"You really don't?" He asked me, his voice filled with disbelief, as he was still slightly shocked about the sudden kiss. I don't think he even realized he was lightly touching his lips, as like he didn't believe this very real kiss was real.

Damn, his parents' unwillingness to accept his preferences really must've cut deep into his self-confidence. I never expected Mello to be so unsure; if anything, I'd expected him to be like, 'I'm hot stuff and you are lucky I deigned to even glance at you.' Okay, not that bad but y'know.

I nodded, now more than slightly embarrassed, my cheeks flushed. Oh my god, I actually did it! It felt liberating to finally realize what I'd pictured.

But now that I took that leap, the atmosphere around us turned awkward and uncomfortable. Neither of us knew what to say to alleviate the tense atmosphere. I was embarrassed because of my feelings for him and I had no way of knowing what the hell was going on in his head; he was too good at hiding his emotions when he wanted to. I also didn't know what would happen now, did this mean we had a chance at being together? Or were we just going to brush it under the rug and pretend it never happened? Obviously, I didn't want this to be something meaningless, but I didn't get any indicators (except that one kiss) that the dude actually wanted to be in any sort of relationship with anyone, let alone with me.

"So, what now?" I asked him after a few more seconds of the awkward silence from hell.

He shifted a bit, and rubbed his neck. "What did you intend this to be?" He looked vulnerable and slightly hopeful, and I know that I could only see all of this because he trusted me enough to not put up a facade anymore. I wondered if he was just like this with me, or if I just don't know him that well and he is like this normally. But I am going to flatter myself by thinking it was the former, because I am the most awesome guy I know. Okay, I'll stop now.

"Uh, I'm not sure what exactly I want," his face started to become closed off (crap, I just realized how terrible I am at this), "But I know that I want to be with you."

His demeanour thawed as he said, "So, this wasn't meant to be some cheap fling...right?"

"Hell no! No way!" I stopped myself before I gushed out into a litany of the synonyms of 'no' in a fit of nervousness.

"So...you wanna be boyfriends?" He clearly meant that to sound nonchalant and cool (but he utterly failed at that).

"That sounds very good," I said, smiling softly.

"You don't have to if you don't want to, especially right now. I mean, what with your mother and stuff-" He trailed off, slightly awkward.

Yeah, that was a very valid point, but I felt like Mello had the ability to keep me calm enough to be able to wait this tense period out. He is not the type to cause drama (well, he did run away and stay hidden in the market long enough to cause the family next door -that was only acquainted with his own family for two days- to be worried enough to scour around the whole neighbourhood for him, but yeah), at least not too much, so that didn't concern me. I felt comfortable around him, more so than anybody else I had ever been around and I wanted to be with him, no matter how I felt at the time.

Instead of answering him I scooted closer to him, put my arms around his neck, and placed a chaste kiss on his lips.

"I feel safe with you," I mumbled as I rested my head on his shoulder.

"Why?" He questioned me as he held me to himself.

"Don't know," I mumbled back, "I just do."

Another round of silence passed, this one way more comfortable than the last.

My thoughts were a jumbled mess, that is the only way I could describe them. With my Mother, Mello and my own feelings, I didn't know what to do now. Mom's situation would take time to find out what was happening to her and why. The only thing I could do is be there for her and try not to worry, because she wouldn't want me to worry. Also, Mello can't just stay here forever like a fugitive, though I would really like him to stay. And I don't even know my what my feelings toward Mello are for sure. So basically I just have come to terms with and accept feelings that I don't even understand properly...

But I felt so comfortable with Mello, like I had known him forever. I don't know why; he just showed up in my life and I began to like him. A weirder feeling cannot be found.

"Hey, Matt?" He mumbled, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Hmm?" I hummed curiously. I only noticed then that he had been stroking my hair absentmindedly, but he drew back as if he only just noticed that he was doing it as well.

"You said you have known me for six days...have I met you before and not remembered?"

Right, I forgot I had said that, but right now does seem like an okay time to tell him. If he had a bad reaction to me not saying it, at least he wouldn't be as angry as he would be any other time. Probably.

I pulled back with a little smile on my face. "You probably do remember," I stated.

He gave me a confused look, "What do you mean?" I could see him trying to figure it out, and there was no doubt that he was thinking about it while I was at the hospital, but was not able to come to a conclusion.

"Well," I paused, thinking of how I should tell him. "Matt is not my real name, it's just a nickname that I like better than my real one."

"How is that an answer?" He questioned me.

"My real name is Mail, M-A-I-L. Does this ring any bells?" I watched as his expression changed.

"Wait...you mean..." He stopped, processing what I had just told him before he gave me a disbelieving look, "You're that annoying idiot from Omegle?" he spoke with a mix of mirth and confusion in his voice.

"Yep, that'll be me, boyfriend dearest," I chuckled, seeing that he wasn't angry that I hadn't told him until now.

"Um, what do I say to that?" He mumbled.

I shrugged "I don't know, but remember when you first told me to call you Mello?"

"Oh, yeah, I do," he responded, seeming to piece it together easily now. "So why Matt?" He questioned, half-mockingly. Ah, here is the snark-master I came to love somehow.

I smiled as I remembered when I'd asked him the same question that day, and laughed a little. "I just like it," I responded.

xxx

"Are you sure you don't want me to get you anything?" I asked my Mother as I leaned over in the chair.

Last night, Mello and I went to bed pretty soon after I told him all about me being Mail. The atmosphere changed significantly between us after that; that is the funny thing about crying, while you're crying you feel terrible, but afterwards you feel much better, like a weight being lifted off of your shoulders. That morning I had left Mello at home so I could come to see my Mother, he was pretty fine with just staying home, and after I arrived at the hospital I found out that my Father slept little to none, which, sadly enough, I'd expected.

My father was currently filling out forms for the CAT scan for Mom that they needed, and left me in the room with her. She looked much better than when she first came in here, even though it has only been a few hours since she had arrived last night, and of course she could tell I was worried and kept telling me not to be so. But obviously, I couldn't help but worry; normal human emotions and all that.

"I am fine, sweetheart," She reassured me again.

I nodded, uncertainly staring at the floor.

She sighed, catching my attention and reaching her hand up unsteadily to stroke my hair. "My boy. Honestly, what happens happens. If this is terminal, there is nothing we can do about it. So stop worrying," she rasped weakly.

HOW DID SHE EXPECT ME TO STOP WORRYING AFTER HEARING THAT?! HOW?

I shifted in my seat, clasping my hands together. "I don't want to lose you, I can't stop worrying and you know that,"

She let out a sad breath and looked at me intently. "You have a lot going on right now, Matt, I don't want to weigh you down."

I looked down at my lap, knowing what she meant and feeling guilty about it.

"Is something wrong, Matt?" She whispered, finding the quiet tone easier on herself.

I looked up. "No, nothing, it's fine,"

"Okay," She said kindly, with a small smile.

I really needed to get Mello home, not just for his sake, but my own as well. I couldn't just keep lying to my parents, with them thinking I am upset because of him being gone, when he is actually at my house, I felt like the biggest liar I had ever been. I felt guilt well up in stomach that wouldn't go away, and I hated it.

The door clicked open, breaking me from my thoughts and I turned, expecting to see Dad or Dr. Froch. But instead, there was a petite blonde woman and a taller man, dressed elegantly but with worry etched on their faces as they entered. Angela and Eric, if I recall correctly.

The guilty feeling escalated, as I realized that I was not just lying to my parents but Mello's as well. And they were probably going through hell, worrying about their son who was in all actuality right next door to them.

"Angela, I didn't think you would be here," My Mother spoke, genuinly surprised at their presence.

Angela smiled and pulled up a seat beside me, "We normally wouldn't have come till later but you put in so much effort to help us find Mello that we thought we owed it to you," she said solemnly. "So how are you?"

"Been better," My Mother tried to laugh but flinched as her head clearly pounded at the action. "No sign of Mello?" She asked as she rubbed her head gently.

Ugh, she was guilt-tripping me without even knowing it.

Angela shook her head as Eric sat down beside her. "We are worried about him,"

She then turned to look at me, much to my chagrin.

"How are you doing, Matt?" She asked me.

"I-I'm doing fine," I stuttered, I felt bad to say the least.

Why do you put me in these situations, Mello? I wondered. But then again, I was the one who suggested that he hide out at my home because I couldn't bear to leave him alone even though he was doing quite well on his own. Ugh, I did this to myself, didn't I?.

"That's good, I know you don't know Mello all that well, but I am glad you put so much effort into helping us."

Oh boy, she had no idea how wrong she was.

"You're welcome." I nodded sheepishly, and stood up. "Um, I have to go to school, I will come see you afterwards though, okay?"

My Mother nodded cheerfully "Of course, don't get into any trouble, sweetheart."

I waved at her as I stepped out into the hallway, making sure not to let on that I was feeling as guilty as I was, and smiled at her. I didn't go far before I saw my Father in the hall and stopped in case he had something to say to me.

"How is she doing?" He questioned as soon as he saw me, that same concern etched on his face. He looked terrible, his perfectly ironed dress shirt wrinkled from sleeping in it, his hair barely combed back at all, bags under his eyes from hardly sleeping. His blue eyes lost all of their shine and were now dulled by sleeplessness and worry. It didn't take me much figuring out to know that he was punishing himself for my Mother's own sickness. He probably hasn't eaten at all through the time he has been here. All because he thinks there is something he did wrong that consequently led to the accident.

"She is doing much better from what I can see, did the doctor tell you if they can do the scan soon?" I questioned him, honestly curious.

He nodded. "He said they can do it tomorrow."

"That's good, I have to go to school; I told her I would come back later." I told him.

"Alright son, keep up your grades, we both know you need to," He spoke, earning an inward scowl from me as he walked away.

I never had any challenge in classes, school was always so easy for me. It was rare that I had to think hard to complete an assignment or had to do homework, unless it was something that I had to do at home as an after school assignment. I always had to pretend to have a slightly hard time so I didn't attract attention though, so when people told me I had to do my homework, or work hard, I always felt a little bit put off. Again, I caused it in the first place so technically they didn't earn my wrath. Gah!

With my mood slightly more disdainful than before I moved to the checkout, signed my name down and found my dad's ride. I buckled into the vehicle and drove off to school easily.

My mind was weighed down by everything that was going on, I simply kept overthinking everything. That, and I had a few things that needed to be taken care of. I didn't want to go to school, really it was the last thing on my mind right now. I would have much preferred skipping and going to talk to Mello, but my Father would most definitely get on my case if I did.

I pulled up the car into the school parking lot and turned the key, shutting off the engine and left the truck behind as I went into the school building. I found Beyond by his locker quickly and waved at him as I approached my own.

"Hey, Matt." He greeted me. "You doing alright?"

"Huh?" I looked up at him from my locker, confused. Surely he couldn't tell that something was wrong, or know what happened to my Mother?

"Well, I heard about your Mother," He said almost sympathetically, confirming my suspicions.

I frowned as I realized I didn't bring my bag, which carried a good amount of my belongings that I needed for school. I stood up, holding what books I still had and responded. "Yeah? I don't really want to talk about it," I shrugged, wondering how he knew about it, considering he knew about Mello too. Maybe the damn boy just gossips all day like old women do...

"Alright, that's fine. Just, if she kicks the bucket, let me know her morgue number." He chuckled as he went off to his own classe,s leaving me not knowing whether to be angry at that or kill him instead. I decided to just let it go though (it was with great deal of effort though).

Dismissing his crude remark with a sigh I headed off to my class, which wouldn't be starting for another five minutes. I wouldn't usually be that early to class but it couldn't be helped today, so I decided I would simply play games on my PSP while I waited.

When the teacher did walk in, she was five minutes late, which was an odd feat in itself. I continued playing my game without disruptions, only half paying attention and writing things down when required, until I heard her talk about Mello and I snapped my head up from the game I had been playing and hoped that no one noticed my reaction as I tuned into what the teacher was saying.

"...Mello Kheel ran away last Sunday, if anyone knows anything about him or has seen him, you can talk to me and I will send your report to the police. Of course, chances that you've seen him are pretty slim, so don't worry too much about it," She said with a light chuckle at the end and the class sniggered a little with her.

I frowned, for them it was a laughing matter, but for me it was far from that. I knew what I would be doing once I got home, Mello can't stay in my house for much longer. At least, without the knowledge of his parents.

The rest of the school day blew by surprisingly fast, me and Beyond aced our criminology test which was no surprise. Lunch went by normally, and soon enough I was heading back to my house.

"Mello?" I called out from the boot room as I kicked off my shoes and shut the door behind me. He didn't answer, so I checked the living room and then went up to my bedroom. I opened the door to find it empty, but I could hear the shower running, so I just sat down on my bed and waited for him to finish, wondering if he would take a long time like the first night he was here.

I could only hope that this conversation wouldn't go badly, but I would still do it. Though the longer I sat there on the bed the more apprehensive I became. He would most certainly get angry, and possibly punch me, then again he has surprised me before. I considered all of the possible (and some impossible) scenarios in my mind, trying to settle my nerves; but obviously, it didn't work. He would put up a fight, try to get out of it - an assortment of things really, I would just have to wait and see.

I startled when the bathroom door opened and turned my head to see Mello in a towel leaning on the door frame. I felt my face heat up as I stared at his chest for a moment, but tried to ignore it and cleared my throat.

"You should get dressed," I mumbled.

"Hm, yeah" He responded with a smirk and crossed the room. I didn't look as I heard some shuffling from behind me and soon enough he plopped down on the bed beside me, fully dressed and clad in leather.

"What's wrong?" He questioned me, I could tell from his expression that he knew something apart from Mom's condition was up.

"Well," I started nervously. "You need to go home soon," I told him, deciding to just say it without beating around the bush and see what happens.

"Why?" He growled. Uh-oh! Code Red!

"I'm sorry Mello, it's just-" I started only to be cut off, probably for the better so that he can blow off some steam.

"You just what? You live your perfect life with nice parents who actually care and keeping me here is too hard on you? I don't want to ever see them again and I may like you Matt, but I won't hesitate to just leave. You can't make me go back there!" He snapped, fury burning in his eyes.

I brought my gaze up to his, "I know you don't like them Mello, but you can't stay here, at least tell them where you are or something. I can't stand lying to everyone."

"I thought you wanted me here?" He deadpanned. It scared me, he had no emotion in his voice, not even anger as he said that. I knew he was going to snap soon if I didn't manage to turn this around somehow.

"Mello, I can't lie to everybody around me, not to mention you are bound to be found out soon, and that will surely cause a lot of trouble. I'm going to be eighteen in a few months, so maybe you could stay with your parents until then and we could get a place of our own," I explained, hoping to calm him down.

He looked dead angry for a moment until what I said sunk in, and he understood the full implications of what I'd just said. But I didn't regret saying it, not at all, and kept my gaze level with his.

"You'd want me to move in with you?" He questioned doubtfully, his expression telling me that he might have thought that I was just bribing him.

"Yes," I affirmed, not a trace of doubt in my voice.

"You know I don't want to confront them," He mumbled then, his voice taking on a more wheedling tone.

I frowned, "I can go with you, if you would like,"

"Why are you doing this?" He questioned me sharply, his voice almost frustrated, but veiled with anger.

I sighed, "I already said why," I told him firmly, "I like you. A lot."

He stared at me, his porcelain blue eyes conveying a mess of emotions before it turned to a mix between irritation and humor.

"You're like a puppy." He stated.

"What?" I was dumbfounded at how he literally leapt from that super-serious conversation to such a light-hearted topic, but let him continue (duh, I didn't want to get punched by my boyfriend, for god's sake).

"You hardly know me, yet you follow me around, you seem to be willing to do anything for me and you are loyal. Hell, when you pout, you even give me those puppy eyes," He sniggered.

"Puppy eyes?" I echoed, still wondering why he brought that up now. But I wasn't complaining. though part of me disliked it, I also liked that he thought of me in such a way.

"Yeah," he confirmed.

I giggled a little, feeling my face heat up again and responded while trying to sound firm. "You're avoiding the subject,"

He raised an eyebrow. "You don't sound very serious,"

"I know Mello," I breathed "But can you? Just put up with your parents for awhile until we can get a place of our own?"

He paused, looking thoughtful then spoke. "On a few conditions," He stated.

"Go on," I agreed, urging him to continue.

"First, you will come with me when I go there. And second, you can't go back on what you just said,"

I nodded in agreement. These sound reasonable.

"Third, you have to buy me chocolate for the rest of the year,"

Where did that even come from?

I raised an eyebrow but nodded.

"And you can't ever leave me, or go against something I say," He finished.

Um, what? I love the guy and all that but ain't nobody giving up no free will.

"Most of them sound good, but I don't think you want to have a boyfriend who's basically just an automaton, do you? I get to keep my free will, thanks."

"How would you know that?"

"Well, we did get together and literally all we ever did before that was fight or argue,"

"Well, well, well. The puppy is barking back," He said laughingly, but he didn't mean it derogatorily.

"Shut it, dumbass," I said, before laughing lightly too.

"Alright then, you get to keep your free will, provided you don't ever leave me,"

"That sounds quite doable indeed,"

The conditions felt weirdly nice and kind of like he owned me. Maybe it's because we're in the honeymoon phase of our relationship, but it just made me feel good.

"Good," He responded with a smirk, him knowing what he just made me agree to.

"But you have to agree to a few of my conditions," I added, causing him to raise an eyebrow. His expression basically said 'how is that supposed to work?', but he let me continue.

"First, you can never leave me behind; second, you need to value yourself way more than you do right now. Third, you can never break my game consoles when you're mad and fourth, you can't run away again."

He snorted as I finished and stood up from the bed.

"Yeah right," He mumbled as he went over to his bag on the floor. He said it that way, but I still knew what he meant and I knew for sure that he would never break that promise, unless I broke one first. A small smile appeared on my lips as I imagined what we had just begun.

He picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Let's go then,"

"Already?" I asked him, surprised. I thought he would stall for a while, or at least plan to do it tomorrow.

He shrugged "Might as well get this over with,"

"Gotcha," I replied and stood up from the bed while motioning for him to follow me.

Once we were outside, I became a little nervous, things going through my head like; What if they think he has been with me this whole time? Or, what if they ground him from seeing me? Not that that would stop him, But I was still nervous. What if Mello got in trouble? I could see he was doing that thing he does where he hides his emotions, I had noticed he does that before when he is nervous, afraid, or anything really that he doesn't want to show (and thus, I became Captain Obvious). Any other person wouldn't have noticed he does that, not until they knew him for longer, but I have always had a talent at reading people; Mello being no exception to my mad skillz.

I slipped my hand in his as we walked down the street and felt him glance at me briefly, but he didn't protest as we continued along our path.

Mello's Father would probably be at work right now; which was good. One parent is easier to deal with than two (unless that one parent knew martial arts and decided that they were going to wipe me off the face of earth. Gulp.), I thought to myself as we reached the door and Mello pressed the doorbell,

Mello's house was like most of the other houses on the street: grey panelling, stone masonry, shuttered windows, and way bigger than my house. I wondered what his room was like, but then again he hasn't had any time to unpack so it probably isn't that personalized yet.

Mello let go of my hand as the door opened, but I didn't so much as look at him, knowing that he wouldn't want the extra trouble of her knowing we were together in that way.

As soon as Angela saw us, she gasped and fumbled with her words until she let out a awkward greeting. "Matt...Miheal, you're back."

Thank you, Captain Obvious 2.0.

"Yes, Mother." He grumbled.

I fidgeted as I saw how her surprise turned into irritation and she gestured us to come inside with an authoritative "You have some things to explain, boys."

We followed her inside, Mello looking firm and nonchalant, which I knew was a facade to hide his own irritation, and me (most probably) looking nervous and quite out of place. The inside of their house seemed even bigger than the outside, with fountains (why?), paintings (some of which I recognized and know they cost fortunes), clocks and statues. It looked more like a museum or hotel. It was extremely beautiful, and even though our house was big, like I said before, my family has never bothered to expand it. Mello's house in comparison was huge to mine, and I decided this house is reason enough to move all of the way from Slovenia to here.

We settled down on some couches in the living room, Mello and I closely beside each other, almost bumping shoulders, and Angela across from us. She settled down before letting out a sigh and speaking.

"Mihael, you gave us a big scare running away like that, especially in this city, where who knows what could happen!" She scolded.

Hey, LA isn't that bad!

"Bullshit," Mello deadpanned, even surprising me with his bluntness.

Angela gave him an annoyed look but continued. "We care about you Miheal, we just don't like your choices, which are bad. I have told you this before-"

This was really not the happy family reunion I was looking forward to. And my amazing deductive skills tell me that it's just going to become even uglier.

"No you don't, and I could care less either way," He said, sounding angrier every second. I wanted to reach out and hold his hand, but I knew that it wouldn't help him in the slightest; what with his extremely homophobic Mother here.

Angela turned her gaze to me, causing me to tense up. "And you, Matt, do you know where Miheal has been these last few days? Has he been at your house this whole time?"

There, that accusation that I had been nervous about, I wasn't sure what to tell her. It was clear she was a more disconnected type of Mother for whom caring for her son came second to his standing in the world, so telling the truth wouldn't work.

"I found him this morning on my way to school and convinced him to come home with me," I explained vaguely, really only half lying.

She huffed. "Alright Matt, you can go home now. This is our family's business." She spoke as she pulled out a mobile from her pocket.

Right, that is exactly the way she should treat the guy who found her missing son (and kept him hidden for a while after that, but she didn't know that). Anyway, the point is, she pissed me off.

I opened my mouth to protest but Mello beat me to it, snapping at his Mother.

"He is staying,"

She looked up from her phone in surprise at his voice and raised an eyebrow "I think that is my decision, Mihael."

This was my turn to speak on behalf of both of us, I decided, not caring if I was out of line.

"Look, Angela, I am staying until whatever this is, is finished. I kinda promised him I would and I'm not going to back out of it."

"Matt-" She started only to be cut off by Mello again.

"He is staying, unless you want me to leave again?" He challenged.

I spoke again, knowing the situation was quickly escalating and trying to ease the atmosphere and get this over with in the process. "I promise that if you let this go this time, Mello won't do it again. Okay? Please just let it go this time" I hoped that this would be enough to convince her, because really, I couldn't say anything else without sounding like a broken record.

She let out a sigh. "Matt, this really is none of your business,"

Mello was about to speak again but I kicked his leg, knowing that she was letting up. "You can go to your room now, you need to start school on Monday, but I will drop this issue, okay? As long as what Matt says is true," She gave me a look and then moved her gaze to Mello in question.

He seemed about to argue but instead nodded reluctantly and agreed. "I won't."

"Good," She said and set down her phone, "But if this happens again I won't hesitate to make more of it, I am only letting you go this time because of Matt, got it?"

"Gotcha." He grumbled and stood up pulling me with him.

"So I'll...go home now?" I asked him.

"Yeah, go." He said blankly.

I frowned, wanting him to walk me to the door where I could speak to him alone, but conceded and headed off with a wave.

"See ya, Mells," I whispered to him indiscreetly. Oh yeah, we gave each other nicknames already.

"Yeah. Bye, Mattie." He gave me a soft smile even though he clearly wasn't happy, and as I walked around the corner to exit his home I saw him give his Mother a curt nod and walk off to where I assumed his room was.

I just hoped he would be okay till tomorrow, and not run off again. But I was pretty certain he would hold up to his word.