Paint Me an Image

I woke up on the couch in the morning, tangled in Andre's arms with the faint smell of grease rising from the pizza box that was on the coffee table. I groaned and moved my head, feeling Dre's chest underneath. Then I felt his arms tighten around my waist in his sleep.

"Dre, wake up," I murmured as I pushed on his arms and glanced at the clock simultaneously. "It's 1:30 already."

"Noooo," He whined, drawing out the word like a child and holding onto my waist tighter.

"Yes,"I said simply, "I have to go talk to Matty."

He sighed dramatically and then pushed me off of him, causing me to land on the floor with a thump.

"Jerk," I grumbled as I stood up and brushed myself off. "You can go back to sleep. I'm going to take a shower and head over to Zacky's parent's house, seeing as I have no idea where Matty lives. Don't bother to get up or anything." I could hear the harsh sarcasm slipping through my lips but it didn't seem to bother Dre at all, seeing as he waved his hand in the air and rolled over so that he was facing away from me.

I growled but sauntered out of the room anyways, knowing that Dre wasn't going to get up anytime soon. I went into my bedroom and to my closet. I pulled out a scarlet colored one shoulder, belly-button showing shirt and a pair of skinny jeans that I had worn so much that they had faded severely. I carried my clothes with me to the bathroom and took a shower. I half-blow dried my hair and put water-proof eyeliner on before slipping into a pair of Dre's basketball shoes, grabbing my keys, and heading out the door on my way to the Baker house.

When I got there I parked on the curb and raced up the path to the front door. I banged on it so hard that I knew that it probably sounded like a stampede from the inside. Maria pulled the door open quickly and in a worried way.

"Oh Imogen! What's wrong? Are you okay?" she asked quickly, her eyes scanning over every part of me, looking for major damage.

"I'm fine, Maria. But I need Matty's address, please."

Maria looked confused and then pointed towards the stairs. "He's in his old room. He came over last night, said something about not wanting to talk to you if you showed up. But go on up. Lord knows that you two need to work out what ever just happened so you can start giving me grand-babies, seeing as Zachary isn't getting any closer."

I chuckled at her ramblings and slid past her. I took the steps two at a time and pushed open his bedroom door quickly. He was sitting on his couch, a video game controller in his hand and a beer on the table next to him.

He looked up to me when I walked in, his familiar green eyes staring through me harshly. "What Image?" he questioned as he paused that game that was on his X-box.

"I'm sorry," I murmured, "I didn't mean to offend you."

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "What do you mean? You tell your boyfriend that you don't trust him because he can't even take care of himself and you expect it not to hurt?"

"Matty," I sighed, "I didn't want to lie to you. It's just that you're not the usual kind of guy that I date so I'm happy that you are the way you are. I know you can take care of me but the thing is... I don't need you to."

He stopped me there with his next words. "But you don't want to spend the rest of your life taking care of me, right?"

I shrugged but otherwise didn't say anything else, seeing as I was unable to find the right words. I couldn't agree with him because it would cause more issues and I definitely can't disagree seeing as I'd be going against everything I'd told him before.

He; however, just shrugged and stood up. "I get it, Image. But the this is, I really like you. I think you're one of the most amazing people I've ever met. You're out-going, fun, and beautiful. It doesn't matter that you haven't been here for years or that your ex-boyfriend is living with you. All I care about is that I get a place in your life. That I get to call you mine and remind myself, when I'm feeling down, that my girlfriend is hotter than the sun. I care about you, Imogen."

I smiled at him, feeling his words soak into my heart. "I like you too, Matty, so I guess we can give this another chance, if you want."

He nodded and walked forward quickly. He leaned down and pushed his lips to mine softly. His hands went to my waist and squeezed, lightly. "I can take care of myself, you know. I just chose not to."

I stopped biting my lower-lip so that I could smile up at him with a cocky smirk, "I know. You're lazy, like your brother."

He leaned in for another gentle kiss but after a moment we pulled away at the sound of light claps. I smiled at Maria who was standing in the doorway, her hands smacking together in a happy dance.

"Mom..." Matty sighed.

Maria's smile disappeared as she pointed at him. "You would've been disowned if you would have lost this beautiful woman so quickly. She's the perfect type of woman to marry, Matthew. Remember that."

Matty smiled, "I will, Mom," then he looked at me, "I'll definitely remember how amazing this woman is."