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It was unbearably humid and the sweater Near wore to protect himself from the air conditioning inside the house became his greatest enemy while him and Mello stood on the younger's front lawn. The curls in Near's hair had begun to droop and expand unpleasantly into a thick mess and he itched at the mosquitoes nipping him under the sleeves of his white sweater, and Near didn't even let the irritation show in expression but Mello knew it was there. Remnants of Mello's accidental slumber clung to his face, hung from his cheeks and swam in his eyes slowly.
"I have to go home now or I'll get stuck here and never leave."
Miniscule pebbles from the gutter of the street snuck into Near's socks through the holes at the bottom, pressing into the heels of his feet and causing a displeased limp in his step. "You don't really have to go, you know."
Near's fingers crept into one sleeve of his sweater, nails scratching at the formation of tiny bumps burning with the need of being scratched only to be left completely unsatisfied. One of the insects flew by Mello's face and his eyes followed it before swatting it lightly out of his way, a light smile on one corner of his mouth and his thumb resting on the button to his car keys.
"I do though, I'm two weeks behind on homework /and/ I've got a test monday."
"Then wouldn't going home be the last thing you want to do?" Near's esteem had dropped with his curls and he kneaded at his frizzing hair with his hands, attempting to bring both back up to no avail. Mello's feet moved closer to the car and Near followed his footsteps in a mirrored movement, arms outstretching now and ignoring the numerous itching dots along his covered skin.
"Well yeah but.." Mello recorded Near's continuing movements and replayed them, analyzed them, before leading his own actions and pulled the smaller into the hug that Near attempted to initiate. Arms that usually wrapped around Mello's waist moved to his neck for the first time without reason or understanding and Near left them there because it would be too much work to move them.
Body heat mixed with embarrassment and 10P.M humidity both of which became a thick cloud that clung to the two and weighed down their clothes as if they went swimming without the actual effect of being wet. Blonde tufts of Mello's hair greeted white through the embrace before the distance tried to meet them again. "Just, drive safe."
The hood of Mello's car held the fogged reflection of yellow street lights and creamy moonlight, Near's arms beginning to react again to the new bites and causing him to pull back a little more from Mello.
"We'll see." Cerulean eyes caught more streetlight than moonlight but it caused a sparkle in them all the same and Near rolled his own at him for pretending to act so.. careless.
"Don't move."
It was a soft orchestra on the front lawn, crickets and frogs and the occasional buzzing when something flew too close to your ear. Mello didn't question why Near said what he did, only stood still and stiff until Near leaned in so close that he could count the soft folds and wrinkles of the scar on his face and feel the heat of his breath as it was exhaled through parted lips.
"What is it?"
Near shook his head, and tried to reinitiate the embrace and close any contact, generally surprised when it actually worked only crediting the fact that he caught Mello off guard and thanked him mentally for not trying to slip away. This was only going to be a one time thing, a first and a last all in one and that was fine with Near because really, he'd gone too long with just wondering. Just wondering was beginning to drive the albino mad and he didn't want that.
Mello said nothing after his recent query and Near used the silence along with the time to capture the much smaller details of his face, the ones he'd never been close enough to capture before. And it was simpler than Near thought it would be; when he finally pulled Mello down that last inch and felt his breath hitch for a second when their mouths made contact. The taller was frozen for a moment and his arms that he had wrapped loosely around him fell and Near feared that he would break it off quickly and abruptly, only to feel Mello's palms pressing lightly against the skin of Near's cheeks and gradually, nervously, pulling him closer.
Near still cursed himself for ever going through with such an idea as this, despite how well it was actually playing out. A kiss was a kiss though and the truth of the matter was that it wouldn't happen again, and Mello still had somewhere to be. Near didn't remember closing his eyes but he supposed that he had because the pale boy was now blinking them at Mello rapidly, trying to adjust to the darker settings of the night.
"Go home already." With his arms now unwrapped from his neck and Mello's palms dropped from Near's cheeks, the smaller took a step back and allowed the room for Mello to get into his car; whom of which still seeming a little dazed from more than just sleep now.