𝗚𝗥𝗨𝗗𝗚𝗘 - 𝙼 𝚡 𝙺

5. The Poetic Beauty of a Shitty Metaphor

When Mattia burst through the exit doors of the movie theatre, he wasn't quite sure what he was expecting.

He thought maybe he'd have to go on a bit of a hunt for Kairi, check around the bathrooms or the main foyer and all that.

He certainly didn't expect to find him sitting on the ground, right outside the doors, with his knees pulled to his chest and a grumpy expression on his face.

In that moment, Mattia thought two things:

The first being that Kairi looked like a lost toddler who had just thrown a tantrum but succumbed to defeat after not being able to find his mummy.

The second—he had absolutely no idea what to do now. He hadn't expected to find him so quickly. Hell, he didn't even know if he'd expected to find him at all. Mattia had just sort of run on instinct when he shot up from his seat and left. His main concern had been Kairi.

He'd practically forgotten they were even fighting.

But the look Kairi was giving him now was enough of a reminder. They weren't on good terms right now, and the fact that Mattia had followed him out here was weird.

He mentally slapped himself.

Mattia opened his mouth to say something, but the words were stuck in his throat. It only just dawned on him that they hadn't actually spoken since their fight.

Fuck. This was uncomfortable.

Kairi looked down at his hands for a second, avoiding Mattia's eyes. He sighed out a breath before pushing to his feet, as if mentally preparing himself for this interaction.

Mattia hated this. He really, really did. He wanted to pretend he didn't care, that he was only going to the bathroom. But that just wasn't true. So when the next words spilled out of his mouth, he didn't even try to stop them:

"Are you alright?"

Kairi looked up at him then, his eyes slighting widened. Mattia watched as his lips parted in surpise. He tried not to let his face show how pleased that made him.

But Kairi recovered quickly, and his features slowly but surely melted back into a frown. If it weren't for the ever-so-slightly confused crease of his brows, Mattia would've thought Kairi actually hated him.

"Why do you care?" He quipped, and god, Mattia knew that one was coming.

"I don't," he assured, lying through his fucking teeth. "I was just going to the bathroom."

Mattia kept his face neutral. Together they were stood just outside the doors, with not much space between them. They were close enough that Mattia had to crane his neck to look down at Kairi.

Kairi was looking up defiantly, and Mattia couldn't help but notice the determined glint in his eye. "Well, don't let me get in your way, then," Kairi said, side stepping around Mattia, but making sure to bump his shoulder as he went.

Mattia wanted to turn around. Wanted to grab Kairi's wrist and tell him that he was lying. That he did actually care, and that he missed him.

But the theatre doors had already closed. Mattia stood, still facing away from the doors as he had been when Kairi was standing in front of him.

He scrunched his face up into a half grimace, half cringe, before slapping his forehead.

"Fuck..." He muttered to himself, now massaging at his temple, already feeling a headache coming on.

Mattia stood there for a few more moments, collecting himself. He of course didn't actually need to use the bathroom, so instead he wasted time standing outside the doors to the theatre and taking a few calming breaths.