#84 Air

(A/N: I've been stuck on this for months! Sorry it sucks! TT-TT

Matt liked to watch him working. Working on anything, a test, an essay, or even a special job from L himself. Anything that meant those navy blue eyes would narrow in concentration, and that skinny frame would be sat at the desk in their shared room for hours on end.

It was somewhat perverse, Matt knew, to like watching his friend as he gave himself headaches over work. But Mello just looked so beautiful when he was serious.

He often snapped at Matt, for just sitting there and being useless, or for being creepy and staring at him like that. It made him feel like he was in a fishbowl. Matt couldn't have stopped staring for anything though.

Mello was a work of art, Matt firmly believed. To everyone else in wonderful old Wammy's house, the blonde child was a homicidal maniac with a chocolate addiction that verged on psychopathic at times, and frankly, while he was attractive enough, he did look a little like a Tim Burton drawing gone wrong, especially when he hunched over his desk.

Maybe that was part of it, Matt reasoned, he liked Mello even more when no-one else did. It eliminated the competition for his attention brilliantly.

Still, he'd never be the centre of Mello's world. Because that spot belonged to L, with Near coming a close second.

Sometimes, when he was feeling daring, the red-head would point out that Mello spent more time thinking about Near than most teenage girls spent thinking about their crushes.

That usually earned him a black eye. Not that Matt minded, it meant Mello had touched him, after all.

He'd probably never feel the same way back, Matt knew. Even if Mello turned out to be gay, the most they could ever have would be a 'friends with benefits' situation. Mello just wasn't the 'settle down with one boyfriend' type. Unless it was L. Or maybe Near.

"If I turn round and you're staring at me again, ginger, I'm rearranging your face." Came the venomous growl from the desk.

Matt smiled sweetly to himself and kept watching him. "Yes Mello."

"I mean it."

"I know you do."

"Then why do you always keep watching anyway, moron?"

Matt shrugged. "I guess just in case one day you change your mind."

Mello turned slightly, a bizarre look of confusion on his face. "What? You're weird Matt."

Matt kept that odd, sweet smile on his face. "Guess so." He agreed.

Mello rolled his eyes and returned to the latest assignment in front of him.

Matt wondered, as his smile turned slightly sad, if Mello would ever realise that to Matt, he really was something he needed to survive. Sun, food, water, air, and Mello.