That 000000 & ffffff || Matty Healy

Nice to Have Your Friends 'Round

/ / N I C E T O H A V E Y O U R F R I E N D S ' R O U N D / /

"Dad, I promise, I'm alright - Papa, tell him I'm fine!" I groan into the phone as I trudge along the terminal, looking for a place to get coffee. I only have a carry-on bag as I had only planned to stay a few days. Any more would have been pointless with Marty's band leaving soon after their sets.

"I don't know sweetie, it is a bit odd that Anna or Jamie didn't go with you to - a festival, was it?"

"They were busy, Anna can't afford another day off of work, and Jamie has some...problems to take care of," I explain for what seems like the hundredth time, but granted, it's not very like me to randomly spring a trip like this. "You...you guys can trust me, you know that, right?" and I'm pulling some sort of emotional manipulation, and I feel guilty but I'm already here, and it's not like I'm ready to hop on a flight back home anyway.

I order some fancy coffee/latte/maybe-frappe drink from the menu and pay a large amount of money for something that's only eight ounces deep. My dad sighs on the other end, "No you're right, you work hard, you have good grades, you'll be in Uni in a few months - shit, Mars, you're growing up."

I think he's about to cry and I really don't want him to, I don't think I could handle that in the middle of the little coffee place, I'd probably break down too. "That's why you adopted Ari, right?" It's meant to sound like a joke, but I think my voice cracks, and I really desperately hate jetlag right about now.

Daddy laughs half heartedly, but Papa catches something, "Ari?" he asks, and I'm thankful he can't see the bashful face I'm pulling. "That's so adorable, Marcy, you've already got your own nickname for her - I can't wait for you to meet her, oh my god." He's happy, I can hear the squeals in his voice, and it makes Daddy happy enough to forget he was being sad in the first place.

"Alright Princess, you'll text when you reach the hotel? And at the festival? And I also expect an autograph, right?"

I roll my eyes, "Yes, Daddy."

"We love you - Ella too, I think she likes your voice, she hasn't fussed since we put you on speaker."

"It's probably just gas. Love you guys too, bye, have fun!" I hang up and take a sip of the coffee, cringing at the bitter taste coating my mouth. I desperately want to throw it away, but I'm too cheap, and that was expensive. I check my phone, going through all the texts I received once I turned airplane mode off. A few from Anna, using a lot of emojis, definitely an egg plant or two in there, angry ones from Jamie, telling me off for abandoning him in the middle of his Drew crises, and finally, one from Matty, with a simple address and room number.

I feel my heart race, because am I really doing this? He asked me a few days ago, and while I thought he had only been joking, he did send persistent texts, a few reminding me to pack sunscreen or an extra toothbrush or something. It's all very unreal, but I refuse to question it, I've already made it this far.

I've decided not to over think these things, trying something new, because I'm sure at any moment, Matty would be ready to drop me for another girl, maybe someone more eager, experienced, older even, and when that time comes, I'd rather not dwell on all the possibilities and chances I didn't take, but instead, at least welcome the fond memories I had.

I find a taxi, and once again everything at an airport is far more expensive than it really should be, but I pay my fair anyway, telling him the address. It's a hotel that I'm lead too, and while that was the fairly obvious choice, I'm still impressed with how lovely it looks.

While my parents absolutely adored traveling, hence their trip to Vietnam, I despised it. I didn't like traveling to places with people I didn't know, I very much hated plane rides, heights weren't my greatest fears, but I'm not very fond of them, so I've never spent much time at hotels, especially ones that seem as fancy as this. I try not to stare too blandly at all the people I see in the front lobby - they all looked eerily familiar, but it's not until much later that I realize this was the hotel most of the festival acts were staying ("It's closest to the festival without having to camp at the actual grounds - despite what you've heard, we do enjoy showers once in a while, Lacey,"