A/N: You had to know that, as a self-proclaimed Word Nerd, I had to have a Captain Literally reference in here sooner or later. I've started eating into my five-chapter buffer zone, but I had to post this one today, because it is hands down my favorite chapter in this story and I've been waiting so long for you guys to read it.
Matt
For once I'm glad for the rain. With any luck, it'll disguise the tears rolling down my face with reckless abandon from Mallory.
Not that she'll notice now—we're both hanging on so tightly I doubt anything could have torn us apart in that moment. "I almost lost you," I find myself saying. "Oh, Mal, I almost lost you."
Another weight barreling into us catches me off guard and I think I would have ended up on the ground if Mallory and I hadn't been so tightly entwined. Though Mal is still in my arms, Whitney is now clinging to her side, and neither of them are making any effort to disguise their sobbing.
Natalie joins what is swiftly becoming a group hug next, and before I know it the whole cast is there, even Jared. There are tears and watery laughs and indistinct murmurs all around as we stand in there in the parking lot despite the inclement weather.
One by one they begin to drift off, standing in an uneven circle around Mallory, who hasn't loosened her grip on me in the slightest the entire time. "Let her breathe, Matt," Jason says with a soft laugh.
"Right," I say, a little embarrassed as I begin to disentangle myself from her.
She's having none of it. "Breathing is overrated," she says to the laughter of the group, burying her face in my shoulder and somehow clinging even tighter.
Her words, however, hit a little too close to home right now. "I'd like you stay breathing, thank you very much," I can't help but say.
She nods and takes a shuddering breath before finally beginning to extricate herself from my arms. "You guys didn't all have to come," she finally says.
"Yeah, we did," Stephen says.
James nods sharply. "Anyone trying to mess with our Mallory better know they've got to get through all of us first."
Mallory blinks back a few more tears and nods, before crossing her arms over her chest and running her hands up them. It's then that I notice she's only wearing a thin t-shirt and a pair of shorts—and every bit of her is drenched. Without a word I tug off my leather jacket and drape it over her shoulders. She shoots me a look that I carefully avoid, but after a moment she tucks her arms into the sleeves and zips it up before jamming her hands in the pockets. I can't help but smile, even though without my jacket the rain is swiftly seeping through my shirt and leaving me soaked.
"Come in out of the rain before we all catch our deaths," Whitney chides, gesturing back toward the awning we'd been waiting under for the past forty-five minutes.
"Can I—can I just go home?" Mallory says softly. She looks back to me. "Is it safe now?"
"The police didn't find any evidence of someone tampering with your place," I say, gritting my teeth. "It should be safe."
"I'm just going to go home then," she says. She looks so fragile in that moment it's all I can do to not sweep her right back into my arms. "Thank you all for coming."
"Always," I reply. She looks at me sharply but I don't meet her gaze.
Silence hangs over all of us for a few moments. "Let us know you get there safe and sound," Whitney finally says.
YOU ARE READING
Ridiculous: Mattory
Fanfiction'I hear Mallory's voice before I see her, and I feel a grin spread across my face as she emerges from the hallway. "Oh, hey Matt, you did make it," she says, throwing me a dazzling smile. I don't know how she does it, but one of those smiles never f...
