Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note.
A/N: Look this chapter didn't take half a year!
Light woke up feeling very stiff, heavy, and… warm?
He didn't open his eyes right away, staying still and just resting that way. Stiff made sense. He'd spent the night on the floor. He was young but that didn't mean that the floor was suddenly a feather mattress, so theoretically he could be feeling stiff.
Heavy. That made sense too, really. Stiff and heavy went hand in hand, sometimes. If he'd slept funny, or if it wasn't morning yet and he wasn't properly awake, he could feel heavy like this. So the heaviness, that was okay, too.
Something was wrong about the warmth, though. It was sending off alarm bells in his head. They weren't… bad alarm bells. Just, something wasn't right. He was really warm, not just sort of warm. As if he were sleeping with a giant heating pad, or heater, or hot water bottle…
The hot water bottle shifted.
Light froze. There were no pets in the House so someone was on him. His mind instantly rushed to B murdering him, but he didn't feel dead, at least he didn't think he did. Slowly, so slowly, he opened his eyes. He only opened them a slit, because he wanted to be able to pretend that he hadn't seen whoever this was if he needed to pretend to still be sleeping to save his life or something.
The moment his eyes were open, Light's heart stopped. His vision was completely occluded by wild, black hair. B had wild, black hair. B's hair. B was on him. He'd come to the library after all, and he was lying on Light for who knew what reason, maybe he was poisoning him or pinning him down to kill him or thought he was already dead and wanted to mutilate his corpse before Wammy found it and…
Light's elevated, slightly-panicked breathing got him a full whiff of the hair right in front of his face.
It didn't smell like copper.
B smelled like copper. Light had never gone around sniffing him but his bedroom had always smelled like copper any time B had been in it. And he'd looked it up, sex didn't smell like copper, that was all B.
But, black hair meant B. He took another, careful sniff of the person on top of him, keeping very still.
Cake.
It was just L.
Light relaxed, sighing deeply and dropping his arms. L was sleeping on him. He'd just rolled (and he often rolled in his sleep) off his little nest and onto the nearby Light. That was so much-
L was sleeping on him!
"L," he snapped loudly enough to startle him awake.
"Wha- shit." L scrambled off of him, all the way back until he was against the bookshelves. "I apologize, K-kun, as you know I roll in my sleep and-"
"You were sleeping on me!"
"Yes, like I said I can assure you that it was unintent-"
"Sleeping! On! Me!"
"Yes, K-kun."
Light sat up, scooting back away from him. "You are such a creep."
L didn't try to deny it or get closer to him. "I can only repeat my apologies and emphasize the sincerity of-"
Light huffed and stood, snatching his bag as he did. "I'm going to go change. In the bathroom. Alone. Without you and your weird little crush on me. Got it?"
L jerked and then was very, very still. He nodded slightly. "Got it."
"Good!" Light stormed away.
To his relief, L didn't follow as Light went stomping through the hallways. He could have used the library bathroom but it was too darn close to where L was right now and besides, he wanted to walk. The House was large, but very few structures were large enough to contain his irritation at the moment and he was forced to take several laps before he felt ready to slam into a bathroom, jam the door, and step into the shower.
It was better than waking up to B, but it was not how he wanted to start his day. L was weird and seemed like he'd be sticky (but apparently wasn't) and had rolled onto him. Who even knew how long he'd been sleeping on him or who had seen? The boy was a heavy sleeper but shouldn't he have woken up when he'd rolled onto another human being? It wasn't like he was used to cuddling up with someone at night, he should have instantly woken up.
Light hadn't.
He violently yanked the shower curtain behind himself. Showering was a long process for him, and he always found it calming. The warm water was conducive to thought, and soon he found himself not raging but just thinking. Why had L reacted that way? He'd sort of just frozen. He'd made a face. L didn't 'make faces.' Even when he laughed he was pretty expressionless. So what part of what he'd said had made L actually twitch?
Go change? In the bathroom? Without you? …Weird little crush?
It was the only one that made sense, but honestly it didn't. L couldn't like him. But Light had said far, far worse untrue things to L and L hadn't even blinked. Did that mean this one was true and Light had simply hit too close to home?
Could L like him?
It was hard to imagine and more than a little unpleasant. L, liking him. Wanting to be with him. (Maybe. Who knew, it was L.) Thinking about him all the time, wanting to be close to him, maybe dreaming about him. All the things people do when they have a crush. Doodling his name on objects, dreaming of being Mrs. K Yamaguchi… Yaga… Yagamashi. No, Yagami. Yagami.
Right. Well, he'd worry about that later. At the moment there was a freaky pale kid to consider.
He imagined L trying to kiss him. Those weird, huge eyes coming at his face, hopefully closing, the spindly, spidery fingers slipping into his hair. Or, worse, Light having to put his hand on L's face. He was certain the skin would be cold, feel like a corpse. His lips would be clammy, Light was sure of it, and they'd awkwardly smush on Light's and just freeze there because L wouldn't know how to kiss. It would be like kissing a fish. A dead fish. Maybe he'd even awkwardly flop his lips around or- Light shuddered- pucker.
Of course, when he occasionally… only occasionally!... dreamed about it, it wasn't like that. Those dreams he had because of B and only because of B. Those times, it was warm, and L's lips were pliant and his tongue was hot, and the long fingers weren't creepy they were amazing and they were everywhere and Light could do nothing with his own hands except hold on and in his dreams his mouth always fell open and he always buried his face in L's neck which was always damp with sweat as L…
He aggressively turned off the water. L was probably expecting him to run around and obsess over it. Whether or not it was true, it was being used as a weapon to throw Light off his game. Light wouldn't let that happen.
He stepped out of the shower, getting dressed in only twenty minutes (unheard of). He noted with satisfaction that he still looked all but perfect, which was good because he was about to do something he hoped was totally unexpected and it would be better if he looked devastatingly handsome as he did it.
He marched all the way back to the library. L was still there, through their bedding had been crammed into a pile in a corner and he was now crouching on a chair reading something in what appeared to be Arabic. L looked up at him when he stopped in front of him. He didn't look nervous or worried or alarmed. Light would change all of that.
"Do you have feelings for me?" Light demanded.
Someone else who was in the room looked up, startled, but Light for once didn't notice. A smirk spread across his face, because L was silent. He was stunned. Speechless. Light was brilliant, a genius beyond measure, he'd shocked and surprised the L. L was no match for-
"Yes."
"What?" Light slammed his mouth shut, unable to take back his blurted exclamation. He hadn't expected L to admit it. He hadn't expected to be right. How could L like him? He was genuine around L. L saw all the bad stuff about Light. Light purposely hurt him, manipulated him, said terrible things about him, sabotaged him…
"I have feelings for you," L repeated calmly. If there was any expression on his face it was the slightest hint of amusement. "I have for a period of time."
Light's mouth opened and closed for a minute. The other kid who'd been in the room stood up and hurried out.
What was the evidence that L could like him? Had he ever done anything at all nice to Light? Well, he was in the middle of helping Light paint their room his favorite color. And he'd been the one Light had depended on when A had died. L ate with him if he ate with anyone at all. And Light was the only one on L's level. The only one who challenged him. Then of course there was the fact that Light was obviously the most gorgeous creature in this school…
No. Even if L liked him, he wouldn't admit it except to manipulate Light, just like Light had speculated in the bathroom. This was a trick somehow, just like his second night at Wammy's house, and he wasn't going to fall for it twice.
"Wow," Light said, voice getting soft and gentle. "I… I had no idea. Wow." He smiled down at his shoes.
L stared at him.
Light made his face blush. "L, I… I mean. I like you too…"
L opened his mouth. Then rolled his eyes, a smile creeping onto his lips.
"I do!" Light insisted, but he was starting to laugh. Of course L would see through him, he always did, just like Light.
"Of course, K-kun. It's obvious," L said, his usual monotone sounding slightly amused.
"It is! It's so obvious!"
"So obvious," L agreed. "Exemplified in the way you spread rumors about me, constantly endeavor to escape my company, scream when I accidentally sleep on you-"
"I did not scream."
"-You screamed. Think I'm disgusting, call me names, continuously try to beat me-"
"I dream about you," Light suggested. Which wasn't even a lie.
"-Steal my textbooks, judge my eating habits, are pleased when your birthday present from me is a list of ways you can ruin my reputation-"
Light theatrically dropped to his knees, hugging L's crunched up legs. "You're my one true love!" he wailed. "Don't say such hurtful things!"
L straightened his legs and shook them slightly. "Shoo."
Light didn't try to hold on. Even dropping to his knees in the first place was a bit undignified for him. He allowed himself to be removed and stood up. "Fine, but I know where you sleep."
L rolled his eyes and stood up as well. "I'm getting dressed," he informed Light.
Light watched him leave.
He wasn't sure why, but he was just slightly disappointed.