I pulled on my Converses before rushing out the door to catch up with my parents, slowing to a walk as I caught up with Mom.
Three days ago, Mom was discharged from the hospital with a clean bill of health after they'd removed her brain tumor successfully. Though she'll have to go for a few checkups at the hospital every three weeks from now on, it's not all that much different from before. That is, aside from how tired she is now. I really wished I could do something about it; seeing her sleeping in, barely managing to drag herself around the house in the mornings and zoning out all of the time, but there really wasn't much I could do.
A day after the confrontation with Mello's parents, Angela had invited all of us over for dinner on Sunday. When I'd discussed about the two families meeting up, it turned out Mello was a little less than happy than I'd expected about having to spend a night eating food with all of us rather than studying. But then I found that he was the kind of person who was INTENSELY focused on whatever he did. If he was going to study, he'd go all out, studying until his eyes were bloodshot. I'd thought it was amusing until I literally saw him pass out from all the studying he did. He had quickly taken over the place of the top student in the school in barely over a week.
Suffice to say, for that reason I made sure he was all for the dinner.
Also, it was safe to say that Beyond and Mello didn't exactly hit it off at the beginning, but it looks like they've started to warm up to each other just a bit. When Mello first met Beyond, he asked him why he looked like L, to which Beyond merely grinned heartily and walked away after congratulating me about my boyfriend. Let's just say that that didn't serve as a great first impression on either of them.
The week was otherwise uneventful. Mello and I hung out at school, did homework together, not that we ever had much, and went out a few times. Mainly we just went for coffee or for a walk, but we had also gone for a movie on one occasion and a restaurant on the other. I had a nice week to say the least, what with Mom being back, and all the time I'd been spending with Mello, and generally just hanging around. I was happier than I have ever been for a long while, and I was certain that Mello felt the same way. From what I can tell, he hated it when he first came here, but now he was pretty happy as far as Mello goes.
"...what do you say, Matt?"
"Huh?" I turned to Mom, who'd been speaking to me while I wasn't paying any attention.
She frowned slightly, but patiently repeated what she had said. "What do you think about us moving into another one of the mansions on the street?"
That's when I remembered that I forgot to mention the plan Mello and I'd made to move out together after a while. So it was just the two of them resettling in another house and, in her current condition, I wouldn't advise it. Not to mention our current house is not very big or fancy, so we would have a hard time selling it and that would stress her out more which is totally unnecessary at this juncture. I didn't think moving would be the best decision right now. So I shook my head and said, "I don't think it's the best time for us to be moving. We need to take time for you to completely recover, and then there is the fact that it would be difficult to sell our house." I was unsure about whether I should tell her about Mello and my plans.
She nodded after thinking it over, "Yeah, I think you are right, Matt, we shouldn't move out for awhile at least; but eventually it would be a good idea."
I gave her an absentminded nod, because I'd been contemplating her reaction if I were to tell her about Mello and I moving out. Obviously she'd think that we were moving too fast, and it made sense too. I mean, our relationship was like two weeks old and we had already decided to move out together. Well, she wouldn't understand our feeling of kinship. And that brought a small frown to my face but it quickly disappeared as we neared Mello's house.
Mom rang the doorbell, knowing that they were expecting us and waited for a moment before Angela opened the door herself. She probably thought it would be best if she answered the door personally, instead of a maid. I would have to agree, it made a slightly better impression.
"Mrs. Jeevas, I'm glad you could make it," Angela greeted Mom from her place by the door. "You too, Mr. Jeevas...Matt," She added with a smile, her eyes lingering on me for a moment, though I didn't bother questioning it, She probably had a few questions in her mind that she wouldn't ask anyway. I smiled back at her in return.
"Me too," Mom said, returning Angela's smile.
"Well, come on in," She told us as she held the door open, stepping back a little. "Shoes are optional,"
"Thank you," Mom said, stepping inside the house. I followed suit as Dad entered the building. I still (though more discreetly now) marveled at their house. I had been here on several occasions now, but I still loved how it looked inside. I guess it reminded me of one of those detective games, where you were trapped in a luxurious manor and had to figure out the who the psycho killer was before they could get you; this place was built and decorated just like one of them, so I really liked it.
I took off my shoes this time, habitually placing them on the shoe rack that belonged to Mello, before I followed Mom, Dad and Angela through the halls. I couldn't help but smirk as Mom commented on their house, though Dad seemed a little less impressed with the building. We were just passing by one of the stairways of their mansion when I felt hands slide around my waist, startling me as I felt a puff of breath on my ear. I let out a small squeal that quickly turned into a chuckle as I realized who it was.
"Welcome," He purred into my ear, letting go of me just as my parents and his mom turned around to see what the minor commotion was, and then grabbed my hand with his own, earning a pleasant smile from me.
"How has your day been?" He asked me casually, a small smirk playing on his face, satisfied that he had startled me.
"It's been a good day," I told him, "You?"
"Hm," He looked thoughtful for a moment "It's been good, but then I found out that your friend Beyond goes to my church." He told me with a light scowl.
I chuckled, remembering Mello's religiousness briefly.
"I had no idea," I told him.
He nodded, turning to Mom now, "How have you been, Ms. Jeevas? I haven't seen you for awhile," He smiled a sincere smile at her.
Mom smiled genuinely, apparently she really didn't mind me and Mello being together now because unlike Dad, she almost had a pleased look on her face, like she was happy for me. This brought a slightly wider smile to my lips, "I am definitely better now, thank you Mello," She responded.
Basically we were having a major smile fest around here, each and every one of us smiling either genuinely or for courtesy's sake. The only one not smiling was that one maid lurking around the background minding her own business.
Mello then smirked and said to me, "Dinner won't be set for a few minutes yet and I want to show you something, so if you wouldn't mind following me into my bedroom..."
His suggestion made me blush a bit, but I could tell that he was just playing around, but clearly our parents didn't get the memo as they looked a little uncomfortable (Dad and Angela looked a bit offended too).
"'Kay," I agreed with a grin, earning an answering smug smile from Mello that gave me a fluttery feeling in my stomach. I loved when he smiled.
"C'mon," He dragged up the stairs that he had probably come down from, leaving our parents behind with conflicted expressions on their faces. I felt a little bad for them about that clear misunderstanding, but didn't sweat about it too much.
By the time we reached Mello's bedroom, I was panting a little from how he had dragged me up the four flights of stairs at nearly at the speed of light and I once again (like from all my past trips to his room) wondered why the hell he wanted his room on this godforsaken floor. I said so.
He only shrugged in response as he entered his room, leaving me pondering about what had him so excited, he has never particularly shown excitement towards anything in this way.
He didn't say anything as he pushed me into his computer chair, his laptop showing a screen that read, 'Los Angles, House for Sale.'
I looked at the title for a second before looking up at Mello in confusion.
"I thought we didn't have the funds to buy a house?" I questioned him, and he scowled a little.
"Read the rest," He told me with an eyeroll.
I did as he said compliantly, my eyes widening as I did so.
'-For sale, 200,000$. Two bedrooms, two bath, living room, kitchen, basement, all appliances supplied. Note: If the tenant/s are with LAS university, the LAPD, Yuru' Corp or Algoens Corp tenant/s will receive 80% off of the original price and-'
I looked back and forth between Mello and the ad for a few seconds before turning back to Mello and gaping at him for a second, before stuttering; "H-wh- How? This can't be right," disbelief was apparent in my voice.
Chances are, this house was haunted and they were just looking for potential idiots to buy this house out of the seller's hands. I mean, the damn house looked too good be available at such a price.
He smirked, "It is. I checked it out and got in contact with the guy, he's the head of some big business connected to the LAPD, LAS and those other two. Basically if the tenant is with any of them and was making them a profit he will give us a deal."
I took a second to process that before it hit me: Mello wanted to be a detective and if we both became sleuths, we could get this place. And though it should take us awhile to get ourselves set up with a job, Mello's confidence told me he had it all planned out. Hopefully this house wasn't haunted. Not taking a second glance at the computer I sat up from the chair and gave Mello a bear hug.
"You're brilliant," I told him, my voice muffled slightly by his shoulder as he returned the embrace.
"I know." He told me jokingly, chuckling slightly as he pulled me back, landing a firm kiss on my lips. "We should go down stairs now. But...you think it's a good idea?" He said uncertainly as he drew back.
I nodded, "It's much better than anything else we have found so far!"
Then a thought crossed my mind, making me to frown slightly.
"What's wrong?" He inquired, giving my arms a light squeeze as he looked at me with concern.
I looked downwards a little. "It's just that...my parents probably won't think that it's a good idea; us moving out together, I mean." I told him sullenly. Really, they wouldn't, even Mom wouldn't be gung-ho about it and I hated it when she's disappointed with me.
"Hey," Mello said softly, his hands nudging my face up so I was looking at him, "They will be fine, we can tell them tonight and if it goes bad, just remember that it can't stay bad, okay?" He told me encouragingly.
I nodded, "Yeah, I guess," I responded, unconvinced.
"Their reaction can't be that bad, I mean it wasn't even that much with my parents, yours should have little reason to react badly," He told me.
I guess he was right, at the least Mom would tell me she didn't like it and I wasn't allowed to, but by then I would be eighteen anyways and I could legally move out with or without their consent. But I just didn't like the prospect of her being upset with me, or disappointed, or anything of the like. He is right though, they wouldn't react that badly.
"I know, I guess I'm just...I don't know," I sighed.
"Mattie, look at the bright side," He said up, a grin playing on his face once again, "We are moving out together, we will be world famous detectives soon and we will have each other, doesn't that sound great? It will all work itself out."
I smiled; he was much more excited about the detective part than me, even if I did find it pretty exciting. The part that made me look forward to the most was the part about having each other. Actually on second thought, solving cases with him would probably be more than exciting. I leaned in towards him, placing a kiss on the side of his lips. "Yeah, it does," I chuckled, "Let's enjoy today for now and not worry about it," I decided.
"Alright, sounds good." he agreed, landing one last kiss right on my lips before we headed downstairs, this time slower, though we didn't really talk on the way.
By the time we arrived back downstairs, everyone was sitting down at the table in the dining room talking about whatever things they found interesting, though their attention went straight to us once we entered the room.
"Welcome back, boys," Angela said pleasantly, getting up from her seat.
Mello and I nodded in unison, each of us smiling politely as we took a seat at the end of the table.
"I will go tell the cooks that we are all here," She told no one in particular as she left the ornate room.
I took a moment to look at their dining room. It was nice, very nice; the table could probably comfortably cater to at least ten people, there were a few plants and vines hung along the walls, a few paintings and a burgundy rug positioned under the table, there was even a bay window on the opposite side of the room, letting the evening sunlight flood the room and giving it a slightly pleasanter vibe.
"So, Thomas," Eric spoke up, "I heard that you work for an industrial giant, can I ask which one?"
We can easily figure out that Dad and Eric became closer together, what with them addressing each other so informally and the way they were getting along quite well, discussing boring shit like stocks and stuff.
"I'm actually the CEO of Tokata Corp," Dad told him a little too gleefully. I knew Dad was proud of his work standing but I did agree (silently) that he was a tad bit too egotistical about it. Not that he shouldn't be proud, but he could be a little more modest about it sometimes.
Mello and I didn't have much to talk about so we settled for just staying quiet, though he did slip his hand into mine underneath the table, and gave it a light squeeze that brought a smile to my lips.
Mom was content with listening to both of our fathers talk about work, chipping in once in a while about Dad's accomplishments. Though I was still anxious about telling them that Mello and I are moving in together (like, I wanted to tell them tonight), I wasn't sure about it. I don't know how I had the guts to tell them that Mello and I were together, and that I was most probably gay, or demisexual or something, but I had done it on the preface that it would have to happen sometime. Not to mention it was a bit of a rushed day and I hadn't had much opportunity to think it over before I just did it. I suppose today should be no different, just pick a moment and say it, I decided. Though it didn't appease the apprehensive feeling in my stomach in the least.
Angela entering the room brought everyone's attention to her briefly, as she sat down beside Mom. "They said it'd take them about five minutes," She told us as she settled into her seat.
A moment of slightly awkward silence passed before Angela spoke up
"So Matt, what are you doing after high school?" She asked me casually.
"Um," My gazed flickered across to Dad, who was giving me a disapproving look, as he didn't like my future dreams that he was aware of one bit, he still didn't know about my latest (and hopefully final) decision on the topic. I glanced at Mello, silently asking him if I should tell them, and was returned with an affirmative nod. I took a deep breath and then said, "I've decided that I'm going to take a computer technology course, focusing on hacking. Then with that, Mello and I decided we would work together as detectives," I told them, and earned surprised looks from everyone but Mom who seemed to either have realized this somehow, or just wasn't surprised that I would take a route similar to this.
"I didn't know you and Mello would have decided to work together," Angela spoke up, her voice mildly surprised but also a little discerning. I only nodded in response.
"I'm glad you figured out what you want to do," Mom spoke in agreement, just before Dad chipped in condescendingly, "At least you're not designing video games anymore,"
"Mello, I thought you would have gone for operating a detective agency? What happened to that?" Mello's father questioned him, curiously but a little bit of disapproval was evident in his tone.
I looked over to Mello who I realized had sent Dad a very brief glare on my behalf (awww, that's so sweet of him!) before he turned to his own, "I never said that I wanted to be in an agency. If you had paid more attention, you would have noticed that I had no inclination towards administrative work. As soon as I finish this year of school, I'm going to be a detective; a detective even better than L." He told his father almost smugly, earning a disbelieving look from him.
"I wasn't aware that you wanted to be a detective yourself. I'd told you that I wanted you to create your own agency though. You're smart, you could handle it better than most people." He stated.
I knew that they wanted Mello to be in an agency, but I didn't know that they paid so little attention to his life that they didn't even know that Mello wanted to be a detective. It was a little disconcerting to see how disconnected he and his family are.
Mom cleared her throat loudly, catching the attention of Mello and Eric as they were well on their way to having a glaring contest. They looked at her in unison. "Eric, I think you should let your son do whatever he wants for his future career," She stated, earning a confused look from Eric, as he didn't seem to expect her speaking up.
"Mrs. Jeevas, no offence but I don't think this is really your place," He told her.
I noticed that even Angela realized that was rather impolite of him, as she looked a mix between embarrassed, annoyed, and just generally tense. I decided to speak up even though I was quite nervous about doing so.
"Does it really matter, that Mello wants to be a detective? I mean you wanted him to be the head of an agency, but being a detective is just as good if not better, especially if he does end up succeeding L, which knowing Mello, he will." I told them.
"Yes, I suppose so, but you have to understand that this is the first I have ever heard of it." He told me.
"Have you actually had an actual conversation on this subject?" I asked him, causing the air in the room to still as Angela and Eric realized the same thing they had one week ago.
"I see your point, Matt," Angela offered.
Eric nodded with a sigh, recognizing his mistake once again. At least they were trying to rectify their ways since we brought it up with them. "So do I. Mello, it's fine if you want to be a detective, you are free to pick whichever career you want after all, even though I would prefer you creating your own agency,"
I caught the slight smile that appeared on Mello's face, however brief it was before he nodded in thanks.
"Well, since we are on the topic of Mello and I," I started (why not finish off all the controversial topics at once, am I right?), catching everyone's attention once again. I saw how Mello gave me a surprised glance as he waited for me to continue, smiling lightly. "We're going to move in together in February," I told them. Cue more surprised looks from our parents.
"Matt-" Mom started, only to be cut off rather smoothly by Mello. I kinda knew what she would have argued.
"We know it's soon, but think about it this way. That's going to happen in six months, so we will have plenty of time to firmly decide if it's a good idea or not by the time. Though I guarantee you we will go through with it, we still have a long time in between to make further decisions," Mello told my parents.
"Um..." Mom seemed to be a little at loss for words, though I could tell she was processing it. A few moments passed, and I became tenser and uneasier and Mello's stance was bordering on challenging. Mello's parents looked like they wanted to say something, but they didn't seem like they were going to speak up about it any time soon. They had probably wanted to say something remotely in our favor, but decided against it as they knew my parents would be very offended with the Kheels knowing about our plans before them. Eventually Mom let out a huff.
"I give up. Whether I like it or not, you two will get your way. Nobody cannot stop you anymore, clearly." She looked me straight in the eyes, "You have my support in this matter."
Right as she said that, Dad shook his head and said, "Your mother is right. Whether I agree or not you will do it anyways, so who am I to argue? But one more surprise like this, and I'm disowning you. Got it?" he threatened mockingly, though he had a serious undertone in his voice.
I smiled, happy that they would be okay with it, out of all the things I thought would happen, I never expected it to go as easily as it did. I was happy, really happy.
"Thank you," I told them gratefully.
Mello's parents who were silent the whole time only spoke up now. "Mrs. Jeevas is right, there is no stopping you, especially considering you are going to be eighteen soon." She told us, and to my surprise let a small smile come over her lips afterwards, the first time I had seen an actual smile she'd directed at me. "I can't believe I'm in agreement with this, I must be getting old." She muttered.
Mom laughed a little at that, "I think it's the boys who are getting old,"
The discussion came to a close as three of the maids walked in the room, carrying pots and bowls and setting them on the table, I think one had soup, another a Caesar salad, then some dinner rolls in a bread basket, and a borderline Chinese looking stir-fry.
Angela thanked the maids, who nodded politely and left.
"Help yourselves," She told us, gesturing to the freshly set meal. Mello and I both settled with soup, salad and a roll each.
The rest of the evening was spent with casual chatter and jokes, and surprisingly, Mello came up with most of the jokes. I suspected that he made them up on the spot, as I had never heard them before, but I didn't put much thought into it aside from that.
By the end of the night, the slight controversy from earlier had been forgotten, and as we left to go back home I felt a lot better, happier, almost floaty. Mello had sneaked me a rather intoxicating goodbye kiss around the corner of the hall, one that left my face red and me panting for breath, along with a suspicious red mark on my neck that I had to hide from my parents. That kiss probably helped that floaty feeling develop, and by the time that we had gotten home I didn't even feel like playing games like I usually would, instead I settled for texting Mello until the late hours of the night, and eventually finding myself dozing off by 2:00 am after saying goodbye to Mello.
I had tried to think of a time in my life that I had ever been happier, but I couldn't think of one, sure there were the times as a child when I discovered games, or when I got my goggles for my birthday, but those were different, things that only lasted for a short while. Right now I was just so genuinely happy, like nothing could damage my world from now on.
I had Mello, so really nothing could, no matter what.