Author's note: Teeny little bit of fluff. Please enjoye.

Matt

If I thought it was a practical joke before (he has pulled some pretty good ones on me), I sure was convinced that he was genuine now.

Mello had come round every day since I was admitted into the hospital. Sometimes his classes ended early, sometimes late, late-evening late, but no matter what time it was, he always showed up, most of the time accompanied by some sort of dessert or snack because he knew I hated the bland hospital food. We didn't do much, just talking. Mello told me a lot about his life, his parents, his before-college days and I told him about mine, feeling more and more relaxed as each day passed. Other times we'd joke or, most of the time, Mello would fall asleep on my chest and I'd watch as he fell asleep to the sound of my heartbeat.

Yeah, teenage romance, huh?

We were still soaking in our honeymoon period, that period of time all couples go through where their relationship has just been established and their trying to keep it together for as long as they could. Well, that's where we were. The one and a half weeks I was stuck at the hospital Mello was always right by my side. Call me cynical, but it was really too good to be true, though I wasn't complaining.

Even after I was discharged and given a clean bill of health, Mello still treated me like I was a king. He came on my discharge day to pick me up and sent me back to the dorm. And since I was completely fine now, my wound stitched up and no longer hurting, we could do all sorts of couple-y things, but of course I wouldn't lay a finger on him! Not after all the traumatizing things he's been through. He tries to act like he's over it, but I still see him flinch whenever someone corners him or when a group of people walk towards him. All we've managed to do was steal a few consensual kisses here and there and sometimes we'd go as far as making out, with tongue. That was enough for me. Sure I was a hormonal teenager, but I respected his wishes, and if he wanted to wait, I would wait with him. I'd remain celibate as long as I got to stay by his side.

He even introduced me to his friends, which is a huge deal since it meant he was finally letting me fully into his life. They were surprisingly accepting, immediately chatting me up. Though I did know most of them before this, it was different now. They even let Duncan hang out with us, which was really cool of them. I still caught some of them staring at Mello with bedroom eyes sometimes, but that could be overlooked since I knew Mello only had eyes for me, and that was pretty much proven by his actions. He would give me these soft, cuddly hugs that one wouldn't expect from him and every so often, after one of our heated make out sessions, he'd pull away abruptly and apologize. But I didn't blame him, I would never.

"Matt! Stop ignoring me."

"Oh, sorry. Yeah, Mello?" he was currently glaring at me from his study desk whilst I laid on my bed smoking, pen still in his hand and study reference flipped open to a page filled with words.

"I was just erm, thinking that since we're…together now, we should, uh, go out," he explained sheepishly. "But we don't have to! If you don't want to, I mean," he added in quickly, turning away from me.

"You mean a date?"

"Well yeah." He blushed. Aw, how cute. He must've been embarrassed. This must've been his first time asking someone else out. Actually, kind to think of it, I've never brought Mello out on a proper date before, ever since the incident and such. Mello still wasn't used to dark, public places and ,like I said, Mello's been treating me like royalty since then so we didn't go out much. Going on a date would be like a symbol of our relationship. After all, it would be our very first.

"How nice Mello! Of course we should go on a date, what a lovely idea!"

"Tch, stop mocking me you ass."

"I'm not mocking you. I mean it," I smiled, flicking my cigarette into the ash tray by the bed and getting up to walk over to him.

"Really?" He asked excitedly as I planted a kiss on his cheek. "Like, now? I mean, it is a Saturday and all and I'm kind of done studying."

"Sure. What do you want to do?"

He blushed even harder. "Uh, shit, I don't know…anything, anything's fine or whatever."

He was so flustered it was funny in a cute way. "You don't have to be so nervous," I teased.

"Sorry. This is only, like, my second time asking someone else out."

What.

Backtrack.

"Wait, what? So who was your first?"

"Erm, oh it was no one, Matt," he replied quickly, looking away hurriedly. Oh, if I wasn't curious before, I sure was worried now. He was averting his gaze and shit, suspicious as fuck.

"Seriously, Mello, you know you can tell me. I won't get mad," prying, I gazed into his eyes earnestly to show him that I meant those words. Well, I DID mean it. I wasn't going to get mad or upset; it was probably just some kindergarden crush he had anyway, no big deal.

"Ok, fine then. But I really don't understand why you want to know so badly…" he shot one more pleading glance at me before sighing. "It was…Mr Stephen."

"WHAT?" my jaw practically fell open.

"You said you wouldn't get mad!"

"I'm not mad, but what the fuck Mello? You asked a teacher out?"

"I really liked him at that time."

Something stirred inside me; memories of the past were coming back to haunt me. Why was I upset that the first person he ever asked out was Mr Stephen? They DID have sex, which I think is ten times worse than some measly date. But he was Mello's first. His first! It's just like how I felt a subconscious hatred for that Noah kid that took Mello's virginity. I would never be his first anything, would I? I breathed deeply at the sound of Mello's soft voice calling my name. "Yeah, yeah. Why don't you go prepare then. We'll figure out what to do when you're done."

He stared at me worriedly but I brushed him off, pushing him into the bathroom with a change of clothes and a towel. I knew he was probably afraid that I was pissed at him, but I don't think there's anything he could do to comfort me anyway. But then again, I was probably just getting worked up over nothing, again. Paranoid, mm hmm. Totally paranoid. That was ages ago; Mello's mine now.

I was reminded of that when a pair of arms wrapped around my neck from behind and a kiss landed on my ear.

"Oh, you're done," I said, turning to face him. He was dressed head to toe in his signature leather outfit, glossy leather gloves and tight, knee high boots. To make it short, he looked stunning.

He nodded.

"Ok. Let's go then." I got up swiftly. He was still looking at me strangely but I cleaned that up by kissing him and subsequently pulling him out of the dorm room. He followed closely behind me, holding my hand. "So...where should we go? Just so you know, we don't have a car, ha ha," I joked to lighten the atmosphere.

Mello smiled at that. "I know this little cafe down the road called The Rose Petal!" He suggested, pausing to hear my response.

"Yeah, sure. Lead me there."

He laughed again and held on tighter to my hand. We walked together, chatting as the soft breeze hit us in ripples. This was wonderful, finally being able to go on a proper date with Mello and talking to him so casually. I feel so at ease right now, like what the hell was I even worrying for? First times don't mean shit. I liked Mello, and Mello liked me; that's it. Who cares about all that other mundane stuff?

We reached our destination after a few minutes. It was a dainty little pastry shop cum cafe along the side of a narrow road, a place perfect for couples. I was starting to wonder how Mello knew about this place when I stopped myself. If I wanted to relax, I had to stop thinking. I had to trust Mello, which I do, completely might I add, and I had to have confidence in myself. Trust and confidence, right.

"Well?" Mello spoke, tugging my shirt hem.

"Yeah. Let's go in." wrapping my arm around his waist, I pulled him in. There was a great ambience inside the cafe and I spotted a window seat overlooking a rose garden. So that's where the shop got its name. Well, that was the perfect seat. "I found a nice table," I announced. Mello looked over at it and paused, a weird look passed over his face.

"Sure," he responded after a moment.

We took our seats as a waitress made her way over. She placed two menus on the table top and smiled sweetly, eyeing Mello. I sure hoped she wasn't thinking what I thought she was thinking.

"Hi," she greeted, finally tearing her gaze away from him.

"Hi, I would like a shepard's pie, please."

She took down Mello's order and I ordered a bacon carbonara. Even after she left, I still had a bitter look on my face, I assume, because Mello started asking what the problem was.

"Nothing. I just didn't like the way she looked at you," I mumbled, slightly embarrassed that I had to admit it.

He laughed, placing his hand on top of mine. "Aw, Matt don't be jealous. You know I only have eyes for you."

Yeah, I know that.

I held on to that logic as the day carried on. The sun set as we ate, setting the cafe in an orangey hue which was just beautiful. I was really enjoying myself and ignored every pessimistic thought that passed through my mind and just focused on now.

We ate as we talked happily. Though I already knew pretty much everything about Mello, I never got bored talking to him. He had a voice I'd never get tired of and such cute expressions when he described random stuff. Ok I admit it; I was mostly just staring at him instead of paying attention to what he was saying, but that wasn't my fault.

After our meal, we headed to the park for a stroll. It was already dark out and I was pretty worried about Mello but he seemed fine, happy. And, naturally, that made me happy too. He held on to my hand even after we found a bench to sit on, placing his palm on top of mine. It was a cold night, winter was coming soon, but we were warm together.

"Hey Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"Nothing. The stars are really pretty, that's all." Mello was staring up at the navy blue sky now, smiling somewhat nolstagically.

"Yeah, and so are you."

He looked over at me and beamed, pushing my shoulder playfully. "Stop it," he blushed, as if this was his first time being called that, though I'm sure it wasn't.

"You are though," I replied and leaned forward to kiss him. He went into it almost immediately, wrapping his arms around my neck to pull me in closer. Damn. I'll have a hard time controlling myself if he goes on like that. I pushed him away regretfully before things got too heated, blushing furiously. He bit his lip and turned away. "Sorry," I whispered.

He was silent. Shit, I hope I didn't anger him with that. I just didn't want to hurt him if we went too far! Who knows what my horniness would do to his already scarred soul? No way would I risk it. We sat in an awkward silence for a while; neither one of us speaking or moving. I was about to apologise again just for the heck of it when Mello spoke up.

"Matt, I want it."

Want it? Want what?

I looked at him curiously. "What?"

"I want it, Matt," he repeated, still avoiding my gaze. "Let's go back." He stood up suddenly, stretching out his arm so I could take his hand. I still didn't understand what was going on; what was he saying?

"Whoa whoa, what are you talking about?"

He kept quiet for a minute before finally replying. "Sex," he responded completely seriously. His face was blank, body still, as if he declared that he wanted to have sex with people so often that he was used to it. There was no embarrassment, no humiliation, nothing. I, on the other hand, was a complete moron when it came to it.

"I-I...wow, Mello, sex on the first date?" I stuttered at a lousy attempt at a joke.

He stared at me nonchalantly, hand still stuck out in my face. "Yes, Matt. Unless you don't want to?"

"Oh, no! I do I do. It's just...are you ready for it, Mello? I mean, we can wait a little more if you're not comfortable and stuff..."

"No Matt. I'm ready, I want it." Oh God he looked sexy when he said that. A look of need passed over his face and I could tell he was getting impatient. But I wasn't too sure about it. If I was being completely honest, it wasn't only because I was worried about Mello. It was because I was worried about myself. I mean, everyone knows that Mello's some kind of sex God. I was just some lazy gamer nerd; how the hell was I supposed to satisfy him? I don't want to disappoint him or scare him away or anything. I'm really not ready to lose him just yet.

"Matt come on," he whined slightly, forcefully grabbing my arm and pulling off the bench.

"Mello I'm not sure about this..."

"I'm telling you, Matt, I'm COMPLETELY fine! Now quit nagging; I really need this..."

I could see the yearning in his eyes as he said it, bowing his head down low and shifting from foot to foot. He pulled me in for a hug, snuggling his nose into the crook of my neck.

"Please, Matt, stop thinking about me for once. I'm thinking about you too. I know it's been hard on you these past few weeks because I...because I..." he didn't finish the sentence.

"Mello it's not your fault."

"Of course you have to say that! But it is, it is. But I'm telling you now, I don't want you to hold back anymore. I want it just as much as you do. I want to make you feel good, I want…I want you."

Shit, how was I supposed to say no to that? He wasn't playing fair and he knew it. His arms were still tight around my waist as I pondered for a moment. He loved me, right? He said so. He wouldn't mind if I was a screw up, he wouldn't mind if I wasn't good enough. He wasn't going to leave me this way. He wouldn't. He won't.

Shit. What the hell.

"Come on, let's go."

"Go where?" he questioned skeptically.

"Back to the dorm."

I caught him smile in the moonlight. "Finally."

Author's note: ok, I know this update is considerably late, but I have my reasons!

1. I haven't had much motivation/drive to write this chapter and I kinda just wanted to abandon it but I would never do that! Nuh uh, so don't you worry. I will finish this. Furthermore, I hope, no, I WILL, finish this by this year, 2013. Anyway, there are only like three or four chapters left so yeah, I can make it [that's new info for you!].

2. My mom took away my laptop for a while so I was without it for a few weeks.

3. School life has been hectic because my holidays ended and the days are now jam packed with tests, exams etc.

4. I met someone who has kind of been taking up a lot of my time.

So now you've got the gist of things, I hope you won't blame me.

Peace, I'm out.