The Arrangement | Completed | Wattys2020

81

Matty's POV

Phoebe's surgery went well. Well, it went even better than well. They said that it was actually one of the easiest they had done on someone her size. Her healing process will be a bitch, but she is already doing so much better than expected.

The days that pass are busy and hectic, but Candace makes it all a bit easier. If she's anxious about anything at all, she does a great job at hiding it. I on the other hand, not so much. 

My phone rings and I see that it's Kyler.

Fuck.

I know he wants to talk about this move. I know that's what it is. I don't blame him, though. I have been kind of dodging the entire situation. With everything going on right now, that's the last thing I want to think about.

"Hello?" I say in almost a whisper.

"Wow. Did you actually answer?" He laughs.

"What's up?" I ask, not wanting to deal with him giving me a hard time right now.

"I need to know what time you're wanting to leave this weekend. Megan has a doctor's appointment Friday, but that will be done in the morning. She wants to go with us. I told her she wouldn't want to, but she insisted."

"Oh, yeah. Uhh...I'm not sure yet. This weekend? Does it have to be this weekend?" I ask, pinching the bridge of my nose. I have noticed that this is a recent habit of mine when I'm stressed. I don't think I have ever done this that much. Well, not until these last few months.

"I mean...kind of, yeah. I mean, I don't care when we move you up there but we definitely have to go up there this weekend. I have all of the notes and shit for the new building, but now that you're taking over we will have to go over everything. I guess Daniel hired on some new people, too. They will need you there. You're calling the shots, not me." He tells me.

I already know this. I have meetings, orientation with the new team, and still have to finish decorating the inside of the building. Financial work still needs to be done and I have no idea what I am in for right now. I think I fucked up by doing all of this.

"You're not having like...second thoughts on this, right?" He asks nervously. "I mean, I wouldn't blame you if you did. But now it's kind of too last minute to make any additional changes. I already told Meg that we were staying, and she already has all of her doctors picked out and appointments made. It would at least need to be after the baby gets here. I would need to get a new house and we already found that one over in Candlestick that we fell in love with but-" He rambles.

"No, no. No, I'm still going to Seattle." I say, assuring him. The sentence feels foreign coming out of my mouth. "It's just...Candace and I-"

"You're back together, I know." He tells me.

"How do you know?" I ask, surprised by this. I haven't told him anything about that lately.

"Megan. Who else?" He laughs. "Listen, I'm happy for you. I know it was a fucked up situation, but I think you two are good for each other. I also know all of this is bad timing, but I'm sure she'll understand that you need to leave for the weekend to finish up everything before you guys move out there." He says.

"That's the thing...she isn't moving out there with me." I say with a sigh.

"Wait, what? You guys are just going to do...long distance? How do you expect that shit to work?" He asks, not filtering his thoughts for even a moment.

"She doesn't know." I say.

"She doesn't know how you guys are going to work? Or she doesn't know...?"

"She doesn't know that I'm moving to Seattle." I whisper out.

"Holy fuck. Why the hell haven't you told her? You know you're supposed to move in like...a week, right?" He exclaims.

"I know, I know. Listen, I just...she has so much going on. With everything that happened with Phoebe and us...I just don't want to dump more bad news on her."

"Okay, so when are you planning on telling her this?" He asks.

"I don't know."

"Well, you better figure it out pretty soon. You have a literal week until you're supposed to be out there for work. You can't just hide it and drive back and forth, Matty." He tells me, stating what I already know.

"You don't think I already fucking know that? I mean, fuck! I know that!" I groan.

"Listen, you need to tell her." He says calmly.

"I know. And I will! But I want to be the one to tell her." I tell him.

"I am pretty positive that you have to be the one to tell her." He laughs. I don't laugh back and he mutters a quick apology.

"I am fucked. I am completely and utterly fucked. Plus, this meeting is going to be shit. The new head of finance is a know-it-all. She's fucking invasive and just...fuck." I say, closing my eyes and throwing my head back.

"Well, whatever you need to do...you need to do it quickly. It's going to be so much worse if you keep it a secret." He tells me.

"I know." I groan.

"I'm going to get off of here. Seattle this weekend, though. No exceptions." He tells me sternly.

"Okay, okay. Yeah, I'll be ready. We can take my car." I tell him and then hang up.

Kyler is right about all of this. Really, I need to tell Candace the truth. I need to tell her the truth about all of this. She deserves the truth, and I'm kind of just leaving her in the dark right now. I hate myself for that.

"Who was that?" Candace asks when she walks into the hallway.

"Oh, just Kyler." I mumble, scrolling and deleting our text messages.

"Oh. What did he need?" She asks, no hint of concern.

"Oh, just needs my help moving to Seattle." I lie blatantly

"Oh, cool. When?" She asks.

"This weekend. Will you be okay here while I'm gone?" I ask.

"Of course. As long as you aren't gone for a whole month like last time. I miss you too much when you're gone." She teases, wrapping her arms around my neck and standing on her tippy toes to give my nose a kiss.

"Wouldn't dream of it." I say, forcing out a smile. She doesn't seem to notice my hesitation, and for that I am thankful.

But past all of that, I am a fucking liar. I can't stop. I will drag this out for as long as possible. That I know for a fact.

-

Author's Note!!!

Matty is making me very disappointed right now! I swear, he needs to just man up and tell her. I wonder how this will blow over. Thankfully, knowing Candace, she will probably just pack up and move with him.

Or will she?

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