Note: I hadn't planned to have this fic become so dramatic. I always do that though so I guess I'm a development freak.
Because I know that the question will arise: yes, there is a reason for all this; no, this is not drama for the sake of drama; and you can take your guesses about Mello's reasons at the end :p
Expect a chapter tomorrow as well ;)
The slam of the door resounded, and Matt barely had the time to look at it that the other boys stormed downstairs and surrounded Mello. Danny pushed them aside, making room for Mello to walk.
The blond turned his head, giving a dark look in direction of the kitchen that he could see from where he stood, and resumed walking to his private apartments, followed by his right hand man. The door closed, slamming just like the entrance, leaving the boys gaping in the middle of the living room, wondering why they hadn't even been updated on Mello's state. All they knew was that he was plastered, from what they had seen.
But Danny reappeared quickly and gave some news to calm things down, as voices started to raise.
"Mello's right hand is broken and he needs some rest right now. The doctors said he didn't need surgery, all the bones are aligned and he will have his plaster for six weeks. For now just try not to make too much noise, keep yourself busy as you like, I'll keep you updated in a few hours but the date is most likely cancelled due to Mello's state and the fact that no team won."
"What about the blood?" Catwalk asked.
"Mello has various cuts because of the ice and the trauma but nothing seri-" Danny didn't have the time to finish his sentence that Mello's voice shouted his name from the private part of the mansion.
Danny went back to the singer and although he closed the door behind him, everyone could hear the conversation between both men heat up, Mello yelling in a slurred voice words that the boys couldn't distinguish.
The bodyguard was back after a few minutes, clearly annoyed.
"Matt, he wants you in." Before anyone could protest, Danny silenced them, "Shut up everyone, I don't want to hear anything."
Matt carefully opened the door, expecting Mello to be angry or something, but he found him sprawled on his bed, his right hand plastered, the left one bandaged, eyes half closed.
"Come here Mattie..." the blond murmured. It was obvious that he was doped on painkillers or something.
Matt wasn't sure it was a good idea to be here considering that it was once again an obvious preference from Mello, but the singer seemed to have it pretty bad so he didn't have the heart to refuse. He sat on the border of the bed.
"Come closer." Mello said, but Matt kept his distances.
"Yeah, right, do you really think I'll fall for that?" the redhead chuckled.
"Aw... I'm almost dying and you wouldn't even do me that favor?" Mello laughed softly, trying to straighten against the pillows.
"No one ever died from a broken hand, well, except if they tried to bribe someone into coming closer and eventually got slapped to death for doing so." Matt teased Mello, but he could see that the broken hand wasn't the only problem here: Mello was so drugged that he couldn't sustain his own body. "Fuck, they had a heavy hand on the painkillers it seems."
"Yeah... I think I'm not handling them too well to be honest... I've got my own voice resonating in my head." Mello grimaced as he fell against the pillows once again, unable to change his position.
"So much for yelling..." Matt murmured, keeping his voice low not to make it worse for the musician. Mello's fit of anger had worn him out.
The situation finally convinced Matt to help Mello and he crawled on the king size bed on all four to be able to lift Mello slightly so he would rest higher on the pillows, but Mello was a lot heavier than he expected and the latter, taking advantage of Matt being forced to sit criss crossed as he tried to pull Mello, crawled in Matt's lap, resting his head against his thighs.
"Hey, I'm not a pillow!" Matt protested, only half surprised that the singer had taken advantage of him.
"I'm good here." Mello sighed, closing his eyes.
"Why didn't you ask Danny to help you?" Matt should have asked that before he got trapped, and he mentally beat himself up for not thinking about it earlier.
"Because he's not you."
"Lou would have complied with your request as well."
"Fuck that Matt, it's you I wanted, no one else. I don't want Danny scolding me, I don't want Lou pitying me or trying to buy me, as you can see I'm not exactly myself right now and I just don't want to be alone so that leaves only you as a good choice here."
"You sure talk a lot for someone faking being half dead." Matt chuckled, but he knew that it was precisely because Mello was at risk of being completely himself, his guard down because of the painkillers, that he had wanted him here. For some reason, he felt his heart swell at that realisation, scolding himself mentally for that.
Mello shuffled slightly, his shoulders in Matt's lap while his tilted head rested now half on the redhead's thigh, half on his arm. It wasn't uncomfortable for now so he complied, Mello becoming suddenly silent. He glanced at the singer and wasn't surprised that he had simply fallen asleep.
Good, someone finally found the switch on that brat, he smiled to himself.
Forty minutes later, Mello stirred slightly, not opening his eyes. That's when Matt realised that he had been stroking the blond strands idly. He removed his hand, but Mello grabbed it back with his left hand. He winced when the pain reminded him of its state, but didn't let go. Bringing it to his face, he kept it there for while before opening his eyes and looking straight at Matt, who felt quite uncomfortable at first, not really knowing the reason of the gesture. Mello wasn't giving him that romance crap once again, was he?
"Your hand is cold." Mello let go of Matt's hand and kept staring at him, "Cold hands, warm heart, I guess that fits." He straightened his head, uncaring for the fact that it was now right on Matt's crotch.
Matt bent, stopping an instant as to ponder what he was doing, and finally folded himself in half to kiss Mello in an upside down peck.
He straightened right away. "I don't know what got through me."
It wasn't an apology, he really had no idea why he had kissed Mello. It wasn't out of pity or anything, he just wanted it at that precise moment.
"Spider-Matt." Mello chuckled, Matt catching his drift a few seconds later and chuckling as well.
"No wonder why you couldn't deal with the painkillers, you taste of booze." the redhead stated.
"Blame me, I was in pain on the way to the hospital and the limo's bar only had vodka."
"And you thought it was a good idea to get meds after filling up?"
"Obviously." Mello smirked, making Matt roll his eyes.
"Don't get your hopes up, it didn't mean anything. You're not close to getting me in your bed."
"Well, technically, you're in my bed right now." Mello's smirk turned playful.
"I'm on your bed, if we are being technical." Matt helped Mello straighten since he could barely use his hands to support his weight.
Facing Matt, sitting criss crossed as well now, Mello's mood suddenly changed.
"I'm eliminating Joshua tonight."
"Why are you telling me?" Matt was surprised. Mello was gauging him, he could tell, but he had no idea why. "I wouldn't have thought of him for elimination tonight, with this morning's drama."
"I don't like him."
"You barely like anyone here."
"True."
"I know you do as you please, but why him? I mean, he wasn't the one to start a fight this morning, and the guy could have killed Lou if it wasn't for your responsiveness, so I'm pretty positive that the production will want him out and-"
"One more word about the production and I'll kick your ass."
"I'll let you get some more rest before elimination." Matt stood up from the bed, heading for the door.
"Matt. Wait."
The redhead turned around, indeed waiting.
"Don't tell them."
Matt didn't need Mello to be precise, he knew that the singer was talking about what had happened here.
"You don't have to tell me. I haven't signed your dear non-disclosure contract yet but you should know better by now."
Mello slid from the bed, hurrying to Matt, who had resumed walking, before he could exit the room, turned him around, and trapped him against the door. Matt thought that he would try to kiss him, but Mello stared at him for a few seconds, then brought a hand to Matt's hair, the tip of his fingers touching the red locks briefly before he looked like he was regretting doing so.
"I'll put that on your little cocktail of meds and booze." Matt smiled, trying to lighten the mood.
Mello took a step back: "Yeah..."
And Matt was out of the room.
One hour later, unexpectedly, Mello was dressed and ready, his foot thumping, standing in the living room, waiting for the boys to gather as he had just called them with a loud yell.
"Too bad we couldn't finish what we started this morning." he said, looking straight at the muscular guy, "But I still want my date tonight, and since there's no winning team, I'll simply choose someone I want to know better. Joshua, you're the lucky one, you have ten minutes to get ready, unless you're good to go as you are."
"I'm good, let's go." the tattoo artist stated, joining Mello to the door as the blond was already leaving, the others not daring to voice their protests this time since for once Matt wasn't the chosen one.
Matt, on the other hand, wasn't happy with Mello's choice for the obvious reason that Mello wasn't just wanting to know the guy. There was something up in the blond's tricky brain that concerned Joshua since earlier, but Matt couldn't fathom a valid explanation.
At the rink, Joshua was totally at ease, sat beside Mello with food on his lap, the hockey game catching the singer's attention as for now.
He ate in silence, letting Mello enjoy the show while eating as well, since he was obviously really absorbed in what was happening on the ice. Himself didn't really care for hockey, but it was still nice to be here. He wouldn't mind knowing Mello more. First because he felt they could get along as friends, their little talk the day before having been really pleasant and Mello showing a side of him he had appreciated, and second because as a rock band frontman, Mello possibly adorned with one of his tattoos would be a great advertizing so he was ready to offer him one if that could help his career.
He had come here to date the rockstar because Mello was exactly his type and he had a crush on him before the show already, but he had soon realised that it wasn't about to happen. First because he noticed about the rocker's lack of involvement in the purpose of the show, then because to his dismay, Mello might not be serious but had still set his mind on Matt and it was obvious. The idea of staying just for a little boost to his career had come afterwards, just an idea... but as he made his best to stay in the run, he didn't expect to fall for one of the contestants. Which happened to be the precise one that Mello seemed to want. Too bad...
Joshua didn't believe that Mello stood a better chance than him. The bachelor wasn't really looking for love after all so Matt was more than certainly aware of that, and the tattoo artist still had his dice to throw in the game.
He wasn't proud of partly lying to Matt earlier, but he needed a reason to get closer to the redhead and create a connection. He didn't lie about letting him know of the others' schemes, though. The morning's drama had worried him since he had realised that some of the guys would stop at nothing, and he didn't want Matt to get hurt. He didn't want anyone to get hurt, for that matter.
Joshua knew it wasn't the best of plans but he had nothing else in hand so he would go for it. The redhead was so cute... and his behaviour, his honesty, this was a guy to date.
Mello suddenly stood up, gesturing to Joshua to follow him. He threw the remains of his food in a trashcan on the way, Joshua imitating him. Once in the locker room, one that was unused by the players on the ice, Mello turned around, stopping abruptly, the other boy almost bumping into him, not expecting the sudden stop.
Now, Joshua wasn't exactly feeling at ease anymore under the musician's stare, that held nothing friendly.
"So, Joshua." Mello began, insisting on the boy's name in a defying manner, "Tell me what should prevent me from knocking all of your teeth out of your mouth right now?"
"What?" But Mello didn't let him time to ponder longer on the question.
"The other contestants are mines, and mines only."
"Mello I..." Joshua wouldn't be placing anymore word in the conversation that night.
"I have others to get rid of before you in this show, but that doesn't mean that I don't care... that I don't have an eye on what you do. I'm not keeping you for you to steal what's mine, is that understood?"
Joshua simply nodded, putting two and two together as for why Mello had scowled at him and Matt in the kitchen earlier. Damn, he had made a really wrong move and Mello obviously knew, he didn't know how the singer knew but he did, and he was kinda screwed if Mello knew he wasn't here for him, and worse, if he couldn't get closer to Matt without fearing Mello's wrath. Mello had stayed elusive about Matt, preferring to refer to 'the other contestants' as a whole. But even if the singer tried to apparently deny the obvious, the 'other contestants' were all perfectly aware of his preference...
"Oh, and before I forget," Mello turned around to face Joshua again, as he was walking to the exit door, followed by the impressed boy, "Keep your mouth shut, you wouldn't want to see your tattoo shop go bankrupt, would you?"
The boy shivered. This was getting really nasty.
Joshua was driven back to the mansion alone, Mello disappearing in a cab, Danny unable to catch up after getting Mello's call to take care of Joshua, as the yellow car drove away. He would have no luck reaching his boss, the latter's phone being off, which meant only one thing: Mello was overloaded. Even the night at Griffith Park with Matt, Mello had kept his phone on, although he wanted to be left in peace. Through years of knowing the man, Danny knew full well that once Mello cut all contact, it was useless to go against it, and trying to find him would only make things worse. In the first times, Danny would search for his boss and try to reason him, but he had quickly learnt, at his own expense, that it was a dangerous thing to do, both for him and for Mello. When Mello closed up on himself, even the tiniest of contacts was like opening a pressure cooker in full boil: it exploded at the face of everyone present, and the best thing to do was to simply let him cool down in his own little world.
It wasn't the best timing to have a crisis though, because they had a schedule to respect due to the show, but Danny knew it couldn't be helped right now, and he simply got back to the mansion to wait for the singer. But who knew when he would be coming back?
Danny had witnessed Mello in crisis several times, and he knew that if Mello was rendering himself unreachable, it wasn't only to be left alone, but to protect others. A simple call or even text on his cell phone and it could trigger a wrath so uncontrollable that the bodyguard preferred risking being on the wrong footing with the producers of the show than to have Mello in this state. Mello had physically hurt himself and other persons in those accesses of rage, when he had been forcibly stirred out of his retreat.
But when the backdoor slammed shut, just after Danny had heard a car park in front of the mansion, hours after Mello had disappeared, the tall man barely had time to reach the main room to short-circuit Mello before he got in contact with any of the boys, not knowing in what state the musician was. He quickly sent the boys back into their rooms.
Mello was opening the door between his apartments and the inner corridor when Danny reached it, and the latter knew he was in for a fight. The blond was completely on edge, his phone in hand, eyes injected with red lines, searching for something or someone around, falling on his right hand man just as Danny's phone rang, making the other wince as if the sound was electrifying his skin.
Danny picked up the call carefully, his sight not leaving Mello, who stood there, staring at him, his chest heaving. He felt like trying to make the least sound possible face to a bear that could attack him anytime if he screwed up.
"Hello? Yeah... I know, he's there with me, nothing to worry about." A short moment passed while Danny's interlocutor talked, "I know. I'll tell him, just stop contacting him for now, just call me directly, it's better this way. Yeah. Of course."
Danny placed his cell phone back in his back pocket, still keeping his eyes on Mello. He took a few seconds to find the words that wouldn't trigger anything in Mello, but he was at loss.
The silence actually made Mello explode.