A Theatrical Performance Of An Intimate Moment

Part 1

"Where are you?"

"Where am I? Where were you?!"

"I told you I was going out,"

"With who?"

"With friends! Why are you being like this?!"

"You weren't there! I'm leaving, and you weren't there, so where were you?"

2023

They had almost a month off after the UK leg of the tour in February. It was spent in Matty's house, in his bed, giggling under the covers and putting on a performance of middle class suburban love. They stayed up late, sipping wine, cooking in his kitchen, and walking his dogs. A few nights were spent in Cheshire, no longer in separate rooms. Britt and Louis had become closer, texting back and forth with inside jokes that Matty didn't understand.

The band attended the Brit Awards in February. Brittany met them at the afterparty looking so incredible that Matty had dragged her off the dancefloor and into the nearest empty bathroom. He told her how beautiful she was with the material bunched around her hips, and she tried to repeat the sentiment when he was on his knees for her but with a skilled twist of his tongue, she lost all her words as her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

She landed herself in a few best dressed lists the following day, and Denise had proudly boasted how gorgeous she was during a taping of Loose Women. The panel continued to question if Matty's love declaration in Belfast was real, or yet another bit during The 1975's show.

""I'm In Love With You," is the name of one of their songs, isn't it?"

"Is that song about her too?"

"Denise, you must tell us something!"

She left the stage that night in a daze, floating down the stairs at side stage and taking off her white coat. He whispered the words again to her that night when they were alone in his hotel room as he slowly peeled her clothes off, taking his time. He promised that he meant them and it wasn't something for the crowd. She said them back after he made her come undone.

At the bands charity show at Gorilla in Manchester, she stood on the balcony with Jordan, dancing with Charli and drinking too much champagne. Matty thinks she screamed the loudest when the opening notes to Menswear had started. They all spend the night in the pub after the gig, playing pool and laughing loudly. His jacket had placed over her shoulders, and his hands wrapped around her all night.

She had sat side stage with Jamie Oborne during the Jonathan Ross show taping, watching him croon down the camera while she mouthed along the words. She laughed after their performance when the band started necking all the alcohol that was provided thanks to their rider, only to find out they had one extra segment to film. Matty had already finished two bottles of wine when the cameras had returned, falling off his chair and onto Ross' lap.

~~~

They spent time in New York, Matty recording all day with Jack Antonoff while she would get lost in a city she dreamed of living in her whole life. She meets Margaret, Jack's fiancé, and they hit it off immediately, leaving the studio together and getting coffee without saying goodbye, too caught up in conversation. Jack comments that he cannot believe Matty is going out with such an extrovert.

"She's Truman Black all day long," he laughed.

She would arrive at the studio at the end of each day, kissing her boyfriend, ruffling Jack's hair and flopping onto the couch, ready to listen to whatever they'd made. Sometimes she'd come in, and Jack wouldn't be ready to show her anything, so he'd pass her a guitar, telling her to go into the other room and practice ("please") so she couldn't hear what he was doing.