They're just out of a party when it happens.
Granted, neither he nor Alex are party guys despite their lifestyle and chosen careers, but it's part and parcel with LA life to show up somewhere for a few hours at least. Saving some face and all that - be "online" or whatever.
Only being on stage a few hours ago, it's not a super long jump between concert energy and party energy, so they make do for a couple of hours, drinks in hand and conversations flowing. It's called "networking" in the professional space, Matt just calls it sucking fake dick.
Alex always laughs at him when he says that.
Speaking of Alex, Matt watches the latter with a soft smile as they sat, both of them on the balcony of Alex's apartment and in their underwear, Matt without a shirt and Alex in a wife beater and socks, the glasses making him look like a sitcom dad without meaning to. He's on his phone, most likely looking at TikTok or something, but Matt's thoughts are nowhere near his phone.
They're far, far away. He's not usually one to zone out, especially around people he loves, but he's been doing that a lot lately. Ever since the anniversary of his Dad's passing, the future's been all he can think about and for someone normally, it would be taxing.
Matt's never been normal - so it shouldn't come as a surprise that when he hears a throat clear and he flicks his gaze back from the skyline to see Alex looking at him with soft eyes, the expression on his face telling him that he's most likely been trying to get his attention for a hot minute.
"Hey." Alex's voice is gentle against the sounds of the city and it makes Matt's chest relax. "You okay?"
Matt's own eyes soften. He is okay, more than, but that's not what comes out. He originally goes for reassurance, as Alex can be one of those people that let's worry build up in his system, but instead, what comes out is:
"I'm gonna marry you, y'know."
The snap of anxiety that follows after he realises what he said seems to ricochet off the both of them, AlexMs eyebrows climbing almost off his face and Matt turning away to bury his face shyly in the fabric of his seat.
Neither of them say anything for a couple of minutes, but then, Alex is suddenly next to him, sitting near his leg.
"Say that again."
Matt groaned, head shaking. "Sorry, fuck, I don't know where that came from, just forget I said anything."
Alex's fingers dig at his jawline and he puts on the most passive expression he can as his face is physically turned towards the others, Alex's eyes behind the glasses looking somewhat alarmed - but there's something back there that only Matt can see.
Something that looks a little too hopeful and makes the ice shard Matt thought he made to stab himself in the heart with melt, along with his mouth, repeating what he said earlier with more finality.
"I'm gonna marry you."
He watches, rather indulgently, as Alex's eyes widen a fraction and his cheeks turn a slightly bright shade of pink that wasn't caused by alcohol consumption. "Yeah?" He urged, breathlessly, his hand still on Matt's chin.
"Yeah." Matt's voice remained soft as he stared at him, the world an afterthought in the moment. "I'm gonna slip a ring on your finger, make you a Hauri. Show you off to all my family and friends. Introduce you to my Dad, tell him how much I love you and I wish he could be here. Give you whatever you want."
It was a lot and frankly, he was surprised that Alex just suddenly turn and take off running. Instead, a few tears gathered in the bottom lashes of Alex's eyes, prompting Matt to raise his thumbs to clear them before cupping Alex's face in his hands.
"After we were finished here, doing the fancy LA shit, we'd argue about where we're going to live. BC or MN. For hours." Matt's face broke out into a grin as he said it. "You'd win of course, but then I would put forward a case for a timeshare just to be an ass."
Alex let out a watery laugh. He doesn't say anything for a couple more minutes, but then he regains control of his voice. "You would be insisting we do 6 months there and 6 months in Sota. We would be arguing about holidays and then just saying fuck it, we'll decide the vibe when it comes up and pick it out of a hat."
"Hell yeah." Matt's grin faded back into a smile that made his eyelids meet. "Then, when we were wanting to, we would go to like, Whistler or some shit and pretend to be fancy - show our kids how cool we were back in the times before the internet controlled everything."
"Whistler? Ew." Alex rolled his eyes, which was fair considering he lived in the same country as the ski resort and probably never stopped hearing about it till he got out, but they then stayed on Matt as he asked "How many kids do we have?"
"Two." Matt said immediately, his thumb moving against Alex's beard hair in a sweeping motion. "We have two, one little you and one little me."
"Why can't they be both little you?" Alex's voice comes out like it's genuinely disappointed and Matt can't help but laugh, the rumble in his chest making him shake his head. "Fine, 3 kids. One little you, one little me and one little whatever."
"Four." The word leaves Alex's mouth so fast and quietly that Matt barely has time to chase it. "I want four."
"Four it is then." Matt nods sagely, like this whole conversation makes any sense. "That's a lot of kids."
"We can handle them." Alex assures, a dreamy note in his voice breaking through. "They'd love us. Their two crazy weird former rapper dads."
"What a title." Matt joked, but there was no bite behind it.
Instead, he scoots over and lets Alex lie down next to him, the clearly too small chair sharing their weight as Matt's arm curls around Alex's shoulders. Alex simply just buries his nose into Matt's neck as the lights sparkle around them, planes flying overhead.
They lapse again into a comfortable, if not charged silence, before Alex speaks, voice tired. "Matt?"
"Yeah?"
"Are we happy?"
Something warm settles in Matt's chest and stomach and he can't help but beam once again, leaning down and kissing Alex on the forehead, voice whispering. "The happiest we've ever been."
Alex doesn't say anything back - choosing to curl his whole body around Matt's side and waist. Then after a small breath"…Can't wait."
A beat.
"Me neither."