Author's Note: Well, hey. The final chapter. I'm sad to see it go, but at least it's finished. You know, I'm quite proud that I managed to get all of the months in the correct order, because, seriously, that's something I'd stuff up. I'm special like that (:

A ginormous thanks to everyone who's reviewed this fic. I honestly wouldn't have been able to write it this quickly (quickly? Okay, okay, my version of) without your support and very kind reviews (:

So, until the next time, thank you, and goodbye.

~Rainbow Fruit Loop x

~The Weird and Wonderful World of a Guy Named Matt~
~Chapter Twelve~

December 5th 2006.

It's only a few weeks until Christmas. I'm actually very excited.

It's really cool because Wammy's isn't quite as budget on Christmas day as they are every other day. We get a full Christmas dinner, and only a little fighting ensues when we open the Christmas crackers.

We even put a Christmas tree up in the main hall - it's always really big with loads of flashing lights.

As long as they don't want me to help them put it up, then everything's fine. They made me help last time, and I ended up shattering a few decorations. Oh well. I didn't have to pay for them, so all is good in the world.

I'm hoping that - now Mello and I are in a proper relationship - he'll actually remember to buy me something.

Unlike the past few years…

Also, it's Mello's birthday on the thirteenth. I don't quite know what to buy him. I mean, this relationship crap makes buying presents quite difficult.

Do I buy him some sappy lovey-dovey thing? Like, a teddy bear holding a heart with the words, "I Love You" etched on it? Is that what couples do? Or is that just for Valentines Day?

The other option is buying him something completely normal, like a book or chocolate or a Nintendo DS (he really needs one) or something?

ARGH. The injustice of it all.

On the plus side, we've decided on what to buy Pickles and Bruce for Christmas. What kind of rabbit wouldn't love a red collar with a bell on it?

The bells will scare away birds that land on our windowsill before they're eaten by Bruce.

December 10th 2006.

Today was officially the last day of school work before "the holidays". The holidays here are more fun than is expected at an orphanage. They let us go places, like the movies or theme parks and stuff.

…Hopefully not Tesco again, though. You can only break your ribs via laughing too hard a few times before it stops being fun.

It's nice to have a break from pretending to work, though.

Also, we got the results of the exams we sat a few weeks back.

Luckily, Mello got a high A in everything, so he's in a very good mood. Hopefully that means that I'll still have all of my limbs for Christmas.

He deserved it, though. He studied for God-knows-how-long, so it's good that he didn't fail. In his eyes, getting a high B is a fail. It's weird, I know.

I got As too, and I didn't even study. Heh. I'm brilliant, I know. That made Mello's good mood lessen a little, but - through the power of lots of chocolate and kissing - I managed to convince him that he was still smarter than me.

…We both know that he's not. But hopefully his violent tendencies towards me will lessen considerably.

Mutual love should do that to people.

December 13th 2006.

It's Mello's birthday today, and I woke him up by pinching his cheek and saying, "Aww, is widdle Mewwo finawwy sixteen?" in this mega kiddie voice

Mello punched me in the jaw with the strength of someone who is a lot older than I am.

Great. I've always wanted to have a really attractive bruise and/or swelling on my face just before Christmas.

He was in a good mood all day, though, and we managed to convince the cooks to make him a birthday cake. Trust me, convincing them to make food for us is easier than it sounds. Everyone does it.

He's a lot more coordinated than I am, so he actually managed to get said cake into our room and we were even able to eat it, unlike my failed attempt at eating cake on my birthday.

Let's not reminisce.

He was thrilled with the gifts I gave him, so I didn't need to spend so long panicking.

In the end, I decided to buy him a normal gift and a lovey-dovey gift, just in case. You can never be too sure with Mello.

His normal gift was what the label on the tin says: Normal. It was a book on the history of fashion.

I am well aware that it sounds very gay - well, more gay than Mello's usual -, but Mello loves history, especially when it's got something to do with clothes. It does mean that I'm going to have to continually assure him that what he's wearing in the twenty first century is sexier than the clothes they wore in ancient times.

A man wearing leaves and dead animals sewn together into something resembling a skirt has never really turned me on.

The sappy present I bought him was a box of expensive chocolates with stupidly romantic messages on them. I must admit, I felt a bit embarrassed telling the woman in the chocolate shop what to put on them.

But let's not go into details.

I was lucky, though, because I managed to scrape just enough money together to buy the presents.

It does mean that I'm not going to be able to buy cigarettes for quite a while.

…Hm, I think I'm already regretting spending so much money. I like my cigarettes.

Maybe Mello'll buy me some if I beg?

Wait, I've just realized that - without money - I can't buy Mello a Christmas present.

Shit. He won't like that. He'll probably shoot me.

This may be a problem.

I have no choice. I'm going to have to rob a bank.

December 17th 2006.

Okay, I didn't need to rob a bank. I got money through a more legal manner, so I'm not going to be arrested any time soon. I hope.

In the end, I ended up going up to Roger and asking if I could borrow some money from him. I gave him a detailed description on how I was going to use it and everything.

Bastard said no.

Luckily, though, L had another one of his visits, so I just asked him for the money. He's hardly short of cash, so he gave it to me - no questions asked. With L giving away money with such a carefree attitude, I'm starting to think that this could be a good time to start an expensive drug addiction.

Anyway. The fact that L gave me money annoyed Roger, therefore automatically putting me in a god mood.

Speaking of L, why does he keep popping up everywhere? He's like one of those really annoying Pokémon that jumps out at your pixilated character from the tall grass.

Anyway. Getting distracted again. Because I got money, I went shopping with Mels today.

We walked around and chatted for a bit (he held my hand and refused to let go, which I thought was really sweet), before splitting up.

…I wonder what he's getting me for Christmas? It had better be something expensive now that I know he's loaded.

I had the same dilemma that I had for Mello's birthday - ooh, what to get him, what to get him? - and ended up doing what I do best - wandering around aimlessly.

Wammy's is a bit strange (this is what encouraged my crisis), and they make you put all of your Christmas presents under the Christmas tree, so you have to open your gifts in front of everyone.

So no sappy presents, because that would be embarrassing.

As I was wandering around, I got all weirded-out because I actually did pass a shop called, "Leather Fetishes R Us" and that scared me.

So, after running as far as I could in the opposite direction of the slutty shop, I managed to bump into Near.

Poor Near. Now, I know I don't actually like Near, but I did have to feel a little bit sorry for him, because he was all alone, looking like a lost child in a crowd of adults, not like a fifteen year old in a crowd of other fifteen year olds.

No one should be alone at Christmas.

So I said to him, "Hey Near!"

He just looked at me with his annoyingly blank eyes, and said, "Hello, Matt."

"Who are you buying presents for?" I asked him politely.

I tried very hard to keep the incredulous tone out of my voice. I mean, I thought we'd all established that Near doesn't have friends. (And never will, in Mello's opinion.)

"L." Near said simply.

We were both still standing awkwardly in the middle of the crowd, so I dragged him away and sat him down at one of those really convenient chairs in the middle of the shopping centre.

"What are you buying for L?" I asked. I'd forgotten about Near's mini kiddy-crush on L. It's quite sweet, really. Well. Sweet if you ignore the fact that Near's involved.

"I don't quite know yet." Near answered me truthfully. "I want to get him more than just sweets."

At this point I felt compelled to help him, because a) it was Christmas, and b) he was being stupidly helpless.

So I (very generously, I might add) said, "Do you want to come shopping with me?"

I do have to admit that I was chanting, "Please say no, please say no." in my head while he considered my offer.

"No, thank you," he finally said. "I'd prefer to look for something on my own."

Bastard. Ignoring my goodwill.

"Okay then. Bye." I said hurriedly, and pushed my way back into the crowd.

Well. It's no wonder why he's got no friends, is it?

After I'd wandered around a bit more, I ended up buying Mello a collection of small things, like a hamper except without the naffness. It contained lots of things that Mello liked - chocolate, funny stationary (like erasers in the shape of an elephant, or rulers with donuts with faces imprinted on it), a book, more black nail polish (he's running out, apparently), random crap for his hair… you know, stuff like that.

It was cool, though, because all of the shops that I went into gift-wrapped the presents, so it's saved me both the torture of trying to wrap, and the ninja-ness of getting the gifts somewhere Mello couldn't see them.

I do love Christmas, especially now that the shopping part is over.

This entire month seems to have merely consisted of me having to make difficult choices on what to buy Mello for various occasions.

I need a life.

December 25th 2006.

Well. It's eleven thirty at night now on the evening of Christmas, and I am shattered. Why do I never remember how eventful Christmas is here at Wammy's?

So, I ended up getting woken up at six o'clock in the fucking morning by an over-excited Mello.

I swear, he's such a child sometimes. It's quite endearing, actually.

So, as unimpressed as I was at getting woken up hours before my brain should have been thinking about waking up, I exchanged many Christmas kisses with Mello before snuggling down in his bed, watching crap telly, and opening the huge box of Christmas-themed Quality Streets that Mello brought back with him from our shopping excursion.

We all had breakfast at eight in the morning, which I think is slightly more of a reasonable time to be moving. I was annoyed, though, because I begged the cooks to make us pizza for breakfast (it is Christmas, after all) but they didn't.

Still. Pancakes with cream and apricots are nice enough.

Everything was incredibly loud - and this time, I can't even blame the younger kids for making the most noise. Fuck, you should have heard Linda. I didn't think it was possible for someone to talk so loudly.

Anyway. Christmas is a time for forgiveness, so I'll (eventually) forgive her for breaking my eardrums.

It's hilarious, though, because everyone wears their pyjamas for breakfast on Christmas morning. What's the point in getting changed? Putting clothes on is such a boring chore, and everyone knows that rules don't apply on Christmas day.

Because I'm so cool, I managed to make a grumpy and slightly disgruntled Mello say, "Merry Christmas" to a stoic Near, who simply replied with, "Thank you."

Near is severely lacking in Christmas spirit. We tried to convince him to wear a Christmas-themed badge, but he refused.

Then again, his lack of festivity might have to do with the fact that no one bought him any presents (I think). Unless, of course, L remembers that the twenty fifth of December is an important date. But we all know that's not very likely.

After breakfast - which was a long and arduous task - , we were able to open our presents. About fucking time, right?

Pretty much every single orphan at Wammy's crowded around the admittedly large Christmas tree, and Roger - who was wearing a terrifyingly jolly Santa hat - handed out the labelled presents.

Strangely enough, I was quite relieved to see Linda giving Near a gift. I don't know why. Maybe I'm turning soft in my old age?

Anyway - enough about the most boring person on the planet -, Mello and I were positioned in the corner of the room, which was the most private place we could find. Yes, it's sad, I know.

Wammy's doesn't really agree with privacy. What could a sixteen year old teenager possibly want privacy for?

After we went through Mello's usual faffing around with the wrapping paper (he doesn't like ripping it. I don't know why. He's usually such a violent person, and it's slightly strange to seem him not wanting to break something. But, then again, that's Mello for you. Completely unpredictable and just slightly strange), we managed to actually get into our gifts.

Mello was really happy with his "Basket of Crap" as I so amusingly named it, and spent ages going through every little thing. I was delighted with the bundle of Play Station games he bought me, and I now have enough virtual worlds to explore to stop me from rotting with boredom in the next few weeks. Yay.

Then the boring part of Christmas happened - waiting for the actual, proper Christmas food to come (even though it was only nine thirty in the morning) so Mello and I just hung around throwing things at Linda and mocking Ben about his buzz cut and teasing Near about his lack of emotions and stealing Roger's paedophilic hat.

Good times.

Then Roger announced that the food was served, and Mello and I forgot about the rule we had made. The rule was, "Don't walk through the mistletoe-decorated doorway together."

The mistletoe tradition is a very much enforced tradition here at Wammy's, and because Mello and I had both done our fair share of getting embarrassed people to kiss awkwardly underneath it, we knew that people we just waiting for us to forget our rule.

So, yes, in our eagerness to get to the mashed potatoes and roast turkey, we both ran through the doorway together.

I know. Oops. Bad move.

I was hoping that no one would notice, and that we could just sneak through, but I think Near was on mistletoe duty.

He said, "You two walked through the door together. Under the mistletoe. Together. You know the rules."

Even in their food-induced joy, everyone turned their heads to watch us. Luckily, Roger had disappeared at this point, so we were safe from accidentally giving him a heart attack.

I have no idea why I thought that Near was an okay human for a while. He deserves to burn in Hell. Numerous times.

But what could we do? Rules are rules, and we were under the mistletoe. I was probably a faint shade of scarlet, and Mello was looking like he wanted to murder Near with the object closest to him (which, in fact turned out to be a fork).

"Let's get it over with, Mels." I whispered.

And then Mello burst out laughing for reasons I'll never know, pulled my face towards him, and kissed me long and hard in the midst of laughing people.

…The customary two-second fumble would have sufficed, but, as previously stated, Mello doesn't do anything by halves.

A few losers started cheering, and I actually felt relieved. Because that kiss was anything but "just friendly", so everyone knew the truth. It was all out in the open, so I don't have anything to hide now.

Yeah, so, after that, Christmas progressed as would be expected; eating too much, not being able to move for fear of exploding, 'accidentally' breaking other people's presents, getting yelled at by Roger, before, finally, we were able to retire to our rooms.

So, yes. It's now twenty past twelve at night. After an intense make out session (and maybe something more…), Mello's fallen asleep on my chest, fingers curled into by shirt, face peaceful, hair strewn across my shoulder. He's absolutely fucking gorgeous, and he's all mine.

I love him with all of my heart.

You know, I think this year's been quite nice. Mello and I have been through all of the downs, and now we've hit the ups.

And just look at me now. I've got a dumb rabbit nestled into a pile of socks on my right, another rabbit angrily chewing at the wrapper of a discarded toffee on my left, and my very own Prince Charming on my chest.

I just hope two thousand and seven will be as wonderful.

So, this is it. The end of my diary. We've had fun, haven't we? Well, I have, and, really, that's all that matters.

…

…

Oh shit. I've just realised that Roger is going to be reading all of this.

Fuck. Just… Fuck it all.

My life sucks.