Disclaimer: I do not and never will own the anime/manga Death Note
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Suggested Listening: Stranger by VersaEmerge
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Part 8
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"Here." Mello held out a small rectangular slip.
"What's this?" Matt reached out to take the folded sheet of paper.
"I never gave you my number." Mello grinned. He'd had Matt's for almost a month now, and it always seemed to slip his mind to give out his own. He noted how Matt's lips twitched ever so slightly and figured Matt had been waiting for it.
Matt pulled out his phone, which Mello had only seen once before, and entered the number. "Want me to burn this or something?"
Mello rolled his eyes and snatched the paper. He was tempted to shove it in his mouth and eat it just for theatrics, but instead, he tore off a few numbers and emptied the rest into the trash. He would dispose of the extra pieces in a separate receptacle. One could never be too careful with their personal information.
Sure, he could have simply told Matt, but it wouldn't have been the same.
Matt wheeled past him to grab an energy drink and took a swig. "Why do you even drink those. You never used to like them?" Mello asked before he had even truly processed his thoughts.
"Tastes change as we get older," was Matt's only response, and Mello shrugged. He wasn't certain if that was the real reason, but why else would Matt have started drinking something he once hated? They had been young so it was possible that Matt just hadn't liked them then.
"Are you hungry, Mello?" Matt asked absently.
Mello raised his eyebrow in question and watched as Matt swung open the refrigerator door and pulled out some lunch meat. "I'm only asking since I plan on making something."
Mello thought on it for a minute but, in the end, concluded he didn't want that; Matt got annoyed while waiting and pulled out condiments for himself. He only got to open the loaf of bread before Mello stopped him.
"Why don't we go out to eat? Actually, I don't really feel like giving you a choice in the matter," Mello told him.
"And why can't we just eat here where the food is practically ready?" Matt asked with what Mello might have called contempt.
"Because we always eat there. It gets boring, and there is no way you can possibly tell me you don't get bored with the same things." Mello crossed his arms and waited. He would get his way on this matter.
Matt opened his mouth as if to protest, took one look at Mello's darkening expression, and sighed harshly.
"Let me get ready." Matt sounded just as resigned as he had when Mello had knocked on his door for the first day after nearly five years, but Mello was certain they would have a good time out.
It wasn't as though Mello intended to simply drive around randomly and find a place to eat that way. He had been out the other day after visiting Matt and had scouted out a few places for himself to eat. Mello got sick of takeout every once and a while and wanted more normal foods. He figured he could use the knowledge sometime later to get Matt out of the apartment, even if only for an hour.
"Hurry up, Matt. It will be dinner before you're ready."
Matt grumbled something loudly from the open bedroom that Mello didn't quite catch. Mello got the impression it hadn't been something nice either. Getting irritated as the clock's ticking drove him closer to insanity, Mello stomped over to the bedroom to see Matt plopping down into a different chair.
"My normal one can't go into cars as it's completely solid. This one collapses," Matt offered as an explanation.
"You could have asked for help," Mello pointed out, noting the near death grip Matt's fingers had on the chair's arm. It couldn't have been so easy to switch into the other one.
"I have managed just fine on my own before you came back along." Matt's voice was hardly friendly, and Mello moved his boot out of the way before Matt was tempted to roll over it as he wheeled by. Just when Mello believed things were getting better, another testy subject popped up. Wonderful.
Mello refused to allow it to ruin the day though. He wasn't going to back down and admit defeat every time something didn't go as planned. This was much too important to him to allow something as petty as pride get in the way.
Mello froze as Matt wheeled down the hallway outside the apartment. Matt wasn't headed towards the stairs. He was in a chair, why would he be? But the elevator...
"Mello, you were the one that wanted to hurry, so move your leather-clad ass over here," Matt snapped.
Mello steeled himself and slammed Matt's apartment door behind him. Matt looked bored sitting there waiting for him. A bored Matt was generally never a good thing, hadn't been before and Mello was finding out still wasn't.
Mello wished he hadn't gotten such a stupid reaction to being stuck in an elevator. Panic attacks were bad enough, but it was almost a downright phobia of the things, and it was not only embarrassing but counterproductive. He couldn't expect to always take the stairs, yet he did mostly, unless it was an absurd amount of them he needed to maneuver.
Matt pressed the down button, and as the doors closed, Mello swore the air in the tiny cube became constricting. He forced his breaths to come out slow and even and managed not to grind his teeth or fidget. It was a good day.
Mello prided himself with being able to hide his emotions, but he was hard-pressed to do so when in a metal death box. To make it worse he was certain that Matt noticed something was amiss. Mello wasn't exactly being obvious about it, but there was no way someone like Matt hadn't seen it. Seen with the way he tensed at every small jolt and creek and the cringe as it halted to a stop.
Mello congratulated himself for being patient enough to allow Matt to get out first before practically jumping from the elevator.
"Where to?" Matt questioned, and it took Mello a second to remember they were taking his vehicle. Or at least that was what Matt had probably assumed since Mello hadn't said anything about a taxi.
Mello had rented a truck which was almost high enough to need a step ladder to get into; it hadn't been his first choice but he hadn't been about to get the gold colored minivan or the mint green Hyundai.
Mello opened the door and stayed back as Matt attempted to get himself into the truck on his own, but it was a far cry from a cab that was low to the ground. Mello was certain that given enough time and enough energy, Matt would have gotten himself into the truck since he was stubborn enough, but Mello didn't want him to be tired and most definitely irritable before they even got to the restaurant.
"Matt, I'm going to help you in there. You can be bitchy to me about it later." Mello gave Matt a few seconds to silently seethe before he went to lift him from the chair. Matt wrapped an arm his shoulders for support.
He got Matt settled into the seat, arranging his legs into a normal position and earning a rude gesture from him. He left the redhead to buckle himself in as he collapsed the wheelchair and placed it in the back.
Mello realized he had been in denial while seeing Matt in the chair all this time. When he had lifted Matt, there was no tensing of the leg muscles, no motion at all, just utterly dead weight. What Mello gathered was, from the waist down, Matt couldn't move.
And that was a sobering thought.
Mello didn't ask if Matt was comfortable as he seated himself and shut the door, simply shoving the keys in the ignition and pulling out of the parking area. Matt wasn't all that happy, but whether it was going out or being lifted into the truck, Mello couldn't tell.
Matt's lips formed a thin line, and he said nothing as he crossed his arms in the passenger seat. Mello had to wonder how truthful Matt had been when he'd stated he did get out and go places. Getting takeout didn't count as 'going places,' and it seemed like such a hassle for Matt to actually do so on his own.
Although there were a few places he could take him, Mello decided on the Diner that was closer in distance; the less time in the car, the less chance of Matt's mood getting worse. This particular Diner had been around for a while, and it was easily found by cab if Matt wanted to go by himself. Though Mello seriously doubted that.
Mello pulled into the parking lot and grabbed the wheelchair from the back.
Mello made certain the wheelchair was properly unfolded and wouldn't collapse when Matt was in it, though it took longer than Mello would have liked. It wasn't as though he had done it before...
"I can't eat here," Matt said softly.
Mello was surprised by how Matt had sounded; regretful was the word Mello would have used.
"Why?" he asked. Matt wasn't allergic to really anything that he knew of, and he didn't see anything wrong with the place when he had visited before. Matt looked uncomfortable, and had it been in a different circumstance, Mello might have grinned at the show of emotion other than sarcasm and annoyance.
"You see all those steps leading to the inside? I can't get up them. It's too much of a hassle." Matt gave him an almost apologetic grin, as though he felt he'd ruined things by being in the chair.
Mello grinned. "Idiot. Did you think I would choose a place without a ramp? I came here the other day, so unless they moved the ramp since then, it's around the side."
Mello watched Matt's expression change again and looked away to let Matt regain his usual demeanor.
"Thanks, Mello."
Mello surprised himself with not feeling smug about it. He smiled at Matt and, though Matt made to protest, took hold of the handles and pushed him. Matt's arms took enough of a beating usually.
"Come on. Let's go eat."
"I always wanted to try this place too," Matt muttered quietly.
Mello realized that Matt wouldn't go to anywhere that wasn't obviously wheelchair accessible. He had never had anyone to help before. Mello wanted to change that... was going to change that.
Everything else in his way of doing so be damned.
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-End Part 8-
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AN: A mostly timely update :D Next part we get a bit of information on Matt...
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Special thanks to reviewers: Lotta Devon, (guest), mxmsupporter, xxbeyondxbirthdayxx, fatkitty123, issagokurosaki, XnikesStripesX, Keono, XY, Nazlyn101, Deadly Nightshade1395
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