Chapter five:

Mello has been in this section for three days now. He keeps track of the days going by when they allow him to spend time with Near. He's gotten to draw with him, read books that are brought in, and today is a reading day since they got drawing stuff the day before. He pauses in the reading as Sam comes in.

"Mello. I am pretty sure you will agree to this however there is a storm coming. We are aware that storms could be a reminder for him. I keep notes about what the weather was the day that trauma occurred, or even started. So you two can hang out in here until it passes. You won't be able to hear it in here."

"Sounds good to me." Mello agrees happy that he gets to hang around Near more. He'll take it. He turns his attention to Near not caring if the doctor is still in the room or not. He is about to say something when he hears shouts.

"Fuck you! Fuck you all! You don't know what my friends are capable of! They're mutant animals! They'll tear you to pieces! All of you! Then I'll burn this place down! No one will ever know what happened to you! Not that anyone would care!"

Mello looks to the open door seeing the doctor standing there looking outside. He starts to growl as his demons start to tell him to kill whoever is shouting, as if those shouts are a challenge towards him. He hardly notices the doctor turn to him with wide worried eyes. He wants to shift up to charge only to hear someone take a slightly sharp quiet inhale of air. He turns his demons ready to snap until he notices Near. He can tell that the other is showing his very subtle signs of being scared. He only partially glances to the door when a bang like a door is slammed shut. He puts his focus on Near. His demons giving up on the plan of attack, as if it no longer seems worth it. He takes a few breaths before speaking. "No one will hurt you. Not while I'm here. I'll protect you." He promises leaning his body against Nears own. He feels so calm as Near settles down. He's glad that he can help the other feel safe.

"Fascinating." Sam mentions quietly to herself as she watches the two interact. She hums softly yet thoughtfully before getting an idea. She quietly closes the door to try to not bother them. She quickly darts away to tell the others about the idea she has come up with.

...

"Hey look! It's me as your knight in shining armor! Coming to rescue you from a tower!" Mello knows it's childish however with not much to do here it's something to do. "Maybe one day we can write a story together to pass the time." He's happy for this extra time with the other. He truly enjoys the peace Near gives him and he even finds that he's liking Near more and more. He wouldn't mind being in here forever if he gets to spend more time with the other. "If something were to ever happen I'd come to your rescue. Promise. No matter what I'd have to do to get there I'd do it." He does notice Near take a relaxed breath as if relieved. He smiles widely and turns to his drawing that he had made.

Near usually gets to take the drawings, with him which Mello is more than happy to fill his room with them.

Mello wants it to bring Near joy so he'll make as many as he can. "One day you should bring me your favorite drawing. I'm curious what one you liked the most." He looks up as the door opens revealing Sam standing there.

"Time is up for today. The storm is over and it's an hour after bedtime." Sam informs them making Mello blink. She gives them a smile. "Well the storm ended two hours ago. I just figured you two could spend some nice extra time together."

Mello smiles at this truly grateful for that kindness. "Thank you." He lets himself be put back in the jacket then looks to Near. "See you later." He watches as Sam leads Near away to head to bed. He settles himself down on his sleeping spot to get some rest himself.

The next day...

Mello looks up as the door opens. He spots Sam and tries to look past her hoping to see Near. He blinks in confusion at not seeing him. He looks to Sam at this.

"We actually have a surprise for you today." Sam tells Mello who tilts his head slightly. "I'm going to take your jacket off then I'll need you to follow me. I think you're getting close to ready for being out of this part." She goes over after the blonde nods to her. She gets him out of it and leads him out of his cell.

They walk past several of the cells with one Mello can hear just screaming, no words, coming from that are so muffled they're barely heard. They leave the area going past others which Mello does glance to but otherwise ignores. They make it to a door where Near is waiting with another doctor.

"For a little bit you two have the whole outside area to yourselves." Sam reveals causing Mello to look to her hoping she's not pulling his leg. "We don't usually let anyone outside at this time. However I was able to get them to make an exception for you two."

"Thank you!" Mello hurries over to Near gently taking him by the hand. "Come on. Let's go for a walk." He leads the other outside who follows without a single protest. He closes his eyes breathing in the fresh air. "Ah. Good to be out and about in such beautiful weather."

Indeed the sun is shining without it being too warm and no wind to chill them.

"Let's go!" Mello opens his eyes leading Near further out. He looks around before spotting a fence like area leading a stretch of field beyond; its sitting between two tree providing a nice cozy looking spot to chill. He takes Near over to that area where they sit by the fence together. He sits down with them both sitting side by side together. He looks out to the field beyond as Near does too. He almost wishes that they could run across that field. He glances down to the bottom of the fence seeing that it goes down below ground.

Even if they dug it's likely this chain link fence goes deep enough they'd be caught before escape.

Mello turns his focus back to the way out past the fence. "This is nice." He admits smiling to himself as he takes in the sight. "It's pretty beautiful." He turns to look to Near. "Have you ever seen a deer? They're pretty cool to see." He notices Nears breath stops for a brief second. He doesn't notice anything that says that Near is scared though. He turns to look past the fence curious about what got Near to react. He blinks spotting a deer slowly walking beyond the fence.

The female deer is close enough to be seen clearly though far enough away to not be reachable.

"There's one now! Majestic." Mello mentions softly trying to not scare off the animal. He smiles a little. "This feels like the perfect way that things could have gone today." He looks to Near and notices a smile, half the size of a normal one for most people, spread across Nears face. He notices the other is looking at the deer before briefly flickering his eyes to the blonde; it's very very brief as Near turns back to the deer. He swears his heart is about to leap out of his chest. "You looked at me!" He puts his arms around Near no longer caring that the deer looks to them ready to bolt. "You don't need to worry. You can be more responsive around me. I wanna get to know you and hopefully we can make a nice bond." He isn't sure if he wants Near as just a friend or as more than that. He'll figure that part out later. "I may not know what happened to you. However I hope one day, even if it's just when we're alone, I can get you to be more reactive." He does notice the smile grow slightly. He grins at seeing this. He finds joy in getting Near to react.

Nears reactions don't give up any of the calmness he gives Mello, if anything it is intensified.

Mello wonders if Near has ever reacted like this with Matt. He shakes it off, grateful he's looking at Near who he just can't seem to get mad around, as it's something that can be figured out later. He puts an arm around Near pulling him close as he lets the other lay on him. He looks past the fence as the deer runs off into the distance.

Today has been perfect.

Though the curiosity of what happened to Near lingers in Mellos mind.

Well Matt should be able to answer that once Mello is out of the higher security area. And if not then Mello can work with Near to find out what happened to him.

Mello pushes those thoughts away telling himself to just enjoy the moments he has with Near.