Happy Ending (MattxMello)

21. Forever and Always

Mello
Our last night together. This is it and my chest hurts. I lay on top of him on our bed, my head on his chest. I'm scared and Matt's jade colored eyes are stained with sadness as he looks into my tear filled blue ones.
"I don't wanna do this anymore Matt. I'm scared."
"Come on Mells, this is what you wanted. We're gonna beat Near, remember?" I nod and he wipes my tears away like he has so many times before. Fear grips me again and I hide my face in his chest.
"Matty don't leave. Don't leave, please don't leave me Matty." I whisper into his shirt which is wet with my tears. I've done a lot of bad things in my quest to beat Near but this... Bringing Matt into my stupid, hate-fueled suicide mission is by far the worst. I wish I wanted to take it back, but I don't. If there was a way that Matt and I could be together, to have a happy ending like in the movies, I surely would've done everything in my power to make it happen, but some stories just aren't meant to have happy endings.

The next day was spent in much the same way because I wanted to make sure that I remembered every inch of him. From his beautifully soft red hair, his sparkling green eyes, every single one of his freckles to the scars on his hands. Everything. I want to remember Matt just the way he is, have him perfectly etched into my memory forever. And then, all to soon, it's time to go.

I remember the day I first knew I loved you.
The day I first realized that I loved Matt was also what I had thought to be at the time, one of the worst days of my life. We were about thirteen years old and I'd stormed into our shared room, slamming the door behind me. He'd paused his video game and turned to me, what seemed to be a permanent smirk on his face. "What now?" He asked, a confidence in his voice that I knew I could never match. "Near beat me again. I scored second. Again. I slapped that smug little smile off his face. Again. Then, he laughed at me. Again. I can't take it anymore!" This particular day was the day I'd realized that I would never beat Near, although it clearly didn't stop me trying. "Calm down Mells, it's not that bad." That set me off, "Not that bad? Not that bad, huh?" His smirk stayed put, "Yeah, come on Mells. Calm down. Let's just talk, okay?" The gentle look in his eyes settled a calmness over me that allowed me to sit down and relax a bit. Matt had a way to just do that, to calm me down when nobody else could. Later he'd joked about being the 'Mello whisperer' which got him the cold shoulder for a few days if only because he was right. I'd ended up in tears again that day, letting him hold me the way he had every time before that. "Why Matt? What did I do? What did I do to deserve this? Why is Near so much better than me?" He'd gripped each of my shoulders and held me at arms length, staring me straight in the eyes. "Near is not better than you. He's different, sure, but not better. Near is all logic, which is something you'll never be but, you know what?"
"What?" I said, sniffing pathetically. "I think that you're perfect Mihael, I truly believe that you are perfection in a person and nothing will change that, got it?" His words stayed with me, even if I had never believed them, and they would till the day I died. I'd looked into his goggle-clad eyes and realized that I was hopelessly and incurably in love with my best friend.

Matt
He's crying.
"Why are you crying Mello?"
"Because I-I might never see you again..."
I lift my ungloved hand to his cheek, it's cold out and I can see his breath. He flinches when the cold metal of my ring makes contact with his skin but soon lifts his own hand to hold mine there.
"Don't worry Mells, you'll see me again."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
I kiss his forehead and stroke his cheek with my thumb, feeling his tears wet my own skin.
"Hey Mells, I almost forgot. Check the inside of your ring."
He lifts the ring and twirls it around in his fingers, reading the words engraved on the inside of the metal band.
"Forever and always."
Another tear slides down his cheek as he looks up at me with his sky-blue eyes.
"You remembered."
"Of course I did. It was the first time you told me you loved me, I wasn't about to forget something like that."
"B-but you were half asleep and I didn't think y-you'd heard me..."
I kiss him then, tasting the salt from his tears instead of the usual sweet chocolate.
"Thanks Mells, I love you."
"I love you too Matty, forever and always."

Mello
It hurts.
"I don't want you to go. Stay with me Matt?"
"You know I have to go. You have to go too, remember?"
"But it hurts Matt. I want to go home."
"Later. I'll see you later Mells, okay?"
"Okay. I love you."
But he was gone, waving at me from his car, both gloves on and cigarette between his lips.
"I love you Mail Jeevas."
Please don't leave me here Matty.
And that was the last time I ever saw him.