Yes, this is the last chapter. I know some of you were enjoying the story, and I'm sorry to end it. But you can look forward to my next work, which (hopefully) will be out shortly! I will work my hardest to provide you with something new to read as soon as possible! :) (Sheesh, I haven't had a break since 'Obsession' XD) But I like it when people like a story of mine, so it inspires me to work even harder on the next ones!
第１９話
"An Deiner Seite"
Matt stood in front of the house, every bit of him shaking as his hand curled protectively around the gun in his jacket, just to check and make sure it was there. The chill in the night air only made him shiver more, as he walked around the back of the house and picked the lock on what he guessed was the kitchen door. His hands shook so badly that it took him more than his usual ten seconds.
When the door finally swung open, Matt made his way carefully inside; he couldn't tell yet if anyone was in the house, or if whoever was inside was awake. Immediately, he crept to where he knew that bedroom was and began to creak open the door.
Then he heard a voice.
"Daddy, is that you?"
Giving an angry sigh, Mello slammed his bedroom door for what seemed like the twentieth time that night. No matter how much he tried to persuade his father, the man didn't budge on his decision.
Italy...
Mello flung open his closet door and grabbed a suitcase, throwing everything he could grab inside. In all of five minutes, he had emptied his closet and half of his dresser. I can't stand it here anymore! I'll leave, if that's what it takes! I won't do what he says this time, I won't! I...I can't...
Setting the suitcase on the bed, he suddenly was hit by a jolt of realization.
He had nowhere to go.
With a defeated sigh, he sat down beside the suitcase on the bed and put his head in his hands. He was sick of this. Looking out the window, he carefully noted the sun slowly setting behind the clouds. If he didn't go now, there wouldn't be a chance. By morning, he didn't know where he would be.
Before he had time to debate his decision further, a series of sharp and hurried knocks invaded his thoughts, and it took him a few minutes to realize that it was coming from his window.
"Matt!?" Mello hurried over to the window and opened it wide for the other boy to crawl through.
Matt scrambled in, his face a ghostly chalk white. "M-Mello..." He was shaking worse than Mello in his fury. "M-Mello, I..." he was trembling too much to get the words out.
"Matt...you look terrified. What happened?" He gently guided the other boy to sit on the bed, and Mello put a comforting arm around him.
"I...I..." tears streaked down his face as a look of utter shock and hopelessness enveloped his expression. "...I shot someone."
"What?!" Mello's expression changed to match Matt's, and he looked just as shocked as his friend. "What do you mean? Who!?" he rattled off a series of questions that the other boy merely shook his head at.
"It...was a girl..." Matt gave a tortured sob. "Mello, I'm sorry...all this time, I...I haven't been honest with you... I haven't been living anywh-where! I've b-been s-stealing from people t-to get what I n-need, and...a-and..."
It took a moment for all of this sudden information to make sense in Mello's head. When it did, he was just as dumbstruck as before. "You've been living on the streets!? Stealing!? Matt, I don't believe this! Why didn't you tell me!?"
"Wh-what could you have d-done?" Matt snapped. "You honestly think your p-parents w-would have welcomed me w-with open a-arms? Huh!?"
As the other boy broke down into sobs, Mello wrapped his arms around him and pulled him tightly against him. "Oh, Matt... Why didn't you tell me? I-I would have done something! Why...?" He started to cry too. "Why didn't you tell me that it was like that...?"
"You worried enough about me without adding this to the list!" Matt replied. "I-I knew you w-were having a tough time, too, and I-I didn't want you worrying about my p-problems."
"But Matt, that's what I'm here for!" Mello cried. "If only you had told me, I..."
"You would've what?" Matt said. "I already said, there's n-nothing you could have done. It wasn't y-your problem."
"But I hate that you were going through that without telling me about it! Of course I worry about you, I love you!" Mello cried, beginning to grow angry. "I was worried sick about you all this time because I didn't know where you were. Now that I do I feel guilty that I didn't know about it! Matt, how could you have not told me something as important as that!?"
"I-I'm s-sorry!" Matt started to cry. "I-I j-just didn't w-want you t-to h-have s-something else t-to w-worry a-about, a-and I-I..." he buried his face in his hands.
"Matt..." Mello wrapped his arms tightly around him again, feeling the other boy shake against him.
"I-I'm s-so sorry, M-Mello...! And n-now, I...I m-might have k-killed s-someone..." his sobs grew louder. "I-I..."
"Sh..." Mello gently rocked back and forth, stroking Matt's hair. "It'll be okay. Just calm down... Just calm down and t-tell me exactly wh-what happened, okay?" He pulled Matt away and looked him in the eye.
"I..." Matt wiped his eyes with a shaking hand. "I went t-to a house, to uh – to s-steal...y-you know... And I-I..." He fought the urge to break down crying in Mello's arms again. "I...h-heard a v-voice, and I-I uh – I th-thought it was the-the father, s-so I...I t-turned around and I...wi-without e-even th-th-th-thinking, I..." he trailed off and then took a deep shaky breath. "I...I sh-shot a l-little girl. A kid, M-Mello! A k-k-kid!" He put a hand to his mouth as though the shock still hadn't worn off.
Mello could sense a sick feeling settling in the pit of his stomach, and his face drained of color. "Oh, M-Matt..."
"I-I'm s-so sc-s-s-s-scared M-Mello, I...I d-don't kn-know wh-what to d-d-d-do!" he wailed.
Taking a deep breath, Mello put his hands on either of Matt's shoulders and tried to speak with as steady voice. "Alright, l-listen to me, Matt. Okay? We're going to l-leave." He swallowed. "I've a-already packed my things, okay? W-we both can go...t-together."
"G-go?" Matt repeated. "Wh-wh-where?"
Thinking hard, Mello gave a long sigh. "I read up on this o-orphanage – m-more like a school, really – up in England. It's really prestigious, and w-well...I f-figured I'd go there, you know? Far away. And you can come with me!" His face suddenly lit up in sudden realization. "Oh, Matt, it'll be perfect! We can run away together!"
"You r-really th-think s-so?" Matt said, looking up at Mello hopefully.
"Of course! I a-already stole some money from my parents..."
"And I have some that I stole!" Matt said, then cringed as he remembered that he had stolen it.
"A-alright...th-then it's s-settled. We-we'll leave t-tonight," Mello said, trying to look certain of himself, though he was shaking almost as badly as Matt.
For the first time in what seemed like ages, Matt smiled. "That's perfect, Mello! We can run away!"
As though still debating the idea, Mello looked towards the doorway, then back to the window, his hand still resting on his packed suitcase. "A-alright. Let's go then. The sooner, the b-better."
As both boys took their seats together on the plane, the two of them suddenly felt the heavy reality of what they were about to do hit them full force.
"M-Mello...?" Matt said softly, looking over at the other boy, who was staring absentmindedly out the window.
"Y-yeah?" Mello didn't meet his gaze at first.
"We-we're really running away, a-aren't we?"
He heard Mello swallow a lump in his throat. "Y-yeah, Matt... w-we are."
"It's almost t-too real to be true, huh?"
Mello nodded numbly. "It is. But it's too late to turn back now."
Matt instantly found Mello's hand and gave it a small squeeze. "I don't want to turn back. I want to be with you. As long as you're sure about this yourself, then I..." he smiled slightly. "I can go through with it too. As long as I'm with you, I'll be fine."
Closing his eyes with a slight pained expression, Mello leaned over to rest his head softly on Matt's shoulder. "I don't want to turn back either." His hand intertwined their fingers and held Matt's hand tightly in his lap. "As long as I'm with you, I don't care where we end up."
Matt closed his eyes, a peaceful expression fleeting across his face. "We're all each other has now," Matt said.
"It's always been that way," Mello reminded him. "I feel no more alone now than I did all my life."
"But now things are different. You know?"
Mello gave a sigh and opened his eyes a bit. "Yeah, it is. But that's what I'm looking forward to." He smiled. "Being with you, without anyone else in the way."
Matt returned the smile sincerely. "I love you, Mello," he whispered, kissing the top of the other boy's head as he began to drift off to sleep.
"I love you too," Mello repeated sleepily. He yawned. "How long do you think it'll take to get to England?"
"About eleven hours, maybe?" Matt guessed.
"Promise to stay right here when I fall asleep?" Mello said, squeezing Matt's hand tightly, his voice etched with the slight pleading tone that only Matt could ever notice.
Matt returned the squeeze and put his other arm around Mello, running his fingers through the other boy's hair. "I'll always stay," he whispered, just as Mello fell asleep against him.
第１９話 － 終
友達０８ － 終
Author's Notes:
I actually expected to end on an even 20 chapters (haha...) But hurray! This actually is my shortest chapter fanfiction! So yay me, I've accomplished something! :)
And please don't be pissed off with this chapter (if some of you were...) It ends where 'Obsession' begins (sort of). So naturally it would end with them going to the orphanage. It skips over a few things (like when Mello started using Matt, etc...) But I think it's okay to end it here. And who knows, I may add a few more chapters one day! :)
Like I said, this is sort of the prequel to "OBSESSION", though some things may not fit completely.
About the chapter title, 'an deiner seite' is German for 'by your side'. It's the name of a song by Tokio Hotel (which I love!) and I thought it fit the chapter :)
I would like to think all of the people that have reviewed this story! Once again, if you only commented on the last chapter, you aren't on here. Sorry! :)
(The top 3, as usual!) :
1. UchihaEna
2. Shikirou
3. Salvi
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angellovedark
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MelloisMellow
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Xxhalycon-lambxX
kls12
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kittygoth1
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Neiha Lasharie
NeoAddctee
21 individual reviewers! Wow, I feel honored! Thank you guys so much for reading the story, and I hope you will read my next work as well! :)
-Kit