Under Awkward Circumstances

He didn't know how he ended up here. Maybe he had been bored and wanted something to do; or maybe he was a masochist and he only came to this place to feel that painful pang in his chest.

The place was Hershey's Chocolate World. Or, so said the big, bright sign above the doors, the words surrounded by various chocolate bars with faces on it. Personally, Matt preferred to call it 'heaven for chocolate addicts.' Mello would have loved this place.

Shoving his hands deep in the pockets of his furry vest, he strode in the building, ignoring the many stares of people. The inside was a big lobby, with the entrance to a theater on his left, and up ahead, it divided into three separate hallways: the one on the left led to the store, the one in the middle led to a tour on how chocolate was made, and the last one led to the cafeteria. Matt stood in the center of the lobby, looking around in wonder, the bright lights reflecting in the lenses of his goggles. He gaped unabashedly; he thought he had the right to do so. They actually have a place dedicated to chocolate...?

True, one would have realized that fact the moment they set eyes on that big sign on the entrance, but Matt thought that it was just some store that sold other things besides chocolate. The eighteen-year-old had been wrong, evidently.

"Hello, welcome to Hershey's Chocolate World!" a Hershey bar greeted.

Matt gave him a blank stare, as if to say, You're actually dressed as a chocolate bar? Then he shuddered and moved on to the chocolate store.

Once Matt stepped in the large store, he was bombarded with the scent of chocolate, ten times stronger than when it was only Mello eating it around him.

Matt bared his teeth in annoyance, thinking of the blond. He defiantly picked up a chocolate bar, promising himself that he'd eat this one chocolate flavored food without thinking in remorse of his best friend. He'd done so for the past four years that he had been separated by Mello.

I'll show him that I don't need him.

He made his way to the counter, glancing at the other various chocolate products. There were t-shirts, mugs, socks...Hell, there were even pillows! As Matt paid for the chocolate bar, the woman working at the cashier gave him a weird stare, silently questioning him why he only was buying this one chocolate bar. He ignored her and began his walk back to the lobby, on the way passing a section of five-pound-chocolate-bars.

Mello would love this place, he thought, absently examining a box the size of his fist. In the box was a Hershey kiss, and a sign next to the shelves proclaimed that you could write your own message on the strip of paper that stuck out of the chocolate. To humor himself, Matt walked up to the counter again and asked the woman if he could personalize his own Hershey kiss. She beamed and said yes, visibly happy that he had bought another piece of merchandise.

"Make it say 'Marry me,' " he told her.

She squealed. "Ah, who's the special girl?"

"Mello," Matt answered, not really caring. He just wanted his Hershey kiss personalized, damn it.

"Would you like her name on it?" The girl asked working on the product behind the counter. Matt couldn't see the process.

"Sure," he said, nodding his head. What harm could it do? He was going to eat it anyway, after all.

"Finished!" The girl handed him the product, smiling proudly. "That will be $4.35." Matt paid her and walked out of the store.

"Where now?" he said to himself, looking around. Curious, he followed a couple through a dark passageway that supposedly led to where they had tours on how chocolate was made.

It was a Monday morning, so the place was fairly empty. There were no lines. An employee told him to get on one of the moving seats. "While this thing spins?" Matt asked incredulously, tapping the moving surface skeptically.

"While the thing spins," the employee said patiently, and hustled Matt onto one of the cars.

Matt sat down as his car disappeared into another section. He drowned out the man's voice speaking to him via speaker and instead opted to look at his surroundings. The first scene that was showed to him were...three cows' butts?

Matt stifled a laugh as he watched the tails wag back and forth simultaneously.

The rest of the tour was just as amusing. He learned a thing or two, but mostly he was just silently laughing to himself as he got off, reminiscing singing cows. He followed the elderly couple in front of him to was he guessed was the exit.

The walkway became some sort of bridge that hung high above the store. Matt accepted his free complimentary pack of Hershey's kisses and leaned over the railing, watching the people as he popped kiss after kiss into his mouth. Right before he was about to pop the last one into his mouth, though, Matt saw a familiar blond head walking underneath him. He dropped the kiss in shock, watching as the chocolate fell right on the blond head. He swore he heard the person cuss, angrily grab at the offending chocolate, then soften at the sight of free chocolate. He watched as the person popped it into his mouth. Then he looked up.

Matt almost upchucked the Hershey kisses he was halfway through digesting.

"M-matt?!" the person yelled.

Yep. It was most definitely Mello. "...Hi," Matt said weakly, waving a little. Unexpectedly, his heart started throbbing faster and before he knew it, he was sitting on the railing, calling down, "Catch me, 'kay?!"

"W-what?!" Mello's eyes widened. "Matt, don't you dare, or else I--OW!" He was cut off when his arms were forced to support a weight suddenly thrust down upon him. He glared angrily at the smiling redhead in his arms.

"Hi, Mel!" Matt chirped.

At this, Mello didn't know whether to start yelling at him or start smothering him in kisses. Kisses, as in the chocolate. Because, um, w-why would I smother him in real kisses? Haha, that's, uh, totally not what I meant at first! Mello forced a smile. "Hi yourself, dork. You do know what would have happened if I hadn't caught you?"

Matt wound his arms around the blond's neck, nervously glancing down at the floor a few feet below. "You wouldn't drop me."

Mello chuckled. "God, Matt..." He set him down, tugging the younger along, out of the crowd that had formed around them. "So, care to tell me what you were doing here?"

"Thinking of you." Matt bumped shoulders jokingly, swinging the plastic bag in his hands merrily. "Hey, I've got to go to the bathroom."

Mello rolled his eyes. "I see you haven't changed."

"You certainly have, though," Matt retorted, eyeing the chocolate lover's outfit. Leather clung to his lithe frame like a second skin.

Mello shrugged, choosing not to answer. He'd tell Matt about the mafia some other day. "Go take a piss."

"Gladly." Matt grinned cheekily again before dashing to the men's bathroom, leaving the plastic bag with Mello.

Mello whistled quietly, waiting for his friend. Inside, he was glowing with happiness; I found Matt! Also, he was thankful that it wasn't one of those sappy reunions. He praised themselves for acting so naturally.

"So, what did Matty buy?" he said to himself, pawing through the stuff the redhead had in the bag. There were only two items, Mello noticed in disappointment. One was a chocolate bar and another was one of those larger Hershey kisses. He grabbed the latter and opened it, thinking that Matt wouldn't mind if he ate it for him. Before he opened the silver wrapper, though, he saw that Matt had personalized a message on the strip of paper sticking out.

Curious, he pulled it out and read the message. Marry me, Mello.

Matt chose this time to come out of the bathroom, and Mello, upon seeing him, hastily dumped the chocolate back in the bag.

"Oh, you're still here," Matt said, sounding glad.

"Did you expect me to go somewhere?" Mello asked questioningly.

"Well, you did leave me without a goodbye four years ago," Matt observed.

Mello nudged him on the elbow. "Quit recalling unnecessary memories."

"Whatever you say, Mel."

The pair walked out of the store in silence. Before they parted ways in the parking lot, Mello to his motorcycle and Matt to his car, Mello handed the plastic bag to Matt. "Um, Matt..." he said slowly, not sure how to break it to the redhead that he had read the message.

"Yeah?" Matt looked at him through orange lenses.

"I, uh, saw the message on the, um, Hershey kiss, and--" Mello stopped abruptly, scratching his head in an awkward fashion.

Matt let out a strangled noise. "You did?" he squeaked. "I was just bored, and I had nothing to do, so I--"

"I'll marry you," Mello said, and pulled the stammering redhead in close for a kiss.