Note: A day or two, she said in the previous chapter's note... Okay, this is not even a week or two, not even a month or two instead, I stopped counting, because it was just beginning to be an insanely long gap. I suppose that you're getting used to me doing this by now (5 years on this site, I can't believe it! Time flew so fast!)
But now I'm back to finish this fic :)
I'm not promising daily updates, but next chapter is already written and the next ones are seemingly going pretty well ;)
I missed you!
All previous chapters have been fixed from typos, grammar mistakes and all, so if you spot anything I missed, don't hesitate to point it out!

The rock tune resounded a few hours later, when everyone was already up and ready.
Matt was lying on his stomach, playing, feeling Lou stare a hole in his head, and it was much to his relief that the distraction came, because he was pretty positive that had he moved away without reason, Lou would have followed to ask questions again. He wasn't sure he liked this new addition to Lou's personality.
Now the petite boy didn't have the time to pester him and it was all good this way.

Going downstairs, he spotted Danny alone in the main room. Well, with the other guys, but without Mello.
"Guys, today you're going to get your gear in action, Mello has something planned for you so I will ask you to be in the bus waiting for you outside in five minutes."
Danny knew right from that moment who were the ones that would never make the cut with Mello: most of the guys were excited and curious, already heading to the exit door, when some were clearly afraid of what was coming, not really up for surprises. Those would never keep up with Mello, if they were already reluctant now. One of them being Lou. But this one... Danny knew why he was still here. It wasn't pretty, but he wouldn't interfere, if the boy wanted to whore himself out...

When the boys exited the bus, one thing was pretty obvious: they hadn't been brought to an ice skating rink to knit socks. Matt wasn't so sure he liked the idea. Sure, it wouldn't be the first time he'd skate, even if he was more used to do it on solid ground and with wheels, but that couldn't be that different. At least he hoped so, because he had barely used roller blades three or four times, and even if he could manage, he was by no means good at it.
If that was a race, at least he was sure to lose it. All the other guys couldn't possibly be worse, that'd be too much luck. It bothered him since he was really starting to appreciate spending time with Mello. Not sure why, but still... losing was an unpleasant thought right now.

Danny led them through halls to a changing room full of lockers against the walls and a long bench in the middle. He gestured to said bench where resided nine piles, each adorned with a name on a paper on top of it. Underneath were items that looked like sport attire, and it's only when Matt approached that he saw helmets under the clothing. And hockey sticks under the bench. Fuck.

He changed reluctantly, and all of the boys finally left the changing room, equipped from head to toes. It was lucky that their names were printed on the shirts because it was getting real hard to know who was who with the occulting attire. Only Lou was easily recognisable by his tiny stature.

And Mello. He wore the same attire, except that his was black from head to toes. Always the image, right?
The singer skated smoothly, joining the boys on the ice. Only his cold eyes were visible through the helmet's slit, and Matt could tell with a glance that Mello was still angry from his talk with Danny by the pool. He wasn't so sure he wanted to compete against Mello right now if it involved hockey and a very pissed off opponent. Mello's eyes were frightening...

"Team One, blue helmets, team Two, green helmets. The winning team goes on a date with me tonight, each member getting a ten minutes one on one with me in the lockers during the date." the musician said abruptly, "Greens to the left, each team pick up your goal."
A little fumbling later and both teams were ready, everyone guessing that the date involved the rink since Mello had talked about the asides taking place in the locker room.
"Just so you know, I can pull up shit whenever I want."' the blond threw casually, but Matt just had to look at his eyes to know he wasn't playful at all. That didn't bode well... Especially when Danny looked so alarmed all of a sudden.

Matt was designated goal for his team, the green one, Catwalk being the goal for the other. It suited him perfectly since it meant less skating, thus less possibilities to hurt himself or simply lose his pride by landing flat on his ass.
The game started quite gentle, everyone still feeling the ice, the ones that had never skated before really cautious, but after a while, things heated up since Mello grew bored of waiting for someone to take action, and spiced things up a notch. It started with not-so-hard pushes and shoves, the musician sliding on ice gracefully between players, trying to mess things up while each team was trying to score, but soon the competition took another level and, testosterone kicking in, the boys grew nervous and altercations began to fuse here and there.
Only mockery was heard at first but it quickly came to insults, then it all went downhill when one pushed another a little too hard and had him land face first on the ice, trying to grab another for support in his fall, pulling him down with him.

Danny tried to get everyone to calm down, and it worked for a short amount of time, until Mello decided the fights were entertaining, and stole the puck, taking this opportunity of being chased up to push everyone into everyone. For some reason one of the most muscular guys decided to end this with a hard knock of his stick into Mello's legs, who turned around infuriated, unharmed due to the protections he was wearing, setting a dark look on the guy who launched himself at the singer, trying to punch him.
Mello had him on the ground in no time but the guy was far from liking it and retaliated as soon as he was back on his feet, trying to get Mello to lose his balance by pushing him harder and harder.

Danny was about to step in but Mello gave him a scowl that stopped the man dead in his tracks. Matt could tell that Danny wasn't too fond of walking on ice since he wasn't wearing any skates, which was why he had given in so easily to his boss' silent command.
The musician, temper flaring, sent his helmet flying and pushed the guy back, who almost fell once again, the action being the straw that broke the camel's back, and a proper fight began. The boy threw his helmet on the ground as well, removed his gloves, ready to punch. Mello imitated him, the gloves leaving his hands, but was a lot faster and sent his right hook into the boy's jaw before the other could react. The latter held his face for a brief amount of time, in disbelief, before responding to the attack. Everyone stopped cold, in shock, some of the boys removing their helmets as well to have a better view, keeping a safe distance from the hot spot.

But just as the muscular boy was about to punch Mello back, Lou came between them in an attempt to protect Mello and gain a few points. Planning on pushing the guy away, the petite boy miscalculated his actions and the fist connected with his shoulder before he could stop it, making him fall backward and hit Mello with his back. The singer, not expecting the interruption, didn't have time to anticipate and got pushed back, fortunately keeping his balance, unlike Lou who fell backwards.

Then everything happened fast. Mello launched himself on his knees toward Lou, his hands, flat on the ice palms up, stopping the petite boy's skull from hitting the ice at the last second.
Most of the boys started shouting, Danny finally stepping in to pull the muscular boy out of the ring, throwing him on a seat and yelling at him not to move from there and going back to where the fight happened to check on Mello, noticing that Matt was already there with an anxious look on his face.

Everyone had gathered around Lou, who had blood on his hands after touching the back of his head, and was bawling, sat on the ice. Danny briefly looked from Mello to Lou before deciding to check on the crying mess, since he seemed to be needing care more than his boss. He didn't dare to pull the boy from his position and tried to have a look at the back of his head while the medical team was on their way. But everyone was having the same idea, in panic because of the blood, and it was total madness.

Matt wasn't stupid. Everyone had heard the distinctive sound of bones breaking, and Lou could be crying all the tears he had, the blood wasn't his. Mello just stayed here, his hands bloody as well, everyone thinking it was Lou's, but it kept dripping, and the way the singer was zoning out right now didn't bode well. He was in heavy pain and Matt was afraid that he would pass out.
"Mello." Matt came closer than he was, squeezing the blond's shoulder to catch his attention.
Mello turned his head slightly, looking at Matt through his dishevelled bangs, and smiled weakly.
"You're gonna have to hold it for me when I take a piss from now on."
Matt took a few seconds to register the words, then shook his head, laughing softly.
"All this just to make me touch your dick... you really are desperate."

Matt was about to call Danny to urge him to take care of Mello when the bodyguard, finally realising that Lou didn't need any care since he wasn't hurt, straightened from his kneeling position and hurried to Mello, urging the medical team toward his boss.
"At last..." Mello huffed, but he didn't add anything more since one of the medics grabbed his hands to check on them, making the blond grimace and close his eyes tightly, tears pooling in their corner because of the pain.
"We need to get him to the hospital, there's nothing we can do here."
Danny sent them back, he would drive Mello himself to the nearest hospital. The boys would be driven back to the mansion after they got changed.

Since lunch time was long past, all the boys hungrily raided the kitchen as soon as they arrived to the mansion.
Matt just went upstairs and plopped on his bed, closing his eyes. He wasn't hungry, and couldn't help thinking about Mello's hands. There was no doubt that they were broken, and it raised a lot of issues. Would the show be over? How would Mello play guitar to his next shows in a few weeks? Were they hurt beyond repair? No, that couldn't be, Mello had the means to get the best doctors and surgeons, and he probably had a hell of an insurance...

At some point, Matt went to the kitchen to fetch something to drink, the place empty at last. He hated the interaction with the others. Some were okay and didn't try to stir some drama but the less he got involved with the others, the better. Especially now that he was worried over Mello.
Sat on a stool, he was sipping iced tea when Joshua, the tattoo artist, came in.
"Hi." the boy simply said, sitting face to Matt with a beer fresh out of the fridge. Matt greeted him back absent-mindedly.
"What a fucking mess this morning..." the boy started.
"Mmh." Matt wasn't in the mood for talking but Joshua ignored the clue.
"I hope Mello's alright, that would stink if they cancelled the show..."
"Is that all you care about?" Matt stung suddenly. He didn't want the talking, but he would answer nonetheless if it went down to worrying about the show when Mello got hurt and might be playing his carrier right now because of his injuries.
"Wow, easy man, that's not what I meant..."
"Yeah yeah, whatever." Matt lit a cigarette, dismissing the other with a wave of the hand.
"Seems to me that Lou isn't the one with feelings in here..." Joshua wasn't done talking, obviously.
"If you hadn't understood already, I'm not in a mood for gossip." the redhead was getting really irritated.
"Okay, I'm obviously not good at making my point so ignore my poor attempts at engaging the conversation, I didn't mean to sound like that... fuck, it seems that the atmosphere here is getting to me if I'm getting this calculative."
"If you have something to say, just spit it out, I'm not one of those bitches, I thought I had made it pretty obvious until now." Matt growled, ready to lose his temper. What was with the guys here, never able to tell things straight?

"Okay, okay, cool man..." the boy raised his palms in an appeasing gesture, "What I meant it that it's obvious that there's something between you and Mello. I don't know to what extent but it's just obvious that he wants you, and the way you tried to bite me earlier tells me you care a big deal for him too..."
"Hey, stop it right here, there's nothing between me and Mello, everything's just a matter of circumstances, no reason to get worked up here. If you're worried about your chances in the show, they're safe, don't worry."
"That's not it, and you can deny it as much as you want, everyone can see what's happening here. My point is, I like Mello, but for the few times I talked to him, he could be a great friend, but nothing more, that wouldn't work between him and me. But if he has to end up with someone, that would be you."
"I don't really see your point but once again, there's nothing between him and me."
"I'll help you win."
"So if I'm correct, you don't want him, but you want me to win?" Matt was puzzled, torn between the impression that Joshua was playing him to have the upper hand and the feeling that he was actually sincere but on the wrong track concerning the reality of the situation.
"Lou is all over him, but he's a greedy little bitch and he's no threat, but I've heard some of the guys talking about you and they won't be playing nice."
"I wasn't expecting less of them." Matt exhaled smoke, clearly annoyed by the conversation, he wasn't manipulative, and he didn't want to hear about others' plans to get him down. He trusted himself not to fall into their traps, and should he fall anyway, it was no big deal since he wasn't here to win.
"Matt, I'm sorry if this all sounds weird, I'm not good at this and English isn't my mother tongue so I may have worded things the wrong way... what I mean is that I'm on your side, no matter if there is something going on between you and Mello, if the guys are planning something bad, I'll tell you, not because I'm a rat but because what happened this morning freaked me out. I mean, someone got hurt, it's not a small thing. I don't want anything to happen to you and..."

Joshua stopped talking and looked at Matt, following his hand that was crushing the cigarette butt in a nearby ashtray, back to his face, his eyes resting on his lips for a split second.