Chapter eleven:
The siblings stand outside of Light's family home.
L and Watari have not come along letting the two of them do this by themselves as L is willing to take a step back to let Near's introduction be the main focus.
Light glances to Near and can't help noticing that the other is trying to not show how nervous he is about facing this family that has taken care of Light for so long. He reaches over placing a hand on the other's shoulder getting his attention to be turned to him instead of at the house where the family is waiting inside. He did tell them that they were coming though to just wait at home to make it easier on his brother. He also wanted to request that they figure out Near's room even if that means that the two of them will share a room. He won't mind as long as it is a good space for his brother to have as a room, thus sharing a room is totally fine since the two used to just sleep curled up together in the past anyways. "You've got this." His simple words do seem to help Near settle down a little.
Near places a hand on Light's own before giving a nod of his head.
The two look to the house and head inside side by side going to the living room where Light's adopted family agreed to the introduction.
All of Light's adopted family is sitting on the couches and turn to look to the two as they walk into the living room.
Light puts his arm around Near in a slight hug wanting to be like a rock to keep Near alright as the introduction happens. "I want to introduce my brother." He gestures to Near who gives a small wave as a greeting to these family members. He points out each family member introducing each of them by name. "Of course you can call them as family like mom, dad and sister, if you're comfortable with it. If not then that is okay."
"No rush to call us by such family names." Lights adoptive father mentions with a kind smile directed towards Near.
"He is soo cute!" Lights adoptive sister squeals a little giving a smile to Near who slightly smiles back. "Am I younger or are you?" She blinks at Light clearly wanting to see if she is now an older sister.
"You're still younger sis." Light mentions to her making her pout a little.
She turns back to Near soon after getting rid of the pout. "Well maybe I can at least sometimes pretend I am the big sister."
"We'll see." Near mentions to her as a response and Light can tell that he isn't really sure what to say to that.
Lights adoptive mother stands up and approaches Near giving him a warm welcoming smile. "Welcome to our family! I am sure that everyone wants to get to know you more, including me, however you should be able to settle in first. We understand that it can be stressful being suddenly in a new place with new people ready to welcome you into their family. So why don't we show you to your room?"
Near nods softly and the two brothers follow their adoptive mother to the room in question.
The room was being used as an office space, since it was a spare bedroom with no one to occupy it for a long time, though now it has been emptied out giving room for Near to have his own space. It has a window overlooking the front yard area, an air mattress on the floor with two blankets as well as a pillow as the temporary set up until a proper bed is in, the flooring is wood like most of the rest of the house which makes sense as none of the bedrooms have carpet, the closet door is closed, and there is now an old dresser that Light remembers having before he got his new one.
"We will be able to fill it with more as well as let you pick out a proper bed for yourself. You can make this space into your very own anyway that you'd like. If you need anything like a bookcase or a desk and computer then let us know." Their adoptive mother tells them as Near moves away from Light to step into the room looking around. "What do you think?"
Near is quiet for a few moments as he takes in the space that he can call his own. He even glances out the window before turning to look to his new family member. "It is wonderful. Thank you so much."
"Ah don't worry about it. You're a part of our family. You deserve your own room to be your own space." Their adoptive mother blinks as she thinks of something. "Oh that reminds me. Are you alright with us doing official adoption papers? We'd like you to be as recognized as a part of our family as your brother is. We've been so excited to have you join our family that we have been ready to sign the legal adoption papers for so long now. It is okay if you're not ready."
"That would be fine." Near smiles softly which makes Light smile at seeing the happiness on his brothers face at the prospect of actually being wanted by a full on family. "I didn't think I would get a family outside of Light and two close friends. Especially not an official family that has legal papers and all." He continues after getting a slight blink from their adoptive mother. "One died and the other is being held at a facility after having done some bad things in his grief. He isn't a bad person he was just hurting from losing the other friend."
Their adoptive mother does look more understanding at this. "I see. Well I am sorry that such things happened with your close friends."
"It's alright. Light helped me figure out a way to stay in touch with the still alive friend who I thought I'd never speak to again after he was put in the facility." Near gives a grateful look to Light who nods his head.
"Well I am glad that things are going alright with that. I will let you settle in and we'll start getting the adoption papers ready. Oh also dinner should be ready soon. I've made one of my secret recipes as a welcome home dinner for you. You can decide if you'll eat with us or not. Don't feel pressured. If you want to eat alone to have more time to adjust to all of this then that is fine."
"Thank you." Near gives a polite friendly bow and their adoptive mother heads off with that. He raises and looks to Light once they are alone.
"I'll show you where my room is. You can see how I made it my own space the way I like it." Light offers to Near who nods with a curious twinkle only to follow after the older brother of the pair.
Meanwhile….
Mello paces in his room swinging his body as he turns with each pace. His teeth clenched as he thinks about Near. He has found that he has actually been missing Near since the other officially left. He hated how there seemed to be something missing in the orphanage since Near is no longer there. He escaped to his room as soon as he could in order to try to think after the feeling of wanting Near to be back wouldn't go away. He is pretty sure that it isn't because he sees him as a rival to still beat. He is sure that it is something else however what it could be he isn't fully sure.
Near did confess how he felt about Mello before leaving. He made sure to come to tell the other that before he was suddenly gone.
Mello slows his pacing to a pause with his gaze to the floor between where he is and where the bed is just ahead of himself. He lets that whole conversation play out and remembers Near's face more than any faces Matt made. His mind almost tries to zoom in on Near's face after admitting how he thinks and feels about the blonde. He gasps bringing a hand to clutch his shirt by his chest when his heart skips a beat. "Shit." He curses as he comes to realize that he does have a crush and it is on the last person he would have expected.
Near.
Mello narrows his eyes clutching his shirt tighter in his hand as now he wonders if he should really let Near know about his newly discovered feelings towards him. He isn't even sure how things would work considering that Near is who knows where with an actual family now. He closes his eyes trying to bury any hurt for feeling like Near left him behind after getting him to question if he likes Near or not. He opens his eyes half way going over to sit on the bed and put his face in his hands with a groan into those very hands pressed against his face. He probably could still be very connected with Near since L would probably support them and find ways to help them be together.
L has always wanted the orphans to be happy as long as no one is doing so illegally or is hurting themselves or others. He even has talks with them about breakups and about relationships so they can be a bit more ready when they find one that they want.
Mello lets his eyes be closed and can only see darkness as his fingers block out the light in the room. He truly isn't sure if he wants to tell Near that he wants to try to be together, or if he would rather just try to forget about these feelings and try to move on from his crush towards Near. He isn't even fully sure how deep it goes as he hadn't noticed it until he longed for Near after the other had left the orphanage. He sits there with his face still in his hands as he tries to figure out what he wants to do now that he knows how he feels.
