/ / R O B B E R S / / (Matty Healy/George Daniel)

God only knows but you'll never leave her

Matty came back to himself in the confines of the van, surrounded by hushed voices and the comforting weight of George's arm wrapped around his shoulders. Matty wasn't sure how long he'd been oblivious to the outside world, but he didn't think it had been more than a few minutes given the fact that the van was still stopped and their surroundings didn't seem to have changed.

"You're an idiot George, he looks bloody thirteen. Your bleeding heart is going to get us all caught one day."

"I'll take full responsibility for him Adam, I swear...I just couldn't leave him out there. He needs us."

"No, what he needs is to go back home. I don't mind taking him, but we can't feed another mouth, not with how bad things have been going lately."

Matty tensed up at the mention of home, his spine going rigid and his eyes snapping open as he clung to George tightly. George noticed his frantic actions, but he didn't call any attention to Matty's alert state, instead he placed his hand over Matty's softly, rubbing his thumb across the back of his knuckles in a manner that Matty could only label as comforting.

"I don't see why you're being such a prick about this," George continued to argue as whoever was in the driver's seat started the car, Matty couldn't see them around George's body without moving, and he didn't want to shift from his current position in case the other men noticed he was now awake. "You took me in easily enough after all, so why is he any different?"

"Because you proved yourself to us, you helped us when we needed it, so we offered you an out as well. This kid isn't prepared for this life, he won't be able to cope, and the last thing we need is dead weight dragging us down," a deeper voice spoke up, his harsh tone scaring Matty so much that he began burrowing into George's side before he even realized what he was doing.

"Just give him a chance Ross, please?" George pleaded, his persistent attitude warming Matty's insides pleasantly, although he was still baffled why George was so adamant that he stay with them. "If it doesn't work, we will figure out another option, but he needs someone right now, just like I did back then."

"Fine," the one named Ross muttered, although he still didn't sound at all pleased about having Matty tag along. "We can talk about this later when we get to Sasha's, she said we could crash there for the night."

Matty wanted to stay awake so he could continue to listen in on their conversation, but George's nimble fingers had moved to his hair, softly stroking his messy curls away from his face in such a soothing manner that Matty quickly found himself drifting off again, his aches and pains and hunger was forgotten about in the warmth of George pressed against his side.