I knew LA off the back of my hand, and I mean that literally. Unlike the average person living here who just knew their surrounding areas, I could go to the opposite end of the city and know my way around perfectly. So from where we were, we had two ways to outrun the officers. The market is a place with little to no hiding places, but thankfully there were a lot of people around, especially at this time of day.
So I quickly made the decision and bolted down an alley while I was still dragging Mello, whose resistance to being dragged someplace he didn't even know, was almost gone. Maybe the fact that there were cops on his ass and I was the only one who could lead him out of this mess had something to do with that. Anyway, the alley I chose only extended behind about seven shops and would hit a dead end after the seventh. So, what many people (even from around here) didn't know is that there is a back door to a small bakery that is left unlocked 80% of the time. There was a reason I began with a note about my amazing ability to maneuvre LA like a boss. Well, it IS risky, not to mention very disruptive to run through a bakery with cops chasing behind you; but that is the point.
It's unexpected. And cops don't expect kids like me or Mello to pull these kinds of calculated stunts. What can I say; I'm just amazingly intelligent like that.
The group of officers were only five paces behind us by the time we reached the door, luckily Mello finally seemed to completely accept letting me lead us. Though when I slowed down by the door, it looked as if Mello was going to say something, not understanding why I would slow down here. I could see nervousness in his eyes and his whole body tense up, as I noticed him glancing from the cops to the end of the street frantically.
I had stopped right beside the door, and luckily it opened outwards into the direction of the cops. Mello gave me a confused look, wondering why we stopped and I could feel him ready to bolt as the cops neared us, only a few meters away from the door. I was still holding his hand and kept it firm, silently willing him not to run.
When the cops were right in the spot that I wanted them in, I grabbed the handle and slammed it open, right onto them. I heard one of them curse as I pulled us into the bakery and rushed into the front of the store. I risked a glance backwards and was satisfied that the group were not in sight, noting that I probably gave that unlucky cop quite a bad bloody nose, which I almost regretted. Almost.
We ran into the diner area of the shop, surprising the costumers and workers alike, and jumped over a counter as we raced out of the shop, leaving behind all those people who were probably scratching their heads and trying to figure out exactly what they'd witnessed. By now Mello knew that I knew what I was doing and ran in sync with me through the crowds. We were seriously winded up when we reached a small red awning facing away from the store, where we quickly took cover behind.
I didn't say anything as we sat down there, and took a moment to catch our breath, listening intently for the officers and if they noticed where we went. I heard a few shouts drowned out by the crowd and noticed Mello heard them to, but they soon disappeared and we both relaxed, leaning against the wooden wall. The adrenaline rush crashed and I started feeling the strain of running like that, after having never exercised in who knows how long.
"Well, that was fun," I said once I felt my breathing gradually go back to its normal rate, but my heart still beating out of my chest at a frantic pace. Well, I am but a sedentary creature.
"Yes, the best fun I have had in years," He scoffed mockingly.
What is this dude's problem? More than that, what the hell is MY problem? I stuck my neck out for this jerk and he didn't even ask me to. Seriously, I really worry about myself sometimes.
Well, I just stayed silent, not sure what to say in response. What do I say anyway? That I strangely care (a lot more than I am comfortable with) about him enough to help him outrun the cops at my own risk right after he crashed into me unwittingly while running away from said cops? To be fair to myself, I do think I did us all a good turn; although I'd pulled off this ludicrous escape instinctively, if I'd let them catch Mello it would have been a huge hassle with papers and documents and we would end up home late, with an angered and humiliated Mello. And on any average day (according to my estimate), Mello acted more pissed off than a PMSing girl. So me finding him and bringing him home without the police involved would be more discreet, less public, less humiliating, and simply less of a hassle.
I noticed the sky growing grey and just realized that in my hurry to get us away from the cops, I'd totally forgotten that there was a very strong chance that it would begin raining heavily real soon, and we were most likely going to be stuck here until the rain subsides.
"Well," I sighed after a minute or two of silence.
Mello looked at me, a flash of anger in his eyes as he responded to my weak attempt of getting him to speak.
"You want me to come back, don't you?"
'What gave it away, genius?' I thought irritably. Sitting in this cramped fashion with the sky looking like it was going to hurl water on us any moment now, wasn't improving my mood one bit.
"If you will" I decided on.
"I won't." He said firmly, irritation prominent his features. Which wasn't all that surprising, it was probably his resting face or something.
Still, I'm going to make him come back with me, even if it meant that he had stay at my house hidden for awhile. It would do no harm. I just don't want him on the streets. A few drops of rain splashed onto the ground in front of us, along with the sound of thunder signaling the start of the downpour.
I turned to face him just then, and I saw him frowning at the ground intently, like it owed him heavy cash. His face was still flushed from our running spree and his hair was messed up like crazy. He was wearing his leather from the other nights' supper and probably hasn't had a bath since then. Despite that little voice in my head commenting on how gross that was, I could feel a pressure in my stomach, and a tingly feeling all over my body as I took in the sight of him. Even though he looked like an utter mess, I was still enamoured by his looks, and even his personality attracted me somewhat. For some godforsaken reason I couldn't begin to understand; and this was only my second time meeting him, minus our chat on Omegle.
"Why did you run away?" I questioned suddenly, though I doubted he would give an answer.
"Why should I tell you?" He snapped shortly as the rain started to fall at a quicker pace.
"Calm down," I drawled and pointed to the rain now falling steadily and causing a slight mist as it hit the ground, "Looks like we're stuck here for awhile."
"No shit, Sherlock." He mumbled.
"Uhuh," was my only response to his, rather unoriginal, comeback.
And now that we were stuck here I had no idea what to say. It was going to be a VERY difficult task to convince him to come back with me and he clearly doesn't want to speak to me, Leaving me in an awkward position. Luckily this rainfall would keep him here, that was the only thing I had going for me right then. Still, I had no clue how to approach him, he doesn't trust easily, that is for sure. I needed to find a chink in his armor, something that'll thaw his glacier-like coldness towards me.
"Why 'Mello'?" I asked him, in the hopes of starting a conversation; but it felt like a lost cause at this point.
"It was a nickname my friend gave me, so I kept it." He answered as he leaned over his bag to pull out a water bottle. This really surprised me, first because he figured out what that out-of-context question meant and second, because he answered the damn question instead of clamming up after telling me to shove off.
"I see," I responded as I watched him unscrew the cap of the water bottle and drink half of it greedily, reminding me of how thirsty I was.
"Can I have some?" I asked him, nodding to the water bottle.
To my honest disappointment he responded shortly with a "No." and stuffed it back in his bag.
"Well then," I huffed halfheartedly, and I saw him narrow his eyes as if he was thinking of something, or realized something important, before he asked me an only slightly unexpected question.
"Were you trying to find me?"
"What if I was?" I countered.
He turned his gaze to me and stared harshly "Why would you be looking for someone you hardly know?"
"Who said I was looking for you?" I said as I waved him off.
"You were here for three hours two days ago, yet you didn't buy anything."
"You saw me?" I asked, quite a bit surprised that he would have been paying attention.
"I did," he huffed.
"Oh!" I smirked in realization, He HAD stolen from that chocolate shop that day, so he probably was around that area for a while hiding out. It was kind of funny that I thought staring at the sweet shop was a waste of time, when he was the one who stole from it and saw me searching for him right there. Though if I knew he apparently liked chocolate I would have figured it out...
I noticed Mello suppress a shiver as he rubbed his arms and immediately felt guilty. Here I was with a long sleeve shirt and a jacket, while Mello who is already thin, only had his leather top and pants, leaving his arms to the cold, as well as leather not being very insulating.
"Do you want my jacket?" I asked him, ready to take it off and hand it over.
"No," He responded curtly and removed his hand from his arm.
Even with his refusal of the offer I knew he was cold, as another shiver ran through him, so I unzipped my vest and pulled it off of my shoulders to hand it to him.
"I said I didn't want it," He growled, avoiding eye contact.
"I don't care, take it." I told him firmly, seconds before I forcefully shoved it into his arms.
He only grumbled something I couldn't hear and put it on despite his earlier protests, his shivering subsiding a little as he zipped up the garment and seemed to huddle in on himself for warmth. He looked smaller than he usually did when he put my jacket on his slim frame, and because of the way he was huddled into himself that way.
We sat for a little while in silence and it was a little bit uncomfortable, but it wasn't half as awkward as before. By now Mello seemed to have warmed up, even though he still shivered lightly. Eventually I broke the silence.
"If you don't want to see your parents, you can come and stay at my house for a while." I offered lightly.
"I said I didn't want to come back." He repeated his earlier words irritably.
"Why not?" I asked, growing a little irritated as well at his refusal.
"Because I just don't, I am fine out here and I don't see a problem, so why don't you just leave me alone?" He asked angrily.
"Because this isn't a small town Mello, there are plenty of people out there who wouldn't think twice about assaulting a lone teenager on the run, even if this is a pretty safe part of LA." I explained to him, my voice rising a little. Even my mysterious attraction to him was only going to keep me silent for so long.
"I can take care of myself." He shot back.
"And so can I, but we still worry!"
He looked slightly confused, "Who's we?"
"You're an idiot! Your parents, my parents, me, we are all worried about you"
His expression turned into a scowl "My parents don't care so why should I care?"
"Well if you think they don't, which they do by the way, a lot; then at least I care!" I blurted out frustratedly, my irritation growing so much that I didn't think before I said what I said.
He looked mildly taken aback at my words, and irritated at the same time "Why would someone I hardly know care about me?" He spat, as a flash of lighting erupted from the sky, lighting up his face and for just a brief second.
"I-I don't know," I faltered, suddenly feeling very awkward after I blurted that out like that. It was true that I was a stranger to him, so why should I care about him? Someone that I haven't known for more than three days, and have only spent about three hours around. Why do I care about him so much?
"Hmph, see? You don't care, you're just a liar! You only want me to come back so you can get away from whatever drama is going on in your own life!" He hissed, his voice barely concealing his rage. And I then realized that in his past he had been used, possibly abandoned, neglected, and made to feel inferior from his family and he never got over it. His family may not have done it intentionally but they still made him unable trust anybody. Perhaps they simply couldn't handle him and either pushed him away or suppressed him. Perhaps never let him be truly who he is, that is why he doesn't want to see them. He feels inferior.
After I had this moment of epiphany, I had no clue what to say. I only stared at him, not saying anything. He glared back at me balefully and I understood him now, at least to an extent, and it led me to believe that beneath all that disdain and hate and anti-socialness, he was afraid of being betrayed again; he is almost broken in a sense.
"What?" He questioned furiously when he noticed that I was thinking about something. I couldn't help but think that if he knew I was analyzing him in this way, he would probably kill me.
I righted myself and purposefully spoke, "I don't care what you think, I won't force you to see your family, but I will force you to come back, and yes, I care about you for a reason I don't understand." I said it all in one breath and took a quick pause before I continued "Let's wait for the rain to die down, then we can go to my place. My Dad is at work and my Mom is at her support group so they won't see you when we arrive, okay?"
"I said I won't go," He replied, but his face showed he was still taken aback by my sudden confidence and he was relenting, if only a little.
"And I don't care," I repeated firmly.
He huffed and leaned back on his seat, I could almost see his mind's gears turning as he was weighing the pros and cons of coming back with me, as if he were flipping around a photograph and picking out every detail one by one on each side. I waited patiently for his decision, though I was eager for him to respond. I had taken such an interest in him then, maybe it was his personality, maybe it was his feelings, maybe it actually was fate... something I'd always made a point of not believing in. But the thought of how unlikely it is to meet someone in such a way, and the fact that he stirred so many feelings in me that I had never even dreamt of feeling before, I was starting to doubt my own beliefs.
Mello seemed to be like a code, a code that I wanted to learn to decrypt; because I couldn't make heads or tails of what I was feeling towards him and I needed to understand.
"Alright," He responded unsurely, as he turned to look at me.
"You'll come back with me?" I asked. I didn't want to push him, but I felt so satisfied and I couldn't believe my ears. I honestly thought it would take more than that for him to agree.
"What did I just say?!" He snapped at me.
I pulled up my hands in a sign of surrender.
"Just making sure," I said, trying not to set him off any further.
His expression was a mixture of irritation and amusement as he rested his head back on the wall of the awning.
"It looks like the rain is finally letting up," He mumbled.
I looked at the street and sure enough the rain was falling slower, and the sun was just starting to peak out from behind the clouds, leaving the scent of fresh rainwater as the falling of drops were slowly receding. I nodded as I gazed at the waterlogged street with a sense of contentment. I took a quick glance at Mello and noticed that he too was looking at the street, but for him his expression resided more on the side of nostalgia and once again I wondered about his hometown, it was such a different place from here; from what I knew.
After a minute of silence the rain stopped fully and I stood up. "Looks like we can head out," I spoke calmly and offered him my hand. He only nodded and stood up, blatantly ignoring the gesture.
I shrugged, pulled back my hand, and led the way out of the marketplace at a steady pace, with Mello just behind me.
We walked a few minutes in silence, for me I just didn't have anything to say, but for Mello he seemed conflicted about something. It was when we were about halfway home that he suddenly stopped and I had to turn around and give him a questioning look. For a second I thought maybe he had changed his mind about coming with me.
"Do you like me or something?" He asked.
I gave him a confused look, "What do you mean?"
He only shook his head and continued walking, so I followed behind him and it took a few minutes until I realized what he meant, and an unfamiliar warmth rose to my cheeks, but I didn't say anything. I was too busy processing what he said, and trying to hide the fact that I was blushing, something that I had never done before.
We continued along the watered down street, the sun reflected off the road, making it seem shiny. I would have enjoyed the change of weather if it wasn't for my burning cheeks and it wasn't like I could blame it on the cold either.
We arrived at my house shortly and I unlocked the door easily, letting Mello inside and entering after him, closing the door behind myself. I took off my shoes and set them on the shoe rack whereas Mello only tossed his boots halfheartedly on the floor, not that I cared much.
"Do you want to take a shower?" I questioned when we stepped into the kitchen, eyeing his mussed up hair and more-than-slightly grimy appearance.
"Only if you have clean clothes I can wear," He replied with a cocky smirk.
I briefly wondered if he had a slight bipolar disorder, judging by the way his mood changed from angry to cocky to thoughtful in a matter of seconds, but pushed the thought aside.
"I will find you some. You can use the shower in my bedroom. It's up the stairs, third room to your right."
He nodded and made his way up the stairs to my room, leaving me stood there for a moment, before I realized I had to do some things to make his stay here discreet, and picked up his bag along with his boots, before heading up the stairs as well.
I cleaned the mud off of his boots and put them beside my bed with his bag, found some clean clothes that I put in the bathroom discreetly, tidied my room a little and found a sleeping bag with a pillow, and then I settled down in front of my computer to play Runescape.
After playing for who knows how long, I started to wonder if Mello had fallen asleep in the shower. And, after a quick glance towards my clock I realized that indeed an hour and a half had passed, the whole time I was playing Runecsape contentedly. Then I heard the water shut off and after a few moments, Mello came out of the bathroom smelling like peppermint shampoo. He was wearing the navy blue button-up shirt and black skinny jeans that I gave him, and had a fluffy white towel draped over his head catching drops of water that he hadn't bothered to wipe off before coming out. He lazily flopped onto my bed, seemingly forgetting about my presence as he dried his hair.
"Enjoy your shower?" I said with a small grin on my face, one that he couldn't see as I continued playing my game.
"Shut up," He retaliated irritably
"Right, are you hungry?" I offered.
"Not really, where'd you put my chocolate though?"
"You mean the stuff you stole? It's beside my bed." I said, snickering slightly.
"Good," He responded, as he got up and went over to his bag, where he pulled out a Hershey's bar, unwrapped it and sat back down on my bed.
When I heard a snap I was slightly startled before I realized that it was just him biting off pieces of chocolate. I stayed quiet and didn't bother commenting on the obnoxious snaps, even though it bothered me immensely and soon enough, the snaps blended into the background, and I beat a high level player on Runescape.
A few minutes later, I became slightly aware of him looking around my room, checking out books from my bookshelf, and peeking into my drawers. I realized that he was trying to provoke me when I caught sight of his smirk in the reflection of my window, though I didn't actually care. I didn't have anything to hide, apart from my wallet that had my ID in it. I tried to recall where I'd left it, prying my mind for the answer when I realized it was in the pocket of my vest. I turned around my chair.
"Hey, did you leave the clothes that you were wearing before in the bathroom?" I asked. Really I was only a bit concerned, if not at all.
He looked over at me from his place by the bookshelf, and said indifferently, "Yeah, they're still in there."
I nodded and stood up "Okay, I will put them in the wash." I spoke as I walked into the bathroom.
Sure it probably wouldn't be bad if he found out I was the guy from his chat on Omegle, but the way he acts in general is spontaneous at best, so I don't want to risk it. I thought over my reasoning for keeping it a secret as I pulled my wallet out of my vest, put it in my pants pocket and collected the clothing to wash them.
I put them in my laundry basket and picked it up before heading downstairs to the laundry room, where I tossed the clothing in the washer and adjusted the setting to delicate before clicking the start button.
As I exited the laundry room, I heard Mom enter the house; and with a quick glance to the clock in the laundry room I saw that it was already 6:00pm. I was mildly surprised how quickly the time passed, but otherwise didn't think much of it as I went to the kitchen to greet my Mother.
"Hey Matt, how are you doing?" She greeted me with a smile as soon as I entered her line of view.
"I'm okay," I said blandly, keeping in mind that to her Mello is still missing as far as she knows, and I had to act a little downbeat.
She gave me an understanding smile, "I bought pizza because I came back so late," she said as she pulled out two boxes from a bag on the counter along with some plates from the cupboard and set them on the table.
"Sounds good," I responded simply and went to open the first box. I grabbed three slices and put them on my plate, two for Mello and one for me. "Dad's not going to be home tonight?" I asked curiously.
She shook her head and sat down at the table "He has to stay in the office for the night to catch up on paperwork" She spoke regretfully.
"Huh. Hey, Mom, can I eat this upstairs?" I pointed to the plate.
"Why?" She asked me, confused at the odd request.
"I was going to cram for a test tonight," I shrugged. I generally used that as an excuse to do other stuff, as I rarely, or rather never, had homework.
"Oh yeah, sure, honey. Go ahead, I'm gonna go to bed early, so goodnight." She spoke, and only then did I take in her tired appearance. I knew it was to be expected, she usually went through a tough spot every few months.
"Goodnight, feel better in the morning," I told her with a smile, and She gave me tired one in return and left, so I headed up the stairs, and back to my room.
I opened my door to find Mello with his nose in a criminology book, still lying on my bed and intently observing each word on each page, he didn't acknowledge me as I entered, so I spoke up.
"I gave you the sleeping bag for a reason, you know?"
"I will take the bed," He stated, not taking his eyes off of the pages.
"Then you're going to have to share a bed with me because I sure as hell am not sleeping on the floor." I retaliated, in the hopes that he would give up and sleep on the floor.
He sat up "That's fine, is that pizza?" He asked, while eyeing the plate.
"Yeah, here you go," I handed him the plate as I took one slice for myself, slightly irritated that he was so persistent on sleeping in the bed.
He nodded and took the plate, then proceeded to lie back down, reading the book while nibbling on a piece of pizza slowly. I only sighed and sat back down by my computer, where I ate my single slice. Now he was just annoying me, and I was not to keen on sleeping on the floor, nor sleeping in the same bed with him even though I had a king sized bed.
Mello seemed content reading books for the rest of the evening, just as I was content playing miscellaneous games on the computer, so the arrangement worked fine for me. While playing my games, I was also contemplating about Mello. He was just strange, or rather, different. For example, it seems like he hates his family, yet the books that he was devouring with his eyes were all criminology and law books. I would have thought that his hatred of his family would also mean he hated the family business, but either he pressured himself into doing it because of standards, or he was actually driven to become a detective. Either way, I was curious. I couldn't figure him out, his personality, his likes, his obsessions (everyone has them, whether they admit it or not) and most of all, why I felt the way I did with him. It confused me, but I found everything about him endearing in a way.
I soon realized it was 10:38 pm, and remembering I had school tomorrow I decided to go to sleep, though I was apprehensive about how well I would be able to sleep with Mello in my bed, let alone in the room.
"Do you want to go to sleep now?" I asked him from my computer desk, as I quit playing Gemini.
He glanced up from his book and at the clock on my desk, before he nodded.
"Sure," He said nonchalantly, and then he closed the book and set it on the end table beside my bed.
I nodded and stood up from my chair to walk over to my dresser, where I grabbed two pairs of pajama pants and tossed one pair at him. "You can wear these," I mumbled as I undressed and slipped into my own Mario themed pajama pants.
Mello put on the pants without a response and tiredly flopped on the bed, where he slid under the covers, "I'm still sleeping on the bed," he mumbled tiredly as his eyes closed.
I took note of how being out on the streets those few nights probably drained him, as he didn't sound snarky when he said it and his voice was more on the smooth side. I liked that voice, and kind of wanted to hear more of it. I turned off the bedroom light and crawled in the other side of the bed, pulling the blankets over myself as I snuggled into the soft black sheets. I still felt awkward sleeping in the same bed as Mello, and if he wasn't so tired, I reckon he would have probably kicked me out with more effort.
But then again, Mello sure wasn't tired when he first declared himself sleeping in my bed, so what does that mean? He doesn't seem like the type to be comfortable sleeping around another person; he would most likely consider it a weakness, letting another person see him vulnerable. But then, he doesn't seem like the type to accept anything from anybody, food, stay, clothes, I don't really know him, but I feel like he should have given me a harder time. Could it be that he feels comfortable around me for some reason?
To my surprise I found falling asleep, even with Mello in the room, was easy and I was almost more comfortable as I listened to his steady breathing, lulling me to sleep.