The Arrangement | Completed | Wattys2020

20

"Get some sleep. We will be home soon." Matty whispered in my ear.

"I want to watch the plane take off, first." I yawned, barely able to keep my eyes open.

"There will be many more trips, I promise." He said, kissing my temple and pulling me into his side. Phoebe was already asleep in the seat next to him. Matty sat in between the two of us, wanting to be able to be near the both of us.

"This was so much fun. Thank you for bringing us." I yawned.

"Thank you for coming. Now get some sleep. I'll wake you up when we land. Do you want me to take you to your house or mine?" He asked.

I want to stay with Matty. I don't want to be at home. I don't want to go back to the terrible reality. I don't want to see my dad. I don't want to have to worry about anything. I just want to sit with Matty and enjoy my time with him.

"Yours." I smiled, closing my eyes and leaning my head against his shoulder.

"Candace, I love you." He whispered.

"I love you, too. So much." I whispered back. I felt him chuckle, shaking my body gently with his laughter.

-

When the plane landed, Matty shook me awake gently.

"Candace, baby, we landed. Wake up." He nudged. When I opened my eyes, I saw him looking down at me with a little smile. I smiled softly, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep.

"I'm tired. Goodnight." I said, leaning back on his shoulder.

"Oh no you don't." He laughed, leaning my body in an upright position.

"Let me sleep." I groaned, laughing with him.

"You can sleep at my house, yeah? But for now, we need to get up and get our luggage."

When we began to stand up and get off of the plane, Phoebe held onto his hand the entire time. Daniel and Lizzie were behind us a few feet as every began to crowd off of the plane.

"Don't let go of my hand, okay?" Matty instructed Phoebe.

She nodded as he led our group off of the plane. It felt nice being out of the enclosed area. People began to scatter every which way. The airport was huge. Yet, Matty somehow knew exactly where we were going the entire time.

"Luggage claim is fairly close. Only a five minute walk or so." Matty stated, picking Phoebe up to make the walk a little faster.

When we got the the luggage claim, the crowd was even heavier than it was before. Multiple luggage carrels were surrounding us with the flight and city displayed above each one. Matty set Phoebe down as he went to retrieve our luggage. He came back and set down my suitcase, along with his and Lizzie's.

"Are you two going to come back to the house? Or are you going straight home?" Lizzie asked, sipping the coffee we had to stop and get her on the way to baggage claim.

"I think we are going to go back to my house. The girls are pretty tired. Honestly, I am too. We all just need a good nap." Matty said, hugging her a goodbye.

"Okay, well you kids be careful! Text me when you get home. Remember, if you get tired, pull over. Don't drive if you're too tired." She said, kissing his cheek.

"Alright, mom. I love you. Bye dad." Matty said, giving his dad a quick head nod.

Daniel replied with a tight smile and a pat on Matty's shoulder.

On our way home, Phoebe fell asleep in the car. Despite still being exhausted from the traveling, I enjoyed just sitting in the car with Matty.

"I loved the trip. But I'm also kind of glad to be back home." I said as we pulled into the driveway.

"Home?" Matty asked with a smile.

"I mean...you know. Here. In the state. Not exactly your home in particular just..." I stuttered, instantly embarrassed. This isn't my home. It's Matty's home.

"Hey, it's okay." Matty laughed. "We're home, baby." He said, now speaking softly to Phoebe in the backseat.

As we got out of the car and began to collect our things, I noticed the light that was left on in his house.

"Of course you would leave your living room light on during a week long trip." I laughed.

"What?" Matty asked as he set one of the bigger cases on the ground.

"The living room light. You left it on." I repeated, nodding towards the light that was shining through the windows.

He looked up quickly, noticing the light that was on in the house.

"No I didn't." He said, slowly stepping away from the car.

"What?"

"I turned the lights off. I had a checklist. Everything was turned off." He said.

"Matty?" I said, not wanting my voice to show too much fear.

"Stay here. Get in the car. Don't get out until I say it's okay. I'm going to stay on the phone with you, okay? If you hear anything weird, just call the cops." He said, pulling his phone out of his pocket and dialing my number.

"Wait! Matty, what are you doing?" I said, answering his call.

"I'm going to see who is in the house. Don't hang up this phone and don't get out of this car. I mean it. I love you. I'll be right back, okay? I promise." He said, running back over and giving me a hard kiss before walking towards the house.

I watched as Matty entered the house and closed the door behind him, hearing nothing but the muffled sounds coming from the other end of the phone.