I ❤️ U (L x Reader)

5: I ❤️ U

You looked and looked and looked at it. Was it a code? Did it have a secret message on it that you need heat or lemon juice to see? What was special about this piece of paper?

You took a few pictures, knowing that you likely needed to know the exact placement; but that you would want to examine the note further. You took a photo from the top. You took a photo from north, south, east and west. You took a photo showing the exact placement on the counter. And then, with a deep breath, you picked up the note.

"It is... just paper." You breathed out. Then, you flipped it over carefully in your hands. "I don't need any other markings... No noticeable erasure marks. No very obvious hidden ink. I'll keep in mind a possible code but the note is awfully short for that. Likely, there is a hidden note or a message for me to interpret from it. But I'm..."

Tears began to fall from your eyes.

"I'm at a loss, Lawliet... I really don't know where to begin and I just lost you and Wammy and now I'm in this strange country all alone and in an apartment that I don't know how much longer I have it for... " you held the precious note in your hand, "And I don't know if you're dead or alive or what but I need you and I don't know how to be without you."

You crumpled onto the floor.

"You were always a better detective than me. Smarter. More logical. Less emotional; obviously." You wiped your face. "Did you really expect me to be able to figure out some mystery you left me? If you even left me one at all? God, I can't even figure out that part..."

Not letting the paper get any tear drops on it, you held it at a distance as you examined it. Then, you held it up to the light. Nothing too strange.

"But why go through the trouble of coloring the heart red with a black outline? That seems like so much work." You pondered to yourself as you hugged the paper tightly.

Red...

Red...

Red...

Nothing came to mind that was red in your mind. You thought of words that reminded you of red. They were nothing positive.

Red/dead. Red/blood. Red/fled. Red/anger.

You shut your eyes tightly.

"Maybe... Maybe I just need to sleep on it for a night. Not everything just came to Lawliet right away..." You whispered.

With a heave and a grunt, you stood back up and straightened your clothes. You snatched your phone from where you had tossed it and retreated into your bedroom.

The tragedy was overwhelming inside of the room however and within seconds you had fled the room and shut the door behind you.

"Couch." You shook your head. There was no way you could sleep in the bed you shared with Lawliet. Hell, it probably even still smelled like him. If you slept in it, then it would just smell like you. The indentation would get messed up. Countless reasons.

So you laid right down on the couch, clapped the lights off and fell into a fitful sleep.