𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 & 𝗔𝗟𝗪𝗔𝗬𝗦, 𝐦. 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨

²⁵

the sound of taylor swift's voice echoed through the car as hope sang along to the words cheerfully. the smile on her face was one of the biggest she could muster and therefore, matt couldn't stop smiling. he absolutely adored seeing her happy. in turn, it made him happy because he took in all her joy.

they were heading to an ice skating rink (hope was terrified) and then following the trip with a meal. it was their first official date since they got back together and both participants could not contain their excitement.

matt watched from the corner of his eye as hope drummed her fingers along with the beat and he occasionally rested his free hand atop of hers. she turned to face him more times than he or she could count and just looked and looked. it wasn't unsettling because the glimmer in her eyes showed nothing but adoration. she was looking at matt like he was the most wonderful thing she had ever laid eyes on and in all honesty, he was. he was truly gorgeous and hope would be a fool to not admire how beautiful he looked, especially when the sun was shining down on his face and hitting him in all the right directions.

"i missed this you know," he grinned once the light turned red, as he shifted his head to glance at hope.

"i always miss taylor too," she teased and despite the roll of his eyes, the smile never left his face.

"for real though, i was wondering if it would ever be like this again," he sighed a little but it quickly turned into a soft smile at the realisation that it was indeed, like this again.

"after we saw each other again, it was always at the back of my mind but i should have known we couldn't be apart," she smiled at him.

he returned the gesture easily before focusing his eyes back on the road, catching the change from red to amber and then green as he began driving to their destination again.

the car ride had many moments as such and even when the only volume was taylor and hope singing, it never felt unnatural. it never felt strange or uneasy because it was what it used to be like; it was home.

they arrived at the ice skating rink before they knew it and when they stepped out the car, matt slowly laced his fingers with hope's as they began walking. she tightened their fingers a little and he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

she had done ice skating once before but the session was cut short when she had to go home due to a family emergency. to put it lightly, she wasn't exactly like the sturniolo's on ice. she could just about skate without falling over but that was better than nothing, so she took it.

"are you nervous?" he asked softly, turning his head to get a better look at her demeanour which in fact, did appear nervous.

"a little bit i won't lie," she confessed and he shook his head.

"you'll be fine, plus you have me in case anything happens," he reminded her and the words eased her nerves, even if it was a short-lived ease.

the ice skating rink was one of the only ones open, seeing as it was getting further and further away from winter. even so, matt would have selected this one even if every single rink in the city was open. it gave off a homely vibe that he couldn't quite put into words and the people there were lovely. due to the amount of times he had been there, they were familiar with him and always made him feel the most welcome.

matt and hope watched as the automatic doors opened after picking up their presence before they made their way inside, now surrounded by a chilled atmosphere. the almost breeze felt brilliant after being in the scorching heat and hope inhaled softly. she followed behind matt who made his way towards the front desk.

the man standing there gave him a large grin that somehow widened when he realised the boy wasn't alone. he raised his eyebrow in question and matt smirked at him.