Hi all. This is my first One Life to Live Story. I write a lot of General Hospital fics—all of which feature Alexis Davis. I tried not to start this story because I currently have four other fics that need updating. Still this one wouldn't let me go. Hope there are some Matthew and Destiny fans that will enjoy this. BTW, Replies are always appreciated.
Chapter 1 – Seeing the Light.
Matthew stood in the hallway outside of his bedroom and eavesdropped on his parents' conversation. Eavesdropping was the only way he ever learned the truth about anything; all of the "adults" in his life treated him as though he were still a kid.
"Clint practically admitted he forced Inez to drug me, Red." Red was his father's nickname for his mother because of the color of her hair at the time they met. Though her hair held more of a brownish hue now, his father couldn't shake the nickname. A few weeks earlier, he'd seen his dad kissing his assistant, Inez at her apartment. Then his Uncle Clint told him that his dad and Inez slept together...which he told him mom. Now, it sounded as though his uncle set the whole thing up.
"What do you mean by practically?" His mother questioned. "Did he give you anything you could use?"
"No. He figured out Inez was wearing a wire. It looked like he was ready to strangle her until I came around the corner."
"Oh Bo," his mother sighed, "What are we going to do? Your brother was willing to do anything to come between us, including use our son. Clint had Matthew convinced you were having an affair with your assistant. All the while he knew Matthew had to go to school everyday and see Inez's son." Nate was Inez's son and he'd been a thorn in Matthew's side since the day he came to Llanview...and put the moves on Dani, his girlfriend of about five minutes.
"Yeah, the same kid he thinks stole his girlfriend."
"Who knows what other lies he filled our son's head with. I'm not going to stand for this." His mother's voice grew louder. "I'm going to see Clint now."
"Right behind you, Red."
As soon as Matthew heard the door close behind his parents, all of his emotions rose to the surface. He felt as though he had been kicked in the stomach. In recent months, his Uncle Clint was the only member of his family he believed he could trust. And now, he knew the truth; Uncle Clint didn't care about him at all. It was all a game to get back at his parents.
Matthew subconsciously rubbed his stomach; he felt ill. He knew there was only one person he could call; only one person would understand. He quickly dialed the number he knew by heart.
"Can you come over? I need you."
Without a moment's hesitation or a single question, Destiny responded, "I'm on my way."
Just hearing her voice calmed him. Destiny Evans was his best friend and she was the only person he trusted. And though they were both just 17, they'd been through more stuff together than people three times their age. Destiny stuck by him when he was paralyzed; in fact, she bought him the shoes he used to take his first steps. Even after she confessed she loved him and he told her he only wanted to be friends, she still stuck by him. At the time, he was blinded by the bells and whistles of Danielle Rayburn, a pretty blonde who was initially a great distraction from all of the trouble he'd had at home. Still, most remarkably, Destiny stuck by him when Danielle dumped him to be with Nate.
It wasn't like Destiny was without her problems; just last year she learned her brother was her father and her parents were her grandparents. Instead of her boyfriend, Darren, trying to help her get through it, he dumped her when he didn't like the way she reacted to him getting in the middle of the situation.
The knock on the door shook him from his thoughts. As soon as he saw Destiny, it felt like his world shifted back onto its axis. Destiny had this incredibly sweet face. It reminded him of the faces he saw on the angels in the cathedrals his parents took him to on vacation in Italy, except her face was the color of chocolate. Before they uttered even a single greeting, she pulled him into a hug.
"Matthew, what's wrong?"
"More lies...this time from my Uncle Clint."
As Destiny listened, she welcomed his truth with her big brown eyes. She never turned away no matter how ugly, he or his circumstances were. That was what made it so easy to talk to her. When he finished his latest, sad tale, they sat together in silence.
Finally, Destiny spoke up, "What are you going to do about your Uncle?"
"I don't know. My parents want me to quit, but I want to find out what else Uncle Clint is hiding. I already know stuff he's done that my parents don't know about."
"Like what?"
He hesitated for a moment, knowing that Destiny wouldn't like what he was going to say. Still she was his best friend and they shared everything. He took a deep breath before he spilled. "Like Uncle Clint fixed a DNA test so Rex Balsom wouldn't know he was his son."
"Matthew, how long have you known about this?" She gave him a look that expressed her clear disapproval. He'd seen that look quite a bit over the last few months. "Rex has a right to know about his parents."
He shook his head, "no." Rex currently believed he was the son of Charlie Banks. Charlie was a good guy and he wanted to be Rex's dad, whereas his Uncle Clint did not want Rex as a son. Given what Destiny was going through, he knew she would disagree with his assessment of the situation. "I don't know, Des. It's not my secret to tell."
"What else do you think your Uncle is hiding?" By the way she changed the subject, he could tell she didn't want to fight.
"I don't know, but I can tell there's more. " He looked at her and realized there was still sadness behind her eyes. He knew that she was still reeling from the revelation about her brother being her father…and the recent breakup with her boyfriend. "Have you talked to Darren, lately?"
"Not since he tried to stage an impromptu family reunion." She dropped her head. Seeing her sad broke his heart.
They talked for a few minutes more before she checked her watch. "Matthew, I should go. I promised Shaun I'd be home early. "
He walked her to the door. "Thanks for coming. I feel better now."
"Good." She smiled at him. Her smile lit up her face.
"Bye Des."
"Bye Matthew."
They embraced as they typically did as they parted. But as she turned her back to him, something inside him caused him to call her name. "Destiny…"
"Yeah," She turned to face him.
And then, before he could stop himself, he did something he'd wanted to do for weeks; he cupped her cheek with his right hand and gave her a tender kiss. When they broke from the kiss, she looked at him with surprise in her eyes.
"Goodnight Matthew." She left without waiting for his response.
Matthew couldn't believe how right it felt to kiss his best friend. Part of him felt like an idiot. When he was paralyzed, before he met Dani, he knew how awesome Destiny was. But then he met Dani and they broke out of the boarding school where his parents tucked him away. Even though Destiny was with them on part of the journey, Dani was new and he got caught up in her newness.
He wondered what Destiny was thinking about their kiss. It felt as though she kissed him back, but she didn't say anything about it. She also left pretty abruptly. He wished his big brother, David, was in town. He'd know what to do. Destiny's friendship meant everything to him and he didn't want to do anything to mess it up. Still, he really enjoyed kissing her and he hoped he could do it again…soon.
"Hey there." His mother mussed his hair. He'd been so deep in thought that he hadn't heard his parents come in. "You're in a better mood than you were earlier. What perked you up?"
"What are you talking about?" He realized he sounded like a jerk as soon as the words came out of his mouth. Still there was no way he was going to talk about kissing his best friend with his mother.
"She's probably talking about that grin you had on your face when we walked in."
"Oh. " He decided to exit the conversation before he said too much. "I'm going to bed now." He paused for a moment as he thought of how grateful he was that his dad was back home and that his dad hadn't cheated on his mom. He kissed his mom on the cheek and gave his dad a hug.
No sooner than he was in his bedroom. His cell phone rang. It was Destiny. "Hey Des."
"I called to say goodnight…and so we could talk about that kiss."
"Okay." He felt his heart race.
"It was nice but it can't happen again."
His heart sank. He had to know what was going on with her. "Why?"
"Because its too soon after Darren. And you're my best friend. How many times have you said, nothing was going to happen between us? The kiss was your reaction to all of the stuff you've been going through."
"It wasn't." He defended himself. He really wanted to kiss her. He couldn't have stopped himself if he tried.
"You hurt me pretty badly when you told me we could only be friends. But now I think it was for the best. Your friendship means everything to me and I don't want to jeopardize it. I hope you can understand."
"Of course." He did his best to sound nonchalant.
She breathed an audible sigh of relief. "Thanks Matthew. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah."
After they concluded their call, Matthew found himself staring at his phone. Destiny was scared; he couldn't blame her. He'd been a jerk to her in the past. But he was a Buchanan and one thing he learned from his dad, Grandpa Asa and even his Uncle Clint was that Buchanans always fought for what they wanted. And he realized that what he wanted now more than anything was Destiny.