Ummmmmmmmm Huh?!

The next thing I remember was a rather bothersome throbbing coming from my left shoulder. Blinking blearily, I noticed that I had been moved to my roomy cabin and that I was lying in bed. Suddenly, the past events all came back to me, along with a greater agony from my forearm. "Ow!" I moaned, grasping my shoulder tightly. Bad move. "YOW!!!" I screeched letting go immediately as my shoulder flared up, red and angry; with large, purple bruises everywhere. A soft laugh came from the corner of the room.

"That was not one of your smartest moves there." Mello said, walking over from the shadows. "Actually, it's nothing compared to that little stunt you pulled back there." His blue eyes hardened as he said these words, making me shiver involuntarily.

"That" I replied angrily, wondering how my temper was already peaking, "was an accident and I didn't see you trying to do anything to help me either!"

Mello's eyes flashed dangerously as he stared down at me. "I'll have you know, that I was the one that actually caught you before you hit the water!" he spat looking as if he now regretted this decision greatly. "You're lucky I did anything after the little welcome present," he gestured at his foot, "you gave me! You're lucky that all you have is a bruise from when I grabbed your arm! You could have drowned, do you realized that?!"

It suddenly stuck me how right he was. I had blacked out before I was rescued. If Mello hadn't caught me…I shuddered at the thought.

Mello looked over me with calculating eyes. "You should get something to eat. If you still eat as much as you did back at Wammy's, you should be dying by now-it's a miracle you look like a stick instead of a house."

I ignored this comment and pulled the sheets back, preparing to jump out of bed and prove that I could get my own food, thank you very much! As soon as my feet hit the floor, my head spun sickeningly and I stumbled into Mello, gripping his forearms in the process. I felt a blush begin to creep into my cheeks, and, seeing Mello's smug expression, knew that he had noticed it too.

"Why don't you lie down," he said, gently lifting me back into bed, "and I'll get you some food."

I thought hard, trying to think up an escape; some excuse I could use to keep him from getting me food and taking care of me. I had decided that I would never let anyone take care of me or see my weaknesses when I arrived at Wammy's. I hated talking about my parents and I refused to feel like I needed someone to help me…except for Matty, but he was special. And I certainly didn't need my childhood enemy laughing in my face and smirking at me when I couldn't even stand up right. Unfortunately, I couldn't think of a single excuse. Seeing that he had cornered me, Mello smirked and sauntered out of the room, leaving me to grind my teeth angrily and wait for his return. When Mello reentered my room, he set down a bowl of plain pasta with butter parmesan cheese and garlic bread onto the bed next to me. Amazed at how unbelievably hungry I was, I began to wolf it all down.

Ten minutes later, I was done. Feeling shocked, looked up at Mello in amazement. "How did you remember my favorite way to eat pasta?!" I asked incredulously. My expression made him quirk a kind of crooked smile that made my pulse speed up.

"I remembered the time you were so sick that you couldn't get out of bed for a week. Matt stayed with you 24/7 and I remember coming to see how you were feeling and the first words out of your mouth before I'd even said hello were 'If you don't have plain pasta and garlic bread with you, then beat it!'" Mello's smile widened at my astounded face. "Your hair wasn't as blonde then," he said absentmindedly fiddling with a stray stand that fell across my face, "and you were shorter too. But you were just as determined and fiery and wild as you are today."

"Well, what did you expect me to day?! All you ever did was torture me, so what was I supposed to think seeing come into my bedroom when I was too sick to retaliate; that you were there to bring me pocky and a new black skirt to make up for the one you dyed pink?!" I asked incredulously, staring at him as though he'd lost his marbles.

"I believe you're forgetting that I only did that because you threw pasta at me the night before. It took me three hours to get all the tomato sauce out of my hair!" Before I could retaliate, he placed the stray lock of hair back behind my ear, sending tingles down my spine. Straightening up, Mello dropped a bar of chocolate on the bed. "Here, the other bar you took from me fell when I caught you." Stroking my hair so quickly I wasn't sure if I'd imagined it, Mello turned and left the room, leaving me with one coherent thought in my head: Huh?!

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