isolation [matty healy]

pt. 11: comfortable

after our picnic on the lawn, matty and i seemed to be on the same wavelength.

a few more days had passed, full of deep conversations as well as light ones, and we were finally in july. matty, george, and i were getting closer as friends, and i was finally starting to feel okay with the idea of trusting them. it was coming easier to me, and i loved it. they were so funny, and matty had apparently told ross and adam about me, unbeknownst to me, and things were going great. i got to hear about the music they were working on from a distance; they had recently started sending voice memos/recordings back and forth to each other as matty was starting to feel better, and getting his "groove" back.
we even started making plans to have dinner together at their house, and i decided i would go get tested beforehand, just to be safe.

matty was very supportive, and george kept telling me a bunch of jokes to try to help me not feel nervous about it. i wasn't nervous about the test itself, or really even the results. but i had this weird feeling of dread the day i was going to get the test done.

"i'll see you when i get back," i told matty. it was about 10 am and i was leaving for my 10:30 appointment.
"also, i know this may be nothing, but i have a weird feeling about today. will you call me if anything happens?"

matty tilted his head at me, curls bouncing, and nodded in understanding. then he bumped my shoulder with his, which had become our way of saying hello or goodbye. "i will call you if your premonition comes true, yes."

i smiled at him and got into my car. as i backed out of the driveway, i looked over at the neighbor's house, where george was still sleeping. i brushed off the weird feelings, and waved at matty through my window as i drove away.
he looked so cute standing in my driveway, waving like a little kid in his plain white t-shirt, and my stomach filled with butterflies.
too bad they can't give me a cure for having feelings, i thought sarcastically.

———————

in a short amount of time the test was done; it went by with no problems and i was told they would get back to me within the next two days with the results. i had just taken my mask off as i was getting into my car, when my phone started ringing. it was matty.

"hello?" i answered, pulling my door shut.

"hey," he replied, voice heavy, "are you on your way back?"

"i just got into my car. is everything alright?"

he paused. "well, remember your premonition?"

"yes," i said, worry building in my chest.

"basically, george's girlfriend called. her name's marie. she's wonderful. em," i could hear him sigh in hesitation, and i prepared for heavy words. he sighed and said, "her father just passed away from covid."

i felt immediately awful for this person that i didn't know, and panicked chills racked up and down my body in response to the news.

i leaned my head down onto my steering wheel while we talked more about some of the details, and how marie and her mother were doing. then i could hear george call out to matty in the background of our phone call. i told him to go talk to him, and that we could talk when i got home.

we said goodbye, and i pulled out of the parking lot feeling weighed down, but determined more than anything to support my friends in whatever way that i could.

———————

we sat in the front yard talking for awhile.

george had cried a few times, as he was quite close with marie's dad, and obviously in his love for her, he was mourning right along with her.