(Disclaimer: I have no ownership/legal rights over Death Note, Matt, or Mello or else I would have mailed Mello to Brazil for Puchi-chan by now, and Matt would be at my house playing my video games 24/7. Heck, I don't have authority over Super Mario Bros. either. Please read and enjoy!)

Mello tapped his foot furiously, banging against the decaying, wooden floors of the apartment he was currently sharing with Matt, his best and only real friend. He was leaning against their cheap refrigerator. The fridge contained only a few bars of chocolate and a half-empty carton of milk. The pair managed to sustain themselves on a day-to-day basis, not generally stocking up for the future. Besides, if they had any luck whatsoever, they wouldn't be living there much longer. Mello's shaggy, layered blonde hair framed his disfigured face. The young man was annoyed and armed, a dangerous combination. He had spent the past few hours contemplating exactly why Matt was still with him in the first place.

Matt certainly doesn't stick around for my good looks, he thought bitterly. Not that he wanted affection to be purely physical - that was actually one of his fears - but he still wanted to look and feel attractive for the redhead. Not 'the' redhead. My redhead, he corrected himself. Mello tentatively ran a gloved hand over his face. Scars from an explosion that he had recently endured consumed most of his features. He looked down at his too-skinny figure, slender despite the hundreds of thousands of calories he'd devoured from eating so much chocolate. I'm so ugly... And it doesn't bother him one bit, that stupid goggles-wearing freak.

...Then what keeps him here? Mello racked his brain, searching for something, any redeeming qualities of his that would account for Matt staying by his side over the past few years. My personality? He actually produced a sharp laugh at that suggestion. No one in their right mind would spend any unnecessary time with an irrational, gun-wielding criminal like myself. Then perhaps, the excitement? Mello shook his head, disregarding the thought. His friend was someone who hated even stepping outside of their run-down apartment for a cigarette, much less for hours on end to tail Kira supporters. Matt liked to be indoors, hunched over and playing his video games. He was a geeky little hacker, not a main protagonist.

I don't think it's just out of his nature. Matt's not just any loyal dog; he's my dog, and we both know it. Matt could have left at any time. He wouldn't have stayed if he didn't want to, he just wouldn't... Mello repeated this mantra a few times over, but it was of no use: until he heard it from Matt himself, he couldn't be reassured.

We definitely like each other's company, for some inexplicable reason. That's a fact.

As it was, they had a mutual affection for each other. They just never talked about it, acted upon it.

I should be content.

They had a level of closeness and devotion to each other that people in love only dreamed of attaining. The two friends were completely aware of the fact that death was the only thing that would part them.

More than content.

For better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, but mostly on the run from the law while simultaneously attempting to take down the self-proclaimed god known as Kira.

And yet, I'm anything but satisfied.

"Matt?"

Matt was sitting on their ancient, ripped couch that complemented the rest of their deteriorating living space. He was hunched over as he played his hand-held game with obvious concentration. The redhead actually looked up from his Game Boy, an effort rarely exerted on his behalf. "What is it, Mello?"

Mello hesitated for a moment. He knew that he never had to say anything. Even though he wanted to, he was incapable of saying those three little words: "I love you." Maybe he was afraid that by verbalizing it, everything would change. Maybe it would become too real for Matt to handle. Matt kept his mind engrossed in fantasies involving wizards and monsters and damsels in distress... Who knew what was going on in his head when it came to reality?

"Do you...?" The blonde trailed off, muttering the last few words incoherently.

"Do I what? Just spit it out." Matt unpaused his hand-held game and quickly resumed riding a small, green dinosaur while jumping on various flying turtles, killing them immediately. "Princess Peach won't save herself, you know." He pushed some buttons with more intensity than necessary. "That bitch can't quite learn how to stay out of trouble and away from gigantic, ugly turtles named Bowser."

"Just look away from your stupid game and for the love of God, look at me." Mello's voice was insistent, borderline begging.

Matt glanced up from his Game Boy for the second time, a pained expression on his face. "Mario died. I hope you're happy."

"No, I'm not happy! That's the problem."

"Stop whining. Just because you look like a girl, it doesn't mean you have the right to act menstrual. There's some chocolate in the fridge..."

Mello was quiet for a little while before finally resurrecting the question that had died in his throat minutes earlier.

"I need to know if you love me. Do you love me, Matt?"

The redhead actually blushed a deep crimson at this. "Fuck, Mello, of course I do. If I didn't, would I be here right now, living in a run-down, grungy apartment while risking my life to eliminate the Kira threat? I just thought you knew. I'm not about to proclaim my affection off the roof of a tall building anytime soon, if that's alright. Now can I go back to playing my game?"

"Why do you play that game so goddamn much?"

Matt fell silent again, his face turning a color about three shades darker than before. "Because I have to save the blonde chick before she gets killed. Peach always rushes into trouble and needs a skilled, Italian plumber to rescue her."

"You're a hacker, not a plumber!"

"Same difference."

"And for the last time, I'm not a girl!"

"But you're pretty like a girl." Matt's response caught Mello off-guard. The boy didn't take it as an insult, at any rate. After being utterly self-conscious about his appearance for so long, the blonde felt a sense of self-worth.

"You think I'm pretty?"

"Fuck, Mello, don't make me answer that one. I'm going out for a smoke," said Matt, standing up and producing a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his vest pocket. He walked out the door and down the steep staircase; the young man always lit up by the main entrance. Mello waited somewhat impatiently for his friend to return, his new realization swarming around in his mind. Matt loves me... Matt actually cares.

Once Matt reentered their room, he sat right back down on the falling-apart couch. "You're freaking me out right now, Mello," he admitted. "I like you better when you're your usual, gun-wielding, irrational self. Not some sentimental girl." He stressed that last word.

"You actually like me better when I'm mean to you?" Mello's eyes widened in disbelief. He always thought that his name-calling and bossing-around had bothered Matt - not that that ever motivated him to refrain in the future, of course. Then again, Matt was always loyal to him, through and through.

"Yeah, 'cause then I can predict what you're going to do. Right now, I'm not sure if you're going to start crying or hugging me. I couldn't tell you which one would be worse..."

Mello smiled, enjoying the geek's apparent discomfort at his current behavior. "I love you too, Matt."

The flustered boy readjusted his goggles, taking them off of his eyes and placing them on his head. He looked Mello straight in the eyes. "If it means anything, Mello, I'd willingly die for you."

"What the fuck are you being so sentimental for?" Matt's jaw dropped as he tried to contemplate Mello's complete one-eighty in personality shift. "Quit playing your idiotic video game. I need you to set up cameras and observe this news reporter that has a direct link to Kira. Kira's not going to catch himself, you know." Mello grinned widely; his old spunk had returned to him.

"Let me save first."

"Save the real world first, Matt; your Super Mario World can wait!" Mello aimed one well-placed boot at the handheld, swiftly kicking it out of Matt's hands and onto the cracked, wooden floor. The lid on the back popped off, and two AA-batteries rolled around on the ground.

"...I think I liked you better when you were acting like a girl."

"Too bad. We've got a mission!" Mello pulled the redhead by the arms up from the couch until he was standing, as well.

"You owe me a new Game Boy," Matt muttered darkly as he bent over to pick up its remains.

"Quit whining. You sound like a woman," smirked the blonde.

"I hate you."

"I hate you, too, Matt." Mello's wide grin was plastered across his face; it was impossible to keep his amusement hidden. The way that things were now, he was more than content: he was wholly, thoroughly ecstatic. "Now let's go capture Kira, once and for all!"

(My first MxM fic! Reviews are much appreciated!)