Intersect. [MH] (Editing in Process)

I'm Not Trying To Say It's Easy But I'm Trying To Say It's Fine.

CW: Mention of drug use.
Archer.

The drive home was a disaster — at least I'd interpreted it as one.

Matty was silent as George went on chatting about some girl he'd met at the party last night to Ross and Adam; who I was nestled between in the backseat. George had insisted that they popped up to Manchester for a bit -- until Matty could leave for tour, not that either one of us had attended group in the past few months.

What was the point in it if we were sat around in his flat railing lines? It'd be a contradiction in itself. You can't get better if you aren't willing to.

"Archie, love, did you like the bit of London you managed to see?" I nodded. I really hadn't seen very much and I didn't answer him when he asked where Matty and I had gone this morning, not because I didn't want to, it just wasn't my place to disclose our whereabouts to the three lads in the car.

Matty was looking at me through the rear view mirror whilst we were stopped at a red light, it seemed like he wanted to say something from the way his lips parted and shut tightly in a straight line.

"Hann, have you got any spliff?" He muttered, shifting in the drivers seat a bit. "D'you reckon now is the best time to light up, mate?" Adam countered nonchalantly, he was very well versed in dealing with his pointless arguments. Matty grumbled, evidently more uncomfortable than he was just a minute ago, when he asked the question, "Why? Because I'm driving? Is it so morally unjust of me to want a spliff?" He was irritated.

"Yes," Ross chimed in, "When you're in the drivers seat, yes, it is. We're not kids anymore, mate." Did they do this when they were kids? It was strange to think about Matty any younger than he was, his face was naturally soft and the only time he ever looked beyond his age was when he hadn't shaved his scruff.

"Pull over," I whispered, only Matty had heard me. He expected me to speak quietly in a car full of people I didn't know as well as him. "Hm, what was that, love?"

I sighed, raising my voice, "Come on, Matty, let's not fuck about. Pull over, I'll drive." He laughed bitterly, shaking his head, "You're probably more strung out than I am, Archer." I gritted my teeth and rested a hand on his shoulder; he tensed up.

"Pull the fucking car over, you pretentious twat. Fucking hell, it's like you're verbally illiterate." There was obvious tension between the two of us, I was certain that George, Ross, and Adam had caught on to that.

Granted, we weren't necessarily hiding it from them.

I watched intently as Matty pulled off of the road and onto the gravel to the right of us. He stepped out of the car wordlessly and Adam opened the back door so I could get out. I thanked him, nodding and smiling; I found myself doing a lot of that lately.

Matty looked at me as I climbed into the drivers seat, still standing on the pebble-littered ground. "Are you going to get in, bruv?"

"Archer-" he parted his lips to speak but, frankly, I wasn't too keen on hearing anything he had to say. "Fuck off, get in the car," I mumbled, "I wouldn't test the waters if I were you, Matthew."

He fucking smiled, "I was just going to say, you're really fucking hot when you're mad at me." I rolled my eyes and lightly pressed my foot on the the gas pedal, "Get in." He didn't say anything else and shoved himself between Ross and the door.

"Mate," George began, turning to look at Matty, "Could you not eye fuck your girlfriend in front of us?" I shook my head, chuckling quietly and making eye contact with Matty through the rear view. George looked at me, "Don't encourage him."

--

Once we'd finally arrived in Manchester, we dropped George, Adam and Ross off, I asked Matty if I could drive the car to my house.

"Alright, Archie?" He asked as I pulled the car into my driveway. "Fine," I nodded unconvincingly.

"I'll see you tomorrow, won't I?" I shrugged my shoulders, sinking my teeth softly into my tongue. "We still need to talk," he continued, tapping his fingers on the dash. "I don't think talking is going to fix anything, Matty. I think we should stop communicating all together, nothing good has come of us talking things out." I put the car in park and turned off the ignition, glancing towards Matty.

"So you want to end things?" He inquired, I bit my lip and nodded slowly. "It's probably best for the both of us," he shook his head, "What the fuck are you scared of?" I jumped at the tone of his voice, furrowing my eyebrows.

Matty had never scared me before, sure he had outbursts from time to time, but he never yelled at me with such certainty that I was in the wrong. "Right now?" He nodded, signaling for me to speak, "You." His expression softened as soon as the word left my mouth, "I'm sorry, Archer, I'm just so frustrated. You won't open up to me about anything, I don't know what to say to you."

I sighed, "I want to talk to you, Matty, I do, but I know that it'll cause more pain than it's worth. If I tell you how I feel, it makes everything real, and I don't know how things will turn out in a week when you're gone."

He didn't say anything, neither of us did. We just sat in the increasingly cold car and hoped for something to change. "Sing to me," I whispered, looking up from the strained fabric of my joggers -- Mattys, really -- I'd probably spilt something on them when I was trying to cook eggs. "What?" His eyebrows knit together, his tongue peeking between his lips. "I want you to sing to me," I told him, something must've clicked in my mind because the confidence I was reciting my thoughts with was nothing but unusual; he noticed.

He bobbed his head slowly, I wanted to know what he was thinking about at this very moment. "What do you want me to sing?" Matty didn't argue with me, which also seemed very out of character, it made me wonder whether or not this was a dream. "Facedown," I answered, if this was a figment of my imagination, I'd just have to bask in the little glory I had left.

He chuckled, "What?" I inquired, raising an eyebrow. I wouldn't say right now was the time to laugh.

"Nothing, I just didn't know you knew that song." He shrugged. So did I.

"I listen to your music when I'm home, to hear your voice. Otherwise I can't really get to sleep." He nodded, smiling. "Huh."

"Is that weird?" He shook his head, of course it wasn't weird, he was my boyfriend, no matter the time period. "Do you listen to the older stuff?" He asked, leaning forward, this was a conversation he wanted to have. "I'd like to listen to the really old stuff but nothing beyond Drive Like I Do, no."

He was still smiling, I wanted to keep it that way. "What's your favorite?"

I shrugged, even though I had an answer, "Au Bord de la Mer."

"Oh," he tugged on the hem of his black tshirt, he was wearing joggers as well. "Do you speak French?" He had a lot of questions. I nodded, "Almost fluent, I can hold a conversation," he nodded.

"Safe," I knew what he meant but it felt like he was telling me he felt safe, and of course, that was all I wanted for him.

Matty didn't say anything else, he only reached across the console for my hand and began to brush his thumb over my palm. His voice was strained when he sang and I instantly felt terrible for asking him to do that for me, but when I told him to stop, he told me to shut up.

That was fine, this was okay. We were just fine and dandy and that was how we'd remain.

•

Yo surprise surprise, I'm actually enjoying writing this again which kinda sucks because there are less than ten chapters left and I don't want to leave Matty and Archie yet. Hopefully there'll be a sequel though, that'd be cool if I could manage that. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote and comment because that's what motivates me to update quicker. Love you lot.

-Ven