Stay with Me

Chapter Nine

"He said that he's loved me since we've met! How am I supposed to react to that Noah!" I exclaim with distraught in my voice. Noah smiles at me softly and gently begins to play with the rings on his fingers.
"He told me in the car when we got here. So I've known for only a couple days." He says with a small smile. I look at him shocked.
"And you didn't tell me?!" I yell at him with a laugh. He chuckles under his breath and looks at me.
"I wanted him to tell you himself! He has apparently wanted to but he's such a pussy!" He exclaims loudly and we both break out into loud laughter. We talked about this situation for a little while until Noah's Aunt calls us downstairs. I got up quickly and made my way down the stairs to meet up with the rest of the boys. Matt and I make eye contact almost immediately and I smile. He widens his eyes and looks away quickly.
"Noah hurry!" Cyrus calls from the kitchen counter. I giggle softly as we wait for Noah to come downstairs. He comes running into the kitchen panting and puts his phone down on the counter.
"Sorry, Brayden called." He said breathlessly. Everyone chuckles at Noah and we all sit down.
"Ohh. So that's his name!" I say giving Noah a death glare. He smiles nervously and puts his hand on the back of his neck.
"Are there any last minute things you guys want to do before your flight tonight? I can take you guys down to Lake Ontario and you guys can have an ice skating day."The boys burst out into excited chatter. I nod softly.
"Uhm I don't know how to ice skate." I shyly say to the table. I hear a loud gasp from Noah across the table.
"You don't know how to ice skate?!" Noah exclaims and everyone gets quiet. I look down at my hands and shake my head softly. I could feel everyone looking at me and I start to get anxious. "Well anyway, I think we'd love to do that Aunt Michelle." Matt begins to speak but his voice trails off quickly. I was embarrassed, I couldn't stay here sitting in front of them. With everything that happened last night and now that I just embarrassed myself, I couldn't do it. I get up quickly and leave the kitchen. I open the front door and sit down on the stairs of the porch. I put my hands on my chin and try to calm down looking at the snow falling softly over Rochester. After five minutes or so, I hear the door behind me close and I look to see Matt. I look back at the city ignoring the fact that he's coming to sit down next to me.
"Are you okay Annie?" He asks softly, hesitating to rub my back. I nod softly, trying to ignore his presence. He sighs quietly and goes to stand back up. I can feel my body tense as his hand leaves my back and his warmth leaves my side.
"Stay." I say in a monotone voice. He sits back down softly and puts his hands in the sleeves of his hoodie. I smile at the sight of the city in the snow.
"It's so pretty up here, I wish it could be like this all the time in Maine." I say putting my right hand out to catch snowflakes.

*                        *                        *

I look at her in awe. Seeing how her face lit up in the sight of the snow, the frost biting at her cheeks and the tip of her nose. She had no idea how beautiful she was to me.
"You're absolutely beautiful Hannah." I speak softly, putting my hands under my leg. I look at her as her cheeks light up even more. She smiles softly and puts her hood over the top of her head.
"Thank you Matt. You're not too bad yourself." She says jokingly with a goofy smile. I smile and look down.
"Look Hannah, about yesterday." I began to speak before she cut me off. She looks at me and puts her hand on my knee.
"Don't you dare apologize for stating how you feel! I mean God! It's so good to know who you finally like. That way I can help you with it. It was so frustrating seeing you struggle with that." She shakes her head and takes a breath. She looks at me and smiles.
"Oh and by the way, you saying you had no chance with her?" She shakes her head quickly, "That was complete and utter bullshit just so you're aware. I liked you forever when we were younger but honestly you never seemed that interested. So I focused on liking other people to get you off my mind." She spoke softly. I looked at her wide eyed and blinked.
"Did you just say you liked me?" I ask, looking at her in shock. She shakes her head with a smile. She takes her hand away and looks back out to the city.
"Always have," She says pausing and looking down at her lap, "Probably always will." She finishes, her eyes meeting with mine.
"Wait so does that mean you like me at this very moment?" I ask with a smile on my face. She shakes her head once again with a cute smile on her face as well. She looks at me and tilts her head to the left.
"Uhm I don't know. I mean I probably do! I'm just confused on how I feel currently. With everything that has happened with Cooper it's just been a lot you know? But when I know 100% how I feel you'll be the first person to know okay Matt?" She says putting her hand up to my face and kissing my cheek. I could feel my face heat up and I smile shyly.
"I'll wait for that answer Hannah. Counting on you," I chuckle as I get up and walk to the front door, "Make sure to come inside soon okay?" I say grabbing the handle, I turn around to see her with a cheeky smile on her face and she nods enthusiastically. I roll my eyes with a chuckle and walk inside quietly closing the door behind me.

*                        *                        *

I stayed outside for about half an hour, just thinking about everything going on and admiring the city covered in white snow. The front door opens and I turn to see Aunt Michelle, I smile and get up.
"Hey sweetheart, We're gonna leave for ice skating! Are you ready?" She asks with a big smile on her face and the door slightly more open to her side. She motions for me to come inside. I look at her confused.
"Ready?" I ask softly, walking up to her and walking inside with her. She wraps her arm around my back and puts her head on my shoulder.
"You're coming with us aren't you?" She asks me softly, lifting her head from my shoulder. I sigh softly and look at the boys. The three of them were talking with each other with big smiles on their faces and I couldn't help but smile. Seeing the boys get along made me so happy.
"Do I have to skate?" I ask, now looking at her. Her eyebrows raise and she makes a face at me. She shakes her head with a smile and rubs my arm comfortingly.
"You can sit by the fire and drink hot cocoa with me if you'd like! Because guess what?" She whispers in my ear. I giggle and shrug.
"What?" I whisper back excitedly to hear what she has to say. She cups her hands and puts them over my ear and she chuckles softly.
"I can't ice skate either, pretty girl." She whispers once again. I stifle my laughter as I put my hand up to my mouth. She gives me a wink and tells me to go dress warm. I make my way upstairs and open my already packed suitcase. I pulled out a black turtleneck, black leggings and my white Los Angeles crewneck. I change and grab my light brown uggs. I grab fuzzy socks and make my way back downstairs. I sit down on the last step and put my socks on and then slip my uggs on. I walk into the living room and lean against the wall. The boys are still talking and Aunt Michelle is packing thermos'. I clear my throat and Noah looks at me.
"Ah! Bestie, you look so cute in that!" He exclaims, standing up and running over to me. He wraps his arms around me and gives me a big hug. I chuckle and say thank you for the compliment.
"Oh! Matt and I have something for you." He blurts out, running back over to the couch. Matt stands up and hands Noah something wrapped in tissue paper. I raise an eyebrow and look at them confused.
"Matt got it for you for Christmas but he was too shy to give it to you." He scoffs giving me the paper wrapped item. I sit down on the edge of the couch and open it up. I smile as I pick up a light brown carhartt beanie. Matt knows how much I loved these beanies.
"You're so sweet Matt but this must've cost so much! They're kind of expensive beanies aren't they? This one is like 30 bucks." I say putting it on and looking at him. He smiles at me sweetly and shrugs.
"It was on sale at Carhartt for like 20 bucks. It wasn't much really. Plus I know you love Carhartt beanies." He looks at me peacefully. I smile softly as I fine myself thinking. I was finding myself in a weird situation with Matt. I feel like I couldn't like him because he's my best friend. But if he likes me doesn't that give me the right to like him back? Where does that leave everyone else? What about Cooper? He would be so mad if I got into another relationship and I don't want anything happening to Matt.
"Are you guys ready to go?" Michelle asks the four of us, taking me out of my thoughts. We all expressed excitement as an answer and made our way to her van. Matt was walking behind me and as we reached the front door he grabbed my wrist, stopping me in my tracks.
"I want you to know that no matter what your decision is," He pauses and looks at the ground, "You will always be my best friend and that will never change," We make eye contact, "Whether you like me as more than a friend or just a friend, it doesn't matter to me because you're my best friend and I just want you to be happy. Does that make sense Hannah?" He asks me somberly. I frown and look at him, tears gathering in my eyes.
"You really are the sweetest person Matt. That's what I love about you the most." I say placing my hand softly on his cheek and giving another kiss on his cheek. I could see his cheeks burn up softly and I giggled.
"Last one to the van is smelly!" I yell at him as I push him away from me and run to the van.
"Hey! No fair, you got a head start!" He yells back at me, catching up quickly. I touch the van before him and jump up and down in excitement.
"I won!" I giggle loudly. He smiles and shakes his head in disappointment. I chuckle and wink at him as I get into the back of the van with Noah and Cyrus.