Bruised

Chapter 14

Matt was about to hit the road home but as he started walking he thought of Nate and went back to pay him a last visit before he left. The keys on his pocket opened both the gate and the front door, but he rarely used the door one. Once he opened the gate Nate's beagle ran in his direction "Hello buddy" Matthew said bending down to stroke him. Then he stood up and made his way to the door followed by the animal that laid at his feet after he knocked.

"Matthew!" Mrs. Blackbourne showed up "My sweet Matthew, it's been some time since you paid us a visit, how have you been?" she asked inviting him in. "Not you Bubble, out!" she pointed to the dog and he did just what she said, then she walked in Nate's room direction "Nathaniel love, Matty is here" and then left.

"What's up?" the blond one talked "Just came to check on you" the answer was quick "I hope you have a safe flight and enjoy it man, you seriously deserve some time for yourselves" Nate smiled.

"How's your mama reacting to the fact that you are actually permanently moving?" Matt asked as he jumped to the sofa in the other's room. "Not so well, her baby is never going to come back" he rolled his eyes "These are obviously her words".

"At least I don't have that problem" Matthew let out a bitter laughed "I'm really sorry man" Nate looked down "Life hasn't been fair to you"

"I'm seriously counting on becoming a fucking billionaire cause I mean, after all the shit I've been through that's the least I can get" the blue eyed spoke cutting down the awkwarness and they both laughed.

"Did you walk here? I didn't hear your 'cycle" Nate asked as he put the rest of his clothes in his bag "I had lunch with Stella so we walked to the restaurant and back."

"Oh, Stella, I see" the other cut him "Don't even go there" Matthew said as a smirk was visible on his face.

"She's single, you're single, she's nice and you're an asshole but we all forgive you cause you're almost as hot as her" and they both started laughing at that non-sense "Christie should have heard you!" Matthew laughed even louder "And I may be single but you know the story, it's not like I've forgotten Amber".

It was already dark when the blue-eyed returned home but it was fine because truth be told the darkness never scared him.

The next morning Matthew woke up and even before he went to take a shower he called Joe. "Hey" he heard the sleepy voice on the other side of the line "I'm sorry I woke you" Matt apologised "Is your sister home?" but no one answered making him repeat the question "No, she said something about a bookstore, sorry Mat, I'm really tired, can we talk later" and all it took was a "Sure" for Joe to hung up.

He took a shower and in that time thought about where Stella could be, leaving early and telling Joe she was going to a bookstore made him wonder if she had gone to meet the person from the texts. There weren't many of those in the neighbor anyway so once he was ready he used his motorcycle to find her quicker.

Half an hour and he had been to all the stores he knew best but then something occurred to him. If he was meeting someone at a bookstore, he would choose one that had a café and with that he quickly drove to the only one he knew like that.

"Belles-lettres" was one of the most beautiful and peaceful places the blue-eyed had even been to. Because the co-owner was also a fighter Matthew used to go there a lot during school time or from time to time only to read.

"Long time man" the tall young man wearing a black suit approached him and as always he did not look like a person from the street let alone a boxer.

"Still faithful to the suit I see" Matthew mocked as they shook hands but then went straight to the point "Look did you see a red haired girl in here this morning?" the other thought for a few seconds before speaking "Curly hair, pretty face and high heels how could I forget, table 7, up, there's some weird guy with her" Matthew's face expression changed immediately "Please, no fights here" the other said as Matthew made his way upstairs.

He sat the closest so he could to understand what was going on but still quite far so Stella wouldn't see him. The guy sat in front of her was clearly older and looked suspicious of everything. They sat there for more than an hour but despite Matthew's efforts he did not understand a word.

They left and he was pretty sure he hadn't been seen, giving them enough time to leave the place he then followed them in his motorcycle. Nothing seemed too weird beside the fact that the man kept looking around. But when he grabbed Stella's arm making her flinch Matthew did not wait any second before stopping the vehicle and crossing the street.

"Hey!" The blue-eyed yelled still running in their direction "You! Leave her alone!" the anger he was feeling was clear in his voice and he felt stronger than ever, how did he dare hurt Stella.

As he was getting closer the man ran as fast as he could, and as much as Matthew wanted to beat the hell out of him making sure Stella was okay was more important, so he stopped and hugged the scared girl in front of him.

----------------------------------

Hey guy, I hope you are loving this story as much as I am loving writing it.

Thank you for all the support in your comments, make sure you keep on voting and leaving comments with your opinion.

Love you,

Yxzmin