AN: So, it's been forever since I updated... but I have a valid excuse! All last week (including the weekend before last) was tech week for the play I'm in. AND I had my fist ever AP test on friday! AP Euro CONQUERED! WOOT! -commence victory dance- Btw, If you're in the Boston area and live near Braintree, you should check out the show. It's The Childrens Hour with Curtain Call Theater. It's amazing.
Anyways... I want to thank you all so much for your immense support and guidance with this fic. I can't believe it has exceeded 100 reviews! I truly had no idea! This is one of the first things that spewed out when my pencil first hit the paper with the intention of writing any type of fiction. I can't believe it got this far! I'd like to take a moment to commemorate each and every reviewer. Here's the list!
SavageNymph, satsuki768, xxRoroxx, Eevee Tofu, Colwyn, Silvermoon of Forestclan, insanepersonishappy, LLives, Lilana Carter, Haya Cho, Randomdancing410, Mable, VampiressKatasandra, PhantomDragon12, LovingMyth, princessperp, EternityEchoes, DarkAngel2828, PuddlezOnThaMoon, chrono-contract, Hoashi-chan, GogglesAndVideoGamesOhJoy, MelloFangirl, Anime-rocz-and-you-know-it, Eden-Hime, mellys-girl, stabbythings, MicroBuble, -x-X'Amethystte'X-x-, BellKeehl, Holli-chan, Mickey-The-Amazing, justicesnake8, Mirror of Melancholy, MattMello, Aerith Doringham, Bellatrix Keehl, Koda-Chan
Bolded are repeat reviewers! Thank you all so much! Even you silent readers! Though I would LOVE ut if you dropped me a line!
So, enjoy this chapter. It came out... hm. Kinda crackish. I did this all in one sitting (since I haven't updated in so long) and I was tired. I thought it was funny... Let me know! :)
Mello POV
I whipped the door open and shoved my captive best friend into the ground. He scrambled into a sitting position, clutching his bruised wrist.
"Ow, Mello! That hurt," he snapped.
"DO I LOOK LIKE I FUCKING CARE!?" I screeched, slamming the door shut and deriving surprisingly little pleasure from the shuttering door frame.
"Mello, you-"
"Shut up! You're so God damn infuriating!" He was infuriating, L was infuriating, life was infuriating! And Light... Light... I internally growled at that bitter, burning name. He was the worst out of all of them! He kissed L! You... you just don't do that! You can't! No one has the right to view L in that way. As a human. As a human with emotions and feeling and desires just like everyone else. As an equal. It's wrong. It's blasphemous!
"Heads up!"
"WHAT?" I snapped my head over to the pesky redhead just in time to see a chocolate bar flying towards my face. I winced as it collided. I'm too manly to gasp.
"The chocolate?" Matt prompted.
Oh, right. Chocolate. Chocolate is not just another irksome obstacle being thrown in my face, chocolate is for eating. I grasped the bar and ceremoniously snapped off the corner. Eating with style, of course.
It took a few more chomps for it to truly settle in, for that wave of jittery calm to become a constant motion in my body, surged by every audible snap. The crimson haze cleared from the lining of my vision, and my sharp mind began to work in a steady comprehensive motion once more.
I crushed the aluminum wrapping and aimed it at Matt's head in petty, childish retaliation. Petty and childish, but justified. I grit my teeth as the wrapper bounced off the tangled mass of red locks undetected. Stupid gamer was already completely engrossed in his stupid DS. Stupid.
I flopped onto my bed with unnecessary vigor. The chocolate may have liberated me from my blinding fury, but I was still angry. And I felt like hurting something, like punching something. I thrust up my fist and slammed it into my mattress. There. That was better. Though it was slightly disheartening not to hear a cry or whimper of pain. Damn bed was mocking me. SHUT UP! WHY WON'T YOU COWER IN FEAR?!
"Mello," Matt drawled. "You really need to stop waging internal war with inanimate objects."
"Shut up! Wait, how did you-"
"You had your internal monologue face on and you were glaring at your mattress. Not hard to put two and two together."
"Damn it, Matt! Aren't you the least bit perturbed about what happened?"
"Nope," he muttered without hesitation, be-goggled eyes still glued to his screen.
"Matt!" I exclaimed in exasperation. "Your idol was defiled in front of your little goggled eyes! Do you have no soul?"
"Were we watching the same thing? L pretty much mouth-raped that Japanese guy. And it was hot. Light's not really my type, but he is a fine piece of ass. L has good taste."
"OH. MY. GOD!" I leapt off of my bed.
"You're like a teenage girl sometimes."
I ignored the biting comment. "You just described L... THE L, as a sexual perpetrator!"
"Not necessarily. I think the other guy wanted it... Straight my ass."
"God, Matt! It's like you're commenting on a soap opera!"
"Living here, especially with you, life pretty much is a soap opera."
"And you sound pretty fucking gay! Admitting you found that hot." Matt tensed, his rapid fire fingers halting abruptly over the controls. "Matt?"
"Erm... yeah," Matt awkwardly resumed his playing, his skilled fingers fumbling slightly with the buttons. "Pretty gay."
What was that supposed to mean? I crept to the edge of my bed to get a better view of his face. His eyes were still fixed on his game, but even through his goggles, I could see they were glassy and wide a saucers. He chewed nervously on his lip and hunched further over the device. Where was confident, sarcastic Matt? Why did he react that way? Was he... was Matt gay?
I opened my mouth to ask, but clamped it shut. Why couldn't I ask him straight out? Was it the crushing tension in the air? The awkwardness of such a topic? His suddenly fragile appearance? That small flickering hope, steadily flaring in my chest? Hope? Hope for what?
If he's gay... maybe he likes me too...
What was that!? Damn those voices in my head! Always chiding me! Always telling me things I don't want to think!
But these are your thoughts...
Shut up! God! Would it do any good to punch myself in the face?
No.
I didn't ask you- me... whatever!
"Mello you're internally yelling at yourself again."
"HOW DO YOU KNOW ME!?"
Matt's only response was a carefree, tinkling laugh. Well, at least he had gotten over... whatever the hell that was.
"I need to study," I mumbled.
"Aw, you always have to study!" he whined.
"Shut up and play your game."
"You really need to stop telling me to shut up. It loses its sting after a while."
"Shut up!" I barked, slamming open my textbook.
"See," I saw him shrug out of the corner of my eye. "No effect."
"Bastard."
"You know you love me."
Love? What did he mean? Me loving Matt... I... I grimaced as I felt my face heat up. Chocolate. Need chocolate.
I sighed contentedly as milk chocolate, yet again, worked its wonders. Chocolate truly was a marvelous concoction. Almost magical. If Willy Wonka was real, he would be God. No one would worship Kira because they would venerate Wonka and his heavenly chocolate factory with its mouth watering river of chocolate and...
"Hey Mello?"
"What?" I grunted in aggravation.
"Why is it considered necessary to nail down the lid of a coffin?"
"I don't know, Matt!"
"Yeah, but it's not like the corpse is gonna up and climb out. Unless," he turned to me with wide eyes. "people are taking precautionary measures against the zombie apocalypse!"
"No they're not!"
"Of course... a few nails won't stop a zombie. People are really stupid if they think-"
"You're really stupid!"
That shut him up. In retrospect that probably wasn't my most awe-inspiring comeback... I guess I'm just awe-inspiring. I flipped my fabulous hair and fixed my eyes on my textbook. Now where was I...
"Hey, Mello?"
"What?!"
"Why are Softballs hard?"
"I don't know! Because they're not as hard as baseballs!"
"Then shouldn't those be called hardballs?"
"What is with you?" I turned to glare at the redhead, who was merrily clicking away at his fucking game. "Keep your stupidity inside your head!"
Silence.
Good.
I smirked to myself. I can be pretty intimidating. Now back to work...
"Hey, Mello?"
"What?!"
"Why is a boxing ring square?"
"The Hell, Matt?"
"Well a ring is in the shape of a circle, so if it's called a boxing ring then-"
"Will you shut up! I'm trying to study criminology!" I slammed my fist into my unread textbook.
"All you ever do is study..."
"I need to combat the stupidity that is leaking out of your ears and permeating the air."
"Stupidity isn't tangible..."
I grit my teeth and bore my eyes into the textbook until the words faded and swirled.
"Hey, Mello?"
I took a deep, steady breath and bit my tongue. Maybe, if I didn't respond, he wouldn't bother me anymore...
"If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why's it still number two?"
"Gee, Matt I don't know!" I exploded. "If I'm the most popular, why am I still fucking number two?! Damn that albino freak!"
"You're not that popular, Mels. I'm pretty much the only person who can stand you."
"That's more than Near has! He has no one!"
"Actually, lots of people like Near."
I narrowed my eyes and slowly turned my head to face my "friend," unleashing a scathing, venomous glare. "Don't you ever," I whispered, my voice dripping with malice, "defend him."
He peered up at me over his DS. "Sorry!" he squeaked.
I gave him a sharp nod and a final cautionary glare. Maybe the idiot will finally stop spewing nonsense.
"Hey, Mello?"
"WHAT!? WHAT IS IT MATT?!"
"Well, I was thinking," Matt began, completely unperturbed. "Do you think handcuffs are fun?"
"Matt, shu-" I choked on my words. What had he just asked me?! "W-what?" I sputtered.
"Well, I was thinking about L and Light, and I was thinking, wouldn't it be cool if you were chained to your best friend? I mean, you'd always be together, and no one could split you up, even by force, and... Mello?" he cocked his head to the side. I gaped at him, mouth hanging unhinged as a furious blush invaded my cheeks. Matt may act sarcastic and tough... but he truly doesn't know what he's saying at times. He's so damn naive... "Jeez it was just a question," Matt's gaze wandered back to his game. He hung his head, looking utterly dejected.
"Damn your trains thought are eccentric," I muttered. I began to shift back towards my textbook, but found I couldn't. My eyes were magnetically drawn to my downcast best friend, and I didn't have the power to rip them away. He looked hurt. His shoulders were slouched and he clicked at his game with slow, lazy motions, as if he no longer thirsted for victory.
Why had my rebuttal of his innocent question upset him? Unless... unless little Matty wasn't so innocent. What if he had purposefully planted that question in order to gouge my reaction? Maybe he wanted to see if I was opposed to the idea of his homosexuality? Or maybe the idea of us in that situation...
No. That can't be it. I'm allowing my own wants and desires taint my analysis. I just need to discard the fact that I... That I what? Wants and desires? What am I thinking? I dropped my head to the desk, hoping the impact would clear my thoughts. It didn't. I seem to be thinking the same ludicrous thought over and over.
I like Matt more than I friend. I love Matt.
Damn. But that's preposterous!
Don't deny your own thoughts...
Shit, I'm annoying.