Here's the first chapter of the sequel to Feel It in My Bones! If you have not read Feel It in My Bones, I suggest you start there; otherwise, the content in this story will not make a lot of sense.

This story is still being written, so please don't expect speedy updates. I cannot guarantee a timeline for updates at this current time, either.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy :)

Warnings (for the entire story): Strong language, violence, sexuality, and mentions of recreational use of alcohol and illegal substances.

Suggested Listening: "Bad Boy" - Cascada (lyrics in this chapter are from this song)

Take Your Time

~Bad Boy~

"Wake up, gorgeous."

The words were accompanied with a gentle nudge. No response.

A little more forcefully: "I said, wake up."

A pitiful groan came from the mound of covers next to me.

My patience snapped. "Wake up, dumbass! You're lying on my arm!"

The beast (aptly named for how loud he gets when he snores) hogging all the blankets finally stirred at this. Rolling over, he threw the covers back and blinked at me in confusion. His red hair was already a rat's nest, but he made it worse by running a hand through it as he tried to sort his faculties.

"Where's the fire, Mells?" Matt asked through a yawn.

"Right here if you don't get your ass out of bed."

"Oh, it's that time of the month, is it?" Snarky little bastard. He knew all too well that this displeased me, because that shit-eating grin of his was already taking residence on his face without me having to say anything. That is, until he caught sight of the clock. "Seven o'clock? Seriously? It's my day off!"

"Yes, I know. It's Sunday, which also means that I have to leave for church soon. I thought we could have breakfast before I leave."

Apparently, this held no allure for him because he rolled back over and heaved a sigh.

Drama Queen.

Okay – switching tactics. "C'mon, Matty, up and at 'em," I coaxed, rubbing his arm. "I'll make you breakfast."

Matt snorted. "In other words, you'll give me a bowl of Cocoa Puffs."

I smirked and nuzzled into him. "Made with love," I said.

He just sighed again.

Food and cuddles usually make for a happy, easily cajoled Matt – but it appeared that he was going to make things difficult today. Well, that's okay. I'm just getting started.

I hopped out of bed and went over to his desk by the window. Opening the lid on his laptop, I took it out of standby and opened up the music player. It only took a few moments of perusing Matt's (dirty little secret) collection of electronic music to find the perfect track. I clicked play and turned up the volume as loud as it would go.

Let's see him try and ignore me now.

As the first verse blared out of the speakers, I ran my hands over my body slowly, just feeling the music. Matt looked over, apparently confused by my absence and the sudden noise, only to see what I was about; he rolled his eyes in response to which I gave him a wink in return. He watched me dance for a few seconds before shoving his head under his pillow.

Oh, just you wait, Matty.

I bided my time until the right moment to pounce, stalking slowly around the bed. The song exploded into the chorus, and I made my move. Hopping neatly onto the bed, I planted a knee on either side of Matt's body and continued to roll my hips to the beat. I crooned along to the words, smirking like the devil.

Annoyed, Matt groaned into the pillow, saying two little words that rhyme with the words truck and cough. Naughty, naughty… He should have his mouth cleaned out with soap. Yes – I think I picked the perfect song.

"Be my bad boy, be my man;
Be my weekend lover, but don't be my friend."

Seeing that my teasing wasn't getting anywhere (or at least Matt was being too stubborn to admit if it was), I got to my feet and started jumping on the bed in time to the beat. This finally seemed to work if Matt's nearly constant grumbling was anything to go by.

"You can be my bad boy, but understand
That I don't need you again.
No, I don't need you again."

As it was the last song in the playlist, playback ceased entirely when it ended. The room was thrown back into silence, almost seeming to deflate after being filled to the brink with energy. I still felt the song thrumming through my veins, but I stopped dancing to see if my performance had made any impression on the deadweight sprawled across the bed. No sooner had I stopped moving than I was grabbed by the ankle, flipped onto my back, and pinned against the bed.

"Ugh, heifer!" I protested as Matt settled his weight over top of me.

His eyes were narrowed at me, but he couldn't hide the laughter in them. "I do believe that's the gayest thing you've ever done."

I quirked an eyebrow at him. "Even gayer than the position we're in right now?"

"You know what I mean." Settling back in, he laid his head against my shoulder. "You know, in a pejorative sense – not literal."

"I think you mean 'not in a colloquial sense', seeing as I'm not literally gay right now either. Do you see me jumping for joy? Oh, that's right; you have me pinned to a bed."

I felt a huff of air against my shoulder as Matt chuckled. "Smartass."

Deciding to ignore this comment, I continued on, "I mean, there are so many other things we could be doing right now." While I was speaking, I had been running my hand lightly through his hair. Now, I let my hand travel down to the nape of his neck, and I felt him shiver against me.

Oh, yes. Things are about to get colloquial up in here.

Matt raised his head to look at me, and his eyes were like open windows, letting me know exactly what it was that he desired most. I couldn't complain.

"Do you know what I really want?" I asked him, looking up into his eyes.

"What?"

"I want…" I leaned up to nip at his earlobe before breathing into his ear, "… breakfast."

Matt didn't find this half as funny as I did. Resting his head on my shoulder again, he replied gruffly, "Sleep."

Just then, there was a knock at the door. I smirked.

Good timing, Mrs. J.

"Guys, I just wanted to let you know that I'm on my way to work now. I won't be home until late tonight, so if Mello is planning on staying the night again, you can make whatever you want for supper." She paused, and I wondered for a second if she had left, but then she said, "… I hope you two are using protection."

"Yeah, sure," Matt mumbled, not even bothering to open his eyes. "Whatever you say, Mom."

I grinned, holding back laughter. Any minute now…

All of a sudden, his eyes popped open and he went still.

Three seconds – not bad.

Matt erupted into movement, limbs flailing everywhere as he scrambled out of bed. I just narrowly avoided getting an elbow in the gut by pressing myself flush against the wall. I watched as he stumbled across the room; he ended up taking the whole blanket with him, it being tangled around his legs, and it amazed me that he didn't trip. He nearly tore the door off its hinges, revealing his smiling mother standing on the other side.

"We weren't doing anything!" He jabbed a finger in my direction. "See?"

Mrs. Jeevas looked over to where I was laying on the bed, propped up on my elbows. I gave her a little finger-wave.

She quirked an eyebrow at Matt, obviously amused. "Apparently."

We both watched as his mouth opened and closed a few times as he looked back and forth between us, his face turning beet red. I couldn't help but smile, which made him even more flustered (and even cuter – but repeat that I said that, and I'll hunt you down).

Finally, it seemed that he could take no more, because he made a hasty escape to the bathroom, closing the door to it behind him. Not even five seconds later, I could hear the sound of the shower being turned on.

Mrs. Jeevas shared a triumphant look with me before looking down at her watch. "Well, would you look at that! New record." Then, turning to the bathroom, she rapped at the door. "Mail, make sure you wipe any soap stains off the tub when you're done. The last time it looked like a smurf had jizzed in there."

Following these words was a thunk against the wall (probably slipped, the clumsy idiot) and an indignant squawk. "Mom!"

Matt's mom burst into giggles at this. She composed herself shortly, though, and then went off down the hallway towards the stairs. As she descended, I heard her humming. I tilted my head to the side, listening for a moment, trying to think why the tune seemed so familiar. Then she sang a few lines quietly, off key, but it carried to me all the same.

"Oh, you can be my bad boy, but understand that I don't need you again… no, I don't need you again…"

I tipped my head back and laughed so hard that I had Matt calling to me from the other room to ask if I was okay.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

I suppose an explanation is in order, seeing as I haven't written in here in a while.

It's been two months, give or take a few days, since the day that Matt showed up in my backyard, threw a rock at my bedroom window, and turned me into a complete and utter sap (I'm still not as much of a sap as he is, though; everyone knows who wears the pants in our relationship and yes, they're leather and yes, my ass looks fantastic in them).

During the time between then and now, we've already worked out a routine that suits us both perfectly. The transition from friends to boyfriends was near seamless. As much as I hate admitting when I'm wrong – which still isn't that often, mind you – I have to admit that I had been acting like a stubborn jackass.

Whatever – you live and you learn, right?

That's not to say that everything's perfect. We still get annoyed with one another, we still argue, and we're still stubborn. Half the time I think we do it because we're of the mind that perfection is boring. Halle says it's because we're just boys being boys, while sheep-bitch says it's because we're too deviant to function without conflict.

Hey. That's another thing that hasn't changed: I still hate Near.

Beyond that, life's just gone on as normal. Matt got a new job about a month ago loading delivery trucks at the Yellow Box warehouse ten minutes out of town (more proof of his stubbornness: he refused to take Watari up on his offer of helping him to get a job to do with computers no matter how much I tried to get him to see reason), and I still work at my dad's shop. As for our friends, all are currently involved in some form of post-secondary education or another. That is, except for Halle – but she's been so flaky lately that she'd just drop out after a month anyway.

Matt still talks to Wedy, but I long ago decided that I'm cool with it. He explained to me that he'd always seen her as just a friend, and that did contribute to easing my mistrust – but it's more that I'm now certain that she sees him as just a friend. That, and Naomi told me that Wedy has started seeing some tall, handsome foreign-exchange student.

So, that issue's pretty much dead and buried.

Oh – and L sends me postcards sometimes. There are usually chocolate-smudge fingerprints on them, and the messages are quirky and almost never have anything to do with the beautiful pictures of Japanese landmarks on the front. The messages are usually something like: "I read a good book today. You would enjoy it. It's called…" or "Light-kun is not particularly gifted at doing laundry. I have lately discovered that there are many things that I do not know about carrying out domestic tasks."

At least he isn't writing to me about all the ways that Light made him scream last night.

Thank God for small miracles.

Misa still doesn't have a clue. She's enrolled in the community college (all in the hopes of getting a clue), but no-one's quite sure what she's aiming for. I'd say she's just killing time before her "boyfriend" comes back for Christmas, but only if I was a mean person.

Oh, yeah. That's right. I am.

Life goes on.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

While waiting for Matt to get out of the shower, I made the bed, got dressed, and gathered my things. After that, I went down to the kitchen and set about making breakfast. I settled on slicing two bagels and popping them in the toaster because, apparently, they were out of Cocoa Puffs.

It's a travesty, I swear.

The phone rang about a minute later. In case it was somebody important, I leaned over to read the display. I smirked and picked up the phone.

"Jeevas residence," I said.

There was a slight pause. "… Hello, Mello."

I twitched. I always hate it when he does that…

My tone was clipped as I replied, "Matt's busy. What do you want?"

"That is fine; it serves my purpose just as well to talk to you." I could almost imagine him twirling his hair around his finger and smirking that arrogant smirk of his as his droning voice grated against my ears.

I leaned against the counter. "And that would be?"

"I wish to extend an invitation to Matt and yourself to come to lunch with Linda and me next Saturday. You may invite Halle as well."

I snorted. "What makes you think we would like to go?" We would probably end up going anyway, but I was at least going to make him work for it.

"It was Matt's suggestion that prompted the invitation, so there is no question of that."

I silently seethed.

Just then, Matt walked in, rubbing a towel over his hair, and I suddenly got bitten by an idea.

I smiled and waved at Matt before turning my back to him. In a hushed tone, I stage-whispered, "You can't keep calling here like this; he's going to find out."

Behind me, I heard the rustling of the towel abruptly stop.

It was quiet on the other line for a few long moments before I heard, "… I beg your pardon?"

I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing. "Seriously, it's getting kind of creepy."

"Mello, I have no idea what you are–"

Grinning openly, knowing that there was no way that Matt could see it, I continued on, "I think it's best for both of us if we just end this here." I hung up directly afterwards and set the phone back in the cradle.

Matt was giving me a suspicious look as I turned to face him. "What the hell was that about?"

I shrugged, still grinning. "Just messing with Near. Don't worry; he'll call you back later." Feeling quite satisfied with myself, I grabbed our bagels out of the toaster and starting putting butter on them.

Matt snorted and rolled his eyes. "That wasn't my first worry…"

"Oh? Whatever do you mean?"

He wound the towel up and snapped it at me. I flicked him on the shoulder in retaliation, and he stuck his tongue out at me.

Fine – I deserved it. I'll give him that.

I slid the plate with his bagel on it over to him. "I made you breakfast. I don't know why, though, since you're being so ungrateful."

"Aww, shucks, Mells," he cooed sarcastically. "You're so sweet sometimes." He grinned then before taking a large bite out of his bagel.

Picking up my own plate, I gave him a smirk before making my merry way over to the table. Matt followed me, rubbing at his shoulder with a look of discomfort.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He took another bite, this time a bit more savagely. "I think my shirt shrunk in the wash." Which definitely was not the truth.

Ever since he'd started working at the warehouse job, Matt had started to beef up a bit. It wasn't to the extent that someone could pick him out on the street as being a bodybuilder or anything – far from it, actually – but that he'd filled out compared to when he'd been doing nothing but sitting on his ass, playing video games all day. He was starting to look less like a lanky teen and more like an adult.

I have no complaints.

Upon closer examination of his attire, I quickly spotted the problem. "That's because you're wearing my shirt."

Matt blinked at me before looking down at his chest. Looking up once more, he said, "Shit. You're right."

I sighed. "I guess this means we'll have to do a closet inventory again."

There were so many striped articles in my closet at this time that it was beginning to look like the Serengeti during zebra migration. As for Matt's closet… Let's just say that the "dominatrix" joke had been made more than once (and retribution paid out in kind. A word to the wise: never tell me your ticklish spots).

He nodded, taking the last bite of his bagel. As he did so, I watched how the strengthening sunlight coming in through the window deepened the shadows of his features. I hadn't noticed it when we were going through high school because of his goggles, but his features were thinning and becoming more defined. With his long eyelashes and Cupid's-bow lips, people who had seen him with his eyes uncovered had always said that he looked pretty for a boy. He used to give off an air of innocence without meaning to. Now, though, with the sharpening of his jaw and cheekbones, he looked beautiful (especially to me; I told you he turned me into a sap…), but no longer naïve.

It was the look in his eyes, maybe. There was a thoughtfulness there that had become more pronounced since the summer. It seemed to extend beyond the physical…

I wonder how it is that I can spend so much time with him, but not have noticed how much he'd grown up.

Matt frowned at me, and my train of thought was instantly broken. "What?"

"Hm?"

It was only then that I noticed that his face had steadily grown redder under my inspection.

"You've been staring at me for the past two minutes. Is there something on my face?"

I shook my head. "Can't I ogle my boyfriend without being questioned?"

He rubbed a hand over his face in embarrassment, but it wasn't quick enough to hide his smile. I smirked.

There's an example of two things right there that hasn't changed: he can never stop himself from blushing, and his eyes always light up when he smiles.

Ugh… What is he doing to me?

Time to change the subject.

I reached out and tapped him on the chin. "You forgot to shave."

He snorted, latching onto the topic change right away. "I didn't forget. I just knew that you'd be annoyed if I took too long."

"Right you are, Matty-boy."

We were quiet for a while after that. I finished my bagel while looking out the window. As the seconds slipped through our fingers, I frowned as I thought of going back to church for the first time in a few months. For some reason, I doubted that they were going to have a carpet laid out for my arrival and a cake for the after-service lunch. Or maybe they would; it would be a chocolate cake specifically. And I wouldn't be allowed to have any.

Those bastards.

At half past eight, I got up to clear away our dishes, but was stopped by Matt's arm curling around my waist.

"Thanks for breakfast." He was smiling up at me, pressing lightly on the small of my back, and I leaned down to kiss him as he wanted. The fact that he was welcome to it was more than implied.

It was after that that I pulled away and left his house, willfully walking away from my favourite person in the world and right into a den of wolves.

Such are the things that one does for family.