Title: 3 a.m.
Fandom: Knockaround Guys
Paring: Matty and Taylor
Rating: R
Disclaimer: These Knockaround Guys belong to writers Brian Koppelman and
David Levien.
Summary: Taken place before the movie – no spoilers. Taylor and Matty figure out some things about each other.

-Taylor-
`Dimes.` Taylor remembered the first time he heard some one call
Matty that. Marbles and Matty had to pull him off the sonofabitch.
Sure, Matty said it didn`t bother him, but Taylor knew that was
bullshit. And even if it wasn`t - it bothered the fuck out of
Taylor. He never regretted kicking the shit out of that guy.

Hearing that nickname always took Taylor back to that night. His
mother wasn`t happy about it, but let Taylor take the call anyway.
Matty`s voice was pretty high pitched back then, anyway, but the
fact that he was frightened didn`t help. He rattled off some scores
of some game Taylor knew nothin` about, lettin` the kid ramble.
They`d only known each other for a month or so back then, but from
the start he liked Matty in that way that said they`d be friends
forever.

Taylor knew there was nothin` he could do that night. Nothin` but
let Matty talk it off, knowing that if he was flinching back from
sounds of distant gunshots, that Matty was probably shittin` bricks
over hearin` `em first hand. He could reassure the kid in some way -
even back then, he wanted to protect him.

-Matty-
He and Marbles were hanging out, shooting pool and drinking a couple
beers while they waited for Scarpa. Taylor was bouncing tonight,
getting Marbles in without too much hassle. The place was a little
rough, which meant Matty`s game was off. Clearly, his is attention
was called elsewheres. Elsewheres being 20 feet away where Taylor
was standing. A couple of noisy rough types were making Matty tense.
He knew he shouldn`t be worried about Taylor. He could handle
himself, sure, but there was always that chance that somethin` could
get outta hand.

Staring at Marbles for a minute, Matty rubbed his eyes. Johnny had
apparently been talkin` for a while and he hadn`t heard a single
damn word.

``What`d you say, Marbles?``

``I said ,`` Marbles repeated with a touch of annoyance, ``that I
wanted to go to the track tomorrow, Matty. You comin` or what?``

Matty shrugged, lining up his next shot.

``Cool. There`s Scarpa.`` Johnny said, grinning before taking
another sip of his beer.

Matty turned his head, seeing his friend walk in. Taylor pulled him
close to him for a minute before letting him go. Chris was all
smiles when he headed in their direction, arms open to Matty in
`knockaround guy` way he`d adopted. They hugged only briefly, though
Matty caught Taylor`s scent on the soft leather of Chris` jacket.
Taylor. His eyes searched out the sculpted form of his friend,
making contact and offering up a lopsided smile. Taylor was too far
away for Matty to see the blush Taylor had given that smile in
return.

-Marbles-
Things were changing between those two. Matty`s unswerving affection
and total attraction to Taylor was something only he regarded as a
secret. Privately, it was a joke between him and Scarpa, who were
never mean about it exactly, just not exactly kind. Everything about
Matty said he had it for Taylor. Was it their fault the guy was too
dense to see Taylor felt the same way? That was the funny part of
their joke. That neither of `em was at good at hidin` their feelin`s
as they thought. Dumbasses .

Eventually, something was gonna have to happen. And after watchin`
Taylor and Matty moonin` over each other for a minute, Marbles
shared a knowing nod and a roll of the eyes with Scarpa before
racking up the balls. They`d start a new game now that Chris was
here and Marbles was pretty grateful for some real company.

This game, he was going to have them put money down - Matty was too
far gone to pay any attention and Marbles could always use the cash.
And hell no did it bother him to take money from the crazy Italian.
Johnny figured he could either win it from Matty or borrow it.
Borrowing again would just make him look like a pussy, so winning
sounded much better.

After an hour, Scarpa headed for the bar to buy his round. He came
back to the table with a couple of locals, askin` for a game. Matty
shrugged good-naturedly, looking to Marbles to decide. No objections
were made and they started to play.

-Scarpa-
He`d lost about a hundred bucks so far. He was gettin` annoyed.
Marbles kept talkin`, eggin` `em on, crackin` jokes and increasin`
their bets. He knew the little shit didn`t have any cash. Matty`d
lost lost another fifty and after two games, the idea of playin`
with these guys was no longer a good one in Scarpa`s opinion. Things
could really outta hand if they kept on goin`. Pulling Matty close,
Chris expressed his concern. Matty just nodded his head, making a
move towards the two guys at the other end of the table.

``Look. Fella`s, it`s been fun, but I think this`ll be our last
game. If that`s okay with you, of course,`` Matty said, his voice
even, his expression genuine and sincere.

``You boys are in the hole pretty good, ain`t ya?`` One of the guys
said, his words slurred and his tone slightly threatening.

``Fuck that. Next game, we bet double or nothin`.`` Marbles never
knew when to shut the fuck up. Chris shot his cousin a killer glare
before turning around and lookin` for Taylor. He wasn`t there. Fuck.
Of all the times to hit the can, Reese, you had to pick right now.

``Yer on, Little Man.`` The other man was larger, thicker. Taylor`s
size or maybe bigger.

``Hang on a minute now. My friend here`s gettin` a little ahead of
himself, ain`t ya Marbles.`` Matty flashed him a look that said
`shut the fuck up.` He locked eyes witht the smaller man, thinkin`
he`d be the easier one to deal with.
``Fella`s we can`t bet that. We`ll settle up with ya after this game
and call it an evening, alright?`` Matty tried to smooth things
over, as usual.

The smaller man stepped into Matty`s personal space.

``You sayin` you can`t pay your debts there, boy?``

``We`ll pay ya what we owe ya, but another game`s not in our future.
We got someplace to be.`` Scarpa said, standing next to Matty, arms
folded across his chest.

``We`ll finish this game and then we`ll play that next one. Seein`
as your friend there s`the one who suggested it,`` the larger one
moved closer to his friend.

``Our *friend* is an asshole with a very big mouth. We`ll settle up
with you now like you won this game. We`re done here,`` Scarpa said,
knowing that things were seriously close to getting fucked up.

-Taylor-
He`d done a lotta thinkin` while he watched his friends play pool.
The smile he`d gotten a while ago from Matty - that lopsided grin
thing - had reminded him of one he`d seen a long time ago. Back
then, though, that smile was for someone else. Another boy. Taylor`d
just happened upon it by accident. Since then, he`d spent a lot of
time wishing he`d never seen that smile. Until tonight. Tonight,
that smile was his green light.

Comin` out of the backroom, Taylor checked the clock. Almost 2 a.m.
After watchin` Matty all night, he thought it was finally time to
say somethin` to his best friend.

The crowd had gathered around the pool tables. Once scattered around
the bar, Taylor was surprised to find this many people lingering at
this time of night. At least twenty people stood in his way, barring
him from getting through to the fight that was underway.

He heard punches being thrown and got past the peanut gallery in
time to see Matty take two hard punches in the stomach. Always
tougher than he looked, though, his best friend didn`t even make a
sound. He just raised up his pool stick and crashed it down over the
guy`s head.

Catching the guy as he fell, Taylor set him down hard onto the floor
before turning around and facing the other guy. One look at Taylor
and the bigger guy was pleading for mercy. Taylor didn`t need to see
Matty to know he was hurting and that made his decision for him.
Nobody fucked with his friends. And more importantly, nobody fucked
with Matty.

After things were settled, Scarpa scraped Marbles up off the floor,
half carrying the kid to the car. He waited a minute before getting
inside, getting the go ahead from Taylor. He took off, giving a wave
goodbye and a trail of dust.

It was close to 3 a.m.

Taylor had the back doors of his van open and Matty sat on the edge,
smokin` a cigarette. Taylor sat next to him, just watchin` him for a
few before deciding to speak up.

``You remember when we were in 8th and we went to that formal dance?
Your mom got us those flower things and pinned `em on our suits and
the drove us to the school.``

Matty`s breath didn`t just catch; it stopped. Slowly, he nodded.

``I saw you outside that night - when you were supposed to be
necking with Nancy... What the fuck was her name?``

``Mancini.`` Matty took a drag.

``That`s right. Nancy Mancini. Well, I remember comin` outside to
look for ya.``

He paused, looking over at Matty, who wouldn`t return his gaze.

``I found ya.``

Taylor couldn`t see it in the poor lighting of the parking lot, but
Matty paled.

``You were kissing Mikey Frye. And when you were done, you smiled at
him. I never seen anything like that before. And when he moved away
that next summer, I never saw it again. Until tonight.

Matty could feel the heat fill his cheeks. What was Taylor saying?
Why was this happening? And Mikey Frye? Damn .

``Earlier tonight, when I was standin` there, watchin` you play pool
with Marbles, I was thinkin` things might be different between us.
Like things were changin` into somethin`...more. And I tried to
convince myself that that was bullshit. That I was wrong. An` that
we`d always be nothin` other than friends. And I think I was
decidin` to finally let it go and move on an` accept it. Until I saw
you smile at me.``

Taylor paused for a long moment. Matty couldn`t speak, which was
good, considering he didn`t know what to fuckin` say. Just the
mention of Mikey made Matty nervous. In 8th grade, what he felt for
that Mikey was pretty close to what he discovered he`d felt for
Taylor, actually. Less intense, yeah, because of their age, but back
then, same as now - it was love. Plain and simple.

Lighting up another cigarette, Matty pondered over the fact that
Taylor had just strung together more sentences in one sitting than
he ever had before and inside, Matty was mulling over every word. He
knew how he felt about Taylor. And if he admitted it, he knew
everyone else did, too. He just always figured Taylor would be there
for him as his best friend. Nothin` more. And he also figured he`d
just have to find a way for that to be enough for him. Find a way to
not need him so much. Stop wanting him more than the air he needed
to breathe.

Taking a chance, Matty tipped his head and looked into Taylor`s
dark, expressive eyes, Matty searched for something. Anything. What
he saw in those eyes was his future and his past. Carefully, he
moved to stand up, feeling Tayor`s hand on him to steady him.
Turning towards Taylor, he cautiously stepped into the vee of his
thighs. He stood there, placing his face less than a few inches away
from Taylor`s.

``I never wanted to say nothin` about this,`` Matty used his finger
to intimate he meant the something between the two of them. ``I
never wanted to risk losing you as my friend. That night with Mikey
was one of the best nights of my life. Not only because I got my
first kiss,`` he smiled shyly for a minute, letting himself remember
it before going on. ``Well, that`s a little bit of it, sure. But why
it counts as one of the best though, is `cause I saw the back of you
as you rounded the corner that night. And as you was walkin' away
from us, I knew I`d just lost by best friend in the world.`` Matty
tossed his cigarette down, and put his hand on Taylor's face. ``Then
I saw you inside not ten minutes later. You just handed me some of
the punch you guys had spiked and gave me a noogie. And we was okay.
I knew that you didn`t hate me. And I could breathe again.``

Taylor smirked, shaking his head. ``From the first couple days after
meeting you, you been the best friend I ever had. At 12, you had my
back like nobody ever has before or since. You worry too much,
Matty,`` Taylor said, genuinely smiling now.
``Always have. Hatin` ya woulda meant not seein` the Yanks all
summer.``

Eyes closed, Matty shook his head and let out a low laugh. He felt
the smile tugging at his lips, finally giving up and letting it out
for Taylor to see. This time when he looked into his best friend`s
eyes, he saw love. Taylor stood up and pulled Matty close, careful
of his bruised ribs, pressing his mouth to Matty`s for the first
time.

It was 3 a.m.

Sittin` in the van, trying not to wince as Taylor hit what felt like
every bump in Jersey, Matty couldn`t help but think of Mikey. He was
smiling again as he watched the morning come out to greet them and
hoping that wherever Mikey was, that he had someone like Taylor.