Authors: Monica Miller
“So I am staying here this Christmas,” she said, looking at me. Suddenly, I felt the excitement take over me. “And everyone is leaving,” she said, suddenly sad. I wanted to add something, but I waited. “Last night you said you’d stay. Would you do me the honor of staying, Matt?”
“Of course, Ems!” I replied too fast, moving a little bit closer to her and placing my arm around her shoulders. She stiffened at first, then slowly relaxed. “I told you I would stay if you want me to. And I am actually curious about Christmas in Los Angeles, aren’t you?”
A smile appeared on her lips as she nodded with her brown eyes glowing like a young child’s.
“Let’s order pizza, Nicholls,” she said getting up from the sofa and calling a number.
“Yeap, eating well,” I commented sarcastically and she threw a pencil from the table at me. I laughed and watch her talk to the delivery man.
“So, I wanted to watch this movie for quite a while now and I know, you don’t want to, but just… It’s kind of a tradition, you know?” She said, taking a DVD from the library.
“
Sweet November
?” I asked amused. “In December?” I started laughing.
“I didn’t have time for it in November!” she complained. “It was all very tiring and… I forgot about it. Now it’s all better, I just finished my last project, I’ll handle it tomorrow and it’s over!”
“I’m proud of you, Ems,” I said and she smiled. “Okay, let’s watch it!”
“Really?” she asked suddenly surprise. Why would I refuse her, when she was excited like a little kid, thinking how she wanted to see that movie in November, but she couldn’t. And now we got all the time in the world. I nodded and she jumped until she reached the DVD and I laughed.
She got back on the couch and she sat next to me, our tights touching, and she played the movie. The pizza was supposed to get here in about 15 minutes, but I wasn’t really hungry. I mean I ate those huge sandwiches at Ben’s place. But we are talking about pizza.
“Man, it’s like this dude never ages!” I exclaimed when Keanu Reeves appeared in all his glory in the beginning of the movie, with his “Who’s the bad dog, big dog” speech.
“I know, right?” she answered and laughed. “But this one’s from 2001, so…”
“Doesn’t matter, I’ve recently seen a movie of his, so… Never ages,” I told her leaning back on the couch. She moved closer to me and leaned on me. I smiled to myself, and just when I was about to put my hand around her, the doorbell rang. Awesome! She paused the movie and smiled, and then opened the door. I helped her with the pizza, and I offered to pay and closed the door before she had time to argue. I knew she would.
“You didn’t have to pay, you know.”
“Shut up, Ems. C’mon, let’s watch the movie,” I said returning to the couch and pressing “play”. “Are you coming or I’m watching this alone?”
She sighed and got back to the couch and I put my hand around her as she placed her head on my shoulder.
We watched the movie talking and commenting, especially me, when I saw Charlize Theron and how hot she was, and she was always saying Keanu is charming. Well, he kinda was. That one was one of the greatest actors and his
Matrix
performance was epic. Or Constantine’s. And I repeatedly told her that. And that Charlize was hot. And their relationship rocked. I mean, even I’d like something like that. When they were all playing around the couch, the way they fitted each other…
“Dude!” I exclaimed at the end of the movie, moving out of a sudden. “Sorry,” I told her and she smiled, with teary eyes. “Why would they screw the ending?”
“They didn’t…” she said with a sigh.
“No, they did! They murdered her!” I yelled. “Why did she have to be sick? They were perfect for each other. They should’ve been together till the end! Get married and have kids!”
“No, Matthew. That was the only way their love was going to be as perfect as it was. Their life together couldn’t get better or sweeter than that. So they have to keep what they had. Forever. And the only way a love could be eternal is that one.”
“What?” I asked completely stunned. “No! What happened to the ‘happily ever after’? You girls only have that in mind.”
“That’s only what fairy tales tell us. But fairy tales aren’t real, are they, Matthew?”
I looked at her and I understood she wasn’t ordinary at all. She was so realistic and smart.
“Yes, they aren’t. I just… I don’t buy that crap, either. But that was a romance movie, for Christ’s sake! And they killed her!”
“Oh, you poor baby…” she said, wrapping her arms around me. “You know, we should watch
The Notebook
as well.”
“Don’t you think you’re exaggerating? There’s no way I’m watching that movie. Or anything else. Next time it’s my choice,” I told her as she placed her head on my shoulder again. I liked that. Staying with her like that.
“Fine,” she replied softly and I closed my eyes smiling.
Chapter 10
It gets worse at night
~*~
E
mma
W
est
~*~
When I saw Matt in Los Angeles I panicked. Why would he be here? And more important, how could he be Ben’s friend? I was living in Los Angeles, and I found out Matt was best friends with my roommate’s boyfriend. The world is incredibly small, isn’t it?
I couldn’t say no when he offered to walk me home, although in the back of my mind I knew it was such a bad idea.
And after a few minutes alone, I felt the sensation of warmness I always had when I was with him. I was used to him, walking next to me like we did last summer. It was incredibly easy to walk next to him, to hold his hand and laugh at his jokes.
Of course, Morgan wasn’t pleased. He knew nothing about Matt, because I wouldn’t start talking about my ex… best friend. He wasn’t more than a friend, and everything he did showed that we were nothing more than that. But his arms around me felt really good and the way he smiled at me lightened my day. Oh, yes, Morgan… Well, he has to get used to him. I hope he will.
Last night when we met up on the beach, Matt was there with Ben, while Gabrielle kept thanking Matt for calming her down. It seems Shia eventually called her. Morgan seemed uncomfortable for the way Matt kept joking with me. He did that all the time. And he joked with Monica too, and Ben didn’t seem to care. Well, Ben was his best friend, and Matt wasn’t hitting on Monica. Somehow, I thought of Monica’s statement, that she would marry someone
like
him. And I suddenly felt jealous. But why would I be? I had no problem with that, with Matt having someone. Or had I? No.
I wasn’t going to fall for that cliché thing, ordinary girl falling for her handsome best friend. No. He was my friend, and it was perfect this way.
Anyway, he tried all night to talk to Morgan, and he seemed pretty cool about it, even though I knew he didn’t like him. But he had no reason not to like Morgan.
“Look, I like Morgan and all…” Monica started as she finished her luggage and sat back on the couch, next to me, running a hand through her golden, perfect hair. “But I think you and Matt… God, have you looked at him? That man? He’s even better than he looks in those Facebook pictures. And you know it is really difficult to beat those ones.”
“What do you mean?”
“You two should be together,” Monica said simply, shrugging her shoulders. “Look, I… I really think so. You’re so hot, and so is he… And Morgan just doesn’t fit. If I had known that Matt was going to be back soon, I wouldn’t have introduced you to him. You and Matt are perfect together. And he is best friends with Ben, and we could double date and do those things…”
“Yes, and our kids would be friends as well and we’d live on this suburban Westeria Lane street and live happily ever after. Right?”
“I haven’t thought that far, but it seems you did and it sounds actually right to me. So yes. And I’m so sorry I’m leaving you alone,” she sighed and put her arms around me. “I have to go now… Dude, I’ll miss you!” she said still hugging me.
I will miss her too. I haven’t lived here alone. It was weird. I helped her with her luggage and said “hi” to Ben when he picked her up, and we both wished each other a happy holiday, and merry Christmas.
My brother, Rick, was supposed to come and stay with me this Christmas, since my mom and dad were going on a cruise. I couldn’t believe they actually want to spend Christmas away from us, since we were a traditional family who spent Christmas with a lot of relatives and a big fuss about it. Now I was living here in Los Angeles, and my brother was coming to stay with me. Tomorrow. It was actually cool, I really love him and we got along really well.
Morgan was going home too, he was from Texas. At first I thought I’ll go home too, so I told him that, and he agreed to go home to see his parents. He left this morning so today I was on my own.
I returned to my bedroom and arranged some things, but I was bored. What in hell was I supposed to do all day? I thought about calling Matt, but he didn’t say anything. I have no idea what his plans were. Was his first day alone too in Ben’s house, but maybe I was bothering him.
I decided to watch a few Supernatural episodes, due to my homework and late studies I couldn’t keep up with the eighth season so I had around 6 episodes to watch. It was 7 PM and, after making popcorn, I checked the other room I prepared for Rick. It was plain and simple, only a bed, nightstand, and closet, and it was painted in white. Monica never needed another room so she didn’t bother with decorating it. And I didn’t want to move there, I liked her bed too much and we stood awake for hours on weekends talking about stuff. I felt actually comfortable sleeping with Monica. We never bothered each other, and we acted like we’ve known each other since forever.
After climbing on the king sized bed with my laptop and the bowl of popcorn, I turned on the volume and played the episode. Of course I was scared by its half, with the pillow in my head and a lot of popcorn around me, looking at the little screen with my eyes almost closed. It was already dark outside, and the only light was coming from my laptop and I never thought I’d actually be scared because of a couple of Supernatural episodes. But still, I was.
I was hungry again by 9 o’clock, but there is no way I would leave this bed. Never. I left the bowl on the nightstand, and while another episode was playing, I had the blanket all over me and the pillow in my head. Why was I freaking scared? Monica always said she couldn’t watch that because it was scary, but I never thought of Supernatural as scary. But I’ve never lived on my own.
And the kitchen was so far away! Damn hot Winchester brothers! And damn Rick for not being here!
C’mon, Emma, grow up!
I’ve told myself as I stopped the episode and climbed out of bed, holding the empty bowl in my left hand and walking through the darkness of my empty apartment. The floor creaked under my paces, and I felt my heart sink. Gosh, Emma!
I turned on the light in the kitchen and relaxed. There wasn’t any demon or angel. But I could use some Castiel time. Just when I was about to decide what I should make for dinner, I heard some noises at the door, jumped and screamed at the same time. My heart was beating really fast as I closed the fridge’s door and ran to my room, where I climbed on top of the bed and stood there. I looked for my phone and dialed. It only rang twice until he picked up.
“Matt, I’m so sorry for bothering you at this hour, but I’m here alone and I’m scared. Could you please…” I sighed, after telling him that without taking a pause or breathing, as a matter of fact. “I heard some weird noise at the door when I was in the kitchen and…”
“I’ll be there in 15, okay? Don’t worry,”
he said and he hung up.
I sighed, and relaxed while I pulled the blanket over my head again. I shouldn’t have called Matt. He didn’t have to babysit me.
Before I knew it, the doorbell rang and of course, my heart stopped. Then I figured probably it was Matt, and I jumped out of bed, almost running towards the door.
“I brought pizza!” he said with a smirk when I opened the door and before he said something I hugged him. It was so good to know I wasn’t alone anymore. Note to myself: I’ll never live alone. “Someone is really excited to see me, right?” he said kissing my forehead. “Will you invite me in, Miss West?”
“Oh, yes,” I said, taking a step back. “Come on in,” I half smiled, because now I was feeling bad for acting like a five year old.
“I hope I didn’t get here too late, but I thought you’d want pizza. So, never been on your own before, Ems?” he asked almost laughing.
“It’s not funny! I was watching Supernatural!” I said as an excuse, taking the pizza and going to the kitchen. “And it got so dark before I knew it and… I’ve never been alone at night here.”
“You are so lucky to have me, Ems,” he said coming next to me and placing his arm around my shoulders. That felt so good. I nodded and smiled as I put the pizza on plates.
“So, Supernatural night for us?” he asked with a twinkle in his eyes. “That’s better than
Sweet November
!” he took the plates and went to my bedroom.
Yes, the night seemed to get better, I’ve told myself as I followed him.
Obviously Matt made fun of me the rest of the night, and laughed at every scary part, while I was hiding behind his shoulder. He laughed even harder.
“So do you want me to stay?” he asked when we finished all the episodes left, around 12.
“No, I want you to go at the middle of the night,” I said sarcastically. “Of course you’ll stay, Nicholls.” I looked at him with a serious face. “I mean… I sound really spoiled, right? You won’t have to stay if you don’t want to. Or if you have something important to…”
“Sure, my Xbox is waiting for me peacefully,” he said climbing out the bed, and I grabbed his elbow, and pulled him back, incredibly close to me. Bad move.
“I want you to stay, Matt,” I told him sincerely.
“Okay,” he shrugged. “So I’ll sleep on the couch, or…?”
“No, you can stay here. But if you prefer the uncomfortable couch, be my guest,” I said as I arranged my pillows.
He laughed sarcastically, and lied on the bed on Monica’s side after taking his shirt off. That’s not how I’ve pictured this. I sighed as I pulled the blanket and my head touched the pillow. When I closed my eyes, I thought that this was weird. I shouldn’t sleep in the same bed as Matt. Especially when he’s half naked. It’s not like he was a serial killer or something, but right now, smelling his masculine perfume reminded me of the night I spent with him in June. And the fact that I felt comfortable around him scared me.