Behind The Scenes

Chapter 12 (Part Two): Unpack your heart

She only heard the sound of his body going straight through the water and placed her hand on her mouth, before she had an endless fit of laughter as she saw him emerge and face her with a shocked expression.

"Just wait for it," he said, with a devilish voice, and the girl stopped laughing, in panic.

"No, no, I'm pregnant, don't forget it." She said, with an uncertain voice, while the conductor complained about the disorder and tried to pull Matthew up.

It didn't take long for him to lose his balance and fall into the water too, furious.

Alyssa was almost crying from laughing so much when the two managed to pull themselves up. The guy swore so much she was sure to pay him a monstrous tip.

Matthew sat in front of her, eyebrow raised, and she got her phone, snapping a picture.

"Time to post another selfie, boyfriend." She smiled, victorious, and he laughed.

"Go ahead, my fans will love a picture of me with a white t-shirt glued to my body." He provoked.

"It would be more convincing if you weren't shivering." She laughed and then saw he was coming in her direction. "No!"

She shrieked when Matthew hugged her, soaking her completely and twisting his shirt dry on top of her.

The two of them couldn't stop laughing and the people on the other boats wouldn't stop taking pictures, but they didn't even pay attention.

They got kicked out on the next dock, but the trip had been worth it.

***

They were having fish and chips soaking under the sun at the local park, laying on the grass, when Matthew's phone rang. He was having so much fun he didn't even looked to the screen to see who was calling, and heard his mother's voice in the other end of the line.

"Oh, hello, mom." He said and Alyssa watched while he was listening to something the mother was telling him. He made a confuse expression before replying.

"Okay..." He faced Alyssa, and handed her the device. "She wants to talk to you." He shrugged and Alyssa looked clueless as well.

"Hi, Valerie." She said, looking to Matt. "I'm okay, how about you?"

Matthew seemed a little anxious, while Alyssa only agreed with whatever Valerie was saying. A minute later, she placed her hand over the cellphone and whispered.

"Your mother wants me to go with her to your cousin's wedding dress fitting," she whispered, and Matthew sat down.

"What?" He asked and Alyssa frowned, returning to the phone call.

"Of course I'll go, Val." She answered, and Crawford stared at her, panicking. "Okay, I'll wait for you there, then. Bye, bye".

"YOU SAID YES?" He yelled, scaring a couple of lids passing by.

"Of course I said yes, what was I supposed to do?"

"Say no, maybe?" She laughed at his expression.

"Relax, it's not like I was dying to meet the bride or something. If want, I'll call there later tell your mother I got sick from your weird food. She doesn't need to know I'm loving this," she suggested, dipping a chip at the sauce, and Matthew seemed to consider it for a few seconds.

"It's okay." He agreed, a little bit uncertain, and Alyssa smiled kind of proud. Was she finally making some progress in this whole Crawford family story, after all?

He proceeded.

"I think I'll take the opportunity to visit my grandfather." Alyssa nodded in agreement.