A/N v.2: The POV starts changing this chapter, so be aware of that. But it only ever happens after a linebreak, so it shouldn't be too hard to spot. I do enjoy reviews, though I don't really need them for this fic, haha. But thanks to the people who left reviews. :) Happy reading! :)


Chapter 4

As the sun started to sink in the sky, Matt's thoughts drifted back to that morning. More specifically, they drifted back to his conversation with Mello. "Mello…" he whispered. Slowly wiping the tears off his cheeks, Matt started to get up. He really needed to apologize. 'What the hell was that?' he thought. 'I acted like a f***ing angsty teenage girl or something!' He ran to his bike and started to climb on.

And then the Mafia showed up.

A bullet shot through the trees surrounding the cemetery and went through the seat, mere inches from Matt. "F***!" he swore, indulging himself, and jumped on his bike and sped away, swerving wildly to avoid the flying bullets.


Mello was pacing his room. "What the hell just happened out there?" he asked himself for the hundredth time. "Why the f*** was I so mean? I mean, whatever Matt had to do, it was obviously important. Why was I trying to tag along?" He paused. "That's the whole key, isn't it? I want to go where Matt goes, do what Matt does, be where Matt is. But why?" He started pacing again, violently biting off pieces of the chocolate that, ironically, Matt had given him. Suddenly, Mello had an epiphany. "I… I love him."

Mello sat down on his bed, staring at his chocolate in awe. "Damn, I need to apologize!" he said, and ran out the door, only to collide into the very person he was looking for. But there was one tiny problem. Matt had been shot.


Matt limped into the hotel, looking for Mello. One of the bullets had hit him in the calf, and another had hit his shoulder, just as he was getting off his bike in front of the hotel. He hoped he could hold onto consciousness for just a few more minutes, because he needed to apologize to Mello before he was being fussed over by all and sundry.

He slowly walked towards Mello's room, only to collide with Mello himself. For some reason, Mello's eyes were wide, and for the first time since that first day, he didn't have a chocolate bar in his hand. Then he looked at Matt, and if possible, his eyes grew wider.

"F***!" Mello swore! "We gotta get you to a hospital!"

"No! Listen," Matt said, breathing heavily. "I'm sorry… for what I did… this morning. It was… really stupid… and I should have… been nicer." And, his mission accomplished, he fainted.


Mello just barely managed to catch Matt as he fell. "Shit! You're f***ing heavy, Matt!" he said. But he was able to get Matt into his room. Then he called 911 and requested an ambulance.

When the ambulance, loaded with Matt, who was accompanied by Mello, reached the hospital, Matt was immediately rushed into surgery. Mello was forced to wait outside, filling out all the forms and taking care of the legalities, Because he didn't know anything about Matt, he used the alias of one of his… "employees," shall we say? For Mello was the leader of the Los Angeles Mafia.

Mello was the illegitimate child of a college student and an off-the-street hooker. He was an unexpected arrival, born because of a rip in the condom, but neither parent was willing to abort him. He was eventually born in Winchester, England. However, neither parent had the funds or resources to take care of him, so they shipped him off to Wammy's Orphanage when he was barely six months old.

Because of his abandonment, Mello grew up to be a very hostile child with a rather sadistic sense of humor. None of the children in the orphanage liked him, except for one.

Near came to Wammy's when he was five; Mello was seven at the time. Within days, near was following Mello around like a lovesick puppy, and try as he might, Mello just couldn't shake him off. Eventually, Mello grew to like the little albino puffball. As the years passed, Mello and Near became good friends. This was probably helped along by the fact that they were both extremely intelligent.

Eventually, though, the memories got to be too much for Mello, and he had to leave. A week before he turned 16, Mello snuck out of Wammy's and boarded a plane to New York City. He told nobody but Near, whose distraught face would haunt him forever. As Mello continued life in New York, he realized there was still one thing anchoring him to England: Near. And so, in order to free himself completely, Mello forced himself not to forget, but to utterly loathe Near and everything about him.

When Mello landed in New York, the first thing he did was get lost in a bad part of town. He must have looked rich because he was almost immediately jumped by two big goons. Or more accurately, he was almost jumped by two goons. He took care of them faster than you could say, "Snickerdoodle." What Mello didn't know was that one of the thugs was the leader of the New York Mafia, out looking for some fun. Because he had defeated the leader, Mello became the new leader of the New York Mafia.

At this time, he also got himself a girlfriend. He had met her when he was out in a bar, getting drunk after a failed mission. The two had hit it off pretty nicely, and they were going steady within a week. She even seemed to have no issues with his Mafia connections, and they atrted to live together. Lately, though, she had started to feel alone, and had gleefully broken up with him over another, prettier, less busy man. SHe had also booted him out of her apartment, so he was staying in a hotel until he could find his own.

At the moment, though, Mello was standing in a hospital, filling out medical forms and fervently praying that Matt would be okay. A few minutes after Mello sat down, a young, good looking doctor came up to him.

"Hello, my name is Touta Matsuda. Are you the companion of the redhead we just treated?" he asked.

"Yeah," Mello replied, instantly perking up.

"Well, he'll be alright in a week or so. We've removed the bullets, but he shouldn't participate in any strenuous activities for a few weeks. We'd like to monitor him overnight to make sure his wounds don't get infected. Would you like to spend the night here or go home?" offered the young doctor.

"I'll… stay here," Mello said, and followed Dr. Matsuda up to Matt's room.

Luckily, Mello was able to sleep in the same room as Matt, as there were two beds. He was currently sitting in a chair beside Matt.

"C'mon, Matt," he whispered, taking Matt's hand and rubbing it. "You gotta pull through. Think of the people waiting for you. Think of the people depending on you. Think of me, Matt!" And he leaned in and pressed his lips to the other's.