Merry Christmas, I Could Care Less

I think my mum's head was going to explode.

I swear, the look on her face when I walked into yet another one of her parties with Matt's hand attached to mine was bloody priceless. She looked proper pissed.That is, until she realized people were surrounding her and she had to maintain her perfect trophy wife image and she began smiling again. But it wasn't a real smile, and it wasn't even a fake smile, it was a downright evil smile. Like she was up to something. Which I wouldn't doubt in the slightest.

So just to get back at her I kissed Matt. It was short, nothing too special; not a full on make-out session but not a peck either. Just enough to piss her off.

"Wha' was tha' for?" He asked, slightly breathless. I laughed at his reaction and fixed his tie, something I had become quite accustom to doing. Tonight he chose to wear red sweater over a white collared shirt and tie with a pair of tan slacks. He even pushed his hair back slightly, making him look presentable even for this snooty party.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't planning on fucking his brains out later.

"Yeh look fuckin' adorable tonigh' Matty," I told him honestly, a genuine smile spreading across my lips. If the light wasn't deceiving me I was sure I had made him blush but he put his head down and chuckled lightly, shoving his hands in his pockets and hiding it well.

"Shouldn't I be tellin' yeh fhings like tha'?" He asked me, glancing up with a smile on his face, his dimples showing.

"Only if yeh mean it," I batted my eyelashes. He laughed and snaked his arm around my waist, pressing his hand against the small of my back and pulling me into him.

"Yeh look gorgeous Kinley," he whispered, placing a small kiss right below my ear before nuzzling his nose in my neck and making me giggle. He hadn't shaved in a few days, and his stubble tickled against my skin.

I bet we looked so adorable right then.

Like a real couple, like we were in love.

And I bet it pissed my mum off so bad.

"McKinley," she cleared her throat rather nosily from beside me. I could tell by the tone of her voice already that I was right on target with my assumption about her feelings towards Matt and I acting so affectionate. I took a step away from Matt but he kept his arm around my waist and I stood contentedly next to him.

"Hi mum," I smiled in a rather fake manner. "Don't yeh look adorable."

"Same goes to you, love," she smiled. And I knew she was lying. "Matt," she added with a short nod in the direction of my date.

"'lo Mrs. Jacobs," he smiled, the hand that wasn't on me shoved into his pocket. He was standing tall and trying to be on his very best behavior. It was precious, really.

"Will yeh excuse us for a minute Matthew?" She asked using Matt's full name, her voice sickeningly sweet. I think she was trying to make her distaste for him obvious at this point. She was livid with me I could tell but she would never make it known. Because we had to create the false allusion that we were perfect. And perfect mothers never yelled at their perfect daughters. Especially not in public.

"Sure fhing," Matt nodded, his arm leaving me and his hand finding his pocket.

"I'll meet yeh ova at tha bar in a few, kay Matty?"

"Sounds good," he smiled before walking off in the bar's direction.

Once he was out of earshot my mother scoffed, "Who does he fhink 'e's foolin'?"

I bit the inside of my cheek to restrain myself from smiling. I swear, her anger made my stomach bubble with excitement. Which I wasn't sure was a good thing, per say, but the fact I was sure I lacked a soul made this all okay.

"I fhink 'e looks pretteh fit," I grinned my eyes lingering on him as he disappeared into the crowd of people I didn't care to know.

She grimaced before shaking her head, "Well anyway, there's someone I want yeh ta meet," she smiled, grabbing my arm and quite literally dragging me in the opposite direction. She brought me over to some rather dapper looking bloke in a navy blue suit and skinny tie. He was tall, much taller than I (even in heels) and perhaps even taller than Matt. He had blonde hair which was slicked back in the most perfect way you could imagine and he had a pair of the most striking blue eyes I had ever seen. His jaw was chiseled and square and his face was actually fairly stunning. He looked like a model; and not the kind of model Oli liked to use for Drop Dead. I'm talking a proper GQ motherfucker. And yeah, he was handsome, but I could tell off the bat he wasn't my type. He looked like a nice boy, and that meant I would probably eat him alive.

"McKinley this is Adam, Adam this is McKinley," my mum introduced us. I put my hand out for him to shake it and he actually brought it up to his mouth and kissed the back of my hand. I quite honestly wanted to laugh in his face but I refrained just for my mother's sake. "'e's tha boy I've been tellin' yeh all about," she grinned widely. I could tell she was really getting a kick out of this. "Mary's son."

"Oh yeah," I nodded, with a small smile. I was so good at acting like I cared that sometimes it actually scared me slightly. "I've 'eard a lot about yeh."

"Likewise," he nodded, flashing me a quite dazzling smile.

"Well then I'll jus' let yeh two get on wiff it then," my mum smiled before walking away.

"I swear, she proper brilliant at makin' fhings totally awkward," I laughed as she left us alone.

"Most mothers are like tha'," he smiled, bringing his glass up to his lips and taking a small sip of the liquid inside. He noticed me eyeing the beverage and let a small laugh pass through his lips. "Yeh wan' a drink?" He inquired, though I was sure he already knew the answer.

"I thought yeh'd never ask."

"So yehr mom said yeh're goin' ta University for veterinary studies?" He asked as we walked over to the bar that Matt was still no doubt hanging around.

I laughed out loud at his question, "She would say tha'," I rolled my eyes. "I'm actually not goin' ta school at all anymore," I admitted. "It was neva fer me, yeh know?" I pushed my bangs out of my eyes and glanced up at him. "But I heard yeh're rather successful, yeah?"

He nodded, "I'd say so." And he hadn't said it in a way that made me feel like he was bragging, rather just stating a solid fact. "Me dad wants me ta take over 'is business eventually. Yeh know, go inta real estate."

"I take it yeh're good at tha' too?'

"Yeah," he nodded, laughing again. I laughed as well and when we approached the bar I couldn't help but think that under different circumstances this Adam bloke wouldn't be half bad. Of course I had only known him for less than three minutes, but from what I had gathered he didn't seem all too horrible. Which was saying a lot considering my mum had introduced us. "What's yehr poison?" He asked, leaning against the bar. I let my eyes fall to Matt who was chatting with someone I didn't know.

"Vodka cranberry," I told him off handedly. He ordered our drinks from the bartender my parents had hired for every party since I was 14 years old and then slipped him a few pounds when he gave us our drinks.

We talked for a while longer, and I found that my first impression of his wasn't all too off. He did seem to be a somewhat charming fellow and he wasn't half bad to talk to. I wasn't sure how long we were talking for before I felt Matt's arm slip around my waist again.

"Hey Matty," I smiled at him. He didn't smile back; instead he was glaring at Adam. I rolled my eyes discreetly at this.

"Who's yehr friend?" He asked me, still glaring. Adam looked rightfully confused.

"Matt this is Adam, Adam, Matt," I introduced them both quickly before taking a small sip of my drink.

"Nice ta meet yeh," Adam smiled uneasily, sticking his hand out for Matt to shake which he did albeit unenthusiastically.

"Likewise," Matt nodded stiffly.

"So yeh two are datin'?" Adam asked after a vaguely awkward silence.

"Somefhing like tha' I suppose," I sipped my drink. I noted Matt's fallen expression out of the side of my eye but paid no attention to it.

"Yeh suppose?" He inquired, eyebrow raised.

"'s none of yehr bloody business," Matt shot at him.

"I don't realleh remember askin' yeh," Adam smiled in his direction. I felt Matt tense up from beside me. And although I more often than not hated Matt acting like I was his property I can't say I minded it all too much in that moment. Because I knew he was getting relatively angry and I knew that if he started yelling and cursing like he normally did when he was pissed it would make a wonderful show for my parents.

"Yeh're referrin' ta me, yeah?" Matt countered Adam's quick remark.

"Oh piss off," Adam laughed. And it was a pity laugh. Like he felt sorry for Matt. Like he looked down on him. Like he was better than him. "Yeh're in tha' shitty band, aren't yeh? Tha one where tha' bloke pissed on tha' bird, yeah?" He laughed again. "Please," he scoffed under his breath. "Don't even get me started."

"I'm sorreh, I can't say I know who yeh are at all," Matt snarled. "Well, aside from some stuck up snotty little twat who's probably ridin' off of 'is daddy's achievements."

People were starting to stare. I bit back another smile as I saw my mum's attention fall in our direction. She scurried over to my father and pointed over towards us.

"Please," Adam rolled his eyes. "At least I'll manage to be successful years from now. Once yehr pathetic little band starts to become irrelevant an' yehr covered in tattoos and no one will take yeh seriously anymore, yeh'll be shit outta luck," he sneered. "Yeh fhink she's gonna stick around afta tha'?" He asked, gesturing towards me with his glass. "Good luck," he snorted.

"Fuck yeh, yeh 'ave no idea wha' yeh're talkin' about," Matt growled, taking a step towards Adam and leaving me to stand behind him and smirk. "She's not interested, yeh stuck up little fuckin' prick. So back tha fuck off already."

"I've 'eard all about 'er actually," Adam spoke slowly. "An' word on tha street is she doesn't 'ave ta be all too interested in yeh ta 'ave a good time. If yeh know wha' I mean."

And that's really all it took for Matt to snap, I guess. He grabbed the bloke's collar and hit him so fast that if I blinked I surely would have missed it all. I waited for Matt to get in a couple good hits, to really make a scene, to pull him off. His knuckles were covered in blood and I wasn't sure if it was his or Adam's, but I didn't bother checking. I grabbed him by the arm and began tugging him towards the door.

"McKinley!" I heard my father's voice bellowing from behind us, but that only made me run faster. I didn't even bother to grab our coats as we made our way to the door. "Stop righ' there!" He yelled.

"I'm sorreh daddy!" I yelled over my shoulder as we slipped outside, the cold air slapping our skin and tinting our cheeks pink as we ran towards Matt's car. By the time we got inside of it, we were both breathing heavily. "Why’d yeh hafta punch 'im?" I asked. "'e was actually pretteh nice," I told him as I fixed my hair in the mirror.

"Were yeh listenin' ta the prick?!" Matt screeched. "'e all but called yeh a whore!"

"'e only said tha' cause yeh got in 'is face," I reasoned.

"'e was eye fuckin' yeh all night. I were watchin' from tha other end of tha bar."

"Oh so what?" I rolled my eyes. "It wasn't like 'e was actually fuckin' me."

Matt was silent as he stared straight ahead, his hands clasped on the steering wheel. It was then I noticed his knuckles were in fact bleeding, although I was fairly positive some of the blood on his hands belonged to Adam. I smiled at him and scooted closer to him. Leaning over the center console I wrapped my arms around the arm closet to me and leaned my head against his shoulder.

"I'm sorreh McKinley," he breathed out. "I know yehr parents probably hate me now," he mumbled. "I didn't mean ta get yeh in all tha trouble yeh'll probably be in tomorrow. I jus...I couldn't 'ear 'im talk about yeh like tha, yeh know?"

His voice was small and meager and I knew he was legitimately and earnestly sorry for his actions. But that was just like Matt. He always tried his very best to make me happy. I wasn't sure what I had ever done to make him act like that, but sometimes it was actually rather cute.

And besides, little did he know his little quarrel tonight between Bachelor Number One was something even I wouldn't have thought up in my ever constant battle against my parents.

"'s alrigh' Matty," I assured him. He turned and looked over at me, his brown eyes full of concern.

"Yeh probably hate me, don't yeh?" He asked.

I chuckled, "Of course I don't hate yeh."

"Really?"

"Unless yeh wan' me ta pretend I do. An' then we can 'ave really hot hate sex," I winked. He laughed and kissed me tenderly.

"Anyfhing yeh wan' Kinley," he murmured against my lips.