A week later, Matt found himself standing on the sidewalk outside the grey home. He hadn't been thinking while walking, and his feet had carried him there. Guilt had riddled his stomach since he had left without a word. Matt was never that good at talking to people, and so when things made him uncomfortable he usually fled. A bad character trait, honestly.

The house was most likely locked, so he went around the gate and opened it to the backyard. Among the rows of flowers was a figure, carefully tending the delicate plants. It was Mello. He had his hair pulled back, leaving his bangs hanging in his face. It was surprising not to see him wearing leather, instead he had on a black t shirt and sports shorts. His brow wrinkled as he pulled up a weed.

The boy stopped for a second and pointed at a bush. Pale flowers with yellow stamens peeked through the leaves. "These are Camellias. Native to southeast Asia. Their colors range from white to red, but Near likes the white ones best. They mean visions of loveliness, something that is mellow yet takes your breath away. Pretty sappy, but whenever I get to say my name in context it's fun."

Matt shivered. "How did you know I was here?"

Mello ignored him and smoothed the dirt with his hands. "I thought I had imagined you. When little kids are lonely they usually have imaginary friends, and I thought that had happened to me."

Why did he have to do this? Every time something was going good he had to ruin it. Mello probably hated him now. Now he would never become friends with him and then- Wait. Why was he so intrigued in Mello? Why was he so desperate to bask in his attention and listen to what the boy had to say? He was angry at himself. Nothing he did was making sense.

Mello turned to face him. He didn't look angry, just sad. "Why do you keep showing up and giving me hope and then just leaving?" His eyes hardened. "Answer me!" He picked up a trowel and threw it at Matt. It passed through him and landed on the grass.

"I-"

"Stop. Just leave. I don't care," said Mello bitterly. "I don't know you and you don't know me anyways."

"I want to know you," he replied, barely a whisper.

Mello went eerily still. "No you don't. If you did, you wouldn't have left me without a single word, after all that you told me."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do. I just… I haven't really talked to anyone in two years. And you seemed so interested, and I just knew that I was going to disappoint you sooner or later. And… I like you, Mello."

"What do you mean?"

Matt sat down next to him. Little flower petals floated in the breeze. Some landed in Mello's hair, and he didn't notice. In the sunlight, little freckles were visible on his nose and cheeks. His scar did nothing to deter from his appearance, and gave him a look of wisdom beyond his years. The boy's eyes searched Matt's face, trying to find answers.

"I met you a week ago. For that short time that we talked, I have to say you're the most interesting person I've ever met. And I can't believe you actually wanted to know about ghosts. Like I'm just a stupid dusty dead person, nowhere near as full of life as you," said Matt. He was uncomfortable. That was the most he had talked in forever.

"Pfft. A ghost, being boring? A ghost? Seriously? C'mon Matt, that's just stupid," he said, but he was smiling.

"You were the one that was mad at me. And I didn't want you, someone who is so-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Mello interrupted, "you love me and whatever."

"What? That's not what I was going to say." Matt shifted on the grass.

"You don't deny it! See, you do love me. I mean, who doesn't. I am the best."

It was amazing how he had gone from angry to teasing so fast. It was like a storm quickly becoming a sunny day. Everything about Mello somehow reminded Matt of sunshine. His bright hair, his calm eyes. Sometimes sunshine could be scorching, or pleasant and warming. Exactly like the person sitting in front of him, gardening.

"What's wrong?" Mello asked. He didn't seem concerned, rather he was more curious.

"Nothing," he replied.

Mello looked uncertain. "Okay, good. I thought you got upset from me saying that you loved me. Sometimes L says I'm not one to pay attention to people's feelings. Like he's one to talk."

"Is L like your dad?"

A laugh burst from Mello. "No, of course not! We don't look alike, do we? I hope not. Anyways, he's like Near and I's… Guardian, I guess? I might tell you. Later. I dunno yet."

He shifted uncomfortably on the grass. It was obvious that he still was upset over Matt. That made his stomach feel like a thousand butterflies running into each other and possibly dying. Yes, that explained it. The ghost felt like he was always messing things up.

"Man, I'm sorry. We just met and I've already ruined everything. Just like in my past life."

Mello perked up. "Who were you? In your past life, I mean."

"That doesn't matter."

The blond pouted. "That's not fair. I have to tell you all my secrets but you don't tell me yours?"

"Fine, fine. Okay so- I'm from America. I was raised in Oregon. My parents owned an art gallery. They're still alive, I tried talking to them… It didn't work. Dunno why. And I have a sister. She and I were really close. In school, I wasn't the popular kid. I had a few friends. Most people thought I was weird because of my appearance. Got voted 'most fashionable' though. Biggest accomplishment of my life," he snickered. "I was super good at computers. That's it."

"That's it? That's it? Those are terrible secrets and facts about you! I already knew half of them just by the time you said hello to me!"

"Huh?"

"Don't act so surprised, it was obvious. You had an accent, but it was wasn't quite like a Southern or East coast one. That lowered it down to Western United States. You're dressed in a long sleeve t-shirt and jeans, and although it could've been winter or fall when you died, it was most likely you were from farther north because the difference in temperature would have made you worn more layers despite the actual weather(if you had been from the South West). So that left either Washington, Oregon, or Idaho. I took a wild guess at Oregon.

Your parents are obviously free-spirited, or they wouldn't have let you wear goggles when you aren't swimming, nor color your hair. But their job would have to be stable, otherwise your leather boots couldn't have been afforded. Plus I knew you were good at computers because you're a nerd."

"Hey!" Matt felt insulted, but smiled. "That's not true!"

"Oh yeah? For MTG, do you prefer playing Island or Plains?" Mello asked.

"Uh, well usually I use Forest with a lot of Artifacts but-"

"Nerrrrrrrddddddd," said Mello. He was smirking.

"That's rude. Very rude, in fact. You know what. I'm going to go. Bye," he waved his hand.

Mello's eyes grew wide. "Wait." He reached for Matt's arm. His hand went right through.

Matt sighed. "I'm sorry-"

"That's cool," he replied, now moving his arm in and out.

"Mello, who are you talking to?" A quiet voice came from behind.

Matt almost had a heart attack. Well. If he had a beating heart. It was that kid, Near. Who was kinda creepy. With his weird white hair and pajamas he looked more ghostly than Matt to be honest. What even was with him anyway. He always somehow made eye contact despite Matt not projecting to him. Maybe he was some sort of sixth sense person?

"Just the flowers, I heard that talking to them makes them grow more healthy." He said it so casually it seemed like the truth.

"Your hand?" Near's voice was completely monotone.

"There was a bug. Don't judge me Near. Go away. You're annoying."

Near didn't seem to be affected at all. "Alright. I'll leave you two alone." His eyes met Matt's and he winked, then trudged back into the house.

"Finally!" Mello said, exasperated. "Anyways-"

"He said you two," Matt interrupted.

"Oh. That… probably means something. Maybe he can see you? But, wait a second. You said only I could see you." He looked a bit upset.

"I don't know. I think he has some sort of sixth sense. This hasn't happened before, I swear," Matt readjusted his goggles nervously.

Mello frowned and furrowed his brow. He appeared to be in deep thought. He sat motionless for a few seconds, before standing up. "Another stupid thing Near has to be better at! Soon you'll not even like me, and Near will steal you away like everything else good in my life. I'm just so frustrated! I finally meet someone who's awesome and of course Near has to come and ruin it! Agghhh!" He threw a gardening tool.

Matt grabbed his shoulders. And stared at him. "He's not going to take me. I'm here to stay. If ya want."

Mello was so surprised. Matt felt his face heat up a bit. He carefully let go. "But that's only if you want me to. You did call me awesome, which is pretty good so that might mean you do want me to stay. But only if you want me to."

Mello smiled softly. "Of course I do, stupid. Hey can you make yourself tangible for a second?"

His face must've looked so weird. What was Mello going to do? What if he kissed him or something? But Matt was a ghost. He stressed, but made himself touchable.

The other boy became closer and Matt stopped thinking coherently. His thoughts were more like just screaming. Mello raised his arms… and gave him a hug. Of course that's what he was going to do. Yep. Okay. Matt totally knew that. Mello felt warm and soft, and smelt like fresh dirt and chocolate.

"You smell weird. Like...metallic-y. Like… bullets," Mello said, letting go and frowning. "Probably from your death, right? That sucks. This whole thing sucks. Why can't you be alive."