A/N: Um…. Can I just say that I both love and hate this chapter already? So much emotional garbage involved… but so much fun at the same time. I've been waiting for this chapter for a while. Mwa haha. :3

xXx

No one mentioned Matt's disappearance when they got back. He doubted many people had even noticed he had gone. He was wrong, but he didn't know that.

He walked past Near on the way to his room. "Shoulda known you'd mark those bills," he muttered as he passed the little white-haired kid. "Jus wasn't thinkin' I guess."

Near said nothing. He just toyed absently with the Gundam in his hands and let Matt and Mello pass him.

Matt had intended to go to his room alone, but Mello seemed to have other ideas.

Mello waited until Matt was about to disappear in to his room before he spoke. "Matt, wait."

Matt turned back to look at him. "What is it?" he asked tiredly.

"Can… can I come in for a bit?" Mello asked tentatively. "I wanna talk to you."

Matt sighed knowing he wouldn't be getting any sleep for a while but nodded all the same. "Alright." He stood aside to let Mello past him, then followed the blond in. He closed the door behind him.

"What's up Mell?" Matt asked. He sat down in his desk chair and watched the blond pace around the room.

"I don't really know," Mello said. "I just get a really bad feeling about stuff."

Matt frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well… remember the Kira case?"

"…Yeah? The one L's working on now. What about it?"

Mello bit his lip and sunk down on to Matt's bed. "I dunno… I just get the feeling something really bad's gonna happen."

"To who?"

Mello looked up at him. "Ultimately…? The whole world."

Matt hadn't been expecting their conversation to turn in this direction. He shrugged and tried to pretend he didn't know anything. Tried to pretend that L had almost promised him that this would be the last case he would live through. "I'm sure L can handle it. He's the world's greatest detective!"

Mello shook his head. "But what if this is … I don't know. Bigger than him, you know? I mean… he's human. Even he has limits."

Matt turned around to face his computer and woke it up from hibernation. "I think you're getting nervous over nothing," he said confidently.

Mello sighed. "Yeah probably. I just get nervous when cases take this long. I mean… it's been over a year now, right?"

Matt shrugged. "I wouldn't really know," he lied.

"Yeah… forgot who I was talking to." Mello laughed and flopped back on to Matt's bed. "Hey Matt?" he said after a moment.

"Hm?"

"What are you gonna do when they make you leave here?"

Matt was silent for a moment. "I… hadn't really thought about it." That much was true at least. "What about you?"

"Dunno," Mello said. "Maybe get in to mercenary work? Seems interesting enough. Well, assuming I don't get named heir."

"Think you will?" Matt tried not to sound nervous.

"Maybe… I don't know though. It's a possibility, but not one I can plan on. Just in case, you know?"

"Yeah…"

"Hey Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"When I gotta leave, you wanna come with? I mean, I'm a few months older than you, but whadaya say? I mean… you do love me, right?"

Matt's shoulders slumped. "Geez. Way to be sensitive about it," he muttered darkly.

Mello sat up. "Hold up. You mean… you were serious about that?"

Matt turned to stare at him. "You thought I was kidding?"

Mello looked a little uncomfortable. "Well… I was kinda hoping you were," he admitted.

Matt sighed heavily and shook his head. "Well I wasn't." He stood. "And now that that's been thrown in my face again, I think I wanna go to bed. So if you don't mind…"

Mello stood but didn't go to leave.

"What?" Matt demanded tiredly.

"I dunno…" Mello tilted his head as he looked at Matt. "I just… never seriously thought about it."

Matt frowned. "About what?"

"You and me," Mello said as though that should have been obvious.

Matt sighed heavily. He pulled his shirt off and let himself fall into bed. "Just drop it, ok?" Matt said miserably, his voice muffled by his pillow.

Mello shrugged. "If you insist. But I don't see why I should."

"Oh gee, I don't know. Maybe cause you're straight?" Matt shot back sarcastically.

Mello chose not to respond, which was probably wise.

"Hey Matt?"

"What?"

"Mind if I sleep in here with you tonight?"

Matt rolled over to look at Mello, an incredulously expression on his face. "The hell?" he snapped.

Mello shrugged. "I did it all the time when we were kids."

"Things were different back then Mell!"

Mello shrugged. "Ok, ok. Geez. I was just asking."

Matt shook his head. "Well I can't say no. You know that. I just… don't know if I'm so comfortable with it."

Mello shrugged and got into bed beside Matt. "Deal with it. What I want has always come first. You know that."

Matt rolled his eyes and pulled a blanket over them both. "Yeah I know. Cause you're a selfish bastard."

"Yep," Mello replied instantly.

Matt sighed and put his glasses on the night stand and shut off the light. He had the feeling it was going to be a long night.

xXx

Matt was surprised to find himself awake around 3 am. Not sure what had woken him, he looked around until he saw the light on his cell phone just fading. He grabbed it and flipped it open. A single message had been sent just then. He opened it, feeling confused.

"The hell…?" he muttered.

"What is it?" Mello murmured sleepily.

"A message from L," Matt said, "but… I don't know… it's weird. It was sent from his computer… I don't get it."

Mello propped himself up on his elbows. "What's it say?" he asked.

"All it says is… 'I'm sorry… Be careful.'"

Mello frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"…No idea," Matt said back. L had never replied to the text he'd sent him on the night when he'd run away. Not that he had really expected him to. But what was with this weird message now…?

Mello lay back down and shook his head. "Worry about it later," he advised. "It's too early to try to decipher it now. L is just weird sometimes."

Matt closed his phone and set it back on his nightstand. "Yeah…" he said slowly. "I'll ask him about it later I guess." He lay back down and was surprised when Mello moved closer to him. Not that he was complaining.

"It's kinda cold today," Mello muttered sleepily. "Musta forgot to turn on the heat or something."

Matt shrugged. "It is November after all."

"Yeah…" He moved so he was right up against Matt. "You're warm…" he said.

Matt felt himself blush but didn't say anything back. Did Mello have any idea how hard he was making things?? He sincerely doubted it.

"Go back to sleep Mell," he said quietly. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Yeah… see ya…"

It was quite some time before Matt was able to fall back asleep.

xXx

The next morning, Matt woke up feeling colder than usual. Mello was all but lying on top of him which should have made him warmer. But for some reason, something felt… wrong. He couldn't say what it was, but something just wasn't right.

"Mello," he whispered, shaking his companion awake. "Mello wake up…"

"Nn," Mello protested.

After a minute or so, Matt gave up. He slipped out from under Mello's arm and got up, trying not to disturb the other boy. He pulled on his glasses and stood.

Matt crossed to the window and opened it, letting the chill November air wake him up some. He leaned on the sill and looked out at the frosty ground.

"Something's wrong," he whispered. "I don't know what it is yet… but something's very, very wrong."

xXx

Matt was jumpy and extremely edgy all morning. He started at the slightest sound, snapped at anyone that tried to talk to him, but didn't know why. He felt tired even though he'd gotten plenty of sleep.

It wasn't until the middle of the afternoon that he finally realized what was going on.

He was sitting in the parlor, reading, trying to relax, when Roger appeared. This in and of itself was odd. Roger rarely came to the students – he usually summoned them to his office instead.

He watched from a distance as Roger, grim faced, collected first Near and then Mello, who'd been about to run outside with some of his friends.

And then it hit him.

Matt rose from his seat, his book falling from his hands, as he watched the three of them disappear.

Linda noticed his sudden movement. "Matt?" she called over. It drew attention to him, but Matt hardly noticed.

He started shaking his head over and over, trying to deny what he already knew.

"No…" he whispered. "No. No! It's… it's not possible…! It's… it's just not!" He felt tears coming to his eyes. "Why? Why now?... What the hell…?" He felt his knees give out and he started to cry. He fell forward onto his arms, his head resting almost on the floor. "WHAT THE HELL?!" He screamed as loudly as he could, but it really didn't help.

"Matt!" Linda ran over to him, ignoring the whispers of the other students. She grabbed his shoulders and made him sit up so he had to look at her. "What happened?" she asked, shaking him. "Matt!"

He met her eyes with a pained expression. "Linda," he whispered. "L… L is dead… Kira's won."

xXx

Wammy's house was almost entirely silent that day. No one seemed to know what to do, least of all Matt.

He sat in the corner alone and refused to speak to anyone. He smoked cigarette after cigarette, not caring how many times people told him to stop or put them out. He simply ignored them.

"This is all my fault," he said to himself. "I knew this was coming… why did I do this… Why did I make that damned decision in the first place…?" He would shake his head over and over, crying. For the life of him, he couldn't stop crying. But that wasn't entirely uncommon for any of the children that day.

He saw Mello pacing back and forth throughout the whole house. Everyone stayed out of his way while he thought. But Matt saw no sign whatsoever of Near.

Feeling like he needed the little boy's calm right then, Matt went looking for him. He wiped his eyes on his sleeve, not feeling like being judged by Near at the moment, and tried to remain calm.

He looked for a while before he found the other boy.

Near was in the library, curled up on one of the balconies around the higher shelves. Matt saw him from the ground and climbed up to meet him.

"Hey Near. I…" His voice trailed off and his jaw dropped. "My God Near… are you… are you really… crying?"

Near looked up at him, shoulders shaking, tears streaming down his face.

Matt jumped up the ladder the rest of the way and rushed to Near's side. "Holy hell Near… I didn't think…"

Near sniffed and wiped at his nose with his extra long sleeve. "Yeah well…" he said quietly. "I told you people can surprise you."

Without another thought, Matt scooped up the younger boy in his arms and held him while he cried.

It was easy to forget sometimes that Near was still just a child like the rest of them. His intellectual level and his blatant lack of emotions most of the time made him seem much older. But, in the end, Near was just as young as the rest of them, his emotions just as underdeveloped.

Near curled his fingers in Matt's shirt and sobbed. And Matt let him.

"I'm sorry Near," Matt whispered. "I'm sorry everything is being placed on you and Mello now. It's so much all of a sudden…"

Near shook his head. "Mello said… he won't work with me. He… he wants to go it alone. He's leaving Matt."

Matt didn't respond. He couldn't.

His heart, which was already felt like it had been broken in half at the news of L's death, had just been broken again.

xXx

A/N: Yes. Yes I did.