𝐀𝐩𝐨𝐝𝐲𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 ; 𝗠𝗲 & 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗯𝗼𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗰

𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑋𝑉𝐼𝐼𝐼 - 𝐴 𝑛𝑜𝑡-𝑠𝑜-𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑝

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝟿:𝟺𝟼 𝙰.𝙼.

𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄

I woke up, for the second time, and found that I was still on my couch, in between Erik and Timo. I slowly lifted Timo's head from my lap, cautiously standing up as to not bother him, as I slowly let his head back on the couch. He was luckily still asleep.

I went to check the fridge, and noticed that we didn't have a lot of food anymore. A few eggs, some salad, and milk, a few yoghurts, and orange juice. I was going to do some groceries today anyway.

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As I was ready to leave the house, I turn around one last to see if I forgot anything. 'Nope, I didn't forget anything. Good.' I thought. Suddenly I heard someone moving on the couch, asking, in a tired voice, "Mattie? Where are you going?"

I felt my face burn at the nickname. It was Erik.
"I'm- just going to the grocery store." Was all I managed to stammer out. He looked at me, and raised his eyebrows.

"Can I go with you?"

I smiled. "Sure," I answered. He smiled back, while standing up and going upstairs to change. He came back five minutes later. We quietly opened the door, making as little noise as possible, stepping out of the house after. I locked the door and we made our way to the grocery store.

Erik was in the fruit and vegetables section and I was in the charcuterie one. We found what we needed in those parts of the store and met up at the fridge section. Suddenly Leo came up to us, a warm smile on his face.

"Hey! It's nice to see you guys here! How are you guys doing?" He asked. I felt weird about this. As if something might happen, but I just shrugged it off.
"Oh, we're good, how about you?" I asked in return.
"I'm fine as well."

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻'𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄

Throughout the entire conversation Erik kept glaring at Leo. His eyes were full of hatred and his look on him was stern. You could see Leo slightly shiver under his gaze.

"Hey, Matthew, can I talk to you for a bit?" Leo asked.
"Ah, uh, sure! Erik, I'll be back!" Erik hesitantly nodded. He watched them disappear behind another aisle of the store. When the two were at peace now, Leo drew in a breath.

"Hey, listen, I know you may like Erik and all, but, you shouldn't really trust him. He's done some...shit in the past, from what I've heard," he said.

Matthew stood still. No movement. No sound he emitted. He stood there, eyes widening slightly by the second. When he finally snapped back into reality, he gathered up the needed words and blurted them out in sentences and questions.

"And why exactly should I not trust him? Do you know what he's done? Have you seen it? No, you've only heard it. And you said he's done shit in the past,
has he done anything now? You do know someone's past doesn't really define their present day self, don't you?"

Leo stayed silent. Matthew's anger was urging to come out as soon as he realized it.
"Why are you so obsessed with him? Why do you want to separate us so bad? I saw the way looked at us when we passed by you and Jaxon. Don't think I'm an idiot. I'm not your fucking toy anymore. Leave me the fuck alone and don't ever fucking talk to me again."

Leo's eyes widened in shock and sadness. What had he done? What was wrong with him? How and why did Matthew come to such conclusions?

He did want to separate them.
He did want Matthew to himself.
Matthew was one of his closest and most trustworthy friends.
Matthew was always there when he was in a dark place.
Matthew was there.
He was there, and Leo got used to it.
He's not used to seeing Matthew with other people, when he is not involved.
He did not want to lose Matthew.
He wanted Matthew by his side,
Forever.

His friend. His companion throughout the rough years.

His only real friend.

A/N: HELLOOOOOO it's me the author lol, sorry for taking FOREVER to publish this, just that school started and I don't have much free time. I'll still try and work on this story and publish the chapters more frequently, but don't expect the chapters to come on fix days like for example one chapter every Thursday, cause I'm not the very organized type HHSJSH💀

Anyways I hope you liked this chapter! See ya next chapter besties <3