Love me (if that's what you wanna do)

An Encounter

I looked out the window of my new London apartment. London was beautiful compared to Manchester, I was sick of living there and wanted to get away from all the negativity in my life. My dad died a few moths ago and because of this, my mum turned to drugs. I guess you could say I had a broken family and a broken home.
I moved to London last week, and I'd only just started properly unboxing all my stuff. I'd also still not had the chance to figure out my way round here and I planned on doing that today.
I grabbed my bag off the kitchen counter and got my black jacket from the coat hanger just behind the door. I locked the front door and made my way into the town. Hoping to pick up a coffee on the way.

I made my way into a small coffee shop on one of the side streets. A small table at the window was free, so I left my stuff under the table and walked up to the counter. I was just about to order my coffee as I heard a soft English voice from behind me who said "excuse me love" that's when I turned round to see a boy dressed in black from head to toe, with dark curly hair which was shaved slightly at the sides and was carrying a guitar with him.
"I left my notebook here a couple minutes ago. Is it still here by any chance?"
he asked politely. I brushed my hand through my hair and put a few strands behind my ear. "Here, is this it?"
I questioned, handing him the old ripped pad of paper. He had a strong scent to him. A mix of cigarettes and cologne.
"Your a life saver. Thank you, love"
he smiled and shoved the rather small notebook in the right hand pocket of his long black coat. love. I thought to myself. The way he said "love" to a complete stranger was intriguing.
"No problem"
I said smiling back and taking a sip of my coffee. He put his guitar down against the table and sat in the seat next to me.
"I'm matty by the way"
I shook his hand.
"nice to meet you matty. I'm Izzy"
I said sitting back in my chair.
"Do you come to this café a lot? I'm surprised I've not seen you about the town. You new here?"
He asked interested.
"You ask a lot of questions don't you?"
I said and laughed quietly. He let out a slight laugh and said
"curious. I'm just curious. That's all".
"Actually I've lived here all my life" I explained. "Well in England anyway. I've moved from Manchester to here, London"
he nodded and ran his fingers through his curly hair.
"Guessing you wanted to upgrade from boring old Manchester eh? That's where I spent my childhood too"
He laughed. I smiled and laughed along with him. I found matty very mysterious.
"Izzy"
he said. Furrowing his eyebrows.
"What?"
I asked tapping my fingers on the table.
"I like that name. Izzy. It's cool. Your cool"
he said placing his wallet on the table. "Likewise"
I laughed and placed down my coffee cup. "Here, Let me buy you a coffee to go and we can chat for a bit. Sound good?"
He said opening up his wallet to take the money out.
"Are you sure? I can pay if you--"
"two cappuccinos to go please"
he said, interrupting me and smiled. He handed me my coffee, picked up his guitar and we walked out of the café onto the cold streets of Manchester.

"So, Izzy. Why'd you move to Manchester then?"
He asked taking a seat on a cold metal bench at the beginning of the park path.
"I wanted to move from home. My dad died a couple weeks ago and my mum is in a terrible state due to drugs. So I guess i picked Manchester" I said taking another sip from the take-out coffee cup. I wasn't close with my dad at all. He wasn't a nice man and didn't treat our family very well. Apart from my mum. Whenever he was with mum or I was with them, he was loving and caring. But when mum wasn't home or was at work, he was an absolute twat. Rude and violent. I didn't want anything to do with him but I was still in tears when I found out he had passed away.
"I'm sorry to hear that. But really, Manchester isn't that bad. It's actually pretty good when you've got people to hang about with"
he said placing his cup at his feet.
"Well I mean I don't really know my way around here, and I don't know anyone matty. I moved here last week"
I said letting out a laugh.
"I'll be your tour guide"
he said buttoning his coat and standing up. "Don't be stupid, I'll be fine. I don't want to be pestering you"
I said chucking my cup in the bin.
"I'm cool with that. I'd be more than happy to show you around the town"
he picked up his guitar case and said
"c'mon. I'll show you one of my favourite spots around here. It's rather shitty but it'll do"

I walked with matty until we reached a set of swings in a small park just off the Main Street. "I come here to play the guitar sometimes" he said sitting down on one of the swings and opening his guitar case. He started strumming away, to which sounded like a slow song but it sounded great. "Your amazing by the way" I said swinging back in forth. He shook his head "Nah, it's just a song I've been working on. It's not really me and my mates style" he said tapping on his guitar. "Your mates?" I asked, stepping off the swings sitting on the cold ground with my legs in a basket. "Oh yeah, i forgot to say, I'm in a band with a few of my mates. We aren't that great but it's fun I guess" he said rummaging Around in his pockets. "That's cool" i said. "I bet youse are good matty, you probably just don't realise it" he took out a packet of cigarettes from his pocket. "I'll take you to meet the others if you want" he said lighting one of his cigarettes and taking a puff. "sure" I said twiddling my thumbs. "Want one?" He said dropping his cigarette packet and a black lighter. I nodded and took a cigarette from the packet. I lit it and smoked it. I loved smoking. It sounds bad, I know. But it feels like its lifting a weight of your shoulders. You get a sudden feeling of relief. "You can come back to mine now if you want. It's 7, I'll order us in some food or whatever" he said lighting the last cig from his packet. "If that's okay with you? I asked. "I love how we just met about an hour ago and you've already bought me a coffee and your buying me dinner. I feel bad matt" I admitted laughing slightly. He turned to me. "Don't be silly, I'm fine with it. But just one thing. It's matty if we're gonna do it properly"