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Slowly, Next let out a breath as he began to realize the situation.

He moved closer and gently put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Mello... you remember that I was there, don't you? When M..." He frowned, slowly. "And you remember what I said? That it was B that drove him to do that...? That he was going on and on about how they were pawns of Wammys...? It had nothing to do with you..."

"...I told him...where he could find Naveen." Mello said- looking right into Next's eyes. "I told him...because I thought they needed to talk...that they could fall in love like Near and I did...like I thought was already happening in the first place."

"M did love Naveen," Next whispered. "Very much... and up until now, I thought Naveen returned those feelings. We all did... M would have found him without you pointing him in the direction. He wasn't exactly hard to find..."

The white haired boy gave a gentle sigh.

"You can't blame yourself for something that happened back then," He went on. "And you can't dwell on it... it happened and yes, the repercussions of your actions are causing a fight with your husband but he loves you, Mello. You need to work through this if you want to keep him..."

"It was his brother." Mello said. "His brother and...me."

"But it was before you two, right?" Next pressed. "You two didn't fall in love until New York and you and Naveen broke up right after... right?"

His eyes were desperate... he wanted to believe in the best in his friend. But at the same time, he was hurt that he was never told... how long had Mello been with Naveen? Had he loved him? Was their relationship strictly about sex?

"All before New York...and I didn't say anything to N before me and Near decided to get married." Mello shook his head. "It was one night...one night and it was...was all over and just starting."

"All before..." Next whispered, unable to keep the hurt off of his features. "H-how long...?"

Mello was quiet a moment before he reached out and cupped Next's cheek gently- his palm warm against the smaller boy's skin.

"...Why do you have to hurt for that?" Mello asked. "It wasn't trust that kept me quiet."

"I'm not..." Next sighed, shaking his head - he wouldn't lie to Mello. "I thought... we were closer then that. And you'd tell me about Naveen..."

He sighed a bit, rubbing his upper arms.

"This isn't about me," He informed. "It hurts, but its nothing compared to the pain Near is going through."

"You're hurt matters too...it wasn't about closeness Next." Mello said.

"It really doesn't matter," Next assured him a second time. "You have your reasons for not telling me and telling them to me now isn't going to change how things happened, Mello... you need to focus on Near right now."

"...I'm always going to focus on Near." Mello said. "Near's my husband Next...I love him and I'll always love him."

Mello took Next hand in both of his and squeezed it.

"I love you too." Mello told him softly. "And I can't tell you why I never said anything."

"It doesn't matter," Next assured. "And I want you to focus on Near, Mello. He needs you... he's falling apart at the seems. You need to be there to put him back together..."

He shook his head slowly, pulling his hands from Mello's and placing them on the blonde's cheeks.

"At first he probably will push you away," Next informed. "Because he's hurt and the wounds are raw... but after that he's going to want you to push and push. To let him know that you still love him and that you care that he's in pain. Don't give up on him... got it?"

"...I don't want it to be too soon." Mello said. "Or I'll push him away instead...what's he doing now?"

Next winced a little and mumbled, "...Crying on Linda."

Mello of course knew that Linda being involved meant two things...

One- that Near was too distraught for even Matt to handle the situation, since emotions seemed to wear the redhead down faster then going days without sleep did (though that wasn't saying much, since Matt was a gamer)...

And Two- that Mello was going to get his ass kicked when Linda finally tore herself from Near and moved to confront him... because no doubt she would be told the entire situation and wouldn't stop to listen to his side of the story.

"I gotta get back there." Mello sighed heavily and shook his head. "...Wait...how did you get here? Did you drive?"