Mr. Melancholy (Gus x Matt)

11. Hobbledehoy

Gus:

When Gus woke up the next day, he was relieved that it was a Friday. He was exhausted from the school week. He got ready for school as usual, but before heading out, he grabbed two blueberry muffins and put them in a small brown paper bag.

Turning onto the street where him and Matt met up, he saw Matt walking down his street, so Gus waited for him at the corner.

Matt finally got to the corner and smiled weakly at Gus and said hi. Gus felt a pang in his heart, but pretended everything was normal, after all, Gus knew what it felt like to get pitied, and he hated it.

Before they reached the steps of Hexside, Matt grabbed Gus by the wrist and pulled him close. He whispered in his ear, "Can you please not tell anyone about what happened yesterday?"

Gus was shocked at the question. "Why on Earth would I tell someone about that?" Gus asked, bewildered.

Matt turned red and looked down at his feet, tears threatening at the corners of his eyes. "Hey, look at me," Matt reluctantly looked at him, "I will never tell a soul. Pinky promise."

Matt smiled a little at the childish antic. He nodded and held up his pinky, and Gus held up his. They locked their pinkies for a few seconds and let go after the promise was sealed.

Matt wiped at his eyes and they continued towards the school. When they reached the steps, Gus noticed a change in Matt's posture. He was shrinking into himself, trying to take up as little space as possible. He was also looking directly at the ground, his eyes locked on his shoes.

Gus felt terrible, he hadn't realized how different Matt acted when there were a lot of people around. He debated for a bit and said to his friends, "I'm going to wait towards the bottom of the steps, it's less crowded."

Gus nudged Matt on the shoulder and quietly said, "Do you want to wait by the bottom of the steps? It's less crowded down there," a comforting smile showed on his face.

Matt nodded and the two boys walked down the bottom of the steps. Gus looked over at Matt and was happy to see an improvement in his mood. Although Matt still didn't look like he was 100%, he looked like he was more comfortable, which Gus considered a win.

"Thanks," Matt murmured almost too quietly for Gus to hear.

"Of course," Gus replied sweetly.

"Umm, could we wait for school right here every day? Like you said, it's really crowded up there..." Matt sighed quietly.

"Yeah, absolutely," Gus said with a smile.

The two boys sat in silence, other people's conversations ringing in the air. The bell rang and everyone started filling into the building. Gus and Matt waved goodbye to each other as they split off to go to their separate classes

~Time skip~

When lunch rolled around, Gus told his friends he'd sit with Matt during lunch.

"Why doesn't Matt sit over here?" Luz asked.

"Oh, He has a hard time talking to new people. Hopefully, he can warm up to you guys soon, but I want to give him time," Gus responded respectfully. His friends gave him an approving nod and he waved goodbye as he walked over to the table he and Matt sat at.

As Gus set down his bag, he pulled out the brown bag he had brought earlier. "Hey, I thought I'd bring you a muffin. You don't seem to eat school lunches, so I thought you'd be pretty hungry, and- shoot, I'm talking more than I should be. I'll just shut up," he blabbered, handing Matt one of the muffins.

Matt:

Matt hesitated before accepting the muffin and setting it down in front of him. Gus began eating his muffin, and only then, did Matt eat his too. He took small bites and tried not to focus on the fact that it was food.

Matt didn't have a great relationship with food. He tried to maintain a good eating habit, but sometimes the food would make him feel sick, even though he isn't allergic to it. He also felt weird eating in front of other people, but he pushed that aside as best as he could.

The two boys sat in silence as they both enjoyed their muffins. Gus was done much faster than Matt was, but he didn't point that out, which Matt was thankful for.

"Do you want to come over to my house after school today?" Gus asked. Matt couldn't tell what kind of emotion was strung into Gus' words but was oddly comforted by it.

"Well," Matt started, then he remembered the lie he told his mom. If he told her he was at a study club, then he could go to Gus' place after school! "Yeah, I'd like that," he said with a warm smile. Gus returned a smile and the two of them started talking about their classes.

When the bell rang, Matt sighed, knowing that he had to go to his next class. He talked with Gus as they walked to their classes. Matt waved goodbye as he walked into his construction class.

(End scene)
I'm sorry this chapter was a bit slower than the other ones. I just wasn't very inspired today. But maybe I'll post the next chapter today too? Idk

Something funny happened the other day though; In my English class, we had to write 3 different versions of what our opening lines would be if we wrote a book about our life story. I read 2 of mine out loud and one girl said I should be a writer. So I was kinda like "Thanks" and gave myself a side eye seeing as I write fanfiction on my phone about two gay witches falling in love and dealing with ✨️angst and trauma✨️

But anyway, that's all from me. I hope you guys are doing well! ❤️❤️❤️

(If anyone wants to hear the lines I wrote, maybe I'll write them in the comments?)