Forever's Not Supposed to End

Hayley's point of view - two days later

I let myself into the apartment and looked around. The TV was on and Matthew was curled up on the couch staring blankly at it.

He looked up at me and smiled slightly as I took off my coat and shoes.

"So what did the good doctor have to say? Please don't tell me you have the same plague that Nathan is dying from," he said, sitting up and shifting away from me as I walked over.

I shook my head and sat down on the couch next to him.

"So what's wrong? What he say?" he asked, shifting back closer to me again.

I'd been throwing up. Mostly in the mornings, though I felt nauseous at night too. My first concern was that I could be pregnant as Matthew and I weren't being careful at all. But that wasn't the case.

"I'm nervous. It's anxiety, because I'm scared for the tour... so... yeah," I sighed, looking up at him.

"Aww, you poor thing you don't need to be nervous. Europe is going to love you guys, and you especially," he said, wrapping one arm around me and pulling me close to him.

"Whatever," I mumbled.

"Although I gotta be honest.... when you started throwing up in the morning I kinda wondered if it was maybe something else..." he trailed off, looking at me hopefully.

"No... it definitely isn't that. It's just me getting all stressed about tour."

He looked instantly disappointed.

"And I think we should probably start being.. you know... careful about stuff like that," I said hesitantly.

"Yeah you're probably right, I guess," he mumbled, staring at the floor.

"Hey, don't be so down about it, I just think that... like... we've been dating for six months," I said seriously.

"And?" he said, raising one eyebrow at me.

"And... well... it's kinda soon to be talking marriage and kids don't you think? I mean, I love you Matthew, I really do but like... it's all happening really fast."

"You want to slow down?" he asked in monotone, still staring at the floor.

"This is the thing... I don't want to slow down, and that's what scares me. If you asked me to run away and marry you tomorrow I'd do it, you've shown me that I need to live for every single day," I said, taking his hand and smiling. He grinned at me.

"You scared me for a second, thought you were leaving me or something," he said, leaning over and resting his head on my shoulder.

"Never in a million years," I grinned, hugging him tightly.

"But... you said we need to be careful," he said slowly as he tried to make sense of it.

"Well, I mean, we probably should... until the tour is done, but then we can you know, see what happens?" I smirked as he looked up at me.

"I'm gonna get you so pregnant you won't even know what hit you!" he laughed.

"Yeah yeah, but until then I'm back onto the pill, just to make this whole thing accident-proof," I said, resting my head against his gently.

"Yeah I guess that's smart. Plus I wouldn't let you take my baby on tour. I'd make you lay in bed all day with your feet up, not jumping around on some stage somewhere," he smiled, kissing my cheek and making my stomach do a backflip.

I shifted so I was sitting on his lap and rested my head on his shoulder, and we just held each other and watched TV until the front door of the apartment was flung open, making us both jump.

"Is it safe to look? You guys aren't screwing or anything?" said Nathan, theatrically holding both hands over his eyes as he stood in the doorway.

"You're such a dick," laughed Matthew, shaking his head.

"I missed you I missed you I missed you!" sang Nathan as he bounded over to us on the couch, practically crushing us both in a massive hug.

"You're done dying of foul vomit plague?" said Matthew, pulling away from the hug slightly.

"For the most part yeah," he laughed, letting us go and stepping back.

I noticed Jenna sneak into the apartment and close the door. I gave her a small wave which she returned as the twins started talking to each other so fast I could barely understand them.

I gently peeled myself away from Matthew and before I'd even finished standing up Nathan was sitting on his brothers lap, both still talking so fast I was struggling to keep up.

"Wow, they really must have missed each other a lot," smiled Jenna as we just stood silently and watched them.

"Matthew has been so miserable, he'd literally stare at the TV all day and hardly say anything..." I sighed.

"Well, at least you didn't have puke to deal with," she laughed, pushing her long brown hair back off her face.

"Is he OK now?" I asked quickly.

"Yeah he's been fine for the last 24 hours, just wanted to keep him away in case he was still a biohazard to Matthew," she said with a small smile.

"Thanks," I said appreciatively.

"So... I need some advice, can I borrow you for a second?" she asked, glancing at Nathan then back to me. She looked tense.

"Uh.. sure?" I said uncertainly, following her out into the hallway.

Jenna and I didn't know each other that well, so I was kind of confused as to why she would ask my advice on something.

"So... Nathan is hinting at moving in with me," she said quickly.

"Really? I thought Matthew said he's like... terrified of commitment?"

"I think he is. But he's trying so hard... and I just... I want to ask him to move into my apartment, but I don't know how," she said, fiddling with the sleeves of her sweater.

"I've never asked to move in with someone so I wouldn't know how it's done... what if you just like... gave him a key? See if he takes the hint?" I suggested.

"See this is Nathan we're talking about here, it could be a while before he gets any kind of hint," she giggled.

"I guess that's true," I smirked.

"Well maybe you should just walk right in there and ask him right now?"

"You know I think I might," she grinned, bounding back into the room to find the twins were now sitting quietly, Matthew sitting with his back against the couch, and Nathan leaning against Matthew, his head on his chest.

"Nathaaaaaan," smiled Jenna, tugging on his hand.

"Mmm, babe, I'm tired," he mumbled.

He did look awful. He was definitely paler and skinnier than before he had got sick, and he had dark shadows under his eyes.

"Aww don't be a butt, come on, I wanna ask you something," she whined, tugging on his hand again.

"Alright, what is it?" he asked, sitting up and looking at her expectantly. She blushed slightly and mumbled something, looking at the floor.

"Don't back out now," I laughed.

"Well.. it's been kinda fun with you staying at my place... and I was wondering... if maybe you want to stay there sometime when you aren't sick... like... maybe every day?" she mumbled.

Nathan looked lost for a moment.

"Wait... are you asking me to live with you?" he asked, face breaking into a wide grin.

"I guess, unless you don't want to, then I'm not," she smiled. I caught Matthew's eye and he grinned.

"Let me just ask permission," he grinned, looking at Matthew expectantly.

"Only if you behave," Matthew smirked.

"I promise!" cried Nathan, jumping up and grabbing Jenna in a massive hug, the two of them jumping up and down together, still hugging.

"Yay, we're gonna be roomies!" squealed Nathan, still bouncing with excitement.

"I know," giggled Jenna.

"Now we both have roomies," smiled Matthew, getting up off the couch to hug his twin, then coming over and standing behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder.

"Shall we pack my stuff? Like right now? Can we do it today? Can we? Can we?" giggled Nathan as Jenna just laughed at how excited he was.

"Yeah I'll help you, let's go, roomie," she said, allowing Nathan to drag her by the hand to his bedroom,she looked back and mouthed a 'thank you' to me.

The door closed and I heard giggling and then the bed crashing into the wall as they both dived onto it.

"And cue the noisy sex... shall we go for a walk? Or just anything?" sighed Matthew, but smirking slightly at his twins closed bedroom door.

"I'd like that," I smiled. We both pulled on our coats and shoes and headed out into the snow, hand in hand.

"Snowball fight?" suggested Matthew, looking around at all the fresh snow.

"I don't want to beat you too badly...." I laughed and he mock pouted.

"You're mean," he laughed.

"What if we build a snowman?" he suggested, grabbing a handful of snow from the roof of a car and throwing it up in the air. It almost landed on me and I glared at him.

"If you throw any snow and it hits me, I'm warning you Matthew, there'll be serious-" I was cut off by a large handful of snow hitting me square in the chest.

"You're in so much trouble," I laughed as he started to giggle and try his best to run away from me.

I picked up some snow and made a snowball, throwing it at him and missing spectacularly.

"That was it? That was all the trouble I'm in? That wasn't so bad," he smirked, stepping towards me and wrapping his arms around me.

"I'll get you back when you least expect it," I mumbled against his shoulder as he hugged me.

"I look forward to it," he said quietly, kissing the top of my head.

I looked around, it was starting to snow again. I smiled up at Matthew who smiled right back at me.

"I love you," he said quietly, then closed the gap between our lips. I couldn't help but smile as I thought about the new year, and all the amazing things to come.