I DO NOT OWN DEATH NOTE!

Wow...when I wrote this I didnt expect it to be so popular! Thank you everyone so much for all the great reviews. I debated for a long time whether I was going to continue this story. But after seeing how much people are enjoying it I decided to continue. So here is the long awaited Chapter 3. Enjoy and leave me some more reviews! Also...check out my other stories if you havent already .!


A few heads turned when Mello and Near walked into the dining hall together, both flushed from the run. Mello looked around and noticed Matt glaring at him. Mello ignored him and followed Near to the table stacked with food to make a plate for himself.

Matt glared even more when Near followed Mello and sat next to him when Mello pulled out a chair at the table usually only Mello and Matt sat at.

"You find yourself a lost puppy, Mello?" Matt's voice was heavy with disapproval and disgust. He had never liked Near, he was creepy and always to quiet, sitting in his white pajamas and playing with puzzles all day.

"Mind your own business, Matt." Mello kept his eyes on his plate while he ate, avoiding Matt's accusing eyes.

"Do you not want me sitting here?" Near was watching Matt curiously. He had never really spoken more then a few words to the boy. He couldn't understand where the sudden hostility was coming from.

"No, I don't. This is our table. Why are you following Mello around anyways?"

Near opened his mouth to answer but Mello interrupted him. "I said to mind your own business, Matt. If you don't like Near sitting with us then we will go sit somewhere else." Mello stood and walked toward an empty table on the other side of the room.

Near watched him leave then turned back to Matt. "I'm sorry, Matt, if I did something to displease you." Near stood and hurried after Mello.

Heads were turning all over the room now. Mello always sat with Matt. And everyone in the house thought that Mello didn't like Near with how much they always argued and the fits Mello would throw at random about Near. Matt slammed his hands down on the table and left the dining hall.

"Did I do something to upset Matt?" Near looked honestly confused as he sat without touching his food.

"No. He's probably mad because he thinks I hate you. Eat your food." Mello kept his head down and avoided looking around the room at the other boys whose eyes were boring into his back.

"I thought you hated me too." Near picked up his fork at looked down at his plate, blushing slightly.

Mello shrugged. "Not really. I think I've just been jealous that you're better at almost everything."

Near's blush deepened. "I don't think I'm better at everything. I think if you could calm down and think things through more logically, you would be better then me. I think L will choose you to be his successor if you do."

Mello looked up at Near and blinked. "Are you crazy? Why would you think that?"

Near shrugged. "It's the truth. I think L knows it, too. I think it's why he works harder with you then he does with me."

"I thought it was because you were better then I am and you don't need as much training as I do." Mello scratched his head and tucked his hair behind his right ear. "But it doesn't matter. I cant be all calm and collected when thinking about things like that. I prefer to go with my gut and let things play out."

Near smiled. "And that is why you will never be L's successor."

Mello frowned. "Are you trying to make me angry with you again?"

Near shook his head. "No. I've never liked you being angry with me. I've always hoped we could be friends."

"Friends. Well, we are more then that now, aren't we?" It was Mello's turn to blush. He played with his food while Near watched him curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"What we did. That makes us more then friends, right?"

"I thought it might make us friends. How would it make us more?"

Mello sighed and set his fork down, running his fingers through his hair. "Friends is good. But I want to be lovers, Near."

Near frowned, he was confused and it showed. "Lovers? You love me?"

Mello laughed and shook his head. "I don't know if I would go that far. I just meant we could, you know, keep doing what we did today with each other."

"Oh." Near relaxed and sat back in his chair. "That's what you meant." He blushed and twisted his hair around his fingers. "I hoped it wouldn't be a one time thing. I liked it a lot. I didn't know we could do that."

Mello paled. "You cant tell anyone, Near. If anyone found out we would be in a lot of trouble."

"Why would we be in trouble?" Near looked confused again, his fingers tightening around his hair as he started to feel nervous.

"Roger would be really mad. It isn't something kids our age should be doing, especially not two boys."

"How could something that feels so good be bad?"

"I don't think its bad, but other people do." Mello stood up and went to put his dirty plate where they were supposed too. He hadn't eaten much. Near followed and did the same and they left the dining hall and went to the empty library.

"Why do people think it's bad, Mello?" Near sat on the floor next to his forgotten stack of dice and picked up another one to place on top.

Mello laid on his back on the floor across from Near and stared at the ceiling. "You've read the books that teach about relationships and sex and stuff right?" When Near nodded he continued. "They only talk about relationships between a man and a woman. I guess you could say that that is what's normal. Most people think that two men being together is a bad thing. And even more people think that kids our age shouldn't be having sex at all. That we should wait till we are married or at least until we are adults."

"Oh. So does that mean we cant do it anymore?" Near had a hand in his hair, looking down at his lap.

"No. It just means we have to keep it a secret and be careful not to get caught by anyone."

"What would happen if we get caught?" Near looked up at Mello. He looked sad, his eyes wet like he was about to cry.

"I don't know. I've never heard of anyone getting caught doing it before. I think they would probably keep us apart, maybe send one of us away. Probably me since I'm always getting in trouble. They would think I had corrupted you or that I was forcing you or something."

Near frowned again and shook his head. "They cant say you forced me if I told them you didn't." Near closed his eyes for a moment and appeared to be thinking about something. "Should we ask L?"

Mello jumped. He was surprised Near would ask something like that. "I don't think that would be a good idea. I know he doesn't think the way most people do. But I think he would be angry. You are only 12 and I'm 14. What if he told Roger? It would cause a lot of problems."

"I don't think L would tell anyone." Near looked down at his lap again and blushed a furious red. "L knows how I feel about you."

Mello sat up and stared at Near, shock clear on his face. "What do you mean L knows how you feel? What did you feel before today? What did you tell him?"

Near shifted uncomfortably. "No one else would talk to me about what I asked you earlier. When L was here the last month I talked to him a lot. He wouldn't answer all my questions either but he listened to me, everyone else just sent me away. L said I had to learn some things on my own."

"Okay. What did you tell him about me?"

Near tugged at his hair again and kept his head down so far that Mello could hardly see his face. "I told you before, that sometimes I would wake up with an erection at night. Well, the only time it ever happened was when I was having a dream you were in."

Mello's eyebrows rose and he smiled. "What kind of dreams?"

"Just dreams. Most of the time it was dreams about that time Roger took us all to the beach and you were the only one crazy enough to take your clothes off and get in the water. I couldn't understand it so I asked L about it."

Mello's grin spread and he pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on them. "You dream about seeing me in my boxers jumping in the ocean?"

Near nodded. "I don't know why. L said I had to figure it out on my own. I asked if he ever had dreams like that. He said he did and that it was normal. That it was important for me to figured it out on my own."

Mello laughed and shook his head. "L has dreams about half naked boys?"

"I don't think that is what he meant, exactly. I think he just meant that he had dreams that aroused him as well. It made me feel better knowing I wasn't sick or something."

"You know, as smart as you are you can be really naïve sometimes, Near. Why did you think you were sick?"

"I told you. I couldn't find anything in the books about what was happening to me. I didn't know it was normal until you explained it to me. Even when L told me it was, I was still worried about it. I thought he might have just been trying to make me feel better."

"You trusted me over L? How did you know I wasn't lying to you as a joke or something?"

Near shifted nervously and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. What reason would you have to lie to me? Why would you play a joke like that on me? I thought if it was someone my age telling me those things that it was the truth."

"Mello shook his head and sighed. "I've been angry and jealous when it comes to you for years, Near. You had to know that. I could have told you lies as a cruel joke to take you down a notch. But I didn't. I was kind of shocked that you would think to ask me. Why me and not someone else?"

"I didn't want to ask anyone else. The way you treated me most of the time upset me a lot, Mello. I couldn't understand what I was doing wrong that made you hate me so much when all I wanted was to be your friend. I've always liked you."

Mello smiled softly. "I've never hated you. I was just jealous." Mello tucked his head behind his knees until Near could only see his eyes. "That fact that I have always been attracted to you didn't help. I was jealous of you but all I really wanted to do was touch your hair and kiss you."

"I've always wanted to touch you too. I didn't know why. I never see any of the other boys touching each other the way I wanted to. They usually hit each other, it's one of the reasons I avoid the others. I don't understand why you would hit someone who is your friend."

Mello laughed and unwrapped his arms from around his legs, leaning back on them and crossing his legs. "It's not so much hitting as playing. Matt and I hit each other all the time."

"I know. I've always wanted and been afraid of being your friend." Near looked up at Mello a little nervously. "You wont hit me too now, will you?"

Mello shook his head and smiled. "Of course not. You are more then my friend."

Near nodded and placed a dice on top of the growing tower.

The library door opened and Roger looked in. He frowned when he saw the two boys sitting together. "What are you boys doing in here together? It's rare to see you two anywhere near each other when L's not around." He stepped into the room and crossed his arms, staring at them.

Mello shrugged. "L told us we need to spend time together doing things. I don't understand it but he said we need to be friends. I decided to give it a try. What's it to you? Are we not allowed to hang out?"

Roger sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "L has been trying to get you two to be friends for years and you choose now do so."

"What is wrong with now?" Near tucked his left knee against his chest and wound his fingers in his hair again.

"Nothing, I guess. I'm just worried about his Kira case L is working on. But it is good to see you boys doing something other then arguing." Roger looked at his watch and stepped back to the door. "It's time for bed boys. Shower and get to sleep." He walked out of the library and closed the door behind him.

Mello grinned and looked at Near. "Want to shower in my room or yours?"

Near looked at him curiously again. "You want to take a shower in my room?"

Mello shook his head and stood up, holding his hand out to Near. "No. I want to take a shower with you. Yours is as good as any. If we go to my room we would probably run into Matt prowling the hallways waiting to yell at me."

Near sighed and frowned. "I don't mind you taking a shower with me, but wont Matt get suspicious if you don't show up at your room before lights out? We only have about 10 minutes and I know how long you take in the shower."

Mello smiled and pulled Near against him, pressing his lips so Near's ear, making him shiver. "I don't plan to just wash in the shower. We can have a lot of fun in there together." He kissed Near's neck and slid his hands under the boys shirt.

Near moaned softly and rubbed his cheek against Mello's hair. "I think I might like that. But I still think you need to go to your room, if just to talk to Matt so he doesn't come looking for you if you don't show up."

Mello sighed and pressed his lips to Near's for a brief kiss. "You're probably right. If I go talk to Matt really quick will you wait for me before you take a shower?"

"If you want me too."

"If I tell Matt and anyone else who asks the same story I told Roger, that L told me we need to work on being friends, will you stick to the story if asked?" He kissed Near again, making his knees feel weak.

"I will. It is true so why would it be a story? L has been telling me I need to try and be friends with you. I know he's told you the same. But I was always to nervous."

"You're right." Mello kissed him again and released him from his arms. "We should go before we get in trouble."

"I'll wait for you."

They walked to the door of the library together and Mello smiled before we went left as Near went right.