Coffee Shop Soundtrack (Marianas Trench)

Chapter Twenty Nine

It turned out Josh really was sick. He caught a nasty bout of the flu, meaning he slept even less than usual because he was up half the night coughing and waking himself up. It was always the way, he’d get sick and then Matt would get sick because he wouldn’t let Josh be alone. Matt wasn’t sick yet, but it would come. He wished it on himself, really. It was bound to happen.

The brunet sighed as he stirred a mug of tea, extracting the teabag and throwing it out. It was early morning but it felt like midday and everything, he noticed as he stared out of the kitchen window, looked miserable and dreary. Today was not going to be a good day. He could tell.

He finished making the cup of tea and took it down to Josh's room, where the tall boy was in bed on his laptop. Matt walked round and placed the mug on the table next to Josh, pecking his forehead quickly and settling in bed next to his boyfriend.

“Thank you, babe.”

“S’alright. What are you doing?”

“Just wasting my life on a computer.” Josh chuckled lightly, the action sending him into a coughing fit.

“God, are you alright?” Matt asked, rubbing the space on Josh's back between his shoulder blades. Josh nodded, coughed once more, and smiled.

“Yeah.” He said croakily. “Yeah, sorry. Not to be rude, but you should probably get out of here. I’m contagious, I bet you.”

“We both know that’s not going to happen.” Matt grinned, and snuggled closer to Josh. His grin faded when he heard his phone ring.

“Fuck.” He mumbled, detaching himself from Josh to go and grab his phone. He cautiously checked caller ID.

“Who is it, babe?” Josh asked from the other side of the room.

“I... It’s my sister.” Matt said, staring wide eyed at his boyfriend before answering the phone. “He... Hello?”

“Hey, Matty. It’s Jen.”

“Hi. What’s up?”

“Nothing much. You still living in Vancouver?”

“Yeah... Why?”

“I’m in the area. I wanted to say hi, you know. Can I stop by your apartment? I haven’t seen Tyler in ages.” She paused, Matt hearing the static through the speaker. “In fact, you only let me meet him once.”

“Uh, Jen, I don’t live there anymore. It’s... it’s a long story.” He paused, glancing over at Josh. “I can meet you at the coffee store? On the other side of town?”

“That’s great. I’ll meet you in an hour or so. See you soon, Matty.” She hung up the phone and Matt tossed his to the floor as though it had just burnt him.

“Shit.” He mumbled, hastily padding towards the wardrobe as he roughly ran his fingers through his hair. “Fuck fuck fuck. How the fuck did she get my number?”

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong? What happened?” Josh attempted to get up but Matt rushed over before he could get out of bed, carefully tucking him back in under the sheets.

“It’s my sister,” He repeated, brushing hair out of Josh's eyes. “And she wants to meet me for coffee in an hour.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Of course it’s a problem!” Matt almost yelled, throwing his hands down. Then, upon realising what he’d said, turned back to face his boyfriend apologetically.

“Oh god... shit... I’m so sorry, Joshy. I didn’t mean to shout. Holy fuck.”

“Why is it a problem?” Josh asked calmly, taking Matt's hand in his cold ones and gently rubbing circles into the back of his hand.

“I haven’t seen her in three years... at least. She’s gonna tell my mom everything I say.”

“Oh my god.” Josh frowned. Matt and his mother did not speak. She didn’t like the fact she had a gay son. She’d kicked him out of her house, forcing him to move in with Tyler, while she moved away to Ontario. He could see why Matt was on the verge of a panic attack. “Do you want me to go with you?”

“No, babe, you’re sick. I don’t want you getting any worse.” Matt gnawed on his lip and run his hand through his hair. “I gotta shower. I’ll go do that first. Will you be okay alone?”

“Duh. It’s alright, Matt. It’ll be okay. Just breathe.”

Matt hopped from one foot to another as he impatiently waited for the shower to heat up. At last, it did and he got in, and he swore he could cry because the hot water felt so good on his back and it was like a hug and the only thing that would make this better would be if his head could just stop pounding.

He dressed himself in one of Josh's blue flannel shirts and a pair of black jeans, tugging on some sneakers before picking up his phone, wallet and keys.

“You’ll be okay?”

“Of course, babe.” Josh mumbled. “You’ll only be gone a couple of hours. I’ll probably be asleep when you come back.”

“Okay... Just text me if you need me.”

“Mm, alright.” Josh said, reaching up and grabbing Matt, pulling him into a hug considering he didn’t want to kiss Matt just now, not when he was sick as a dog. “Same goes to you. Are you alright?”

“I think I’m okay.”

“Alright. If you panic, just get out of there and call me. I love you.”

“I love you too, baby. Try and get some sleep.”

The walk wasn’t that long, actually, and Matt found himself walking quickly anyway. He soon found himself at the shop, the rival shop to what used to be Josh's family’s shop. Now, the destruction of the competition seemed to have affected business at this store, because it was jam packed with customers. He cautiously entered, ordering his black coffee, and took a seat at one of the few unoccupied tables. He took sips of the hot beverage, scanning the store for sight of his sister. The last he remembered, his sister had blonde hair. She’d dyed it brown over the summer before. Matt thought it suited her but she obviously didn’t; bleaching the shit out of it to make it almost crystalline white.

He noticed the same head of carefully straightened white-blonde hair entering the store now. His sister looked over and smiled at him. Matt looked down at his coffee.

“Hi, Matthew. It’s been a while.”

That... that was not the voice of his sister. He looked up, not only to see Jen taking a seat opposite him, but a thin, tall woman in a thick winter coat. His heart dropped to the floor as he realised who he was looking at. The woman who’d slapped him clean across the face when he told him he’d got himself a boyfriend. The woman who kicked him out of her house, screaming obscenities at the poor boy. Matt felt faint when he stared at this woman, feeling sick as he took in the unfamiliar yet strikingly familiar face of his mother.  

Fuck.

A/N: Here's the final update for a couple weeks because I'm going away for a little while! Thought I'd leave you on a cliffhanger.

In other news, when I wrote this note I am halfway finished in Chapter 49, and I'm finishing this at 50! I'm already planning a sequel. I like this fic. I think. And I actually made a plan this time!

Alright, thank you for reading me ramble on and on. What's gonna happen with Matt's mum? What do you think will happen in the whole fic? Tell me! :)