It had been two years since they'd bought the flat. Somehow they had convinced their landlord to take a cheap down payment, and all three of them had to get jobs in order to pay the rent every month.

Arrow had quit her job in the coffee shop she used to work at and now had a desk job as a receptionist in a law firm. Matt, of course, held a job at HMV. And Mello drifted from job to job, as he never could put up with any one employer for very long at a time. Together they managed to pull in enough money to pay the rent and buy enough food to get by. All of them lost weight during this time and had nearly forgotten what real meat tasted like.

Arrow's hair had gone from the mud-brown she had been born with to a bleached blonde. She was having a secret affair with one of the married men in the office, and Matt had even found a suspicious pair of boxer shorts on one occasion in the laundry.

Matt had followed Mello's advice and bought gloves. Unfortunately, this left him rather twitchy for a while and he had bought his first pack of cigarettes with a fake ID a few months after buying the gloves. Neither of his roommates enjoyed his habit but had no other choice. Eventually, they managed to come to terms with their eventual black lung and put up with it.

Mello had bought a gun and kept it under his pillow. He carried it around everywhere, but had not fired it yet. He convinced Arrow to let him buy it because of the seedy neighborhood they lived in and so, with a pretty girl and two fresh-faced teenage boys, they were practically begging for a rapist to pay their flat a surprise visit. Arrow soon regretted this decision, however, when Mello was arrested for pointing the gun at someone who had bumped into him on the street. At the time, the gun hadn't been loaded and he managed to convince the police that he never intended to pull the trigger and that, indeed, the safety had never even been disengaged.

All in all, they were doing much better than Arrow had expected.

--

"So I met someone today." Mello said one evening when he returned home from his job at a hardware store. Both Matt and Arrow looked up from their spots on the couch. Matt's cigarette almost dropped out of his mouth.

"Dumping Matt already?" Arrow said, eyebrow raised. Mello glared at her and walked over to sit between the two.

"First off, I'm not gay." Mello said, stretching his arms above his head. Arrow noticed Matt's eyes wander over his friend's chest and she snickered.

"Who'd you meet then?" She asked, still grinning.

"There's this guy who's with the mafia in America. I met him and we had a talk. He said he'd hook us up with a place in Los Angeles and we could get out of this rat hole." Mello answered. His roommates each raised their eyebrows.

"…A mafia guy just randomly offered to fly us out to Los Angeles forever." Matt stated disbelievingly.

"There's an arrangement, of course." Mello told him, placing his hands behind his head and staring at the floor in thought.

"And that would be…?" Arrow inquired.

"I can't tell you that." Mello said, his hand drifting to his pocket, and his fingertips brushing the lump that was his gun. "He respects me though." He muttered, a slight grin on his lips.

"Mello…" Arrow said softly, grabbing his hand. He immediately snatched it back.

"Don't go lecturing me on how the mafia's dangerous. It's no worse than Kira's existence. If someone doesn't like you, all they have to do now is put your name and picture on the internet. Which is only a matter of time for you." He sent Arrow a glare and she looked down, knowing that her lover's wife had been getting suspicious recently, as she wasn't allowing him to visit as often.

"It's still probably not a good idea." Matt spoke up. "What makes you think he respects you? It's more likely he's just planning on using you."

"Please. He was an idiot. He wouldn't be thinking that far ahead. Just by listening to him for five minutes I could tell he's nothing more than a grunt." Mello answered him, rolling his eyes.

There was a momentary silence. No one spoke, and an awkward feeling hung in the air. No one wanted to be the first to speak next, but they all needed something, anything to break the quiet. Finally, it was Mello who spoke.

"I just want to get you guys out of here." He whispered. The other two looked at him, wondering if they'd heard him correctly. He had never said anything like this before to anyone and it came as quite a shock to the other two to hear the words come out of his mouth.

Finally, he looked up. He looked at Arrow's eyes first, then Matt's. He was still facing Matt when he spoke.

"Do you want a better life or not?"

"…All right." Arrow murmured after a moment's hesitation. Mello looked back at her and nearly smiled.

"You only want to do this because Near's in America, huh?" Matt spoke up. The other two looked at him and Mello let his smile show.

"That's a major factor in my decision, yes. I'm going to catch Kira before he does, and I certainly can't do that in these conditions." He said with certainty.

"So does this mean that we should start packing?" Arrow questioned. Mello shrugged and stood up.

"Do what you want." He said as he sauntered off to his room. "I'm not forcing you to go anywhere."

Matt and Arrow sat together silently for a few moments, digesting Mello's news. It was hard to believe that he would just suddenly decide something like that. Especially when he had received the offer from such a shady character. But he did have a point about getting them out of here. Finally, Arrow sighed.

"What do you think?" She asked Matt, looking at him sadly.

"I think he has the best of intentions." He said simply.

"It's Mello. You really think he ever has good intentions for anyone other than himself?" Arrow snorted. Matt rolled his eyes.

"He's done a lot for us, Arrow. And you know it." he told her, scratching at his wrist. This gave Arrow an excuse to look anywhere other than his eyes.

"I still don't think he's doing this for us." She said in a soft voice. Matt stood up at that and turned for Mello's room.

"Fine. You can stay here. I'm going with him." He said defiantly as he marched off.

Arrow watched him disappear into Mello's room and sighed, pulling herself off of the couch and into her room to pack her things.

"You're serious about this." Matt said as he walked into his friend's room. Mello turned and half-smiled at him.

"Yeah. And I really meant what I said back there." He said. Matt nodded. "Also, if you ever repeat what I said to anyone, I'll make you wish that you'd never met me."

"Yeah, all right. Deal." Matt said with a laugh. Mello turned to face him and smiled for the second time that day.

"Matt." He said, walking over to him and taking his hand, "We're getting in deep now… if we go, there's no turning back." He sighed softly. "This is real. We'll likely die. We're no different than L."

"I know." Matt admitted, wrapping his arms around Mello's waist. He was only thankful that he had his gloves on so that his sweaty palms would go unnoticed.

Mello sighed softly, relaxing under Matt's embrace. His anxiety only a moment ago melted away and he leaned into the hug, wrapping his own arms loosely around Matt. Neither of them said anything. They didn't need to. That simple hug conveyed both their feelings simultaneously and neither wanted to let the other go.

For a fleeting moment, Matt was overcome with the urge to say a certain three-word phrase, but decided against it when Mello's grip on him tightened slightly and a soft sigh escaped his lips.

That night, they slept in the same bed and Arrow had to find a new way to tease Mello.

Short chapter after a long break. I'm so sorry.

Also, I would really appreciate more comments. Even if it's criticism. Actually, I like constructive criticism because it helps me get better. So yeah. More comments. Please?