A/N: I'm very ticked off right now, I wrote this whole entire story up and it ended up being about 13 pages when done. I was so satisfied with it, it was the best thing I had ever done (minus what I thought was some OOC stuff). Then I made the mistake of deciding to go back and re-read, and edit it. I noticed that some things were screwing up but I didn't do anything. So finally my computer got mad and shut it off, completely losing the whole story. I was pissed, why this one-shot?! Why not any other one?! Ugh, I'm so upset because I know the new one won't be as good!

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or the characters, that's good enough considering the circumstances.

Title: Puzzles

(Be sure to read the note at the end!)

Near's P.O.V.

It was a normal day, just another boring day where nothing interesting happens. Everything is quiet and nothing seems to happen. I'm not much for a very fast, hectic, lifestyle but it sometimes gets to the point where when someone gets into trouble or when something valuable is lost it can be interesting to listen in on.

I suppose I do like these days sometimes though, afternoons where it's quiet and I can sit in the empty common room and work on my blank puzzle; letting my mind reach out and touch the world when I can't.

I picked up a white piece, connecting it with another on the board that sat before me; all the while thinking about which piece should be put next. It was almost done, thirty or so more pieces and it'd be complete again.

I love puzzles.

It's the thought that it's a mystery and yet one where the answer is sitting right in front of me the whole time and I can be assure that all of the pieces needed to make that answer are there.

But not only that, blank puzzles are the best kind; by far the closest to any real life mystery. All the pieces are exactly the same in everything but their shape, which forces me to look at only that and thus I won't be misled by the picture that would be on the front.

Many people would say having a blank puzzle would make it harder, but for me it's even easier than the ones with pictures.

Just then I heard the sound of pounding feet running on the upstairs that were moving to the stairs. There was definitely more than one person. Two people? And they're definitely boys, girls don't make that much noise.

Suddenly, Matt burst into the room, dodging me as though I wasn't even there; something was clutched in his hand but he ran by so quick I couldn't tell what it was until he finally stopped at the opposite side of the room.

I looked over at him, wondering why exactly he had decided to come in here and escape whoever he had been running from. There was no outlet from this room unless he was planning on crashing through one of the closed windows.

Now that I think about it, I wouldn't put it past him.

"Matt get the fuck back here!" Came that familiar, enraged voice. "I swear I'll kill you!" The blonde said just as he appeared at the entrance of the room.

My eyes flicked from Mello back to Matt to see what he would do. "No way," he said, "not until you admit that I'm the best gamer ever and that I'm all around better than you."

"Hell no! Give me back my fucking chocolate now and I swear I'll kill you just a little bit faster." Said Mello, predictably.

"Oh? Well then, I guess I have no choice but to eat this chocolate myself then." Matt said.

The redhead had barely gotten the bar within a foot from his mouth when Mello launched himself from his spot towards him. I barely had enough time to look back to watch him move, but he seemed to be closer to me than Matt had been when he had run past me.

Bam!

My puzzle! I'm not sure how Mello did it, it happened too fast to catch, but somehow while trying to get to Matt before he could eat the candy he ran right over my puzzle, not only leaving a print on it from the bottom of his boot but scattering the pieces that had sat around it.

Matt ran from him, somehow evading Mello and once again exiting back out into the hallway.

I was too shocked to even bother to look. My puzzle had a print on it, there was a picture overtop of the white. If it didn't come off it would be ruined! (Not even factoring in if I lost any of the pieces.)

Mello ran to the opening of the room again, just as I had figured he would do. He could be quite predictable at times and I half expected him to turn and tell me: 'watch where you put your stuff!' Before running out again.

So it surprised me what he did next.

His footsteps stopped by the entrance to the room; out of the corner of my eye I could just barely see him turn back to me, "oh, uh, sorry about your puzzle, Near." He said quietly as though he didn't want anyone else to hear him utter the words.

I stopped, had I really just heard Mello utter an apology to me? To me: Near, his rival? No, there must be some mistake here. "It's ruined." I said almost as quietly as he had before; my eyes still pointed downwards.

"No," I looked up as he walked back over, "you're just overreacting." He said, kneeling down and beginning to try and put everything back the way it had been before he had stormed over it.

I could only stare at him, shocked, who exactly was sitting beside me here? This wasn't the Mello I knew, this was nothing close to the predictable actions Mello would have normally taken.

Matt had just escaped with his chocolate bar and yet for some reason he was here putting everything back the way it had been. But why? Wasn't chocolate his everything? Why wasn't he going after it now?

And why was he doing this now? It wasn't like someone was making him do it; he knew I wouldn't be the one to make him do this as a means of making up for it.

My mind offered me no answers.

Finally he sat back, "there, see, good as new." He said, quickly brushing off the markings that had been left on the pristine white paint on the pieces.

"Mello?" I asked, though not completely sure what exactly I was asking.

"What?" He glared at me, his eyes blank and holding nothing for me to find, "I apologized for messing up your stupid puzzle!" He stood up and began to walk away as I concluded those to be more normal Mello-actions.

But then he stopped again, turning slightly to look back at me with his blue eyes, "why do you do those stupid puzzles anyway?" He asked, "you've done them all probably fifty times or more by now."

"I love puzzles." I said.

"But why?" He asked, turning so his entire form was facing me.

I stayed silent, just watching him. There was no simple one sentence answer I could give to answer his question.

He sighed and walked over to me again, his hand suddenly reached out and took my face, gently tilting it up till I was staring straight at him; and him back at me. His eyes were searching mine, but I couldn't figure out what he was trying to find.

I couldn't say anything, he held me so gently as though I was crystal in his hand. I would have never thought this to be possible for Mello, and even if it was I never thought I'd be the one to see it; his rival.

But as his eyes searched me I felt a surge of emotions hit me that I had never felt before.

My body was rigid with what felt like nervousness, but I quickly figured that was probably because I didn't want him to hit me. My heart seemed to grow wings in my chest and flew in place; I didn't know why or what I had done to cause that. My fingers tingled and itched to touch something, maybe his hand, just to be sure that this was actually happening. My skin grew hot suddenly and again I was at a loss as to why since it was had been relatively cool in the room only a few moments ago.

What had his gentle touch just done to me?

"Stupid." He finally said, a small smirk crossing his face.

Then, after the single moment that had seemed to pass like hours and yet still seemed to end too quickly, his hand fell back to his side. He turned back around and exited from the room without sparing me another word or gracing me with another look.

I turned back to my puzzle as though the scene between Mello and I had not happened at all, but the white board in front of me no longer held my interest.

There was a bigger puzzle sitting in front of me now and I was determined to figure it out.

-

Later that night I sat up thinking about what had happened between Mello and I in the common room; twirling a strand of white hair between my fingers as my thoughts searched for explanations.

There were so many questions that I desired answers to. Why had Mello done all of that? He hates me, why would he try and make that scene better and then go so far as to touch me like that? I was sure if he ever touched me it would be only to hit me.

It just didn't make sense.

And the feelings that had consumed me when his hand had held my face, why had they come up? What did they mean? I've never felt anything like that before and even though they were interesting, to say the least, I can't help but wonder why it happened when Mello had been touching me and no time before.

I finally let out a silent exhale and stood up. I needed answers to these questions now. He hadn't been hateful towards me earlier, so maybe it'll be the same way now. It was a long shot, but one that in this situation I was willing to take. All the pieces to the puzzle weren't here now but perhaps with those answers I would retrieve some of them and be closer to solving it.

I then grabbed a rectangular bar off the bed-side table and placed it in my pocket before I left the room. Just in case.

I made my way down the dark hallway that seemed to triple in size at night and had to count each of the doors and remind myself who was in each room so I didn't accidentally walk past it in my disorientation.

When I reached the room that Mello shared with Matt I stood outside the room, memorizing the grains of wood in the door. Perhaps this was a bad idea, maybe I should wait till morning to ask him, or tomorrow afternoon. This did seem like such a trivial thing now; it didn't seem urgent enough to wake him if he should be sleeping.

It didn't seem like it, but the more I thought about it, the more I needed the answers now.

So I quietly rapped on the door, just loud enough that I was sure the two inside would hear me if they were still awake.

"What?" Came Mello's annoyed voice from inside.

I pushed the last thoughts I had about just leaving away and forced myself to open the door, entering into the darkened room. Both boys were still up, Matt playing one of his games on the TV and Mello laying on his back on his bed while watching him.

"What do you want, Near?" He asked; his blue eyes that glowed from the light of the TV locked on me.

I needed to talk to him about earlier, but how was I supposed to tell him that without fully letting him know? I didn't want Matt in the room, and I knew once Mello caught on he probably wouldn't either.

Somehow he caught the hint in my silence and diverted eyes.

"Matt," he said firmly, "get out."

"What, why? This is my room too!" Matt said without stopping his actions with his game.

"Just get the fuck out for a while!" He said forcefully, his tone leaving no room for debate.

Matt finally sighed heavily and saved his game, then turned it off and got one of his other portable games, "fine, whatever, I'll be downstairs." He said after flipping it on and moving past me, out of the door.

The room grew silent and was darker now since the only thing that had been lighting the room had been the TV; the tension between us was thick enough to choke on. Here we were, two rivals, in the same room with no one else to calm things down should something happen. I tried to keep my composure; tried to come across strong so he couldn't see how scared I was that he would hit me, or anything else for that matter.

"What do you want, Near?" He asked me again, his eyes again locked on me.

I took a step further into the room, "I wanted to ask you about earlier." I was surprised that my voice came out as even as it did.

I heard him sigh as he sat up, "what about it?" His voice still came out forceful and blank just like always.

I was quiet for a long moment, trying to put my thoughts into words that would make sense. It was proving to be hard seeing as I could barely understand the thoughts to begin with. "Why did you do it?" I finally asked

He growled in frustration, "you're being vague, Near, do what?"

"Fix my puzzle." I decided to start there for now.

"What the hell do you care?" He asked, glaring at me.

I stayed silent, not brave enough to see what would happen if I told him that it interested me and had become my newest puzzle.

His blue eyes were still locked on me even as he sighed, "let me guess, because it interests you? Everything always has to be a puzzle to you, doesn't it?" He asked, though not really expecting an answer. I should have known he'd see my motives.

"You haven't answered the question." I said after another moment of silence

He shrugged, "I messed it up, I wasn't trying to mess with you right then. What, am I not allowed to do something nice for a change?" He asked. He expected me to give the normal answer for this: that he WAS allowed to do it. But that wasn't the correct answer.

"That's not like you."

He growled again, the frustration once again returning, "so what? Like I said, for a change. I never said it would happen again!"

"Why did you touch me?" I asked suddenly.

His eyes shot up and locked on me, "what?"

Again I stay quiet, wondering if we would repeat the same questions that had come from the first question I had asked.

When he stood up I knew the answer. "Damn it, Near!" He said harshly.

My heart raced and I barely had time to register what was going to happen before the present caught up with my preparing self. He stormed over and his fist rose to hit me, but I finally came back to myself and took the bar from my pocket, holding it out.

A chocolate bar. Or otherwise known as my safety in a wrapper.

Chocolate makes Mello happy, I couldn't think of many thinks he wouldn't do for a bar of chocolate. So as long as I held his happiness in my hands he couldn't do anything to me.

He stopped suddenly, just as I had anticipated; his eyes narrowed, "what the hell?" He asked.

I didn't answer. In this position he could do one of two things: he could rip the chocolate bar from me and hit me anyways, or he could wait for me to give it to him. Knowing him I would guess he would go with the first option. But considering that he had gone against almost everything he would normally do today, I wasn't so sure about my prediction.

He put his arm down and locked his eyes on me again, then turned and went back to the bed he had been at before without another word.

I lowered the candy hesitantly then went over to Matt's bed and sat down while his eyes followed me the whole time. "So," he then asked, "can I have the chocolate bar since I didn't hit you?"

"No. You didn't answer my question." I said.

"I don't have an answer to your stupid question! I'm impulsive, Near, I don't know why I did it! Now can I have the god damn chocolate?" His tone was still mad, I could tell just by looking in his eyes.

I nodded; it's a good enough reason for now I guess.

He reached forward and grabbed the bar, but when he pulled I held firmly to it. I had to hold his happiness to remain safe. His eyes met mine, now more questioning than anything; they were searching me again. What could he be looking for?

Mello pulled on it just hard enough for me to have to stand up again and walk closer to him; his hands began undressing the candy.

He then put his hands over mine and guided the bar up to his lips, where he took a bite out of it; his eyes slipped closed.

I couldn't help but stare; I swear I even forgot to breathe for a minute. His hands were warm, and soft on mine; they brought the tingling sensation I had felt earlier back to me; I was nervous as well but this time I didn't know why. My heart had begun to beat so hard against my chest I swore he would hear it in his close proximity.

He then pulled back, looking up at me; I couldn't quite place the emotion lacing his eyes or the lines of his features. "Why are you here Near? There has to be something more than because this interests you. I know you, if it was something as simple as that you'd either wait till a decent hour to ask or try and figure it out yourself."

He certainly was good, I'll give him that much. I was glad he brought it up, because if he hadn't I wouldn't know any other way to bring up the subject. "I had one question in particular that I wanted to ask you, since I am unable to find the answer myself."

His eyes looked confused at me and slightly shocked at the same time, probably by the fact that I wasn't able to answer a question.

When he didn't say anything I took the chocolate bar and put it on the table beside his bed then took his hand and gently brought it up to rest over my racing heart.

When his eyes locked with mine I knew he felt it.

"Tell me what this means, Mello." I said.

He was still quiet, eyes searching me for something unknown. "What did you feel earlier?" He finally asked; his voice quieter than it had been before and sounding each word out carefully.

I paused for only a moment and diverted my eyes away before answering. "My heart sped up, I was nervous for a reason that I'm not sure of and my fingers itched to touch something, I'm not quite sure what." I admitted as I continued to look away from him but I could feel him still watching me.

"Damn it Near!" He finally said loudly after a brief moment of silence and ripping his hand away; my gaze moved back to him. "How the fuck…"

I knew what was coming, I knew exactly what he would do now, but his sudden change had me paralyzed in place.

He then suddenly lashed out, standing and hitting me with a blow strong enough to throw me to the ground; my head hit the box of Matt's bed, I tried not to let the pain show.

I tried to clear the haze of pain away quickly before opening my eyes to watch him.

He sat back down again and let his fingers lose themselves within his blonde locks; his face pointed down away from me. He knew the answer to my question, I could tell just by his actions, but I knew that if I asked now he'd probably lash out again.

So I held my silence, just memorizing the way he looked in this room that was void of much light. I could barely see him through the dark, but my well-adjusted eyes allowed me to see each of his features while the moonlight from outside filtered in and casted a fine white line around him.

I stayed that way for a long five minutes; each of those minutes seemed to go by like hours but I was ready to give him as much time as he wanted to calm down again. I'm not sure why.

I wasn't sure if I was supposed to say something in this situation, or if I was supposed to do anything, and for a moment I even debated leaving the room. But I quickly disregarded that idea, I needed to know what he knew; I needed the answer to the puzzle sitting in front of me.

Finally though he looked up again, his eyes were blank and showed me nothing. He extended a hand to me and I cautiously took it after only a moment's hesitation.

He brought me back up so I was standing before him then grabbed the chocolate off the table, taking off the entire wrapper before giving it to me to hold again.

"Mello?" I asked, confused about his actions. What was he trying to show me through this?

He didn't respond, instead he covered my hands and again guided the chocolate up to his lips, taking steady bite after steady bite of the rest of the sweet candy.

I watched this as the chocolate began to melt on my fingers and I tried to read the answer to my questions in his actions, but I was left only feeling the emotions that filled me every time he had touched me today.

He finished off the chocolate bar quickly, but even after he didn't let go of either of my hands.

Instead, I watched as he turned them so my palms were facing up then suddenly guided my first finger to his lips.

His lips parted and his tongue began to lick the chocolate clean from my skin. My eyes widened by a fraction when I saw this; I wanted to say something but he had me paralyzed in place again.

The feelings began to surge within me tenfold this time and the heat radiating inside me was becoming almost unbearable as his lips encircled my finger, sucking at the skin to make sure there was none left before moving to the next digit.

My body was screaming out to me but I couldn't understand what it wanted, or what it was telling me.

I continued to watch Mello's actions until he had finally cleaned each of my fingers of the melted chocolate. His once closed blue eyes then opened and looked back up to me; still blank but holding so much emotion at the same time. I'd never seen him like this before.

"Mello?"

"I think you might just be in love with me, Near." He said slowly.

My eyes widened again. In love with Mello? No, there wasn't any way that that could be possible, he hated me completely because I was number one and he wasn't. But wait … then… what's my excuse against the conclusion he'd drawn?

Sure, we're rivals but I've never said that I hate him; I'm not sure I do when I think about it. But I would have never considered myself of having actually fallen for the blonde sitting before me. How would that even work?

But as I looked at Mello again, this time I felt as though I was seeing him with new eyes from getting this information.

I observed his beautiful eyes that were watching me and trying to read my thoughts, his blonde hair that hung so perfectly and looked so silky soft with bangs that fell just past his eyes yet didn't obscure the blue orbs, and his soft hands that still held mine.

Something told me he was right; all the pieces fit and unconsciously made sense to me. I was in too much of a haze to even begin to try and figure out whether I consciously thought he was right or not.

There was something in the way he watched me and the way he held me so carefully, like I would break so easily, that told me to just let things happen and that he could show me that he was right. I so much wanted to believe him.

"Mello, I don't…" I hate words at times like this. I can never seem to get it right. "You might just be right."

He gave a weak smile that oddly enough didn't seem happy at all and made me give him a slightly confused look; did he not feel the same? Why was he giving me a look that said he was happy but wasn't at the same time?

"Don't get me wrong, Near, I love you too, I've known that I'd fallen for you for a while now. But I also know that it could never work, I mean, look at us we're fucking rivals for god's sake! It's just the way things are expected to be within these stupid walls. How the hell could we make anything work with everything looming over top?"

He had a point; I hated to admit that he did too. It seemed as though I was going to finally get the chance to be happy for once, but then it's pulled out from under me and something steals that fantasy away again and puts it just out of my reach.

I looked down, my white hair blocking him from my view and thus his view of me, if I was indeed in love with him I didn't want to have to see him and know that such a happiness with him could never be obtained.

I hadn't looked down for longer than a moment before Mello's hand raised and caught my chin, forcing me to look back at him, eyes searching me; I wondered if he saw how much his words had hurt me.

"Listen to me," he said in a quieter, persuasive, voice that made me treat his words like gold, "I do love you, believe me when I say that. I tried to keep it from showing for as long as I could because I didn't want this kind of thing to happen. But, seeing as it did, I suppose we can have this one night together. Tomorrow things will have to go back to normal for obvious reasons. But that's tomorrow, for right now that doesn't have to exist."

We could have this one night?

"Tonight, nothing will matter. Neither of us will be better than the other one; you'll just be Near and I'll just be Mello."

This didn't sound like Mello at all, he's never like this. Either he's completely forgotten who he is in this feeling of love, or he's trying very hard to make me happy in this difficult situation.

I finally nodded, for this night it'd just be the two of us and nothing more. I didn't even dare think about how I would fair in the morning when I realized nights like tonight would never happen again or how much pain it would leave me in.

He smiled; the look lit the entire room. His hand that had been holding my right hand moved to wrap around my waist and he pulled me closer to him till I was nearly leaning against him; he didn't seem to mind.

"Mello!" I hoped he'd understand.

His smile fell into a deviant smirk as he pulled me even closer and at that moment I knew he understood, "I'm going to kiss you now; you're going to close your eyes and lock your hand in my hair. Then just follow me."

I nodded as he brought me down till we were mere centimeters apart from one another, by this point I swore my heart was going to beat right out of my chest it slammed into my ribcage so hard; my skin felt like it was on fire and yet his touch was still warmer somehow.

I could smell the sweet scent of chocolate on his breath, and feel his grip over me tighten. His hand that was still holding mine moved and interlocked our fingers together before finally closing the distance between us.

I never thought my first real kiss would be with the person who swore his hatred to my on a daily basis.

At first I was shocked and could do nothing against his soft, warm lips. But then I remembered what he had told me and my eyes slipped closed and I moved my free hand up and into his equally soft blonde hair. I fell in love with the way it felt on my fingertips.

His grip tightened around me and I tried to follow his actions till I felt his lips part and his tongue lick across my bottom lip. I let instinct take over seeing as my mind was too clouded over in pure bliss to make any sense out of this.

My lips parted and instantly his tongue invaded my mouth, melding with my own. He tasted completely of the sweet chocolate.

I've never been much for sweets, but now I found that when it's on him it's irresistible.

After what only seemed like a couple of seconds of bliss his lips moved, placing kisses from my jaw-line all the way down my throat to the base of my neck where I instantly moved to give him more space.

He took full advantage of this, biting and licking at the flesh just hard enough to draw out small whimpers from me and assure me that there would be a mark there tomorrow. More than anything a sign to anyone that I was his; I would wear it with pride for as long as it lasted and beyond.

He pulled away from me just long enough for him to get to my lips again, laying a few chaste kisses before he pulled away, the smile returning to his face as he placed his forehead against mine and let his eyes slip closed.

I wanted to do the same, to close my eyes and sort through what had just happened and all that I had felt, but I was too mesmerized by the way he looked before me. I had to wonder why I had never noticed how beautiful he looked before now.

"You may not believe me when I say this, but I love you, Near."

I was still in too much shock at what was happening and what had happened, at what all of these pieces had ended up revealing to me. For some reason I had lost my words.

"This is the part where you say it back to me." He said.

I mentally shook myself back to the present only to notice his eyes had opened and were now looking deep into my own, "I love you too, Mello." I finally said; the words came naturally to me, as if my lips were made to say them.

Mello smiled and pulled me onto his bed before I could even think about protesting (not that I would) till I was lying beside him, our eyes still locked together.

He came forward again and kissed me, I was beginning to grow addicted to the way his lips felt against mine.

I tried not to let myself fall for them, to not fall for him; to tell myself that tomorrow would be a totally different story, but it was something that was easier said than done.

Mello was simply too perfect for me to not continue falling for him.

Even as my eyes trailed him I was still finding perfections in him that I had never seen before. The angelic and actually innocent way he looked when his eyes were closed, the way his blonde hair seems to perfectly fall across his face, and the way he made sleep-wear clothing look gorgeous. There wasn't something yet that I didn't like for one reason or another.

His eyes were closed now but I knew that neither of us would be sleeping tonight. We would both be wishing that time would freeze in place and leave us here for all of eternity.

He suddenly moved to lie on his back and I instantly moved as well, not even giving a second thought to whether I was doing the right thing or not anymore; there didn't seem to be a wrong way of doing things tonight.

I laid my head on his chest, over his heart and listened to the rhythmic sound it made like it was my own personal lullaby that washed away the sadness from inside and instead replaced it with peace and comfort.

I looked up at his angelic face; it looked so innocent at night and in this lighting, as though he wasn't even capable of hurting a single person.

Unconsciously my hand that had been resting on his chest rose to his strands of blonde hair, twirling them in my fingers instead of my own white locks.

His eyes slid open when he noticed this, he gave me a confused look but I didn't meet it, nor did I say anything in response to explain my actions.

I suppose I wanted to try and do all the small, simple things with him that I figured I may never get a chance to do again.

After a moment his hand detached mine from the task I had been doing and kissed my fingers, then replaced it back where it had been and the lids over his blue orbs closed once more. I wondered for a moment what he could be thinking about.

Finally I dismissed the urge to ask and thought over everything that had happened.

I was glad that I had forced myself to take on this mystery and to figure out what everything meant. I had finally found all the pieces to this particular mystery and the answer was in my hands now, even if it was for only a short amount of time.

But no matter how short the time, it was still there and the answer had allowed me to find happiness in bliss.

It was at a moment such as this that made me realize how much I truly did love puzzles.

End

A/N: So after writing this twice and editing it more times then I even want to think about I think I can finally say it's done. Pffew, that's a relief. This part of the story was about to drive me completely insane. Anyway, this is my first real attempt at a MelloxNear story and with the exception of a couple lines I believe it actually came out well! So, please tell me what you think! All constructive criticism is welcomed and even wanted since I plan on doing at LEAST five more stories with this pairing. So if I'm messing something up I'd rather hear about it early.

Note: There's a good chance that this could be turned into a series. I've already written the next couple of chapters but it all depends on what you guys think. But for right now this is a one-shot. So if you could honestly say that you'd read the next story if i put it up, (I don't know what the title would be) then let me know.

Please review all comments! (All of them! All the questions, critiques, everything! But no flames please.)

-Forbiddensoul562