forever and always. (Matthew Espinosa)

chapter nineteen

"Thank you, Matt," I said as I looked up to him. Our feet sloshed in the shallow water.

"No problem, I figured that had to be kind of awkward watching the guy you like walk his ex grirlfriend down the beach while the sun's setting," he continued to look at the sand in front of him.

"Not just about that, I mean about everything. You're a really great friend and I'm so lucky to have you," I said.

His gaze slowly shifted up and met my eyes, "I'm lucky to have you, too," he smiled not showing any teeth.

I stopped in my tracks, "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Uh," I stuttered, "yeah, yeah I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Alright," he looked at me confused. I laughed it off and continued walking.

"And I don't think I like Nash anymore," I stated nonchalantly.

His head snapped up to look at me again, "really? why?"

"Come on, Samantha's moving to Virginia, we all know they're gonna get back together."

"That's probably true," Matt agreed.

I nodded. We stopped and just turned to look at the orange-pink sky. The sun was setting quickly as Matt's arm casually slung around my shoulder. I comforably rested mine on his opposite hip around his back, "We should probably get back," Matt suggested. I nodded as we turned and walked back to the others. By the time we'd gotten back, Nash and Sam were just arriving, and the boys were already packed up. We all grabbed a few things and headed to Bart and Carter's cars waiting in the parking lot. We rode back to the hotel and quickly packed up and before we knew it, it was time to go to the airport.

We drove down and all got to security after dealing with our tickets and started to say our goodbyes. I spent the most time saying goodbye to Aaron and Gilinsky, my two closest friends I made. I gave them both a few hugs and told them I'd text them everyday. Even though I'd be seeing them again in a month, I'd miss them a ton. I said goodbye to everyone else, and before I was about to go through security, Taylor stopped me. I guess I sort of expected an apology, but I didn't think he'd come up to me or talk to me or anything.

"Kyra," he said.

"Yeah?"

"I just thought you should know, Nash and Sam kissed at the beach, okay bye!" He stated as if it were the most normal thing in the world before walking away.

My heart sunk. I knew I didn't like him anymore, but I didn't think he'd hurt me like that. As far as he knew, I did still like him, and I can't believe he'd hurt me like that. I quickly got through security and boarded the plane. Two empty seats. One next to Matt, one next to Nash. I looked to Nash, then Matt, and knew my decision immediately. I walked past Nash's empty seat and walked to Matt's. Nash's eyes followed me, but I ignored it. I quietly sat down and leaned my head on Matt's shoulder. I thought about crying, but I didn't want to. He just sat there for a minute, "He did, didn't he?"

"Kiss her?" I asked.

I felt him nod by his jaw rubbing gently against the top of my head, I sighed, "Yeah."

"I'm sorry," he put his arm around me.

"It's okay." I eventually fell asleep rested under his arm. I woke to a gentle shaking.

"Ky, wake up, we're landing," Matt's voice quietly said.

I took a deep breath, ready to come back home. "Can we skip school?" I asked while inhaling.