Matt had to admit that he was somewhat surprised when he woke up one day and found himself sitting outside in the pouring rain. He was sitting underneath that lovely old tree that reminded him so much of when he would go on little picnics with his parents--

He was soaked to the bone, freezing cold, and was developing a nasty little cough.

"You left our room, but you never came back." said a voice from the other side of the tree. This was the voice that woke him up. Wet leaves slid around as Mello made his way to Matt's side and pulled him to his feet. "I waited and waited, but you never came back. I've been looking for you for hours now."

And Matt knew that Mello was telling the truth, because there were heavy, dark circles beneath his lovely blue eyes.

"Why would you come out here?" he asked, pulling a folded-up blanket out of his jacket and throwing it over Matt's shoulders. "I thought you were in the playhouse at first, because that's where you went last time. I glanced out the window and saw you curled up under this stupid tree."

Matt shrugged. Mello pulled him out of the rain and back into the House.

Matt was also surprised when he woke up in front of the door to L's room.

"Matt, what are you doing here?" were the first words he heard; he instantly recognized L's lazy tone and scrambled to his feet.

"I... I don't know, uhmmm... I'm--"

"Come inside."

"No, no, it's fine-- You just got here today and Roger told us to leave you alone-- I shouldn't even be here right now; I'm gonna get in so much trouble--"

"Come inside."

Matt stared at L, his eyes as wide as saucers, but did not move.

"Perhaps you should just go to bed." L sighed, taking Matt by the hand and walking him to his room.

Matt wasn't so surprised when he awoke to the feeling of a lego stabbing into the small of his back. His head throbbed from the action figure that was currently jabbing into it, but he wasn't quite complaining.

"I decided to just let you rest," said Near.

Matt let out a somewhat grim chuckle and sat up. "Thanks. Maybe that's what I need."

"Hmm?"

"Mello and L always wake me up and take me back to my bed."

"I see."

"Why don't you?"

Near carefully placed the last piece of his puzzle in the appropriate spot. "I was actually thinking about that just recently. It seems to me as if you sleep-walk yourself to a place that brings you comfort. Sometimes you end up at the foot of Mello's bed, the other day you ended up at the tree that reminds you of your parents... More often than not, though, you end up in my room, on top of my toys. And I leave you there. You enjoy the fact that I allow you to rest. That's why you come here."

Matt could tell that there was something else that Near wanted to add on to that little explanation.

"... And that's why I let you sleep."

"Nice," Matt chuckled. "Does that make you a voyeur?"

"No." Near replied, not finding anything remotely amusing about the situation.

"You're not as socially inadequate as everyone says, you know?"

"What makes you say that?" Near asked, though his tone indicated that he didn't really care.

"Because you understand things that no one else does. About people, I mean. About me."

"You should go back to your room now."

Matt did so, giving Near a quick pat on the shoulder before departing.

Matt didn't even bother asking how he ended up nested comfortably in Near's bed that night.

notes and stuff: It really just occured to me that I can't write anything that's not about Matt. That makes me feel all limited and worthless and stuff. Oh well. Review, pleaseee.