The one where Matthew messes up, big time
~~~~~~~~~~
With Matthew constantly working on criminal minds, spending holidays together was not a certainty in your relationship.
However, this Valentine's day he was determined to spend it with you. It was your first Valentine's together and he wanted it to be special.
"Hey baby, happy Valentine's day," You said. "I've tried to call you, but you keep going to voicemail. I thought you said you didn't have filming today? Call me."
Matthew had told you he got the day off filming, but her he was, not answering your calls or texts. You texted Kirsten early in the day where she informed you Matthew did have to film.
Why did he lie to you?
Your relationship with Matthew had been somewhat off recently. He was strangely distant and it almost seemed like he wanted to work instead of spend time with you. This Valentine's day however, you decided that you weren't going to let Matthew ruin it.
Junior year of high school was the last time you had spent Valentine's day with your boyfriend. He ended up gay.
Your Valentine's day plans were limited. Since Matthew had been distant, you didn't really know what he wanted to do. You made reservations for dinner at your and Matthews favorite restaurant for 7, which was four hours away.
Matthew had yet to contact you and to say you were pissed was an understatement. However, you decided not to contact him until he contacted you. You didn't want to look like a clingy girlfriend.
Three hours had passed and you were drying your hair after a nice shower. There was no call, text, or voicemail from Matthew and you were getting concerned. Not only were you concerned for Matthew, you were concerned for your relationship. Why was he so distant? Was he going to break up with you?
You decided to go to the restaurant and wait for him. Before, you sent him a quick text.
Heading to the restaurant.
Meet me there I miss you
Knowing you probably wouldn't get a response, you headed to the restaurant.
You were still upset that he hadn't been talking to you for the past few days. At first it was small and then it was barely at all. Getting to the restaurant, you debated going inside and waiting or staying in your car. If Matthew wasn't going to come, you didn't want to look like a fool.
MATTHEW'S POV
I was in my trailer getting my hair and makeup done for the last scene of the day when Kirsten came barging in.
"Goobs, why has your girlfriend been asking if you had filming today?" She asked. "Don't you tell her that stuff?"
I looked up at her and sighed, "I forgot to tell her, it's not a big deal."
Kirsten scoffed, "It's your first Valentine's day together and it's not a big deal."
Shit.
It was Valentine's Day.
The day y/n had been talking about for the past two weeks. The smile on her face was enough to make me want to stay forever. I picked up my phone and saw her texts. I really fucked up.
She made reservations at my favorite restaurant and I still managed to mess up. I looked at the time and realized the reservations were for almost forty-five minutes ago.
She was never going to forgive me.
"Kirsten, I need to leave," I said, grabbing all my things. "Please tell everyone I'll be back tomorrow."
Kirsten looked at me dead in the eyes, "You better be taking a few days off to spend with her. Show her you love her."
"Hopefully I have a girlfriend tomorrow," I snarled back.
YOUR POV
The most embarrassing thing to ever happen to you was when you got your period in your white shorts in seventh grade.
Well now that was the second.
The most embarrassing thing to happen was walking out of the restaurant alone, on Valentine's day. After waiting forty-five minutes, you were fed up. A whole bottle of wine later and you had to call AJ, your sister, to pick you up. The glances from the couples was the thing that truly topped off your evening.
Walking into the car, AJ gave you a questioning glance, "What happened?"
"Matthew forgot to come," you said, a tear falling from your eye. "Does he even like me Andrea? Like, has been messing with me? Because I can't be messed with after Owen, I just can't."
AJ grabbed your hand, "y/n, I am certain that he likes you. He would never do that to you and I sure as hell know that he is going to get it from me later. I'll talk to him later."
"Can you stay with me tonight?" You asked softly. "I don't want to be alone and I need some major girl time."
AJ laughed, "Of course love bug, let me text Nathan and I'll just wear your clothes."
You sniffled and nodded as AJ drove to your apartment.
MATTHEW'S POV
I ran into the restaurant and headed for the front desk to ask if y/n was still here.
"Um, hello, is a y/n y/l/n here?" I asked.
The hostess looked sad, "Actually you just missed her, she left like five minutes ago. A girl picked her up, they looked alike so I think maybe her sister."
Fuck, AJ picked her up.
I was never going to hear the end of this. I looked at my phone as I felt it vibrate. It was a text from AJ.
You are such a son of a bitch.
I hope you had a great time hurting
my sister.
To ever think you would be good
for her.
Shit.
I knew they would go to y/n's apartment to have girl time as they called it. I remember from when y/n broke up with her boyfriend Owen almost two years ago. I decided to go to y/n's apartment. I needed to sort this out.
YOUR POV
The sound of a knock on the door halted your girl talk with AJ.
"I'll get it," AJ said. You hoped it was the pizza man and not Matthew, but you had a strong feeling it was Matthew.
You didn't hear anything at first, so you decided to walk closer to the door.
"AJ please, at least let me explain," it was Matthew. "She needs to at least understand."
AJ laughed, "Funny Matthew, she doesn't WANT to talk to you. She is upset. I mean how could you do this, my sister, your girlfriend."
You heard Matthew sniffle, "AJ I didn't mean to-"
"You didn't mean to?" AJ cut him off. "What the fuck does that mean? Did you forget? Did you not care and now that you know you are in the wrong you are sad? You don't get to hurt her, I know her more than you ever can. She is the kindest person I know and I know she will forgive you no matter what you do Matthew. So leave."
"AJ, let him talk," you said in a small voice, coming out from behind the wall. Matthew looked at you with the sweetest puppy eyed look on his face, but it wasn't going to last.
"Ok, I'll go start on some desserts," AJ said, glaring at Matthew.
Matthew rushed over to you, "y/n I am so sorry, I tru-"
"Don't touch me," You cut him off as he was going for a hug. "Don't touch me after you completely left me alone in a restaurant. After you ignored me all day. I mean seriously Matthew, what is more important to you. Is our relationship nothing?"
"No y/n, I swear I completely forgot," Matthew said.
You scoffed, "Forgot? Seriously Matthew, that is the oldest one in the book. I've heard that from everyone."
Matthew tried to walk towards you, but you walked away, "y/n, baby, please" he begged. "Let me make it up to you."
"Matthew you are going to have to do everything in your power to make it up to me," you told him, attempting to be calm. "The first step is by leaving my apartment. I will come by tomorrow with your things and I expect my things to be ready for me to take."
He looked at you stunned, "y/n, you don't mean that. Are you breaking up with me?"
"Not right now," you sighed. "I should break up with you. I should've broken up with you when you came to my apartment begging for forgiveness like a lost puppy. I should have broken up with you when I realized your work always came first. I should have broken up with you, but I can't; so, we are going to take a nice break and you are going to make sure you make it up to me."
A tear left Matthew's eye, "I'm sorry y/n, I'll have your stuff by tomorrow ready. I'm going to fix this."
You walked back to the couch as AJ said some final things to Matthew. One of them being "fuck you". A weight was lifted off your shoulder when Matthew finally left. You almost felt free. You liked Matthew, you really did. But after what he did tonight, you knew it wasn't right.
He broke your trust.
He broke your heart.
As AJ sat on the couch next to you, you put your head on her shoulder; a feeling you forever cherished. AJ rubbed your thigh in a small attempt to comfort you. She knew you were distraught. She had no idea why Matthew was acting like he had been, neither had you.
However, she knew there was one thing that always put Matthew on edge:
Love.
The idea was at the back of her mind since the first time you called her, almost a week ago. You explained to her that Matthew was distant and you didn't know why. After you told her you made plans for Valentine's day, she felt she knew the reason but was too unsure to tell you.
He loves you.
And it was evident to her that you loved him. He was a small drop of water and you were a drought. You needed him, even if it was just a fraction. AJ found this very alarming. You were willing to almost drop everything for him. While you assured her you made time for yourself, she was weary with the idea that you didn't care about his attention.
Nonetheless, you knew you were independent. AJ only believed that because many of the times she had seen you, Matthew was also there or you were going out to see him.
You however, had no idea Matthew was in love, but he was determined to make sure you knew it.
MATTHEW'S POV
I had truly fucked up our relationship.
I was the happiest I had been in a long time and I ruined it because I was scared.
Scared, are you kidding.
Scared of being with AJ's sister;
Scared of being happy;
Scared of being in love.
Whatever I was scared of, I was stupid. I was stupid to be scared of my girlfriend. My girlfriend, for God's sake.
I love her -more than anyone- and I let her go because I kept putting her second. When she should have been the most important thing in my life, I continued to push her away.
I needed to make it up to her, but I didn't know how. I could give her flowers. I could make her dinner. I could buy her something, God does she love lululemon leggings.
None of that was going to work. I knew it wasn't going to work. What I did to y/n needed to be fixed in a way that was perfect. She was perfect. I began devising a large plan to get y/n back, but I knew what she needed. She needed simple. I was going to tell her how I felt.
YOUR POV
You had finally stopped crying.
Once Matthew left, you were distraught by the fact he left you. You also were upset you basically broke up with him. He was never going to come back. You and AJ were having a sleepover in your bed, AJ showing you new pictures of Mekhai and Phoenix. Those photos never failed to make you smile.
You were close to sleep when you heard a knock on your door. Knowing it was Matthew, you pulled AJ awake.
"AJ, Matthew is back," you whispered. "What should I do?"
"Go answer it," AJ said groggily. "He probably has something to say, just hear him out."
You rolled your eyes, Matthew had no right to come back to you after what he did.
You walked to the door and opened it, "What do you wa-"
"I love you" Matthew interrupted.
You scoffed, "what?"
"I, um, I love you" Matthew reaffirmed. "You don't need to say it back, but you needed to know."
"You love me, but you've been pushing me away for the past week?" you retorted. "Are you kidding Matthew? You don't need to tell me that you love me for you to get back into my life because you aren't in my life anymore."
Matthew sighed, "y/n, I didn't need you to respond. I needed to tell you how I felt, feel." He let out a shaky breath, "I love you y/n and that scared me. It scared me because for the first time I felt I could give someone else my heart, my life. I just everyone leaves all the time and I don't want you to leave, so I pushed you away."
You looked at Matthew, glad he was finally opening up, "I love you too Matthew, but that doesn't change that you pushed me away. You're going to have to attempt to make it up to me before we can start over again."
"Let me make it up to you y/n, please," Matthew begged.
"I said you could try Mat-"
"No, now," he interrupted. "I want to start now."
You nodded, "okay, I need to change and tell AJ that I'm leaving." Matthew nodded as you headed into your bedroom.
You quickly changed into sweatpants and a crop top before telling AJ that Matthew was going to take you somewhere.
"y/n are you sure about this?" AJ asked. "Be careful and make sure you keep boundaries. I know you are too nice to say no to him." You laughed and gave her a kiss on the cheek before leaving.
You walked out the front door to meet Matthew by his car. Getting into the car that you had spent so many drives in made your heart burst.
"Where are we going?" you asked.
"You'll see" Matthew said with no explanation.
Sitting in the car, Matthew played the playlist he created for your birthday. The playlist that had your favorite songs in it. Driving to a dark secluded place, you became extremely nervous.
"Matthew, where are we going?"
"We're almost there," he said.
"Matthew I swear if you are going to kill me, remember you are the one that pushed me away," you said.
Matthew laughed, "we are almost here I promise. I wouldn't dare hurt you y/n, then I would never get the chance to apologize.
You smiled as you looked ahead. The place you were headed was familiar. It was the place you and AJ used to go to look at the stars when you were younger. You were confused how Matthew knew about this place as you had never told him about it, but you assumed AJ told him.
"We're here," he said parking the car. You looked around at the camp grounds, it looked the same as when you and AJ would come as kids. You saw Matthew grab a blanket from the trunk.
He grabbed your hand and walked you towards the center of the open field. Setting down the blanket, he told you to sit. You laid down on the blanket and admired the stars.
"I started coming here a year ago," Matthew said. "Filming was getting stressful and AJ told me about this field where you could see the stars. I came one time and then I started coming frequently."
"AJ used to take me here," You said. Matthew looked at you surprised. "When I was stressed because of school she would bring me here to calm down. Sometimes in the spring during the day, I would come and do homework. I never told anyone about it. It was my secret getaway."
Matthew looked at you fondly as you were looking up at the stars reminiscing your childhood. You looked over at him and smiled, "why are you looking at me like that?"
"Like what?" he asked.
"Like, I don't know, you want to marry me," you joked.
"I do," he said. "I do want to marry you. Here, actually."
"Matthew, what?" you laughed, sitting up.
"That's why I brought you here," he said. "Well that was actually not the plan. The plan was to bring you here and win you back, but I might as well be honest. I came here one day, in the middle of the day, and it was perfect. It was the spring and I just pictured you in a white dress and I was sold."
You sat on the blanket stunned.
"I love you y/n, I truly do. I want everything with you. I'm sorry for what I did, I was a bad boyfriend-"
"You were a dick."
"I was a dick, but please forgive me. Ever since the day I met you I felt something that I never felt with anyone else: love. I didn't know it at the time, but I knew you had to be my girlfriend. I love you and I hope we can fix this up because you are it for me, my endgame."
"I love you too"
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