Yowzah Oneshot Collection (1)

104(M)2 Mattex

As soon as he got back to his room, Matt rushed to tidy up before Alex came by. It was already half-six and it wasn't exactly like she had a long commute, seeing as her room was directly across the hall. Luckily, they'd only been in Perth since the bay before, so there hadn't been much time for his things to get strewn about. But still, he hurried around picking up loose items he'd used and then carelessly set down and stray articles of clothing that he'd simply tossed on the floor after shedding the night before. He also made sure to dig the room service menu out of the nightstand next to his bed and place it on the coffee table so he wouldn't forget about it later.

He considered changing into something a bit nicer than the old t-shirt he was wearing but decided against it. No, why would he do that? They were just hanging out, there was no need for him to dress up in any way. Alex would find that strange, it would maybe even make things awkward between them. That's if he hadn't already done that. Or hell, if she even showed up - maybe he'd buggered things up so badly by instigating the touching during their photos that she was rethinking their plans altogether. She hadn't said much of anything directly to him for the rest of the day. Maybe she'd decided that coming over would give him the wrong impression or after reflecting on what had happened, decided she would be uncomfortable being alone with him or... or...

He flopped down onto his bed, buried his face into a pillow, and groaned.

He was overthinking things, worrying for no reason. He was letting his imagination get the better of him, just like he had so many times before when it came to Alex. He knew that, and yet he couldn't help it. Alex had always had this effect on him, but it had been so long since he'd been around her that he'd almost forgotten how much just the prospect of being in her presence affected his ability to so much as function normally. He was always looking for ways to impress her, to please her, to get her to laugh. He wanted to be her friend and he wanted so much more than that in the same instant. He'd always told himself that being her friend was enough for him, that he'd never actually make a move, because the idea that she'd ever be interested was simply laughable. But now after two years where they'd fallen largely out of contact, they met up here and she flirted with him and teased him and it had really felt like their time doing the photo ops together had been layered with heat and intent - and not just on his part. He can't have completely imagined that, could he?

He stayed laying on the bed just as he was, face still buried in his pillow and his hands clutching at his head. He found himself wishing his hair was longer again so that he could tug at it in frustration. He must have stayed like that much longer than he thought, though, because suddenly there was a knock at the door. Alex.

Matt jolted in surprise, twisting his body and then jumping up, trying to get to his feet and let her in. But when he jumped, he somehow managed to misjudge something about the distance from his place on the bed to the floor, because he instantly found himself facedown on the carpet with a loud THUD.

"Fucking hell! Ow!"

There was another knock, this time more insistent, and he heard Alex's voice call through the door. "Matt, are you all right in there?"

He groaned and pushed himself up off the floor, rubbing his elbow gingerly. He was fine. His perpetual clumsiness had caused him accidents much worse than tripping out of bed. "Yeah, 'm fine. Just be a tick!" he called out to her. He quickly brushed himself off and straightened his clothes. He glanced down at the bed and noticed the now rumpled covers. He considered straightening them out but thought that even to him that looked too much like he was putting the bed on display, perfect and ready to be used. The very last thing he needed right now was the image of Alex in it - or to give her the impression that he expected-

He rushed to the door before that thought could go any further, shaking himself as he went.

He took a deep, steadying breath and opened the door, revealing Alex, smiling somewhat timidly and - 'Dammit all to hell, she's still wearing the bloody jacket!' How the hell was he supposed to act normally around her when she was still wearing it? It hung loosely around her frame, the sleeves now rolled up so she could properly use her hands. The olive tank that had been occupying his thoughts for days was still visible beneath, but where the bottom zipper had been zipped all the way down for most of the day, now it had been pulled back up a couple of inches, giving him a very tempting glance at a small patch of skin on her stomach. He tried very hard not to think about whether that was purposeful or not.