I wrote this late Monday evening and most of Tuesday, with final editing done on Wednesday. Not for fluff haters!!!
Disclaimer: I don't own Cyberchase, PBS, Nelvana and Thirteen do. But, I'll get rich one day and buy the rights to it from them! FWAHAHAHAHA!! Oh yeah, I don't own 'Fallen' either, someone else does and I give full credit to whoever owns it.
Summary: Matt is listening to a song that his odd neighbor is playing at one in the morning. The boy ends up singing along and so does his unexpected visitor. Similar to For Always in plot.
Author's Note: I know I stink at writing romance. But hey, at least I wrote it, right? I had a heck of a lot of trouble ending this; it was so cute! sniffles Anyway, enjoy!
Fallen
by flip8
The redhead awoke; sweat pouring down his back and soaking his sleep shirt. How could it happen? Crimson was dead, for sure this time. And yet... And yet...
Matt pried open the window and inhaled deeply. Calm down, he told himself as his heart beat frantically in his chest. It's just a nightmare.
But it had been so real!
It had been real once. Inez was badly burned from head to toe. Her glasses were gone, and her hair had been shaved clean off.
His arch-rival, the Crimson Blade, had presented him with that lovely scene.
Why had he just dreamed about Inez? Was his mind trying to tell him something, something he didn't want to know?
The boy shook his head. That was a mystery best pondered some other time.
He climbed out onto the roof and looked up at the stars. His friends at school sometimes said he had his head in the clouds, that maybe being around 'that girl' had warped his mind. When they said that, Matt would grab them by the shirt and whisper fiercely, "Being around Inez hasn't warped my mind. You'd know that if you gave her a chance!" They'd keep quiet for a few months and then, someone would make a crack about Matt's girlfriend. Matt would always lose it then and punch them in the nose.
If he told Inez about it, she reprimanded him until his ears hurt and finish up with, "It's a good thing you're not any stronger, you might kill someone."
Once, he'd made the mistake of asking her what she meant. Instantly, she had launched into an explanation of the structure of the bones in the nose and how a sufficiently powerful punch would send those bones right up into the brain, killing someone instantly. When she had paused for breath, Matt had put a hand on her shoulder and said teasingly, "Okay motor mouth, you can stop now." She had glared at him but, seeing the gentle laughter in his eyes, started to laugh.
When Jackie portaled in, she had found her friends curled up on the floor, gasping for breath. "What? Do I have something in my hair? Are my clothes rumpled?"
She smoothed her skirt self-consciously, which only made the pair laugh all the harder. After several minutes of helpless laughter, Inez had begun to calm down, but Matt pulled her back down and started tickling her sides. She had squealed, squirmed, begged and pleaded, but nothing she could say would stop him.
Eventually, Digit had walked over and said to the tormenter, "Okay Mattie, you can stop now. I think she needs to get her breath back."
Only then had Matt become aware of his proximity to her. A red flush had crept over his face until it matched his hair in shade. He stood up solemnly and offered Inez his hand.
The girl, still wheezing, had taken it, sending an odd feeling through his arm.
His mind was jolted back to the present by a flash of light streaking past Cassiopeia. He closed his eyes and wished silently, I wish I could tell Inez how I feel about her. For since that incident, he had unconsciously admitted to himself his feeling for the Latino girl went beyond mere friendship. He certainly didn't think of her as a sister.
His next-door neighbor was sitting on his driveway (at one in the morning?) with a CD player in his lap. Matt wondered sometimes about him. No, not sometimes, all the time. He even managed to mess up mowing the lawn! A woman was singing about fall and love. She had a strangely pleasant voice.
Matt wasn't partial to female singers (he much preferred Will Smith), but this one attracted him. He began to listen more closely to the lyrics and found himself singing along.
The leaves have lost hold of the branches as always
And leaves us with gold and wine colored pathways
In the same way I've,
The same way I've fallen for you
The brown-bearded man looked up, saw Matt on the roof, grinned and looked back at the CD player.
You opened your arms like a school door to summer days
And opened my heard to the rumors of a higher place
Now where was I?
Baby, I've fallen for you
Love is always on the go
It never stays in one place
Day by day it changes and it grows
But you always recognize its face.
Another voice joined the boy's. The man looked around and saw a young girl standing next to the hedge, her glasses reflecting the moonlight. He nodded, recognizing her. She had come over to Matthew's house several times, but never this late! She didn't notice the neighbor watching, concentrating on the music and the boy on the roof.
He chuckled quietly and got up. His special one-hundred-ninety-ninth sense told him there was going to be some smooching and he wanted to get the camera. On his way inside, he imitated the Minister of Silly Walks' silly walk (it never failed to get a laugh from Matthew), but the two young people paid no attention.
Day to day it changes and it grows
But you always recognize its face
Matt heard her singing, hardly daring to believe his ears. Was she here? But where was she? There. By the hedge. The hedge he had fallen into when he was four; he still had the scars from that encounter. Her eyes met his and he dared not look away.
The leaves have lost hold of the branches as always
And leaves us with gold and wine colored pathways
In the same way I've,
The same way I've fallen for you
Like the star in the night
Baby, I've fallen for you
Inez smiled and waved up at Matt.
His tongue was suddenly fat and awkward in his mouth. "How...why...when..." She giggled very girlishly.
"My, aren't we articulate this evening. Come down here and I'll tell you."
He tried, he really did! But his hands, sweating from both the humid night air and the object of his hidden affections below, slipped on the ladder. He tumbled to the ground with a thud. Inez gasped and ran over to him.
"Matt! Where are you hurt?" She knew that falling from such a height, he couldn't have gotten away without a scratch. He tried to get up and fell back with a grunt.
"My back." he said hoarsely.
"Let me see." It wasn't a request, but a command.
He turned over onto his stomach, wincing as red-hot jets of pain sliced through him. She took his shirt off and Matt let out a yelp. "Inez, what's the big idea?" he demanded, snatching his shirt back and struggling to pull it over his head.
"I'm trying to see if you've broken anything! You certainly don't expect me to see where you're hurt if you keep your shirt on! If you falling off the side of the house didn't wake your parents, they'll be wide awake now, so keep quiet!"
Matt scowled but knew she was right, as she always was. He could never win an argument with Inez. She took his shirt off again and ran her cool, delicate hands over his back. Was it just him or was the night getting warmer? He'd have to get back inside soon or he would roast. He hissed when she touched his shoulder blade.
"Does that hurt?" she asked.
"...Yeah." he whispered, biting his lip to keep back a scream. She probed it gingerly with her fingers and Matt let out a moan of pain.
"Matt..." she laughed quietly.
"What?"
"Don't panic or anything, but it feels dislocated."
"Oh man, I am sooo gonna get it in the morning."
"Unfortunately, yes."
He sighed and turned over. Inez giggled again.
"What is it now?"
"Your back is covered in grass stains, Matt."
"Oh, great." A long silence followed this as Inez lay down beside Matt and they watched the stars together.
"They're so beautiful," she said quietly, slipping a hand into his.
"Uh huh." He wanted to say something, to tell her how he felt about her, but he couldn't.
"I've never watched the stars before." she confessed, snuggling closer to him as a cool wind swept past.
"Really?" he choked out. Did she know what she was doing to him?
"Really." She placed a hand on his bare chest and moved even closer. Having a girl so close to him when he was half-naked was quite uncomfortable. He was sure his mom and dad could hear his heart beating, even if they were asleep.
"You should be ashamed of yourself." He had meant to sound teasing but he sounded rebuking. Luckily (or perhaps unluckily), she didn't notice. She placed her lips next to his ear and whispered, "I should, shouldn't I?" A shudder ran through his body at this.
A sudden flash and they both leapt up, Matt's arm around Inez's waist. There was the crazy neighbor (was his name John?) with a camera.
"Okay, that's great, now just hold it right there!" Another blinding flash and John stood up, grinning broadly. "Don't let me stand in the way of your little scene here; you can keep going." With a wink at Matt and a cheery "'Bout time you found yourself a girlfriend, Matthew." he went indoors.
Matt turned apologetically to Inez but she placed a soft finger over his lips. "Someone else who calls you Matthew? I'm glad I'm not alone in that." He grinned sheepishly.
"My dad knew him from college."
"And he's lived here since...?"
"Since I was three."
She smiled. "That's nice. Is he always up at one?"
"Normally, he's a late riser and I have to suffer through his singing in the shower. He thinks he's wonderful."
"Maybe he is." she suggested.
"Maybe I don't like opera."
"You should try it sometime."
"Phantom of the Opera was enough for me, thanks."
She laughed. "What time is it?"
Matt shrugged. "I don't know."
"I'd better be going." she said quickly.
Matt sighed. You knew this wasn't going to last forever, he scolded himself. Inez turned back, as if sensing his inner struggle. "Matt, I want to give you something before I leave."
"What?"
She rummaged around in her dressing gown pockets, and finally pulled out a folded piece of paper. "Don't open it until you're back in bed." she told him sternly.
"I won't," he grinned. "See you tomorrow Nezzie."
She glared at him, hissing fiercely, "Don't call me Nezzie!"
He grinned cockily. "Or what?"
"Are you sure you want to know?" she asked, a sly smile on her face.
"Sure. After all, how bad could it be?"
He soon found out. She leaned forward and pressed her pink lips to his, soft warmth spreading from that simple touch. The butterflies that had been fluttering in Matt's stomach ever since Inez took his shirt off finally settled down and he even found the courage to place a hand on Inez's soft cheek. She in turn ran a hand through his tangled hair. When the kiss ended, she blushed and took the paper back from her friend, or was he now her lover?
"Hey." Matt said softly, kissing her again. "What did you write?" he asked as she pulled away.
"Just a little confession." she said, looking at him playfully. "It isn't important anymore." she added, yanking it away from him.
"Maybe, but I still want to keep it, just as a little memento." he said, extending a hand.
She kissed his palm, sending a delicious shudder through his arm, and placed the letter in it. She hugged him tightly, rubbing her head against his muscular chest. "I don't want to leave you Matt. I love you." she whispered.
"And I you Inez." She sighed and pulled away.
"But I have to, or we'll both get grounded." Matt nodded.
"I'm guessing we won't see each other for a while, knowing your parents. Not unless Hacker tries something."
"After the beating we gave him last time? I doubt he's that dumb." They kissed once more and parted ways, Matt climbing the ladder up to his room, Inez taking the long way back to her house. Only when he was back in bed did he remember that he had not asked Inez why she had come over tonight. He grinned as he remembered the feel of Inez's lips against his. She sure knows how to make a guy feel better, he thought as he dozed off. My back doesn't hurt anymore.
Crimson Kiss, Chapter 3