A/N: Okay, so I'm going to have to apologize for the iminent yeild in updates. The only reason that the first five chapters came out so quickly was because I already had them written. I had this one ready to go, too, but I wanted to have a back up plan just in case I needed more time. Well...I needed more time. So here you go! An update to hold you over!
I just about suffocated on all the fluff in this chapter, and if anyone has issues with it, or any other aspect of this chapter, I would really appreciate it if you would tell me.
Disclaimer: I ran out of quotes, so I'll say this: If I owned Death Note, then L would've pwned Light without Near/Mello/Matt's help...Okay, maybe that isn't true, I like the Wammys. But L sure has hell wouldn't be dead.
I woke up later that night to thunder.
No—more accurately, I jolted upright in my bed as the first clap assaulted my ears. My eyes widened and I scrambled to cover my head with my arms. I pulled my legs up to my body, letting out a yelp as the next round of thunder began. I could feel myself shaking. The loud noise was petrifying.
BANG! Even though it felt pathetic, I felt myself whimpering. I sat through four more claps with the same reaction. The blood rushing in my ears was deafening. So much so that the only sound I was registering was the crashing noise that succeeded each flash of lightening. That was why I didn't hear my window opening—why I wasn't prepared for the sudden warmth around me. My eyes opened wide as I felt someone lay down next to me on my bed, wrapping their arms around me.
"M?" I whispered hoarsely. At that moment, another clap of thunder resonated outside of the window, making me close my eyes instinctively and tighten my grip on my ears. Despite my more sensible impulses, I buried my face into his chest. There was no doubt at this point. It was M, no matter how you looked at it. At my sign of alarm, his arms only got tighter around me, and I relished in the comfort they provided.
"Near?" he said gently. "Are you okay?" I shook my head, and I felt sobs begin to rack through my body. I felt like a five year old. "Right, stupid question…" He chastised himself. Instead of trying to speak anymore, he pulled me into his lap, tugging the blanket up and over me. I continued to tremble and quietly sob with fright, but it wasn't like before. My breathing was slowly returning to its normal pace, though it was still uneven.
I kept clinging to my only source of comfort as though I was a drowning man and he was a life raft, for a while. I wasn't really aware of how long it was. The only thing I was really conscious of was that there were strong, gentle arms surrounding me, protecting me from the monstrous growls of the vicious storm raging just outside my bedroom window. My head had somehow made it onto his shoulder, and I could feel his hand stroking my hair.
"Near?" a mild, masculine voice broke through my tired stupor.
"Hm?"
"Are you alright now?" I could hear the hesitance in his voice, as though he were afraid that I would jump away from him in rage at any time. I nodded my head into his shoulder, taking a deep breath.
"I'm fine." I said, my voice hoarse from crying. I didn't make any move to remove myself from him.
He may or may not have realized it, but he was granting me something I'd been unconsciously craving in all the years I'd lived with L. He was showing me, and letting me show physical affection. It was something I knew I'd been missing out on, and had missed.
M…who was he? What kind of person was he? He obviously wasn't normal. I mean, come on, he 'liked' me. Me. To the point where he had willingly calmed me down when I was faced with what was childishly my biggest fear. Where was the sense in that? It seemed universal to make fun of me, and hurt me, and hate me. The only person I'd ever had that treated me otherwise was L, the socially inept detective whose best friend was cake. And maybe Watari.
I wanted to look up at him, to see how he looked, see his age; I wanted to see everything that could be linked to a face and its expressions. I'd only ever met this person over the phone. That wasn't enough for me to know anything about him. A voice can only reveal so much, especially when the majority of the time I'd heard it, it had been electronically scrambled.
Despite what I wanted, my tired muscles refused to comply. Now that I was thinking about it, I realized that I was exhausted. The episode I'd just gone through only made my fatigue worse. And so, I fell asleep.
I fell asleep in my stalker's arms, willingly.
What the hell is wrong with my life?
The next morning, upon waking up, I found myself devoid of any outside warmth. My eyes opened blearily, and within moments I was fully awake.
"M?" I couldn't help but call. I looked around my room, and got out of bed when I didn't see him in there. It felt like he had just been there…hadn't he? Had he been there at all? Suddenly, a horrible thought slapped me in the face and made me sick to my stomach.
What if it had all been a dream? No, worse than that—what if it had all been a dream and M had been watching me as I slept, and was secretly laughing at my weakness when it came to a little thunderstorm?
I was brought out of my reverie by the sounds of movement outside my bedroom. My eyebrows turned down in curiosity. "M…?" I tried again.
Even though this time there was still no answer, I wasn't disappointed as I looked into the kitchen. Shocked, yes, but not disappointed.
There was someone there, making pancakes on the stove.
It was not who I expected.
"M-Mello?"
I was dumbstruck. The first thing I thought, was "I AM AN IDIOT!". That thought was repeated several times until it was thoroughly engraved in my mind.
Long, blonde hair? Check.
Young adult? Check.
Seemed strong? Check.
His appearance matched the description he and Jacob had given me to a T.
And I'd already seen him before. I don't think I'd ever been so mortifyingly stupid, ever in my life before then. Which was why I wasn't saying anything, wasn't moving, and wasn't doing anything besides cursing me, and my idiocy.
Mello himself was in the clothes he had been wearing the first two times I'd seen him. He seemed to have a likeness for the outfit. And the silver rosary was still in place. The guy was virtually unchanged. This fact only increased my irritation with myself.
After a few moments of sitting there, staring sightlessly at the plate of pancakes drowned in syrup that Mello had placed in front of me. Even though I wasn't looking, I could tell that he was gazing expectantly at me, waiting for me to make a move. This was the pivotal moment. Our relationship was like an amateur tightrope walker about to fall. Something would happen, and the acrobat would fall to one side or the other.
"Um…Near…?" Mello began, uncomfortably. Something inside me snapped at that moment and I looked up, locking our eyes together.
"Why didn't you tell be before?" The blonde looked utterly thrown.
"H—Huh?" he said stupidly. "What d'you—?"
"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about!" I snapped. His mouth shut instantly, and his blue eyes trained on me. "We met before you started calling yourself M," I continued. "Why didn't you say anything? What's been the point of this whole stupid charade if you were just going to give it up in the end?" I could visibly see the hurt in Mello's eyes, and I knew what he must've been thinking.
Really, he must not've been planning to give himself away like he had. It had probably been a last minute decision that centered around me. And honestly, if I had been thinking clearly, I probably wouldn't have said all that. But I was in shock, and I had just found out that the stalker that I had been fearing was someone that I had already met.
Then there was the whole issue about the fact that he'd been stalking me in the first place…
"N-Near…" he tried, weakly. "I'm sorry. But I knew that you wouldn't want anything to do with me if I told you straight out. And I wasn't planning to give it up!" I stubbornly kept the scowl on my face as indignance seeped into his voice. But as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, replaced by a slightly more sheepish tone. "I just saw you like that last night…" he hesitated. "And I couldn't just stand by and watch. I do care about you, Near."
Something connected as he said "…just stand by and watch…", and I felt my eyes widen.
"Wait a second!" I burst out, ignoring the heartfelt sentence he'd just uttered. "You were the one who shot out the window in the mall, weren't you!" I wasn't sure whether I should feel angry, touched, or amazed. In the end, I settled for amazed; it was the least emotionally inclined reaction I could have.
Mello crossed his arms, and I saw a bit of a blush on the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, so what?" he admitted...kind of.
There was silence for a moment, while I tried to figure out what reaction to have. If my theory was correct, he'd been watching me and had done it to help me (can you say "overkill"?), and I couldn't very well reprimand him for that (well, I suppose I could, but it would be like berating him for saving me a beating). So other than that, I wasn't really sure what else I could say to him.
As far as I knew, Mello wasn't a bad guy, but he seemed very defensive. He'd gone so far as to cause public pandemonium, just to help me escape a bully. And despite his recklessly drastic personality, he did seem to be a good person.
So, rather than continue to try in vain to sort through the pandemonium in my head, I just sighed, dropping my head down to stare at the plate in front of me.
"Can I have some milk?"
After watching me down the breakfast he made me (which he did with a weird, focused look), Mello left, with the excuse that if he didn't get back to M2 (whose name, he told me, was really Matt), then the redhead would starve to death while engulfed in video games if Mello wasn't there to pry him away from the television screen.
I bid him goodbye pleasantly, wondering what would become of us. Obviously I wasn't about to fall in love with him after a few encounters, but I didn't really hate him anymore. Was it possible that we could be friends?
I shook my head free of all the complicated thoughts, and decided to find something else to do that would completely claim my full attention. It was Saturday, and all my homework was totally complete. I didn't feel like going out again, knowing that this time, if I was attacked, my self-proclaimed body-guard wouldn't be around to protect me again. I could always work on cases for L while he was gone…I decided to stick to that for a while, even though I knew that it would eventually get boring.
Ten solved cases later (including drug trafficking, high-profile kidnappings, and terrorists, in case you're interested), I sighed, setting down a file folder. Being a detective was definitely a challenge, but it lost appeal after a few consecutive hits.
So, what else was I to turn to but my toys?
I don't remember much about the next hour (or two), because I was so focused on my Lego constructions. I had built several towers up to just below my actual height, mimicking the tall skyscrapers farther into the urban city that I lived in. By the time I blinked myself back into real life, I had practically built a scale model of the whole city in my room, and I was extending the project into the living room.
A thought hit me, and I smiled as a plan formed in my head. It would keep me busy for an indefinite amount of time, and I definitely had enough Lego blocks to accomplish it. That was a perk that came from being as wealthy as we were, and yet having to pay so little in living expenses.
I carefully stepped over the miniature city in my room, making my way to the closet. I gently nudged the door open, reaching inside to grab the large blue bin inside.
This was going to be fun.
Sigh. I'm not too pleased with the outcome of this chapter, but I can't say I don't like it at all. I have to warn you that the next chapter or two will probably be devoted to filler. Sorry. I just need adequit (or however you spell it) time to come up with a transition plot.
So, in the meantime, I'm going to give you some good old healthy filler. ;)
~Luke Benz