Note: Dear 'guest', thank you for your review on chapter 29 (I forgot to write this in the previous chapter's note), you can review in French if you're more comfortable with this language, I'm French after all so that's absolutely not a problem :)
Sorry for the time it took me to get this chapter out, first I forgot (once again) that Mello had a plaster so I had to rewrite part of it haha
And also, being a freelance writer IRL isn't always all butterflies and rainbows and sometimes you have to deal with cunts and that's precisely what I had to do these last days, the good side of things is that being my own boss, if a client fucks me up well, they can fuck off. So I'm back with less things to think about and it means this story will finally see its end! (not that it makes me happy, I'm always a little sad to finish a story).
DAY THIRTEEN – 3 contestants / 1 to be eliminated
Matt had had to go back to his room for the night since they would be filming his date day with Mello starting from him waking up, and he was not happy. He had found it difficult to sleep without Mello, surprised that he got used to sleep next to him so fast, as if it was natural, so he was a bit tired when he had to face the cameras following him to the bathroom, waiting outside until he went out, showered and ready.
He had absolutely no idea what the date would be about, so he had opted for regular jeans and a tee shirt, hoping it would do. Relieved when he saw Mello in his usual attire – black leather pants, his Motörhead tee shirt, and black boots – he smiled back to the blond waiting for him in the main room, as he descended the stairs.
"Ready to get spoilt?" Mello took Matt's face in his palm, kissing him.
"Oh my God, I hope we're not doing that crappy sexy clothes shopping like in the other shows?" the redhead laughed, remembering the scene of another show of the kind, where the rockstar brings a bimbo participant to a store that was closer to a sex shop than a real clothing store, and she tried on ridiculous outfits for him while the old fart drooled over her boobs as she practically lap danced him.
Mello caught up with Matt's thoughts, and smirked.
"That's kind of the idea, but there are no clothes involved, and I don't mean that in the way I'd like it, at least not before tonight." the musician winked.
Matt gave him a puzzled look, wondering what Mello had planned, following him outside, where a limo was waiting for them.
Matt frowned. He knew it was for the show's purpose, but everything was so cliché, when it was his actual first date with Mello since they hadn't been officially together for all of the previous ones. It held importance to him, despite the cameras ruining it. And the limo.
He heard Mello chuckle beside him, before the singer walked to the long black car, pulling him by the hand.
"I'd rather have used my Honda but..." Mello waved his plaster.
"Well, it can't be helped." Matt replied, smiling sheepishly.
"The production insisted anyway, I guess I can comply for once."
"Mostly because you don't have a choice, otherwise we both know you wouldn't have given a shit about their opinion." Matt teased him as they got into the vehicle.
There was a bit of fumbling in their back after that, the cameramen parting between the limo and the van that was supposed to follow the limo, and the car drove away.
After a short drive, the vehicle stopped in front of a small restaurant.
"Breakfast!" Mello exclaimed, as he left the car.
Matt was a little surprised to see how exiguous the inside was when they entered. It didn't look posh or anything like that, pretty much the opposite even, although perfectly clean.
A woman came from behind the counter as soon as she spotted the two boys, a little impressed by the cameras.
"Please, have a seat!" she led Mello and Matt to a table, and handed them both a menu.
"I'll be right over there, let me know when you've made your choice!"
Matt felt at ease with her cheerful attitude. She was impressed, yes, but she wasn't a shoe-licker like in the other restaurants they had been before. Usually, when the staff saw Mello, they were obnoxiously zealous and fake.
The woman obviously knew who the singer was, but she didn't loose her countenance.
"I didn't expect something like that after the limo." Matt chuckled. He liked the place, it wasn't a derogatory statement, he was just genuinely surprised by Mello's choice compared to his usual luxury or trendy driven tastes.
"Would you prefer another place? We can go somewh-"
"No! No, that's not what I meant!" Matt chuckled, raising his palms, "It's kind of cute, and calm, and the waiter is friendly, it's exactly my type of place to be honest, but that's where I am surprised, it's not your kind of place, at least from what I've seen lately."
"I ended up here a few weeks ago, it was really early... I had spent the night at the hospital with..." Mello stopped for a split second, breathing loudly at the thought that had just crossed his mind, before going on, "It was the only open place I could find and I needed coffee, real coffee I mean, not the hospital vending machine crappy kind of coffee, and the owner – the lady over there – even cooked something for me since she had no vegan option ready, and so I came back several times and now she even has vegan donuts among over things and they're just amazing..."
Matt had started laughing. He loved this about Mello, the contradiction between all and everything he did, said, the places he went to... and in a sense it was a little odd to imagine Mello falling for donuts.
"Why are you laughing?" Mello asked, amused.
"Because I've never seen you be excited for food before and I didn't expect you to do so for donuts."
"You're just jealous I prefer eating donuts over you, admit it." Mello chuckled, his chin resting on his palm, his elbow on the table.
"Ah, I don't fear the competition, I'm pretty sure you prefer my hole to the donuts'." the redhead whispered, bending slightly over the table for the owner not to hear him.
Mello smirked at Matt's words.
"You naughty little thing."
Matt finally let Mello make the order since he had no idea what to choose, and soon they both were served a steamy cup of coffee and a huge pile of colourful sugar glazed donuts.
"Holy shit!" Matt exclaimed, his mouth full of his first bite, immediately looking sheepishly at the woman, who was standing behind the counter, laughing.
"I guess it's a compliment so I'll ignore the swear, young man." she told him.
"Told ya." Mello smiled, biting in a full chocolate pastry, "And anyway, about what you said earlier, I like fancy restaurants when the food is good but I don't really care otherwise, I'm also good with places like this one. Actually, the restaurants you've seen until now are mostly for the show's purposes. In daily life I'd rather have stuff delivered to be honest, I hate going out too much."
"Makes sense." Matt smiled over his cup of coffee.
Once they were done with their breakfast, they stood to leave, Mello handing several hundreds to the owner out of camera sight since the cameramen were already outside, waiting to film their exit.
"Oh, how much do you think I'm charging for donuts? It's not the Ritz here!" she laughed, taking one of the bills and picking up the change in her cash machine.
"That's just a small tip." Mello deposited the rest of the bills in the cash machine, bending over the counter, "For an amazing service."
"That's extremely generous of you, Mello, but you filming the show here will probably bring more customers than I can serve as soon as it goes on TV, so you've helped me a great deal already, I can't accept more."
"Please." the singer insisted, and the woman gave in.
"I knew it wasn't just for the donuts." Matt kissed Mello as soon as they sat in the limo.
"It's no big deal, just a little push for a nice business in difficulty, she doesn't get enough customers for that quality of the food she serves. She deserves it."
"Fuck Mello, do you realise how big your heart is?"
Matt cupped Mello's face, their foreheads touching for a few seconds before he kissed him again, this time with so much tenderness that Mello ended up with glistening eyes as they broke the exchange.
The drive this time was a little longer, but they finally stopped on a parking lot, bodyguards quickly encircling the star and the contestant as they exited the vehicle. Mello acted as if they weren't even there, as he took Matt's hand and they both walked to a store. There was no one around anyway, the store had been privatized and the police was keeping the area empty for the show's security.
Once they were close enough, Matt glanced at Mello, then back at the shop sign.
"You're not doing this."
"Hell yes I am. At least I know you care for that more than clothes." Mello chuckled in front of Matt's disbelieving expression.
"No you're not. I can't accept that. Besides, I have everything already."
"Are you sure?" Mello's smile didn't leave his lips, as he pushed the redhead inside.
"Holy fucking shit..." was all Matt could reply.
What Matt had taken for a simple gaming store at first was actually more akin to a museum: there were consoles everywhere, ranging from the newest on the market to some very old, rare ones, that Matt didn't even know still existed in working state. He was a fan of old Japanese devices, and collected pretty much anything gaming related. But his belief that he would never be able to get his hands on some of the consoles that were now before his eyes vanished, his will not to let Mello spoil him reeling.
But that was wrong, he couldn't accept Mello to pay him things.
"That's low. How do you want me to resist that!"
"That's the point, actually. You shouldn't resist." Mello encircled Matt's waist from behind, "You know you want to..."
The blond chuckled as he gave a small kiss in Matt's neck, freeing him and pushing him to the nearest shelf.
"How did you even know?" the redhead asked, his fingers grazing over a Sega Pluto with envy.
"Know what?"
"That I collect them." Matt looked at Mello, "You didn't even know?"
"Not really, but I supposed you would like this better than anything else."
"Fuck... I'm speechless, it's heaven here."
Matt walked from one console to another, completely astonished by the many treasures on the shelves.
"All my favourite things in one place." he smiled to Mello - who grinned at the hidden sweetness of Matt's words - before walking to him and taking him in his arms, "But still, I'm not accepting you to pay for anything."
"I love you." the singer replied in his ear, away from the reach of cameras, "I love you and your integrity and your moral strength and the fact that you never betray yourself. You make me feel safe Mattie."
Mello's lips crashed on Matt's as he pulled him closer. He broke the kiss after a few seconds: "Now you leave your integrity aside, and you take what you want in here."
"No. First, I'd probably take half of the store, and second, how do you expect buying your songs back if you spend everything on me?"
"Matt, we're talking about a few thousands here, my songs are counted in tens of millions."
"Fuck..."
"Matt?" Mello suddenly wondered why it seemed to bother the redhead so much.
"Ah sorry, I just didn't think that it was that much, I'm sad that you can't even own your own songs, I somehow thought that you'd buy them back soon. They're yours after all... it's not fair that these bastards own them, they're just greedy assholes."
"Don't worry about that." Mello kissed the redhead again, touched, "So, which half?"
Matt laughed. He knew that Mello wouldn't leave until he chose something, but it really made him feel uncomfortable.
"Okay, you don't leave me a choice." Mello said, pulling his phone out of his pocket.
"What are you doing? Calling the Gamer Police to report my felony of not wanting to buy anything?" Matt snickered.
"Hey Linda! I need your help! Are you at home? Great, can you tell me if Matt has a... Sega Pluto?" the singer took the console from the shelf and nodded to the clerk, who took the console from his hands, bringing it to the counter.
"Sega Saturn? Yes?" Mello dismissed this one, moving to the next, "Videobrain? Yes I'm sure of the name."
Mello grabbed that one, and proceeded to name each device one after the other, taking them when Linda confirmed on the other end of the line that Matt didn't own it already. The young woman was browsing through Matt's impressive collection in their shared living room, since they lived together before Matt left for the show.
"Mello, stop." Matt pleaded him at some point, the number of consoles on the counter exceeding twelve already.
"You should know by now that I only do as I please." Mello winked, before emptying half of another shelf.
It lasted more than twenty minutes, and the clerk and shop owner had their eyes bulging out by the time Mello finally reached the end of the last display, and came to pay for it all.
Matt couldn't believe it when the singer handed out a Palladium card casually, as if the card itself didn't already cost a thousand dollars all by itself. He doubted he could ever get used to this display of wealth, it was a little insane to witness, especially for him since he didn't even have a job anymore and had to be really careful with his own money.
Matt had yet to recover from the shock when they left the store. The clerk and the owner carried the bags to the limo, eyeing the car with admiration, bowing profusely when they had left all the consoles in the huge trunk, before they went back to the shop.
"Fuck Mello, you're totally insane..."
"Mattie, it's nothing, really, just enjoy the growth of your collection, and the rest of the day, it's your day after all."
"But I'm not calling you sugar daddy."
Mello gave Matt a quick peck on the cheek, laughing out loud, before they entered the limo.
The next stop was a huge spa facing the sea. The place hadn't been privatised this time, but the customers here were unlikely to interfere with the show. Most of them were probably as rich as Mello, and they came here for the select clientèle. No paparazzi, no groupies.
They entered the lobby and the singer picked up the passes for their rooms. He paused for a moment.
"We're supposed to get separate rooms because you know, you still have a choice not to sleep with the bachelor..."
Matt snickered. "Haha seriously, I think it's too late to think of my dignity."
"Oh believe me, I'm thinking hard, really hard... about your... dignity." Mello purred, before handing back the second pass to the receptionist.
"For some reason I'm not sure you'll be able to keep it in your pants until tonight." Matt laughed.
"Not my fault, you were the one to talk about holes."
"As if you need that to be in the mood."
"I just have to look at you to be in the mood, but that's not the point."
"That totally is, but you'd find any excuse not to be wrong."
The couple kept on faking a small verbal fight on their way to the room, trying not to laugh too loud as other customers gave them weird looks.
"Ready to get your meat tenderised?" Mello asked the redhead, after the latter had explored the whole suite in awe.
They changed into bathrobes, and soon a knock at the door resounded.
Two masseuses came in, pushing massage tables, a man following with a basket full of towels and oils.
The tables were installed on the huge balcony, and a few minutes later, the two boys were being taken care of, relaxing under the treatment they were receiving and the sensual perfume of jasmine oil, the cool sea breeze bringing a refreshing salty hint to the air they breathed.
"I feel so good..." Matt sighed, as he lounged now on a large couch on the balcony, Mello sitting next to him, two glasses of a colourful cocktail waiting for them on a small table in front of them.
"Yeah, I don't even feel the pain in my back anymore, I almost fell asleep."
"I was fighting not to at some point." the redhead chuckled.
"Lunch will be here in a few minutes, then we can take a nap if you want."
Matt turned his head slightly, and he didn't need more than the playful look in the musician's eyes to know that he wasn't about to sleep if they took said nap. But he was more than okay with it.
"Actually, I'm not even surprised that you're a vegan."
"Mmh?" Mello looked at Matt with a puzzled look, his mouth full with an avocado sushi.
"The fact that you're compassionate even to animals, it's not surprising. Well, it would have been in the beginning, had I discovered right away everything I know now about you, because of the rock star attitude and all this I-don't-give-a-shit aura you have, but now I think it just goes with all the rest."
Mello swallowed his food. "Are you tired of eating vegan?"
"No, I don't really care, everything is so tasty anyway, I can't complain, I could leave on vegan food. Actually, I will."
"Really?"
"Well, I don't see myself eating a juicy steak in front of you, and I don't really care as long as you feed me." Matt chuckled, stuffing his mouth with seitan.
They finished their lunch in a comfortable silence, Matt finally stirring, his stomach full.
"Speaking of feeding you..." Mello purred once again, standing up and taking Matt's hand to pull him to the bed.
"Oh yeah, stuff me with your juicy meat, Mello..." Matt laughed out loud, making the singer roll his eyes.
"That was the most terrible sex talk ever." he sighed, feigning indignation.
"Oh come on, don't you want my donut ring?"
"Oh my god, he won't stop." Mello burst out in laughters as he pulled on Matt's bathrobe strings and took the garment off the redhead.
"Come on you veggie sex god, take this one hundred per cent non GMO body!" Matt said dramatically as he spread on the bed.
"Oh yeah, I'm gonna eat you raw..." Mello chuckled before diving right to Matt's crotch, engulfing his cock in his mouth.
"Ah! Mmh..." Matt started to mewl, giving chills to Mello who felt himself go hard at the sound, and sucked even harder on Matt's member, "Fuck... Mello..."
"Yeah, that's the idea..." the blond smiled down to his lover as he straightened on his knees between Matt's thighs, unable to take support on his plastered hand. His fingers found Matt's rear for preparation.
Biting his lower lip, Mello stretched him with three fingers coated in some of the oil they were still covered with, appreciating the growing moans of the redhead til he reached the point where he couldn't wait anymore.
He penetrated him in one slow, continuous thrust, Matt letting out a cry of pleasure when Mello was fully inside.
The blond just couldn't get enough of those mewls, and he had a hard time not pinning Matt down to the mattress to ram into him as brutally as his arousal commanded him to. He took his time, painfully refraining himself to go harder or faster, letting the redhead adjust.
But when he was sure that Matt wouldn't feel any discomfort, he unleashed everything.
Matt couldn't believe how amazing this felt, Mello now hammering into his prostate at a fast pace, the bed knocking against the wall under the hard thrusts. He felt like he was about to lose his voice, unable to catch his breath under so much pleasure. His orgasm caught him by surprise, and he felt a familiar warmth inside of him a few seconds later, Mello stopping still, trying to find his breath, sweat dripping from his forehead to Matt's torso.
"Fuck, that was something." Matt chuckled, seeing Mello totally worn out.
"I'm dead." the other rolled on his side, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand before letting his valid arm, that had supported his weight for long minutes, fall heavily on the bed.
"Let's take a shower."
"I don't want to move."
"I'll wash you."'
"Okay."
Mello followed Matt to the bathroom, the redhead running a bath, adding some of the liquid soap from the bottle on the border of the tub. He pulled Mello into it after helping him wrap his plaster, not even waiting for the tub to fill, the blond sitting in front of him, his back against Matt.
"So, what's next?" Matt asked after a moment soaking in the bubbles, as he started to lather Mello in soap.
"They want us to have a romantic walk on the beach."
"Really? That's lame..." Matt laughed.
"Yeah, I don't even like sand."
"Is that all?"
"A lazy day at the beach, cocktails, dinner in a fancy seaside restaurant, all that chickflick stuff..."
"All for the audience rates... Ah, let's get along with it, then we have the whole night for ourselves."
"Before the day during which I won't even get to see you at all, how fantastic is this?"
Matt felt in Mello's tone that he was truly bothered.
"And then you will have the rest of your life to see me all the time." the redhead pecked the singer's lips as the latter turned his head to smile at him.
"Yeah, not so bad after all."
Once the mandatory walk on the beach was done and literally dusted, Mello unhappy with the sand and starting to go crazy with an itch until Matt dragged him into the pool on their balcony, they settled in a private area on sun chairs, a waiter bringing margaritas that they sipped lazily until it was time for dinner and they had to get back to their room to get dressed.
The dinner was quick. Matt could see Mello really tired, and he did his best to accelerate things so they could go to sleep. He was kind of happy that they had had sex earlier because nothing would be happening tonight, and tomorrow neither, and he wasn't sure he wasn't going to miss it.
"My poor baby." Matt kissed Mello's forehead as they finally slid under the sheets, right after Mello had eliminated the contestant that wouldn't get a final date: Charly.
"I'm sorry... I'm exhausted..." Mello yawned, his eyes fluttering closed.
"Nothing to be sorry for, we had a busy day." Matt brought Mello close to him, his arms around his shoulders as the singer placed his cheek against his chest.