Darling | Matty Healy

Chapter 12

The house was awash with moving parts, people running back and forth with sunflowers and lighting setups. Amaya got out of the car with Chloe and Halle in tow, eyes blazing with the fury of a woman scorned. She charged through the entrance way, pushing past the various strangers assembling this monstrosity to get to the living room where she found Harry, micromanaging the entire thing like it was a stage production, and Charli, George and her roommates were stood around trying to stop him from essentially destroying their house against their will.

George was the first person to notice Amaya and her friends coming into the room, tapping Charli's shoulder to draw her attention to the incoming storm. When Harry realised that the incessant nagging had stopped he turned around and almost stumbled back at the sight of her heading towards him.

"You're here," he sighed out in relief.

"Get out!" Amaya said firmly. Harry opened his mouth to respond, but before he could get a syllable out she continued, "I don't give a shit, pack all this stuff up and leave my friends alone!"

"Could you just listen to me?" Harry said, slowly approaching like she was a predator at a zoo.

"What!" she exclaimed, "What could you possibly have to say that makes all of this okay ... I know you lied, I know you cheated ... I don't want to find out about the crap I don't know, so what could you possibly have to say?"

That stunned him into a moment of silence. All of the confidence he usually had in these kinds of confrontations was gone and he took a sharp gulp to recalibrate. Usually when there was a wobble or he knew he'd fucked up and didn't want her to know about it, he swept in with the big gesture, the floral arrangement, the lavish gift or the loud dedication of love was enough to satiate any concerns or fears she had. He had never seen her this angry their entire relationship, he'd never really seen her angry at all come to think of it, this was totally different and he wasn't entirely sure how to navigate it anymore.

Charli came over and took Amayas hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze before saying in hushed tones, "If you want to talk this out we can leave?"

"Are you sure?" she said, surveying the room of uncomfortable faces, now completely submerged into silence. Charli just nodded, squeezing her hand again before turning to herd everyone out of the room.

Harry was still shifting a little and Amaya shot him a sharp glare, "You wanna talk? Get rid of all these people!" She said through gritted teeth, gesturing to the people who had been milling around with flowers. He just nodded and went to talk to people. Chloe and Halle came up behind her and both wrapped their arms around her from behind.

"You gonna be okay?" Chloe whispered.

Amaya just nodded, pressing a gentle kiss to each of the girls' cheeks. "I'll be fine, I'll come over again later ... I'm okay!" They nodded, giving eachother one final squeeze before they departed, making sure to send their own daggers Harry's way as they left.

Charli's roommates had dispersed back into their own rooms, but she had pulled George with her into a bedroom that shared a wall with the living room to eavesdrop.

"I thought we were giving them space to talk?" George mumbled, still a little tired and hungover from the night before.

"That doesn't mean I'm not gonna listen!" Charli said, almost rolling her eyes at her boyfriend's lack of understanding.

"What are you doing in here?" A groggy voice croaked out from the darkness, making them both jump out of their skins.

It was Matty. After walking in on Charli and Amaya's tearful embrace and being coerced into confessing by George and Charli, he'd returned to bed in an attempt to sleep off the hangover and try to will himself into a universe where he didn't fuck a woman who had just been cheated on last night. Charli and George fumbling around had woken him up and as his eyes adjusted to the dark he grew only more confused.