Matty Healy Imagines

Scared You'll Drown

Word Count: 1,318
Summary: At a party where everyone is drunk, you, who cannot swim, get pushed into a pool. It's up to Matty, whom you told you couldn't swim to, to save you.

"Alright, alright - George, George, it's your turn to confess something."

You all had been going like this for hours, playing shitty games with alcohol pouring seemingly nonstop from a large cooler filled with far too many mixtures of drinks. It was chaos from the start. Each game brought silly antics, especially truth or dare. That led to you licking icing off of George's navel, and Matty having to kiss George - "with tongue", per specifications of Ross. Tired from that and the alcohol, along with the fear of dealing with having to do anything worse, the group of boys and you had fallen into mere confession sharing as the party around them continued on with those also in attendance. It was super tame, save for the rare shocking confession. At that point though, after so many years together, most confessions were only shocking to you. All, except one. Yours, following right after George's confession of sleeping with a stuffed animal until he was twenty.

"I've never learned how to swim."

Matty's eyes went wide. "You don't know how to swim? That's bullshit. Everyone knows how to swim!"

Shaking your head, you sipped from your drink. "Not me. No one ever taught me!"

Matty looked around the boys incredulously. He simply seemed unable to grasp the idea that you would be anything but fully trained how. They, though less obnoxious about it, seemed to be just as shocked. You blushed.

"What if this had been a pool party?" Matty asked, gesturing outside to the pool. "Would you have just declined to go?"

"I would've sat in the shallow end," you said calmly. It was what you had done for years when you were forced to go to pool parties. Matty rolled his eyes. "I'm being honest!"

"I don't believe you."

"You can not believe all you want," you replied, pushing at his side, "but it's true. Look, how about you stop being a prat and come with me to get more drinks."

"I'll come with," George said, hopping up from his seat beside Matty. "That is, if we're going?"

Matty grumbled and got up, wrapping his arm around your shoulder lazily to keep him standing. Walking forward with you, he motioned for George to follow. The taller boy trailed close behind, helping Matty up when your smaller self struggled to hold him. Together, the three of you made your way outside to the back deck where the cooler had rested all night. There was a scattering of people outside under the darker night sky. They were different variations of drunk, some somehow more drunk than those in your bunch. Weaving past them and other more put-together people, your trio approached the big red cooler. George poured for all of you, allowing you to support Matty properly.

Once they were all poured, George took over Matty duty. You ushered yourself away to go grab some food from the table to the side of the pool, your stomach growling up a storm. In drinking so much, you forgot that you hadn't eaten in hours. You made it over to the stand there and grabbed a few crackers and some cheese. Once your plate was filled and you were satisfied, you headed back to where your friends sat waiting for you. That was when you felt a large body bump into you, knocking you off your feet and tossing you, crackers and all, into the pool. You knew the moment you stumbled that this would not end well. It was March, meaning the water was freezing for one thing. You also knew that the food table was definitely not on the shallow side of the pool. Upon falling in and not being able to touch the bottom, your thoughts were confirmed.

Matty and George had looked up with the sound of the splash, as did a few others. At first, they thought some idiot had decided to take a swim. When they saw you bob up and gasp, they realized you had fallen in. While George looked concerned, Matty laughed to himself.

"See, I knew she could swim!"

"Matty-"

"Look at her, she's moving her arms," he pointed out, but when he turned to look at you, his face fell. Sure, you were moving your arms, but you were far from swimming. You were gasping and panicking, and hearing a slight scream from you was enough to make Matty's clouded mind realize that he couldn't be further from the truth. Still drunk though, he tried not to believe it. A shaky laugh left him.

"Quit joking, mate. C'mon get out," he called, the sinking feeling in his stomach hitting him and making him feel sick. A moment of you not stopping passed, and then George hit Matty's chest.

"She isn't joking, Matty!"

That was all Matty needed to sober him up into action. Stripping off his shirt, he dove in and swam to your rescue. He got you just as you felt you could barely keep up any longer. You coughed as he brought you to the edge of the pool, some of the water you swallowed stinging your lungs and throat. George helped Matty raise you from the water. Adam and Ross, probably hearing the commotion and wondering where you all had disappeared off to, appeared and ran to join the scene on the poolside. While Matty hopped out, Adam wrapped you in Matty's dry shirt and Ross went to go alert the house owner. Crying, you buried your face into George. When Matty got out and George ran off to get towels, he took over. His lips pressed to your head, his hand reaching up to wipe the stream of tears from your eyes. The look of guilt in his eyes was all you could focus on.

"I'm so sorry I didn't believe you," he whispered. "I was such an arse, I'm so so sorry, {Y/N}."

"T-Thank you for saving me," you mumbled back, shivering against his thin frame.

"I almost didn't, though."

"But you d-did."

"Are you okay?"

You shook your head. "I was so s-scared, Matty. That's never happened to me before. I thought...I thought I was going to drown."

Arriving with towels, Matty helped throw them around your body and dry your hair. He took care in doing so, trying his best to be gentle and not startle you. Adam helped as well. Ross came back a few minutes later. The house owner decided to cut the party off so nothing else happened, which meant they needed to leave. Matty picked you up into his arms, towels and all, and helped carry you to George's car. The most sober of them all, Adam took the driver's seat. Ross sat passanger side, and George and Matty sat on either side of you in the back. Matty had you rest your head on his lap, while George let you place your legs on his lap. Matty's fingers laced themselves through your hair as Adam drove.

"I'm really so sorry, love."

You rubbed your hand gentle on Matty's knee, letting him know it was alright. Adam's eyes met George's in the mirror, concerned, saddened.

"I'm never going to doubt you again. Ever. I don't care how drunk I am."

"Matty," you spoke up, George's eyes following Matty's to yours, "it's okay. I forgive you."

"But you shouldn't , you could've di-"

"Matty, I think we should drop it for now," Adam said from the front as the car rolled to a stop at a red light. He turned back to meet eyes with him. "Let's let {Y/N} rest. We can discuss things further tomorrow after she's had time to recuperate."

Matty looked down at you with sad eyes. You offered him a tiny smile and reached for his hand. Placing a soft kiss to it, you nodded.

"Tomorrow."

Rubbing his thumb against your skin, he gave a nod. "Tomorrow."