Matty Healy Imagines

BBQ

Word Count: 1,935
Summary: The friends of your family The Healys come over to a family barbecue. You, whom your mother has tried to bring together with their son Matty for years, finally meet him.

Your family spoke about the Healys all the time.

Being high school friends with them, your parents adored them, chatting about them any time the conversation fit it and throwing in jabs about old fun they used to have together before they got famous. You had grown tired of hearing them talk about it after a while. It just grew annoying to hear constantly 'Denise this' and 'Tim that'. They seemed like fine people, but to always hear about them? You felt like pulling your hair out and suing them for damages. It was an unyielding torment that you suffered for far too many years. That, and hearing about their son Matty, who most conveniently just so happened to be your age and, according to your mother, 'incredibly attractive'.

Matty, Matty, Matty. The day you were seemingly old enough to care about boys, your mother was right there begging you to date him. Apparently a genius with a guitar and a voice of gold, he was a stunner that had all of the girls on his block wanting to talk to him. You rolled your eyes at this. Any guy with that kind of praise sounded so utterly conventionally cute. He sounded like something straight out of a tween magazine, or a Disney-Channel star turned singer. You loathed the idea of him. The idea of actually dating him sent bile into your mouth. Besides, anyone your mother found attractive usually ended up being gross or a goodie-goodie. It wasn't your fault you wanted someone to get high with and stare at the stars together in a field, laughing on about anything and everything. It was theirs for not being interesting enough.

Finding out that Matty, the great and all-powerful Matty, was to be coming over to finally visit your house along with his family (it had been the other way around always, with you staying behind with the excuse of schoolwork) gutted you. It sent a panic through your veins and a sense of entrapment you couldn't shake. You dreaded being put with this boy and having to exchange pleasantries with him. You wanted out days before it began. The feeling lasted all the way until the very second their car drove up in your driveway, forcing you to watch over the barbecue as your father and mother rushed to greet them. A loud chorus of yells and greetings were exchanged, that much you could hear through your house's walls to the backyard. The racket that followed only grew louder, until finally you were no longer the abandoned one chilling with the grill and mindlessly flipping burgers.

Your father took over for you then and pushed you to meet the bunch. You looked to him uncomfortably, but followed his instruction nevertheless, shooting a fake toothy grin the family's way. The father, Tim, gave you a kind smile and shook your hand. Holding his hand was a younger brother of Matty's, a little brown-haired boy who looked to want to be there about as much as she did. Upon introduction, Tim told you his name was Louis. Giving the kid a grin, you watched him quickly get distracted and go after your family dog. You couldn't blame him. Next was Denise, the mother of the household. She hugged you, preferring to go for a more warm approach. You accepted it kindly, but you did not really want to partake in it. You knew what was coming up next, and you knew very well that she probably was in cahoots with your own mother to make it happen. You had to meet Matty. Cringing as you pulled away, you looked around to see him. However, he wasn't there. Denise must have expected such a reaction, for she smiled and patted you on the shoulder.

"Matty will be in here soon, he simply went to the bathroom," she reassured, though it only delayed the inevitable. You would still see him, but you had a bit more time before it. You nodded at her and walked over to your poolside chair, settling down in it. Face buried into your phone, you listened to the noise of the chattering parents and the playful laughter of Louis playing with your dog. You scrolled and scrolled until you were sure you had seen all that social media could bring to you for the time being. Just as you shut your phone and went to pocket it, a shadow entered your view. Looking behind you, you met eyes with its owner. Tall with a lanky build and brown eyes that bore into yours, he looked far from the boy you had been expecting to show up. His cover blown, he walked over to sit at the end of your poolside chair, gently scooting your feet to the side so he could do so. You watched him curiously, impressed at his lack of nervousness.