Hallucinarium │ Matt Healy AU

02 │ PROMISE

[ JUNE 1, 2018 │ DAY 1, 3:32 AM ]

Matty kicked at the window of his car once, twice, three times, four, before it finally gave way, shattering like a firework of glass.

"Delilah!" He screamed, struggling to get his body out the car.

But his arm was searing in pain, bent at an awkward angle, and he cried out in agony as he maneuvered himself out the window.

"Delilah!"

He pulled out his phone and had 911 contacted before he could even think twice, every electronic buzz an undertone to his fear.

Matty ran to the other side of the car, boots hitting the tops of hard asphalt, crushing pieces of glass beneath the soles, and lungs and heart collapsing  with every step he took.

It was finally then that he saw it, past the corner of a broken tire.

The entire side was crushed; a grisly fold of metal all jagged and sharp and all pressed against her. Whatever had hit them had definitely hit her side. There were indentations of the front of a truck, alive and well on the side of his car, crude and vengeful, and covered in blood.

He just stopped in his tracks, and nearly crumbled to the ground along with her.

And he tried his best to get her out of there, pulling on the underside of her shoulder with his good arm, but every time he pulled, the metal of the door would scratch her even more and he couldn't bear to think of all the pain she'd be in once she woke up, and how he'd love to kiss her dry of it all.

"911 what's your emergency?"

He put his phone on speaker, tossing it out on the pavement because all he had in his hands was Delilah.

"My c-car crashed and I-my girlfriend's really really hurt and please I'm on the 57 in Santa Ana. P-please."

He had her by the back collar of her dress by now, dragging her out the vehicle in a way that he hoped wasn't too painful, even as he wasn't entirely comfortable with how he was handling his Delilah.

But God, there was blood everywhere and Matty couldn't stop looking at her and sobbing. He couldn't even say anything. He just cried.

But she was a bit more than half of out his car now and he hovered himself just over her waist and wrapped her in his arms, kissing her dark and dead hair over and over again.

"Delilah!" He screamed because as long as he had lived he didn't know a thing. He just screamed in pain and in sadness onto her hair, onto her bare shoulder.

His hand guided some stray fringe away from her face, picking out particles of glass. He kissed her forehead; just as much blood on his lips as there was on his hands.

There was sirens in the background, loud and soft but really just a low hum in the back of his mind.

"Sir, are you okay?!"

Matty was still screaming, tears pooling down beneath their bodies, mixing in with shared blood and guilty alcohol.

This is just a dream, Matt. You're just dreaming.

Though he couldn't stop thinking of all the people he loved, painting over their pain like it didn't hurt them at all.

Delilah and Matty lied on the side of a freeway, and he knew she wasn't dead. Her skin was still warm and her hair still smelled like lavender and his regular cologne, though her heart refused to beat, and the glow in her eyes was fading far too quickly.