Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
ALL I DO. { irl }
the moment they walked through the front door, chris came up and snatched rayne from niola and they ran away together to play with dolls or something. meanwhile, nick was screaming questions at matt.
"why did you get home to late?" he asked.
"we got a little distracted." matt replied, trying to get past his brother and take niola to his room. he wanted to check on her and make sure she was handling everything well.
"what?" nick said, stepping in front of his path. "did you get in an accident on the way here or something?"
"no, it was something else." matt answered, trying not to punch nick in the face.
"i thought you fucking died!"
"okay? well, that's your fault for assuming shit so quickly." he snapped, grabbing niola's hand and shoving nick aside. before nick could say anything else, matt was already down the hall and entering his room.
matt closed his door behind them and sat down on his bed with niola.
she quickly became aware of the fact that he was still holding her hand, but she didn't want to point it out. she was scared that he would let go.
"are you hurt anywhere?" matt asks her, their joined hands sitting between them. but he's too worried about niola to care if they're holding hands. "like, do you have and scratches or bruises anywhere?"
niola almost tells him about the throbbing pain on her shoulder blade, but for some reason she doesn't. the look of worry on his face makes her feel guilty. even though none of this was her fault, she knows that the reason matt is so stressed is because of her. she doesn't want to tell him about the burn because it'll worry him even more.
"uh, my head kind of hurts." she answers him. it's true her head hurts but the ache on her head is nothing compared to what her shoulder feels like. "but i think i just have a headache because of how stressed and scared i was."
the worst part is that she was wearing a tank top when her father burned her, so the pan was pressed against bare skin. but before leaving the house, she ran to her room and threw on a zip-up jacket to hide the wound.
"turn around," matt tells her. "i want to check your head and make sure there's no bruising or anything."
"no, i'm sure it's just a headache." niola insists. but she's lying. her head hurts from where her father broke the glass against it. she hasn't checked her head for any injuries, but she knows there's got to be at least a scratch.
"niola, please." matt says, squeezing her hand. "let me take care of you."
this is the second time matt has said her first name but niola feels just as giddy as the first time. it feels like her heart jumped out of her chest and started doing cartwheels.
"okay," she gives in.
she shifts on the bed so she's facing the headboard and matt's facing her back. after moving, she was forced to let go of his hand – which is honestly the most depressing thing that's happened all day.
matt gently touches around her head, asking if it hurts when he presses on any specific spot. he doesn't know where the wound is nor what to even look for. a scratch? a bruise? a bald spot? all he knows is that her head hurts and he needs to help her. and niola also isn't sure where it is. all of her nerves are hyper-focused on the pain in her shoulder so she can't really focus on any other kind of injury.
"ow," niola winces as he presses on the right side of her parietal ridge.
as gently ass possible, matt parts her hair, getting a better look at the damage. instead of her skin being her usual shade, it's purple and blue. matt's heart stops before he asks, "what happened here?"
"nothing, i just-"
"stop defending him." matt says. "i already know that he's a shitty person, you don't need to lie about this anymore. you can be honest with me."
niola's eyes were fixed on his bed sheets, not sure what to feel. part of her is angry – upset that she got matt tied into her shit. but another part of her is happy – forever grateful that she finally has someone she can be truthful with.
all her life, she's lied about her family. she tells her friends that her parents are away for a work trip. and she sugarcoats the truth when talking to rayne.
she's so used to lying that it's hard not to.
"he broke a wine glass over my head," niola tells matt, refusing to remove her gaze from the plaid sheets in front of her.
matt leans forward and hugs her from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning his chin on her shoulder. he smiles before whispering against her skin, "thank you for telling me. i know how hard this is for you."
niola rests her head on his, shifting to get comfortable. but as soon as she moves her arm, her burn wound scrapes against the zipper of matt's hoodie.
niola yanks her body away from him, sucking in a sharp breath.
"what?" matt asks, not understanding why she looks like she'd just gotten shot. "did i do something wrong?"
"no," she replies, "it's fine. you didn't know."
she suddenly feels a sense of safety with matt, like she can tell him anything. she slips her jacket off her shoulder and shows him the wound – which she still hasn't even looked at yet. she hears his breath hitch and she automatically knows that the burn isn't a pretty sight.
"nia," matt utters.
she tips her head to the side, trying to look at the burn. but she can only see a little bit of it. there's a circle of skin that's tinted dark red, blisters beginning to form across her shoulder blade. then, there's a few layers of skin peeled back from where she pulled it against matt's zipper.
"what the fuck did he do to you?"
.∘◦❀◦∘. a/n : a little twist on the beloved 'who did this to u' trope 🤭🤭 ◦∘.❀.∘◦
