A/N: ...It's. Been a while. An awful long while. And this chapter is probably going to be short. But it IS the end. I'm sorry to say so, really. I had fun writing it. Wish there were some things I could have done better/differently, and would were I not about to get caught up in some stuff of my own. (e.g. Tricks over with The Original Gamer). Still, I think it turned out alright, eh? Anyway, ya'll probably want to get to this last chap, which is really nothing more than an add on so...here ya go!
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"Mello!"

As was only to be expected, I'd barely made it through the door before a pair of thin arms were tight around me, the owner of those arms showering me in kisses in a quick, nearly suffocating manner. I wondered a moment if, had I not been in such a good mood, this would have annoyed me, or just brightened my mood further. Hard to tell, Matt did a lot of stupid crap that could of easily done either.

Thankfully for him, I was in that good mood, and only allowed a sigh of exasperation, mostly to taunt him, carefully peeling him off of me. His hair was damp, and a pair of, fuck, Mario printed boxers hung dangerously off his hips. That, and the fact that his skin was still glistening just slightly from moisture told me he'd probably rushed out of the shower as soon as he'd been alerted to my presence. How sweet of him...

Well, it had been nearly a week since we'd seen each other, I could admit his eagerness was perfectly justified. I could admit that I'd missed him like hell too. All for a good cause though. A very good fuckin' cause.

One I would never get to explain, seeing as him standing there, tugging up his boxers so they wouldn't just slip off, those huge eyes of his focused on me with intensity was enough for me to want to take him right there. Not that the spot he stood on hadn't been used for such purposes before, I don't think there was a spot in the small flat that hadn't. However, that would not suit the current situation, and I waved a hand at him as I went to retrieve chocolate from one of the various cabinets stocked with it. "Go get dressed, Matt. I'm not going anywhere," I thought he might protest, try something funny even that would encourage my urge to jump him to become more than just an urge. He didn't, seeming to get that now was not the time.

I found it hard to believe that I actually found a time not adequate for sex outside of work. Then again, miracles did happen.

Matt dressed in record speed, even for him seeing as he wore his pants baggy enough that he didn't have to bother with the button or fly (lazy bastard), appearing within what damn well could have been seconds. Although, I supposed he could have done better clothing wise, seeing as his striped t-shirt hung of his shoulder in a way that showed the remains of a hickey on his collar-bone. Which, naturally, made me want to darken it again.

Dammit. Sex-addicted or no, I don't believe I was so sexually inclined before I'd started this thing with Matt. Seriously, mistake me for sex-incarnate all you want, but the real one was the redhead currently rifling to the fridge. Get with him once, and you'd know what I meant. (Unluckily for you, that'll never fuckin' happen.)

Such thoughts brought on other thoughts that were starting to stir my lower regions. Not something I wanted at the moment. Shoving those thoughts aside, I managed to focus on Matt's words, instead of the way his lips formed around them. (It's been a long fuckin' week, cut me some slack.) "So, uh, 'sup Mels?"

'Sup'? Really? I rolled my eyes, refraining from scoffing by instead regarding his curious expression, trying to picture how he was going to take what I had to say next. The wrapper crinkling under my fingers as I peeled it away from the chocolate was the only thing to break the silence, one I knew was probably internally driving Matt crazy, though he said nothing. Didn't even seem fazed, eyes flitting occasionally between the energy drink he held in his hands, and me. His goggles hung loosely around his neck, as they had more and more often lately. That often made me wonder if he hadn't trusted me before, and was finally getting along to it now.

But that was stupid, and I was just getting distracted again.

"It's over, Matt." I said simply, snapping off a chunk of chocolate. The noise resounded surprisingly loudly in the small kitchen, either preventing or encouraging one of those awkward as hell silences.

Belatedly, I realized that sounded like a fucking break up line. As had Matt apparently, judging by the way he was looking at me. His eyes had gotten impossibly wider, mouth slightly agape in a way that would have looked stupid on anyone else. A few things happened within the next second, but I barely registered them as the end result was Matt clinging to me tighter than even before. I knew that his energy drink was currently leaking all over the kitchen floor, having dropped the can in the rush to get to me, and I definitely knew who'd be cleaning it up later.

That thought was for later though, as it was hard to focus on anything but the quivering gamer clutching at me like his life depended on it. "Fuck, Mels." He gushed. And yeah, I mean gush. There really wasn't really another word for it. His voice was beyond it's usual soft, more like he'd been breathing the words. My mind grappled with uncharacteristic difficulty to find a way to explain what I'd meant so as to avoid a distressed Matt.

It seemed I didn't need that though, seeing as when he lifted his head, his eyes were brimming with tears. But not just any tears, they were his silly happy tears, seeing as there was a lopsided smile on his lips. Not for the first time, I wondered how the fuck anyone could cry happy tears, but I reminded myself I didn't care, seeing as at least it meant Matt was happy.

Even if tears were a shit way of showing it.

"You're kidding me? No, you can't kid Mels, I've learned that. But...fuck!" He rambled in that way he did when he didn't know what to say, which was a lot more than should be expected from a genius, but it was...endearing in a way. It was impossible to get a word in edgewise though, unless you forcefully shut him up. (Which put some rather good ideas in my head, ehe.) "It's...over. No more Kira, hah! Serves the dickwad right! That's so...fuck, I don't know! Words suck hard, it's just...woah. Mels!" A breathy laugh of what could have only been delight escaped him, and he squirmed against me without seeming to realize what he was doing. This happy rambling continued a few more seconds, before he paused and blinked at me. "Wait...how?"

That was a good question. One I'd hoped he wouldn't ask, but being Matt he always had to do exactly what I didn't want him to do. Without seeming to even realize it. How, I would never understand. Shit just happened.

How this whole case case ended, however, I understood perfectly well. Nearly a year of near nonstop work, and plenty of help from Matt, had landed us at a point where I thought I could finally end it all. Bring Kira down finally. Not without consequence, that being a nice new scar and not a lot of free time for Matt and I, but it was all worth it.

Even to hand it all over to Near in the end.

Yeah, yeah, I fuckin' know. Mello not taking the glory? Mello willingly working with Near? Fuck that shit, no way it's true.

Too bad it is. But y'know, love makes you do crazy shit. This way, neither of us had to deal with all the shit that came with the legal end to such a large case. I knew I'd won, and Matt didn't care either way, and that was all that mattered. (I mean, I was gonna be bitter about it, but I could be good for Matt.)

Matt, who started crying all over again when I told him this. Sure not full out sobbing and pathetic clinging, but tears spilled down his cheeks no less, and he was looking at me in a way that made me feel like I was going to combust or something. Like fucking fireworks, I swear it.

That didn't last long before the crooked grin was back, and he was playfully gripping at my hands, dragging me into some energetic movements that could be called dancing, but had that clumsy Matt edge that kept it from being actually that. Not to say I minded, and for once I allowed myself to go along with Matt's childish antics. It was refreshing, at best. After years of strain, it was amazing such small actions could lift it all over my shoulders.

Although, this was Matt we were talking about. Of course he could do that. And through innocent means such as these, not bothering to use sex as a stress reliever as I often had before he'd come back along. He did it. And I loved him for it.

Though, sex was always great too. It had been a week.

Innocent.

Weird how that was all I could think about after a few rounds of sex.

After a year of witnessing not so pleasant activities, even from behind a computer, Matt was still innocent. Maybe not physically, but it was emotionally so. He got sex jokes now, loved to use them himself. He'd been involved in potentially scarring activities himself, yet Matt had hardly changed since I'd first met him when he'd been little under nine years old. And that was saying something.

Fuck, it was amazing. That he could still care so strongly for, not just me, but peoples' welfare as a whole. That, while he didn't believe in God, he followed his standards better than most Christians, without even seeming to realize it. How he, despite everything he'd seen me do and what I'd had him do for me, could still love me so fiercely that, in those moments where I hated myself, he wouldn't even get angry for my being pathetic. He'd do his thing, calm and gentle, and everything was better again just like that. I had the drive again.

Through it all he kept that innocence that had intrigued and annoyed me when we were younger. I'd never been able to find the source, still didn't fucking know it. But it was amazing no less, beautiful, Matt.

Such were some of the thoughts that rolled about my head as I held the sleeping redhead against me, still threading my fingers through his hair idly. He'd fallen asleep not to long ago, after his usual post-sex rambling. Tonight's topic being where we could possibly go now that this whole Kira bull shit was over. Said he'd wanted to go back to England, but at the same time he didn't want to leave his baby behind.

I still found it hard to get over the fact that his car was his baby.

There had been weirder things, however. One of those being the fact that I was sitting in bed musing over sappy things that would have normally caused me to gag. Fucking Matt did that to me. Although, as time went by I was growing less and less annoyed by all the things Matt could do.

I blame him for that too.

Glancing down at him, head on my chest, hair splayed all over the place, it was a little more than difficult to truly be annoyed by him. Always fuckin' had been. But that was just Matt for you.

For me rather, sure as hell not you.

Shaking my head, I settled back myself, releasing a few quiet prayers under my breath as I allowed myself to doze off peacefully. And for the first time in a long fucking while, my dreams weren't tainted by guilt or regret, or even lust. No, I imagined they mirrored Matt's, calm, innocent, reflecting the wishes he relayed to me each night I was here about our own life away from the bullshit I'd been raised into.

And, even subconsciously, I found myself planning to give him just that. Wanting it to.

Matt:

"Mels, if you don't get this frickin' blindfold off me right now I'm parking my ass in front of the couch and spending some quality time with my PlayStation. Meaning you aren't touching it."

"Why would I want to touch it anyway?"

"Not my PlayStation, my ass. Duh."

"Well, yeah Matty. That's what I fuckin' meant, dumb ass."

I don't know if Mello chose to actually listen to me, or what, but I felt tugging at the knot behind my head that held the cloth over my eyes. I was secretly forming a plan to tackle him and, I don't know, tickle him into submission or something for blindfolding me when said blindfold fell away.

"Oh."

"Yep," Mello seemed pleased with himself, leaning against the doorway to...well a house. Kind of boring, yeah, but it meant a hell of a lot to me. Meaning it wasn't actually boring, so there.

Especially seeing as I could make out a giant TV in the spacious living room as I peered through the glass door. Damn that would be fucking awesome to game on. I could practically fell myself drooling over how awesome the graphics would look on that thing. "Jesus, Mels..." I couldn't find my voice, just like on that evening a few days ago when he'd announced that we were finally done with he case. And just like that night, I felt tears springing up in my eyes, hidden behind my goggles this time so he couldn't mock me for my silly tears.

He smirked at me, but it was the good kinda smirk. The one that could have counted as a smile, and I know I could get to change into one with a little prodding. My heart melted a little more, as it always did when I looked at him. I mean, c'mon, you can't blame me. He's frickin' gorgeous and when he's smirking at me like that, standing in front of...

"Is this ours?" It sounded stupid to ask, but I wanted to confirm. It seemed so out of the blue, so uncharacteristic. Mello hadn't said a word about something like this, ever. Yet here we were, standing in front of what looked to be a furnished house in some neighborhood in LA that looked shitloads different than the one we'd been living in for the past almost two years.

And he laughed. It was an amazing sound, really. I'm not really sure how to describe it, so I'm just going to say it's like chocolate. Rich. It's a good comparison, all considering who it was for. I guess that was answer enough, as he just gestured inside. Well, that, and he pulled out a set of keys. Don't ask me where from, I've yet to figure out where he keeps it all. (Although I have my suspicions...)

That aside, I became rather distracted of seeing the inside of...of our house. The thought was awkward, but sent those little thrills of happiness up my spine. I must have looked either really stupid, or overly eager because Mello laughed again, uttering a "Whoa Matty." Probably because my foot caught on the space between the floor and the door and I almost face planted the lovely hardwood floors. The floors that I found myself slipping on even after I'd saved myself from a face plant, ending up on my ass instead.

Also, apparently I'd forgotten my shoes in my rush to get out the door. Ahem, I mean when Mello had been practically dragging me out it.

Okay, I couldn't really be angry when I was facing the first few feet of our new house. ( I was really never going to get over that, I mean seriously.) Even if my butt was hurting from taking a fall like that. It appeared Mello had some sympathy, as he came over and dragged me to my feet. A little too roughly, I might add, as I ended up clutching at his chest to avoid falling again. That, or I was just a clumsy ass. It was awful hard to tell at times.

"Fucking holy mother of Zelda...Mello this is, ah, too much?" Was it a present even? I mean, it was a house. Generally that meant it belonged to the both of us. At the same time, it certainly hadn't been my idea. Not that I was complaining about it, seeing as I talked about it sometimes. A lot of the time...I had dreams, okay? Who doesn't want a house for just them and their boyfriend with a big TV for gaming and no neighbors to complain because maybe you were moaning a little too loud. (That was embarrassing stuff, let me tell you.) "Never mind, I don't frickin' know. I don't really know what to say. So you should probably ignore me, I'm rambling. Or I could shut the fuck up, that helps to and...dammit, Mels. I love it, 'kay?"

I couldn't help but flush when he laughed again, which was probably more laughter than I'd heard from him in my whole life. No complaining here, I loved it. He tweaked my cheek in a teasing fashion, releasing me to look around himself, as if he hadn't actually seen the place. "Of course you love it. You only talk about it a hundred fucking times a day," Which, I didn't actually. Mello likes to exaggerate, and it was only fair anyway. That I talked about it, I mean. Anyone would be crazy for something like this after living in that shitty complex for months. With it's creepy people and broken air conditioner, and hollow walls. Talk about lack of privacy.

Speaking of which...

I used the advantage of socks and hardwood to slide a bit across the floor to the door, shutting it before sliding back to Mello. (I was really starting to like this hardwood stuff. It was fun, heh.) My arms went around his neck to catch myself, while my feet seemed to want to slide a little bit more, splaying my legs and almost causing us both to go down. Fortunately he caught us, resting his hands on my butt to as to balance us. Really I just think he wanted to grab me there, still no complaint though.

"Hi," I smiled and he rolled his eyes, pulling me closer to himself.

"Hi yourself," He responded in an exasperated tone, though he softened as I leaned up to push my lips to the corner of his. This was followed by a few short kisses along his chin, and then back up to the opposite corner of his mouth. Apparently patience was not a virtue in his book, as I only got to continue with this for a short while before he grabbed my jaw and kissed me 'properly'. Like kissing him anywhere else wasn't proper, pft.

We were panting and practically naked (well...I was down to my socks) when there was a knock on the door to remind us we were about to sex each other up in the foyer. I blinked between Mello and the door, which the blond was currently glaring at. Rather then, y'know, warn me, he released his hold on my hips, causing me to fall on my poor but again, as he stalked towards the door in all his leather-clad glory. Well, his pants clad glory, that was.

And then the bastard threw open the door, even though I was right there and naked. Regardless he proceeded to thoroughly cuss out the poor lady and ramble a bit about the importance of sex, and all the while the women kept looking between me and the probably scary blond. Total mood kill, really.

When that was over with, I gave Mello the most serious look I could muster, making a tsk'ing noise in my throat. "That poor women, scarred for life. And our first day in the neighborhood too. What am I gonna do with you?" I shook my head in an exasperated fashion, which was my mistake seeing as it meant I'd removed my eyes from Mello.

Which somehow was enough for me to go from the floor to his arms. I let out a, uh, squeak of surprise, throwing my arms around his neck and clinging. Rather hard considering I was clutched bridal style in his arms. Fuckin' girl style. "Put me down asshole!" It didn't even make sense that he could lift me to begin with. Yeah I was skinny...but so was he! Albeit a totally sexy, muscled, lean kind of skinny and...

Uhm, well the mood came back to life.

He snickered, ignoring my demands to be put down in favor of carrying me to what I hoped was the bedroom. Fortunately, I hoped right, as it wasn't long before I was met with the sight of a large, sunny room. Sunny 'cause of the huge window on the east wall, which I sincerely hoped he was going to close before we got to business.

In that instance, I hoped wrong, as without so much as a glance at the window, he dropped me unceremoniously on the bed, pausing to discard his pants before joining me. He leaned over me with the kind of smirk that sent heat straight down south, and I squirmed a bit in response. Must have been just what he was after, seeing as he chuckled, the sound deep compared to his regular laughter, pressing his lips to my jaw. The simple touch did wonders and, as usual, I felt myself craving Mello without much more than that. Then again, I was kinda always craving Mello, sexually or no.

Not the point.

"You know," He spoke around kisses and continued chuckles at the noises that escaped me each time he decided to bring his tongue into play. "I'm beginning to like this house thing more by the second," Here he paused, pulling back to kiss me directly, only pulling away when I saw spots in my vision from lack of oxygen. "More places to fuck,"

I rolled my eyes, sliding my fingers through his hair and pressing my lips to the tender spot I'd found just below his pulse, nipping lightly at the skin. "Only you, Mels." I laughed, reveling in the noise I'd drawn out of him in turn for the gentle biting.

"Only me, huh?" His hands grasped at my wrists, holding them above my head to prevent me from grabbing at him like I so badly wanted to, sitting on my hips in a manner that gave the faintest, teasing pressure. His smirk only seemed to grow as his lips lingered over my jaw, trailing down in a further taunting fashion, before trailing back up to my ear. "Love you,"

The words sent a jolt through me like no touch could, and I felt like I could cry again. It wasn't like I didn't know it, not like I'd never heard it before. It was just...rare coming from Mello. When we weren't in the midst of sex, I mean. Or, like, when we were in bed and he thought I was sleeping when I actually wasn't. Basically it was weird for him to just say it, but not the bad kind of weird. It came as a pleasant shock every time he did. And, for such a simple thing, it reminded me just how much I loved him. How those months of non-stop work and other unpleasant things were worth it for this.

...How much more of a sap I'd become now that Mello and I were a thing.

Most importantly, it reminded me of the Mello I'd first come to love. The Mello back from Wammy's, before the competition had really gotten to him. The one that played and laughed and smiled more, one who was innocent and real.

The one that was still in there and all for me.

Letting out a slightly panting breath, still winded from our kiss, I gave him a serious look, but I knew he'd know it meant so much more without cheesy smiles. "Love you back,"

And our lips and bodies met again, and despite the actions taking place, it wasn't sexual. Wasn't hot and heavy, filled with pants and moans. It was just us, connecting, intimate, finally getting a chance to be innocent to the world.

And that's it~! This chapter is a bit rambly, I think. But...I wanted to get it out while I still had the drive. Meaning it's the end. Hope ya'll enjoyed!