Chapter 11 - "I have a hidden dark side."
I rolled over in bed and collided with something. Or, rather, someone. Opening my eyes, my heart lurched to see Matt lying there, and at first I thought I was dreaming.
"What are you doing here?" I sat up, rubbing my eyes, a little dazed but more confused.
"Nice to see you, too," he laughed, sitting up too. "I let myself in."
I raised an eyebrow. "You broke into my house? When have you ever been the rebellious type?"
"I have a hidden dark side." He flashed me a teasing smile, tucking some of my hair behind my ear. "Nah, I just used the spare key."
"Wow. I don't think anyone's used that key since..."
"Since me?"
Years ago, before we started dating, I used to hide a key outside for him. He'd use it late at night to sneak in, and then we'd spend hours talking and laughing, keeping our voices hushed to avoid waking my parents. The sleep deprivation was worth it: the secrets, confessions, and dreams we'd shared with each other during those nights together had brought us closer together. He was my best friend, and we'd tell each other everything.
Then the friendship evolved into a relationship, and Mum imposed a strict No Secret Sleepovers rule. Apparently we hadn't been as careful as we'd assumed, and she'd known all along, but we respected the rule and the spare key had sat untouched ever since.
"I assume you're here because it's your birthday and you want your present early?" I guessed with a smile.
He laughed. "Close, but not quite. I just wanted you to be the first person I saw on my birthday."
Smiling, I brushed my thumb gently along his jaw. "It's a lovely surprise, Matt."
I went to kiss him but then thought better of it, remembering that I'd only just woken up; I didn't want to repulse him.
"Let me just freshen up," I said quickly, ducking from under his arm.
I dashed into the bathroom and scraped the toothbrush around my mouth, hoping to eradicate as much of my morning-breath as possible. Then I tried to make my hair look slightly more presentable, before swiftly giving it up as a bad job. When I was heading back to bed, I caught sight of the clock.
"Matt! It's six in the morning!"
He smiled sheepishly. "I didn't want to risk any of your family being awake."
I rolled my eyes and shook my head in amusement, then reached to kiss him. His hand slipped behind my head as we kissed affectionately for a long time, our lips working together in well-practised, perfect sync.
"I got you something," he told me once we'd broken from the kiss.
I frowned. "You got me something? It's your birthday, not mine."
"I know. But I saw it and couldn't resist."
He handed over a long, rectangular box. Oh my God, I thought. Jewellery. He's bought me jewellery. In my opinion, jewellery was the most romantic thing a guy could buy a girl. It was traditional and classic, not to mention timeless. Holding my breath as I waited to see what was inside, I carefully opened the box. I gasped as I caught sight of the beautiful silver bracelet that lay neatly in the velvet folds of the case, sparkling each time the light shone onto the surface of it.
"It's beautiful, Matt," I murmured, taking it out of the box and fastening it onto my wrist straightaway. "Thank you so much. You really shouldn't have."
I leant to kiss him again in gratitude, just a small peck on the lips before I cast my eyes back down onto my new bracelet. Matt smiled and reached under the covers for my hand, interlocking our fingers.
"I'm glad you like it," he said.
"I love it."
We kissed again, and I tried to convey as much gratitude as I could with it. Matt responded just as eagerly, twisting his hands into my hair and sliding his leg between mine.
Eventually, I remembered whose birthday it actually was, and pulled away from the kiss, reaching into my bedside drawer.
"Here," I said, handing over his card. "This is for you."
"Thank you." He pressed a soft kiss to my cheek.
As he opened the card, I admired the bracelet again. The light bounced off each diamond, casting colourful shapes across the ceiling.
"No way!" Matt pulled out the Radiohead tickets. "How did you manage to get these? They sold out so fast."
I smiled. "I was faster."
"Are you coming with me?" The corner of his mouth tugged up into an adorable grin. Despite his efforts, I'd never warmed to his music choice.
"Nah. Take someone else."
"So, how does it feel to be eighteen?" I asked him, shuffling closer again.
He reached to carefully place the tickets onto the bedside table and then softly ran a hand down the side of my body until it came to rest on my hip.
"It feels good that I'm no longer restricted to that one bar that serves minors. Other than that, exactly the same."
We gazed at each other, years of memories passing between us. Matt was in one of his more romantic moods, and it was times like this that both confused and reassured me. I'd believed that Nathan made more of an effort, but Matt had woken up early, sneaked in via the key that had kickstarted our relationship, and then got into bed with me, purely because he wanted to see me first on his birthday.
When our lips collided, warmth spread through my body. His hand slid down from my hip to my lower back, drawing me closer. I looped a leg over his thigh and he casually rolled onto his back to pull me on top.
"And this is a nice present in itself." He smiled, gently stroking the flesh that was visible between the shorts and t-shirt that I was wearing as pyjamas.
I brushed some stray hair away from his eyes. "So...do you want your other present now...or later?"
"What other present?" he frowned in confusion. Then he realized what I was talking about and grinned. "Oh! That present...well, I'm tempted, Isobel...but I think I'll wait until later. Then I have the whole day to look forward to it."
"Okay." I smiled and pressed my lips to his again. "It's gonna be the best one you've ever had."
His mouth curved into a smile against mine, while his fingers gently caressed the bare skin of my lower back. "Oh, really? Been getting tips from dirty novels again?"
"You shouldn't complain."
"I'm not complaining at all," he grinned, sliding a hand down the inside of my shorts.
"You never give me tips so I have to get them from elsewhere."
"That's because I don't want you thinking you're not good at it, when you are," he assured me, with another smile.
"There's always room for improvement," I pointed out.
He shrugged. "Not in my eyes."
"Well, you would say that," I said before leaning back down to his mouth. He kissed me eagerly, his hands now sliding to the back of my bare thighs. "You know," I murmured in his ear, "it's not even half six yet...my family don't tend to get up until quarter past seven..."
He considered this, his fingertips caressing the backs of my thighs. "I don't want to risk it, Iz. What if they get up early? They'll never let me in their house again if they find out I sneaked in here and had sex with their daughter."
He probably had a point. My dad would not be impressed, and my mum would probably stop talking to me for a week, hurt by the betrayal. Matt was never allowed to stop over and I was never allowed to spend the night at his place, either. It was a topic that caused a lot of arguments but she never budged on it.
"Yeah. You're right," I said.
"I should be getting back soon, anyway," he told me. "My own family are going to want to see me before school."
"All right." I rolled off him. "I'll see you at school later."
He bent to kiss my lips, letting it linger. "Thank you for the present."
"And thank you for yours. You really shouldn't have."
He kissed me again. "It's not a problem. I wanted to treat you. I'll see you at school."
As I was eating breakfast, I studied the bracelet, wondering what had spurred Matt to be so generous as to buy me a gift. I hadn't done anything, and he wasn't usually the type for romantic gestures. Maybe he was changing. I'd already given Katrina the third degree a few days ago, telling her exactly how I felt. After that she'd piped down on the anti-Matt speeches. Things with Nathan were normal enough, too. He flirted like usual, but made no other mention of his feelings. Perhaps things really were starting to look up for me.
"Morning, Darling," Mum sang as she strolled into the kitchen. "You're up early."
"Yeah. I'm going to meet Matt before school."
"Wish him happy birthday for me," she said with a smile, dropping some bread into the toaster. "What time are you expected back tonight?"
"I'm not sure...ten, maybe?"
"Are you staying in?"
"Yeah, a family meal. I think the restaurant was fully booked, so we're going out next weekend instead."
"That'll be nice."
"Yeah," I agreed, finishing off the rest of my mug of tea. When I stood up to clear away my breakfast plates, I saw Mum's eyes flash down to my skirt.
"Bit short for school perhaps, love?"
I thought quickly, trying to come up with a solution that didn't involve changing out of the skirt. I knew this one was a favourite of Matt's.
"Oh yeah, I know what you mean," I told her. "Don't worry, I'm putting some black tights on with it, too."
She nodded in approval. "That'll look better."
So I sauntered back upstairs in the hunt for some black tights. I wore semi-opaque ones as a compromise and then headed out of the door before Mum could disapprove again. I was looking forward to school more than usual, and I knew that was probably because of Matt's behaviour this morning. He'd put me in a good mood, and I couldn't wait to see whether his attitude towards me at school would change, too. Maybe this was the start of something new. Maybe the Old Matt was back. Maybe Katrina would learn to accept him. All I knew was that there was hope. And hope was something I'd been seeking for a long time.
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