Chap 21

When Ivy opened her eyes again, it was cold, and the sky was completely dark. She could see the moon clearly through the opening in the belfry. Matt had apparently fallen asleep too. His eyes were closed and his breathing was loud and content. Somehow they had both shifted to laying on the hard stone floor without waking. Wriggling out of the gamers grasp, Ivy stretched. Her whole body was sore for staying like that for the few hours she had. Matt was still dozing, even after she had moved away. The girl raised a brow. I could do some pretty awful things to him right now…Sharpie across the face? Make up?... Naw, I think I'll just leave him. Standing, hearing her knees creak as she did so, Ivy started towards the small door she had used to gain entrance to the bell tower. She decided to leave it open, the bang from shutting it might wake him up. Psh. Not like I could carry his ass anyways. Sorry bud, looks like you're staying up here until you wake up. As she started down the narrow staircase, Ivy looked back once more. She smiled a little. At least I got to show him.

Halting in front of her room, the rainbow haired girl sighed. She didn't want to sleep. can't go hang with Matt, of course. Mello is out of the question. Near? Ivy pondered whether or not she should go see if the younger boy was still awake. Assuming it was already time for the minor residents of Wammy's House to go to sleep, she turned, heading for the playroom. Near might still be in there, he liked to wait until the great crowd of kids had depleted before he too retired.

There was still a soft, dim light on as Ivy crept over the piles of building materials Near had assembled around him. This was unusual for him at this time of night, he would normally have put everything away by now. "Near?" she whispered, trying not to startle the boy as he placed a triangular block on top of a large tower.

Feeling his heart almost leap in his chest, the white haired boy turned on his heels. "Ivy?" Then he looked down, and a pale hand instantly went up to his head, twirling a snow white lock. "What are you doing here? We're supposed to be in our rooms now."

Plopping down without an ounce of grace, Ivy grinned. "That includes you, mister."

Near kept his eyes on the floor. "I… I don't want to go to sleep yet. As long as I'm quiet, and they don't see the light, it's alright."

"Wow. You? Defying the rules? That's new."

He said nothing as he twisted the strand tighter and tighter.

It was quiet for a little bit.

"Did your…plan with Matt work?"

"I guess."

"What did you want to tell him, exactly?"

"That's none of your business."

Near finally sat down all the way, instead of crouching. "Oh, right. I'm sorry." He now hid his eyes completely under the shadow cast by his hair.

Ivy frowned. "I'll tell you some other time," she said, glancing at the far left wall.

It was getting awkward now, neither of them were speaking.

Getting tired of the silence, Ivy forced herself to speak up. "So, what'cha building? Can I help?"

"Uh…s-sure."

As they sat beside each other, placing blocks and other pieces here and there, Near's face got pinker and pinker, until finally it was red altogether. He set down the small figure he was holding. "Ivy…"

"Yeah?" the girl answered, now absorbed in her side of the city.

He lost his nerve.

Ivy gave him a suspicious look as she unfolded her crossed legs to stretch. Her right knee went to far and accidentally hit the base of the clock tower on Near's side, sending it off balance and making it fall. The buildings around it began to tremble, then they fell as well, turning the boy's half of the city into rubble. "Damnit! I manage to do that everytime!" She leaned over to help clean up the mess she had caused. "Sor--,"

Her words were cut off by Near's lips meeting hers. It shocked Ivy so much she started to push him away, only to be pulled back by the younger boy as he ran his hands through her multi-colored hair. The kiss felt so odd. She had completely let her guard down around Near, as she never expected him to do something like this. He began to add more pressure, moving his body closer to hers. Ivy did not respond. She neither kissed back nor stopped it. The girl was confused over what she should do. Wanting some kind of reaction from her, Near ran his tongue over Ivy's lips slowly, hands moving from her hair down her shoulders, then her sides as he pressed closer still. A small gasp escaped her throat as his touch sent shivers up her spine. He gently bit her bottom lip as he took his hands from her and placed them on the floor, trying to coax her to lie down. The feeling was too much, and Ivy finally let herself return Near's advances, waiting for him to part his lips enough for her tongue to slip into his mouth, and taking in the feel of the younger boy as he pushed her all the way down, onto the carpet.

Suddenly, a loud cough made both of them freeze.

Releasing Ivy from his grasp as he sat up slowly, Near turned his head to look at whom had found them.

Oh dear, this can't be good, the girl thought as she to rose, looked towards the doorway.

"Well, this certainly isn't what I expected to find on my way to the cafeteria," the raven haired detective chuckled, a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips.

A/N - Big thanks goes to Amieeeechu (Keeper of the Cheerioes) for helping me with the -fluff?- parts of this chapter. AMIEECHUIZDASHIZNIZZLE