Sunday Morning

"Good morning beautiful," a sultry voice whispered, drawing Mello away from the land of dreams and into the hot, stuffy, and very naked arms of Matt. Twisting to the side, the blond gasped in pain, clenching his eyes shut. "Shhh, you don't have to move."

"Does he need some Aspirin?" B asked as his nimble fingers rolled a joint. "Taking it up the ass is a bitch the first time, isn't it Matty-boy?"

"I could use some Aspirin," Mello wheezed, letting his head fall back into the comforting arms of the stranger he had gone all the way with. Even though the position and space was uncomfortable, he didn't want to move away from Matt; he just tried to ignore the brunette's arousal which was digging into his thigh. "How did we get in here?" he mumbled, looking at the interior of the Volkswagen bus. The last thing he remembered was screaming Matt's name as he was fucked against a tree. His backside still stung with the welts and scrapes from the bark.

"It should feel a little better. L went out to get some hot water to dip clothes in. Putting that on your sore areas will really help out." Matt smiled encouragingly, even going so far as to place a delicate kiss on the tip of Mello's nose.

Frowning, things began to click in his mind. "You're…you're not a virgin, are you?" he sighed disappointedly. No one could have performed so wonderfully during his first time; in fact, other than crying and making a lot of noise, Mello couldn't think of anything that he had actually done to add to the experience. "Or rather, you weren't before we had…sex."

"Nope," the brunette shrugged. He didn't seem to notice the blonde's disappointment.

"Alright, I got the water!" L exclaimed as he yanked open the side door. "B, grab the rags."

The pale man lit up his joint before crawling over to his out-of-breath brother. "Yes, mother." They both shared a chuckle before dipping the rags into the steaming water. "Matt, bring him over."

Noticing for the first time that he too was naked, Mello tried to protest, but he was scooped up and moved over to the brothers. "Here you go," Matt chuckled, not minding that his nakedness was in full view.

Mello blushed and averted his eyes. There was no way that he was going to get used to such loose habits. And to think, that that erected beast was what had been shoved into his body. Jerking his eyes back to the stiff member, Mello could help but blurt out, "How did that thing manage to fit inside of me?"

Laughing as he sat back on some blankets, Matt allowed his hand to lazily stroke the excited cock. "I'm experienced. We'll leave it at that."

"Would you quit jerking off in my vehicle?" L grumbled as he flipped Mello over and planted a hot rag on the exposed derrière.

Ignoring the hiss of pain coming from the newest member of their clan, Beyond dug a bottle out of his pocket and offered it to the whimpering boy. Really, he couldn't be called a man in any sense of the word. At least, not while he was on the verge of crying. "Aspirin?"

Sunday Afternoon

If he was completely honest with himself, Mello would have admitted that he felt guilty. Guilty that he wasn't at Mass, guilty that he had lied to his parents, guilty that he had engaged in intercourse with another man, and guilty that he was still hanging around the mentioned heathen. Matt was currently standing tall with nothing on but his colorful boxers. Even as he was puffing away on a joint, three young ladies were having fun painting his body with large distorted flowers and swirly designs. There were groups of these people, all getting their bodies painted for the fun of it. Well, that and taking a stand on their freedom of expression which not-so-obviously included nudity.

Some men were fully nude, but the majority chose to cover their genitals. Even women decided to partake of the insanity, but all of them chose only to go topless before having recreations of famous paintings brushed across their skins. B's full body paint was more dark and thought-provoking with the American flag dripping with blood while L's seemed to mimic the thought with his Grim Reaper holding the scythe. Compared to the two brothers, Matt's paint job look like a happy carnival full of all the good things in life. The brunette could easily laugh with the artists as they brushed paint over his clothed crotch, could talk and smoke at the same time.

Smiling wistfully, Mello wondered if he could have participated. His sore ass made it difficult to stand for as long a period as would be needed to get painted, but he didn't think that he could be in such a state of undress in front of anyone even if he wanted to. There was only one…no, well, more like five people, excluding his own mother, who had seen him naked and that was only because Light and Misa stumbled into the scene of him getting his ass disinfected with alcohol. It was an unpleasant experience.

"Waddaya think?" Matt asked, his eyes not so subtly running over the blond's figure.

Mello felt a blush rising on his cheeks, and quickly averted his eyes. Why did Matt always make him feel so vulnerable? Years of proper upbringing had shamelessly been thrown out the window in the span of a few hours. Even a righteous fear of God couldn't keep him away from the brunette.

Forcing his eyes back to the still-wet paint job, Mello found himself nodding and smiling. "It's very happy."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Yep. It's you. You're always happy."

Tossing the stub of marijuana to the side, Matt sauntered over and leaned down to brush his lips against Mello's. The young German wanted to pull away and run for it, but his legs seemed frozen. Those lips tasted of drugs and candy and they easily held him in place. No one seemed to pay much attention to them, so Mello slowly relaxed until he was enjoying the kiss as well. Matt's tongue slipped between his lips, causing Mello to jerk in surprise, but one of the brunette's hands wrapped delicately around the back of his neck and held him still. The slick flesh teased the insides of his lips before running along his teeth. Trying not to be too nervous, Mello prayed that his quick job of brushing teeth had been good enough and that he didn't have terrible breath. Not that Matt would be able to taste anything with his nicotine-saturated tongue.

Letting slip a soft moan, Mello became even more surprised when Matt deepened the kiss even more. The experienced tongue drew designs across his own overwhelmed tongue, coaxing it into action. A familiar heat began to build between their bodies as Matt patiently coached Mello's mouth in the art of swapping spit.

"Hold it!" an excited voice squealed.

Before either of them had a chance to react, there was a flash and the unmistakable click of a camera. Mello jumped back from Matt in horror, but before he could run off in embarrassment, he collapsed in pain. Matt turned to see a giggling chick in pigtails. His crooked smile curled on his lips and he waved. "Hey, Linda! Long time, no see!"

"Matt!" she exclaimed as she rushed over. "That was sooo cute! Totally out of sight!"

Wincing as he made himself stand, Mello limped over behind the grinning man. "Linda?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, yeah! My name is Linda and me and Matt go way back! We went to school together!"

"She has a habit of speaking in exclamations only," Matt teased with a wink. "And hey, don't you know it's rude to take pictures of your friend kissing his boyfriend?"

Mello blushed as Matt shamelessly took his hand. Even more importantly, Matt had actually called him a boyfriend. That meant…well, it meant that they were together. As in, together, together. Well, it shouldn't have been surprising considering that they had already had sex.

'This is going too quickly,' Mello thought helplessly to himself.

"Aww, don't be a baby! You've never minded before! Besides, I've got lots of pictures of you doing worse," she shot back with her own wink. "Don't worry, my baby here has seen more of you than a decent girl should."

"You've still got that Mamiya garbage?" Matt laughed.

"Well, excuse me, but this little girl here has been nothing short of wonderful!" Linda gave the camera a pat, as if it were a pet. "You just hate her because she reminds you of what a horrible person you are."

"Oh, like I'm the only easy one here!" Matt shot back, pinching her cheek playfully.

"Man-whore!"

"Slut!"

"Super gay!"

"Bitch!"

Mello rubbed his ear unconsciously, still uncomfortable with the heavy use of such profanity. Matt didn't seem bothered at all by the vulgarity and his hand continued to squeeze the blond's comfortingly.

Linda did a little twirl before sticking her tongue out. "Jerk. I'll send you a copy of this photo when I get it developed!"

"Okay. See you around, Linda."

Just as quickly as she had shown up, the energetic girl was gone. Mello blinked in confusion and then turned back to the brunette. "She's taken pictures…of you doing worse than kissing?"

"Psh, way worse. It's because of those darn pictures that I can't forget that orgy I went to two years ago."

"Orgy?" Mello sighed unhappily. Why was he attracted to such an unchaste heathen? "And two years ago? How old are you?"

"Seventeen," Matt replied without hesitation.

"Seventeen?" Mello shrieked, pulling his hand out of Matt's. "Seventeen, and you had an orgy t-two years ago?"

The brunette turned to face his shocked boyfriend. "Mello? What's wrong?"

"B-but how could you! You're…you're not even supposed to be out of school, and y-you…you're-!"

"I don't see the problem," Matt insisted, reaching forward and taking a hold of Mello's hands. "It's not really a big deal, babe. Come here, let me explain." Gently he pulled the young German into his arms and pressed a soothing kiss to the trembling lips. Pulling Mello down to the grass, he teased the bruised lips until the blond was calm enough to hear him.

"Explain it, Matt," Mello begged.

For a moment, both young men sat in silence and stared at each other. Even though Matt was covered in carnival colored paints, it didn't take away from his boyish good looks. Just carefully looking over the body of his boyfriend, Mello felt his heart race and his stomach churn; it was like falling in love all over again, and the hysteria of a few moments ago was almost forgotten.

"My dad's a lousy, drunken businessman," Matt started, the usually humorous glint in his eye smothered in seriousness. "He wasn't always like that, but when my mom died from pneumonia, he lost it."

"So, he really loved her?" Mello asked, drawing closer to the brunette.

"Yeah, I guess he did. Well, anyway, he lost it and took to drinking. It got so bad that he would kick me out in the middle of the night and then let me back in when he was half-sober and heading out to work in the morning. Then my old man got remarried to some self-righteous bitch who loved to torment me with all her rules and regulations. By thirteen, I was sick and tired of living with them, so I stole my dad's motorcycle and started life on the road. Basically, the only people who took me in and accepted my choice to run away from home were hippies and people in camps like this one. By fourteen, I finally decided that I liked cock over pussy and by sixteen I was known throughout the circuit for my life philosophy as much as for my cute freckled ass."

Matt gave Mello a wink before leaning in and offering a quick kiss. Accepting the affectionate gesture, Mello tried to wrap his mind around Matt's story. Things like that didn't really happen in real life! But…it obviously did. Matt was right here and it had happened to him.

"I'm sorry," Mello whispered.

"You don't have to be," Matt replied with a shrug. "Actually, I think it's funny how prudish you're being. It's kind of cute."

Blushing, Mello figured that it was only fair to share a little of his upbringing. "I was raised by strict traditional Germans. Um, actually, m-my dad was a Nazi soldier during the war, and he defected to the USA, bringing his wife with him." The words were grated out as if the mere act of speaking caused physical pain. "But he only did it because he had to! He wasn't really a Nazi!" Mello looked to the ground, fearing the judgmental look that Matt could be shooting at him.

"You look like I'm going to hit you, or something."

Looking up in surprise, Mello saw the concerned look on Matt's face. The tension seemed to drain from him and he almost felt guilty for thinking so lowly of Matt. "I'm sorry, Matt, it's just…well people still aren't over what Hitler did. The war wasn't all that long ago, and just because I'm German people think that I'm Hitler's clone. I don't hate Jews, you know."

"Hey, hey, it's okay, babe. You don't look anything like Hitler, and I find it hard to believe that anyone as hot as you would be like that motherfucker."

Mello couldn't help but chuckle. "That's pretty shallow sounding."

"Yeah, but you love me for all my corny sounding lines, don't you?"

"Well, love's a pretty strong word," Mello said softly. No sooner had the words slipped from his lips than Matt pulled away with a distressed look on his face. "What? Are you okay? Matt?"

Forcing a smile on, Matt leaned back towards the panicking blond and shook his head. "It's okay, it's okay. Sorry."

"No, I'm sorry, Matt! Whatever I said, I'm sorry."

Scratching the back on his neck, Matt shook his head. "Sorry about being touchy, it's just…just that I broke up with someone not too long ago and it hurt pretty badly. His name was Nate, Nate River." Mello squeezed his boyfriend affectionately and the brunette seemed to take some encouragement from that. "I thought that we were both serious about each other, but I came to find out that he was just curious about experimenting with the same gender and once he got bored of me he broke it off."

"That's horrible!" Mello hissed, already disliking this Nate River. How could anyone be cruel enough to toy with Matt's feelings? "I would never do something like that!"

Matt's blue eyes lit up again and he pulled Mello into a passionate kiss. He wasn't sure how such a wonderful person had managed to come across his path at such a perfect moment, but he wasn't going to complain. Sexy as hell, golden hair, wide eyes that would dance between blue and green depending on the surroundings, sensitive, and a little bit of a cry-baby. Mello was absolutely perfect. "Stay with me," he mumbled against the wet panting lips.

"Yes," Mello promised, his mind in a haze. "Yes."

Across the camp a certain dark-eyed brunette was teasing his brother. "Sugar?"

"Yeah?"

"Honey, honey?"

"Oh, Buddha, not this again."

"I just can't believe the loooooveliness of loving you! I just can't believe the woooooonder of this feeling too!"

"Gah!" L cried out as Beyond smothered wet kisses all over his face.

"When I kissed you, boy, I knew how sweet a kiss could be," B chuckled. "Oh, sugar! Honey, honey! Pour a little sugar on it, honey! Pour a little sugar on it, baby!"

Tears were pricking at L's eyes as he laughed even harder, and no matter how hard he tried to be annoyed with his younger brother, he couldn't do it. "What do I do to you, B?"

"You are my candy-boy!" B cooed. "And you got me wanting youuuuu!" His pale wandering hands explained how exactly he wanted L: naked and panting.

"This is never going to get old, is it?" L snickered, as B shoved him into their Volkswagen bus.

"Nope. And neither is that song. It was made for you, you know."

Dragging his younger brother down into a pile of wrinkled blankets with him, L offered a rare genuine smile. "I love you."

Struggling not to blush, B flipped L onto his stomach. "Yeah, yeah…"

Paint rubbed and smeared, adding to the mess the two brothers lovingly created.

Sunday Evening

Alcohol did strange things to the mind, Mello decided. Add to that a puff of marijuana, and he was joining the crazy mass of people wildly dancing and singing. Matt laughing at and with him, teasing him into even more public displays of affection. There were some people who left in disgust as the two young men tangled tongues, but Mello couldn't be bothered with noticing, much less caring. Matt openly groped his rear end being careful not to inflict any pain, and Mello couldn't help how aroused he was getting. Besides a loss of inhibition, another "benefit" of alcohol was that even if Matt teased too roughly, Mello was numb and wouldn't feel a thing.

In fact, Mello almost didn't feel the car's bumper digging into the back of his legs until they buckled and he fell on top of the hood of a stranger's long-nosed car. "Matt?" he half-mumbled, half-moaned.

"So motherfucking sexy," the brunette groaned in excitement before plunging his tongue back into the panting heat of Mello's mouth. It was intoxicating to taste of the tainted honey of his mouth and Matt wasn't sure how he had managed to live so long without this stuttering touch, this body so desperate to learn and yet so scared. He wanted to hold Mello tightly, to never let him out of his embrace.

Writhing underneath the ministrations, Mello felt that he was drunk on so much more than the alcohol. Matt was so much more potent, so much more delicious. How was it even possible that a human could taste so divine? How was it possible that such pleasure could be derived from anything on this earth? How could the bliss of being so intimate with anyone, much less a man, top even the promise of the glories of heaven? "Again, M-matt, I want more," he gasped desperately. "Ngh, more!"

Eager to please his boyfriend, Matt pinned the blond's arms above his head and lavished attention to the pale neck. Dragging his tongue across the candy necklace that L had placed on the blond for "good luck", Matt could feel the soft rumble of Mello's moans. Dipping his tongue under the candy beads, he pulled the treat into his mouth and munched on a few of them before trailing down to tease at the still-clothed nipples. Mello's arousal was becoming unbearable and Matt could sense it. His hand rubbed against the bulge, teasing it even more, pressing until Mello was nearly in tears again. Those tears which were more precious than pearls. "Is this enough?" he asked, looking up in those wet eyes.

"N-no!" Mello replied, bucking his hips up against Matt's chest. "Please, more!"

Leaning back to show his own arousal, Matt flashed a wicked grin and tugged on his pant zipper. "Me first, babe. Why don't you take care of me first?"

Insecurity bubbled up in those icy green eyes as he watched Matt tug out his impressive cock. He didn't know how to do what Matt wanted him to do, but it would have been unfair to him to keep taking and taking. "I'm not sure how," he whispered.

"Just do like I did yesterday," Matt encouraged.

Sliding off the hood of the car, Mello got on his knees in front of the eager brunette and placed his lips to the tip of the throbbing member. Even with all his experience and sexual exploits, Matt couldn't keep back the moan of appreciation as the hot mouth slowly stretched out over his quivering cock. He was already spilling precum and it felt like his whole body temperature jumped up a few hundred degrees. Wincing at the taste in his mouth, Mello forced himself to keep his mouth over the cock. Trying to remember what had caused such indescribable pleasure was hard, but Mello struggled to remember. It couldn't be all that complicated.

Keeping his lips tightly wrapped around the member, Mello took a tentative suckle. He felt Matt buck into his mouth, so he repeated the move. Then, a swipe of his tongue to the underside, licking right along the prominent vein. Two hands ran through his feminine hair before taking a firm grip and tugging rhythmically with the sucks. It was a new and unusual feeling, not one that he could claim as pleasurable. However, he did like the feeling of his hair being pulled, so he took a deep breath and gave another long suck. No sooner did he open wider to take another breath than Matt bucked particularly hard, hitting the back of Mello's throat. Tears welled in his eyes as he gagged and coughed, and Matt had the decency to pull the swollen cock out of his mouth.

"Sorry, sorry!" Matt apologized breathlessly, stroking Mello's wet cheeks with his thumbs. "I forgot that you were a beginner. You don't know how to deepthroat yet."

"D-deepthroat?" Mello croaked unhappily as he looked up into the apologetic blue eyes.

"Yeah, sorry. Just try swallowing around my dick, okay?"

"Okay."

Wiping the saliva that had run down this chin and throat, Mello steeled himself to try again, this time with at least a little direction. Matt stroked his member a few times before presenting it to the kneeling blond. Curiously, Mello licked the tip before swallowing down the flesh and as his eyes rolled up to watch Matt's reactions, he was rewarded with a red-faced and panting brunette. Matt's eyes squeezed shut even more tightly, Mello noticed, any time his hand came up to hold the cock steady. Grinning, he squeezed the base and gave a light twist, eliciting a gasp and whimper.

"That's it," Matt whispered as he struggled to keep from face-fucking the blond. "J-just like that. Aga-ngh!"

Before he could try anything else, Mello heard a very familiar voice. "Mihael? What the fuck are you doing?"

Jerking away in surprise, Mello didn't have enough time to mind his teeth as he pulled off of the engorged flesh. But Matt doubled over in pain was the least of his worries as he stared wide-eyed at John. His schoolmate stared back at him with an expression of horror mixed with disgust.

"W-wait, it's not what it looks like!" Mihael pleaded, his heart pounding. What if John told his parents? What if John took off immediately and left him stranded? He couldn't just ride home in the Volkswagen bus that reeked of drugs and booze!

"What is it supposed to fucking look like?" Accusation flashed in those dark eyes and Mihael felt fear gripping his guts in an iron fist. "I mean, fucking Buddha, I know that you wanted to experiment around before being shipped off to Vietnam, but this? Gay stuff?"

Firm hands gripped his shaking shoulders and spun him around where he was met with furious looking blue eyes. "You were experimenting with me?" The hurt in Matt's voice was like a gun-shot straight to his chest.

'No, not Matt. Don't let Matt hate me too…'

"You fucking bitch! You lied to me!" There were tears in his eyes, but Matt wouldn't let them fall. No, Mihael didn't deserve to see them, to see how much the betrayal really hurt. "What an idiot I was, falling for your damn…your damn…" Eyes. Face. Hair. Lips. Mouth. Hands. Skin. Voice. Soul. "You're just like Nate!"

It was as if all the air had been sucked right out of him. Mihael let the tears run down his cheeks as Matt shoved him against the car they had been fooling around on only minutes ago. But it was his fault, all his fault. Matt had every right to hate him. John had every right to be disgusted. Because, he was a coward and a failure at anything he did in life. He was no one special, no one who deserved to be loved or cherished. Just another kid who tried to fit in before being mercilessly kicked out.

"And fucking Vietnam?" Turning away in fury, Matt nearly stomped off before turning back and punching Mihael in the face with as much strength as he could muster. "Baby killer," he hissed out venomously before zipping his pants back up and shoving his way through the crowd, disappearing almost instantly.

Blue eyes found John, standing there awkwardly. He looked uncertain, as if he didn't know if he should be feeling sorry or angry. "Look, I'll still take you home, okay? Just…don't look at me. Or talk to me."

Mihael nodded as his eyes fell to the earth directly beneath his feet. Drops of blood from his split lip fell along with the tears, mixing into the black dirt. The choked sobs that shook his entire frame were drowned out by the songs of beauty, love, honesty, and fun.

Monday morning

The asphalt highway swept past like the racing stream of a rockslide. Cramped in the back of the station wagon, it was almost like the journey he had made all through Friday morning. Staring at his reflection, Mihael felt sick. The weekend had flown by in a blur of everything wonderful and amazing, but it ended so abruptly. Reality had to come and pop his bubble of happiness, revealing that it was all a shallow and temporary memory. He and Matt hadn't really fallen in love; they had simply succumbed to the flow of things and got carried away. L and B and Kira and even Misa-Misa were simply strangers that he would never see again.

This chapter of his life was closed, to be sealed away and forever forgotten. He would go home, would wash himself of the filth and continue to be the child his parents had trained. He would never lie, never miss Catholic services, and never think unclean thoughts. In a few short weeks he would be shipped off to basic training, and in a few months after that he would be facing combat in the jungles of Vietnam. All to restore his family's honor and to show pride for his country.

And if he was lucky, he would die there.

Six months later…

Wet, everything was wet.

Shifting his weapon carefully, blue eyes searched the overgrowth in front of him. Darting eyes looked for any trace of the enemy's presence, even as they looked to his brothers for any signals. There was a village ahead the map had said, but they couldn't see any. Keeping his breath level, Mihael tried to keep his thoughts off of his damp feet or the fact that the leaves were still steaming with humidity. He was choking on the air, but dared not even so much as cough.

In the blink of an eye, the entire scene had shifted. Bullets were flying through the air, grenades were exploding all around kicking up dirt, rocks, and flesh. Shoot, shoot, shoot, and live to fight another day. Red painted the tattered leaves, marking another injury, another death. It was almost all reflexes now, no conscious thought needed. It was the most primal urge to live, to survive.

But if he failed to survive, it was all the same. There were no letters for his parents. No letters to a girl at home. Wiping the gore splashed across his face, Mihael tried not to think that those were actually the remains of a fellow soldier he had grown to care for. If he died, there was only a stack of unsent letters to take back to America. Letters that had no address because the intended receiver never stayed settled anywhere.

Author's Notes: Linda's camera: http:/ /licm .org .uk/livingImage/Mamiya_CPH_ SLR .html