A/N: Hm…. It's been a long time since I updated this story.

Important announcements at the end.

Mello was, to put it simply, very happy that Near wasn't fighting him. "Hm?" He closed his eyes, the hand on his stomach coming up under Near's arm and fisting in the soft white curls. Mello kissed the heated skin for a few more moments before nipping it softly.

A light blush crept across Near's face, blanketing his cheeks in a pink hue. He was still too scared to move, but he desperately wanted to punch Mello in the face. He settled for taunting the blond verbally.

"Jeez, Mello, I didn't know you were a vampire," he retorted. Near instantly wanted to take back what he said. If anything, his taunt would just provoke Mello to move further. Also, the way the words tumbled from Near's breathless lips, they sounded more like a playful joke.

Mello grinned. "Oh? Is that what you think?" He asked slyly, moving once more; he was practically pressed up against Near. Mello liked the thought, but they were just standing in the middle of the room; the only way Mello would be able to do so is if they were against a wall, or on the floor… and Mello wasn't quite sure whether or not he would be allowed to do that. How far was too far? It didn't seem like Near seemed to mind, though he had to admit; Near was rather tense. "Don't worry, I won't bite too hard." He murmured, standing strait once more and tilting Near's chin up. "I promise." Then, Mello pressed his lips to Near's eagerly.

Near didn't react to Mello's words, or the kiss. He simply wanted this to be over, and since he still couldn't move, he certainly hoped Mello would finish with this quickly.

Mello frowned at Near's lack of response. What was going on? This wasn't supposed to happen. Near was supposed to do something! Starting to get a bit impatient for a response, Mello quickly slipped his tongue into Near's mouth, letting his tongue explore and memorize every curve and shape in Near's mouth. Surely, Near had to respond now.

Feeling Mello's tongue in his mouth broke Near from his rigid state. He quickly, but not completely comprehensively, tried to think the situation over. Mello was kissing him. Frenching him at that. The blond's hands were placed in a way Near rarely felt in a gentle way. All in all, Near couldn't say he disliked it. In addition, the thought of Matt was far from his mind. The only things on his mind right now were Mello's actions, and the fact that he liked them.

Near reacted more than positively. He closed his eyes, intertwined his tongue with Mello's, put his hands on Mello's back, and pulled the blond closer, his water bottle falling to the floor.

Mello inhaled sharply, almost gasping at the delighting response he was now getting as his eyes opened momentarily. His hand slid from Near's chin to his back, pulling Near closer, his eyes fluttering back closed again as all thought of reserve and nervousness began to fade out. The water bottle went unnoticed; his mind was far too into its state of euphoria to pay attention to it.

He happily let Near do as he pleased, and began enticing Near to continue and possibly escalate his actions by sucking on the pink appendage softly.

Near let out a pleasured sound as Mello sucked on his tongue. He began thinking of the things he wanted to do to make this much nicer. The first thing he wanted was for Mello to stroke his hair. He thought how nice it might feel if Mello played with his hair the way Matt did… That's when Near realized what he was doing and who with.

Hastily, Near broke the kiss. He quickly pried Mello's arms off of him and took a few steps back. All the while, he stared at Mello horrified and mortified. Near had just kissed another person. And to make things worse, it was Matt's best friend. He frowned, turned around and ran towards the door. He needed to get out of there.

Near bumped shoulders with a certain red head as he left the room. The encounter terrified Near as he stared at Matt. Then he quickly continued his dash into his room, locking the door behind him for safety.

Matt scratched his head, confused. "What's up with him?" he asked.

Mello stared, surprised, as Near dashed out of the room. Near didn't sound like Mello was taking it too far… so why did he leave?

When Matt walked in, Mello whipped around and wiped off the small trail of saliva that was running down his chin and stretched, making it appear that he'd been turned around the whole time. Then, while furiously working to keep his previously escalated heart-beat under control, he pulled a straight face and shrugged.

"No clue." A smile tugged at his lips, and he allowed it to pass. "Matt, that boy confuses me sometimes…"

"Do you think I should go ask him what's wrong?" Matt wondered, tilting his head to the side.

Mello blinked. "I dunno," he answered. If Matt did indeed go to Near, would Near tell him what happened? Would he bend the truth to make Mello the one at fault? Near was probably capable of doing that, but it just didn't seem like him. Mello could understand if Near was upset, but taking it out on him would be just plain childish.

"Nah, I'll just let him come to me when he wants." Matt shrugged. Then he went over and flopped down onto his bed. He let out a tired sigh, though it was only noon. "Well, while you were off having fun with Near, I was stuck listening to Linda's annoying voice! I wish I would've gotten paired up with Near…"

Mello frowned. He didn't like where Matt was going. "Why am I not surprised?" He rolled his eyes, keeping his behavior in check. He needed to make sure that he wasn't acting suspicious; act mostly uncaring towards Matt and Near's relationship, and be friendly towards Matt. Both were hard, but Mello was sure he would be able to pull it off in the end.

"I'm serious, Mello! You got so fucking lucky!" Matt complained. "Do you know what I've had to suffer through for two whole hours!?"

Mello sighed. "No, thank god. I don't know how you can stand Linda, I have to give you props for that… though I'd like to see you take on Hawtdawg for a real challenge," Mello commented, plopping down on his bed and leaning back.

"No chance in hell I would be partners with Hawtdawg," Matt said quietly. "So," Matt propped himself up on one elbow and looked over at Mello, "how'd your time with Near go? You didn't rough him up, did you?"

Mello thought back on the events that occurred that day and a grin adorned his face. "Nope! Not at all! I even treated him to lunch. I was a good boy all day!" He replied happily.

"You better not have slipped any poison in his drink," Matt warned, narrowing his eyes at the blond.

Mello sighed, raking a hand through his hair. "I didn't, don't worry. He's perfectly healthy." He rolled his eyes.

"Good. So what do you wanna do for the rest of the day?" Matt asked.

Mello shrugged. "I dunno. I'm not that hungry… What do you want to do?" He asked.

"Play video games… You wanna play with me?" Matt asked, getting up and walking over to the TV stand where his Xbox proudly stood.

Mello nodded enthusiastically and stood up, walking over to Matt. "Sounds awesome! Got any games in mind?" He crouched down and dragged out a few small containers full of video games that were specifically for the Xbox, and then began to rummage through them for a game he liked.

"How about Call of Duty? Or something old, like Halo?" Matt suggested.

Mello pondered over that for a moment before deciding. "Hm… Call of Duty kicks ass, man." He grinned, taking the game out of the container and giving it to Matt.

Near sat in his room trying to stack dice into a tower. Sadly, he was so nervous that he kept messing up the ground floor. And that was embarrassing. Worry was coursing through his veins and his heart was racing. He had always thought people who committed infidelity were weak and immoral. Was he weak and immoral now?

That didn't matter to Near, actually. He had never seen himself as a good guy, anyways. The problem was Matt, and what Near should do. He knew he should honestly tell Matt what had happened, but he didn't want to hurt the redhead. Telling Matt that he had made out with Mello would break Matt's heart.

Near had only seen Matt angry when he and Mello had been fighting. He wasn't sure how angry Matt would be if he found out that he and Mello had pushed way past the fighting and kissed. The first kiss, the one Mello had planted on Near after freaking out about Matt and Near's relationship, could be blamed on Mello. This kiss, however, was Near's fault too. He hadn't been able to push Mello away. He was frozen with fear, which wasn't that terrible. However, Near knew he had crossed the line with kissing back.

If Near tried to hide this from Matt, bad things would happen, though. Mello would be able to blackmail Near. Matt would lose trust in Near when he found out eventually. Hawtdawg would find a way to make the situation ten times worse. Near needed to find a way to fix this.

What if Matt was on the same level as Near? What if Matt kissed someone as well and was as guilty as Near? That could work. Then Matt would feel guilty and when Matt confessed about the kiss, then Near could confess about his kiss with Mello. But who would Matt want to kiss freely?

Near didn't really know who Matt could possibly be attracted to. Plus, how would Near get Matt to kiss them? As he had pointed out multiple times before, Matt was like a dog. He was the most loyal person Near knew. Besides those problems, Near knew that plans like that always backfired. Though he didn't watch TV, he knew that the girlfriend who cheated would try to get her boyfriend to kiss someone else only to have the boyfriend find out and dump her.

Near resented being compared to a girl, even though he himself had made the comparison. Sure, he wasn't the "manliest" guy around, but he certainly was no girl.

Reality caught Near and stopped him from trying to think of other ways to avoid breaking Matt's heart. He knew that any plan to avoid it would be futile. Matt would be crushed no matter what. Near had to confront Matt face-to-face and admit to his infidelity.

The thing Near really had to worry about was how to word it. He wasn't sure he could say it. If he could, he was sure he would say it in a terrible way. Near wasn't the best with dealing with other peoples' emotions. He wasn't the best with dealing with his own emotions. Near always locked them away, which was probably a bad thing. He probably had a brain tumor from suppressing his feelings, but that was beside the point and didn't matter anyways.

Near decided to stay in his room with the door locked for the rest of the day. He slept through most of it, wanting to rest his worried mind. If he wasn't so troubled by the situation, he would've chuckled at his predicament. A few weeks ago, he would never have thought it even possible for someone like him to be caught up in this kind of situation.

Matt came knocking on the door a couple of times, but Near ignored him, and he went away eventually, usually calling to him something like, "Well, I love you, and I guess I'll see you later, Marshmallows," through the door. It was adding salt to the injury. Near would come out and talk to the redhead after he had figured out what to say and how to say.

When Mello knocked Near's door down, though, was a different story.

Mello's eyes were narrowed as he burst open the door to Near's room.

"NEAR!" He shouted, storming over to the white-haired wonder. "It's your turn to take care of April." He shoved the baby into Near's arms, and stood there. Now his business was over with. He could leave, and not have to deal with Near until later that day.

Or…

He could stay for a while.

Grinning, Mello plopped down next to Near. "You know…" His eyes narrowed, and he put his arm around Near's shoulder. "I wouldn't mind having another kid."

Near's eyes widened and his heart raced as Mello handed him the baby. When Mello put his arm around Near and then spoke, Near stared at him, on the verge of panic attack.

"Maybe if you meet someone nice in your future, you could have another…" he whispered.

Mello frowned. Near was too calm for this. "But Near…" Mello pouted, plastering a fake look of concern on his face, "you're my bitch. I can't have anyone but you."

"I am not anyone's bitch, thank you," Near confidently defended himself, though he was in pieces on the insides. After a silent gulp, Near grabbed Mello's hand and removed the blonds' arm. "Now, if you'll kindly leave, I have toys to attend to."

Mello inhaled a deep breath of air, fuming with anger as he bit his lip.

"Shut up, Near!" He shouted, turning towards Near and fisting his hands. "Who do you think you are, huh? Do you think you can control me?"

With that, he jumped on Near.

Near gasped as Mello landed on top of his fragile body. He was terrified now. Mello could do whatever he wanted to Near, and he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. He was just too weak.

"Mello, please don't hurt me…" the albino begged in a whisper. Normally, Near wouldn't be afraid of Mello, but that was when all Mello wanted was to was hit him. The idea of being raped was at least five times worse than the idea of being beat up. It left you dirty, and tainted.

Mello grinned, bringing his face merely inches from Near's with a sly grin. "Do that again." Mello whispered. "I like hearing you beg." Slowly, he drew his finger across Near's lips, his grin softening into a smile.

Near didn't reply. Even if he was terrified, he wouldn't give Mello the satisfaction of hearing him beg. He cringed at Mello's finger on his lips. Other than that, however, Near just stared blankly into Mello's eyes.

Mello sighed, relaxing a bit as he lay on top of Near. One of his hands went to Near's hair, and his fingers sliding into the soft white curls. Matt had often done that before, and he wanted to know how to bring Near's guard down. To get Near's trust. Perhaps even to be willing like he'd been before…

But he couldn't let that slip. He needed to appear a bit calmer, gentler; kinder.

A/N: So yeah… Steve and I both hate this story. We hate writing this story. It's tedious, and unrealistic, and neither of us is into it anymore. We'll finish this story just for some readers, but the end will doubtlessly be crappy. We'd planned a whole story off of this, but we lost sight of how we originally wanted to write this story. Writing our other story, Nine in the Afternoon, made us realize how this story has slowly gotten worse and worse.

This story will not be updated very often, but I will try to end it soon. Sorry for any inconveniences or disappointments this causes, but Steve and I just aren't into this anymore. There's a high chance we'll be writing another MattxNear fic, so yeah…

I hate this story, so reviews won't really help much, and neither will faves or alerts. So yeah.