Hey guys!!! I'm back with the next chapter if this story!!!! Anyways this is probably one of the last chapters and then…I'll have to start a new one…THAT'LL be interesting……anyways thanks so much to everyone who commented on my story so far, sorry I STILL haven't been able to answer them, I've been stressing over finals and trying not to die of a heart attack in the process!!! I hope you like the next chapter!!!! And now that summer's here I can update a lot more now YAY!!! Anyways I do not own Death Note or any of its epic characters XD Well I guess I should get started...oh yeah! "x's" all in a row mean that the point of view is changing.

Empty Couches, Forgotten Photos, and Evil Broom Closets

The next few weeks were agony for both Mello and Matt. Matt had the worst half of the deal. Every time he turned around, he saw Mello's bed, still partially unmade from the last time he had slept in it. The constant present of chocolate wrappers was gone, along with the smell that followed Mel everywhere he went. The leather couch seemed too big without the energetic blonde taking up more that his fair share of the cushions; and once again Matt was alone. Nobody talked to him at breakfast, people bumped into him in the halls and didn't even realize that they had just pushed a small red-head into the wall, and out of the hundreds of faces he saw everyday none of them was the feisty face and messy blonde hair he had come to love and looked forward to seeing every day.

Matt began to close up. He stopped smiling and never said a word to anyone. He was lonely, but there was only one person he wanted to be with. One night, as he curled up in Mello's bed sniffing the pillows hopefully for the sweet scent that was only Mello's, Matt's hand slid under the pillow and brushed up against a piece of paper. Matt pulled it out and stared curiously down at the photo that lay before him. It was a picture of Mello and himself right after Mel and come to Wammy's. They were sitting on the front steps of the orphanage and goofing off as Linda took their picture. Mel was ruffling his hair and they were both laughing. Matt sniffled and curled up with the photo as tears brimmed in his bright green eyes. With no one there to see or hear him, Matt cried himself to sleep again.

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Mello cursed loudly as a broom fell and hit him in the head. Because he and Matt couldn't stay in the same room anymore, he ended up moving out and living in the broom closet under the stairs. It wasn't very comfortable, and it got REALLY cold at night, but if you moved the brooms around just right, Mello had just enough space to lie down. Mello curled up into an even tighter ball and thought longingly of his warm bed five floors above him. Matt would be only a few feet away and his quiet breathing would be like a lullaby that sent Mel off to sleep every night. Matt was his comfort, his security blanket, his best friend. Now he was gone, all because Mello had been too scared to tell him how he really felt. 'Stupid dance, stupid feelings, stupid words that never came out right no matter how many times he practiced saying them…'

Mello rolled over on the cold, hard floor and made up his mind, tomorrow he would find Matt and explain everything. Maybe then he could tell the redhead how he truly felt… Mello sniffled and was surprised to feel a single tear roll down his cheek. He couldn't remember the last time he had cried. He had always tried to be tough, trying to tell himself that he didn't need anybody to take care of him. But nothing mattered anymore. Nothing mattered without Matty. Taking a shuddering breath, Mello let the loneliness he'd been trying to bottle-up wash over him and he cried himself to sleep for the first time in a year and a half…

After breakfast, Mello scampered outside onto the snow-covered lawn and clambered up into his favorite tree with difficulty. Pulling his hat down further over his ears (Roger had insisted he wear it), he scanned the ground below for signs of Matt. At breakfast, Roger had told them that they all needed to go out and enjoy the snow, so Mello had decided to go as soon as breakfast was finished. Hopefully he could find Matt and talk to him alone somewhere. As the other children began to stream from the doors, Mello squinted into the crowd for any signs of red hair, but he found none. Dismayed, he shifted his gaze to the stained glass windows and saw a slim figure with bright red hair standing at a window on the third floor, gazing out at the screaming and laughing children below.

Mello jumped out of his tree and ran as fast as his boots would carry him. Taking the stairs three at a time, he hurtled down the halls and around corners, yelling the whole way up.

"Matt! Matty! Ma-att!!!" Mello skidded to a halt as he reached the window. No one was there. Peering outside, he saw everyone else outside throwing snowballs and building snow creatures. Mello continued to peer through the window, vainly hoping that he had stopped at the wrong place. But there was no mistaking his tree down below on the lawn. With a heavy sigh, Mello turned around and trudged back downstairs. If Roger found him inside he'd be in big trouble. Too bad he didn't see a small redhead sprinting across the lawn toward his tree as he turned to go…

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Matt had never been one for running. It made his arms feel numb and his chest hurt like hell; and yet there he was sprinting through the snow. His snow boots were unlaced, his fingers were in the wrong parts of his mittens, and his hat was barely clinging to his head. He scampered through the groups of children, dodging snowballs and skidding around Linda as she worked on building a life-size snow dragon.

As Matt neared his destination he began calling out, his breath coming in short gasps as fog formed around his lips.

"Mello! Mel!!! MELLO!!!" stopping suddenly, Matt slipped in the snow and fell on his arse. Looking up into the branches of a tall tree, he searched vainly for the smiling face of the blonde he knew so well, only to see the bare branches swaying gently in a light breeze. Trying desperately to hold back the disappointment threatening to overwhelm him, Matt picked himself off the ground and made his way back to the orphanage's doors. He could have sworn he saw Mel in that tree five minutes ago…

As Matt made his way up the stairs, he thought longingly of his Game Boy and the leather couch that sat waiting in their-his- room. Matt was so caught up in his own thoughts, he didn't hear the footsteps pounding down the stairs…

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Mello couldn't take it anymore, the disappointment, the loneliness. It made him feel like his chest was going to cave in on him at any second. Desperate, he did the only thing he could think of; he ran. Mello sprinted down the stairs, taking in great lungfuls of air and wanting nothing more than to get back outside in the painfully cold air and snow. He was so caught up in his feelings, he didn't see someone else coming up the stairs. The next thing he knew, Mello had run headlong into a slim redhead. They collided and laid sprawled on the stair landing, staring at each other in shock.

"Matt?!"

"Mel?!"

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to do it if he waited any longer, Mello leaned forward and took the small, shocked redhead's face in his hands. Then, without pausing to think (as you'll find Mello's very good at) he took a deep breath and crushed his lips to Matt's.

LAKJTOAIUTJOAPUTJLKTJ0Q435978Q0P3OIJTPOIETUQPO3;64NJ;ALOSUFQPOE5IJ that's it for now!!!!! Omg I didn't even know it was going to end like that!!! *thinks hard* I seriously had a totally different ending in mind but then I remembered this GREAT part of a manga I read (Gentlemen's
Alliance Cross) and used that idea to change this chapter…I hope the whole "x" thing didn't drive you nuts XD Anyways PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know what you think about this and if you think I'm a total epic failure at writing fanfiction XD well I hope you liked it and now I need to go work on the next chapter of my other fanfics *slams head on desk* thanks *tackle glomps you all* subi-chan