Chapter five:
Near hears footsteps go by the entry way to the alley. He keeps his breathing quiet as he waits to see if the man will leave.
"Damn it!" The man growls before he is heard kicking the ground in frustration. His shoes scrape the ground as he spins around before heading off clearly having no idea that he was so close to finding Near.
Near lets out a breath when he no longer hears those footsteps. He cautiously gets out of his hiding spot and heads to the entry way to the alley. He peeks out glancing around for any sign of the man. He doesn't see him anywhere so he heads out and while still alert for any signs of danger he heads to the meeting point. He soon arrives only to find Mello leaning against a wall waiting for him. He approaches the blonde who turns to look to him as he arrives. "Sorry for the delay. The guy popped back up while I was walking here."
Mello pushes away from the wall uncrossing his arms from his chest. "That's okay." He turns to fully face Near. "At least we got away. That is what matters." He points out to which the platinum blonde haired boy nods his head in agreement. "We should probably give it some time before we head to where we were going. To make sure that they did leave." He points out and Near starts to twirl a strand of his own hair around a finger.
"Then what does Mello suggest we do in the meantime?" Near inquires with his stormy grey eyes looking to the blonde who glances around the area.
"Well…" Mello turns to look to Near with a shine in his blue eyes that meet with the others stormy grey ones. "What we could do is check out that." He points to a direction that leads to what looks to be an abandoned property. "Maybe we could add it to the list."
Near nods his head in agreement to this idea so the two of them head over to that direction.
The two enter into the building finding that it is messy inside from debris of the unkempt place. They slightly glance around as they stick together just in case anyone else is in here with them. They find that most of the furniture that was left is either damaged or completely destroyed beyond any sort of repair.
Not that the three of them really would need all of it anyways.
Near notices some dust fall from above then glances up to where he notices a hole in the ceiling exposing the second floor. He can almost swear to see possibly other parts of that area might come crashing down. "I'm not so sure that this place is structurally sound anymore." He points out to Mello who turns to look to him before turning away to tap a part of the wall. He looks hearing a creaking sound only to notice cracks forming where his companion had slightly tested the wall.
"I think you are right. This place is a ticking timebomb. Doesn't seem too well built to withstand being abandoned overtime." Mello agrees so the two of them head for the way out only for said blonde to stop causing Near to stop too.
Near turns to look to the other wondering if the blonde had perhaps noticed something of interest. He instead finds the other looking right at him with a serious look. He can see some thoughts swirling in the blondes head through his eyes. He can't read what the thoughts are though he can tell that Mello is trying to figure something out. "What is it Mello?" He inquires turning to fully face the other.
"Near. I want to ask you something and please be completely honest with me." Mello requests making Near's curiosity grow.
"Of course Mello. You know you can trust what I say." Near confirms then waits to see what the other will say.
Mello slightly glances away with the smallest hints of a blush appearing. "Near… Do you like that girl? Do you actually want to go away with her?"
Near blinks feeling rather surprised at the question. "Of course not!" He quickly shoots it down which causes the blonde to look to him letting their eyes meet once more. "I have no feelings for her other than the feelings of wanting her to leave us alone. I am happy living with you and Matt. I do not want to leave. I want to stay." He pauses when Mello hurries over giving him a hug out of relief.
"That is so good to hear." Mello admits to the other who smiles softly and hugs the blonde back.
The two remain like that for a little bit before pulling apart.
"Come on. Let us get out of this death trap." Mello suggests to which Near nods his head in agreement.
They head out with Mello in the lead though after leaving that home the two of them walk side by side as they head on their way. Now planning to waste some time in the area with their café meeting point, until they feel like it is a good time to head to check the area that they had originally been heading to.
A little later…
The two of them reach the location safely and they slightly glance around.
It is a secluded area where there is no nearby roads to be seen around. It is just inside a small patch of woodland which would make some nice shelter from prying eyes. It is rather peacefully quiet.
Mello turns to look to Near sharing a smile with the other. "This is perfect. We could make a camp wherever we wanted to. And it doesn't seem like anyone else has set up anything here." He messes Near's hair a bit causing the other to laugh a little while slightly ducking his head and closing his eyes. "Good job." He moves his hand away to which Near raises his head while opening his eyes so the two of them can share another smile with one another.
They leave the area to head back to their home to share the good news with Matt and hoping that Matt also has good news about an area that he went to check out. They arrive only to see Matt looking disappointed.
"The area I went to check has become an area that people seem to be liking to go jogging or going for a walk. I wouldn't suggest it." Matt sighs closing his eyes briefly before opening them.
"Well we have good news about the area we went to check out." Mello tells Matt as he keeps quiet about what had happened on their way there. He clearly doesn't think that Matt needs to worry about that. "The area looks perfect if we wanted to set up there. So at least we have one area to go to if needed."
The red head perks up at hearing this before nodding with a smile. "That's great news!"
"I'm sure that everyone is hungry! Let's see what we have in our storage and have something to eat." Mello suggests glancing to Near after Matt nods only for the youngest of the group to nod as well.
The three of them head to go decide what to have to eat from what they currently have. All pretty happy that they now have an area that they can indeed escape to if needed.
Elsewhere a man starts to stalk Linda with a knife in one hand. He clenches his teeth when Roger comes over to the girl who turns to him.
"Linda. There you are." Roger sighs in relief to have found her.
The hiding man hisses to himself then spins around leaving to count this as a loss.
"Roger puts a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Linda. You have been worrying us by sneaking out so much. What if something had ended up happening to you? Also I heard that you were bugging a group of kids? Even though they've said no to you. We really need to talk about that." He keeps his eyes on her even when she glances away with a sad look in her eyes. "Linda you don't know who they could know. What if to get you to stop they end up getting a more dangerous friend to hurt you to keep you away? Besides you cannot just go on bugging people when they don't want you to. That isn't how you make friends." He lets out a breath. "Well right now what matters is that you are okay. We should head back to the orphanage. You need to make sure that you don't fall behind in your studies."
"Actually Roger…" Linda taps the tips of her pointer fingers together with the sketchbook she was carrying tucked under her armpit. "There is something that I need to explain about those kids that you heard about. And what had actually happened…" She goes on to begin explaining everything that had happened.