's just going to melt, there's no point in creating it. Why make something just to have it die?"

Mello was surprised by his friend's uncharacteristic philosophy. He pulled a piece of the blanket around himself and wrapped an arm around Matt.

"Surely the snowman is happier to live for just a little while than not at all. Besides, next time, we'll build him somewhere where no one will try to destroy him." Mello gave the boy beside him a reassuring squeeze.

"You think so?" Matt asked, staring into the fire.

"Of course."

The brunette smiled sheepishly as a small shiver ran up his spine. "I guess I was a little cold."

"Wear something decent next time. You'll die of hypothermia." Mello snapped, rolling his eyes, but he allowed his friend to rest his head on his shoulder and draw closer.

With the snow slowing outside, the decapitated snowman began to drip and turn to slush. The abandoned scarf was trampled into the dirty snow, barely clinging to a makeshift arm.

Matt finished his hot chocolate and mimicked their creation outside, sighing deeply and melting into the older boy's embrace.