Ch. 11: She Will Be Loved
Matthew turned on what seemed to be the millionth corner. Why must it have over two-hundred hallways? he thought crossly.
He might have gotten lost. But in his defense, he'd always had a rather bad sense of direction. The fact that almost every hallway looked the same didn't help his case, either.
But he finally found his way to the waiting area, where he'd previously seen a water dispenser sitting in the corner. The rather tiny area was empty and quiet, except for the receptionist typing away in her booth. Matthew tried not to make too much noise as he made his way to the water dispenser.
There was a stack of plastic cups - ones that were about the size of his thumb, Matthew thought with an amused smile. He had just finished filling it with water when he heard a familiar voice speak: "I am here to see Toris Laurinaitis."
A voice inside of his head screamed at him not to turn around, and he probably should have listened to it, but his curiosity won. He surreptitiously glanced behind his back.
A man was standing in front of the receptionist's booth. As if feeling Matthew's stare, he turned around, violet eyes quickly meeting Matthew's own.
Matthew made a surprised noise at the back of his throat. What is he doing here? He willed himself to move, and had taken a step when the violet-eyed man spoke. "So we meet again, little Matvey."
That caught him off-guard. How did he know his name? "I-I think you have mistaken me for someone else," Matthew squeaked, eyes darting back and forth for a way to escape. The man was ever-so subtly moving closer. Surely he wouldn't try anything with the receptionist right there...
"I do not believe we properly met last time." He was wearing a scarf now. What? Matthew thought. Wearing it to hide all those scratches I gave him years ago? God, I hope they never healed. I hope that they'll someday see what a sick bastard you are-
A large hand was stretched out in Matthew's direction. "My name is Ivan Braginsky," the man said, smiling. He looked innocent, but Matthew knew otherwise.
Matthew didn't take the hand, afraid that he would be pulled away like last time. And then he was thirteen again, in that awful alleyway, pinned against the wall; he was feeling that hand creep up his shirt and farther even though he said no over and over and over and-
"Matthew, there you are!" In his peripheral vision, Matthew saw Arthur stop a few feet away.
Ivan gave the Canadian one last smile before he walked out of the area.
"Matthew? Are you all right?" asked Arthur. He stepped closer to the other boy, noticing the way Matthew's shoulders were trembling.
"I'm okay," Matthew lied. He glanced down at the cup of water, sighing in relief when he hadn't spilled any. He tended to drop things when he was nervous. "I'm going to take this back to Al." He skirted around the Englishman, still trying to calm his jittery nerves.
He made it halfway down a hall when Arthur caught up to him. "It's obvious that you're not okay," Arthur said. He grabbed Matthew's elbow, forcing the other to face him. "Did you know that man?" he continued, ignoring Matthew's glare.
"No," Matthew replied curtly. He finally reached Alfred's room and wrenched the door open, the cup in his hands spilling slightly. "Here you go, Al."
Alfred smiled gratefully at him, blue eyes flicking curiously over to Arthur for a few seconds. "So...did anything happen?" he asked over the rim of the plastic cup. If he couldn't have Matthew, then the least he could do was nose into their relationship as often as he could. That was what he reasoned, anyway.
Arthur seemed to choke on his own spit and coughed violently. Matthew raised an eyebrow. "No," he said slowly. "Why?" He looked to Arthur, frowning.
"It's nothing," Arthur said through gritted teeth.
Then the door opened and in came Alfred and Matthew's mothers, followed by the doctor. The two women rushed to their respective sons almost immediately, making Arthur feel a little awkward standing there.
"Alfred, I can't believe you actually fell off a building," Mrs. Jones scolded; her eyes were soft.
"Boys will be boys, Emily." Mrs. Williams sighed. "I'm just glad that Alfred looks okay."
Mrs. Jones nodded. She pressed a kiss to Alfred's forehead, to which Alfred pretended to stick his tongue out before dissolving into giggles when his mother pinched his cheek. (Yes, Alfred F. Jones was secretly a momma's boy.)
"Oh!" Mrs. Williams finally noticed Arthur standing by the door. "And who might this be?"
"Arthur Kirkland." Arthur stuck his hand out for a handshake. "Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Williams."
Mrs. Williams giggled, shaking the younger's hand. "I like him," she whispered loudly to Matthew, who groaned and buried his face into his hands.
"Well, then, you two boys can head out, if you want," Mrs. Jones said, her own smile wide on her face. "Madeline and I will call you once Alfred's finished here."
With a nod, Mrs. Williams put in, "I can't imagine how much you've been through today."
No, Matthew silently agreed. You probably can't. But he really didn't want to go somewhere with Arthur - he wasn't as angry as he'd initally been, but the anger was there. And he didn't trust him as much as he used to...
"We can go to that diner," Arthur suggested. Matthew assumed that he meant the one they went on their first date together. Okay, now he just wants to mock me.
He opened his mouth to refuse(politely, of course), when Alfred cut in, "Seriously, Mattie. Go with him." He looked excited for something unknown to Matthew. And he looked a little sad, too. Matthew was starting to regret leaving him and Arthur alone earlier.
"But I have homework," he said.
"That's what you said the first time we went there," said Arthur coolly. "Though if that really is the case, I suppose it's not right for me to stand in the way of your studies."
Mrs. Williams shot her son The Look, which silently conveyed, "Matthew Williams, if you do not go with him I will not hesitate to cut off your supply of real maple syrup."
Matthew had gotten that look very few times, and in those times he learned to never, ever underestimate mothers and the power they had over their children.
Ugh. Women.
"Fine," he acquiesced reluctantly.
. . .
"Who are you?" Matthew demanded once they were outside of the hospital.
Arthur merely raised a brow at the strange question, not stopping in his brisk pace towards his car.
"I mean it. I want to know." Matthew was in front of him, blocking his path. "You're kind of a jerk with Alfred, yet you're a complete gentleman around parents. Sometimes you act like you're some former delinquent, and sometimes you write sappy love letters. You'd save someone from a traumatizing experience, but you'd also be willing to date someone for the sake of covering up a mistake."
"You won't answer any of my questions," Arthur countered. "Why should I answer yours?" It was a cheap blow, but he was impatient for answers and if this was going to get him some, so be it.
Matthew sighed. "Fine, then." He stomped over to the passenger's side of the car, opening the door and climbing in.
Arthur slipped into his own respective seat, inserting the key into the ignition. The car roared to life. Matthew was pouting, staring defiantly at something outside of the car.
They were two blocks away from the hospital when Arthur caved in. "I act in a way that I think would please the person I'm talking to," he said. "With a few exceptions, the example being Alfred. There are people who just annoy me without trying."
"Alfred's not that annoying," Matthew defended. "And did you think that by acting like you liked me back would please me?"
"Yes," Arthur replied. "And it did. Would you rather I hurt you?"
Matthew's shoulders slumped and he went slack against the window. Out of the corner of Arthur's eye, he saw the boy staring forlornly ahead. "Better than finding out a few days later that the letter was never meant for me," he muttered.
Arthur eased the car to a halt at a red light. He massaged his temples. "Look," he began patiently. "Disregard everything I said to you in the past five minutes. Right now, I'm not kind of a jerk, I'm not a complete gentleman, and I'm not a former delinquent." He looked straight into Matthew's eyes. "Alfred told me that you never once stopped loving me." He ignored the way Matthew's eyes widened and pressed on, "That's why I decided that for the rest of today, I'm just a boy taking you out on a date. A boy who also hopes that he can have a second chance." He shot him a fairly hopeful smile. "Is that all right with you?"
"Honestly, it's a no to that last part," Matthew answered. Arthur's eyebrows went up in surprise. A smile curved Matthew's lips. "But...a date sounds pretty good."
A/N: Just wait. There's more of Ivan to come...
PostScript: AH, WE ACTUALLY REACHED 100 REVIEWS! Honestly, I thought it would happen in the next 1-2 chapters, but I underestimated you guys. You're all so awesome. ;_; 100th reviewer was Iwant2beAcookie, so congrats to them. ^^ Again, thank you to everyone who left and continues to leave reviews. I don't think I've ever been more supported in my life, haha.
PostPostScript: Look at Matthew and Alfred's moms' names. :)
