There was a painful silence in the common room

There was a painful silence in the common room. Everyone was looking at the little boy sitting in the middle of the group. Little comments were exchanged and huge eyes formed themselves.

The little boy stared at the floor. "Who knows…" He muttered.
Everyone fell silent for a sec and then gasped. Loud conversations were being held while Mello stared at his friend like a zombie. Everything in front of his eyes became blurry.
"Everyone here could be his relative, not just me."
Again a silence. "We're not orphans for nothing are we? Some of you might be here because L wants to be close to his relatives and take care of them."
Realization hit every single one of them on the head. "Maybe you're a relative of L!!" "You think?!" "No way!" "He's right, ya know?!"

Mello kept staring at Near, he fell backwards and landed on a chair. 'No…That can't be.. L and Near are totally different!'

His thoughts made his head hurt. He hung his head lightly and kept staring in front of him. "L.." He muttered.

"Hey, man. You okay?" He recognized the voice of his dearest friend, Matt. Matt placed a hand on Mello's shoulder and squeezed it. He was the only one who knew what L really meant to Mello. Mello nodded a little. "I'm fine… So what if he's… he's…" He couldn't get the word over his lips. Why was he so upset about it? "Mello… Let's go to our room, okay?"
"No." "Mello, c'mon. This isn't good for your temper.."

"Matt." "Yeah?" "Shut up."
Matt fell silent. If Mello said no it was no. He sat down next to his friend and peeked at him from time to time. Mello leaned his elbows on his knees and held his head in his hands.

Mello stayed where he was. All day long he just sat there. Matt had stayed by his side. But eventually he too had to leave. Roger took him along to ask him what was wrong. But Matt didn't answer, he know he just couldn't. If he had told Roger, Roger would want to speak to Mello. His blonde friend would surely not like that, so he just raised his shoulders and said "He's just thinking about a problem he couldn't solve in class. And now it's bothering him."
After that, Matt waited for Mello to recover. He knew Mello wouldn't say anything about it, but he stayed. He was his loyal friend after all.

"Mello?..." A small voice asked. In the doorway, Near was standing with a neutral face. His eyes aimed on Mello directly. The blonde shivered and just shifted a little with his feet.
Near walked towards his two friends and sat down in front of them. On the floor.
"What's wrong?.."
Mello looked at the small boy. Their eyes met. Mello kept staring. 'What the hell… What am I worrying about? What is this?'
"Are you.. really L's blood relative?"
For the first real time a smile formed on the lips of the little boy. "No. I didn't say that.."

"But you said you might…"

"Doesn't mean I am.."
Matt looked at the two and saw Mello's expression change. Mello's expression went from worried to dazed. "But you said-.."
"That everyone could be his relative, not just me… Yes, I said that to confuse them.. It seems it had a big impact on you too.."

Matt held back a grin. "Didn't see that one coming.." The redhead blurted out.

Mello smiled. "Of course.. Why didn't I see that one coming?"
Matt and Mello laughed, Matt laughed of relief and Mello laughed his guilt off. Had he actually hated Near for being a possible relative of L?
In his mind he slapped his self.

During the rest of the day, they were being stared at. Mello was used to it, Near didn't care but Matt seemed to be bothered about it.
"I swear to you there eyes were like this big!" He imitated what he saw. "Even when we walked away it felt as if their eyes stabbed me in the back!"
Mello laughed at his friend. "Ah, you dumbass. Aren't you used to it with me around?"

"But normally they just talk to us and now they're all like… Like… iOmg! It's THE Mello!! Quick, make room!/i It's SO annoying!"
"Ah shut up already. I don't mind being pampered.."

Near sighed. "Just ignore them if you can't like them, Matt.."
Matt sat down, defeated. "It's so easy for you guys!" He wined.

"YES!! Let's eat! I'm starving!!" The redhead jumped up as soon as the clock hit 6.

Mello and Near followed the starving dog at a slow pace, both not wanting to move much.

"Oi.. Near.."
"Hm? .. Yes, Mello?.."
"If you apparently were L's relative.. You'd tell me.. Right?"
Near sighed. "Does it bother you that much? .. I thought you were fine with it now.."
"I'm just asking!" Mello scowled.
A moment of silence fell. "I'm sorry, didn't mean to.." The blonde apologized.

"That's alright… I would tell you, Mello. Fine now?"
"Yes! Thanks!" He grinned, enlacing his fingers behind his head.

As they entered the dining hall, they saw a couple of 30 children waiting for them.

They sat next to each other, Mello sitting opposite of Matt and Near of a girl he didn't know.

Immediately a couple of ten kids fired questions at them. "Hey Mello, wanna hang out tomorrow?" "Hey Mello, you know there's a game coming up this Friday, let's go together!"
"Mello! I've seen this awesome dog! You should see it too!" "Mello! Could you help me with my homework?"
And even Matt was victim. "Hey Matt! I have this awesome game I have to show you!"
"Naw, man! His stinks! I've got a new Gameboy ánd new games! Wanna check out?"

And again Matt was the one who answered to the over enthusiastic fans. "Okay! Sure!"
Mello sighed and just ate his food. He didn't even mind thinking about why they even tried.
He shrugged them off with only a "I'm tired, I don't want to do anything" and drank some water. He glanced at Near.

The small boy ate while twirling his hair with his other hand, he didn't seem bothered by the crowd offering them stuff of all sorts. What Mello also noticed was that everyone who were talking to Mello and Matt were peeking at Near. He lifted his eyebrows. What the hell was everyone thinking?

After dinner Matt went with a group of boys who wanted to show him their games after apologizing to Mello quite some times. Mello only rolled his eyes and punched him once before grinning. So after dinner, Near and Mello were alone in their room.
The blonde rubbed his neck as he sat on his bed, feeling slightly tensed. Matt was gone and still he secretly felt a sort of fear for his company. An awkward silence filled the place.

Near was playing with his puzzle again, placing one piece after another without looking at it twice. In no time, his puzzle was complete and all Mello could do was stare.
"You're pretty good at that.." he whispered, eyeing the boy.

Near looked up at Mello with a drowsy look. "Do you want to try it too?.."
For a second, Mello could swear he was looking at L and his heart started pumping harder.

He nodded quickly and sat down on the floor, next to Near.

Near threw the puzzle over, the pieces scattering on the floor. He placed the empty board on the floor. "You try.." He muttered, resting his hand on his knee and his cheek on the back of his hand. Mello bit his lip as he picked up a piece. It was a corner piece, but the puzzle was blank, so which corner was it? He couldn't do anything but shift his eyes from the puzzle to the empty board.

A piece was set beneath a spot where a corner piece should fit. Mello looked at Near, who smiled at him. The blonde blushed and hid his face quickly behind his golden locks. He placed the corner piece above Near's piece and they fit perfectly.
"They match.." Near muttered. Mello could only nod as response and picked up a new piece. The younger boy set a piece in the board and Mello placed the fitting piece next to it.

As the puzzle became more complete, Mello would put more and more pieces, leaving only a few for Near. But the last piece was going to be set by Near, right in the middle, the heart of the puzzle. Clearly, Mello had other ideas, he took Near's hand in his and guided him to the last empty space there was left. A very soft thump confirmed that they filled that space together.

A long silence filled the room, their hands remained on the puzzle. Slowly, almost shyly their eyes met. The older clearly shy and the younger insecure. Their faces were really close and suddenly Mello noticed all sort of details about the boy. His eyes.. His eyes looked empty from a distance, but up close, they were amazing. As if tiny sparkled were hidden in his eyes.
His nose was small and cute, and he felt the urge to kiss it. His cheeks were slight pink and they looked extremely soft, he wanted to touch it. But his hand wouldn't move, his hand couldn't move away from the younger's, it felt too good. And then… his lip. Pink attractive soft looking lips. He leaned forward, he couldn't stop himself. No, he didn't want to stop himself…..

"NEAAAARRRR!!" BAM!! Matt pulled the door open and closed it with a loud wham and Mello yelped, taking huge distance from Near, his face beat red. Apparently, Matt hadn't noticed anything between them, so he immediately started talking to Near. "Near!! The guys want you to come! They have awesome games! I told them you like Lego's and toys and puzzles and they have some for you!! They asked if you'd like to come over to their room before going to sleep!!" Matt grinned, holding a bag in his hand. "Look! They just gave me their games! Is that crazy or not? I'd never give away mine though!!" He opened the bag and jumped on his bed, starting to rummage through the games. "Hey Mello! Let's play! Some of these are even new!!"
Mello cursed at himself in his thoughts. "Yeah.. Sure." He spoke as he looked at Near.
"….I'll go see those boys then… Goodnight." The boy muttered as he stood up and hurried out of the room. Mello grunted. Near wasn't stupid, he knew what Mello was going to do, of course he knew. But then again, Near had attracted him. Those eyes with their soft sparkling, those soft cheeks he wanted to touch so badly, his cute little nose he wanted to wrinkle and those soft smooth tempting lips. All those thoughts made Mello's stomach go tingling and his legs go weak.

"Hey Matt. What did you guys do over there?"
"Oh, they just showed me some games and they wanted to know about Near.."
Mello looked at his friend and raised his eyebrows. 'What's with Near?' he thought.

Two hours had passed and Near still wasn't back. Matt had already gone to sleep, but Mello lay awake in his bed, not able to sleep like his buddy could. He folded his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling. His stomach and legs reacting every time he imagined the white haired boy's face in front of him. He sighed and tried to push the image away, but it wouldn't.

He heard a soft click. His eyes immediately aimed at the door. Near tried to sneak in with something that looked like a toy. He took off his clothes to change into his pyjamas.
Mello could see the boy's legs. They were slender and just as well be a girl's. He stroked his own leg with his foot. It was pretty masculine, but Near looked pretty weak.

Near pulled his pyjama pants on, bending slightly, giving Mello a good sight of his little tush. His buttocks looked like two little cushions and Mello wanted to squeeze them, he bit his lip as fantasies started to fill his mind. Him touching Near, him kissing Near, him hugging Near, him loving Near. In the moonlight Near looked absolutely gorgeous. The boy pulled his pyjama top on, unbuttoned still though. Mello peeked at Near's chest and his belly. The boy buttoned his shirt and sneaked in his bed.
Mello bit his cushion. He wanted to scream at Near, scream and yell at him for seducing him, but he couldn't. First of all, he knew Near didn't intend to, second of all he would lose Near as a friend, and third Matt would wake up and understand the situation he was in. No, he didn't want that.
'Well if I can't yell at him, what am I supposed to do? Give in to the seduction?...' He thought, still peeking at the younger boy, who seemed asleep, but of all people Mello knew better than anyone what the difference was between 'seemed' and 'is'.

Giving in Mello slid out of his bed and sneaked to Near's, he gently lifted the blanket and laid face forward to Near. Near's eyes were closed. Mello examined his face. What he saw before was nothing compared to this. In the moonlight Near looked astonishing. He leaned in and gently placed his lips against Nears, just caressing his lips. His eyes dropped half closed, through his lashes he stared at the boy and pressed his lips fully onto the younger's, giving him little kisses now and then. "Mmmph.." "Shhh.." "Mello.. What are you doing?"
Near opened his eyes. "Just be quiet. Let me have my way." He kissed the young boy again, tasting his lips. "Hey Near.." "Yes?" "Cope with me, will you?.." Near swallowed for a second, Mello could hear it clearly. "How do I do that?..." "Just do what I do.. Do it back.."
And Near tried. Their lips met in an innocent kiss, again and again. But Mello wanted more. He softly caressed Near's cheek, feeling the softness and smoothness. And he stroked his nose, smiling in the kiss as he felt it. He fiddled with his hair and enjoyed it. He stroked his legs and smiled, his hands slid to the back and he gently squeezed Near's butt.
Near pushed Mello away. "I don't know what that's for but I don't think that what we're doing is the right thing, Mello."
"How sure are you?"
"About 94,6"
"Then admit to the other 5,4.."

The kissing went on that night, until Near found it boring and fell asleep midway the kissing.
Mello chuckled and pulled the boy against him, finally feeling tired, as the excitement had left his body and relief replaced it.
That night, Mello held Near in his arms, and Near… Near tried to turn his butt, afraid of Mello's groping hands.