Authors Note: HEYO! XD Please tell me what you think; I would love to know XD I own nothing and no one.

JUST SO YOU KNOW: I have taken creative liberties with middle names, so please take that into consideration. Also, I've only seen the Anime and have only JUST started the Manga.

This is my FIRST Death Note fic, so I suppose you could say I'm new to the Fandom! Also, I live in England, I don't know Japanese, so any Japanese I use in this story I get from Google Translate XD

Please, please review XD

P.S. This is an AU - Light was never Kira, but still helped during the investigation; obviously, Light and L did not die; the Kira case took 1 year to clear up, not (about) 7; set in 2016. I apologise for OOCness, but it IS an AU ;)

SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT, BUT I'M AT UNIVERSITY!

Chapter 6

L

It had been a few months since I had revealed all to Light, the season changing to summer. He hadn't changed his attitude to me at all. He stayed exactly the same as he had been from the start, if only a little more touchy. Taking a closer look at this, I could come to the conclusion that, after hearing my story and how I had been treated as a child, he felt not only closer to me but also like he needed to make up for the lack of love.

But that was if I took a closer look at his behaviour.

Light was, yet again, with me in my own quarters, whilst Watari was out running some errands. We were spending another day inside, content with the four walls around us. It was nice, not having to deal with the throngs of people on the streets, getting caught up in the hustle and bustle. Inside, we had everything we needed - food, drinks, TV... That was all we needed, right?

Light was sitting on the floor, leaning his back against the sofa, writing something for homework in a notebook, resting on top of the coffee table. He was always so focused on getting all his work done as quickly as possible; always wanted to be the best. He pushed himself to the limits, stretched himself as thin as he could. I couldn't help thinking that, if Light had been born and raised in England, we could have met a lot sooner. His intelligence was what we looked for at the house.

Maybe I could have had a friend a lot sooner if that had been the case...

I flopped onto my back, on the sofa, staring up at the ceiling. I was bored. There wasn't a lot for me to do until Light finished with his work. Usually, I would get some cake but, unfortunately, I had run out - one of the reasons Watari had decided to run some errands.

"He'll be back soon." Light chuckled. "What is it with you and sweet things?"

Turning my head to the side, I stared at the back of Light's head.

"I never had any until my first Christmas at Wammy's." I explained. "I had one taste and I was hooked. Haven't stopped eating it since."

It was the first time Light had stopped writing. The scratching of the pen stopped, his head lifting slightly as he looked at me over his shoulder. He still wasn't used to me telling him things like that; still wasn't used to me being so forward with details of my past. Honestly? Neither was I. It always shocked me when I revealed something else to him. I never knew why I ended up doing so, I just knew I couldn't help telling him.

"Watari... Well, he became my Guardian from the start. I attached myself to him and him to me. As far as I'm concerned, he adopted me - he's my father. It's just not, technically, legal." I shrugged. "He's never been able to tell me no when it came to the sweets."

Leaning his head against the seat of the sofa, next to my hip, Light reached up to grab my hand, bringing it towards him until he could rest his cheek against the back of it. His skin always seemed to be so warm and soft, I could never quite understand how that was possible.

Light was still working by the time Watari came back.

Yes, he was on the last assignment, but that didn't make it any less boring. Cake only provided a small relief, unfortunately. Whilst it gave me something to do with myself, I just didn't like sitting in the silence.

For once, I actually wanted to talk.

Well, not for once.

Ever since I had met Light, I had wanted to talk more. That hadn't happened since I had first left England. I quite liked talking to Light. Besides Watari and the boys, he was the only one that could keep up a decent conversation; the only one that seemed to be able to keep up with my mind and its ways of working.

I didn't like not being able to talk to him.

It felt too much like I was alone again.

I didn't like being alone.

Sighing, I rested my chin on my knees, hands loosely encircling my calves. I just stared at the countless pages scattered over the table; watched as Light's pen scratched away at the paper in front of him.

I had always wondered what made him work so hard. What made him want to be the best. It was a great ambition to have, don't get me wrong, but surely it was stressful. Even if he didn't push himself as hard as he did, Light would still be top of his class; would still get all these amazing grades.

So why stress himself out all the more?

I didn't understand.

Was it a social thing?

Was it something to do with the aspect of the world I just couldn't grasp?

Out of the boys and I, Matt had always been the best with everything social. He could talk to people easily, when he wasn't being sarcastic; within minutes, he could befriend anyone; he could identify what was wrong with someone and knew how to fix it.

It was one of Matt's strong points, something he excelled in far more than Mello, Near as well as myself.

I miss my boys...

It was almost three in the afternoon when Light had finished his work. He let his pen drop onto the table, as he slumped back against the edge of the sofa, leaning his head back with his eyes closed. He stretched his arms out, yawning slightly.

"No more work until September." Light grinned. "Sounds good to me."

Smiling a little, I leant forward until my face was hovering over his. I stared down at his upside down face, seeing how relaxed he looked now he didn't have to worry about any of his work. It always seemed to happen - the stress was gone, his face smoothed out.

It made him look younger than he actually was.

Light kept his eyes closed, but I knew he knew I was watching him. There was this little twinge in his smile that gave it away.

Without really thinking about it, I reached out my right hand and gently ran my fingertips along his forehead and down his right cheek. I couldn't say why I did it only that, in the moment, it felt right. As Light opened his eyes, smile still in place, my fingers froze on his cheek.

"You should smile more." he told me, reaching up his left hand, touching his fingers to the corner of my mouth. "You look better when you smile."

"Not many things make me smile." I huffed.

"Then I'll have to figure out what does."

"They're all quite simple to work out."

Laughing slightly, Light moved until he was facing me, leaning lightly against the coffee table as he leant his arms on his knees.

In the sun, his hair looked almost red - a deep rusty colour that I couldn't help but stop and admire. There was just something about the colour that always seemed to capture my attention.

Or maybe it was just Light himself.

I couldn't say for sure.

"Would you ever go back to England?" Light asked me.

It had been a question he asked a lot, especially since I divulged parts of my past to him. For the life of me, I couldn't fathom why he kept asking such a question, particularly since he received the same answer from me time and time again.

"Yes and no." I sighed. "Yes, because of my boys. But no, because of you."

"If you could, would you bring the boys here?" Light hesitated.

"If it was what they wanted and they approached me about it, yes. I would never ask them myself."

"But why not?"

"I don't want to influence their answer and then they regret the choice."

It was, around, six that evening when I got the call.

Watari, Light and I were having dinner together, a plan that Light's parents knew about and were both fine with. The two were discussing a book Watari had suggested Light might like, when my mobile started to sound.

It was easy to identify who was calling. There was only one person I knew that would set Assassin by the band Muse as their personalised ring tone, on my phone. Even Watari and Light could tell, as I leaped from my chair and across the room, snatching the device.

I had it on speaker in seconds.

"Mello?" I smiled, placing the phone in the middle of the dinner table.

"L!" three voices yelled down the phone.

In the background I could hear many voices, more than there would be at the home. I thought that, possibly, they could have all gone into the town, but I never knew Matt to willingly get up before midday and, since Japan was nine hours ahead of England, it was only nine in the morning there.

"Well, this is quite a surprise." Watari chuckled, taking a sip of tea.

"Watari, you're there too!" Matt's delighted voice called down the speaker.

"Why, yes I am. As is Light Yagami."

Looking over to Light, I found him staring at the phone, not knowing what to do. He seemed even more startled after Watari had announced his presence, not knowing if he was allowed to be in on such a conversation.

"He is? Awesome! We've wanted to speak to you for ages!" Mello stated.

"We always seemed to call when you were at the University." Near explained. "The time difference can be extremely irritating. Especially when Matt refuses to wake up early."

"Hey!" Matt protested.

Glancing to Watari, I found that, he too, couldn't help but grin at their antics. It had been so long since we had the pleasure of speaking to the boys, I think we both forgot just how they could be. Even Light was cracking a small smile.

"Well, it's nice to finally be able to speak to you." Light told them. "I've heard a lot about each of you."

"And we, you." Near agreed.

"It feels like we've known you for years, the way L goes on about you!" Mello called.

I watched as Light's face flushed slightly, smiling the entire time.

"Hey, guys, can we just tell them already?" Matt's voice sounded, hushed and almost far away.

"Tell us what?" I asked, frowning.

For a moment, there was silence.

Nothing came from the other end of the phone.

For a moment, I started to worry, wondering what had happened to make the three of them go so quiet.

I waited, glancing up at Watari as the smile slowly fell from his face, a hint of anxiety starting to colour his features.

I was just about to speak again, when they all yelled:

"WE'RE COMING TO JAPAN!"

SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT, BUT I'M AT UNIVERSITY!

Please, please review XD

Thanks a lot for waiting XD