Tom was the first to storm away, a cloud of gloom following in his wake. Edd and Matt were a bit hesitant but Tord had been clear in his previous denial and he seemed wholly absorbed by Thomas' words at the moment anyway, so they followed at a slower pace. They heard Tom's door slam shut just as they turned into the hallway.
Surprisingly, they found Paul leaning on the wall at the corner of the hall. Edd frowned slightly, "I thought you went out for a smoke." he said softly.
Paul inclined his head, "I did. And then it started raining."
Edd winced in sympathy as he finally noticed the dampness of his hair and borrowed pink sweater (apparently a leftover from Tord's move that Tom had recently found in his room). He considered for a moment shooing the man away from his eavesdropping spot but then decided otherwise. Thomas and Matthew must have brought him with them for a reason, and besides he seemed nice enough, former prisoner or not. Or maybe he just didn't really care right then.
As they walked further down the hall with a pensive silence between them, Matthew also joined them, apparently having opted out of the situation in the living room. They paused for a moment to let him catch up but he barely seemed to notice either of them or even have the energy to walk all that long as he swayed a bit and collapsed on the wall several steps before Matt's room door. He held his head in one of his hands, releasing a heavy, trembling sigh.
Matt and Edd exchanged a concerned look and hurried to Matthew's side. Edd took a gentle hold of the hand on his face, slowly removing it to reveal Matthew's marred profile, twisted with some sort of inner conflict. He took the smaller, colder hand in both of his, "Hey... are you alright?"
Matthew stared silently, almost hollowly at his hand between Edd's. Matt's frown deepened and he decided they really shouldn't be having this conversation in the hallway. He took a gentle but firm hold of Matthew's arm and led them both into his room and to his bed, the door softly falling shut behind them.
Matthew fell on the bed almost bonelessly, hunched over and still staring emptily at his and Edd's somehow still joint hands.
"...Matthew?"
His hand twitched between the larger ones but his gaze remained hollow. Matt was growing incredibly concerned now, as was Edd, and he softly pressed himself against Matthew.
Finally, the older man spoke, his voice rough and lowered almost to a whisper, "...I don't know what to do."
"What do you mean?" Matt asked softly, encouraging him to talk.
"I don't... know what I have to do anymore. Go back... to the army, or... stay... who am I even loyal to anymore?"
Edd and Matt stared at each other over his lowered head and seemed to have a silent conversation. Edd finally broke off, licking his chapped lips in thought and trying to word himself carefully, "For starters, how about yourself?"
That finally got a reaction out of Matthew as he lifted his head and blinked in confusion, "...what?"
Matt pushed him slightly with his shoulder, "You, Matthew."
"What do you want to do?" Edd finished up for him, staring firmly into Matthew's mismatched eyes, one metallic,shining red, the other big and blue and entirely too alluring even with the many worries and dark thoughts that swam in its depths, and both of them gradually widening.
"I... I don't..." he looked back down at his lap, gaze turning inwards and brow furrowing in deep thought.
What was there for him in his own time?
A torn, incomplete friendship. A life of a soldier, submerged in a haze of hatred and bitterness, and if not that then constant doubt and regret. A high, influential position in the army.
But what was there for him here?
His focus turned outwards again and he saw Matt's hand on his lap, right next to his own, almost touching. He saw his other hand between Edd's larger, warmer ones.
Maybe.
Possibly.
This.
When he looked up it was to Matt giving him a small, gentle smile that seemed to light up the world, and to Edd looking at him intently with keen brown eyes and saying with no perceivable hesitation, "You'll always have a place here, if you want it."
Stunned, Matthew could only mumble, "I thought this was supposed to be temporary."
Edd seemed to realize what exactly he'd just said and quickly looked away, ears going red as he coughed awkwardly and finally released Matthew's hand. He found he immediately missed the warmth.
"Yeah, well..."
Matt picked up the conversation in his stead with an air of amusement, "Things aren't exactly like they were before anymore." he said, blue boring into identical blue and cybernetic red, "And it doesn't look like going back is your first priority anymore either. We don't... want you to go if you don't want to, Matthew."
"But paradoxes..."
Edd scratched the back of his head, still looking away, "Well, existence has yet to be ripped apart and you've been here well over a week so..."
Matthew could feel moisture gathering at the corner of his eye and he quickly blinked it away. A hand rose without his conscious command and gently turned Edd's head to look at him, resting tenderly on his now rose-tinted cheek. Once Edd's gaze fell back on him he gave him a small, incredibly warm smile, possibly the most genuine he'd managed to form in... years.
"Thank you." he said, pouring as much weight and sincerity into the word as he possibly could and watching as Edd's cheeks grew redder. He let his hand drop to take Matt's in its grasp instead, turning to look at him, "Both of you."
Matt looked sideways with a bashful smile, scratching his warming cheek, and seemed about to say something when a strong arm wrapped around his shoulders, another doing the same to Edd, and suddenly brought them both down to the bed with Matthew's falling upper body. The older ginger huffed out a short laugh as they both yelped in shock, heads landing jarringly on each of his shoulders as he held them close.
Edd was the first to recover, punching at his chest in halfway genuine annoyance, "You absolute ass!" Matthew released a small chuckle as Matt finally got his bearings and giggled alongside him. "Oh of course you'd find it funny. Traitor." he muttered, poking at Matt with the hand that wasn't pinned between him and Matthew. Said man hummed in contentment and held them a bit closer, somehow nuzzling into both heads of soft hair simultaneously.
Pink dusted Matt's cheeks by this point and Edd's face flushed, finding himself momentarily mute as he realized exactly what this looked like.
"Ah, well, it's been a long day, I better go get some rest." he chuckled nervously and made to sit up.
"Mh hm." Matthew hummed into his hair, still holding onto him and showing no sign of letting go any time soon.
"Matthew, I have my own room. With my own bed."
"Hmm."
"..." Edd sighed and then frowned slightly as a thought came to him, "...are you trying to comfort me?"
Matthew stilled but immediately relaxed again, taking a deep breath that slightly lifted Matt and Edd's heads.
"...I know it can't be easy, to have him back but unwilling to talk. I... I'm sorry that we brought him here, we just didn't know..."
Edd's frown deepened, "No, I'm glad you did. It's just I hoped... I hoped we could..." his hand unconsciously clenched, grasping at Matthew's sweater.
A sigh, "I know."
Edd's now white-knuckled grip suddenly loosened as a smaller, cooler hand landed on top of his, and he looked to see Matt, face so close to his own, giving him a sad but reassuring smile. He let himself relax.
Tord was here now, he wouldn't be going anywhere at the moment. They had time. They would talk. Just not today.
That was okay.
Without realizing it he sank deeper into Matthew's hold as his exhaustion from the last two days of worrying caught up with him.
He slept a dreamless sleep.
AN:
Welcome to another episode of "matthew just fucking goes for it"! bolder than edward's passive aggressive flirting, hes the only hope we have of letting the romantic subplot finally get somewhere! honestly tho the angst turned into pure fluff without my consent wtf happened
may this humble writer ask for comments to feed her poor children, motivation and validation
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