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"C'mon man. You got this!"
That was the first time Mello had been so openly supportive toward Matt, kind of like a father toward his son. Matt fidgeted with a muffin in his hand - less sugary like Linda loved having as treats. He took a deep breath, and glanced at Mello nervously.
"Are-are you sure this is okay?"
Mello "tch"ed at his normally laid-back buddy now acted like a shy teenage boy in love. Well, technically, he was.
"I've heard enough about her. Don't you, like, want to admit to her how stupidly in love you are after spending every fucking day yapping about her like a moron?" He nudged the boy. "Go for it. Get it off your chest, figure out if she likes you back."
Matt slightly jumped at the last sentence. He shyly looked before him: a girl standing at the balcony, grabbing her sweater tightly while she gazed the December's night sky. Her beautiful gray eyes sparkled under the shining stars, her pigtails lightly floated along the gentle yet freezing wind. She was gorgeous. Matt felt his heart leaping out of his chest just from looking at her. He was nothing compared to her.
"I know she doesn't." Matt shrugged, yet his eyes sticking to the girl without moving even once.
Mello smirked. "And I know you too well to actually believe that. Go chase that hope, Matt."
Matt pouted. Of course his best friend never missed a thing.
He took a deep breath again. She was here. She was alone. This was the best moment for love confession and stuff... Trying to calm down his crazily-thumping heart, Matt stepped out steadily.
Linda noticed the sound of footsteps almost immediately. She turned back, and was greeted by Matt's awkward smile.
"H-hey Linda, happy birthday." Matt just wanted to punch himself.
Linda smiled, just as she always did with everyone.
"Thanks, Matt." She slowly walked toward him. "I thought you already said that a few hours ago."
That was true. When the Wammy's kids celebrated Christmas, they also took that chance to wish Linda - whose birthday was on that exact day - a happy birthday, including Matt. And now he was repeating it.
Don't blame him, Matt was at a loss of words. He couldn't just get straight to the point without some small talks first.
"I, uh," Matt scratched the back of his head, handing her the muffin he'd snuck out to buy a few minutes ago. "got you a present. Hope you like it."
Linda's eyes lit up immediately. She received the gift with both her hands, beaming.
"Oh my god, thank you!!" She chirped cheerfully, face full of joy and gratitude. Matt was sure she already got a lot of presents, but still, she looked super excited for his gift. It made his cheeks feel warm and a spark of hope washed through him. Maybe Linda did care about him more than others after all...
Well, back to the main business. Matt wasn't allowed to forget it, since he could feel Mello watching him somewhere. Eyes opened fully, probably.
Looking at the bubbly girl before him, Matt secretly inhaled and tried to gather all his courage into words. Let's do it, he thought, even if he'd fail. Or not.
"Hey Linda." Matt set his gaze on her face and called out her name in a slight choppy voice.
Linda looked up from the muffin in her hands, tilting her head. "Hm?"
Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god.
"Well, I..." Matt felt the wind brushing his blusing cheeks. "I just want you to know that you're truly important to me. From the day you approached me and we talked about games and stuff, I've been considering you a really good friend of mine. And I've been finding ways to do something for you in return for always being so patient to me. I've known you don't like chocolate and too sweet things, so I never gave you chocolate nor any of those. I've learnt that you love drawing insects, so I spent time everyday observing them and tried to find any strange-looking ones to talk to you about them. I, uh, really want to get close to you. Until..."
That came out way smoother than he'd expected. Matt shut his eyes and blurted out the rest. Got it off his chest.
"Until I realized it's not ordinary anymore." His voice became lower and softer. The sound of wind hissing filled his ears that he could no longer hear what he was saying. "I don't simply consider you a friend. You are much more than that. An ordinary friend can never make me blush like an idiot anytime I look at them, really. I....have a crush on you, Linda." He felt Linda stared at him while holding her sweater. "I can't stop thinking about you. Everyday I imagine a future where I can be with you. I intended to keep it a secret, but I could not bear this feeling anymore. I really, really like you. Please tell me what you think about it..."
His voice grew quieter, and he fell silent. He looked at Linda, searching for a hint of emotion on that face. Joy? Shock? Disgust?
None of them. On her face, Matt saw confusion.
Confusion? What?
"Uh, sorry, Matt. The wind was so loud that I had no idea what you were saying before. Can you repeat it?"
Only then did Matt realize, right, if he couldn't hear what he was saying then neither could Linda.
Haha. Cool. He had practically rambled about how in love he was, and Linda hadn't heard a word of it. Is this some cruel joke of nature? Matt felt a bit dizzy. He should repeat his confession, but he couldn't. The courage had vanished. All of it.
"Nothing. I just wanna thank you for being my friend."
Matt had no idea how the conversation went after. That night, he turned into a weeping mess inside of his and Mello's room.