A/N: This chapter is so exciting!!!!! It's finally the New Years party and we hope you enjoy this as much as we did writing it! It was so much fun coming up with this whole thing and we're still melting over everything that happens. Especially over a certain cameo *wink, wink* We thank you endlessly for your patience, you lot are the very best!!!! We hope you enjoy and thanks so much for reading!!!!!!! xx
Written by imagine-that-100 and -alovesreading
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The thought of forgetting something wakes Matty up slowly and when he catches a glimpse of the time on the clock you've got on your bedside table, he remembers the whole evening in a matter of seconds.
A massive grin breaks on his face when he watches you cuddled up to him, pouty face and breathing so calmly. He closes his eyes again, pulling you in the tiniest bit closer when that nagging thought comes back to him, and it's right then that he remembers you two have somewhere to be.
In his head, getting five more minutes of you like this won't do any harm so he allows himself to let the time pass but the next time he opens his eyes, it's been twenty minutes and he really needs to go for a wee.
Matty curses his biological needs and ignores it for as long as he can, which turns out to be a mere two minutes, until he feels like he can't go any longer holding it in.
Even though he doesn't really want to leave you, he definitely doesn't want to wake you up, so he silently and slowly gets out of bed and sits on the side of it for a second, not wanting to move too quickly because he doesn't want to disturb you.
He looks at you and all that goes through his mind is how lucky he feels to have you like that. It's certainly refreshing to feel warm inside every time he sees you or talks to you, and he's completely sure he won't take anything for granted when it comes to you. He still can't believe it's all working so well despite it being so soon in whatever you two were developing, he's pinching himself time and time again to make sure he isn't dreaming.
Then he looks up at your wall where you have a lot of polaroids pinned up above your bed. Lots of them are ones from your chicken shop dates so there is a variety of people Matty can point out but then his eyes land on the ones from your date. You have both of your pictures, the one you took of him and the one he took of you, pinned up right above the middle of the bed and he can't stop himself from smiling seeing them there.
They are the closest to the bed itself, somewhere where you could actually see them when you were lying down if you wanted to. He finds it beyond cute because he can see that your pictures with Phoebe are higher up than his and he knows his date wasn't the last you had. It warms his heart that little bit more and makes him feel even more special.
After a few seconds doting on the pictures, Matty gets himself up and grabs his underwear and trousers before making his way into your bathroom. He quickly, and hopefully silently, has a shower too and he's in there for no longer than five minutes before he gets himself out and dry and he leaves your bathroom only dressed from the waist down with damp curls.
He's pleased to see that you're still asleep when he opens the door again, and you look so adorable all curled up in bed, he feels bad that he'll have to wake you up to go out soon. So he decides to give you a few more minutes of peace and he silently slips out of your room to go and get you a drink thinking you might be a little parched after your earlier activities when you wake up.
Quietly he opens your bedroom door and slips out, and as he's walking through your lounge to your kitchen he stops when he notices a new painting on the wall.
It's a box painting, a design that he's all too familiar with and he can't help but smile seeing that you've got one of his best friends paintings on your wall. This one is of a forest, a foggy one that has mountains in the background and it looks amazing. And he can't help but smile that you own one of these paintings and it sits proudly on your wall.
And he knows it's one of hers because he's got a fair few of his own up in his house. Not to mention it's not difficult to recognise his best friend's signature on the canvas.
With his grin unfaltering, Matty makes it to the kitchen and gets a glass of water for you and with quiet steps, he makes it slowly back to your room, giving the painting one last glance and getting excited about seeing the person behind the art piece tonight.
The closer he got to your door, the more he could make out your figure still resting on the messy bed. He feels so bad having to wake you up so he tries to make it as soft as possible.
Matty puts your glass of water down and he tucks your hair behind your ear before he leans down and kisses your temple a few times. He hopes it'll be a nice way to wake you up and he's happy to see that you don't look like you want to kill him when you open your eyes.
Initially you let out a little groan, frowning a little as you woke up but when you slowly blink your eyes open and you see him, a tired smile comes to your face. And it gets even bigger when he coos, "Hiya baby."
"Hi." You grin, the sight of him above you making you happy.
Matty cups your face and he gently caresses the apple of your cheek as he asks, "You had a nice sleep?"
"Always." You hum and you lean into his hand.
Chuckling a little at your answer, Matty can't help but smile at you. He remembers the water he got you then and he picks up the glass and hands it to you, "Got you a drink."
"Thank you." You sit up a little and take a few sips of it before putting it down.
Matty smiles at the sight of you still wearing his shirt, and he loves seeing you in his clothes. He already can't wait to see you in more of them.
Catching himself stuck in his thoughts, he says, "Hope you don't mind, I had a quick shower."
"No, it's fine." You smile and reach up to run your fingers through his still slightly damp hair, "Get even fresher curls."
"Yeah," Matty smirks, "You've not ruined them by pulling on them, yet."
Narrowing your eyes you backchat, "You say that like you didn't enjoy it each time I did."
"Details." Matty narrows his eyes playfully but he's smiling when he leans down to press his lips against your own.
And you hum in amusement as you quickly kiss him back. When you pull away, you ask, "What time is it?"
He tells you, "Just past nine."
"Oh shit," Your eyes go wide, and you sit up a little like you're about to start rushing, "We need to go."
"Take your time," Matty assures you, "It's not an issue what time we get there."
"I know but it will take a while to get over there." You say as you rub your eyes to wake yourself up a little more, and you sit up properly now.
He chuckles at your haste, but he really doesn't want you rushing about, "Doesn't matter."
You pull the covers back and twist your way out of bed, "I'll shower quickly and get ready as-"
But you're interrupted by Matty leaning in to pecking your lips to shut you up. And once he's succeeded he just smiles, "Take your time."
Pressing your lips together, you roll your eyes and get yourself up from the bed. You can hear him giggling as he's managed to shut you up and you try your very best not to let out a chuckle of your own. You don't think you'll ever get tired of hearing him laugh.
You grab a few things before you go in your bathroom, but once inside you shower as quickly as you can and thankfully you're not in there too long. Getting out you dry yourself off before getting into your fresh set of underwear and you leave the bathroom with Matty's shirt in hand.
Walking out, you see that he's now sitting up, leaning back against your headboard where he lay earlier and scrolling mindlessly through his phone.
"Here you go." You smile as you walk towards him, offering him his shirt back but you watch his eyes focus on your body instead of his clothes.
Looking you up and down before finally making contact with your eyes, he's dead serious when he says, "Oh my god, you're asking to be thrown back in bed."
"No," You shake your head, unable to stop yourself from grinning at him. "I have to get ready."
"I'm begging we stay." Matty leans forwards and wraps his arms around you, pulling you down onto the bed beside him.
You're laughing at his efforts as you dismiss him, "Nope. I want to dance to Mr and Mrs XCX dj-ing."
"They aren't that good." Matty plays their talent down because he would love for you to remain in this attire for the rest of the night.
But you're having none of it.
Disagreeing, you frown, "They are."
Matty smiles but narrows his eyes at you, "How would you know?"
"The Reading afterparty, Matty." You remind him, "I was around... Just didn't want to bother you all. The music was great though."
Realising that you were there makes Matty's jaw drop a bit. "We could have had this so much earlier." and you laugh when he pulls you against him, making you lie down beside him.
"Happy to have it now." You hum, and you don't miss the way his eyes run down your body, "Plus don't you think our date was more iconic because we didn't really know each other."
"Yeah, we were amazing to be fair." Matty smirks as he snakes his hand down your body and he rests it on your arse as he tells you, "Need to get you back in those red leather pants at some point. The whole get up was fit as fuck."
"Maybe someday." You chuckle.
But the singer pouts, "Not tonight?"
"Nope," You shake your head, "I've got another look in mind."
After indulging him for a few more minutes, you move away from him to dry your damp hair and Matty happily watches as you blow dry it, loving the view of you still in next to nothing. And because you quite like his eyes on you, you don't get dressed before you do your make up either.
You do your makeup sitting at your dressing table and you both happily chat to each other as Matty plays a little music from his phone to get you into the partying mood. It doesn't take you long to get ready, and you're slipping on your black dress only half an hour after you woke up which you're relieved about.
While Matty was a little upset seeing you hide away your lacy underwear, he can't help but appreciate just how amazing you look in the dress you've just put on. It stops on your upper thigh, hiding your arse from him but it's tight on your body so your figure is still on display and he thanks his lucky stars he gets to see you looking like this all night.
So he doesn't hesitate to say, "You look so good."
"Thank you." You grin, feeling great about how you look and feel right now as you adjust your dress in the mirror, pulling it down a bit to show a little more cleavage.
Matty can't help but internally groan. You're so painfully gorgeous, he can't believe he's lucky enough for you to want him beside you, as long as you're willing to put up with him. He can't help but hope it's a long time.
"What do you think?" You bring Matty out of his thoughts by asking. "Heels or boots?"
"I think you'll be more comfy in the boots." The singer points out and you definitely agree with him.
Asking again, you give him your options, "Ankle or knee high?" and you raise both up so he can choose.
The singer thinks about it for a few seconds before he counters with, "You got any without a heel?"
You sigh but laugh a little, and you know exactly why he's asked. So you tease him with, "Why can't you be taller?"
And you bite your lip when he immediately frowns and argues, "I am tall."
"That's what short k-"
"Don't you dare call me a short king," Matty interrupts, "I'm five-eleven."
"And I'm five-nine." You raise your eyebrows at him, "So if I put heels on you're smaller than me... You're my short king now."
Both of you look at each other holding your amusement and Matty's slight frustration back then. He's so easy to rile up, you're definitely going to add this to your list of ammunition to use against him when he starts embarrassing you.
"Just put the ankle boots on." Matty demands, dismissing the subject because he knows you're right which makes you start laughing.
After doing that, you stay seated on the end of your bed for a minute and you reply to Amelia's message, telling her the date went well. You tell her that you've just changed and that you're about to head to George's party, and you can't help but laugh a little when her next message comes through.
I do wonder why you need a change of clothes but I'm sure I can guess, dirty bitch... Anyway, what you wearing now Slut? x
Matty watches from his seat on your bed as you stand up chuckling. He has to ask, "What?"
"Amelia wants to know what I'm wearing." You say as you stand in front of your mirror and raise your phone up, "So I thought I'd just send her a picture."
You take a few of yourself, one with your phone covering your face and your full body in show and in the others you move your phone to the side a little so you can smile.
You decide to move your hair into a different position, and as you raise your phone back up, you can't help but smile when you see Matty has stood up and he's walking towards you.
There's a grin on his face and on yours too but both of your smiles get bigger as you look at each other through the mirror and you're grinning like an idiot when his hand slides around your waist and he pulls you back to lean into him. You indulge yourself in the happy moment and you take the picture.
You look at Matty in the mirror and you watch as he turns his head to you and he kisses your temple. Again you take a picture.
Then you bring your other hand up to lace your fingers with his that is on your waist, and when you both smile at each other through the mirror again, you take another picture.
After that you put your phone down and lean back into him properly. You happily grin at him through the mirror and your heart skips a beat when he whispers in your ear, "Do you know just how stunning you are?"
Your cheeks heat up in an instant, and you press your lips together trying not to squirm as he compliments you. It's so lovely of him to say but you're really not used to hearing things like that in such a personal context anymore.
It's hard to take his compliment. Because of that and because you're British.
Matty sees your unwillingness to believe him but he's thankful that you accept his compliment and rather shyly turn towards him, whispering back, "Might need you to remind me."
Matty smiles at that and he cups your face making sure you look at him as he tells you, "Well I'll be here to make sure you remember."
You're sure he feels your cheeks heat up at that but you don't care. You just smile, "You're cute."
Matty shakes his head a little, "Not as cute as you."
"Shut up." You mumble before kissing his pretty lips again.
It's impossible not to get carried away when he's holding you close to his chest by your waist and your fingers are tangled in the hair at the nape of his neck. And trying to pull away when you come back to reality is also impossible, as he keeps leaving chaste kisses on your lips.
"You wanna pack a bag for mine later?" He suggests after giving you one last long peck, and he looks at you with the cutest puppy eyes that have you folding in less than a second.
You sigh softly, completely defeated under the effect of his eyes on you, "Yeah, okay."
"Pack a few days worth of stuff." He suggests, letting his hand fall a bit until he can give your arse a cheeky squeeze, "Gotta make the most out of the start of the year, remember?"
The way he's smirking at you has you raising your eyebrows and biting your bottom lip not to giggle away from the anticipation, you can feel yourself burning up head to toe but you cover it by taunting him, "Right. The most of it."
Humming, Matty presses another kiss on your lips but then he smacks your arse and says "Let's go," to get you moving.
A gasp falls from your lips, which only has his smirk getting bigger and to that you can only shake your head, trying hard not to look amused.
It takes you no time at all to pack a bag, and in that time Matty managed to get you a taxi that wasn't too far away. You both had a vodka coke before you got in the car and when it arrived you both ran to the back of the car because it was still pelting it down with rain.
Matty let you get in the side closest to the door whilst he ran around to the other side with your bag in hand. Once Matty double checks the address with the driver, you're on your way to the party but what makes you laugh is when Matty settles and he sees all the room between you and pouts.
"You're so far away baby." He frowns, and he can't help but move himself over to the middle seat and puts your bag where he just was.
His arm comes around your waist to hold you the closest he can to himself and with a big grin on your face, you let your head rest on his shoulder. Matty sighs in content, "Now that's better."
Your heart swells when the words leave his lips from just how content he sounds, you can't help yourself when you feel the urge to leave a kiss on his skin. Feeling your soft lips on his neck is something that makes Matty's insides flip, and he truly feels like he's on cloud nine when he's with you.
It's the way he clutches you the tiniest bit tighter that gives him away and silently you're just really glad he has the same reaction to you as you do to him. It all just adds to what you've been discovering about him for the past week, and somehow it makes your appreciation for him grow even more.
The hour long drive to George's is rather entertaining as your driver starts talking to you both and you find yourself the slightest bit chattier from how happy you are and the drink you already had.
There's many times when the man behind the wheel makes you laugh out loud–bless him, working on New Years Eve, still having the energy to be witty–when you catch Matty just looking at you with those eyes you adore.
Under the passing streetlights you can catch them almost gleaming as they are fully stuck on you and you find yourself squirming nervously under his gaze. Every time you're about to ask him what it was, your driver brings you back in conversation but it's one last time when Matty does the same thing that has you letting out a little, "What?"
To which he just responds with a toothy grin that reaches his eyes and a kiss to your temple that has your melting right into his side.
After that Matty joined the conversation and it's not at all awkwards like small chat with a taxi driver usually is. You're surprised when you get to George's faster than you expected and after being dropped off by the door, you wave the lovely man away and leave him a big tip for his kindness.
Thankfully, the rain has fully stopped by now and all that's been left are small puddles in the ground that you avoid as you make your way in. But it's not trying to avoid the wet patches on the ground that have you fiddling with your fingers and clumsily taking steps towards the front door, you're actually slightly nervous.
And it's a bit foolish of you to be, because you've met the lads already and spent a whole night drinking and chatting with them but this time it feels different.
Maybe it is just you being aware of this time being Matty bringing you as his date rather than just inviting you over to their greenroom after seeing you were in attendance at their gig. Maybe you're just more apprehensive of what everyone's reactions could be due to the change of circumstances.
So you find yourself silently begging for it all to remain the same, just so you don't find yourself racking your brain about any comparisons from tonight to the night of the banquet records gig.
This time though, Matty is more aware of every single one of your actions and he can read you so much clearer so he doesn't take long to notice the way you're hiding into yourself, the shyness in your walk and how your eyes seem to look more at the ground than in front of you when he's about to get to the door.
To give you comfort, he intertwines your fingers as he opens the door and his thumb rubs circles on the back of your hand as you take your first steps into the house. The loud music and colourful lights drown you both as you close the door behind you but you barely have time to take much in for there's someone walking by that's already greeting the man walking in front of you.
"Matty." You hear the one and only Charli XCX enthusiastically exclaim your date's name and throw an arm around him to give him a quick hug with her eyes closed.
"Hey!" He says as he reciprocates the embrace, giving her a quick squeeze before letting go.
She pulls back and opens her eyes to look at him when she says, "I was wondering why I had yet to see you." but right then she catches a glimpse of you over his shoulder and she lets out a loud screech that has you giggling. "Ah! Y/N!"
You take a step forward so she can see you properly and she basically throws herself on you to embrace you, "Hey Charli," you're smiling so hard at her reaction to your presence, it starts dissipating the worries that were clouding your thoughts only a minute ago, "Thank you for inviting me."
"Oh my god, anytime." She sways you a bit before letting go and you catch the smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth, "How'd the date go?"
You chuckle and so does Matty beside you, "Really good." Is the shy answer you give her under both their intent stares.
And it makes you so happy that her reaction is a little giddy dance and a, "Yay! I was hoping it would," to then wave at you both to follow her as she started walking further into the house, "Come with me. Let me show you where to get a drink."
Before she gets very far though, Matty asks her if he can run upstairs and put your bag somewhere safe and Charli nods, telling him to go put it in hers and George's room. She leads the both of you upstairs and points her room out to him and Matty puts your bag in a safe spot, all while she shows you around upstairs.
"Your house is stunning." You compliment, finally being able to let your eyes wander around the gorgeous place. You almost didn't notice Matty taking your hand again as you looked round you were so invested.
The rooms are all pretty big and the tall ceilings make the place feel even bigger, and you can only imagine it's the same downstairs. The decor is modern but it all feels really homely too. It makes you so happy that George and Charli are serious enough that they are living together, you've never been so happy for a celebrity couple.
"Thank you, better during the day when you can see it." And you can definitely imagine that, the sunlight coming through the massive windows they have must look absolutely stunning washing over their whole floor.
As you make your way back downstairs, you're brought back from your appreciation of the architecture and decoration when she genuinely suggests, "You need to come over and we can chill properly."
Not really believing those words just came out of her mouth, you nod your head and give her a stupefied, "Yeah."
The singer continues sorting out the plan out loud by playfully saying, "Can let the boys make our drinks that day. Keep them busy before they go off touring again."
And of course, Matty, wanting you to have the best night, jumps on the idea and grants your wishes, "Can do that for you today, Charli."
Charli winks at you like her plan has just worked and snaps her fingers with a smirk, "Well, hop to it then." And then waves her hand to show the vast alcohol selection that's set on the bar.
Yes bar. Mr and Mrs XCX seem to have spared no expense with their new house. There's a full functioning bar that separates the kitchen from the main room where most people seem to be gathered. It's like they have their own club in their house with a raised platform for the DJ on the other side of the room, and you can see a gigantic spinning disco ball in the centre of the room too. The club lights and the strobes lighting up the full wall mural that they have too makes it seem like you're truly at a club, not in someone's house.
Charli smiles and tells you, "Please use anything and everything, we don't want to see any of it left tomorrow so please have as much as you like."
"What do you want, baby?" Matty asks you first, his thumb still tracing figures on your skin to soothe you but you're feeling more calm now so you squeeze his hand as if telling him you're okay.
There's so much in front of you that you just can't find yourself making a quick decision so you just go for what you already had before you left your flat, "I'll have a vodka and coke again please."
Matty nods and then turns to Charli, "What do you want, queen of pop?"
With a triumphant smile, Charli replies, "Vodka cranberry please Matthew." and right away, the curly headed boy lets your hand go with a soft squeeze and moves to make your drinks.
As he leaves your side, Charli takes his place and you both take a few steps back to just watch him as he gets your glasses and ice. You're watching his swift moves, the way he delicately places the glasses on the table and goes to get one more for himself, his curls bouncing as he walks and his brows furrowing as he tries to find a vodka bottle he fancies, when the silence is broken by the woman beside you.
"So..." Charli starts with a slightly suggestive tone.
But you're so distracted by the view that you fail to catch on to what she means, "So?"
"The date?" She asks a bit more forward this time, turning to you properly, and that seems to bring your attention to her.
"Oh, yeah very good." You quickly reply, a genuine smile on your face remembering how it went and selfishly taking a bit of time to rewind and play back a little reel of what it had been.
It's her next question, though, that snaps you right back to reality, "But was he very good?"
"Pardon?" You feel the heat coating your cheeks and you have to bite your tongue not to give yourself away.
It's too late, you find out, when she sighs playfully and continues, "Babe it's written on both of your faces. Come on, spill, we're friends right?" She nudges your hip with hers, making you break and let out a little nervous giggle.
You end up nodding your head, because why wouldn't you admit he'd been very good. It was just your own mind reminding you of your previous thoughts that had you a bit timid about what you wanted to admit to yet, "Yea- Yes."
"Yes we're friends or yes he was good?" The singer asks for clarification, clearly wanting to get a bit more than a yes from you.
You can't help but hope it's not obvious to everyone though. You've met Charli quite a few times since her Chicken Shop Date with Amelia and each time you'd all got on like a house on fire, so a little teasing from her you could definitely handle. But telling her this feels like it's a bit more personal, and despite knowing you can trust her it takes you aback a little bit that she actually wants to know.
"Charlotte Aitchison." You say through your teeth, almost scolding her for wanting you to air any details in the middle of the room right in Matty's presence.
You don't care if there's enough music filtering through from the other room to drown out your words. It's still making your cheeks heat up and you want to hide under her gaze.
She laughs loudly and shrugs her shoulders like it's just an innocent inquiry, "Hey, I just need to know whether the hype is for nothing."
Trying your best to keep a straight face, you give into her attempts and admit, "Not for nothing."
"Ahhh!" She screeches loudly, which makes Matty chuckle to himself and shake his head despite not knowing what you're both talking about since he can't hear a thing over the music.
"Fuck, I love this for you." Charli throws both her arms around you and squeezes you tight, completely obsessed with how it's all unfolding for you both.
She remembers watching the date with George and wishing that something actually would end up happening between you so the fact that her silent ship is working out has her beyond happy, especially since both of you are who she considers her friends.
You appreciate her excitement for you so much, it feels like such a relief to have more than just Amelia rooting for you and especially people that are from Matty's inner circle but you want to turn the conversation away from you for a second so your heart isn't erratically beating out of your chest. Instead, you steer towards the topic of her and George by saying, "I feel like I should ask about George now but I already know the answer if you've moved in with him."
And you can't explain the happiness that washes over you when she nods and very confidently states, "I'm going to marry that man, he's not getting away."
Raising your eyebrows, you chat back, "That good?"
And it's very confirmed when she purses her lips and nods slowly but surely as she replies, "Oh yes."
Your conversation is cut short before you can get any more details when Matty is back with both your drinks, "Here you go ladies."
You both get handed your drinks and thank him before taking a long sip of them while Matty quickly grabs his own and joins you again. As he does, you ask her, "Did you have a nice Christmas in Florida?"
"Oh she had a fantastic time." Matty chuckles and you can't help but feel like he knows something you don't.
And it seems that's the case when Charli grins, "Ha, he's right I had a fucking amazing time."
But before you can question what it is that they're alluding to, Charli notices someone waving her over from the living room, "Ah shit, I'm being summoned. You've got friends in the club and in the studio." She points in the direction of both places and you two nod, "See you in a bit, have fun and save a shot for me." She warns with a point of her finger and a wink.
Without Charli there, your eyes are falling back on the pretty boy in front of you and it's then when you notice he isn't having the same as you, "What are you drinking?"
Raising his glass a bit, Matty explains, "George saved me a few bottles of red, have a stash in the cupboard."
You smile at him getting his way, "Perks of the party being in your best mates house."
"Gotta have some." He shrugs his shoulders and takes a sip of his red wine and basks in the taste of it.
He lowers his glass back down and puts out his free hand for you to grab, "Shall we go find some people?"
With bubbling excitement in your belly, you nod, "Yeah. Lead the way."