Urgency. | Matthew Healy

c/thirteen. tootime

And I slept it off, until somebody yanked my curtain open, and I saw Luca standing there. I practically jumped out of my bunk bed to give him a tight hug, one that brought me comfort.

Other than being my coworker, he's been my friend for a long time. Even though I didn't want him to come here, it means the world to me that he did, and I'm sure he knows that.

"It's 7:40 PM, why'd you sleep all throughout the day?" He said, while pulling out of our hug.

I winced uncomfortably due to his question. "Issues with people."

Luca's eyes widened. "You and Matty screwed, didn't you?"

I covered his mouth with my hand, with my eyes wide as well. "Shut the fuck up!" I begged.

He smiled, raising his hands in defeat, and I took my hand off of his mouth, sighing with relief.

"I gotta say, I saw it coming." He teased.

"Luca!" I exclaimed, throwing my pillow at him.

"You'd think she'd be happy seeing you here, but I guess not." A voice next to Luca said, and I opened my curtain even further to see who it was.

"Tom?" I attempted to get down from my bunk bed, hitting my head in the process.

I groaned in pain, putting my hand where I'd hit my head.

"I was going to introduce you two, but I see that you know eachother already?" Luca gestured between us both, and Tom nodded.

Tom is my ex-boyfriend, the one who cheated on me for no apparent reason. I was hopelessly in love with him, everybody around me knew about him. He's got everything: kindness, looks – as if his perfect light brown hair, honey eyes, full lips, chiseled jaw and toned musles didn't give it away – and charisma.

I actually stood up from the bed this time, Tom taking my hand and helping me down. I still felt a tingle whenever he touched me.

When my feet touched the ground, our hands were still intertwined and we were gazing at eachother's eyes. I wasn't a fan of my dark brown eyes, they don't say much, but Tom's eyes were a different story, of course.

"Care to introduce us to your friend, Valerie?" Matty stepped in, interrupting my trance. I immediately released my hand from Tom's, and he didn't seem to mind. In fact, he pulled his hand away as well.

Luca just stared at the scene, attempting to hide a smirk forming in his lips. The man likes his gossip.

"Uh, this is my friend Tom. Tom, this is Matty, one of the members of the band I'm on tour with." I signalled Tom to Matty, who seemed furious.

"Well, we weren't exactly expecting visitors, but alright." He shrugged, not even bothering to shake Tom's extended hand.

My heart broke at this. What kind of person would resist Tom's charm?

"Kick Jacqueline out maybe?" I eyed him down and grabbed Tom and Luca's arms, and dragged them to the studio, ignoring Matty's whining. He seemed drunk.

It looked like he'd gone back to the way he was a couple weeks ago. It pained me to see him like this but I was also upset at him over this Jacqueline bullshit.

I walked into the studio with the boys and closed the door. I sat down in the chair, both boys standing in front of me.

Tom crossed his arms. "What was that about?"

I shook my head, refusing to answer, but Luca chimed in.

"She and Matty screwed a couple times and now she's upset that his ex-girlfriend is here on the bus with him again. Also, Matty is jealous of you." He answered, with no filter whatsoever.

My eyes widened, and Tom started to laugh.

"Well, well, well, Valerie! You're not the shy girl I knew anymore from what I hear!" He continued to laugh, making my face redden.

"How did you even manage to get to my bunk bed without the boys noticing you?" I changed the subject before things got worse.

"Everyone went out, it's only Matty and that sad excuse of a woman, who were napping on the couch. The driver let us in. I assume you didn't notice since you were also asleep." Luca answered, and I nervously laughed.

"I guess the constant partying is still going on between them." I sighed.

Luca nodded at this, then he stared at me for a couple solid seconds, before asking, "So, why did you two break up?"

Tom clenched his jaw – that was obviously chiseled by the Gods – and hissed. "It was a long time ago."

I rolled my eyes. Of course he wouldn't want to admit he cheated on me. And for some reason, I respected that, so I stayed quiet.

"Right, well... how are the demos coming along?" He changed the subject, and now I find myself wishing he hadn't.

"I have a couple of beats I put together, but none of them seem good enough. I tried putting two and two together, but still nothing." I turned around in the chair and scooted closer to the computer that was placed on top of the desk, taking my pendrive out of a drawer and plugging it in a USB port. I clicked on it and selected the list of demos I had put together.

I gestured for Luca to click the play button, because I couldn't bring myself to do it, so he did.

I closed my eyes to isolate myself from the situation. These demos, as well as my verses, were not good enough.

I was wishing there were some nearby earplugs, it was quite embarrassing to have Tom listen to this garbage as well.

Eventually, the torture session stopped, and Luca stared at me, yet again.

"What?" I ask, although it was practically a groaning complaint.

"Valerie, you have the song I need. You just have to put those puzzle pieces together. And you have a group of musicians to help you. How haven't you gotten this down yet?" He asks.

"Because it's not good enough! Because I don't need help, because it's my song!" I yell at Luca, and he purses his lips. He knows I don't mean any of this, but I am too stressed as of lately, and I couldn't finish my song before any of this, anyways.

"I'll go get you some tea." He says, stepping out the door and leaving me in the studio with Tom.