Haunt || Matty Healy

Three.

I let Seven hold my hand as we head over to Last Resort. With the sunlight dimming and the streetlights starting to glare, it's hard for me to focus properly. "You good, tubby?"

"Don't call me that," I grit through clenched teeth. "It makes me feel like I'm still fat," I mumble. I know Seven is only trying to shorten the Teletubby thing he's got rolling for me, but even then I hate the nickname.

"Sorry Nila," He apologizes. He averts the attention, squeezing my fingers lightly. "How do you manage to bump into some hot foreign guy and have them ask you on a date?"

I chuckle, and we've reached the door leading to Last Resort. It's utterly dark, only a few flashes of red, blue, and green spot lights lighting up a few choice places, the main stage being one of them. To the very far right, there are table lined up just opposite the bar. Already, there's a crowd surrounding the stage and Seven leads me closer.

"It's not a date," I insists, "how does that even make sense if I've invited you along? And Kelsey might stop by later - and how do you even know he's hot? I could hardly see his face," I point out.

Seven rolls his eyes, "Let me live, Nila." I stick my tongue out at him and he mumbles something incoherently. We laugh and chat idly and it's when the first cords of an eerily familiar melody start to play that I can't seem to find my words anymore.

I swivel in my spot, no longer paying attention to Seven, no longer eager to finish my train of thought. My heart pounds and my mouth goes dry as the intro deceases and the lead singer introduces himself, his tone utterly charming and playful, not actually differing from his tone with me - that is, if I hadn't imagined most of what happened.

He scans the crowd, catching my eyes in a heartbeat, but as he blinks, I find it hard to believe how stunned he looks. It's masked and subtle and he grins at me before I can even decipher the look.

"Fuck," I mumble.

"Hmm?" Seven asks, not actually really paying attention to me, nodding his head to the beat of the new song they're playing. "They're actually pretty good!" He says loudly, over the music.

"That bastard," I mutter, glancing between the guitarist and the bassist, wondering which one of them is Hanns.

My heart hammers to the beat of the song and I feel a bit betrayed - did Hanns know about this; about this maldad that is Matty Healy or am I honestly and truly going crazy?

"I think I'm going to go, I promised Mamá I'd help with dinner," I lie to Sev, but he nods his head, dismissing me, completely unfazed as the music sucks him in.

He seems to snap out of it for a moment when he notices me leaving. He frowns and catches my wrist, "Wait, Nila, where are you going? This band is amazing! Don't ditch me!" he doesn't give me much of a choice as he tugs me forward, placing me in front of him. His hand against my wrist is iron tight but I don't think he realizes what he's doing. I try to tug it away but he only pulls me back, holding me tighter.

"Seven, let go, you're hurting me," I mumble, trying to pry his fingers off of me now.

"Nila," His face is jubilant and completely contrasting his hold on me. I can feel the blood slow to a halt, causing a numbness shooting through my fingertips. "Look," he points with his free hand and I follow his direction, cringing when Matty Healy is stood with the mic stand tilted forward as he leans in seemingly closer to me. "It's wicked," I hear Seven say.

But his voice fades into he music, the drum beat seems to flare to a halt and the bass goes so low it's almost hard to hear, but fuck, do I feel it. The music seems to cease, and the crowd fades to blackness around me.