014. ━━━ ❛ STAY THE NIGHT ❜
real life. . .
MAISIE'S HAIR IS HELD UP by a claw clip once she leaves the guest bathroom on the sturniolo's main floor. she messes with the fabric of her shirt while turning the corner, slowing her steps once she catches sight of matt in the kitchen.
after the pair broke away from one another, maisie wanted to freshen up in the bathroom and matt decided it was time to put the stuff he pulled into the basement up for the night. she's taken a bit long though, so he must have put everything up already and wandered elsewhere.
she's not quite sure what she's doing here honestly. she feels out of place in such an unfamiliar, previously forbidden to think of, space, but she doesn't exactly want to leave just yet.
as much as she hates to admit it because there is truly no one else on this planet who manages to get under her skin like him, something about matt just intrigues her. she wouldn't have caved so quickly if that wasn't the case. even with all the red flags she's gotten to witness first hand recently, the pull she feels towards him is too strong for her to be swayed.
once she gets closer to the kitchen, she notices that matt is now shirtless. of course. she knows he must be doing all this shit on purpose, and she hates how it affects her. what stands out most to her during this moment though, is that matt is stood in front of the fridge as he looks through it, the small light projected from it giving her a chance to see all the different shades of purple spread over his torso. it almost pains her to look at, because she can only imagine how it must have felt. she wishes that she could know the reasoning behind such a beating, but it doesn't seem like matt is planning to fill her in anytime soon.
he must not care about hiding the bruises since he knows she has seen them already, because as she gets closer to the kitchen, he makes no attempt to flee under the feeling of her stare. he turns his head at the sound of her approaching footsteps and watches silently as she comes into the dark room. her eyebrows pull together as she glances over him, and as much as she wishes she could just go without saying something, she can't resist her curiosity. she knows he won't tell her what she wants, so she asks instead, "where do you go when this happens?"
he furrows his eyebrows at her question, confusing flooding his features. "what?" his voice is on the softer side as he closes the fridge door and turns his body completely towards her. "what do you mean?"
"i mean," she pauses to cross her arms underneath his stare, "who takes care of you when you get all of these?"
matt blinks repeatedly, clearly taken off guard at what she's asking him. he glances over the features of her face in the dark lighting of the kitchen, and when he makes out a twinge of concern swirling in her eyes, he sighs, "oh, i don't know." maisie doesn't seem satisfied with his answer. "just dylan."
"matt." maisie's voice is flat when she responds, and matt feels it sounds like a mother's scolding. it's only when she goes on to say, "you should come to me," that his ears perk up.
before he can help it, the corner of his mouth is raising. it just feels automatic when he's in front of her. "to you?" he repeats, voice full of amusement as maisie has to visibly resist rolling her eyes. "what would you do for me?"
maisie doesn't find his wording as funny as he seems to. "i'm just saying," she remains serious as he stands in front of her. "i've taken as many medical classes as i have regular."
matt somehow only seems to grow more amused, tilting his head slightly. "oh yeah, nurse maisie?" he teases as maisie pulls her lips together, refusing to laugh because she doesn't want him to catch her finding him funny. "i don't see that for you," he then nonchalantly adds.
maisie's lips subconsciously twist downwards and she has to resist from replying 'me neither.' she instead settles for a roll of her eyes and, "not all of us want to be rockstars, matt."
"that's a shame, mason." he clicks his tongue. "maybe if you ditched mommy and daddy," he suggests playfully just to purposefully irritate her.
"it's not that easy," she tells him sternly, frowning at the way he doesn't appear to take her answer very seriously. the look on his face has her automatically growing defensive. "and i would never want to be involved in something that has you hiding bruises under your shirt."
matt's eyebrows raise at the sharpness of her answer and she expects him to argue, but he only hums. "can't argue that," he murmurs, his eyes trailing over her face as he lowers his voice to then ask, "are you staying the night?"
maisie takes in a sudden breath at his question, not expecting those to be his next words. she presses her lips together, looking away to think on it for a moment before she sighs, "i should probably—"
"stay the night." she feels the sound of his voice when he cuts her off in her stomach. he sounds so firm, and the eye contact he holds with her is too strong for her to think twice before responding to him for a second time.
"okay," she replies on instinct, despite the fact that her parents finding out could ruin her. when he's looking at her like he is now, the forbidden factor is hard to keep in mind. he immediately appears distinctively pleased with her answer though, so she drags it on with, "why should i?"
she's not really sure why she's setting herself up by asking questions like that, but a part of her just likes it. she stopped herself from sleeping with him again downstairs although she was dangerously close to it. she can keep little of her dignity when it comes to making out on the couch, but being in matt's bed with him is a different story. she shouldn't be making temptations worse for herself and she knows it, but the way he quickly smirks has her regretting nothing.
offering a different form of response, matt steps forward and smoothly slides his hands over the small of her bare back uncovered by her crop top. maisie takes in a sharp breath as she registers his touch, knowing matt's next movements before his lips are suddenly back on hers. they were just there moments ago, but the feeling still feels fresh and passionate enough for her hands to instinctively reach out for something to grab. this time her fingers grip the necklace decorating his collarbones, and the coldness of the metal against her skin has her instinctively leaning back.
matt follows her as she leans back, his hands staying firmly placed on the low of her back as he deepens the kiss. maisie's upper back hits the edge of a counter the further she leans back and matt takes her position to his advantage, sliding his hands further around her as he pulls her waist against him. when they break apart and she's breathing against his lips, he says again, now in a whisper, "stay the night."
maisie doesn't think she has the ability to manage a verbal response, so she repeatedly nods her head. matt's reappearing smirk is the last thing she's able to process before his lips are back on hers. out of everything she's been exposed to in her lifetime, kissing him has got to be her favorite drug so far. doing it drunk was one thing, but now, she really wouldn't mind getting used to it sober, and that scares her.
she decides not to let her thoughts ruin the spell of matt's lips and internally shakes it off, letting go of her hold on his necklace and sliding her hands up the sides of his neck. she welcomes the warmth of his skin and slides her hands around the back until her fingers reach the ends of his hair. when she begins running strands though her fingers, his kissing grows sloppier and he raises a hand from her back to cup her cheek. he lifts her cheek to angle her head more and she finds herself melting into him. "fuck," he curses after having to pull away and catch his breath. "i can't get enough."
maisie's heart beats out of her chest at his words and she finds herself grinning like a devil as their breathing fills the quiet room. she doesn't know how he always seems to say the right things, but she's too busy focusing on his mouth to think on it any further.
this time however, before their lips are able to meet once more, they are surprisingly stopped by not themselves, but an outside interruption. "no way." another person's voice echos in the kitchen, matt and maisie's eyes widening as they quickly realize they are no longer alone.
instantly, they separate from one another and spin around to face whoever's found them in the kitchen. when chris and sunny stand on the other side of the island counter, chris wearing a t-shirt and sweats while sunny is dressed is one of his hoodies and shorts, maisie nearly chokes on her own saliva. the two are both jaw dropped and maisie immediately feels like she needs to explain herself to her best friend. she knew she was fighting herself, but she hadn't exactly let her know that she lost that battle yet.
matt clears his throat, making maisie blink when he only nods his head. "chris."
chris is clearly refraining from chuckling when he nods back, raising the pepsi can he has in his hands up. "matt."
maisie furrows her eyebrows at their strange greeting considering what chris and sunny just walked in on. when her eyes slide from chris to sunny, sunny takes a page out of their book. "maisie," she says.
"sunny," maisie coughs.
a silence is followed after the group has greeted one another and once everyone begins awkwardly looking around, chris speak ups first. "so," he starts, already causing matt to roll his eyes at his growing smirk. "you guys have been getting bus—"
"actually," matt interrupts him before he can really begin, slightly stepping forward to smoothly slide an arm across maisie's back. sunny makes eye contact with the girl as he does so, and her expression is teasing as maisie pulls her lips together. "we were just going to bed."
chris raises his eyebrows as matt turns and pulls maisie with him. "sure, champ."
once matt begins walking out of the area and maisie is dragged with him, she turns her head to take a glance back at sunny. sunny instantly mouths 'morning debrief' and maisie settles for nodding her head instead of giggling.
on the way to matt's room, he stops by the bathroom, so she just goes on without him. she's especially careful as she enters his bedroom, immediately getting deja vu at the sight of the bed spread and the guitar stand in the corner. she looks around at the band posters she recognizes on his walls and slowly approaches the corner of his bed. she takes a seat on the edge and pulls out her phone when it seems to vibrate as soon as she sits.
Unknown
Do you really feel safe in his arms?
You won't when you know what he's done
now
immediately, maisie feels sick. it's like there's bile rising in her throat as she rereads the message. after turning her phone off, she glances around the room skeptically, now feeling paranoid. she feels as if someone must be watching her to know that she left her house to come here tonight.
without thinking twice, she stands up. she's not sure if it's her fight or flight kicking in or what, but the fact that this person knows where she is has her wanting to run immediately—especially when they're warning her of matt. he's always been a pain in her ass, but he couldn't be capable of something too bad—could he?
maisie's stomach turns as she realizes she doesn't know him as well as she assumes. she's only ever caught a glimpse of him across the street. quickly, she heads for the door and leaves his room as quickly as she entered. she then walks extra fast when she passes by the bathroom, not wanting matt to ask her about her sudden switch up. she successfully makes it down the hallway, but when sunny and chris notice her in the kitchen, she's forced to come to a stop.
"maisie?" sunny furrows her eyebrows at maisie's speed walking, causing her to reluctantly stop in front of them. her and chris have a tray of chicken nuggets in front of them, so she can guess what their kitchen trip was for.
"heeey," maisie says a little strangely, sunny blinking at her. she decides she doesn't have time for this if she wants to escape without running into matt, and begins walking backwards as she is facing them. "i just uh.. have to go?"
chris furrows his eyebrows as well now. "oh uh, okay," he responds questionably, looking over to sunny for help and finding her as confused as him. he turns back to maisie and begins to ask, "you good?"
maisie's too busy panicking at the sound of the bathroom door opening down the hallway to form a well-calculated response. "yeah!" she responds squeakily, spinning around on her heels and heading straight for the door. "see ya."
their further confused responses are drowned out by her inner state of panic sprinting to the front door. she feels like matt is right behind her even though to her knowledge, he was literally still in the bathroom when she left the room—so as soon as she makes it outside, she lets out a remarkable sigh of relief.
matt is one of the worst cravings she's ever had, but she's just not sure yet that he's worth the risk.
💌
ik u guys aren't used to getting so much so early on in the fic from me but just wait their relationship is going to be so messy
next chap we're jumping a week ahead 😝
<3
jaden