Chapter Twenty

"Matthew?!" North's voice made him jump in surprise. He could hear his footsteps rushing towards him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." The Reaper said quickly pulling his hood down. He didn't like people worrying about him. "It's not my blood."

"No? What about your arm?" The Guardian said gently grabbing his wrist to get a better look at the burn. "Come, we'll get a yeti to look at it."

"North, really." Matthew sighed as the Russian pulled him along. "I'm okay."

"I'll let the doctor decide that." North said.

The Canadian grumbled annoyed. He dragged him into the medical wing and had him sit on one of the beds. He complied with what he asked wanting to get this over with. He heard the Guardian's footsteps return with another pair. The yeti doctor took her time checking the burn. She decided to disinfect and wrap it before cleaning the fire spirit's blood from his skin.

"Thank you." Matthew said with a small smile. The yeti garbled something and pat his back. He sighed and gently pulled his sleeve down over the bandages. He pulled the other one down as well getting up off the bed.

"Matthew?" North asked. The Reaper raised an eyebrow. "Walk with me."

The Canadian was a bit confused, but nodded. He walked over to where the Guardian was waiting and followed his steps out the door. North lead him down one of the quiet halls of the pole before he spoke again.

"I worry about you." The Russian said. Matthew looked down biting his lip. "Jack told me about your immortality when you were sick."

"Oh." The Canadian said. He wasn't angry, but surprised. He didn't like people knowing, the ones who did hunt reapers. "You don't need to worry about me."

"You and Jack are both like family to me. I don't like seeing either one of you hurt." North sighed putting a hand on his shoulder. Both were quiet for a moment. Matthew trusted the Russian the most, next to Jack, out of the Guardians. He was like a father to him. "I don't want to upset you, but the scars on your arms. Are they self inflicted?"

"Yes." The Reaper said honestly. North immediately pulled him into a bear hug. He was a bit surprised at first, but hugged back. "They're old though. I haven't in over a hundred years."

"But why?" North asked as they stepped back.

"Each cut was a soul I had to help, a person that the world failed. I wasn't in the best mindset back then." Matthew shook his head. "Jack was the one that stopped me. I really wouldn't be here without him."

"How long have you known Jack?" The Guardian asked.

"Probably about three hundred years or more." The Reaper sighed. He heard claws clicking and knew Kumakuro was walking towards him. He smiled as the bear licked his fingers. He pet him. "It's a bit of a story."

"I'd love to hear it if you don't mind." North hummed. "I don't know much about your past."

"I guess I should start with Pitch then?" The Canadian asked as they started to walk again. He could remember how disgusted the Guardians were when he mentioned they had dated.

"Yes." The Russian said gently.

"Well, reapers and Pitch have always fought. He steals souls from us and makes fearlings out of them. When I was new it was almost a year before I met him. I didn't have any fighting experience at all and he knew it, he offered me a deal. He wouldn't steal souls of I lived with him. Both of us stayed pretty isolated so it seemed like a good deal to me. I wouldn't have to fight him and was pretty lonely at the time so I agreed." Matthew explained. "We didn't date right away. It was a while before he started to court me. I never loved him at all, I went along with it because I didn't want to mess up our deal. I still didn't know how to fight, but that changed. Pitch taught me how after a spirit found and hurt me. It wasn't much longer until he stole a soul. We fought, I won and left."

"How long did you live with Pitch?" North asked as they turned a corner.

"About twenty years." The Reaper shrugged. "I met Jack about a year later. He was the second spirit to not attack me on sight, we became friends. A few years later I started to feel really bad. All the deaths I saw were starting to get to me. I started cutting and managed to hide it from Jack for a while. He found out eventually. He tried to get me to stop, but it was hard." He shook his head with a sigh. "I had fallen in love with Jack, but I wouldn't tell him. I didn't want him to hate me. One day he found me in an alley. I was pretty close to taking my own life, but Jack stopped me. He took the knife from me and said he loved me. I was surprised and told him I did too. He made me promise that I would never, no matter what, take my own life. Things got a bit better for a while after that."

"You two have been together for that long?" North asked in surprise. Matthew shook his head.

"No, we dated for probably thirty years before I left." The Canadian bit his lip. "I had started drinking really heavily just before the First World War started. It numbed me and I forgot some of the deaths. I was constantly drinking even when it ended." He admitted. "I was almost never fully sober. I knew I was hurting Jack by drinking, but I couldn't stop. I thought I needed the alcohol more than him. I hated that I was hurting him and broke it off. I knew he'd be better off without me. I avoided him for years."

"You kept drinking after?" North asked.

"Yeah." Matthew said with a small laugh. He sighed. "I didn't stop drinking until about a year or two ago. I stopped just after you guys started to follow me. At that point the alcohol wasn't doing anything for me so I stopped. Jack and I started talking and then we started dating again." The Canadian smiled. "Jack has almost always been the reason I stayed alive."

"I'm glad you did." North said pulling him into another hug. "You're a good person. You deserve better than what you had."

"I'm very happy with who I have now." The Canadian said with a bright smile. "I'm happy to have Jack, Tooth, Sandy and of course you! I know I've already thanked you, but I really can't thank you enough."

"Birdie!" Jack called. Matthew turned to the sound and smiled. The wind blew and he was at his side. He snaked an arm around his waist. "How are you?"

"I'm good." The Reaper hummed as Jack kissed his cheek.

"Jack, Matthew?" North asked getting their attention. "You've been living here for a while and I like having you. Would you like to stay here permanently?"

"Mattie?" The winter spirit asked smiling over at him. He couldn't see his smile, but the Reaper was smiling too. Jack squeezed his waist.

"I'd like that." Matthew said and the Guardian of fun nodded with him. "Thank you, North."

AN: If you wanna know what happens next, chapter four is up on my patréon. The full version is there with all twenty three chapters under the 'full' and 'birdie' tags. Its $1 a month for up to eight chapters of what ever fic I'm currently posting! or $2 a month for the full version and future unreleased fics!