Mello

God I was glad to have Matt back. I would never have gotten in to Near's system with these idiots. Sure they had some good connections, like the plane we were going to use and the missile – I don't even want to know how they got that thing, I'm just glad Matt knew how to work it – but they could barely turn a computer on let alone hack a major system. And that is why I will be forever grateful to Matt. Well, that and the fact he's the only person ever to stay with me longer than five minutes. I was a dick, but at least I knew it. I just couldn't be bothered to change.

But why in the name of all that is chocolate did that boy have to do those things to me? He made me fucking moan for Christ's sake! I didn't even know how I felt about the guy and he was kissing me everywhere. And I liked it. Hell, I wanted more of it. More of him.

Why the hell did I feel that? Hadn't we only been friends when I left? Sure, we kissed a few times and slept in the same bed enough, but I had always written it off as normal teenage hormones. Of course, there were all those times Matt had stared at me like I was the only thing on the planet…I had just thought he was spaced out though… Damn! I was so stupid sometimes! He fucking loved me! True he hadn't told me but I knew it.

What the hell do I even say to that!? We're both guys that's completely unnatural! Or was it… I had never thought much about it before to be honest. I was always too busy trying to get ahead of Near to think of much besides school. There was no school now though, I could think of it if I wanted. Did I want to though? What the hell? He loved me, didn't he? Might as well see if the feelings mutual.

Well…I loved him, I knew that. He was best and only friend. My family. We never had anyone but each other. But was I in love with him? Being honest with myself, yeah, I'm pretty sure I was. I loved his games, and the way he can always divide his attention between them and me without missing a single second of either. I loved those stupid goggles because I was one of the maybe two people in the world he had not worn them around. I loved the color of his eyes because no one else knew what an icy blue they were compared to mine. I loved how his shirts hid any clue that he might actually look good without them. I loved how he was more than capable of succeeding L on his own, but stayed with me instead. I loved his quiet nature and I loved when he was mad he looked like he could really kill someone even though he'd never have the heart to.

Yes, I was in love with Matt.

And it took me this long to notice. I've only known the guy…Jesus almost ten years! What the hell is wrong with me!?

I forced my breathing to return to normal as I saw Matt walking over to me. He was the same person he'd always been, but after that little revelation…he looked different. Like he was surrounded by some white light and if I was lucky it would spread to me as well. Had he always walked that way? It looked like he thought he was God's gift to earth the way he moved. When had he started doing that? He was even catching the stares of a few of the guys, which pissed me off to no damn end.

Especially Frankie. He was the worst. He kept looking at Matt like he wanted to eat him. I hated it. And that one night, Matt had looked back at him with an almost hungry possessiveness. It made me want to rip the fucking gorilla apart for even thinking about Matt. He wasn't nearly good enough for him. no one was, that's just the way it was, myself included. I knew I wasn't good enough to have him, I wasn't even good enough to breath the same air as him let alone touch him.

I had left him behind. And for what? A group of morons who couldn't figure out two plus two if I gave them the answer. I was an awful friend.

"Mello, I'm gonna grab the last of my stuff from the room. You want me to go alone or is it not safe?" Had his voice always sounded so beautiful?

"I think you can go alone. Everyone should be loading the trunk anyway." I couldn't go into that room with him right now. I'd do something I knew I would regret later.

"Kay, be back in a few minutes."

"No longer than five, Matt." Just to be safe. Some of them still looked like they might hurt him.

"Yes Mother." God I loved his sarcasm. I flipped him off anyway. His laugh was brilliant. It rang through the dry desert air long after he was gone.

Could these idiots do anything right? One of them had dropped a very important, very expensive piece of computer equipment. Hopefully Matt could fix it when we got settled. He was better with these things that me anyway.

I got caught up yelling at everyone, I don't really know the reason for it, I just felt like yelling, and forgot that Matt hadn't come back in the five minutes. By the time I noticed, the truck was packed and the two driving were pulling away. How long had that been? An hour? More?

I did I quick check to be sure I hadn't just missed him. It was unlikely since I had been watching him every second of the day lately, but I had to check. No, he wasn't here. The only ones left were the three idiots trying to figure out how to rig the charge to blow the place up once we were far enough away. Shit, that meant Frankie was missing too.

I swear if I caught them doing anything Frankie would wish he had never heard of me. I'd spend the rest of my life, which probably wouldn't be that long, trying to get Matt to love me if I had to. I wasn't losing him now and certainly not to that…thing. I may not deserve him yet, but once Kira was out of the way I was going to be the kind of person Matt would be proud of, the kind that deserved someone like him.

I stormed through the building, looking in every room as best o could. There was nothing they could hide behind really. Most of the furniture was in the truck but the doors swung in so they could have hidden behind them. Every empty room just made me madder. Where the hell were they? If they didn't get out now, they could get stuck down here when the charges blew. Not that they could now that I was down here too, but the idiots might blow them anyway just to be their own boss. Fucking A I hated these guys. Maybe Kira would get them? They were all on the FBI most wanted list after all.

I had walked past my own room several times now. Why would they be in there anyway? It would be the first place I went if I came down for any other reason. Matt was smart, if he was hiding it would be somewhere no one expect…shit.

I ran back the way I came. I so far away though. It would take a good five minutes even running. Why the hell was I always this stupid when it came to Matt? I growled and pushed myself forward. I heard a whimper somewhere ahead and I pushed harder. That wasn't a good sound. Some part of my brain registered that it was Matt making that noise. He never made any noise that showed pain, even when he had fallen from that tree at Wammy's he never made a single noise and he had broken his leg in at least five places.

My door was finally in sight, shadows from inside were thrown across the floor. There was a thump and another cry of pain. Shit, this bastard was hurting him. He was hurting my Matt.

I pushed through the door just in time to see Matt's eyes slip shut. He was unconscious and I could see the blood staining his shirt from here. What the fuck was going on? I thought Frankie and he were…together. I never thought that he would be doing something like this. Why the hell had I let him come down alone.

I could see blood pooling on the floor under Matt's head. Shit he was losing too much blood. His hands and feet were tied together behind him. It didn't look comfortable whether he was unconscious or not. I could feel the panic and anger rising in my stomach. I wanted to kill Frankie for this almost as much as I wanted to rush Matt to the nearest hospital. Kira be damned, if he died because of me that was the end. I wasn't going through life without Matt. Never again.

Frankie reached down to hit Matt's back with a fist. I heard a small crack and I snapped.

I hit him with every bit of my weight. I wasn't heavy but I was strong and I knew it. He didn't know. He tried to hit me with a gun before he realized who I was and froze.

"M-Mello, what're you doing down here? I thought you were packing the truck…"

I didn't let him say anything more than that. I pulled my gun from my waistband – cliché I know, but convenient – and fired. I missed his chest but I got a few shots in his arm. He didn't look happy, but who would?

"What the fuck did you do to him?" I barely kept my voice below a scream. I saw him flinch anyway gripping his injured arm tighter.

"He was saying he was going to kill you Boss. Yeah…he wanted to be the boss, so he was asking for my help. I said no and he tried to shoot me. I had to defend myself…" This guy really was stupid if he thought I would believe that crock. Matt didn't have one bad bone in his body and he would never even threaten another person's life.

I didn't even justify his lie with words. I just shoved him aside and ripped the ropes off Matt's body. He was still unconscious but the bleeding had stopped and his breathing was fine. I laid him on the bed that was still there and turned to face Frankie. He was going to die for this if it was the last thing I did.

But he wasn't backing down. He was…standing up to me. He had his gun pointed at me, his eyes tortured. What the hell was going on here? Matt was unconscious and now some crazy Mafia guy was trying to kill me for whatever reason. This made no sense.

He seemed to see my issue comprehending and decided to enlighten me.

"You're friend loves you, you know. He really does. He's been pushing me away from you all this time because he loves you. I told him you didn't love him back, that you loved me. He didn't like it. He wanted to kill me. I had to defend myself, defend our love Mello." he looked like this should be common knowledge. I just stared at him like he was crazy.

"When the hell have we ever been in love?"

"Since you got here! I know you're shy about it but I know! It's OK! We can be together! Once we get out of here, you can forget all about this thing and we can be happy!"

He was getting to the side of crazy that had always frightened me. What the hell was he talking about, forgetting this thing? Did he mean Matt? How could I ever forget Matt?

"We are NOT in love! You may love me but I don't feel anything for you other than disgust! Now get the fuck out of here and get a car! We need to get Matt to a hospital now!"

"NO! We are in love! WE ARE!"

"No we're not! I love Matt dammit! Now get the fuck out of my way so I can help him!" I was reaching hysterics at this point. I needed to get Matt out of here before this guy hurt him more. He looked like he was going to kill something and I didn't have the patience to talk him out of it at the moment.

"Mello…" his voice was softer than before, filled with regret. What did he regret? Hurting Matt? "I'm sorry Mello… But if I cant be with you, no one can."

He turned his uninjured toward me, barrel directly in my line of sight. He was going to kill me? Isn't that a bit romance novel? It crossed my mind that I might die, but what stuck was that if I died, Matt died too.

I couldn't let that happen. There would be no world if it weren't for Matt. I couldn't let him get hurt. Not because of me. I had to tell him I loved him dammit!

I looked back at him, wishing he would wake up and we could just run out of here. I wasn't going to get far carrying him. This was the first time I noticed the rosary on his chest. It was mine. When had he gotten it? I thought I had been wearing it. His hand was clasped around it, almost as if he had been praying. I smiled. He was Atheist and he was wearing a rosary, why? Was it because…it was mine? God I wished he would wake up.

I could hear Frankie coming closer. He really was going to kill us. I turned and faced him; I wasn't going down without a fight. I just had to wait for an opening.

I was so focused on getting a clear shot that I didn't acknowledge the small movements behind me.

One second I was facing a human wall and the next there was a stripped shirt blocking my path.

Matt was ok?

He had a lot of dried blood covering his back and he was a bit shaky but he was standing. He was blocking Frankie's shot.

"Matt, move NOW! You shouldn't be involved in this!" I couldn't let him stand there and protect me like this. It wasn't right. He would just get himself killed.

"No Mells. I'm not moving until this bastard is dead and I know he can't hurt you." I had never heard such a strong tone in his voice before. He was seriously going to kill someone. For me.

"Matt…"

"Mello!" He never shouted like that. "I'm not moving! I had you leave me once I'm not going through that hell again! I won't! If I let this jackass hurt you I'll never forgive myself! And if he kills me then fine! As long as I don't have live in a world without you! I'm not going to stand around and let him hurt you! I won't let anyone hurt you again! I love you too much to see that!"

I didn't know he cared that much. He was willing to die for me…because he loved me. I didn't deserve that. He didn't deserve that. I wasn't going to let him get hurt over me.

"Matt…I'm sorry." I pushed him aside and ran into Frankie. Matt was right behind me, his gun pointed at the gorilla.

"Mello, move." He didn't shout, he barely spoke, but I listened. I moved as close to his side as possible, staring at his finger placed on the trigger, ready to pull.

"Matt, you don't need to shoot him. We can just leave him here. Please." I wasn't going to have him be a killer for me.

"No, Mells I need to do this. I ne-"

"You are not becoming a killer for me Mail Jeevas! Never! If you pull that trigger I will never speak to you again!"

It was harsh and I knew it but I had to protect him, even as he protected me. He wasn't going to destroy himself for my sake.

For a moment it looked like he wouldn't listen. Then, slowly, he lowered his hand, dropping the weapon to the floor. I sighed in relief, Frankie laughed.

"Well, now its my turn to threaten I guess." He pointed his gun at me again. Seriously, this guy needed help? "I'll kill you first Mells." He said my nickname like it was something disgusting. I heard Matt growl next to me and reached over to squeeze his hand. I didn't expect him to grab mine and squeeze back. It made my heart flutter. If I was going to die, at least I was dieing knowing he loved me.

Frankie took aim one last time and fired.

Everything seemed to slow down. I held my breath waiting for the inevitable pain. But it never came.

There was a flash of red and then silence. Matt was standing in front of me again. He was still, so still. And then he fell forward and I could breath.

Then my world exploded. I pulled the trigger of my own gun, not bothering to aim. I just wanted to hit every inch of skin I could. I had to make him pay. He had to die.

He had killed Matt, sweet, innocent, eccentric Matt. He didn't deserve to be on the same planet as him and he had taken his life.

I wanted to curl next Matt and cry, to die next to him. I just couldn't let this monster get away with taking my only friend, my family.

He was motionless long before I stopped shooting. I emptied the entire round into his body, not stopping until my gun did. It was only after he fell that I looked down at Matt.

There was no blood. That was odd. Wasn't there supposed to be blood when someone got shot? Frankie was bleeding, why wasn't Matt?

I flipped him over desperate to see what the problem was. If there was any chance he could be alive.

I nearly sobbed when I saw what happened. The bullet, the tiny bullet, had hit the rosary around Matt's neck. It wasn't even a big rosary, but right there in the center of the cross was the bullet. I almost laughed at how insane it was. What were the chances of this actually happening?

He moved his head and I quickly put it in my lap. He was going to be OK. Everything was. He moaned and moved his hands and feet.

"I'm alive?" he looked up at me. "Or is this Heaven? It's 'cause I was wearing the rosary wasn't it?" His voice was groggy

I couldn't help but laugh. I was so glad he was alive.

"Definitely Heaven. Mello never laughed like that before." He sighed. "At least I saved him before I died."

"You idiot. You're not dead." He blinked in surprise.

"Well, that's just weird. You wouldn't laugh like that normally. What the hell's going on?" He tried to stand but fell back against me.

"I'll tell you later. Just go to sleep for now." I didn't want to let him sleep, but his eyes were drooping and he looked ready to pass out.

"'Mk. Night Mells. Love you." And he was out.

A/N: wheee! i love this chapter! and its not a cliff hanger... well in my opinion it isn't anyway. i love writing Mello, he's so much fun! and brave little Matty! i'm so proud of him *sniffle* and this ISN'T the last chapter! i want to do one more from Matt's POV before i even think about ending it.

thank you to everyone who reviewed! they made me want to write more so i could get it up! i love you all!