Under the Radar

Rock Bottom

"... Many of you might remember Matt Jason's break down at his concert last week," the lady started. The TV switched to a small clip of Matt at his concert. Matt grumbled soft enough for only me to hear. I smiled sadly at the Matt on TV and leaned into his side. Switching my eyes to him, I kissed his cheek and laced my fingers with his. I gave him a reassuring squeeze and turned my eyes back to the TV as the reporter popped back up on the screen.

"... Turns out, Matt Jason found his Juliet. Her roommates caught him in their apartment yesterday morning," she started again. A picture of us in the bed yesterday flashed across the screen. I blushed and closed my eyes briefly. Too curious at the moment, I opened my eyes and looked at the screen again. The video of me waking up and attacking him played next. I exhaled and closed my eyes again as giggling and laughing filled the room. I covered my face with my hands. Matt chuckled lightly beside me. Softly, he pulled my hands away from my face. I watched him as he smiled and kissed my left hand gently. I smiled as well and leaned further into his side. My arms rested over his as they wrapped around me. The reporter went on about how we were found like that yesterday morning and how Romeo finally did get his Juliet.

"So who is this mystery girl? Her name is still unknown, but Matt and this exotic blonde are looking like our next power-couple," the reporter smiled. My smile faded. The next power-couple? I couldn't have that. And worse, they actually showed my face. I'd admit, our quiet times to ourselves were great, but publicity? I couldn't have it. I wouldn't have it. My name couldn't be known by everyone in the United States. I froze in thought. I could feel the curious and confused glances that were thrown my way, but I couldn't care enough to return the glances. I tensed. At first, I thought Katy and Vy making a little extra money wasn't a bad thing, but now, anyone who watched that news clip would know my face. And if they knew my face, they could easily make the connection to me in different missions. The missions would be ten times as harder now. Matt was my weakness, and now... a lot of people knew it. I felt Matt shift beside me, but my eyes were still frozen to a blank spot on the wall.

"Iz? Iz? Marissa?" I heard Katy ask worried. "Marissa, are you okay? Marissa? Iz?" Katy continued to shake me repeatedly. I didn't respond. I felt completely numb from head to toe. I couldn't feel anything. I couldn't care less who was looking at me or who was listening. I could never do a mission again because I would always be putting Matt in danger. The culprit would recognize me from the gossip report and threaten to hurt Matt if I didn't do what they asked me to. My breathing increased as I snapped out of it. I started hyperventilating at the thought of putting Matt in danger just by loving him. Tears stung my eyes as I looked around frantically. I pulled my knees up and wrapped my arms around them, Matt's arms sliding off of me. I thought I was going to be sick. The tears fell as my already fast breathing sped up. A cool hand touched my cheek and I looked over to see those blue eyes that I loved so much. His eyes had a bit of a calming effect on me. My breathing slowed and I eventually came out of hysteria.

"Let's get her up to the room," Matt said softly, not taking his eyes off of me. He stood and I followed almost zombie-like. I wasn't conscious of anything but his eyes. Suddenly, his eyes shifted away from me. Blinking, I realized that I was in my room lying down on my bed. I sat up and looked around a bit confused.

"What happened?" I asked a bit confused. My eyes shifter to Katy and Vy; both of their mouths were wide open as they looked at Matt.

"How did you do that?" Vy finally shook her head, breaking the silence. Matt shrugged and came back to check on me.

"I saw she was panicking and just... looked into her eyes. I was thinking that she should calm down and I don't know," he shrugged like it was no big deal before he turned back to me. "Are you okay? What happened down there? Why did you freak out?" He asked me concerned; His hand coming out and cupping my cheek.

"I can never do a mission again," I whispered. He shook his head.

"Of course you can-" he started.

"I can't!" I interrupted him a bit sharply. Inhaling deeply, I prepared to explain. "I can't because now I have a weakness that everyone who watches that show knows about. It would just be too easy to get me to bend now... if they threaten you." I said the last part softly and the tears flew down my cheeks when I closed my eyes and slumped where I sat in my bed. He seemed to understand. His mouth opened once before settling into a hard stubborn line. I slumped down against the bed and closed my eyes as thoughts of Matt getting hurt because of me flew into my head. Tears streamed down my cheeks now. I felt Matt's fingers brush them away. Opening my eyes, I could see Katy and Vy exchanging worried and guilty glances. I knew this was their fault, but I wasn't about to point it out now. Matt sat next to me and I wrapped my arms around his.

"I don't want you to get hurt," I mumbled into his shoulder. He rubbed my back and kissed my cheek gently. Pulling back, we looked into each other's eyes. I felt really sleepy. I yawned.  I couldn't tear my eyes away from him. It was almost... hypnotic. I laid down and eventually fell into a deep sleep.