Note: If you never watched the shows, it may be hard to understand how things happen so I will explain it a bit. For the elimination ceremony, the contestants are standing on a small stage together, while the bachelor is facing them with his right hand man who holds the passes and hands them out to him one after the other, each time he calls a contestant. He asks a question that basically means "do you want to stay?", for example Bret Michaels asks if the contestant wants to "rock his world" and then he puts the pass around the contestant's neck if the latter agrees, and most of the time they kiss.

Mello started when Danny knocked to his door. Damn, he had fallen asleep. Matt had left and he had stayed there, on his bed, thinking, but soon tiredness had overcome him. Quickly, he put his tee shirt back on, combed his hair with his fingers and followed his right hand man downstairs to the elimination room. He sorted out the passes quickly, getting rid of two of them that bore the faces of the ones he wanted out of the mansion tonight and giving them back to Danny, who held them for him during the elimination ceremony.

He contained his surprise to see Matt standing there with the others, but Danny didn't miss the slight smile on his lips before he looked down at his feet, trying to regain his composure. Composure that he lost somehow, now thinking that maybe the redhead had decided to take his leave in front of the cameras.
Anyway, he would still call him and give him a pass, and see what would happen. Matt was supposed to have signed the papers he had made ready for him before he left, so it was very likely that Matt was indeed wanting to show off a last time before he left for good. That was enough to erase the smile on Mello's lips completely. Fuck it.

Lou almost danced on his way to Mello, to receive the pass from his hands, as his name was called first.
"Cry baby, will you stay on this ride with me?"
"Yes yes yes!" Lou bounced, poking his head into the lanyard of the pass.
Danny could tell that his boss wasn't into what he was doing, forcing himself to entertain the mystery, as he was trying to find the words for every boy he was calling. Finally, he had only Matt's pass in his hands, and there was a slight hesitation before he called him.
"I still have one pass left, and there are three of you. The one I decided to keep tonight among you three has somehow ticked my interest although he tried very hard not to let his guard down, and I have to say that I'm really curious about him. Matt, can you come down here please?"

Matt went down the little platform where all the boys were standing and walked the few feet separating him from Mello. He stopped right in front of him, holding his hands in his back, and looked at him.
The musician took the lanyard to which the pass was dangling, ready to put it around Matt's neck, pronouncing the words he had already said twelve times that night, wondering if he would receive the same answer for the thirteenth time.
"Matt, will you stay on this ride with me?"
"I've got my helmet on, bring it on Mello." Matt whispered, smirking.
Mello finally hung the pass to the redhead's neck, but he didn't give him a peck like he had done with all the others. He knew it was off limits with Matt, and he was too surprised that Matt had actually decided to stay to even make the move. Matt smiled wider, and went back to his place.
"Jess, Adam, your ride ends here." Mello barely acknowledged the two remaining boys, who left not long after that.
He shared a beer as he was supposed to with the contestants that were saved before he left for good and called it a night.

"Danny, what did Matt say exactly?"
Mello was undressing in his room, having asked the tall man to follow him for some explanations as to what had happened between the moment Matt had left his room to when he was back inside.
"He refused to sign." Danny simply said.
"Why?"
"He just said he couldn't sign. Nothing more."
"The guy is here for the money, I offer him an indemnity equivalent to a full year in this mansion since he's leaving and he doesn't want to sign?"
"Maybe he wasn't after the money in the end."
"Mmh, I don't really get this guy, to be honest. I think he doesn't know himself why he's here, that's why he can't decide to stay or leave, but I thought that the money would at least be a good incentive... I ask him to stay, he doesn't want to, I make sure he can sustain himself once he leaves since he came here for the money, and he decides to stay, seriously, the guy is bipolar or something."
"Wait, you actually asked him to stay?" Danny was quite surprised by this.
"I even said please... see, I was nice. But no, he didn't want to spend a minute more here. He left my room ready to pack and now he's still here, not that I complain, but I just don't get him."

Danny opened wide eyes. Mello had used the word please? It was probably starting to freeze in hell now...
Not that he would mention it, because Mello would totally deny it, but even if Matt's behaviour was a mystery to Mello, Danny had his idea about it all. That he would keep to himself, and see if he was right. The guy had come from cold as ice to coming in Mello's room and even if he was pretty positive that they had done nothing of a sexual nature because he had found Mello asleep with his pants on, the bed barely touched and no condoms around the place (hell, he even knew his boss' sex life habits, that was gross), the progression was quick from both parts, and instead of hacking each other up (well, at least Mello would have gutted anyone talking to him the way the redhead did, he didn't know for the latter) they just kept coming back for more.
But you never know with Mello, tell him your theory, and he will prove you wrong just to piss you off, even if it goes against his own well being. So Danny retreated without a word.

Maybe this Matt would teach his boss a lesson or two, which couldn't be a bad thing. The way things were, Mello was getting more and more left out, even by his own bandmates, when it came to having social relationships, because he always acted like a dick. People got tired of it, no matter if he was a rockstar. Danny couldn't blame him completely, being surrounded by fake people had made Mello wary, cynical and uncaring, to the point that he barely made a difference with real friends like the other musicians in the band, and treated them like shit sometimes. He hated being conversational for the sake of appearances, he knew that people wanted something from him so he found it perfectly normal to get something in return, and getting admired by millions of fans had made the rest concerning the attitude. He was in the music business since he was seventeen and had grown up while having to act like an adult on a daily basis, and balancing things had been pretty difficult, especially for someone like Mello who didn't deal well with authority and obligations. Now Mello was just a teenager in his head still, caught in an adult body that had grown up faster than his mind. He was responsible on many levels, but relationships were still where things sinned.

Danny knew the person deep down inside, and that was one of the main reasons why he was still here today. He had been a mere roady at first but soon he and Mello had bonded, and with his first consequent contract with the band, he had personally hired Danny, and never failed him since that day. Danny was fifteen years older than the musician, which technically couldn't make him a father figure, but he acted like one more often than not.
Their relationship was very professional, Danny knew who the boss was, and at the same time he knew he could get away with more than Mello would accept from anyone else.
Sometimes, Danny wondered if the reason for it was that he had so much to rat out about Mello that the musician had no other choice, but he liked to think that Mello actually knew who his real friends were.

The little nap he had had earlier prevented Mello from finding sleep right now, and after tossing and turning for a good half hour, he finally decided to take some fresh air outside, feeling sticky and too hot. Sliding in simple jeans to cover his lower half, he walked down the corridor of the mansion, tying his hair in a ponytail, freeing his neck from the damp locks sticking to it.

A faint light caught his attention as he walked past the main room, and he bent in the doorframe to see better, squinting his eyes. He didn't need much time to discern a small gaming device, and knew that Matt was more than likely the one using it. He approached, jumping over the back of the couch to plop down next to the boy, making the latter jump in surprise.
"Fuck, you scared me!" Matt whispered, trying to keep his voice down despite the initial shock.
"Can't sleep?" Mello asked, taking in the view of Matt in black tight boxers, legs crossed, the console in his lap giving a sufficient light for him to see.
"Too early for me." the redhead grumbled, sighing in defeat as he saw he had lost his game.
"You're really not helping with the gamer cliché, night owl and all..." the singer teased him.
"Blame me..."

Matt restarted his game, trying to ignore Mello sitting beside him, but it was proving to be really difficult with the way he glued his thigh to his own, bending over his shoulder to watch the screen. It became completely awkward when the rockstar's arm slid around his shoulders. Matt knew it was only to get his arm out of the way to see better, but still, it wasn't exactly easy to cope with the intimacy when he was trying not to give in to his instincts.
Now, that wasn't so innocent anymore, when Mello started to play with a red lock, his focus on the game totally gone, his fingers lightly stroking Matt's scalp. The feeling was damn good, but it was completely wrong, and he hated Mello for taking things in that direction again.
"What are you doing?" Matt clasped the device closed and threw it on the coffee table, plunging both of them in the dark.
"What I want." Mello simply replied with a smirk that Matt couldn't see, but somehow, he knew it was there by the amused tone in the musician's voice.
"I got that... but you know my position on that point."
"I know. Doesn't hurt to try, does it?"
"You're impossible."
"You're a windsock."
"What?"
"I thought you'd be gone before the elimination ceremony and there you were, taking your pass. Mattie-Puppy, you really don't know what you want, do you?"
"To be honest, no, I didn't. Now I think I quite made my mind, but..."
"But?"
"But I just hope I'm not making a mistake."
"Hey mystery guy, I'm more of a straightforward type of person so if you're planning on talking riddles, you're losing me on that one." Mello's hand buried deeper in Matt's hair, resting on the back of his head and slightly massaging his scalp.
"Stop it Mello." Matt said weakly, unable to bring himself to push the hand away.
"You like it." the other replied, his other hand suddenly sliding down the redhead's abs to the hem of his boxers, a finger making its way under the waistband.

Matt's willpower was stuck between heaven and hell, and the more Mello teased him, the less he could decide which way to go.
Mello knew it. He could feel the boy get limper every second, and he wasn't close to stop what he was doing, seeing as he got the expected results. He could feel his lower half wake up and he wished he could see in the dark because those abs, that skin, that pretty face, they had to be so fucking hot and flustered right now... the hairs under his index were soft, and he played a bit more with the curls before going for the real thing.

He barely had his hand on Matt's cock, appreciating the size of the half erected member, that he landed on his back against the arm of the couch, Matt finally putting a stop to the ministrations.
"I said you wouldn't get this from me, and I meant it, Mello. Lou's upstairs if you really need to get laid right now."

Mello was quite surprised to see the redhead regain his self-control. For a moment, he was positive he had won their little game, and the redhead slamming on the brakes was pretty unexpected. He refrained the urge to force himself on him to show he wasn't about to be discouraged so easily, because even if he felt deeply hurt by the rejection – no one had ever refused him any sexual favor, and he usually got what he wanted pretty quickly – he also knew that the anger of being denied was something hateful he didn't want Matt to witness. He had almost been sued for rape once because he was unable to control himself, and Danny had made sure with countless scolding and hours of therapy that he would never, ever do that again.
He hadn't raped the guy per se, but being used to get legs to open with a little persuasion when his partner was revealing to be a bit difficult, he just kept on pushing and pushing, ignoring the guy's refusal, trapped under him, until the guy broke down and started bawling, not wanting to go further than a simple make out, alarming Danny on the other side of the door. He had come in, pulled Mello off the guy, and it took a little bribing to get the guy not to file a complaint, and that was probably the only time that Danny had managed to get Mello to apologize.

Mello was only nineteen at the time, and he had a better control over his emotions and hormones now at twenty-six, but damn, that redhead brought the worst out of him for sure.
Breathing, he sat properly on the couch.
"It isn't Lou that I want right now."
"Too bad then." Matt whispered, hardly regaining his composure, still very turned on, and also amazed that he could stop things before they went really serious. He had doubted himself when he had felt Mello's hand in his boxers because he had to admit it, he wanted it, and it made everything harder, in every aspect. But he also knew that he wasn't here to get in Mello's pants. There was something more to his presence here since the lawyer thing.
Putting all the pieces of everything positive he had witnessed until now together, something got started in him that he couldn't deny, and he had decided to stay, knowing that it would probably lead him nowhere considering how Mello treated things, but still... he couldn't help it, it was so much like him to think things would end well no matter what.

"Still, you didn't make it clear why you decided to stay." Mello asked suddenly after a long silence.
"Because I'm a masochist, obviously." Matt chuckled.
"Is it so shameful that you won't tell me?" the singer was serious, Matt could hear it in his voice.
"It could change a lot of things if you knew so I don't think I'm gonna tell you. Not now at least."
"Okay. I'll respect that. But before you decide to go, or I eliminate you - we never know how things will go – promise to tell me then. I'm really curious."
"Promise."