Fell In Love In Stages // a matty healy fanfic

Space Mountain

-Trinity's POV-

Matty pulled up to the school and got out to open the door for me, planting a soft kiss on my lips before I stepped onto the sidewalk. I waved as he backed out of the parking lot, watching his car disappear before I turned toward the entrance.

The moment I stepped inside, Sophie and Lacy were on me, each looping an arm through mine like they'd been lying in wait.
"Trying to keep things on the down low, are we?" Sophie teased, smirking.
"We saw Matty drop you off," Lacy giggled. "So sneaky."

I could feel the heat creeping into my cheeks. "It's not like that."
"Oh really?" Lacy wiggled her eyebrows. "Because it sure looks like you stayed the night."
"Well, yeah, but we didn't—"
"Why not?" she interrupted, grinning wickedly.
"Because!" I groaned, already exasperated. "Can we please talk about something else?"

The first bell rang, saving me. Sophie chuckled. "Saved by the bell. For now."
"Bye, babe!" Lacy called, planting a quick kiss on my cheek before we parted ways.

In class, I reached into my bag for my textbook, and a slip of paper fluttered to the floor. I picked it up, unfolding it to see a single, cursive line:
What's past is prologue – W.S.

A smile tugged at my lips despite myself. That boy was trouble.

The next three hours dragged, the clock over each blackboard mocking me. I looked, willed it to move faster, looked again, and found only minutes had passed. If time slowed to a crawl anywhere in the world, it was here, in the eternal monotony of Wilmslow High. If I'm ever told I have one day to live, I'll spend it here, where a single day stretches into a millennium.

Finally, physics ended, and I was free, back in the halls with Sophie and Lacy. We claimed a patch of newly dry grass near the classrooms, the sun warm on our skin. Naturally, they resumed their inquisition.
"So, you like Matty?" Sophie asked.
"Yeah," I admitted.
"So why haven't you made it official?" she pressed, clearly baffled.
"It's complicated," I muttered.

"Has he not asked?" Lacy chimed in, narrowing her eyes.
"He's dropped hints, but..." I trailed off. The truth pained me.
"T, you know you can tell us anything," Sophie said, her voice softening. "We're here for you."

I hesitated before answering. "I haven't exactly had the best luck making friends."

Lacy shot me a knowing look while Sophie frowned, clearly piecing things together. Before she could speak, a shadow fell over me. We all squinted up to see Vicky standing there, her expression sharp. I'd nearly forgotten about her since Charlie left.

"Trinity," she said, her voice edged with malice. "I want a word with you."

Sophie was on her feet immediately. "And who the fuck are you?"
"None of your business," Vicky spat back.

"What do you want?" I asked, keeping my tone even despite my rising unease.

She tossed a small box onto the grass at my feet, the thud louder than it should have been. "This is for you," she said before spinning on her heel and walking away.

Inside was a pair of heart-shaped earrings, strikingly similar to my locket but more ornate—and much more expensive. There was a note, too: I'm sorry.

It was from Charlie.

I stared at the contents, expecting to feel something, but there was only emptiness. The earrings, though pretty, were wrong—gold instead of silver, their design clashing with the simplicity of my locket. He'd seen it a hundred times yet still missed that detail. I laughed bitterly.

"Who's Lee?" Sophie asked, snatching the note from my hand.
"Charlie," Lacy answered. "He was our friend."
"Oh, the guy who got expelled. Tell me, T, why's he sending you jewelry?" Sophie raised an eyebrow.
"Guilt," I said with a hollow laugh. "It's the only way he knows how to apologize."

They hugged me then, sensing the hurt I hadn't voiced. When the bell rang, I tucked the note into my pocket but left the earrings in the box on the grass. Let someone else take them.

The day continued in slow motion, every tick of the clock dragging me closer to Matty.
In between classes, my mind kept drifting back to the note Charlie had sent me earlier. His apology felt shallow, an echo of everything that had been off between us lately. I tried to shake it off, but I couldn't help but replay it over and over in my head.

Charlie always talked about settling down. His dreams were of a house, a white picket fence, and kids. It sounded nice, I guess, but it was never my dream.

My dreams were of horizons far beyond that, of running toward the unknown, untethered and free. With Charlie, I felt like I was supposed to follow his script, his timeline, and that suffocating feeling never quite left.

And then there was Matty.

Matty was the opposite of all of that. He wasn't about plans or settling—he was about living in the moment, chasing the thrill of now, of possibility. With him, it felt like running through an open field with no end in sight.

By the time the last bell rang, the weight of the day lifted, replaced by a flutter of excitement in my chest. Thoughts of Matty buzzed in my mind, propelling me out the door, pushing me toward whatever was next. Being with him felt like the first ride on Space Mountain—the rush of fear, the exhilaration, the plunge into the unknown, and the undeniable urge to do it all over again.

Charlie had a plan. Matty had a pulse.

I realized, standing there in the hallway, that I had spent too long worrying about what would end—about the inevitable goodbye.

I took a deep breath. Fear of the end couldn't rob me of what was happening now. It was time to stop waiting for things to fall apart and start making the most of what I had left. Life wasn't about how things ended, but how I lived them in the moment.

I smiled to myself as I walked toward the exit, heart racing with anticipation. Because yes, the past was prologue.
But the future? The future was ours to take.