repercussions ✓

XXXI. RECONNECTED

MATT GLANCES UP FROM HIS PHONE as there's a knock at the door. It seems odd, considering it's three in the afternoon and he isn't expecting any sort of delivery.

With a slight amount of apprehension - it's not unheard of for the paparazzi to magically turn up at his door - he stands up and looks out of the window in an attempt to see who it is. Nothing. From what he can see, there's nobody there, which is a faint relief.

Still, he walks around and unlocks the door, only to be met with a small boy wrapped in a black jacket twice the size of him and his usual red beanie pulled down over his bleached hair.

"Michael? Why are you here?"

His head snaps up from where he's looking at the floor, before the light leaves his eyes at the sight of Matt. "C-Can I come in?"

If he had any sort of actual self-preservation or common sense, Matt would have laughed and slammed the door in Michael's face. But... there's something about the look in his eyes that triggers a slight amount of sympathy in him, and so he stands back to allow him in.

"Michael, it's been two years. What are you doing here?" Matt asks, watching a little warily as he sits quietly down on his sofa. Even Michael, the kind of person who can make himself at ease anywhere, seems completely on edge, too scared to do anything.

"I-I wanted to try and make amends between the two of you."

Matt laughs at this. He regrets it immediately, after seeing the expression on Michael's face, but he laughs. How is he going to supposedly make amends with the click of his fingers when Matt tried to do that for months to no avail?

"I was talking to Ash. He misses you. His hair is red still."

"Ash doesn't miss me. He's been fucking thriving since I left his life." Matt scoffs. "Anyway, he deserves better than me. We established that."

Michael sighs a little, looking down at his hands. "Right, OK, it can't get any worse than this."

Before Matt can respond or even think about this, Michael's kissing him, and it isn't hellish. Not at all. Matt would have killed them if Michael or Luke had tried to make a move on him, but here he is, enjoying it.

It intensifies. Michael and Matt are touching at every possible point now, the pink-haired boy's knees pressing into Matt's hips as he wraps his arms around his neck and pulls him closer. Ashton would kill them both if he saw this.

But for once, Matt isn't thinking about Ashton.