Matt found himself at Josh’s dad’s studio more and more that week. He’d sleep on the couch whilst Josh would work on his individual song, and then Josh would start playing around on cover artwork whilst Matt recorded his solo song. When Josh needed to record, he’d instruct Matt on which buttons to press and then head into the booth. The taller boy’s song was called Fix Me, he said. It was an upbeat song, but the message through the lyrics hinted at something else. Matt didn’t question it; he didn’t feel it was his place. When Josh was singing lyrics like ‘If you’re ever feeling you’re bruised and battered, always sore’ Josh would always look up at Matt and smile sadly. Matt presumed the song was over, and pressed the stop button. Josh returned to the studio, a lopsided grin on his face. Matt smiled back.
“How was that?”
“Really good.” Matt smiled, looking down at his shoes. “It’s great.”
Josh smiled wider, hugging Matt tightly. “Thanks, Matt. That means a lot.” He let Matt go; brushing his hair behind his ear as he leaned down to gather some sheets of paper. “I’ve got the drums, bass and guitar down, so I just need to stitch that all together, and then that’s that done. Two songs down, your solo and Sicker Things to go.”
Sicker Things was a song the boys had written together last week. It took some guts from Matt to contribute to some lyrics, but it was alright. He knew he was alright because Josh was with him. Tyler wouldn’t hear this anyway. It was alright. The problem now was his solo song. It was hard to write lyrics, but lyrics that meant something were even harder to write. He wanted to write about his life, but he couldn’t without telling everyone he got beat up every time he went home. He finally ended up writing something.
“I uh, I’ve got lyrics and a melody for mine now. I gotta do it on guitar, it’ll be acoustic.” He handed the folded sheet with his lyrics on to Josh, who unfolded them and scanned them with wide eyes, looking up at Matt.
“I can sing it if you want.”
Josh nodded and handed the paper back to the shorter boy.
“Go record it.” Matt grabbed his guitar and headed into the booth, settling on a stool. He plugged his guitar in, adjusting the tune a little.
“Whenever you’re ready, Matt.”
Matt nodded, and took a deep breath before starting. He positioned his fingers on the strings and began to play.
“The purple walls I'm swimming in,
It was the first and the last time,
We broke those hearts of cinnamon
I can remember what it tastes like,
The room was moving, you were losing,
A balance and all kinds of things like me.”
Matt begun, glancing briefly at Josh who’s gaze was fixed on him. He continued.
“I heard this coming from a mile away
asked my friends outside if it's all okay
can I leave you now, and break us to pieces?
It's gonna sting like hell when you're missing nights
And the gang's all set for the Friday fights
But I'm so ready to break us to pieces...” Josh was still staring at him, with wider eyes than before. This next part was Matt’s favourite part to sing. So he wiped the frown off of his face, replacing it with a soft smile.
“A friendly face to fill the void
you’re the glue and the staple
A parachute and we're deployed
I can remember what it felt like
the wind was blowing, so where we going?
Maybe far away from home
Oh, home sweet home.”
He then repeated the chorus, and added a few ‘oh’s for effect, smiling as he did so. And finally, he finished the song with another repeat of the chorus, and smiled up at Josh who was smiling right back at him. He got up, and headed back to the studio.
“I, uh...” Matt stuttered, unsure of what to say.
“That was amazing.”
“I messed up a little on the part where-”
Josh interrupted him, shaking his head. “It was great, Matt. You’re a natural.” Matt laughed as he sat on the couch again.
“I wrote that after you left a couple days ago. Tyler came home like ten minutes after you left, and he was piss drunk.” Matt sniffed slightly. Josh came to sit beside Matt, elbows resting on his knees as he waited for Matt to continue. “He tried to continue what he started earlier, but I stopped him for a moment.”
Josh looked up and cocked his head. “You stood up to him? Matt! I’m proud of you.”
Matt wrung his hands anxiously. “I said no, and I shouted, but he carried on anyway, regardless.” His words were slightly quieter, fingertips playing at the cuff of his left sleeve before rolling it up completely, exposing a large smudge of dark purple bruising. Josh raised his eyebrows, trying not to act too outrageously. He scooted closer to Matt, rolling his sleeve down gently.
“I’m sorry he did that, Matt. He’s the fucking lowest of the low and that kind of fucked up behaviour can’t be forgiven. But this time was different. You stood up to him and that’s a hell of a difference. I’m really proud of you for that.”
Without warning, Matt flung his arms around Josh, the force knocking the tall boy backwards so he was lying on the sofa with his arms around Matt.
“Thank you. For everything.” Matt whispered, looking at Josh. “I mean it.” With that, Matt leant in and kissed Josh on the corner of his mouth. Acting upon instinct, Josh moved his head so he connected their lips properly, kissing the younger boy a little harder and smiling when he felt Matt’s hands tangle into his hair.
Matt was pushing back with equal force, if not more, tilting his head to the right a little to bring them even closer together, if that was even possible. It was only when he felt Josh’s hands wander across his shoulder blades and felt the sting of pressure on an old bruise was when he realised what he was doing. He withdrew quickly, eyes wide with guilt and regret and worry.
“Oh my god.” He muttered, tracing fingertips over his bottom lip as he got off of Josh and crossed the room. Josh sat up, hand running through his own hair this time.
“Matt, I didn’t mean to-”
“No, don’t worry. I did it anyway.” It’s not as if Matt regretted his decision. It felt right; the way their lips moulded together was so different from when, if, Tyler kissed him. There was actually, and he felt like a teenage girl saying this, a spark there. That was something he never experienced with Tyler anymore. But there was guilt. What would Tyler do if he found out Matt had, well, cheated? He would probably kill the younger boy, and that wasn’t even an exaggeration.
Matt began picking up his things, preparing to go, but Josh stood up and stopped him. “Come on, Matt. I’m sorry. You always leave. Please don’t leave this time. Please.”
Maybe it was the fact that they hadn’t finished recording that made Matt drop his sheets of paper again and throw himself back into Josh’s arms. It was probably the guilt of having to go home that made him stay and clutch at the fabric of Josh’s sweater. It was definitely something in Josh’s eyes that made him stretch up onto his tippy toes and kiss the tall boy over and over and over again.
A/N: I stole the lyrics from the real Matt Webb mwahahahaha. Look at that drama though. Anyone rooting for this? Haha. Updatin on a Monday because I'm having a good day today. And Wattpad is trying to tell me this is Fanfiction #734 but I just don't know what that means! Ahh!
I feel like chatting today. This fic has just hit 40,000 words in total what an achievement I've wasted literally over a year of my life on this oh my god
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Coffee Shop Soundtrack (Marianas Trench)
FanfictionMatt and Josh bump into each other in a coffee shop. Literally. As they talk more, they find that they have more in common than they originally thought. Could Josh be the missing piece to what Matt needs? A Marianas Trench fanfiction.
