c h a n g e -o f- h e a r t

• c h a p t e r s i x t e e n •

A/N : This little story got up to 1K reads! Thank you v much. Here's a little treat 💜

Matty tightens his grip on my hand as me leads me down the street, on the hunt for a "even semi-decent coffee shop" around here. Everyone else was still asleep or just waking up, but I doubt Matty would have let them come anyway. He strokes the back of my hand with his thumb and I catch a small smirk playing on his lips.
"Something funny?" I ask, trying to do a mom voice to see if he was mocking me.
"Just you with your short legs, trying to keep up with me," he replies.
"How rude!" I pout at him and he stops and walks closer.
"Don't make that face," he groans softly, cupping my cheeks in his hands.
"Why?" I ask with a frown. His eyes regard me, searching my own before he sighs. Instead of replying, Matty just leans down and kisses me gently on the lips. I smile against him and kiss him back. He pulls away, plants a kiss at the tip of my nose, and turns back around, "we're almost there. Keep up, shortstack," he calls. He's still pulling my hand so I have no choice to at least try to keep up with him in fear of getting my arm ripped off.
Instead of drinking our coffee there, Matty and I walk back and sit on the steps of the building we crashed at. He pulls me into a little secluded corner of the large stairway where I see a bench. The two of us sit and Matty stretches his long legs with a yawn.
I take a hesitant sip of my drink, hoping it won't burn my tongue. Luckily, it's just cool enough where I won't burn my mouth but still hot enough to warm my insides.
"I really missed you," Matty says suddenly.
"What?" I turn over and look at his brown eyes.
He nods, "yeah. On tour. I was thinking about you a lot."
I cock my head, "why?" Although we have some sort of pull towards one another, Matty and I hadn't really spent a lot of time around each other before he left. Mostly because I didn't really go to parties and he never came by the flat anymore.
He shrugs, "you've gotten under my skin, I guess."
I know what he means. The whole time he was gone my thoughts always somehow drifted back to him and what he was doing.
"Yeah, you too," I whisper.
He sends me a sideways glance and smiles, "I was such a coward before," he tells me.
"Huh?" Is my intelligent reply.
"I was a cowardly shit. I think that's why I acted like that towards you," he explains.
Wow it's like a whole therapy session right now.
"You just. You stuck with me and it scared me," he continues, "nobody, especially a girl, has ever been able to do that to me." He turns to face me and reaches up to cup my cheek. He brushes his thumb lightly across my lower lip before moving his hand to touch my cheek.
I give him a small smile. I've waited, I'd hoped, for this moment between us and it was here. I basked in the feeling, but somewhere in the back of my mind there was a warning. This is almost too good, the voice said, something is up. I pushed the voice away and smiled back at Matty, finally here in front of me, saying the words I'd hoped he'd say. I lean into his warm hand gently. He leans forward, lips about to touch mine when, "hey!"
Matty closes his eyes and sits up slowly. The hand that was on my face reaches up and pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation.
"What?" He snaps, not opening his eyes.
George casts us a quick glance, "oh shit. Sorry."
"What do you want?" Matty repeats.
"Uh..I just wanted to tell you that we were gonna go somewhere for breakfast..." his voice trailed off.
I nodded and turned to Matty who called, "we're going to stay here. We already ate."
As much as I would have loved a big breakfast with everyone, I want alone time with Matty more. George shrugged and walked back inside, presumably to get everyone, and Matty and I were alone. "Don't worry," he says, tapping the tip of my nose, "I'll make you breakfast."

"Oh. My. Gosh," I moan, "this is actually the best omelette I have ever tasted." I tell him.
Matty looks at me and grins, "you've had some shit omelettes then," he says, "this is just a basic cheese one."
I shrug, "don't care. It's still amazing."
He smirks down at me and sits across from me at the large table, "well I'm glad you like it." He says. I nod enthusiastically, which causes him to laugh a little and watch me warily.
Despite his protests, I help Matty with the dishes before we walk back upstairs and into the room we were in last night. Matty flops down on the bed and extends his arm, patting the spot beside him with his other hand, "c'mere," he whispers.
I crawl next to him and curl up into his side, looking up at him.
"You make me crazy," he whispers.
No, he makes me crazy. I want to tell him. I want to tell him about the things I thought while he was gone and the things I thought about those nights at the parties when he would ignore me or be cruel. I wanted to tell him that even though he'd been acting like that, I still liked him. I still wanted to be a part of his life, it didn't matter where I fit. I'd hoped for this part, but I just wanted him around. I'd take what I could get.
"What are you thinking?" He asked me, tilting my head up so we could lock eyes.
I shrug, "I dunno."
He chuckles and shakes his head, "let me in to that complex brain of yours," he taps my forehead as he says the words.
I smile, but before I can answer, his phone rings. Matty holds up a hand and stands up, "what?" His voice turns hard. "No," his voice is clipped. "I'm busy," he snaps, "maybe later". Finally he hands up, "sorry, it was just one of the people who we work with. He's got poor timing," he says. His demeanor doesn't change though.
I frown. The voice on the other end, I'd heard it, and it didn't sound like a man's voice at all.
I frown and pick the blanket in front of me. "Oh," is all I say, not wanting to let him know I know he's lying. Matty smiles and snuggles back into bed with me, kissing my neck and then my lips softly.
"I just don't wanna he with anybody else right now but you," he says.
I really hope that his words are true.

Sorry about the quality of this one. I didn't know what to write about but I did want to say thanks for the 1K reads.
The next chapter will be better, I promise.
Xx