The house was quiet. No floors creaked, no footsteps on the stairs. You lifted the cup of hot tea to your lips, hoping it would calm you. But the tears wouldn't stop. You choked on a sob and spat your tea out. "Shit"
You wiped the spit off the counter. You opened up the dishwasher and put the cup away. It was then you noticed it was empty. Even though it was seven in the evening, there was no dishes to be done, no crumbs of food and no forgotten dishes on the counter. It might as well be like nobody was living in it for weeks. You sadly realised that, that was just the case.
In the hallway, you were met with luggage you had yet to unpack. You struggled to get the heavy bags upstairs by yourself. You decided to spare yourself and not carry them up yourself. You walked upstairs to your room, where everything was untouched. The bed was made and the pillows were arranged. Why did it not look slept in? You climbed into it and falling asleep by yourself, wasn't how you imagined spending your first night home.
Where was Matt?
You called him seven times and sent multiple messages. Knowing him, it wasn't unlikely that he turned off his phone. He turned it off to keep his attention on work, but why would he do it today of all days? The only reason you couldn't wrap your head around it was why, especially not when you couldn't have done anything to upset him. You'd been gone for three weeks and during that time, you called each other and told each other how much you missed each other.
The blanket rested on your body and pillows covered you from the cold coming from the window. The salty taste of your tears gathered on your lips. You closed your eyes and hoped for sleep to come and bring you relief.
You hoped, wherever Matt was, that he was sleeping okay.
~
You sat on your couch, with a coffee. Alex, your best friend's contact flashed on your phone and you put the call on speaker.
"So, he hasn't been at home yesterday, and he wasn't home last night? He didn't sleep at home?"
"No"
"Where is he then?"
"I have no idea" you told her. "I thought his Mom's first, but I called her and she said she hasn't seen him in a week. I'm starting to get worried"
"Worry? Fuck that. He's an asshole for not being there the day you came home! He left you alone overnight"
"Yeah"
"You can't tell me you weren't afraid" She hissed, hitting the nail on the head.
Of course you felt afraid. You hated sleeping by yourself and as a woman..you doubted it would never not be uncomfortable. If anything happened, you would've been alone.
"I thought he was with his friends or his brothers, but they haven't seen him either"
"Okay..but you were gone for three weeks. If he needed time to do anything, he's had plenty of it"
"Right? And two days ago he was telling me how glad he was I was coming home"
"And when you do, he disappears!"
You bit back a smile at your friend's reaction. Alex helped to shrink the part of your brain that was reserved for worrying about Matt.
"You don't think he's in trouble, do you?"
"Matt? No, he's acting like an ass, but he's smart. Trust me, there's a simple reason, which will probably lead to an argument when he shows up"
"I thought I was being dramatic"
"Are you kidding? I'd be furious"
"I'm more sad than angry"
Living with Matt was nice. But you liked being on your own sometimes. It was nice to be in quiet on your own. You would play music he didn't like or catch up on TV shows he didn't watch. But, it was uncomfortable to be on your own when you didn't know when he was coming home.
