If anyone had told him that his anxious feelings would go away when he woke up he would have hit them. The feeling went no where, it got worse.

He had woken up with blond hair tickling his chin, which was much better than he had thought it could be, but after a few seconds of awkwardness Mello was back into Mafia mode. He was always wary at Wammy's but this was just overdoing it. He jumped the second anyone reached for their pocket. It was subtle, no one who hadn't spent most of their life with him would have noticed it, but it was there. Or maybe it wasn't excessive… He had been told that he needed to be watched carefully and now carried a gun in the front pocket of his jeans. The safety was on so there would be no accidents but it was still a bit intimidating to think he may actually need to use it.

Following Mello into the main room of the place – hideout? – ended up the same as the day before. Everyone stared, the blond said little more than ten words and everyone ignored him unless he directly asked a question. He tried to avoid it though. They looked like they wanted to kill him every time he opened his mouth.

At least the system worked well with his laptop. He didn't even need to ask Mello anything to hook up with it; most of it was programs he had designed when he had first come to Wammy's. Nice to know he was appreciated. He also had ten times the information and power he'd had at Wammy's and had more than doubled the amount of information on Kira in less than three hours. The Mafia members were surprised, if their now nonexistent glares were anything to go by. He had managed to break in to every major police agency on every continent, anyone would be impressed. Maybe he'd never need the gun. He still wanted to stay in the room with Mello though.

Everything was looking pretty good. Then why was he still anxious? He had thought it was just the idea that he might get shot if he slipped up, but that threat was virtually gone after he had handed over volumes of information they had never even considered. Even with the room's approval, however grudging it might be, he could feel eyes boring into his back. He knew Mello had noticed them by the sheer amount of chocolate he was consuming. Where did he get the money for all that stuff?

Matt covertly glanced behind him, pretending to look at some girl doing a disgusting excuse for a dance in the far corner, and saw the offending eyes. The gorilla that had been checking Mello out last night was glaring at him openly. Did anyone notice this, or did they just not care? He sighed and turned back to his work. He wasn't going to get into it with this guy so soon after getting there, it could wind up in getting both Mello and himself killed. He didn't doubt the blond could use a gun flawlessly, he just wasn't sure if he could stand there and watch someone point a gun at the boy with out doing something stupid. Why was he even worried about that anyway? It was him who would have to gun to his head if he did anything, not Mello. The blond wasn't likely to jump in front of a bullet for anyone, he had too much he needed to live for. No, he made someone mad he was on his own. He wouldn't let Mello die before he caught Kira.

His days in the Mafia hangout went more or less the same for a few weeks. He watched Mello's back, keeping the gorilla, whose name he had found out to be Frankie – not very frightening if you asked him -, as far away from the blond as he could without being obvious. The guy hadn't made it clear he was eyeing the boy like a piece of meat in a window, only Matt seemed to have noticed at all. It ate away at him at night to the point that he couldn't sleep even after days of nonstop research.

Mello was his, dammit. He had known him longer, he had been his family for years, he was the only person the blond had. This guy was nothing but a henchman to him. Worthless. Expendable. There were millions of people that could stand around, looking tough, without lusting after boys half their age.

And Mello was fucking oblivious to it! How did you not notice something like that? He had realized it the first fucking day for Christ's sake! He wanted to smack his friend and scream at him over it every night it made him so mad. But that would get him in trouble, surely he would be killed the second he said something so bold. Or worse, Mello would laugh at him. He wouldn't be able to live with that kind of torture.

If he wasn't going to notice the obvious sexual desires being aimed at him, couldn't he at least dress differently? He didn't even own a shirt that covered his entire torso. And his pants, God those fucking leather pants. They were always right on the very bottom of his hips, showing every fucking curve and crevice of the boy's body. They were just screaming for some testosterone filled gorilla to fucking rape him. The thought of anyone other than himself ever touching the blond like that made him grind his teeth in irritation. He wanted to throw one of his shirts over his head every morning just to keep prying eyes from imagining what was underneath.

What angered him the most was that he had no say in what Mello wore, he had no claim to his loyalty in anything but their friendship. He wasn't the guy's boyfriend – did he want to be? – he couldn't just tell him to wear something else so he could sleep normally without nightmares of him being attacked. He had no right.

He wanted to have that right though. Wanted it more than air, more than any game or game system that would ever be made. He wanted to run his hands through that blond hair because he knew it would feel like silk. He wanted to touch every surface that was under that leather. Wanted to make Mello his, and only his. Just like he was only Mello's whether the boy knew it or not. Just because they kissed didn't mean they had ever really expressed any feelings of love for each other. Matt knew he loved the boy and would more than likely love him until the day he died. And he wanted to tell him, and remind everyday. And get the same back, whether he waited ten minutes or ten years. It didn't matter as long as the time was spent with Mello.

He was hopelessly in love with the guy and he had to watch that fucking gorilla look at him like he was planning to fuck him into the fucking cement floor.

He growled under his breath, hoping Mello didn't hear him from his seat at the desk. They were wasting time in the blond's, and he supposed his, room waiting for a report from some plan a few people had been sent out to accomplish hours ago. With nothing to do, Matt was playing Zelda on his PSP. Good thing he had thrown that in his bag, this place had nothing in way of games. Actually it was surprising they even had running water down here much less electricity.

"Well?" The question surprised him. He hadn't thought Mello had heard him.

"Well what, Mells?"

"Why the hell are you growling like that? Its getting annoying.

"Just thinking, that's all."

"Well stop it. I can't concentrate." He turned back to his books, effectively dismissing the redhead. He had peaked his curiosity though. Why was Mello still studying when he wasn't required to?

He snuck behind the chair, carefully avoiding the miscellanies items that covered the floor. Sliding his arms lightly over the blond's shoulders, he spoke against the boy's neck, enjoying the shiver it sent down his spine.

"What are you reading?" That was an innocent enough question. Much less dangerous than the other thoughts that came to mind from this position. He could see the curve of the boy's chin. Forcing his mind from the idea of kissing it, he simply rested his chin on a shoulder and waited for an answer.

"It's Japanese. I need to speak with someone in Japan soon and I need a bit of practice." Matt noted the small quiver in his voice. Interesting. He might just learn something today too.

"I thought you were fluent in Japanese already. Why practice if you already know everything?" he was careful to let his lips slide over his throat while he spoke, loving how he could hear the pulse accelerating in the boy's veins.

"I am. Like I said, I need to practice. The person I'm going to be speaking to was born in Japan, if I sound like me it'll be easy for them to know where we are, or at least guess."

"Mells, you sound like you're from six different countries. If anyone can tell where you are or where you're from, it won't be some Japanese… person." He couldn't think of a better name for whomever it was he was going to be speaking to since he knew nothing about the person. He doubted they would be able to figure out where they were just by Mello's accent though. It had taken him several months.

"It's good to be precautious." he replied bluntly.

"Sure Mells, whatever you say." he let his tongue dart out just a bit, pretending to lick his lips, while letting the muscle barely graze over the boy's skin.

Mello opened his mouth to say something, his eyes much more heavily lidded than when he had been reading, but that was as far as he got before Frankie strolled in apparently never having been taught manners. Fucking bastard. He had been having fun. Mello glared at the man, demanding answers without speaking. Frankie saw nothing but Matt, his eyes narrowed and sending goose bumps up his arms. He refused to shiver and let him see the effect he was having on him.

"What the hell do you want?" Mello demanded, clearly not pleased by the attention directed at his friend.

"They managed to capture the director. Where do you want him?" Frankie's eyes never left Matt nor did Matt move himself from Mello. He glared back in defiance, daring the larger man to say something.

Mello nodded in acknowledgement. "One of the lower rooms should be fine. Be sure to tie him up."

Frankie nodded once, glared at Matt a moment longer and then left, shutting the door behind him. The redhead was more than happy to continue grating reactions out of Mello, but he knew it would have to wait. Mello's admirer had made the boy tense and something else he couldn't quite put his finger on. It was clear in the set of the boy's shoulders that he was angry at the boulder, but it wasn't as if he had been staring at him as if hoping it could kill him. Still… something was breaking inside him and he didn't have any idea what it was.

Mello all but jumped from his chair, causing Matt to stumble back a bit. He needed to channel whatever this feeling was into something. His captive was the only one around he could do anything to, not that he was going to abuse the man, that wasn't the way he worked and he certainly wouldn't spill unnecessary blood with Matt around.

"I'll be back in a bit. Keep the door locked. I don't like the way Frankie was looking at you. He's not the brightest but he could still be planning something." And with that Mello walked out the door, clicking the lock behind him.

Great so now he could sit around and do nothing but wait for him to come back. What was he, a house wife? Well, he wasn't making the blond any fancy dinner for when he came back. And he wasn't cleaning either. Matt flopped on the bed in a silent protest to do anything more than think. And think about what? Mello's reaction to Frankie and himself might be nice.

What was all that anyway? He understood why the gorilla was staring at him like that, but why did Mello get so… angry wasn't the right word. Jealous? Could he be jealous of the attention he thought Frankie wasn't giving to him? Maybe he felt the same… attraction for Frankie that the man felt for him. Well if that wasn't a sobering thought. All of his joy from messing with Mello just melted away. At the time he thought the blond was shivering because he was enjoying it too, now… could it have been in disgust? Was he only so anxious to leave so he could spend a bit of time with that gorilla?

He groaned and brought his knees to his chest in an effort to keep himself together. Maybe coming here hadn't been such a good idea. Sure he was helping and being with Mello was nice but if he really was fooling around with Frankie, he didn't want to be around to see it. No, he refused to believe something like that. The Mello he knew didn't go for someone as intellectually inept as that brick wall; he had even said he wasn't very bright.

Something Mello had said lodged itself in his mind and was currently burning a hole to hide itself in. Mello had also said he thought Frankie was planning something. If that look meant what he thought it did, and he was very good at reading people based on how they looked at something, then he was trying to get Matt as far from Mello as possible, to get Mello for himself. Of course, he had already known the guy wanted him, but this was just insane. Was he really so horrid a person he needed to get rid if everyone that could even possibly be in his way? Where had "alls fair in love and war" gone? Maybe he couldn't tell that Mello didn't want him like that, that they would only ever just be friends. Very close friends, but still just friends.

This guy wasn't smart enough to back off though. He wanted something and he was going to go to whatever lengths he needed to get it. Probably some messed up family issue behind that but Matt didn't very much care for the pasts of rivals. He would have to play the game properly, no screw-ups this time. He had the advantage of having known Mello most of his life therefore knowing what made him tick, but Frankie had the advantage of being able to use an actual firearm not just a virtual one.

He rolled to his side, retrieving his PSP from where he'd dropped it earlier. He played viciously, putting Frankie's face on each demon he killed. By the time he finished and was wrapping a blanket around himself to sleep, he had decided the fight for Mello was more than worth any threat to his life.

Let the games begin.

A/N: god i had such a hard time uploading this. it was driving me crazy. but its up finally! i know its a bit short but i have 2 more to put up today that are better that i hope will make up for it.

review please!