A/N: Hey guys! This is my first Death Note fic (that I've posted, I've written others, I just haven't posted them yet) and I'm really excited for you guys to read it! Let me know any criticism, good or bad! Enjoy!

"Matt! Matt!" A voice calls.

"MATT! Wake up!"

Matt lurches up as a pillow hits him forcefully in the face, the sheer strength coming from only one possible person.

Mello.

The blonde glares icily with his blue orbs, standing up from his bent position over his prey and tossing Matt's goggles to him. Matt groans, rubbing his emerald eyes groggily.

"What the fuck do you want, Mello?" He asks as he puts on his goggles, brushing his reddish hair out of his eyes. Mello huffs and pulls a large chocolate bar from his vest pocket, pulling back a piece of foil and snapping a large hunk off with his teeth, a loud 'snap' filling the room. He chews it, and swallows. Matt once overs his best friends leather-clad body, before looking out through the window. He sees nothing but pitch-black dark.

"Why in Bowser's name are you waking me up before the sun rises? No, forget that, why are you up before the sun rises?" Matt asks with an agitated glare. Mello rolls his eyes, as if its obvious.

"Well, Matty, if you don't recall, we had made plans to wake up early and raid the kitchen. I'm almost out of chocolate." Mello says, annoyed, placing his fist on his hip. Matt stares at him angrily.

"You woke me up for that?" Matt asks ludicrously. Mello pinches the bridge of his nose with his other hand, sighing loudly. He looks at Matt frustratedly.

"We could also steal Linda's teddy bear, on the way back. Maybe then she wouldn't torment you so." Mello adds thoughtfully. Matt rolls his eyes, still sitting up in bed.

"She doesn't torment me. If anything, you torment her. She's still terrified of you."

Mello waves a hand dismissively. "Oh, that old time with the stick. That wasn't a big deal. I figured she'd be over that." He follows with a large bite of chocolate. He finishes off the bar and crumples the foil, tossing it into the trashcan.

Matt gives a half smile. "You slapped her across the face with a tree limb. It was not a stick." He corrects.

Mello purses his lips. "She shouldn't have taken your goggles. And she really shouldn't have told on me." Mello gives a slight smile, reminiscing. "And that was the last of my chocolate." He adds with a frown.

Matt sighs, pushing back the blankets and trudging to his dresser, clad in a pair of blue boxers, before pulling out a red-and-black striped long-sleeve shirt and a pair of dark skinny jeans. He slips them on, before slipping on his boots, leaving his vest and gloves. He turns to Mello.

"Let's go get your damn chocolate so I can go back to sleep." He announces, grabbing his pack of cigarettes and sliding one out, placing it between his lips and tossing the pack on his bed. Mello grins.

"There's the Matty I know and tolerate," Mello says with a toothy grin. Matt rolls his eyes, grabbing his lighter.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Matt mumbles around the cigarette. "You totally owe me. I'm thinking the newest Pokemon game sounds pretty damn reasonable." He fumbles with the lighter, finally lighting the cigarette and taking a puff. He breathes the smoke in Mello's direction, and Mello swats the air.

"Come on. I'm barely tolerating you without chocolate." Mello taunts. Matt flips him off, before opening the door with one hand and taking a puff of his cigarette with the other. Mello chuckles, and follows after him, shutting the door quietly behind them.

They creep down the hallways, their only light coming from the dim glow of Matt's cigarette. They finally reach the kitchen storage, and Matt looks at Mello expectantly. Mello hands him a gold bobby pin, and Matt crouches down to pick the lock. He quickly stands back up and gives Mello a frantic glance.

"It's already unlocked. Someone's in there." Matt whispers. Mello narrows his eyes.

"The bastards better keep their hands off my fucking chocolate." Mello says as he gently pushes open the door. Matt gives him a questionable expression and Mellow ignores him. They step inside, only to find the storage room lit. They glance around, and see a tall, very slim, ivory-skinned, raven-haired man, stuffing his mouth with strawberry shortcake. He meets their glances, his sleep-deprived, panda-like eyes darting back and forth between the pair, with a large mouthful of cake, crumbs spilling down his chin. He mumbles something incoherent.

"What?" Mello asks sharply. The man swallows, wiping his face.

"Hello. What are you two doing out of bed?"

"We could ask you the same question." Mello says, crossing his arms. A small smile graces the man's face.

"I, am having a late night snack." He states matter-o'-factly. "And you?"

"What makes you think I'd tell you?" Mello scowls. Matt shoves his shoulder, taking a large puff of his cigarette. Mello growls.

"If you must know, I'm out of chocolate." Mello says frustratedly, arms still crossed. "And, who are you, anyways?" He asks with a glare.

"I am Ryuzaki." The man deadpans. Mello continues to glare.

"I've never seen you around. You're awfully old to be a Wammy kid."

L looks at Mello thoughtfully. "That is true. Actually, I was the first child in the Wammy house."

Mello uncrosses his arms, his eyes widening. Matt puts his cigarette out on his jeans, burning a small hole into the leg. He stuffs the butt into his pocket.

"You don't mean..." Mello scoffs. Matt just stares at the man, intrigued. The man nods.

"Yes. I am L. Tell no one, and I shall give you your chocolate." Mello glances at Matt.

"Fine," he agrees grumbly. L hands him multiple bars of chocolate. Mello stuffs them all into his vest pocket, and nods at L. He starts to turn to walk away, but L stops him with a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"What is your name?" L asks. Mello pauses.

"Mello." He says, his eyes slightly narrowed. "And that's my best friend, Matt." He adds. L nods, giving an acknowledging smile.

"I see you two doing great things. Perhaps you'll get a letter... Maybe you two are M." L says monotonously, locking his baggy eyes with the blonde's. Mello gives a confused look.

"Okay." He says, trying to escape further conversation. He leaves quickly, dragging Matt by the sleeve. Matt watches over his shoulder as L takes another bite of cake, before Mello closes the kitchen storage door, blocking the man from view.

Mello trudges down the hallway, his face unreadable. Matt jogs behind him, eventually catching up.

"You don't really think that he was L, do you?" Matt asks with a furrowed brow. Mello huffs, yanking a chocolate bar out of his pocket and greedily tearing it open, ripping a large chunk of chocolate off of the bar before mauling it with his teeth and tongue.

"I don't know. All I know is we were all supposed to meet L this Friday, and now a mysterious stranger claiming to be L shows up. It can't be just a coincidence. I just figured that..." Mello huffs, biting a hunk of chocolate again. "He'd be different. I guess that's just one more disappointment."

Matt sighs. "I'm sure when we formally meet him, he'll be all you imagined, everything you looked up to. Don't judge a book by its cover, Mello. Not everything is a disappointment." Mello stops his trudging, turning his head over his shoulder and growling at Matt.

"You don't know what disappointments I've lived through." Mello continues stomping down the hallway, and they reach their door. Mello throws it open and Matt shuts it forcefully.

"Mello, for fuck's sake, you're not the only person who's been through rough shit here at the Wammy house! That's why we're all here! That's why I'M here, Mello!" Matt shouts angrily.

"You don't know what I've been through! You don't understand the guilt I feel, every single day!" Mello fires back angrily. Matt yanks his auburn hair furiously.

"Fuck, Mello! All I'm saying is you're not alone! But, honestly, I don't know why not! I don't know why I put up with your shit! All you do is demean me and act as if I'm your inferior! I'm your damn friend, Mello!" Matt screams, his voice cracking on the last sentence. He glares at the blonde, the gesture returned by Mello's icy blond eyes, cold and hard.

"I never asked you to be my friend, Matt." Mello grits his teeth and swipes his arm along his dresser, flinging his photographs and few belongings to the ground. Matt pauses and swallows. He grabs his pillow and cigarettes from his bed, putting his lighter in his pocket.

"Fuck you," he says quietly, his voice filled with pain. Matt opens the door and exits, closing it behind him. He runs down the hallways of the orphanage, and out the front door, eventually coming to a stop in a clearing a dozen or so yards from the orphanage. He finds a tree and tosses his pillow down by the trunk, stuffing his pack of cigarettes into his pocket. He throws himself onto the grass and lays his head on his pillow, a gentle stream of angry tears flowing down his cheek. He pulls out a cigarette, and lights it, puffing repetitively in anger and frustration. He cries for the day his father died, when his alcoholic addiction finally shriveled his liver away to nothingness. He cries for the beatings he and his mother received daily, the alcohol not nearly enough to numb his father's pain. He recalls the day he started smoking, the pack he stole from the convenience store, and how he promised himself to never drink, to smoke instead. He cries for the day his mother was taken from him, shipped to a mental institution, her eyes glazed with hurt from his father's passing, and her body covered with bruises from his father's previous beatings. He cries for the kids who picked on him, for the children who made fun of him at the Wammy house. And, most of all, he cries for the one friendship he tried to have, for the cocky blonde who never let Matt get picked on when he had anything to do with it. He lies there for what feels like hours, the sun barely even grazing the horizon, and finishes his pack of cigarettes, not even noticing how many he'd smoked until his pack is empty. He hears soft, muffled footsteps and doesn't bother to turn his head, already knowing who it is. Mello sits down beside him.

"I'm sorry, Matt. I'm glad you're my friend. And I'm sorry for how I treat you. I'm just mad at the world, and I take it out on you. I'm sorry." Mello says slowly, after a few moments. Matt's nearly-subsided tears come back now, flowing freely. He sobs, and hiccups on it, choking it back. Mello strokes his best friend's hair comfortingly, an odd gesture coming from the blonde. He pulls Matt's head into his lap.

"I know, Matt. I know what happened to your parents. And I'm sorry for that, too. I'm sorry that you had to live with that." Mello says quietly. Matt reaches up and clasps the hand stroking his hair in his own. He squeezes it.

"What happened to your mom, Mello? You told me that you never met your father, but..." Matt whispers.

"We got into a car accident. She didn't make it. She wasn't looking at the road, she was turned around, looking at me in the backseat and telling me about how we were going to go see the ocean. I was... So excited, I kept pleading for her to tell me more... She went through the windshield, and bled out on the street. They gave me the rosary she wore, before they took her body away." Mello's voice cracks. Matt shifts his head to look at Mello. Mello licks his lips and continues shakily, fingering the crucifix on his rosary. "I'll never forgive myself for it. If I hadn't been so persistent on her telling me every damn detail..." He chokes out. Matt rolls onto his stomach, and squeezes Mello's hand. The dew wets the front of his shirt, dampening it.

"What was she like?" Matt asks softly. Mello smiles.

"She was the sweetest woman I've ever met. She used to push my bangs out of my

eyes and pin them back; I remember how soft her hands were. She had hair like mine, too. Every night she would grab this box of chocolates from her dresser, and after a long day from working two jobs, she'd curl up with me in her bed and we'd share a piece of chocolate." Mello says, his eyes watery. He smiles half-heartedly. "She used to always give me the bigger half. She told me it would make me stronger, and I needed it more than she did. I remember, she used to brush my hair every night, and she told me that it was beautiful, to never cut it. I promised her that I wouldn't." Mello wipes away a tear, grimacing, and looks Matt in the eyes.

"And, her eyes... They were the exact same shade of green as yours." Mello whispers. He shakily leans down and meets his lips with Matt, kissing him gently. Matt kisses him back, softly. They part within seconds. Mello looks away.

Matt tugs Mello's chin, forcing him to make eye contact. "Mello, please, look at me. Don't ever be afraid to feel, Mello. It's okay to feel sad, to feel angry. It's okay to feel love." Matt says quietly. He hesitantly leans up and kisses Mello, soft but quick. He pulls away and rests his forehead against Mello's.

"You're my best friend, Mello." Matt says, his emerald eyes twinkling. Mello smiles sadly.

"You're my only friend, Matt. But, I wouldn't have it any other way." Mello says. He squeezes Matt's hand, and Matt squeezes back. Matt turns over and lays on his back, resting his head in Mello's lap. They watch the sun rise, the pinks, oranges, yellows, purples, and blues mixing together beautifully.

"Thank you, Matt. For being my friend, even when I didn't ask." Mello says quietly. He pulls out his chocolate bar and takes a bite, before handing it to Matt. Matt smiles up at Mello, his image of him upside down. Matt takes a large bite, and chews it thoughtfully, before handing the bar back to Mello.

"You're welcome, Mello. But, I think I just like being your friend because you make me feel stronger. It's easier to get through it with you as my friend" Matt replies. Mello smiles sadly.

"Maybe that's why she always gave me the bigger half... So, someday, I could give someone else the bigger half, someone who needed it more than I did, but I still had what I needed."

Matt squeezes Mello's hand, again, and Mello squeezes back.