AN: People actually really like this story…I never expected that :O Thanks for the critiques and words of praise! Keep 'em coming! Oh, and I apologize for the OCs, but they might actually be important.

Disclaimer: Death Note and its characters don't belong to me.

Chapter 4 -Eyes

"Mihael," Dad sneered my name.

I looked up at him; glad he was at least paying attention to me.

"Yes Daddy?

He smacked me.

"Ow! Daddy that hurt!"

He smacked my other cheek.

"You fucker," he sneered, "You little shit!"

"Shit?" my 6-year-old mind not comprehending the words or what he was doing.

He bushed me over and kicked me in the ribs

"Don't you use that word near me!"

I looked up at him, terrified, and with tears falling from my eyes.

"Daddy?

He hit me. Hard.

"Shut up."

I jerked awake.

"Holy shit!" I said aloud.

"Do you usually do that when you wake up?" someone asked.

I looked in the direction of the voice and saw Matt.

"Hey," I said, "Is everyone else here?"

"Almost," he replied and I noticed his cheeks were tinged pink, "Light's not here yet."

He looked at me, seeming a bit worried.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," I lied.

Actually, I was really freaked out by the dream. It was the first time he abused me. The first time I felt fear. The first time I felt pain.

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow, "You were practically shouting in your sleep."

"Nightmare," I said simply.

"Is that all?" he seemed to see through the lies no one else could.

"Yeah."

He shook his head. "That's not all...Mello...how exactly did you get those wounds."

I bit my lip.

"I...can't tell you."

He looked at me with concern and realization.

"Mello," he walked over to me in a few quick strides and wrapped his thin arms around me.

I froze. The only contact I get form anyone is when my dad hit me. But this was different. This felt...right?

Slowly, I wrapped my arms around him too. I held back tears that I didn't know were forming behind my eyes – I didn't want to cry, not in front of my friends. Crying would be degrading to my pride. The hell with it.

"Why?" I asked as sobs started breaking through, "Why do I deserve this?"

"You don't," he replied, "No one deserves this."

"Then why does it happen!?" I yelled.

The room was silent, except for my sobs. Dammit. Why do I have to be so weak? Why do I have to cry and always overreact? What's wrong with me?

Matt pulled away and pushed the hair away from my face.

"Mello," he said, tracing my scar, "Is this…"

He didn't need to finish. I nodded, remembering. A few years back, Dad had shoved a lit candle in my face.

"Oh my God," Matt whispered.

I looked him in the eyes. They held so many emotions, mainly concern and fear. For some reason, I felt myself drawn into his eyes. They were an uncommon shade of vivid green. His eyes seemed bottomless, which added a certain sexiness to them. His eyes were beautiful. And, now that I think about it, so was he in whole.

Holyshitholyshitholyshitholyshit!!!!!! No!!!! Bad Mello!!!! Bad, bad Mello!!! No checking out your friends!!! Especially ones you just met!!!

"Oh my God," Matt repeated, bringing me away from my thoughts and back to reality, "What did he do?"

"He…shoved a lit candle at me…it also caught my clothes on fire, too…it spreads across my chest and shoulder," I managed to say between the sobs still racking my body.

"Oh my God," Matt said again.

"Yeah," I tried to smile, "You've already said that."

He hugged me again, but immediately pulled away.

"Sorry."

We sat in silence, well, almost silence. Every once in a while a dry sob would rack my body.

"Hey, Matt!" No practically yelled, entering the room, "Helena and I want to talk to Mello!"

"O-okay," he said, caught off guard by his boisterousness.

Matt left and Helena ran into the room with No.

"Mello!" She shouted, then noticed my tear-streaked face.

"Hey, No," She said, "Can I talk to him alone for a second?"

"Why? He's not going to return your flirting."

She glared at him and he left.

"Mello," she said sternly when he was gone, "What the hell happened? I can guess, but…"

"Then guess," I replied when she didn't finish.

"Abuse," she sighed.

"You're the third one to guess it, but are everyone else thinking it?"

"No. They think you fell off a roof or something," she paused, "And the only reason I know is because I went through a period of abuse when I was younger."

"What?" she had never told me this.

"I know. It's not just something you can tell someone. I'm surprised you didn't immediately deny it. Oh, and one more thing: We were all worried about you. Especially Matt."

She winked and left, telling No that he could go in.

Wait, what did she mean by that?