Troubled Nott || Mattheo Riddle (ON HOLD)

23.

"I'm the best cousin in the world," Drae said in greeting as he rushed into Scarlet's room with Declan.

Mattheo sat up on the bed next to Scarlet as she placed down her book, looking at the goofy smile on Drae's face. This could be either great news or horrible news.

"What did you do?" Scarlet cautiously asked him.

"I talked to my father about Leila," Drae said, and instantly Scarlet sat up, looking at him like he was crazy.

"You're definitely not the best cousin in the world," Mattheo joked, shaking his head.

Drae picked up one of Scarlet's shoes, throwing it at Mattheo who thankfully caught it. "Shut up, dickhead."

"Lucius bought Leila a new motorbike," Declan said, finally getting to the damn point, making Scarlet smile.

"I was gonna tell them," Drae complained, flipping him off.

Declan shrugged. "You took too long."

"Why would Lucius buy her a new bike when he disowned her?" Mattheo asked while getting out of bed. "What's the catch?"

"There's no catch."

"Bullshit," Declan sharply cut in. "There's always a catch with your father."

"How the fuck would you know?" Drae snapped, glaring at Declan. "My father has changed since the last time Leila saw him."

"He didn't even try to reach out to her," Declan argued, getting in Drae's face. "I told you before to call your father and tell him Leila doesn't want the bike."

"She doesn't even know that she has it yet," Drae said as Mattheo pushed himself between the two of them. "I bet she will be over the moon about it."

"I'll buy her a new bike before I let your father hold something over her head again," Declan sneered.

"You two really came in here just to fight?" Scarlet groaned, getting off her bed and walking over to Drae. "Fight anywhere but in my room." She pointed to the door and Drae looked at Mattheo before walking out of the room with Declan, the both of them arguing as they walked further down the hall.

"I swear they're all children," Scarlet mumbled as Mattheo laughed, pulling her into his arms.

"Was Kylo okay when you spoke to him last night?"

Scarlet's mind runs back to the conversation she had with Kylo last night and how they talked about confessing true feelings before it was too late. His words had stuck to her like glue all day because as much as he may act like a child with the boys, he was still somewhat intelligent.

"Uh, yeah," she quietly said, pulling away and looking up at him. "Seems Kylo is madly in love with Lei."

"I saw that coming," he chuckled.

"You know, he actually said some pretty wise words last night," she mused with a smile.

"Should I be worried?" he asked, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, making her body erupt in tingles.

"No," she softly said, leaning into his hand. "I've actually been wanting to tell you something for a while now. I trust you again, Mattheo."—his hand flinched, making her pull away as her heart raced—"I, uh, thought you should know because after seeing Leila in her state last night, it made me realize that if it was me or you in that state and one of us died—"

"That would never happen," he cut her off.

"We can't ever be certain of that," she mumbled, continuing on. "Just listen to me, without interrupting." He smiled, nodding his head. "As I was saying, I want to fix everything between us. I want us to be how we were before everything happened. I trust you again and that's something I didn't think I would ever do but here I am, confessing my heart to you." Scarlet took in a deep breath, calming her nerves. "I hated you for so long, or tried to at least, but deep down, I've always loved—"

"Don't say it," Mattheo lowly said, making her heart freeze as her body went tense. "Don't say you love me, Scarlet."

"But I'm serious, Mattheo. I love—"

"I can't do this," he said, walking toward the bed, leaving her standing near the door while utterly speechless. "This was a bad idea. I should've left you alone from the second you returned."

"Why are you saying this?" she asked, tears pooling in her eyes as her voice cracked with her heart. "You kissed me a few days ago. You-You slept in my bed last night and cuddled me," she stumbled over her words as he slipped his shoes on, his back still turned to her. "You've been caring about me. You begged me to forgive you!" she yelled with tears now streaming down her face as she stormed over to him, shoving him back. "Why do you play with my heart? Why, Mattheo? Am I not good enough?" She pushed him again. "Why do you drive me fucking insane!"

"I'm sorry," he said, walking past her and out of the room.

She followed after him, not caring if the boys and Leila heard her. "I thought everything was going back to normal! You act like my boyfriend, like you love me but the second I try to love you back you do this!"

Theo and Enz sprinted out of the living room as Mattheo opened the front door, but she slammed it shut, nearly hitting him.

"Don't you dare leave," she sneered, shoving him into the door. "Don't you dare run away like you always do!"

Mattheo faced her with no emotions on his face, making her heart ache more. Did he truly not care like she thought he did?

"I'm not running away," Mattheo flatly said.

Scarlet exhaled deeply, trying to stop her tears. "Was it all a game to you?" she choked out. "Was this your plan all along? Act like you want me by chasing after me, protecting me, and pretending to care about me until I crawl back to you and then you break my heart all over again. Was that your plan? Was it, Mattheo Riddle?" she questioned him, her mind going crazy with so many emotions. "Well, you did it. You won your game and broke my heart again, Mattheo." She took in a deep breath, shaking her head "I love you!" she yelled, making him flinch. "I love you and now I fucking hate myself for it!"

Mattheo looked at Scarlet for a long moment with still no emotion on his face as her chest rises and falls heavily.

And then he turned around, throwing the door open and storming out of her house without another word of glance to the girl he broke.

"How could you do this?" she screamed, running after him but then arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her back to hold her in place. "Why?" she sobbed, her legs buckled as her heart droppped out of her chest, splattering at her feet.

Theo stormed past and she watched in shock as her older brother punched Mattheo in the jaw, making him stumble into the back of his car.

"You're a piece of shit, Riddle," Theo gritted out, walking backward toward his sister. "Come near my sister again, and I'll ruin your life."

Mattheo grabbed his jaw, looking at Theo as he got into his car.

"Come on," Enz said, turning Scarlet around and pulling her inside as Mattheo drove away, not stopping to come back.

"I'm pathetic," she whispered and Enz held her closer to him. "How could I be so stupid?"

"He's stupid for doing this to you," Enz comforted her as they walked into the living room. "You don't deserve this."

Scarlet stayed silent as she sat down on the couch with Enz, and Theo stormed past the living room.

After all those months of back and forth with Mattheo, Scarlet finally confessed herself to him and he just left. 

Left her like she was worth nothing to him.

How could I be so stupid to believe that he actually cares for me? That he might love me.