Metamorphosis 29

Near sat down at his usual table in the dining room and began to eat his dinner. He was alone at the moment with the exception of his constant companion robot, but that never bothered him. Sometimes Matt and Mello would join him at meals, but they were visiting Beyond this evening and he assumed they wouldn't be back until time for the meeting, now that they had resumed.

It had been several weeks since Lawliet had his scare with the infection, and he had been healing well. The meetings had begun again a week ago and he had been up and moving well, spending most of the meeting at his desk with Light hovering nearby. If he remembered correctly the stitches were being removed today and hopefully they would be able to put that entire situation behind them.

He looked up in surprise when he heard the sound of Light's voice. Since he had been living with Lawliet they took all of their meals in their apartment together, so he was surprised to see him in the dining room. He watched as Light continued to talk to the server and took several of the dessert, strawberry cheesecake, and placed them on the tray. He chuckled, he knew exactly what he was doing. He called to him when he had finished collecting the desserts and Light walked over to his table and sat down.

"Lawliet's favorite dessert?" Near asked and Light nodded with a laugh.

"Yea, he loves anything with a strawberry on it," he said, "We don't have any of this upstairs and I wanted to surprise him with it when he got back from the doctor's." Near nodded with a smile.

"Getting the stitches out finally?" he asked as he ate and Light answered with a heavy sigh

"Finally," he said. "I planned to go with him but he didn't want me to, said I need a break from worrying about it him." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It seems like this has been going on forever, I'm just glad it'll be over now."

"I can imagine," Near agreed, "It does seem like this entire situation with Beyond has been going on forever. There isn't that much time left before graduation, I'm glad we won't have to dealing with that as well."

"I'm just hoping Lawliet can put this behind him. I know he's trying but he's having a lot of difficulty with it." Light worried.

"I'm not surprised, it's bad enough to be the victim of a violent attack but when it's your twin brother…" Near began.

"Yea, I know. Right now he's throwing himself completely into his work, he's more "L" these days than Lawliet."

"It's a good place to hide while his mind heals," Near observed, "It's good he's got something to lose himself in right now, as long as he doesn't get carried away. Maybe…" he stopped when he noticed someone else making their way to the table. "Don't look now but you're getting company." He warned him. Light turned to see Misa making her way over to him. He took a deep breath and began to stand up.

"Thanks for the warning. I'll see you later," he said picking up the tray.

"Light please wait," Misa called from behind him. "I haven't seen you in weeks except in class and then you're always in a hurry to talk to me!" she complained.

'"Sorry Misa, but I have to keep a close watch on Lawliet, I don't have a lot of extra time right now. As a matter of fact I have to get back and bring him these." He said moving away quickly.

"But Light we never talk anymore, I have so much to tell you…" she began as he shook his head.

"Maybe another time Misa, but I have to get back now. See you later, Near." He called over his shoulder as he moved away.

"But…Light!" Misa called after him but he was moving quickly and was already out of earshot and heading for the door. She sank into the chair he had recently been in, fighting tears. Near watched her for a moment, slightly annoyed that she was sitting at his table, but letting that go for the moment.

"Misa, have you ever considered just being friends with Light?" he asked. Her head shot up and she stared at him in anger.

"Friends? That's ridiculous we've been friends for years. But we're supposed to get married…" she began and he shook his head.

"You're not that stupid," he told her, "It's painfully obvious that's not going to happen."

"I'm sure everything will go back to normal once Lawliet is well again; he's just concerned…" she began and Near laughed.

"Stop being a fool," he said, "I couldn't care less about this, except that I consider Light a friend and even I'm getting tired of watching you be ridiculous, I can't imagine how it must be affecting him. If you continue to delude yourself into thinking he's going to marry you, he's going to keep avoiding you until you're on that plane back to Japan. He doesn't love you Misa, you have to deal with that now no matter how painful. What you should be thinking about is if you want him in your life at all. He is never going to be what you want him to be, but you have a history and I'm sure he would want to continue to have you in his life as long as you stop stalking him. Don't you want to at least keep him in your life as a friend?" He stood up and gathered his things. "There are only a few weeks left before graduation; if you don't want to ruin what little time you have left to be in his company, you'd better think about how you're going to fix this before you never see him again. Also I would think that if you care that much for Light, you'd want him happy and he's happy with Lawliet. Be honest with yourself for once." He then turned from her and walked away.

Misa watched him walk away and then kicked his vacated chair. "What do you know about anything?" she spat at the empty chair. "Who are you to lecture me about my Light? I am being honest with myself! Happy with Lawliet? How could he be happy with Lawliet? We were always happy before he met Lawliet! We were always talking about our future together from the time we were kids before he met Lawliet. He always…" She stopped. "He always told me he didn't love me."

She covered her face with her hands and cried as every conversation she'd had with Light ran through her mind.

Every time he tried to tell her his true feelings, every time he honestly told her he didn't love her, every time he told her they would never get married. The only time he stopped was when she had reported to his father what he'd been doing with Lawliet and only the fear of being kicked out kept him in line. She knew it then, she just didn't want to admit it; she always told herself it would change if he just stayed away from Lawliet. But now she was beginning to tire of holding on to that hope. Hearing it from someone else only made it more painfully real to her; Light really didn't love her and never would.

She admitted to herself that the main reasons she held on to that hope was because she had nothing else. She had grown up believing she and Light would marry, her parents groomed her for it, and she just didn't know what else to do if that didn't happen. She wiped her eyes with her fingers as she heard friends coming in and calling her name. She sat up straight and put a smile on her face, she'd think about this later.

Light managed to get the deserts upstairs and in the fridge without dropping them, and right before L and Wammy came in the door. He quickly closed the fridge door and turned to meet them in the living room.

"Everything okay?" he asked and L smiled and nodded as he came to him. He pulled up his shirt and turned around so he could see.

"Look, they're all gone!" he said excitedly, "And it's only a little tender, almost nothing!" Light reached out and gently touched the scar.

"I'm so glad this is over," he said as he ran his fingertips gently over the raised skin, "Now we can just forget it ever happened." L dropped his shirt and turned around to face him

"Already forgotten," he said and leaned forward to kiss him before remembering Watari was right behind him until the older man cleared his throat.

"Before you get carried away, please remember about the cream you're supposed to apply every day, twice a day, to help lessen the scars," he reminded him. L sighed and nodded.

"I won't forget," he said and Light smiled at him.

"No, he won't forget, I'll make sure," he added.

"Now I'll get you some dinner, you need to just relax until it's time for our meeting." Wammy added as he walked towards the door, "I'll be right back," he said more as a warning than a statement. When the door closed behind him, Lawliet turned back to Light and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him into a deep kiss. Light was taken by surprise and he was still afraid to hug him back. Lawliet immediately felt his lack of response and pulled away, looking at him questioningly.

"Is something wrong? I thought after all this time…" Light shook his head.

"No there's nothing wrong, I…I guess I'm afraid of hurting you." He answered and Lawliet smiled.

"You can't hurt me, Light. Unless you're going to tell me you don't want me anymore," he looked down at his feet, "I could understand it if that's the problem, I've caused you so much trouble and if you were only staying with me until I healed…" He didn't finish as Light grabbed him and pulled him against him, kissing him hard. Lawliet's eyes went wide for a moment and then closed as he returned the kiss, his hands moving up into Light's hair. They moaned against each other, not realizing until that moment just how much they'd missed this contact. They pulled apart only when they heard Wammy come back through the door.

Wammy smiled to himself as he saw them jump and pull apart as he came into the room. "Don't be all evening eating dinner, it's almost time for the meeting," he said as he pushed the trolley into the room. "I have some paperwork to catch up on from the day, and Roger wishes to complain to me about something or another so I'll leave you to it." He turned and went back out as they both embarrassedly mumbled their appreciation.

"We have to get better at hearing him coming," Light said and Lawliet chuckled.

"Or learn how to lock the door," he added and then smiled, "Then you do still care about me?" he asked.

"Idiot, I still love you," Light answered and walked to the refrigerator, "Would someone who doesn't love you grab all of these risking the wrath of the cafeteria personnel?" He pulled out the desserts he had placed in there earlier and Lawliet ran to him.

"How did you get so many? They usually argue with me when I only want two!" He gathered them and placed them on the table as Light shrugged.

"I told them they were for you and I guess this is how they showed their concern for your recuperation," he answered with a shrug, "Strange as it may seem."

Lawliet grabbed a fork from the silverware drawer and sat down in front of the several plates, grabbing one and taking a huge bite, closing his eyes in near bliss.

"You haven't had your dinner yet," Light reminded him going to the trolley and getting their dinner, "You should have your dinner before dessert." Lawliet looked up at him and took an ever bigger bite in defiance.

"Stop being an ass and eat your dinner when you finish that one," Light ordered putting Lawliet's dinner in front of him as he moved the other desserts away.

"You shouldn't speak to L that way," Lawliet told him, "L is about to be known as the world's greatest detective and he's…"

"Going to get his ass kicked if he doesn't eat his dinner," Light finished and for a moment Lawliet just stared at him and then broke into laughter.

"I guess you do love me," he said as he finished his cheesecake and smiled at him, "Otherwise you wouldn't care what I ate."

"Now that you realize that, Eat Your Dinner," Light reiterated stressing each word as he picked up his own fork. Lawliet pushed the empty dessert plate away and reached for his dinner, the wide smile still on his face.

"I don't know about you, but I think Beyond is doing really well," Matt said as they made their way to Lawliet's apartment, "He seemed almost his old self. Mello nodded with a smile.

"Almost, but there was still that…that something that wasn't quite right," he said, "Something I noticed because I've known him for so long. But I'm not going to say that he didn't show a lot of progress."

"How long do you think he has to stay there do you think?" Mello sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"I heard it's open ended, but at least a year, it all depends on his behavior and how he does with medication and therapy. But you're right, he did look and sound good and he's been getting his school work done too, thanks to A. He's been going to therapy with BB, as well as his own to keep himself going," he sighed, "Plus doing his own work; I don't know how he's getting it all done."

"Actually it's the best thing for him," Matt said as they got to the door, "His big problem had always been a strong sense of inadequacy, that he was nothing except for BB. Now he has been able to prove himself as more capable than he ever thought he was and that's the best thing that could happen for him." Mello stopped and looked at him with a loving smile, then leaned to kiss him.

"You always find the best in every shitty situation," he said, "That's why I keep you around." Matt laughed and reached for the door.

"Yea, that and the fact that I can suck the stripes off of a straw," he said and ran into the apartment. Mello blinked and then laughed as he followed him in.

Near arrived last and made his way to where Light was sitting the moment he came in. He had begun to feel as if he had perhaps overstepped his boundaries by speaking to Misa as he did, and he wanted to warn Light and apologize if it had any repercussions he hadn't planned on. Once he told Light what he was concerned about, he was surprised when the teen laughed and told him not to worry about it.

"If anything Near, you told her something she needed to hear from someone else besides me and I appreciate your bothering to do it. I'm not worried about hearing anything from her, I can handle whatever she can come up with," he looked over at Lawliet who was at his desk, hunched over his laptop as Wammy poured coffee for him, "As long as she doesn't try to hurt Lawliet again, I don't care what she does."

"I just wanted to forewarn you and apologize in case she does get out of hand again. As long as he stays out of the general populace she can't get to him, so I'm sure he'll be okay," he said nodding at Lawliet, "Everything go okay with the stitches?" Light nodded with a smile.

"Yes, he's back to his normal smart ass self now," he said then looked up as Wammy called the meeting to order. "Time to get to work!" he said as Near nodded and followed him into the main room.

Several hours later, Wammy looked over at the obviously tired teens and smiled. "You've all done very, very well, I believe it's time to call it a night." They began to put away their notes with tired sighs. "I believe it's time for you to begin working actual cases," he added. "There are several that L has not begun to work on yet, and tomorrow I will distribute them for you to work on. I reiterate that these are real, ongoing cases that have been offered to L; and I expect your best work and we will be in contact with the police forces involved. Good night, gentlemen." The tiredness turned into excitement as they looked forward to actually working on real cases now, the excited chatter lasting as they each went out of the door.

"I think you made them all happy with that announcement," Light said as he helped Wammy clear the area, "This is what we've all been working towards." Wammy nodded and smiled.

"And you are all ready for the real thing," he said, "As well as the fact that there are more cases coming in than I think L can handle at the moment. I'm sure as time goes on he'll be able to handle more, but I don't wish to push it at the moment." Light nodded his agreement.

"Just don't tell him that," he said, "He thinks he can do everything." He laughed.

"I believe in time he will be able to," Wammy said proudly and headed for the door himself, "Don't let him stay up too late yet; he isn't at 100% yet."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it," Light answered as Wammy went out, "Good night, Watari." He said with a grin and Wammy nodded and left. Light locked the door and turned back to Lawliet who was still bent over his laptop.

"Come on L, let's call it a night," he called as he walked over to him, "I know you must be tired." Lawliet looked up from his computer and smiled.

"I didn't think this meeting would ever end!" he said excitedly and closed the computer, standing up and going to Light, "I love you." He said before attacking his mouth. Light quickly got over his surprise and returned the kiss and then pulled away.

"You go get into bed, I'll turn off everything and be right there," he said, kissed him again and turned to turn off the lights. Lawliet grinned and then ran to the bedroom, stripping off his clothes as he went. He checked under his pillow to see if what he'd put there earlier was still there and grinned wider when he saw it was. He then lay back on his side and waited patiently for Light.

Light finished and headed for the bedroom and stopped as he walked into the room. There was Lawliet, lying on his side and staring at him, wearing nothing but his smile. He closed the bedroom door behind him and chuckled as he walked over to him, sitting on the bed and kicking off his shoes.

"While I'm flattered I'm not sure what you have in mind is a good idea," he said and Lawliet sat up with a pout.

"What? Why not? It's been months Light, I would think you'd want this as much as I do."

"I never said I didn't want it," Light told him with a sad smile, "You have no idea how much I want it, but…you just got your stitches out today…I just don't know…" Lawliet reached over and began to unbutton his shirt.

"I do, I know…I want…" he started and began to kiss him as he worked on removing Light's shirt. Light reached up and stopped his hands, pulling away.

"Lawliet…I don't want to hurt you…I'm afraid of hurting you," he looked away for a moment, "so many people have already hurt you I don't want to add to it…" Lawliet stopped and sat back, sadness and disappointment on his face.

"What did I tell you before? That I'm fine, you can't hurt me…except if you didn't want me anymore." Light stared at him, trying not to let the turmoil in his mind take control. He relaxed and allowed Lawliet to take off his shirt.

"Alright, but we'll take this slowly," he said, closing his eyes as Lawliet leaned forward and began to kiss his chest. Lawliet nodded as he pushed Light back against the bed.

"Yes…slowly…." he echoed, his hands moving down to undo Light's belt and his pants as he continued to kiss his chest, "But not that slowly." He added as he practically yanked Light's pants off and flung them across the room. Light laughed and then sat up and shook his head, pushing Lawliet down on the bed.

"No, you lie down and just let me do all the work this first time," he said and stopped the coming protest by reaching down and taking him in his hand and stroking him slowly. "Do you have a problem with this?" he asked as Lawliet's eyes closed and his head pressed against the pillow. He shook his head as he moaned softly.

"No…no…God no!" he panted as he moved against Light's hand. Light chuckled and moved up to kiss him, moaning himself as Lawliet's arms came up and around his neck, pulling him against him as he returned the kiss with everything he had.

Light finally pulled away and kissed down his body, finally moving his hand and taking him into his mouth. Lawliet cried out and clutched the side of the bed with new sensation, then reached down, putting his hands in Light's hair, his hips pushing him deeper into Light's mouth.

Light placed his hands on Lawliet's hips to keep him from moving, his mind still on the freshly removed stitches as he continued to work on him. He sucked gently at first, his tongue swirling around the tip and down again, before taking him as deep into his throat as he could, and sucking hard. He smiled as he felt Lawliet's body begin to tremble beneath him, the sounds coming from him exciting him as well, and began to move faster as he also slowly inserted one finger into him. Lawliet cried out again, arching his back and pulled Light's hair as he came suddenly, his body shaking as Light continued to hold him.

Light didn't let go until he was sure he was finished, then crawled up his body and kissed him before pulling him up into his arms. Lawliet fell against him, his head falling on Light's shoulder.

"You okay?" Light asked and Lawliet laughed as he nodded.

"I haven't been this okay in weeks," he said as he kissed Light's shoulder, "I'm sorry I couldn't warn you but it happened so fast…"

"I wasn't expecting you to warn me," Light told him as he rubbed his back, "As long as it wasn't too much." Lawliet sat up and frowned at him.

"Light you have to stop this, I'm fine. I'm healed, it's all over, and of course it wasn't too much. Stop treating me like I'm made of glass and you're going to break me," he stopped for a minute, looking down at the bed and trying to compose himself.

"Light, I need everything to go back to the way it was before Beyond attacked us. I'm trying so hard to forget it, put it behind me, but I can't unless we get back what we were just beginning to have before it happened. You and our relationship is the only thing I have to hold on to and fight against it. " He looked back at Light, tears standing in his eyes. "Please Light, I need this, we need this. I need you to love me." He pulled away and reached under the pillow retrieving the bottle of lube he had placed there earlier and tried to smile. "Besides, it's your turn now." He placed the bottle in Light's hands and then laid back on the bed with a grin. "You said you wanted me."

Light was alarmed at the sight of the tears in Lawliet's eyes, but couldn't quite shake the turmoil in his mind, the fear of causing Lawliet any more pain. "Of course I want you Lawliet, of course I love you, I'm just…" Lawliet sat up and took the bottle from him, opening it and pouring it into his own hands. He then reached down and began to apply it to Light in slow strokes.

"Then prove it to me," he grinned, "We only got the chance to do this once before everything happened. We've got to make up for all that lost time." He dropped the lube and fell back against the bed again. "I love you Light, I want everything back the way it was before, please?" Light sighed and then nodded.

"So do I," he said, "I love you too and I will prove it to you." He picked up the lube and began to apply it to Lawliet's opening, then inserted two fingers as he leaned forward and kissed him. Lawliet groaned against his mouth, trying not to sound as if he were in any pain, knowing Light would probably stop if he thought he was. After a few moments, Light slowly added a third moving them slowly to stretch him, then began to search for that one special spot. Suddenly L's body tensed and he clutched at the sheets crying out,

"There it is," Light said with a triumphant smile and continued to attack it as Lawliet moved even harder against his fingers, his moans of pleasure getting louder with each attack. Light leaned forward and kissed Lawliet's neck, then up his jawline and finally his mouth. He removed his fingers and positioned himself behind him.

"If you're ready…" he said and Lawliet nodded and smiled at him lovingly. Light then slowly began to press into him.

Lawliet reached up and grabbed Light's shoulders, his nails digging into them as he tried not to cry out, not wanting to alarm his lover. Light could feel him tense up, and he stopped for a moment, leaning forward to kiss him.

"You have to relax," he reminded him, "But it's okay if you want me to stop," he told him and Lawliet shook his head.

"Don't you dare, I'll be fine," he told him and in proof he moved his hips against him, pulling him in further. Light groaned in pleasure as he slid deeper into the warmth of Lawliet's body, and he didn't want to stop now either. Once he was completely engulfed he paused again to give Lawliet time to adjust. Within a few moments Lawliet reached up and kissed him, nodding that he was ready.

Light began to move slowly, pulling out and then slowly pushing back in. He covered Lawliet's face in kisses, matching his moans with his own as he began to move faster. Lawliet wrapped his legs around Light's back, moving with him as they found a perfect rhythm together.

They were both in such need of being together, reaffirming their relationship after everything that had happened. Light finally relaxed once he was sure Lawliet was not in any pain, and he began to lose himself in the intense pleasure, increasing the speed and depth of his thrusts, with Lawliet moving his hips to meet him. At this moment nothing that had happened existed, nothing mattered except the two of them and their sounds of loving each other.

He felt Lawliet begin to tremble again and he knew he was close; so he reached between them and began to stroke him to help him along. Lawliet's cries of Light's name echoed through the room as his body arched and he came, his fingers digging deeply into Light's back.

As Lawliet's muscles squeezed around him, Light thrusted into him one last time and came himself, falling forward onto Lawliet for a moment before rolling off of him to his side. He gathered Lawliet into his arms and held him tightly as he caught his breath.

"You're okay?" he whispered and Lawliet nodded with a smile.

"I'm very okay," he answered nuzzling against him, "I love you, Light." Light kissed the top of his head and pulled the blankets up and around them.

"I love you too, Lawliet," answered and kissed him again, " You should sleep now," he told him and Lawliet chuckled.

"Okay," he agreed and then lifted his head, "Everything's okay now?" he asked. Light pulled him up for another kiss and then pulled him back against his chest.

"Everything's okay," he whispered back and held him tightly, watching as Lawliet's eyes finally closed, then finally allowing his own to do the same.