Friday, October 31st

Mello's attitude had been "why not?" from the moment he had decided to go to the party, or 'mini rave' as Halle called it. Every Halloween Mello had been roped into trick-or-treating with L, who stole most of his candy, and Near, who threw out whatever was left of both of their loot. This time he didn't see the point. If Beyond was going to chaperon him and Near walking around the neighborhood at night it was likely that not all of them would come back alive.

This was why Mello had called Halle and asked if she had any plans. She detested parties as much as he did, and was not planning on going to the one that she had been invited to. Needing an out for the night of "sibling time" Mello had begged her to go a bring him along. He didn't have a costume, so the two of them had assembled his outfit fifteen minutes before they left for the party. The jacket and tight pants were Mello's and Halle had brought along the mask and blue hair dye (which she assured him would wash out).

Once at the party Mello had planned to stick with her, but she was off with her other school friends before he could register her asking him if he'd be okay by himself for a bit. She hadn't waited for an answer to that question, and had left Mello to conner the only person in the crowded club who looked like more of a loner than he did. Phrasing it like that made him sound like a pervert...

That was how Mello ended up snogging the boy in the vampire costume. In Mello's defense, what he could see of the boy's face was cute, and it wasn't like he was the one who had started it. Sure, he had asked the kid to dance. All right, he may have violated a bit more of the guy's personal space while dancing than he had intended to. Yes, he hadn't hesitated to respond to the kiss. And, of course, he was having the time of his life! But he could still say that he hadn't been the one to start it.

It was true that he hadn't hesitated to flirty with the boy that he had just met, but that didn't mean that doing so was in character for him. In fact Mello could not remember being this outright with anyone before in his life. Once again, he blamed this on his "why not?" attitude and the fact that the kid in the vampire costume was very attractive.

Come to think of it, Mello didn't see the problem in the fact that they were now kissing. They had just met, but most of the people at this party either attended Mello's school or one near by. In fact, it was possible that they did know each other and Mello hadn't been able to recognize the boy as one of his classmates. This fact did not comfort him, and he couldn't help but shudder at the thought that he may be currently pressed up against one of the people that he spent his day trying to avoid.

"Are you okay?" The vampire kid had pulled back enough to get the question out.

"I'm great." Mello inwardly cursed himself for letting his brief moment of repulsion show.

At least his theory that he may know they boy had dissolved. It was unlikely that any of his classmates would have shown concern, he could see most of them ignoring wether he was alright or not until he made it clear. Leaning in again, Mello was about to continue what his annoying thought process had interrupted when a familiar voice startled him.

"Mello!"

"No, that is not fair," Mello groaned under his breath, before turning on his heels. "B, what are you doing here?"

"You were supposed to go trick-or-treating with Near," Beyond told him.

"You saw me walk out the front door with my friend, if you wanted me to go trick-or-treating why didn't you stop me?" Mello questioned.

"Oh, I don't really care," Beyond shrugged. "But none of us are aloud in his neighborhood after the incident-"

"I'm not going to stab a kid like you did!" Mello exclaimed, regretting voicing this in a public area immediately.

"I didn't actually stab him," Beyond argued.

"It's the thought that counts," Mello deadpanned

Some of the other party guests were staring now, Mello felt a twinge of embarrassment, but Beyond didn't seem to notice. Mello repressed a sigh. He glanced over his shoulder at the boy that he had been making out with less than a minute ago.

"I have to go," he stated.

Mello was already walking away when the boy spoke back, but Mello didn't hear him.

"Wait," the boy had called. "What did he say your name was?"

Beyond had parked illegally in front of the bar. When Mello noticed Near in the backseat he wished that the car had been towed. Near was dressed in his usual white collared shirt and pants that resembled pajamas. They only thing on him that indicated the holiday was a cat-ear head band perched on his white hair.

"I'm guessing I have you to thank for being hauled out of there," Mello narrowed his eyes as he spoke.

"I don't like to go trick-or-treating by myself," Near voiced.

"I'm too old to trick-or-treat, and so are you," Mello informed him. "It's not like you even keep the candy."

"I was promised half of it," Beyond stated and he started the car.

"He won't make good on that," Mello said blandly. "That's what he said to L every year, but all of the candy ended up in the trash anyway."

"At this point we're not going, so there's use arguing," Near monotoned.

"You're going to tell on me, aren't you?" Mello reasoned, wondering how much Near had actually wanted to spend the holiday the way that normal children did.

Near didn't say anything.

"I might," Beyond shrugged. "Depending on the mood I'm in when we get home."

"The trouble maker becomes the tattle-tale," Mello observed. "College really does change you."

"People don't change," Near said softly.

"Wait," something dawned on Mello. "When you noticed me I wasn't even facing you and the room was dark. How did you know it was me?"

"He followed your sent," Near attempted a joke.

"Shut up," Mello told him.

"I recognized your hair," Beyond explained.

"But half of it is dyed," Mello exclaimed. "And that's kind of creepy."

"Thank you," Beyond genuinely viewed this as a complement.

When the three of them arrived home, Beyond and Near decided that they both wanted to be the bigger person and did not rat Mello out for going to the party. Mello did his best not to feel guilty for ruining their holiday. Once he was in the privacy of his room, he sent a message to Matt. He wasn't sure if he should expect a response, since Matt had mentioned having plans. After waiting for a few minutes, he put his computer on sleep and pulled out his phone to text L.

Happy birthday

Mello had meant to text this earlier, and was fully aware that it was no longer L's birthday in Japan. L also wasn't fond of anyone reminding him of his date of birth, so Mello didn't feel bad of being a few hours late. If L did respond the text was just a conversation starter, not a mandatory topic of discussion.

It's not my birthday anymore.

L's reply was predictable, but Mello didn't feel the need to state this.

Isn't it four-thirty in the morning where you are?

Yes.

Shouldn't you be sleeping?

No.

Mello rolled his eyes.

I feel sorry for your roommate.

Don't. He gets more sleep than he needs.

Mello was still texting L an hour later when Matt sent him a message. Not wanting to have two conversations at once, Mello told L that he was going to bed and turned his phone off. As if to distance what he said from an outright lie, Mello unplugged his charging laptop and took it to his bed.

Are you still awake? Matt had asked.

Yep. How was your Halloween.

Pretty good. Yours?

Boring. Mello didn't mind being honest. Although one interesting thing happened.

What?

Mello wasn't sure if Matt expected him to elaborate or was just teasing, technically telling Matt what happened to him didn't fall under giving personal information. After all, he knew that Matt was grounded and on his friends computer. How bad would it be for him to tell Matt that he kissed a cute boy at a party? Deciding that he didn't mind sharing, Mello told Matt part of what happened.

You're gay? Matt asked after Mello mentioned kissing the boy.

Mello instantly regretted telling the story. He had no shame in expressing who he was to someone that he knew, but saying something like this fell into the list of things that Mello didn't want Matt to know about him. You don't tell an anonymous stranger your sexuality. What it Matt was homophobic? Well, then Mello supposed it was better than he stopped messaging him now. He didn't want to spend any of his time talking to someone narrow-minded, wether he actually knew them or not.

Is there a problem if I am? Mello typed back coolly, he didn't want it to seem like the question had phased him.

No! Matt replied quickly. Sorry if that sounded rude, I just asked because I thought that I was the only guy on this site who wasn't straight.

Oh. Sorry.

Mello felt like an idiot.

No problem! So, if you don't mind me asking, did you get that cute guy's number?

No, I got dragged out of the party before I could ask him for it. Too bad, but I guess it's a better story now.

Yeah.

Matt had to leave shortly after that. Mello decided that he should try to go to sleep, but spent the next few minutes staring at his ceiling and thinking about the boy in the vampire costume. The more he thought about the kid the more Mello wished that he had gotten his number, or at least his name. It wasn't likely that they'd run into each other again, and if they did it was even less likely that they would recognize each other. Still, Mello couldn't stop himself from wondering: what if?

Thank you to Carottal and Corliss Kat for reviewing!