HE IS HELL

Chapter twenty-one

Chapter twenty-one

When I woke up, Matthew was gone and a womans' voice could be heard – the tone was slightly high pitched, annoyed and upset. I furrowed my brows wondering who it was, not remembering if Woodley or Miller brought anyone back with us. Remembering last night ached my heart but made me smile in the end, missing Matthew more than I thought.

"Matthew, look at this mess!" That's not a random one-night stand. Crawling out of the bed, regrettably, I quickly placed Matthews' pink shorts on and his shirt, then used my jumper to cover my breasts – knowing I had no bra on. Walking out of the bedroom, the light from the front room caused me to squint my eyes momentarily. Woodley sat next to Miller on the beige couch, both on their mobiles tapping away, seemingly oblivious to the woman shouting. Looking to the kitchen I saw Matthew, shirtless with just his boxers on rubbing his head.

"Mum, I'm going to clean it now. I just woke up." He groaned, acting like a child who had been caught bringing mud into the house.

Wait, mum? I'm not dressed! As I was about to run back to the bedroom, Matthew saw me.

"Kat! Mum, this is Kat, my girlfriend." Oh I knew full well he was using me as a distraction. A woman, smaller than me, popped her head around the corner – her eyes were mesmerizing. One was blue while the other brown, I was jealous. She was quite a big woman, wide set with broad shoulders, she smiled at me.

"Hi Kat, nice to meet you. I'm Matthews' mother, Willow." I nodded, awkwardly shuffling my feet and smiling back. "Nice to meet you too. Sorry about the mess."

Willow shook her head looking at Matthew. "It's his fault. Matthew, how many Katies' are you going to date?" The woman laughed softly, walking past us and into her bedroom. I guess I'm not the first 'Katie' he's dated.

"Ignore her. What do you want for breakfast, babe?" Matthew asked, stretching. I couldn't help the biting of my lip as his muscles popped out from his arms and chest – drawing my attention solely on him. "Kat? Breakfast?" Matthew breathed out, his arms falling to his sides as I felt my body tingle in delight.

"Uh, food?" I replied, mentally slapping my face. "I meant cereal, if you have it."

Matthew pulled out three different kinds from the pantry, offering me to pick which one I wanted. I pointed to the coco pops, craving the chocolate treat. Oh, the chocolate bar!

"Matthew, I forgot I brought you a chocolate bar yesterday. It's in my bag for when you want it." Passing me the bowl Matthew smiled, thanking me and placing a kiss on my lips. I felt like the luckiest woman alive as I looked at him, walking away into the front room. I stood for a few moments, relishing in this bliss that filled my entire being.

While they were all in the front room, I chose to eat outside on the balcony. Figuring I'd give Matthew more male time and me some alone time with the brisk November air. I breathed in deeply, enjoying the coldness that seeped into my lungs. As I ate, I remembered Matthew throwing up in the early hours of this morning. I grimaced, deciding it was the wrong time to remember that, yet I was surprised at how easily he recovered. Looking at him, he didn't act hungover as much as I would have thought. The odd rub at his temple and the small groan from his port-dyed lips was enough for anyone to think he had fallen over instead.

I finished my bowl just in time for Willow to come outside and sit next to me, she looked at my tobacco then at me.

"Can I have a cigarette Kat? I don't normally smoke but I could do with one." She asked with such a tiresome voice. I felt guilty for her tired look.

"Sure, help yourself." I said back, not exactly knowing how to communicate. She rolled one for herself, as I did the same. We both sat in silence, smoking uncomfortably until I heard Willow sigh in a troubled manner.

"Everything OK Willow?" I asked, not wanting to over step our boundaries yet worried for the aging woman before me. She nodded, breathing in from her cigarette. "I'm OK. Just annoyed with Matthews' drinking. When he met you a while back, his drinking calmed down – you calmed him down, then the last couple of months he has been a nightmare! Coming here every weekend, getting completely paralytic then calling all of us near 3 am. He is such a stressful boy." Willow wiped away a tear, heaving out a frustrated groan.

"I didn't know he was doing that, I'm sorry. I'll get him to start behaving. I'm glad I calmed him down though, I didn't think I was. He drinks so much I wasn't sure how his body could handle it." I replied honestly, surprised that I supposedly calmed him down.

"You do. He used to drink so much he wouldn't be able to stand or he would be shouting and crying and smashing up my table again." He was really like that? I looked to the road ahead of us as cars drove past, slowing down on the corners. I felt on edge at the news, another side of Matthew I wasn't aware about. I shouldn't worry about it. I told myself, believing Matthew to have changed, just like his mother said.

Willow and I both decided to go inside as Matthew was waving to Woodley and Miller from the window. "They went back home?" Willow asked as Matthew nodded. "Yeah, they have to get back earlier than I do."

I was slightly upset at not being able to thank Woodley for last night, soberly, anyhow. I sat next to Matthew on the couch, him gulping down an entire glass of water in seconds. Dehydrated huh? I shook my head, the niggling feeling in the back of my mind reappearing. Don't worry about it.

Hours later we all decided to have a pizza take-out for dinner. Matthew had a meat feast while I had chicken, sweetcorn and mushroom toppings; both having stuffed crust and BBQ sauce. Willow having a plain cheese pizza. We all munched away on the sofa watching Red Dwarf – a show I had missed watching. I was full half way through the pizza as Matthew took a slice of mine, eagerly wanting to try it. I did the same to him as he whined from the loss of a slice, his mother and I both scoffed at his child-like behavior.

I was happy, for the first time in months.

And so was he.