Vigilante | ✔

Annual #6

The first time Matthew met Vanessa, only a couple of weeks had passed since he'd returned from his supposed death. He'd been waiting for Eli after the redhead's last class of the day, thinking they should go out for dinner someplace. Matthew figured Eli wouldn't say no to a bacon cheeseburger.

Vanessa had been walking with Eli when Matthew saw them, and he'd been introduced to her rather reluctantly. He hadn't really learned much about her other than her name. She was a pretty young woman, with a clever sort of look in her dark eyes and a teasing smile. Once she was gone, Matthew hadn't given her much thought — though he did tease Eli for a bit about him being unfaithful. At the time, the way Eli blushed and glared was hilarious.

Then, he met Vanessa a second time.

Eli had called one afternoon to ask Matthew if he was okay with having Eli's friends over because apparently it was Eli's turn to host their study session. Meaning, his friends had practically forced him to agree because they were tired of crowding into their dorm room. Matthew could understand that much.

"I don't mind," Matthew said as he leaned back in his chair, where he had been working on his newest illustration. Or not working, depending on who you asked. Procrastination was something Matthew had refined into an art form over the years.

"Really?" If he wasn't mistaken, that was Eli's tone of utter disappointment. Apparently he definitely minded. Matthew suspected he'd been hoping to be provided with an excuse to give his friends.

"Yeah, I mean, they're your friends and you do live here," Matthew pointed out. Besides, Matthew actually liked Eli's friends — which actually might have been part of the problem. It certainly explained why Eli had never asked them over. Eli must have learned his lesson after seeing Matthew and Michael working together to annoy him. "Aw, don't tell me you're embarrassed of me," Matthew said, feigning offense.

"Only sometimes, but that's really not the issue here," Eli said, not buying Matthew's act. Then again, it wasn't that hard to figure out with Matthew snickering on the other end of the line. It occurred to Matthew though, that maybe he wasn't that far off from the truth.

"You know, you don't have to tell them about us if you don't want to," he said. Not that he cared, but he thought Eli might want to hold off on that particular announcement. After all, they'd only been living together for a couple of months and Eli didn't seem like the type to suddenly decide to date their roommate.

"That's not what—!" Eli was cut off and Matthew could hear someone speaking in the background. There was a sigh on the other end of the line. "We'll be there in a bit," Eli said, sounding frustrated.

"Alright, see you then," Matthew responded, wondering what Eli had meant to say.

"Yeah, see you." The call ended and after a moment of consideration, Matthew went back to work.

Just as Eli said, it wasn't long before he and his friends arrived. Matthew was happy to meet Collin and Tucker, mostly because they probably had some very embarrassing stories of Eli to tell. He could see why Eli would dread having them all in the same room.

Vanessa had been a surprise, considering she didn't really share many classes with Eli or the others. Matthew figured she was there to either make sure the other three actually got some work done, or because they needed her help. Whatever the case was, Matthew left them to it. He felt kind of sorry he actually had work to do, especially when Collin saw Eli's cat and asked what his name was.

Maybe it was for the best that Matthew left. Otherwise, Eli might have thrown something at him for laughing at his predicament.

When Matthew finally emerged from what Eli liked to call his Mattcave — because Eli could also be ridiculously punny sometimes — it was because Eli claimed there was pizza and Matthew wasn't passing on that. That was how he found himself sitting on the couch, with Eli next to him and Vanessa taking over the lone armchair, eating pizza and watching a terrible sci-fi film about a werehyena fighting a giant shark in New York. It was kind of enjoyable, really.