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

But if you just take off your mask you'd find out everything's gone wrong.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Ross asked Matty for the thousandth time in the past few minutes, his eyes skating over his bare torso as if he could see signs of Matty's uncertainty on his skin.

"Yes," Matty repeated again, tugging at the edges of his floral shirt as George hovered nervously beside him.

George's only condition for allowing Matty to lead the robbery today had been that he was the one who went in with him, which Matty hadn't protested at all, in fact, he preferred it that way. George may have been aggravating lately with his obnoxious overprotective streak, but there was no one Matty trusted to watch his back more than him.

"Remember to make it quick," Ross continued to talk, his seat making a soft noise as he twisted around so he could see Matty better. "There is only one truck out front, so you most likely won't have to worry about any customers interrupting you, but don't focus on them. Leave everything else to George, just get the money and get out."

"You're acting like this is the first time I've ever done this," Matty scoffed, his hands shaking slightly as he traced a fingertip along the revolver that Ross had allowed him to keep after testing that it worked and making sure that Matty could shoot it properly.

"It's different when you're the one with the gun, believe me," Ross sighed heavily, his gaze darting over to George for a brief moment before he turned back around. "You can do this though as long as you keep a level head."

"I will," Matty promised, his spine pushing into the palm of George's hand which he had placed on Matty's back in a reassuring manner. "Can we go?"

"Yeah."

When Adam gave them a quick nod as well, Matty pulled open the door to the van, fitting the black bandana he'd found over his mouth to complete his persona. George had told him he'd looked ridiculous when he had modeled it for him earlier, but Matty quite liked the way it made him feel like a proper robber.

Just when Matty was about to begin crossing the deserted parking lot leading to the small shop, George gripped onto his hand tightly, turning Matty to face him before tugging him in for a brief kiss, his lips feeling soft and warm even through the fabric separating them.

"I love you," George whispered against his mouth, his statement almost getting lost in Matty's gasp for air.

"Love you more," Matty grinned although George couldn't see it, the adrenaline he always felt during a robbery flowing through his system as they began to walk at a brisk pace, the sensation amplified a thousand times more than it usually was thanks to the gun in his hand and the phantom pressure of George's lips on his.

Matty couldn't keep the smile off his face when they broke into a run just before they reached the door, his numb fingers fumbling with the gun he had tucked into the waistband of his tight jeans as they burst inside.

Matty could barely focus on his surrounding at first, he was filled with so much energy he thought it might cause him to burst if he didn't expel it soon, but with a supreme effort of will, he managed to lock eyes with the teller who was staring at him in shock.

"Just make this easy for us and open the till," Matty ordered sharply, the authority in his tone surprising him as he leveled the gun at the man, not daring to look behind him to make sure that George was handling things no matter how tempting it was to check that he was still there.

Matty didn't have time to react when the teller ducked down behind the counter, yelling something that Matty couldn't quite catch before emerging with what Matty thought was a shotgun which he immediately aimed in his direction.

In his panic, Matty accidentally fired one bullet without consciously deciding to do so, the harsh pop assaulting his eardrums, drowning out his following scream for George when the man squeezed the trigger, releasing two more loud bangs that had Matty wanting to cover his ears and cower away, although his body was paralyzed and completely incapable of any sort of movement.