Golden rays of light pierced through chocolate brown curtains, flecks of dust danced lazily in the beams. Light watched a particular speck float alone with saddened eyes. He watched another speck of dust float near the one he was watching; they intertwined for a small time before the other fleck drifted out of the sun beam. The speck he'd been watching floated alone once again. He sighed at the bitter loneliness he empathized with. His eyebrows raised when another particle drifted towards the one he'd been watching and danced with it before attaching to it and drifted away together.

His cellphone lit up and rang, pulling his attention away from the intrusive ray of light. The screen flashed a picture of him and Sayu hugging in front of the Eiffel Tower and the name read, 'Sayu - cell'.

"Hello?"

Sayu sounded chipper as usual. "Good morning, Light. How was last night? It wasn't too lonely was it? You do know you can come stay with us if you want to."

Light rolled onto his back with his phone to his ear with a small smile as he recounted the prior night. "No, it was alright." The brunette stretched and sat himself up on the side of the bed.

"Holy cats, Light! Are you still in bed?"

Groggily rubbing his eyes, Light chuckled. "Yeah, I had a pretty late night." His eyes lifted to a yellow sticky note on the front of the open door with an arrow.

"I see, how did you sleep?" Sayu's voice seemed to carry concern.

"Actually…" Light's face flushed when he remembered the first time he'd woken up this morning, hugging Beyond, who was trying desperately to untangle himself without waking Light. "I slept really well." Light glanced back at the side of the bed Beyond had slept on, the covers neatly folded back over, as if he'd never been there.

"That's good news! Do you have any plans for the day?"

Light curiously followed the yellow sticky note trail with hand drawn arrows down the stairs and towards the kitchen. "Yeah, I'm going to go through some things, clear out some clutter." His eyes landed on a rogue bag of coffee beans with a hand drawn smiley face on the final sticky note. The face on the note made Light laugh quietly. "The person who was left in charge of the house, while I was in the hospital, already did the winterizing and kept the place clean. So, it frees me up to do some other things. Maybe I'll tackle the basement that L would never let me clean."

"I'm glad you're keeping busy. Do you want to get some breakfast with me? I can bring you back home."

Light turned to give the refrigerator a passing glance, knowing there wasn't any food in it. "Yeah. That's probably a good idea, I could use the fresh air." His eyes landed on another note with Beyond's cellphone number on it along with a small script like blurb. 'I'll pick up some groceries, see you later,' Light smiled and ran his fingers along the cursive letters. "Sayu, let me let you go so I can get ready. I'll see you when you get here."

"Sounds good! See you in twenty!"

-x-

Sayu happily chatted to Light as they pulled up to a diner. She sighed joyfully as the car stopped fully. "I have no idea who the new cook is here, but whoever they are, they are a god among men when it comes to omelets."

Light laughed slightly as they exited the vehicle and walked towards the entrance. "Yeah?"

Sayu nodded and bounced with elation to the waiting spot to be seated. "Yeah, Nate and I come here a lot, and for the last four months, the morning cook has eggs to die for!"

Light rolled his eyes playfully as the waitress led them to a booth and handed them menus. Sayu chirped happily making her order as Light's eyes drifted around the cozy diner. Pictures of some of the older buildings that surrounded it, the owners and family members. Light's eyes landed on a picture of presumably the owner, another man and a scraggly kid with messy onyx hair, holding up a peace sign with his fingers. Light leaned over a bit to look at the picture better before the waitress startled him to take his order.

Sayu playfully patted the table excitedly. "I'm really happy to see you're trying to get back to normal." Her expression took a serious turn. "But, remember Onii, you don't have to push yourself."

Glancing his amber eyes out the window at their booth. "I can't just lay around and be sad, either." Two coffee mugs landed in front of them as the waitress cleared her throat in Light's direction. Flicking his amber eyes to the woman and following her gesture to the coffee mug in front of him. The brunette felt a chuckle threaten the back of his throat at a yellow sticky note with script like cursive letters stuck to the side of the cup. "Hello there!"

Sayu leaned in curiously before she plucked the note off the cup. She gasped at the tiny note and smirked at her brother. "Oh my! Is my brother getting hit on by a mysterious someone here?"

Light betrayed a bashful smile. "No, I doubt they're flirting with me. It's probably someone I know."

Sayu inspected the note further before her eyebrows knit and she whipped her head around searching for the sender of the note. "Do you recognize the handwriting?" Light chuckled and opted not to reveal the source while shaking his head. "I do. I remember seeing it somewhere before…" Light felt his face pale. She shifted her eyes back to the note before shrugging slightly and handing it back to Light. "Maybe I'm crazy. What are the odds of that?" She laughed loudly. "I'm sure a bunch of people have similar handwriting."

Light nodded and nervously took a drink of his coffee. "Pretty though. Hey, you took a handwriting class, how common do you think that type is?"

She hummed as she lifted the note. "I'm not sure, but I can tell a lot about this person by their handwriting. Clearly a man. It slants to the right, so they're likely very friendly, values friends and family but is likely impulsive. The letters are larger, so they likely want to feel understood and noticed, and are likely people oriented. He's heavy handed, so they have strong and deep emotions, but are probably quick to react to things. They seem to be someone who is selective about their inner circle, and are likely highly intelligent and intuitive." She winked at Light, "Sounds like your type."

Light chuckled and shushed her. "What if they're close by?" He smirked at his sister who had clamped her hands over her mouth, knowing well that the sender was not anywhere close. His eyes lifted around the diner to ensure he was right.

He felt a slight twinge of butterflies in his stomach when he heard the cook call out to the waitstaff. "Table nine up!" The waitress for Light and Sayu's table snagged their orders and brought them the elegantly decorated plates.

Sayu squealed slightly as she lifted her fork. "Look at this! It's amazing every time, hopefully this guy is here to stay."

Light shifted his eyes up to the kitchen window and gave a tiny smile. "Yeah. Hopefully."

Sayu watched Light's eyes before dabbing her mouth daintily. "I think you're lying to me. I think you know exactly who sent that note." Light shot a panicked glance towards his younger sister. "Oh? So, he does know. And, he doesn't want to tell me. But he clearly works in the kitchen, so we aren't dealing with a server. Given the fact that you've only been released for a day, I'm guessing it's someone you reached out to, so someone from your past prior to the accident. Goodness! Light! Were you having an affair!?"

Light hushed her as other customers turned to look at the duo in response to Sayu's outburst. "No. It isn't like that. Look, after you and Nate left I ran into the person who has been taking care of the house in my absence, it's why I'm almost guaranteeing that they aren't flirting with me. He's just like that. Okay? Can we drop it?"

Sayu narrowed her eyes suspiciously before popping a bite of food into her mouth and speaking with her mouth full in mild defeat. "Fine." She swallowed her food and grinned deviously. "If it's the cook, marry him."

"Sayu!" Light shouted with mild scorn.

The front door opened slowly and continued to get nudged open. Light peeked around the corner that led to the staircase and snickered at Beyond attempting to get all of the groceries into the house in one trip.

Beyond glanced up to Light and chuckled. "A little help, please?"

The brunette smiled brightly as he happily started down the stairs. "I would have helped you get them in soon-" a brief moment of panic crossed Light's face as tripped over his own feet.

Groceries clattered to the floor as Light tumbled forward. The brunette braced for impact on the hard wooden floors and shut his eyes tight. His eyes fluttered open when he was caught by his shoulders and chest and pulled upwards. A deep soothing voice spoke quietly next to his head. "Are you alright? Still not fully steady on your feet?"

Slowly drifting his amber eyes towards Beyond, Light could feel his lower lip quiver at the bitter memory of the last time he'd tripped down the stairs. "Yeah. I'm just clumsy when I get excited." His eyes drifted away from the worried crimson stare and onto the groceries that had been abandoned on the floor. "Thanks for catching me… again."

A deep chuckle came from Beyond as he stabilized Light to stand on his own. "Look, I'm glad you're excited, but be careful next time. Damn, what if I wasn't right there?" Light nodded solemnly and stared back at the staircase recalling when he'd fallen from them with L before shifting his tear filled eyes towards the broken egg case. Beyond lifted Light's chin with a smirk. "It's alright, they're just groceries, more of them at the store, only one of you…" The raven's smile faded when Light didn't seem to immediately pull out of his sorrow. "Are you seriously okay?"

Light let out a shuddered breath. "How is it possible the two of you were brothers? When that happened in front of L, he stared at me on the floor and scolded me to be more careful and that I could have hurt him. I ended up dislocating my shoulder."

Beyond stared at Light for a moment in both bewilderment before releasing a small smile once again. "Got it, so when visiting, sneak in through the back door so you don't fall down the stairs. Or, alternatively, you could use the handle."

Light laughed while wiping some rogue tears away. "I don't use it because it's loose."

Tilting his head, the raven grabbed the end of the stair handle and gave it a strong shake. The whole handlebar loosely shook. "I'll be damned. Hmm. I'll have to look up how to fix that."

"What are you talking about?" Light squatted next to the fallen bags to start cleaning up the groceries.

Beyond knelt down to help Light clean up, which awarded him an odd stare from the brunette. "Contractors are expensive, I've just been watching videos and reading guides of how to install and fix everything." Beyond sighed at the egg mess that coated the inside of an entire bag.

Light bit his bottom lip as he recalled the last time he'd asked L if he wanted to go to the grocery store with him. He was shot down and told that it would just be more efficient if he went by himself. "I can go and pick up some more."

Beyond chuckled as he lifted the intact food from the floor. "We can just go together, it could be fun, adventure time at the grocery store." The raven walked into the kitchen and started filling the refrigerator with the remaining food items. "Could probably look at some new appliances, your small kitchen appliances are screaming for retirement."

Light stared at the man in the kitchen with shock. "Uh, yeah, that'd be great." The brunette smiled to himself while he gathered some cleaning supplies from the nearby closet.

-x-

Turning the engine over Beyond shot a bashful smile towards Light who had fastened his seatbelt. "Sorry about the mess, I don't get a lot of time to clean my car anymore."

Light eyed the small amount of garbage on the floorboards next to his feet. "It's fine. Sayu's car is a mobile dumpster."

The raven raised an eyebrow as they pulled out into the road. "Sayu?"

Nodding his head, Light watched out the window. "She's my sister."

"Ah! Long brown hair, a thousand yard stare, usually with her husband and orders eggs in a basket made inside French toast, not regular bread, crispy bacon, not burnt, browned hash browns, absolutely cannot be squishy."

Light turned his head slowly and smirked before playfully shouting. "It was you who sent the note!"

Beyond smirked deviously. "Well, yeah."

The brunette huffed in good nature and folded his arms. "Now she's really going to give me grief." Beyond hummed in a questioning tone. Light scoffed, "Once the note arrived she immediately started giving me the third degree, then she made the joke, 'if it's the cook I should marry him.' The raven let out a loud giggle. "Then she analyzed your handwriting."

Beyond smiled quietly, "Oh yeah?"

Light blushed and slid himself further into the seat. "Oh come on, not you too. I thought we were going to play twenty questions for the answers we both want."

Biting back a chuckle, the raven sighed contentedly. "Alright, alright. I'll go first. How did you meet L?"

Light released a deep sigh. "Work. I helped him on a number of investigations, to the point where he started requesting me personally and I didn't mind because the pay was good." Beyond shifted a pitied stare towards Light before watching the road. "My turn! Okay, you said that the house was your childhood home, but when we first got it, we had to pay a substantial amount for it, which led me to believe it wasn't an heirloom. Why was that?"

"He had to buy me off the title. We were both equal inheritance shareholders. So, when mom did finally die, he probably wanted to make sure I didn't come around wanting to liquidate it. I signed off when he gave me half of the house's value." Beyond smirked at Light's surprised expression. "When did you decide to relocate to the U.K, I assume you're from out of country."

Shifting his amber eyes out the passenger window, watching the streets go by. "Yeah. When he asked me out. He offered me partnership with him on investigations." The brunette turned in his seat slightly to watch Beyond once again. "Okay. So, you had to sign off the house, so how did the deed find its way back to you?"

"You didn't get married in time. Had you two had actually gotten married, it would have defaulted to you. But, the house's original deed from the original owner stated the house should always be in the family, and if not then it should be bulldozed, so when mom died, L became the owner of the house, it was in the note I delivered to him during your engagement party; but after L passed, I was the only surviving member of the family." The raven hummed slightly. "What was L like to work with?"

Light scoffed in good nature. "Horrible. He wouldn't sleep, wouldn't eat properly and was aggressive most of the time." They pulled into the grocery store's parking lot as Light traced the features of Beyond's face. "You said you spent a lot of time in the basement, are you comfortable talking about that?"

Beyond killed the car engine and sighed sadly. "It was my room. I'd venture to say not much has changed in it unless you guys changed it." Beyond pieced together a broken smile. "When do you think you fell in love with L?"

Light thought for a while while looking down to his hands. "Kind of a gradual realization. I honestly couldn't really stand him when we first started working together, well, that's not fair, at first I was really excited, then really sick of him." Light let out a nervous chuckle as he continued to mull the question over further.

They exited the vehicle and walked towards the store as Light shivered while rubbing his upper arms. A black leather coat landed around him, startling the brunette slightly before he darted his eyes towards Beyond who smiled warmly in return. "Okay. My next question is more personal. The short time I've interacted with you, I've noticed you and L are polar opposites, why do you think that is?"

The raven shrugged as they walked into the store and pulled a cart behind him with a sly smirk. "Difference in parenting?"

"But"

"Ah, nope, that was a question. My turn." Light narrowed his eyes playfully before sticking his tongue out. "And, if we're exchanging personal blows. My turn, you're a very timid person, particularly with other males that resemble your late fiancé, so, was everything alright between you and L? Before you try to counter me, I submit exhibit A, Nate, L's cousin. As well as myself."

Light opened his mouth to answer sarcastically before he slowly closed his lips, slumped his shoulders and stared at the floor. "I felt like I didn't have much of a voice, or an opinion. When it was important enough, I'd raise hell and he'd always hear me out, but getting my voice heard was sometimes difficult. So, when you ask me if I'm alright and fixate on me until I answer, it's difficult, because even though I knew he cared, sometimes it didn't feel like it… Whereas, you have no reason to care, but I feel like you do." Light lifted his eyes to be met with an endearing scarlet stare, forcing a nervous chuckle from the brunette. "You said, there was a difference in parenting, what does that entail?"

Beyond grabbed a few of the miscellaneous items that had broken previously on the floor and pushed the cart forward. "I was primarily raised by Nate's parents. I only went home on the weekends and holidays." His eyes shifted towards the brunette who had tilted his head in confusion. "Nate was more of my brother than L ever was, except biologically. I started living at home full time when I turned 12. Nate's dad had lost his job and they had to downsize. I know it wasn't my fault, but I also wanted to ease the burden, regardless of how many times I was told I wasn't a burden, but I chose to move back home." Beyond lifted a string of Christmas lights. "Do you even have decorations? My parents never decorated anything for any holiday, so I imagine L was similar in that regard."

Light shook his head. "No, I haven't decorated for a holiday since I lived in Japan. L said it was a waste of effort and we'd just have to take them down. Also, that counts as a question, sir." Beyond rolled his neck and laughed before nodding. "Will you tell me what happened, if I asked at a later date?"

Caught off guard by the question, Beyond stared at Light before nodding slightly. "Yeah. I suppose, it isn't a happy tale, as you've probably deduced."

Light nodded sadly before glancing up to Beyond. "Yeah. But still. I want to know more about you. You intrigue me. Let's be blunt about it. What kind of person that has bad blood with their family, steps into the role of caregiver to someone they hardly know, for a family member who didn't even have the decency to speak well about you, or about you at all? You're tired, exhausted even, but you keep pushing to make ends meet for someone who wasn't all that kind to you in the first meeting." Beyond took a breath to interject before Light sighed and pointed to his own eye. "Sleep bruising, L used to get it when he had an active case, he didn't sleep. You may be very different people, but you have that in common." Light messed up his hair before continuing. "Even doing things around the house, installing a new hot water heater, new fixtures, repairing broken things and grocery shopping. I understand there's some emotional baggage between you and L, but he's gone and you don't owe anything to anyone."

Beyond narrowed his eyes in playful annoyance and dropped some exterior decoration lights into the cart. "Just for that, we're decorating." Light huffed a quiet breathy laugh and nodded his head. Making their way towards the cashiers and self checkout stations the raven gave Light a sidelong glance before clearing his and speaking quietly. "How are you doing? Not in a casual sense, but with the whole situation."

Light tucked his hands in his pockets while watching an elderly couple check out their groceries. "I thought I'd be sadder. I'm in fact a little startled at how little I feel. I've had the passing thought that maybe something's wrong with me, like I've been numbed to it."

Scanning the items with speed and precision, Beyond sighed. "I hear that's pretty normal with traumatic brain injuries. I read about one lady who woke up and didn't love her husband, of like, twenty years anymore. I read a bunch of shit like that, so I wouldn't read too much into it."

Light shifted a smirk towards Beyond. "Okay. I won't, but what I will read into is, why were you looking that up in the first place? Who does that?"

Beyond's cheeks lit up a soft hue of pink. "I wanted to make sure you'd be okay, and what to anticipate if I ran into a situation of meeting you. Like I said, I wanted everything to be done and ready for you. Hanging out and being friends wasn't in the plans. Although…" scarlet eyes lifted up to meet a honeyed stare. "I won't say that I'm disappointed." The two loaded the items back into the cart as the raven continued. "L was a lucky guy."

"Maybe, I haven't been as sad as I could have been, because I'm also very lucky. I've had some good company." Light glanced up to see that Beyond had glanced away from him, however, the tips of his ears were red.