A/N: A short one-shot I made in celebration of the holidays.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters as well as the song. It's called "Once Upon a December" from the Disney Movie Anastasia. I also borrowed the title from the song.

Matt made his way to his and Mel– no, his room. Mello wasn't here now, was he? He had been wasting his time in the game room wanting to be surrounded by kids for once.

He couldn't bear to be alone this year. Not with it being the first Christmas without his bestest friend.

Matt tightened the red and yellow striped scarf around his neck, pulling the gift close, a remnant of Mello's bright presence in his life. The scarf had been a gift to him two Christmases ago from none other than the great Mello.

Matt clutched it now, as if his life depended on it.

Mello had discovered how sensitive Matt was in the cold weather a few months before Christmas when he was twelve and Mello was nearing thirteen. And the blonde has, painstakingly might I add, self-taught himself how to knit in order to make a scarf. Matt could still see it wasn't perfect.

Some of the stitches were in the wrong place, some not straight and some strands were jutting out. It wasn't perfect but it was something Mello gave, and that in itself made the gift more than priceless. Mello was never one to give gifts.

He went up the staircase on the left wing of the Main House to get to the hallway in the second floor leading to their– his room.

Arriving at the door, Matt took a deep breath. He didn't want to be here, not when Mello has just left. He clenched his eyes shut as he felt the familiar beginnings of tears on his eyes.

Why did Mello have to go?

He ran blindly inside, crashing his body to his bed and burying his head in the pillows. He let the pillows soak up his tears, as he had done about a hundred times since Mello went away.

After a few minutes and a shortage of air, Matt picked his head up from the pillow and turned to lie on his back, facing the ceiling.

Dancing bears, painted wings.

He and Mello had painted the ceiling in their room with those. Different expressions of bears with wings. Some indeed were dancing.

The bears, however many there was, were only of two colors: red and yellow. Both of which represents each of the boys in the room.

Matt had complained about the figures being bears but Mello was the boss and he said it was because even if bears are vicious to others, they care about family.

He stared at the bears playing above him. They had been really exceptional painter in their age. A ghost of a smile flitted in the boy's face.

Things I almost remember and a song someone sings once upon a December.

Matt refused to turn his head to the bed on his right, even though he very much wanted to. It would only remind him that the bed was empty. No more Mello there. No more Mello to sing to him this December.

It has been a sort of ritual for them to sing to each other some Christmas songs. Matt had requested this on their first Christmas together and it had been a habit ever since.

The red head had entered the House a few days before December. He lost his parents in an accident and he was a bit touchy about Christmas. It had been a habit of Matt's mom to sing him to sleep on Christmas Eve.

Someone holds me safe and warm.

Matt let himself remember that Christmas Eve. It has been almost two weeks since he and Mello had met each other, they had been inseparable after, so it was no surprise for them to spend the evening together, away from the prying eyes of other kids.

Matt was not one for social activities and Mello would rather be with Matt than the others.

It hadn't been a good night for Matt since he wasn't all that over with his parent's death. He was sulking and he lay on the bed, much like a while ago, face buried in his pillow. He refused to talk to Mello and the blonde was pissed at this so he decided to rip Matt's head off the damn pillow.

"Come on Matt!" Mello grabbed the boy's head and yanked it to face him.

The blonde immediately regretted what he did after seeing Matt's bloodshot eyes, obviously crying.

"Oh," Mello said, dumbfounded. The last time he had seen Matt crying was the night Matt first spent in their shared room, fresh from the accident.

Matt avoided looking at Mello, ashamed at his display of weakness. But he could not stop himself, once Mello dropped his head, he sobbed more audibly. Mello just sat there, guilt washing through him as Matt's sobs grew louder.

"I–I'm so-sorry Mello!" Matt said suddenly through hiccups and tears.

Mello gritted his teeth, stupid Matt. He was the one who was supposed to say sorry. He was such an insensitive bastard.

"Me-mello? I..I said I wa-was so-sooooorry," Matt whined, afraid that he might have angered Mello since the blonde was not responding.

"Idiot!" Mello snapped and hugged Matt. He didn't know what to say. Actually, he did. But he wasn't one to say sorry, so he just hugged Matt.

At the contact, Matt's cries became harder. He wanted his Mommy and Daddy back. He wanted his Mom to be the one to hug him.

At the increased loudness, Mello gripped Mat's shaking frame harder and he started whispering soothing words to the boy.

"My…Mom used to…used to si-sing to m-me on Chri-christmas E-eve," Matt sobbed.

"Shh, it's okay," Mello said as gently as he could manage while rubbing soothing circles on the other boy's back.

Through his cries, Matt picked out a humming. A melody that was like something from a music box. His sobs subsided as he strained to listen to what Mello was humming.

Mello, who was too far gone, was humming the only December song he liked. It wasn't a happy one but it was something from a long gone memory of his. He, too, was trapped in a assaulting of memories from his distant childhood. All Mello was hearing was that song from Anastasia and tears came unbidden from his own eyes at the memories of his childhood.

"Hmm, mmm hm mmmm hmmm, Horses prance through a silver storm.
Figures dancing gracefully
Across my memory...Mmmm mmmm"

Matt pulled himself away from the memory, tears coming again.

This time, he thought, this one time I'll let myself remember.

With that, he turned to face the bed to his right.

The empty bed was still as unruly as Mello had left it. Matt never dared to touch it, but tonight, he would. He missed Mello too much to care about the inevitable pain he would surely experience after this.

He got up, clutching the scarf and tears streaming, toward Mello's bed.

Matt touched the edge with his eyes closed, reliving all the memories the blonde and he had.

Mello.

Matt was sobbing again as he laid down on the unused bed.

Matt thought it was unfair. He could smell the scent of chocolate. It was as if Mello had never left. The smell was everywhere. On the pillows, on the bed sheets and on the blanket. Mello was everywhere.

That night, Matt sang to himself the song he and Mello shared every Christmas together.

It was a sad song, a song that fitted everything.

"Someone holds me safe and warm.
Horses prance through a silver storm.
Figures dancing gracefully
Across my memory...

Far away, long ago,
Glowing dim as an ember,
Things my heart
Used to know,
Things it yearns to remember...

And a song
Someone sings
Once upon a December…"

God, he missed Mello.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Miles away, Miheal Keehl sat alone on his rundown apartment, a bottle of vodka in his hand.

He was looking out the window, unseeing at the bright city lights that illuminated the city.

He took as swig at the bottle in his hand, grimacing as the alcohol grated at his lungs.

It was Christmas Eve.

The first Christmas away from Matt.

He sang to himself the song they always shared, not noticing the tears running down his face.

"Someone holds me safe and warm.
Horses prance through a silver storm.
Figures dancing gracefully
Across my memory...

Far away, long ago,
Glowing dim as an ember,
Things my heart
Used to know,
Things it yearns to remember...

And a song
Someone sings
Once upon a December…"

God, he missed Matt.