Forever's Not Supposed to End

Hayley's point of view

*The next day*

"Matthew!" I giggled.

"Quit it!"

"Nope," he laughed, splashing water at me again. It missed me but splashed on the floor.

Matthew had finally got his stitches out and was enjoying his first proper bath since the incident, seeing as he was finally allowed to get his head wet.

I was perched on the edge of the sink, feet dangling, supervising him, just in case. Matthew was becoming fairly self-sufficient, but I wanted to be sure. He was sitting facing me in the tub full of bubbly water, leaning back against the side of the tub.

"Can't believe you want to perve over me in the bathtub... gosh Hayley!" he said sarcastically, covering his bare chest with his arms.

"You're wearing swim-trunks!" I protested.

"So? I'm still basically naked," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Would it make you more comfortable if I was more naked?" I smirked, I couldn't believe I was saying it, but I wanted to mess with him, just for fun.

His face changed drastically, eyes widening and lips curling into the tiniest of smirks.

"Yeah, maybe."

"Well tough luck, not gonna happen," I said, crossing my arms across my chest and poking out my tongue.

"You're mean Hayley Williams," he said, pouting and then draining the glass of water he had been sipping on.

He filled the empty glass with water from the bath and poured it over his head, then did it again. He opened his eyes and blinked the water away.

"Good?" I asked.

"Amazing," he poured more water over his head then filled the glass again, looking at me in a way I didn't appreciate.

"If you throw that I'll-" I didn't get a chance to finish my threat.

Most of the water hit me square in the chest, splashing up onto my face. I gasped and Matthew laughed loudly, then tried to look innocent.

"You think you're funny? Huh?" I asked, unable to stop myself from laughing as I advanced on him in the tub.

"What are you gonna do?" he asked, grinning.

I snatched up the shower head and turned it on on cold, pointing it at his chest, exposed above the water level. He gasped and wriggled away from the cold water, giggling loudly.

"Not nice is it huh?" I laughed, spraying him with cold water.

He grabbed me by my arm and pulled, I lost my balance, and my legs hit the side of the tub. I crashed head first into the water next to Matthew, who quickly helped me sit upright as I spluttered, coughing up water.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think you would fall in like that," he said through laughter.

"I hate you," I said, narrowing my eyes and spraying him with the cold water again.

"Now that's a terrible thing to say," he laughed softly and pushed a stray strand of my wet orange hair from my face.

My heart skipped a beat as our eyes met.

He quickly looked away and I did too, shutting off the cold water before turning back to face him.

"So, nice of you to join me, and by the way, I love your bra," he laughed, trying to wink and failing. He was just too adorable sometimes.

I looked down, I was fully clothed and my spotty black and white bra was now showing clearly through my plain white tank top.

"You think so? I like it," I said confidently. Acting confident was better than showing him how nervous I was.

"I think it'd look better on the floor, but hey," he shrugged.

I slapped him lightly in the face, joking around.

"You do, do you?" I asked, smirking.

"Yeah, I really do." Our eyes met again and my stomach did a backflip.

My heart pounded in my chest as the gap between us slowly disappeared.

"I can't do this," he said sadly, lips just inches from mine. He leaned back to where he was before.

"That's OK," I nodded. I struggled to hide my disappointment.

"Hey, it isn't your fault, it's my damn head," he said with a sigh, rubbing the side of his head with the tips of his fingers.

"Do you want to go to sleep?" I asked, gently replacing his hand with my own.

He closed his eyes and nodded slowly. The colour had drained from his face and he looked thoroughly exhausted.

"Alright, come on then trouble," I climbed out of the bath, my wet clothes dripping water everywhere. I helped Matthew climb out, he was shaking pretty badly and leaned heavily on me. I helped him dry off and draped the towel around his shoulders.

Without opening his eyes, Matthew clung to me as I helped him walk to his bed. He crawled in, still wearing his soaking wet swimming trunks.

"Hey, you can't wear those, they're wet," I said as he pulled the blankets over himself.

He groaned loudly and motioned for me to turn around. I did as I was told and turned back when he mumbled it was OK to once he was done changing.

He was curled in the bed, laying on his right side, blankets pulled up so high they partially covered his face, his hand resting on the left side of his head. He looked uncomfortable.

"Are you OK?" I asked quietly, sitting down beside him and putting my hand on his shoulder.

"I hate this so much. I go from being fine, to feeling like I'm about to explode from pain," he said through gritted teeth.

"Aww Matthew, just sleep, you're tired, that's all." I rubbed his shoulder gently.

"I have a present for you," he mumbled sleepily.

"You do?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah. It's in my black notebook, on the last page. I know I shouldn't have been listening, but it was hard not to. Maybe you can use it for your band or something..." he mumbled a few more words I couldn't understand, then fell asleep.

I slowly stood up from the bed so I didn't wake him.

First thing, I changed into dry clothes, throwing my wet ones into the sink to deal with later. I wrapped a towel around my head and picked up Matthew's notebook from the table in the living room.

I opened it to the last page that had been written on, careful not to read anything else written in there, I didn't want to intrude.

I can't make my own decisions,
or make any with precision.
Well maybe you should tie me up,
so I don't go where you don't want me.
You say that I've been changing,
that I'm not just simply ageing,
How can that be logical?
Just keep on cramming idea's down my throat.

It was pretty much word for word the argument I had with my father the previous day. Matthew had overheard all of it and had taken my words to form lyrics.

There was a small note at the bottom.

Hope this is enough to get you started... with a goofy smiley face that looked like Matthew, it even had the freckle on his left cheek.

I re-read the lyrics several times, then aloud to myself.

I picked up my acoustic guitar and started working.

I thought hard about all the times my dad had gone to work instead of hanging out with me. I thought about all the nights I'd had to make my own dinner as a kid, when he was never around. All the times he'd forced me to study, pushing me towards a career in medicine. How nothing I did was ever good enough. How he'd think he could buy me off with expensive gifts and constant money being wired to my account, when all I really wanted was his time.

How he'd point his finger at me when he yelled as we fought.

How he played god with my life for so long.

"Next time you point that finger I might have to bend it back and break it, break it off..." I sang quietly to myself, a small smile appearing on my face as I found the words in my mind and let them escape through my mouth.

It was finally time to speak my mind.