D: Okay so we have no real excuse as to why we took so freaking long other than being horribly lazy. XD But fear not! Summer vacation is here and we still plan to finish this lovely fic!

When Mello kissed him, Matt couldn't help but close his eyes. He couldn't remember how long he had wanted to kiss his friend, and there was no way in hell he could let the blond see how nervous he was now. After waiting so long to get his first kiss, he was surprised that he wasn't a little disappointed that it was in some crappy take-out restaurant's drive through. But it didn't take long for him to give up analyzing it and grip Mello's shoulder with one hand, running the other through his blond hair.

Mello groaned into the kiss, kissing Matt felt amazing. He didn't exactly have anyone else to compare him to, but Matt was definitely a good kisser. He broke the kiss for a brief second to pull down Matt's goggles before pressing his lips back to Matt's.

Matt gripped the blond's hair tighter, running his tongue over Mello's lip. He was almost surprised that he hadn't pulled away yet, but Mello was always unpredictable like this.

Mello parted his lips, eagerly accepting Matt's invitation. By now Mello had moved over to the driver's side of the car, his knees on either side of Matt, straddling him.

Matt slid his tongue past Mello's lips, wrapping his arms around his friend's neck and pulling him closer.

"Alright, sorry about the wait! Here's your- uh...here's your order..." The young girl blushed heavily, holding the food and drinks out to them.

Mello jerked away from Matt, back to his own seat, his face going red. "T-Thanks. Pay her Matt." Mello struggled to get his emotions under control as he wiped a sting of saliva off his lip.

The girl in the drive through waited for Matt to take the food, as she fiddled with the end of her work shirt. She couldn't believe her luck, first the milkshake machine decided to become a fountain, and now two hot guys were making out in the drive through.

Matt pushed his goggles back up over his eyes, paying the girl and taking the food. He handed all of it to Mello before driving off pretty quickly, giving the blond a sheepish grin. Well, that was awkward.

Mello turned away from Matt's gaze, taking the food. Was he embarrassed? Surely not, he'd done way worse things than that. His first kiss wasn't that big of a deal. "So, um, back to the base?"

"Yeah. Is all the food in the bag?" As long as Mello wasn't mad, Matt was fine. He could deal with some awkwardness.

Mello opened the bag and peered inside. "Two biscuits."

"Okay, good. Uh...want me to carry anything?"

Mello rolled his eyes and opened the car door when they reached the base. "I'm not a woman."

Matt shut the car off, getting out. "Sorry. Just tryin' to help."

"Whatever." Mello walked inside, swaying his hips, hoping Matt might notice.

Matt let the blond walk ahead of him a little before following, trying not to watch him too obviously. Was he doing that just to mess with him?

Mello grinned at Matt once they reached his room. "You know, you're kind of like my bitch now." He seated himself on the edge of the bed, still grinning and waiting for Matt's reply.

Matt stared at him, blinking. "Uh...huh?"

Mello laughed and shook his head. "Nothing, Matt." Mello opened the McDonald's bag and tossed Matt his biscuit.

Just like Mello to say something like that then refuse to keep talking. Matt sat next to him on the bed, taking his biscuit out of the wrapper. "Tell me."

"I was just joking." Mello unwrapped his own biscuit and took a small bite.

Matt honestly couldn't say he wasn't disappointed. Shit, that was weird, wasn't it? "You have a weird sense of humor." He started eating his biscuit, finishing the whole thing in about three bites.

"You're gonna shit bricks, you know that?" Mello finished his biscuit, much slower than Matt.

"Oh, come on. I always eat like this."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Mello scooted closer to Matt, brushing his knee against his leg.

Matt pretended not to notice, but didn't move away. "So...what about your plan? And why can't you just consider letting Near help us?" He hoped changing the wording would diffuse Mello's temper a bit.

Mello sighed and leaned against Matt, he tried keeping calm. "I don't have much of one yet. I have all of L's information from before he died, so, first we're going to Japan."

"When are we leaving?" Matt loosely put his arm around Mello, wondering how far he could push his suggestion of working with Near before his friend got stressed out again. "Mello, I really think he could help us."

"Just shut the fuck up about Near!" Mello shoved Matt down on the bed.

Matt flinched, feeling his heart speed up as he looked up at his friend. "But Mello, it's just to be safe!"

"No!" Mello grabbed onto Matt's vest and shook him. "I don't want to work with that albino freak!"

"Fine! Let go!"

"Make me!" Mello screamed as he straddled Matt and held him down.

Matt struggled to get up, not managing to do much except press himself against the blond more.

Mello could feel himself getting hot as he stared down at his red-headed friend. "Matt..."

Matt shuddered, pulling Mello further down. "Stop yelling at me! I hate it!"

Mello gasped when he felt something hard press against his thigh. "W-Well it feels like you like it to me!"

Matt glared, embarrassed. "Well get off of me!"

Mello glared back and got off Matt.

Matt sat up, refusing to look at the blond. "You started it."

"The plane's ready, you two," Rod growled from the doorway, already in a bad mood. "Finish your little catfight on the way to Japan."

"Whatever, your shit's already on the plane Matt." Mello said as he stomped out of the room and out to Matt's car.

Matt sulkily followed him, getting in the car. He hated fighting with Mello, but it was practically all they had done since they started talking again. He should've expected it, but he had really hoped things would be different now.

Rod just shook his head and left, telling everyone else where they needed to be.

"Drive to the airport, the plane should be big enough for you to just drive the car right up the ramp." Mello said putting his feet up on the dashboard.

"Get your feet off my dashboard," Matt grumbled, following Mello's directions.

"Make me." Mello said running a hand through his tangled blond locks.

Matt scoffed, turning the engine off and crossing his arms. He could tell when he had already lost an argument.

Mello got out of the car, walking around to the other side and pulling Matt out. "Come on." Mello held onto his sleeve as he pulled him onto the plane and to the seating area closer to the front.

"Whatever." Matt sat down, sighing. "Can I smoke on the plane?"

Mello sat next to him. "Of course not."

"And I guess you don't have of my games with you."

Mello stood up and opened the small compartment above his head. He took out a small cloth bag and dropped it in his lap. "There."

Matt took it and looked through it gratefully, finding a game to occupy himself with. "Thanks."

Mello didn't respond, taking his seat and grabbing a chocolate bar out of the same bag.

At least the worst part of the fight was over. Matt had more than enough patience to handle getting the

cold shoulder for a while, even if Mello was an expert at it. He turned the little handheld game system

on and started playing, keeping the volume relatively low.

Mello felt himself calm down as he listened to the quiet beeps coming from Matt's game system, and before he knew it he had fallen asleep with his head against Matt's shoulder.

Matt played until the battery died before finally trying to get some rest. He leaned back in his seat, careful not to wake his friend up, and eventually managed to fall asleep.

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Once they had settled into their new base Mello set to work. He needed to work all the bugs out of his plan if he ever hoped to catch Kira. "Hey Matt, come here for a second."

Matt looked at the blond from the couch, kicking his shoes off and hoping Mello would take the hint and just come to him. "What is it?"

Mello rolled his eyes, picking up the laptop and walking over to the redhead. "I need your help."

Matt grinned, patting the couch next to him. "I could've told you that."

"Don't think I'm gonna let you get away with that one." Mello warned as he sat down, putting the faintly humming computer on his lap.

"Scary," Matt said with a laugh. "What do you need help with?"

Mello brought up the schematics of his plan and turned the laptop so Matt could see. "This."

Matt looked the plans over with a frown, his good mood starting to dissipate. "You want to get one of the notebooks?"

"It's the only way we can get the upper hand on Near. You're not backing out on me are you?" Mello said with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Mello, relax. You know I'm not. And this isn't about Near."

"Whatever, do you see something I need to change?"

"I see a lot of things I don't like...but I don't see anything that won't work."

"Good." Mello shut the laptop and stood up. "Then we start tomorrow." With that Mello headed off to the room that he'd claimed.

"Well goodnight to you, too." Matt ran his fingers through his hair, shaking his head and following his friend.

Mello changed into his sleepwear (he was too masculine to call them pajamas), which was nothing but a pair of black shorts.

Matt all but collapsed on the bed, still fully dressed. He honestly wasn't even very tired, just too lazy to change into anything different. "Am I just talking to myself here?"

"What're you going on about?" Mello questioned as he grabbed a hair tie from his suitcase and seated himself on the bed.

"I said goodnight." Matt yawned, resting his head in Mello's lap.

Mello blushed slightly, putting his hair up in a low ponytail, and mumbling his goodnight.

"Aren't you gonna get cold in these?" Matt asked, tugging on the shorts a little.

Mello squirmed and pulled on Matt's bangs. "I'll be even colder if you pull them off."

"I bet you'd like that," he teased, sitting up.

Mello's blush darkened as he frowned at Matt. "Don't get your hopes up."

"Too late."

Mello smirked, he decided now would be a good a time as any to get back at Matt for his earlier comment. "Tell me what you want." Mello practically purred as he unzipped Matt's vest.

Matt squirmed uncomfortably, almost wishing Mello would just go back to being embarrassed. And less threatening. "Another kiss."

Mello froze and gave Matt a calculating stare. Was he serious? The look in Matt's eyes answered his question and he leaned down, his lips hovering over Matt's.

Matt leaned closer and pressed his lips against the blond's, deciding it was definitely better than the first time. Although it was hard to get any worse than trying to make out in a McDonald's drive-through.

Mello felt goose bumps rise on his arms as his eyes slid closed. After a short time, Mello sat back, the lingering feeling of Matt's lips on his still present. He couldn't look at Matt and decided that the alarm clock was suddenly very fascinating with its red letters showing the time of 1 am.

Matt moved a little closer. "We really need to talk."

"About what?" Mello asked, suddenly feeling very tired and lying down.

"About how you feel about me."

"You're my best friend. There." Mello rolled onto his side away from Matt and closed his eyes.

Matt shook his head, knowing he wasn't going to get anywhere if Mello didn't feel like talking. He had almost forgotten how frustrating it was, but he knew he needed to deal with it. Resolving to make a much better effort the next day, Matt laid down and went to sleep.

Mello spent most of the rest of the night thinking about his feeling for Matt, wanting to beat Near, and his need to catch Kira. Which was most important to him? All that thinking and he still didn't know. He figured he'd try again with a clear head in the morning, and with that he drifted into a light sleep.