A/N: Hello, friends! So, funny story before we get into it today. My power went out at about 7AM this morning and I thought to myself, 'am I going to be able to post today?', but about an hour ago, the power blinked back on! So here we are! Yay! Wee! Alright, so are we ready for a little angsty fluff this week? Because that's what we got coming. LET'S GO! MY COFFEE I G!

L still couldn't believe it. No matter how many times he would open and close his eyes, he wasn't dreaming. His mind wasn't playing tricks on him. This was reals. I never thought it'd be so easy. Granted, Light did make me work for it, but I earned this. As L and Light laid in bed, Light's head rested comfortably on L's ribs, his eyes shut. L just ran his hand down Light's back, putting Light at ese. Tonight was probably hard on you, wasn't it, Light. It wasn't your fault. I promise you that.

Even on the way back to the tower, Light continued to apologize for Misa's sudden appearance. Every time he did, it rang in L's head like nails on a chalkboard. L held Light a little tighter. She really did a number on you. L planted a soft kiss on Light's forehead. But she can't get to you here. I would never allow that. I promise. L shook off the unfortunate events of the evening and realized what he had. Light slept soundly in L's bed with L wrapped around him. You've had a long, hard day. Go ahead and rest.

"L?" Watari gently knocked on his bedroom door.

"Yes?" L didn't even bother hiding the boy in his bed. He knew Watari would understand. It's not like he didn't know anyway.

"I didn't hear you come in," Watari sat on the chair next to the bed, "Is everything alright?"

"His ex-girlfriend ruined our date," L grumbled, "But she tried undoing all of the healing Light's done and possibly tried getting back together with him. She didn't believe us when we told her we were on a date."

"He seems awfully comfortable where he is now," Watari pointed out.

"He's had a hard day," L cradled Light against his chest, "I couldn't wake him right now if I wanted to."

"You know," Watari smiled, "It's been a while since I saw you like this."

"What?" L wondered, "With someone sleeping in my bed that wasn't me?"

"You in love, Lawliet…" Despite his early skepticism, Watari couldn't' stop this. He knew better. Telling L no would only push him further into Light's arms, "You seem awfully content with him, too."

"I am," L brushed his fingers over Light, indulging himself in any proof the moment was real, "I sleep better with him. Hell, I sleep when I'm with him. I don't know what it is about him, Watari. He's just…He's him. And he's here."

"How many times have you slept with him, L?" Watari asked, "I've only seen this once."

"A few actually," L came clean, "Some of them were…sort of kept from you. Every night while we were in Odaiba. Last night in his bed. One time when we were still in Omotesando."

"When was he there in Omotesando?" Watari looked at L strange. Although, he did have a feeling he already knew.

"I had a bad night," L admitted, "I had told him about Near and Mello…And her…"

"Really?" Watari gasped, "You told him about Miss Misora?"

"Yes," L's voice broke…but with a quick clearing of his throat, he pulled himself together, "I did. I told him everything. He deserved to know."

Those were the days where I almost screwed everything up. I could've lost Light for good. L looked down at the angel sleeping in his ribs. But you stayed. Finally, I didn't scare someone off that wasn't Watari. I'll never be able to thank you enough for that, Light. I won't leave you if you won't leave me. That sounds good enough, doesn't it?

"Well," Watari got up from the chair, quietly cursing every ache and pain in his joints, "I'm going to go to bed. Did you need anything else before I do?"

I have everything I could ever want right here. Throw in a finished murder case, so I can stay in London with Light when we leave for Near's graduation and everything would be perfect. But L knew what Watari was trying to get at, "No. I'm ok. Good night, Watari."

"Good night, Lawliet," Watari clicked off the lamp in the corner and Left L alone for the night. L leaned down to kiss the man he loved one last time. Good night, Light. I love you…If only this could be like this a little longer.

"Mmm…" Light groaned a bit, his face starting to twitch.

"Light?" L glanced down at him. And his twitching only got worse. L pulled him closer, "Light?"

"No…" Light's voice was weak.

"No?" L worried. Is he talking in his sleep?

"No…" Light whimpered, "I…I can't…"

"Shh…" L did his best to calm him down, "You're going to be ok, Light. I'm right here. You're safe."

"No…" Despite L's best efforts, Light only got worse, his face clenching in pain, "Misa…Misa, no…No…Don't…Don't make me…"

"Light," L tried to get closer. But Light's shaking quickly turned into flailing. Oh, shit…And I thought Mello's were bad, "Light, it's…"

SMACK!

"No!" Light snapped, the back of his hand meeting L's cheek.

"Light!" Before Light could manage another hit, L caught his hand. And that contact was just enough to wake him. In that brief moment of quiet, L's heart fell to pieces. Oh, Light…What did she do to you? How badly did she hurt you?

"L?" Light's voice was still incredibly strained. As was his vision in the dark bedroom.

"You're ok," L hugged him tight, ignoring the stinging sensation on his face, "It's just you and me, ok?"

"Good," Light fell apart in L's embrace, breathing a heavy sigh of relief. Then, he buried his face in L's shoulder, almost as if he were trying to hide it from him, "Good…"

"Are you ok?" L treaded carefully in uncharted territory.

"Bad dream," Light shuddered, pushing away any flashbacks wanting to take control of his thoughts.

"You want to talk about it?" L asked, his voice soft and gentle.

"I'd rather not," Light winced. I wish I could. There's so much you don't know, L…So much I can't tell you. NDA be damned.

"If it makes you feel any better," L cradled him, "It's only you and me here. In a lot of the other rooms, there are wire taps and cameras, but not in here. It's completely, one hundred percent safe. And I can keep a secret. I have so many things that could either get me thrown in jail or killed either by death penalty or mercenary rolling around in my head, but I've never said a word. If there's something you need to tell me, Light, you can. But I will never ever push you about it. Ok?"

"Ok…" Light's heart started to swell. Sometimes, it's scary how much you're in my head. You know what's made me like this. He pulled himself together. Rather, Light let L hold him together, so he could fall apart, "There were things I've never told you about."

"That doesn't surprise me," L kissed the top of his head.

"For a long time," Light struggled to find the right words to come out of his mouth. He already knows so much…But even that's not the half of it, "For a very long time, I was bad…I was so bad."

"How bad?" L braced himself for whatever may come, "Like…Need to be discussed with a mental healthcare professional bad or in a court of law bad?"

"A mixture of both…"

"And…" L wondered, "Was it all…?"

"Her," Light nodded, not even hesitating anymore, "Yeah. When you said she wanted an accessory she could have sex with, you weren't wrong. But I'd see her treat some of her accessories better than she'd treat me. I was her personal assistant she'd occasionally sleep with."

"Um…Light?" L teased him a little, hoping to make things less tense, "You're my personal assistant I sleep with."

"But you're different," Light cuddled into L a little more, stifling a cheap laugh, "We're different than what I was with her. She was a special brand of toxicity. She was poison to me. And I couldn't get enough for a long time. The difference between you two is that you won't hesitate to admit I'm yours."

"I'd scream it from the rooftops if I could," L admitted, running his fingers down Light's arm, "But I understand. That's a step you're not ready for yet. And I'm not going to take that step without you."

"She would," Light went on, "Imagine having your girlfriend introduce you to people she either works with or people who want to work with her introducing you as no one. And she'd only introduce you when someone would ask about you."

"Oh, yikes," L cringed, "You are far from no one, Light."

"Yeah," Light shook a bit as the bad memories started trickling in, "I always thought she did that for work purposes. A lot of idol agencies don't want their idols getting involved in relationships, so the fans can project their romantic fantasies on them without rivals or competition. They need to have this certain image or their adoration goes out the window. And that's what she told me. It's her agency's rule. It's her agency's rule. That's why she doesn't tell many people about me. But one day, I managed to be alone with her manager. She was off doing…Something. I don't even remember. And I talked to her manager about that rule. Do you know what she said?"

"What?"

"She said their agency didn't have any control over their clients' personal lives," Light's voice broke. He did his best to shake it off.

"So," L settled him some more, "I'm guessing that's what made you walk."

"Yeah," Light nodded, "Among other things."

"Why were you even with her in the first place, Light?" L wondered, "You didn't deserve that kind of treatment. I wouldn't even wish that on my worst enemies…Well…Depending on which worst enemy we're talking about. But for the most part, I wouldn't. I'm not here to judge, but what the hell were you thinking?"

"It was one night shortly after I started college," Light explained, remembering everything like it was yesterday, "I had been seeing Takada for a couple months. We had gone out for drinks to celebrate first semester exams being done and over with. She and I both studied our asses off for them and ended up with some of the highest marks in the class."

"With you at the top, no doubt," L assumed.

"Of course," Light scoffed, "Where else would I be?"

There you are, Light. You had me scared for a moment. I thought I had lost you, "Anyway…"

"Anyway," Light continued, "Takada had gone to the bathroom, so I was left at the bar by myself. And…There was this guy."

"Guy?" L perked up, "I thought this was the night you met Misa."

"I was getting to that," Light hushed him, "Hold on. There was this guy at the bar. He had gotten drunk and stupid and he'd hit on anything in a short skirt. That's when Misa walked in. When she came in, she sat at the bar and ordered herself a drink. Not that she had to. Any man in that bar would've been more than happy to buy her one. But she bought herself a drink. And this asshole comes over. He had been playing pool with his buddy, trying to hustle him out of some money. He still had the cue in his hand and not so subtly, he stuck the cue under her skirt and started lifting it up. He technically never touched her, but that didn't make him any less disgusting. When she tried to call him out on it, he claimed he never did anything."

"So you, being the kind soul you are," L figured, "You stood up for her."

"I wasn't going to sit idly by and let some pervert get away with that," Light jumped on the defensive, "Sure, in hindsight, I may not like her, but she didn't deserve that. And he went with the bullshit excuse that if she wasn't looking for attention, she wouldn't be in such a short skirt. No. That was just Misa. She liked short skirts, skimpy dresses…That was just how she was."

"In a way," L kept making sense of things, "You saved her."

"I'm pretty sure that guy wanted to take her in the back alley and do god awful things to her," Light gagged, "But I did something that I didn't realize how badly I'd regret it at the time…"

"What'd you do?"

"I…" Light bit his lip, "I kind of pretended to be her boyfriend, so the guy would leave her alone."

"Oh, Light…" L winced, "You had good intentions, but they came back to…"

"Bite me in the ass," Light agreed, "Oh, yeah. And when Takada came back out, Misa stuck around with us for the rest of the night. I explained everything that happened, so Takada wouldn't get pissed. Everything was fine. About a week later, I went back into that same bar and sure enough, Misa was sitting there by herself with a drink in front of her."

"Oh, Light…" L held him tighter, "That's how she got you, huh?"

"Like walking into a spider's web…" Light went on, "She and I started talking. And she was really sweet. Her career was just coming to fruition. Everything was really good with us. Honestly, those early days were some of the best of our whole relationship. Then, when it really took off, that's when things started turning for us. She turned into a diva. And a really big diva. And that's when I became her PA she'd occasionally sleep with. It got so messy so quickly and I couldn't get out of it. Our lives had become so entwined with each other. I didn't know what I'd do without her. But I didn't know what I was going to do with her more often than not. Every day got more and more exhausting. Between keeping up with her schedule and my schedule and hardly having a minute to breathe, it was hell. And then, there was the thing I found out from her manager."

"And that's when you walked…"

"That's when I walked."

"Look on the bright side, though, Light," L put things into perspective, pulling Light in for another kiss, "Look where you walked to."

"I wouldn't say I walked to you," Light teased, "I'd say I…More so crawled to you."

"Casual stroll?"

"I could say casual stroll," Light agreed, giggling to himself, "With frequent breaks."

"That sounds about right," L let him have that one, gently brushing Light's hair out of his face, "Why don't you go back to sleep, ok?"

"Ok…"

"Do you need something to help you?" L reached into the nightstand drawer, thumbing through his small collection of sleeping medications, both prescription and over the counter.

"No," Light looked over his shoulder, his eyes popping out of his head, "Holy shit, L…How many different sleep aides do you have?"

"A few," L brushed him off, shutting the drawer, "I've been off and on them for years. Are you sure? Last chance."

"I'm sure," Light cuddled into L's ribs, his soul feeling a little less heavy, "Hey…L?"

"Hmm?" L pulled the blankets over both of them better.

"Thank you," Light shut his eyes, completely at peace again.

"For what?" L wondered, "Letting you vent? Of course, Light. I'm not just going to…"

"For not being like her," Light cut him off.

L's heart skipped a beat. And it only made him hold onto Light that much tighter, "My pleasure. Now, go to sleep. We still need to work in the morning."

"Ok…" Light kissed his cheek, "I love you."

"I love you, too." And as long as I live, Light, I will never ever, ever, ever be like her. Not with you. Once was plenty.