And Love Me

II

The only way I could ever decide was if I gave the two of them a chance, especially since I had only been dating Matty for a couple of months. The rules were set so that each could take me on a date that would be equally satisfying so I wouldn't bias my decision on the date alone.

It felt so strange that something so simple had to be so drawn out and dramatic. But if felt nice being wanted and it was nice that the guys took their love so seriously...

"In order for this to be legit..." I could barely hold back my laughter. "I've brought a little contract and a notary guy." I motioned towards the quiet man standing in the corner with a suit and tie.

"Are you kidding me?" Matty chuckled. I noticed George's face turning red with a big smile on his face.

"I'm not kidding you." I smiled wide. "I want this to be fair and I want to make the right decision."

"I trust that." George nodded. "Hand me those papers."

I smiled at the two of them briefly and handed George the copy first. He didn't hesitate to sign before reading it.

"What are you going to do if you don't win?" I asked Matty. "Honestly, I'd feel awful." I mumbled, trying not to make the situation too awkward.

"Probably kill someone." Matty crosses his arms and sat back. His attitude said it all...

MATTY:

Matty arrived for our date all smiles. He had a single rose in his hand. I blushed, feeling the heat rise to my face.

"I've come to whisk you away, lovely." He winked at me. Spunky Matty was quite the rare sight. I giggled at the man.

"What are we doing today?" I set the rose inside my apartment and exited with him, our arms latched.

"I've decided to take you for a night on the town. Catch dinner and a movie, you know...teenage dream kind of things." He shrugged. "Not originally what I had in mind but when you've got a budget set by this stupid, little game."

"It's not stupid." I giggled at him as we walked down the street. "It's difficult, but not stupid."

"Fine." He rolled his eyes. "Maybe I just hate having competition..."

Matty stayed relatively cheerful for the duration of our date. I knew how hard it was for him as it was hard for me, too. Everything was on the line for the three of us. Someone was going to get their heart broken one way or another.

After a quick movie, he ended up taking me to one of the fanciest restaurants in Manchester. It was so hard not to want him when he looked at me with those gorgeous brown eyes and that curly brown hair. He looked so somber and soft in the dim lighting of the restaurant.

This would be quite the decision to make. Matty was certainly making it hard and I wondered if George would even be able to compete.

After we finished our meal Matty took me home. It was a silent walk. We both knew that the elephant in the room made everything tense.

"I know our date is over but would you like to head to the rooftop like we did after our first date?" He asked, holding my hands at my building's doorstep.

"Would that be fair?" I asked, feeling guilty.

"No one has to know." He gave a quirky smile and headed inside with me.

We got to the roof, not without a quick argument with the maintenance man to let us all the way up there.

Seeing the city in it's entirety brought back fond memories with Matty. I remembered how cute it was the way he pecked my cheek to comfort me and my irrational fear of heights.

The two of us quietly sat on the concrete and looked in opposite directions, not sure of where to continue.

"I can't believe that there's a chance that I could lose you." Matty sighed, looking down pathetically in his lap. The broken silence was a relief but the type of conversation wasn't.

"You...don't know that yet." I answered, staring off into the city.

GEORGE:

"This budget thing is killing me." George chuckled as we rode in his car to a football game. (Soccer, not American Football) "There's not much I can do for you, especially if I want to spoil you."

"Oh, stop it." I rolled my eyes. "I hope you think this isn't some sort of competition. This is really serious."

"I know. I know." He sighed. I could tell he was disappointed in himself for how he worded things. I probably felt worse than him, I was the reason all of this was going down. If I weren't in the picture I was sure they wouldn't be fighting like this.

Once we got to the stadium it was crowded as ever. Nothing is stronger than people's love for sports. There were a lot of whack-jobs, some in full paint.

George's fingers intertwined with mine. I felt myself shutter at the feeling. I felt so excited to be there with him, as if I were rejuvenated. These were the butterflies that Matty couldn't give me. It felt as though I were awakened to the fact that every love is different.

"You know what we should do?" He asked me as we took our seats nearly spilling our overly-expensive food and drink.

"What?" I smiled over at him, taking a sip of my drink. For a split second it looked like he was deep in thought, as if he were contemplating telling me.

"I think we should just run away from it all and have fun for a bit." He suggested. "When I'm with you, whether Matty's there or not, I've got this feeling. You inspire me and right now I'm very inspired to pick you up and take you away from all of this."

My mind scrambled. Matty showed me a good time but this was something I had never thought of. They always say that if you truly loved the first then you wouldn't have fallen for the second. I'm starting to believe that's true.

As I sat next to George and looked at him cheering his favorite team on I noticed something inside of me change. I found that maybe I wasn't looking for someone to relax me, maybe I wanted someone to fire me up and give me that motivation to do whatever came to my mind.

"Let's do it." I mumbled, grabbing his hand and squeezing it tightly. "Let's leave right now and go do this."

"Are...you serious?" George stopped cheering and looked at me seriously.

"I don't know where we'll go but I'm sure we'll figure that out." I felt my pupils dilating. This was now all based on instinct.

"Sure, sure, yeah..." George got up, still in a state of shock that I agreed. "I'll take you to yours to pack."