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Sick and Tired of this world
There's no more air
Trippin' over myself
Goin' nowhere
Waiting
Suffocating
No direction
And I took a dive
(Music by Ryan Cabrera)
She was his obsession.
He was her drug.
Chapter X - Sanctuary
They relished the way their mouths moved against each other.
And the way their bodies were pressed against each other.
Moulding together.
And the way their arms were holding each other.
It felt so sinfully good.
They spent the rest of the day inside, making out, until Sora got picked up by her step-mother.
Matt pressed the buzzer for Sora's door. It took a moment before the door opened. A woman in her early 30s stood at the doorway, she had short dark burgundy hair and light grey eyes. She looked suspiciously at him before realization reflected in her eyes.
"You're the boy from before," She stated. Curiosity reflected in her eyes, "What do you want?"
Matt stared at her. She was rather short, reaching his chest to be exact and had a slight English accent.
"Madison," Sora appeared from the stairs, "Who is it?"
Matt's attention turned to Sora. She was dressed in a pair of black cotton pyjamas, she had a towel on her shoulders. Her hair wet and her cheeks rosy.
"Matt, what are you doing here?" Sora looked at him, surprised. Why didn't he just wait for her to enter her room.
"Umm," Matt's eyes flickered to Madison shyly, "I was hoping if Sora could come out with me..."
"Where to?" Madison demanded, her arm clutching Sora's uninjured hand.
"Just around," Matt fought the urge to shift his feet.
"Just the two of you?"
"Yes..."
"I know it's Friday," Madison frowned, "But Sora hurt herself today. You were in the infirmary today, you couldn't have missed the bandages that wrapped so obviously around her..."
"Maddie," Sora sighed, "I'll be careful. Matt won't let anything happen to me."
Madison surveyed her step-daughter warily before turning back to Matt, "Can I talk to Sora alone for a moment. It won't take long."
"Umm... sure..." Matt stared awkwardly at Sora's face who was equally as awkward.
"Come in..."
"Matt. Yamato Ishida," Matt shoved his hand forward, "I live next door."
Madison took his hand and shook it politely, "Come in, Matt, out of the cold."
"Thanks..."
"Madison," She closed the door behind and dragged Sora to the kitchen, leaving Matt standing in the corridor, standing awkwardly by himself. This was the first time he had ever been in this house, it was beautiful, exquisitely modern.
"What is your relationship with the boy?" Madison demanded curiously, "He wants you to go out with him at night..."
"We're just friends," Sora answered. It was half-true, they haven't had the chance to talk about their relationship.
"That's a lie," Madison stated flatly, "The way he looks at you, it's clearly more than the way friends should look at each other."
"I don't know how he looks at me."
"Of course not," Madison snorted derisively, "And the way the two of you were sitting together, alone in that cramp infirmary, sharing that bed. Who knows what you two were doing in there?"
"You're rambling again, Maddie," She took a seat at the dinner table, hiding the smile behind her hands, her step-mum had no idea how right she was.
"Do you like the boy?"
"Do I what?" Sora stared.
Madison repeated the question.
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?"
Madison took a seat across the table, "Is that a rhetorical question or is it directed to me?"
"Obviously rhetorical," Sora fidgeted.
"Then... do you like the boy?"
"Yes..."
"Perfect," Madison beamed, "Go get him, tiger."
"You've been watching too much Spiderman..."
Madison ignored her, "Have you two done anything yet?"
The memory of what happened in the infirmary today was still clear in Sora's mind. Her face responded by flushing red.
"I'll take that as a yes," Madison commented dryly, "How long?"
"Today..." Sora answered hesitantly.
"Don't you two move fast," Madison commented sarcastically, "Go get changed."
"Are you for real?"
"Why not?" Madison frowned while standing up.
"Oh my god!" Sora jumped up and hugged her step-mother, wincing when she applied pressure on her leg.
Madison returned the gesture, "Stop jumping around, you'll hurt yourself even more."
Matt looked up at the stairs while drinking tea and exchanging friendly chatter with Madison. Sora walked down the stairs dressed in a black hooded dress. Fur surrounded the hem of the sleeves and the hood. She wore black skinny legs and chunky black boots and had a black bag hanging casually on her shoulder.
"Time to leave, I believe," Madison smirked, nudging Matt who placed down his cup, "Don't stay out too late, or I'll think you two died."
"Yeah... like last time..." Sora drawled dryly while walking over, "You practically called the FBI when I didn't come home by 7..."
Madison smiled sheepishly, "You guys are distracting me, I want to watch Legally Blonde in peace."
"Fine..." Sora walked over to them and dragged the blond man to his feet, "C'mon."
"Bye Madison," Matt called while getting dragged away, "It was nice talking to you."
"Come over more often," Madison pretended to glue her eyes to the screen.
Once they were out the door, Sora dropped his arm and asked tersely, "Where are we going?"
"Hello to you too," Matt pouted, "You look nice."
Sora started laughing, gesturing to her attire, "You think this is nice? This is casual."
"Oh... it makes me wonder what is nice to you," Matt frowned.
Sora smiled, "You look nice too."
Matt looked down. He was dressed in a black Industrie shirt with a black and grey stripy hoodie on top and a pair of jeans and black chucks.
"Nice is an understatement..."
"I was being sarcastic," Sora smirked. Seeing his expression, she added, "I'm joking."
"You can be really mean sometimes..."
"How would you know?" Sora laughed, "You only talked to me for 3 days in total."
"Come on, let's go..." Matt grabbed her hand and dragged her off the porch.
"Are we going to One Tree Hill?" Sora asked curiously.
"How did you know?" Matt stopped walking and looked at her.
Sora looked down at their linked hands and smiled, "I was only guessing. How are we going to get there?"
"By car," He started walking but got pulled back by Sora who wasn't moving.
"By car?" Sora echoed, staring at him incredulously, "You can drive?"
"Why not?" Matt frowned, "I'm 17 after all."
"Oh..."
They walked into his driveway, where a blue Toyota Yaris was waiting for them with a red P stuck on the car.
"I told you I had a car," Matt grinned triumphantly.
"Why don't you drive to school then?" Sora mumbled while Matt unlocked it.
"It would be a complete waste of petrol," Matt grunted while slipping in, "Plus, I like walking."
Sora pulled on the seatbelt and looked around the car. The seats had wolf covers on it.
Matt stared at the girl.
"What?" Sora snapped irritably.
Matt grinned, "Have fun eaten yet?"
"Yeah."
"OK, shall we go to One Tree Hill now?"
Sora smiled at him in response.
"You actually bothered to bring a blanket?" Sora laughed, staring at the rolled up light blue blanket under the blond's arm and the flashlight that he had prepared in his hand, leading the way. He had taken out the device when they had gotten out of the car and even tried to scare the redhead with it. Instead, he got a punch on the arm.
"I didn't think you wanted to lie on the damp grass," Matt grinned boyishly.
A wide grin made its way to Sora's face, "How considerate of you."
"I know," Matt returned the grin with a smug smirk.
"Your guitar is with you," Sora blinked, clutching her bag close to her.
"You just noticed?" Matt teased, "Aren't you slow."
"Shut up, Bleach boy."
"Again with that?" Matt raised a blond eyebrow, suddenly sinking into the ground.
"What are you, an idiot?" Sora laughed teasingly, "You're the one leading the way, yet you step into a hole."
"Well, I have a blanket blocking the view of the ground," Matt pouted while they reached their destination.
Sora snatched the flashlight from the blond's grip and started shining it on the ground.
"What are you looking for?" Matt asked curiously, lowering his bag onto the ground.
"Excrement."
"Excrement..." Matt echoed with the strangest expression on his face.
"What's with that look?" Sora demanded, looking up. The flashlight shining on the blond's face.
The blond pushed the flashlight's angle down, "Who uses that term...?"
"I do."
"Look, Sora dearie," Matt teased, "I practically live here, I think I would know if there was someone in my territory..."
"You make yourself sound like a dog," Sora stated flatly.
"Well, I am a wolf..." Matt reminded lightly while unrolling the blanket and plopping himself on it.
Sora smiled at him, making him feel like an idiot. She gingerly sat next to him, looking up at the sky.
"How's your leg?"
"It's fine," Sora answered, her eyes still glued to the sky.
"Alright," Smiling up at her.
"The flashlight is distracting, turn it off."
Matt reached over and switched it off, "Happy, princess?"
Sora let out a small laugh while looking down at his welcoming form.
"Lie down and star gaze with me," As if reading her thoughts.
Sora lay down next to him, looking up at the sky.
"Oh come on," Matt pouted, "On me?"
Sora smiled, her eyes glittering in the moonlight, catching the blond's attention. She shifted herself so her head was resting on his firm, warm chest, almost directly on top of his heart. She looked up to see Matt staring at her.
"Why do you keep looking at me?" Sora teased, "Does my beauty captivate you that much?"
Matt sighed, "You're really cheeky, and I know you know my answer."
Sora smirked, "I have no idea what the answer is."
Matt's eyes lowered to her lips.
"Are you going to kiss me or something?" Sora asked, listening to the rate of his heartbeat accelerate.
"You ruined the moment."
Sora laughed, "So you're not going to kiss me?"
"Do you want me to kiss you?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"I should be asking you that."
They glared into each other's eyes, daring each other to look away.
"Kiss me..." Sora murmured huskily.
A wide grin spread across Matt's face as he decided that he just had to go and ruin the perfectly lovely moment.
"Oh, so you do want to kiss me, then?"
Sora pulled away from him, "You're an idiot."
"An idiot you want to kiss," he reminded her.
"Did. It's past tense now," Sora informed him in a matter-of-fact kind of way, crossing her arms with a pout.
Matt's grin softened into a smile, "You still want the kiss?"
"No," Sora answered stubbornly.
"I want a kiss."
"The tree is free for you to kiss."
"Come on, Sora, don't be cheeky."
"I like being cheeky," Sora stuck her tongue down at him.
Matt sat up, "Where's that sexy Sora I met in Physics two weeks ago?"
"What nonsense are you dishing out?" Sora started laughing.
"Why do you talk weird?"
Sora gasped indignantly, "I don't talk weird."
"Can I kiss you now?"
"No."
Matt whined, "Why not?"
"Because you're not my boyfriend."
Matt stared at her, "I'm not?"
Sora stuck her tongue out at him, "You haven't asked yet."
"Then..." Matt gaped at her, "Do you kiss random strangers?"
"No!"
"But you let me kiss you," Matt continued, "Doesn't that count as you accepting the fact that I've become your boyfriend?"
Sora stared at him, "So, if I was to kiss anyone in a game of Truth or Dare, that said person would become my boyfriend?"
"That's different."
"How?" Sora frowned, "You forced me to kiss you. You practically molested me."
"You're being difficult..."
"I know," A smug smile, "I enjoy being difficult."
Matt gaped at her again, "You're so strange. Why would you like being difficult? Guys don't like difficult girls."
Sora stared at him, "Are you implying that I was easy, and you don't like me anymore?"
"Never!" Matt took her face in his large hands, "You're so weird."
"How mean!" Sora narrowed her eyes at him, "Why are we having this pointless conversation on my supposed queerness?"
"We're not talking about your supposed sexuality right now."
"Queer can mean abnormal, weird, strange, bizarre, eccentric, odd, wacky, uncanny, out of it, unnatural, unorthodox-"
"Ok! I get the point now," Matt interrupted her game of how-many-synonyms-can-I-come-up-with-to-annoy-Matt? any further, "Yeesh, you're like a walking dictionary."
"Jealous?"
"Of course not," Matt wrinkled, "I find people who are overly smart grating."
"You find me grating?" Sora pouted.
"Only just then."
"Oh..." Sora stared unblinkingly at him, "We just went completely off-topic..."
"It's your fault."
"No," Sora corrected, "You're the one who asked me if I kissed random strangers."
"Right..." Matt grabbed her hands, "Let's become an official couple."
Sora gave him a strange look, "You suck at asking people out."
Matt narrowed his eyes at her, "Fine... Let me start again. Sora dearie, will you please give me the honor of being your overly darling boyfriend from this moment on?"
"You sound sarcastic now," Sora teased.
"Sora dearie," Matt stared at her flatly, "You're driving me insane."
"Whoop de-do," Sora drawled sarcastically.
Without warning, the blond lunged forward and kissed Sora with everything that he had, accidentally knocking her onto her back. He parted her lips expertly and indulged the familiar taste of her mouth.
Strawberries.
Matt's kiss was hard. There was nothing gentle or romantic about it. It was full of pent-up aggression and anger… mixed with a fiery passion that was absolutely searing and wonderfully overwhelming.
She almost whimpered when the sensation of soft and oh-so-welcome lips was all too quickly gone.
He gave her a gratifying smirk, "I guess that worked."
"What did?" Sora asked, her cheeks pink, her breath labored.
Looking down at her, he placed a soft kiss on her forehead, "Shutting you up."
Sora frowned up at him, "Get off me, you're not exactly what they call as-like-as-feather."
Matt laughed, rolling onto his back and pulling her on him, "I guess, it works temporarily."
"How mean."
"Anyways," Matt wrapped his arms around her protectively, "Your answer?"
"To what?"
"Don't be cheeky, will you go out with me?"
"Aren't I already going out with you?" Sora feigned indignation.
"Don't be cheeky," Matt repeated, with a serious expression on his face.
Sora smiled at him, "Of course you can have the honor of being my overly darling boyfriend from this moment on."
"You sound like you're joking..." Matt frowned.
"Because, I quoted you?" Sora tilted her head to one side, feigning innocence.
Damn, she was so cute.
"Yes..."
"Take it or leave it."
"Cheeky."
Sora smirked, "Proud."
"Anyways," Matt cleared his throat before shooting a fist into the air, "YesyesyesyesyesyesYESSSSSSSSSS!"
Sora stared at him, "Freak."
"Oh hush, you, you're killing the moment."
Sora pouted cutely, making Matt feel like kissing her.
"So..." Matt fidgeted, "We're official?"
"I guess..." Sora teased, "But it doesn't feel official..."
"Should we kiss to consummate our relationship?" Without waiting for a response, he lunged towards Sora who ducked out of the way.
"Hey..." Matt complained, pouting at the redhead who started laughing uncontrollably.
"You caught me by surprise," Sora smiled, "And I guess, I reacted out of reflex."
"You make it sound like I'm attacking you..."
"You were trying to tackle me," Sora pinched his cheeks, "Shouldn't that be considered 'attacking' as you put it?"
"I was trying to kiss you..." Matt continued to pout.
Sora couldn't take it, he was too cute, "I'm not used to the whole I-have-a-boyfriend thing yet."
"Understandable."
Sora smiled, "Good."
"Can I kiss you now?"
"Hmm..."
Without waiting for her to make up her mind, he took her hands into his own and leaned forward slowly, not wanting to scare her and closed the space between them and kissed her gently.
It was just a contrast to the kiss a moment before.
This one was soft and very gentle and she... liked it. There was one thing that was similar between the two different kisses, and it was the intensity. It was a different kind of intensity, but it was still overwhelming. She could feel every centimetre of her body tingle to life with that one, soulful kiss.
Matt let go of her hands and pulled her close to him, running a hand through her long, silken hair while the other arm snaked around her waist, holding her intimately close.
Leaving her breathless, he pulled away slowly and held her against his body, cradling her in his arms and rested his face on the crook of her neck. Smiling softly when goosebumps formed.
She wrapped her arms around his torso and rested her head on his shoulder, catching the whiff of his cologne. She liked the scent, it was musky, and suited him.
"Matt?"
"Yes?"
"What should we do now?"
Matt groaned, "You killed the moment again."
Sora giggled, "Sorry."
Hours later, Matt lowered Sora onto her bed gently, having some trouble untangling her from him. Pulling the covers over her, he stood up and took a look around before stepping out and closing her door gently.
Turning around, he came face to face with another face. He was ready to scream when a hand muffled it, his wide blue eyes stared at the face before him.
Brown eyes stared back at him. Eyes of a redheaded man in his late 30s, laugh lines adorned his face but he was in no mood to laugh.
"How did you get in my house?" The man demanded quietly, yanking the younger man away from Sora's door. Matt figured, he was Sora's dad.
"Sora's keys?" Matt offered quietly, afraid of what the man would do to him.
The man didn't lighten, dragging Matt all the way downstairs, into the kitchen.
"Umm... sir?"
"Can you talk any louder?" Sora's father snapped, "Do you want my wife to come storming downstairs with a butcher knife in her hand?"
Matt didn't know whether the man was joking, or if he was serious.
"You're Yamato Ishida, are you not?"
"Yes sir."
"Take a seat," Sora's father ordered, taking a seat himself.
Matt did as he was told; surveying the man's appearance, there was nothing similar to Sora, except for the hair.
"Yeah," As if reading Matt's thoughts, the man sighed, "The only physical resemblance between Sora and I are our hair. She looks so damn much like Toshiko."
Matt assumed that Toshiko was Sora's mother.
"Coffee?"
"No thanks," Matt declined politely, still staring at the man.
"What?" Sora's father snapped irritably. Matt noted that, it sounded too much like Sora.
"Why do you keep looking at me?" Sora's dad asked, "Are you that smitten with my daughter?"
"No sir."
"My name is Harukiko, not sir," Harukiko continued to snap, "I have enough idiots at work calling me that, I don't need another one in my house calling me that."
"Sorry..." Matt noticed that Sora was more like her dad, then he originally thought. They were both snappy people.
Harukiko stood up and started making coffee, "It's 1:00, why the hell is my daughter out so late?"
"We were stargazing," Matt twiddled his thumbs nervously.
"Stargazing," Harukiko echoed flatly, "You're serious?"
"Yes..." Matt watched the man take a seat again.
"What fun," The older man commented sarcastically.
Sora must've gotten her sarcasm from her father.
"Anything else?"
"No..."
"Not even knitting a scarf?"
Matt stared at him in shock. Was this guy trying to make fun of him?
"My bad," Harukiko coughed uncomfortably, "I get rather irritated if I don't know what my daughter's up to."
The awkward silence was interrupted by the clicking of the kettle. Harukiko turned to continue making coffee.
"I heard that you made your move today," Harukiko stated while pouring hot water into two mugs.
Matt stared at him. Another similarity. The in-your-face statements that Sora was so fond of.
"Yes, I know," Harukiko came back with two mugs, passing one to Matt, "I'm rather blunt, but then, get used to it. Sora's exactly as veracious as me."
Matt looked down at the mug of coffee. He seriously didn't want to drink it, it would keep him up.
Harukiko casually took a sip from his coffee before looking up, "You don't like black coffee? Do you want some salt in it?"
"No," Matt quickly took a sip from the steaming coffee, scalding his tongue, "I don't mind black coffee, I just don't want to stay up late."
"Funny," Harukiko took another sip, "Coffee puts me to sleep."
"How strange," Matt commented.
"I know," Harukiko chuckled humourlessly, "Toshiko used to tease me about it a lot."
"I'm sorry, if I'm brought up an unhappy topic."
"It's perfectly fine," Harukiko shrugged, taking another sip of coffee. He looked up from his mug and added, "My daughter loves her coffee sweet and milky. Remember that, she'll kill you if you give her black coffee."
"I'll put that in mind," Matt grinned weakly, "Thanks."
Harukiko shrugged, taking another sip before looking up, "Your eyes are beautiful."
"Huh?" Matt was caught off-guard.
"Yeah," Harukiko confirmed, putting down his empty mug, "Soulful, old before time and deep, I bet you're musically gifted."
"How did you know?" Matt frowned, dumbfounded.
Harukiko ignored the question, still looking at his eyes, "You also harbor many deep secrets, some dark, some not. You've been through a lot, let me guess, you're a sucker for romance?"
Matt nodded absently, while staring unblinkingly across the table at the redheaded man.
Harukiko reached forward and grasped Matt's hand, turning it over and feeling the calluses of the blond's fingers, he smiled.
"Ah… a guitarist," Harukiko smiled at the blond, "A dreamer."
"Umm… Harukiko?"
"Haha, you said my name slowly."
Matt stared at the man, more resemblance; the love for teasing other people must've been from him.
"What is your job, exactly?"
Harukiko smirked smugly, "A lot of people keep asking me that, simply because I'm good at reading peoples' personalities. I'm a University lecturer, I teach History at the University of Sydney."
"Oh…"
"So… Yamato," Harukiko lounged lazily in the chair, "What do you think of John Howard?"
Matt plopped onto his bed, exhausted. He just had the longest conversation ever with an adult, four bloody hours about politics. He hated politics with a passion and Harukiko was impressed with his views. Harukiko probably didn't expect someone who was still in school to be so knowledgeable about politics.
He glanced at his digital clock with sleepy eyes.
05:00
Matt pulled the covers over him before dozing for the rest of the day. He didn't have work until 7:30 that night.
This chapter was so spontaneous. I had absolutely no idea how I was going to connect everything. The whole scene at One Tree Hill was gay, what am I talking about? They whole chapter was gay, all bullshit that I managed to write, it's gotten so boring, since they hooked up. I don't know what you write anymore, however, I know how I'm going to end it. Review and you'll look forward to a sooner update.
SpiffyCookie