I still feel bad about how long it took me to update the last chapter. Plus, I found out I already have chapter 10 typed, I just forgot to save it in it's own file. AND I'm well into chapter 11. So I decided to post chapter 8 a bit (very) early as a celebration/apology chapter. Also, if you happen to know any really creepy nursery rhymes or anything, I'd love it if you would leave them for me in a review or PM them to me. And also, I'd like for you to yell at me, please. See, I've been meaning to make myself write a fanfic about PrussiaxAustria from Hetalia, but I always put it off. Even if you aren't a fan or the manga/anime/couple, please yell at me to do it anyway :3

Thank you, banzai and I'm sorry,

kyo

"Matt, wake up!" I called from my room, punching the wall that separated us while I tried to find a clean shirt. There was no response by the time I was fully dressed, so I walked over to his door and knocked. "Matt!" I yelled. Silence greeted me. With a heavy sigh, I opened his door, surprised to find it unlocked. I stepped carefully around the wires all over the floor. The 'outside sources' computer wasn't where it was supposed to be, though. The shelf it was normally on was crammed full of books, and the computer was on the floor, tangled in wires at the foot of his bed. His bed was just a messy mosh of blankets and pillows, moving ever-so-slightly in tune to Matt's breathing - buried somewhere underneath it. The window at the head of his bed was covered by a black-out curtain. I carefully made my way to his bed, nudging the thick blanket. "Matt, get up." I ordered. He groaned in response and shifted a bit. "I'm not letting you skip classes!" I huffed, pulling at the blankets.

"Ugh! Mello?" Matt grumbled, a hand freeing itself and blindly trying to find me - to stop me. "Get out of my room before you break something." He ordered.

"Bastard!" I bit. "Get up!"

"All right, just go!" He leaned up suddenly, giving slack to the blanket. I fell back, pulling the rest of the blanket off the bed withme, tripping over a wire and hitting the floor just as I heard something else fall off a shelf and shatter upon impact withthe floor. I held my head, which had taken the brunt of my fall, with a pained moan. "Mello! Are you okay?!" Matt's panicked voice asked, quickly right in front of me. I opened my eyes enough to see Matt's face a bit too close to mine, goggle-less green eyes wide and worried.

"What'd I break?" I muttered, squeezing my eyes shut again. I felt like my head should have been bleeding, but I was pretty sure it wasn't.

"It doesn't matter." He promised. "Are you okay?" He asked again. "Let go of your head, let me see it." His warm hand pulled my clammy fingers away from my head so he could bury his fingers under my hair and softly feel my head. "There's a bump, but it isn't bleeding. Are you okay?" The third time he asked, I realized I hadn't answered the other two times.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What did I break? What was the wire to?"

"Hm? The wire?" He sounded like he'd just remembered. "I don't think it matters. I think it was just my clock. And a picture fell. Nothing too expensive. It's fine." He promised.

"Good, 'cause I don't have money to pay you back." I muttered.

He laughed. "Yeah, I figured. Don't worry about it. You're sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." I muttered, looking at him again. "The marks are gone." I noted.

"Oh!" He realized, his fingers feeling the skin as he glanced back at his night stand, where his goggles were set. "I wanted to see if it would... I actually forgot about it." He laughed. "I was wondering why everything looked different."

"It's cloudy, though, so you can't see the sky." I shrugged.

"Shame." He smirked, rubbing his eye and running his hand through his hair. I immediately thought of when he'd done the same thing to my hair, and was overwhelmed withthe desire for him to do it again. I had already opened my mouth to voice the opinion when I realized how completely stupid it sounded. I was acting like a love struck school girl. "What is it, Mello?" Matt blinked, noticing my I'm-about-to-say-something face.

Mello, not Mel, I noted. My mouth snapped shut as I flushed red. "Wh-what? N-nothing." I stuttered. "Idiot. Get up. I can't stand with you hovering over me like that!" I bit quickly. He flinched, standing and stepping back, reaching out for his goggles again, his eyes looking hurt. He was retreating from my anger. Retreating to a different kind of world he saw through his goggles. A world I would never see or understand. A world he felt safer in. I almost jumped to grab his goggles first, but gave up the idea and settled for walking over to the shattered glass by a high-hanging shelf that still held a blank clock. I carefully picked around the broken glass and snapped frame to pull out the photograph.

A slim, tall woman with long, auburn hair smiled at the camera, her green eyes sparkling in the sunlight of summer. Her small boy clung to her pant leg, also grinning at the camera. His red hair was a mess, and his eyes carefully hidden behind tinted goggles that were too big for his face and made his eyes resemble an insect's. But they were at a blue, blue lake, and the young Matt was wearing his swim trunks, so the goggles didn't seem out of place - unless one noted that they were biker goggles.

Matt clicked his tongue against his teeth. "Doesn't look like the frame can be saved. And the glass cover is shot anyway." He sighed. "I guess it was about time I took that old picture down anyway."

"What? Why?" I asked, looking up at him. He had his goggles on his head, not covering his eyes, to my relief.

"It's been there for forever. And I was just a kid. I don't even remember that day. I feel like an idiot for keeping it out so long." He shrugged.

"That's... your mom, though?" I asked dumbly.

"Yeah." He mused.

"You look a lot like her." I noted.

"Really?" He murmured, examining the picture. "No, she looks way better." He laughed. "All my friends said they had crushes on my mom. They said she was the prettiest mom ever. She was young when she had me, too. Still a teen." He crouched down by me. "I only have a few pictures of her. That one, one from my 9thbirthday and one from when she was pregnant with me. I'm not sure where that one went, but the other one should be by my computer somewhere." He contemplated. I examined him as his green eyes scanned the computer table - the Wammy computer.

"You are a pretty boy." I muttered.

"H-heh?" He looked at me, blushing.

"No, never mind." I sighed, feeling defeated.

"U-un...." He agreed, rubbing his neck.

"Get ready for school." I ordered, standing up to stretch my arms over my head.

"No...." He murmured.

"Excuse me?" I bit.

"S-sorry... actually... I have something to do today." He traced circles across the floor with his index finger.

"You fucking liar!" I snapped. He flushed.

"N-no! I really... I have to go...." He shifted awkwardly on the floor, before pulling his goggles back over his eyes. "Do you want to come?" I gave him a look. "It's not illegal or anything. Roger's taking me somewhere." He waved his hand to dismiss my look.

"First of all, even if that wasn't complete bullshit, Roger would never take me anywhere. He hates me. Second, that's complete bullshit."

Matt frowned, fiddling with the corners of the photograph until they started to fray. "I'm going to visit my mom. Watari said it was okay, as long as Roger "accompanied" me." He mused. "I wanted... I want you to come meet her, too." He added shyly, scratching his cheek.

"Really? Then why didn't you tell me yesterday?" I asked suspiciously.

"I didn't want to get my hopes up." He laughed, but it had a bitter edge. "I feel like there's a big chance of Roger totally canceling."

"Don't be a pessimist! You should be really excited! Wait... is this the first time they've let you go see her?"

"Y-yeah." He admitted, rubbing his neck.

"So get ready! And I hope you don't plan on wearing those goggles to see your own mother." I tsked.

His fingers traced around the goggles. "I'm... keeping them on. I can't believe I took them off in the first place. They're staying like this now." He assured.

"What?! It's not like the world imploded or something, right? What's your problem?" I snapped. He flinched away from me, making my stomach churn in a familiar way. "Urg!" I crouched down, leaning my forehead against my knees. "Am I really that scary?" I muttered.

"N-n-n-no! J-just... loud!" He murmured, flailing his hands.

"Loud?!" I bit. He jumped.

"Okay, okay! Then you're scary! Are you happy?"

"I don't want to be scary either!" I barked.

He cringed away from me, closing his eyes like he was expecting to be hit. "Then fix yourself!" He whimpered. A moment of silence hung in the air between us, before Matt slowly opened his eyes again, covering his mouth. "M-Mello... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to say," he started.

"No, Matt, it's fine. You're right." I sighed.

"... I... am?" He mused. "Are... are you sure?"

"I was getting angry with you even though you hadn't done anything wrong. Instead of yelling at you I should try to fix my own behavior."

"... Yes, that is exactlywhat I was driving at." He bluffed. I gave him a look. "M-Mello, I think you're taking things a bit too seriously. I didn't mean anything by what I said, really." He tried. "You're great the way you are. You don't need to change a thing."

I scoffed. "Damn straight I'm great the way I am!" I huffed. "Don't you ever think otherwise."

"M-Mello, don't get mad, okay?" He fidgeted. I tried to ready myself before I nodded. "Are... are you bipolar?" He asked in a quiet voice.

I frowned. "No." I answered curtly, then paused. "I don't... think. I mean, no, of course not." I huffed, standing back up. "Get dressed; we have cla- erm... to go see your mom." It felt weird to suddenly shake the habit.