A/N:

AHHH! Bet you guys didn't expect to see me back this soon, did you suckers?!
MUAHAHA! OMG THERE IS SO MUCH MATTxMELLO in this I almost died. I don't know, lately I've been having a crazy craving for them. I need to find myself a good fanfiction to read, I haven't really been reading anything in a while, but I have had major projects to do and stuff. Dx

Ah, not like you guys care.

Sorry, I am just SO happy that I got this chapter updated in only about a week - AND IT'S MY LONGEST YET!!

on top of that, I think I did a really good job in here with imagery and the flashback. Well, I hope so, it took so much out of me. haha not really.

ENJOY! I KNOW I DID!!! xDDDD

Matt was returning from an outing with Mello and Near. The sad thing is, he couldn't even remember what they had just done at all. A vampire never got tired, but was it possible for them to get worn out? Lately he had been feeling so tired… Rubbing the back of his layered red hair, the youngest vampire noted the bland gray halls of the building, faded wallpaper peeling with age. It had been at least five days since he had been here. Why were the others so damn flighty? I mean, the cult had a steady home, horrible as it looked, but still Mello and Near were constantly on the move, always killing at different places. Really, Matt had wanted to go, but he had become so tired, which seemed to be unusual behavior for a vampire. Maybe he had just grown homesick and needed to get away. No, that option was impossible, considering Mello was his home.

The boy wondered how old this apartment complex was. The brown stained floor that seemed to contrast the dull corridor creaked, coming out like something of a moan under even Matt's own weightlessness. Tiny rectangles of light that dripped out from underneath the aged doors were the only signs that people still inhabited these halls. The wooden door squeaked as Matt opened it to enter the room. The lights were off, but something was different. Sniffing the air, the redhead felt the presence of a second vampire.

"Hello?" He called, his voice bouncing off the walls and icy white windows. No response. The teen took a step further, and then one more, so that he was past the entrance hall and could look around the room itself. Slowly, the redhead flicked on the switch thus erupting the room in yellow light. On the old couch, a sullen L perched, hands hugged his knees to his chest.

Smiling, Matt walked over to him, "You gave me a scare. I thought there was another vampire here for a second. Well, it's nice to see you again, didn't expect you to be back so soon though." Matt towered above L's lifeless form. The older man didn't look up or give any sort of response. He didn't even move, for that matter. Matt's pale hand fell onto L's shoulder reassuringly. "Something wrong?"

Black hair shook as L turned his overpowering gaze up to Matt, but with the way the other vampire looked down upon him, those deep orbs looked more like puppy dog eyes. The two stood in silence for a while, Matt waiting patiently for the dark haired superior to speak. Finally, without warning, L stood up.

"I was so lonely."

"Oh, sorry. If you want I can call Mello and Near and we can come stay with you. How long have you been here for?" Matt asked, beginning to pull out his phone. Quickly, a hand came to his pocket where the redhead was digging around and smacked Matt's hand. Dropping the phone on the dirty tile, Matt looked up incredulously to L, who, even though he was roughly at Matt's own height, was giving him those puppy dog eyes again. Oh, God.

"What's wrong?" L looked so incredibly sad, like Matt had never seen him before. In fact, L never ever became sad. The man only seemed to have two moods: emotionless and sadistic. So what was this?

"I was lonely," L repeated monotonously. Matt realized he had forgotten how childish L could be sometimes. Well, if L was going to play this game, Matt would just have to play along. Placing his large hands on either sides of the man's white shirt, he too hunched over so he was looking directly into L's obsidian eyes underlined with deep purple bags that made the man look older than he was.

"L, you've got to give me answers." Matt said sternly. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong." Matt felt like a parent or teacher. Never had the redhead treated L like this before. Before his tragic death, L's butler and personal friend Watari had taken care of L, now usually Mello or Near would take care of L since they had known him longer. Matt didn't know how they could put up with him like this, and he hoped he was doing the right thing.

L's eyes dropped to the floor. Guess it wasn't working. "If I tell you something, you promise you won't tell?" Oh, maybe it was. Matt's grip on L's shoulders lightened a bit, but never completely left. Swallowing, Matt nodded solemnly, lips pressed in a tight line. Taking a deep breath, L continued. "I'm lonely, but I don't care about you or Mello or Near. I think I might miss Light-kun's company. For a human, he was quite smart." Matt sucked in a breath and released his grip on L. Somehow, this reminded him of a conversation he, too, had long ago.

It was the first day of Matt's fourth year in high school. What a drag. He couldn't wait to be out and off, maybe not to collage, but to his family's business. The Bakery wasn't the business he wanted to pursue in, but, being the oldest in the family, Matt had to take the offer. Sitting in the back corner of a typical high school classroom, he examined the chalkboard for the teacher's name. Ms. Smith. The name itself pretty much screamed 'strict'. Not one thing had changed over the summer, every single student were the same from last year. Quietly, Matt pulled the game boy out of his jacket pocket and began playing. School just wasn't worth it.

After about five minutes of annihilating the bad guy in Sly Fox Advance, Matt heard a commotion begin to stir. The pupils, who were scattered around the room in little groups, all except Matt, began whispering furiously, sending ripples of sound back and forth down the length of the room. Among the wavy sea of desks and heads, the redhead noticed a person he had never seen before. A new student, who seemed to look only about as enthusiastic about being here as Matt did, stood out next to the other bodies. This student had blonde hair that looked so soft it could almost be a girl's; that seemed to flow gently down to the bottom of his neck, and in the front fell to the tops of his eyelids that held deep, dark eyes. Matt wondered whether it was that, or this person's odd choice of tight black leather clothing items that sent the girls in awe. When Matt stopped gaping long enough to look around him for the first time since he heard the student's presence, he noticed that everyone else was doing the same. Even the toughest boys in the class couldn't help but stare at this new competition. The girl's mouths hung down to their desks and their eyes seemed to bulge. It was a pretty funny sight, actually. Matt couldn't help but laugh at the sight of everyone so entranced – especially the girls, who, in the sight of such a guy should be acting their best and showing off, were only showing this teen the inside of their mouths.

Stifling the chuckle built up inside of him, Matt tried to contain it for the sake of this moment that seemed to be frozen in time, but unsuccessfully let out a none-too-graceful snort, causing everyone to glare intensely in his direction. Everyone, that is, except the new student. That person just seemed to be curious as to what was so funny. Hastily, Matt covered his mouth, but couldn't bare it any longer. The redhead busted out laughing and had to turn outside of his desk just so he could bend over and clutch his stomach in laugher.

After regaining himself, he looked up from his hysterics, straightened himself in his desk, and turned toward the front to see everyone still staring right at him. Was what he had done really that horrible? He gave everyone a questioning look, but the girls ignored it and the guys just raised their eyebrows. What an excellent way to start off the year – and homeroom hadn't even ended yet.

At lunch, Matt sat alone. The long tables filling the cafeteria were all but packed, and yet everyone still avoided his completely. Halfway through lunch, however, the new kid came and sat next to Matt.

"Hello." Matt just gave him a begrudged look. "Oh, don't give me that. It was your fault for laughing this morning." Still, Matt only stared. "If you aren't going to talk, then I'll just leave." When Mello got up to go, Matt reached up for his arm.

"Wait." Mello paused, giving the redhead a slightly smug grin.

"That's what I thought. Why did you laugh at me this morning?" Matt raised his eyebrows. So that's what they thought.

"I swear didn't laugh at you! I laughed at everyone's faces that were staring at you. Personally, I didn't understand it, but for some reason they were all entranced with you. The look on their faces was funny. They all looked they were under some kind of spell for a video game or something." Mello laughed at this, too. "See? It really was funny!"

"Yea, I did kinda notice it too. How weird, right? They were almost making me sweat!"With that, Matt burst out in laughter a second time, and so did Mello, to Matt's own surprise.

"What's up with the leather clothing? You look like one of those bad guys."

"I don't know. I wear it to scare people." Mello smirked evilly.

"You didn't scare me; I don't think you scared off all the girls, either."

"It's not to scare them. But if it did, wouldn't that be awesome?" Mello broke out laughing, a more sadistic one this time. Matt blushed unconscientiously and looked down, flustered by this new side to him.

Matt and Mello quickly became the best of friends. Matt was so happy to finally have someone that would sit with him in classes and talk – he had always been the odd one out that people avoided. In school, the two were inseparable. Outside of school, Mello came over Matt's house, or the two would email constantly. Still, Matt never really saw the sadistic side of Mello he longed to experience again.

It seemed as though everything was going well for the two of them. Finally, one day Mello didn't show up for school. Matt ignored it, figuring the other was sick. A few more days passed, and still, no sign of Mello. Matt called his phone, but there was no answer – the operator said the number had been cancelled. The redhead had emailed numbers of times, but his inbox remained empty. Weeks passed, and there was no sign of Matt's blonde friend. Slowly, Matt began to lose hope. He was lonely, all the time. This had never happened to Matt, who soon began to wonder whether his feelings could be more than friendship, not that it even mattered anymore.

About a month and a half later of devastation, Matt decided to take a walk at night. Earlier it had been raining, so puddles lined the streets, and tiny clear droplets of dew covered the streetlamps, causing the light shining out of them to emit a gloomy essence. Turning around a dark corner, Matt's shoe landed directly in a deep puddle. Cursing silently to himself, he didn't notice the figure under the streetlamp. Looking up, Matt saw a blonde boy with dark eyes like coal covered in a black leather trench coat staring right back at him.

"Mello," he breathed. The other boy didn't waste any time. He walked deliberately up to the slightly shorter redhead, tilted his chin up just the tiniest bit, and pressed his soft lips to Matt's own. Before Matt could even gather what had just happened, Mello had stepped back, farther than the pool of light given off by the streetlight, so he was barely visible. "Mello," Matt repeated softly, savoring the name.

"I'm sorry. I had to do that. There's something you must know, Matt. I'm not like you." Mello brushed his messy bangs out of his eyes so he could look at Matt. He took a single step forward, halfway into the light, and halfway out. "I'm sorry I had to leave. I truly didn't want to, but they told me to."

"I was so lonely without you. No one else would do, I only wanted you."

"I'm sorry. The truth is, I couldn't get too close to you and by staying as long as I had, I was threatening our family's secret. Now I've realized that I can trust you. Do you promise to keep my family's secret?" The golden light from the lamppost draped Mello in an angelic halo. Matt was still entranced with what previously happened, and had to resist the urge to reach up and touch his lips. Numbly, the redhead gave a solemn nod. "I'm a vampire." Mello smiled, exposing his fangs, but it came out more like a grimace as the blonde traced the point of his fangs with his tongue. Matt took a half step back in shock – a vampire?! But those only existed in stories!

"I… are… you… serious?!" Matt managed to enunciate the words, his mouth trembling in wonderment and fear. Before he could move or do anything, Mello's teeth met the soft skin of his neck. Softly, he bit down, not far enough to pierce the thin layer of skin.

"Dead serious." Mello pulled back so his face was only inches from Matt's own. "And… I think I could be in love with you… do you feel the same?" Matt nodded solemnly again and gulped. So now his best friend not only happened to be a vampire, but was in love with him. At least he felt the same way. Before the redhead could laugh, or cry (whichever came first) Mello's lips met with his own again, this time lingering longer. Matt's hands found themselves wrapping around Mello's thick trench coat, squeezing tightly, afraid he might fall over if he let go. Mello's tongue slid into Matt's (more than willing) mouth and began exploring. Matt could feel the inside of his mouth being tickled, and so he followed suit, not planning to end this kiss any time soon. The two stood there for what felt like the longest time, until finally they both pulled back to breath.

"You can't imagine…" Mello exhaled, breathing heavily, "how long I have wanted to do that."

"I agree," Matt said, blushing. Who knew that he would end up falling for a vampire who had a liking for him?

Matt thought back to that memory and felt bad for L. He doubted things could turn out so great for the detective – but who knows?

"L…" the redhead looked into the eyes of the messy haired person, and could see just how much he wanted to be with Light. He understood, really, he did, but could he really get L's hopes up like that? Sighing, Matt continued, "I don't know what to tell you. You know vampires and humans can't be together – can you really trust Light that much? I mean, he's after kira, you are kira… it's obviously not meant to be. I'm so sorry."

L shrugged off Matt's arm, still clutching his shoulder. Turning, he gazed out the window and looked down across the city. Matt must be right, he thought, it's not meant to be. But deep inside, L hurt just a little too much and his hope dropped just a little too far for him to even want to believe in anything Matt said.

A/N:

Well? What did you guys think?

I hope you loved it like I did! I am sooo proud of this, I hope I can continue to bust out masterpieces like this one (yeah right! =( )

Originally, I was gonna make Matt be all nice and encouraging at the end. Then I decided it would be a better cliffhanger to make him all against the idea.

Don't worry my pretties - Love will prevail!!