Yours to Hold

After the eventful trip to Field of Screams on Friday night, things on Saturday fell right back to normal. That wasn't neccesarily a bad thing, since the average Saturday for me consisted of trips to the mall, movies or closest all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet with Brian and Jimmy. We'd then head back to one of our houses, where'd we'd spend the rest of the day playing video games or watching movies until we got tired and decided to call it a day.

Sunday was a completely different story, however; Brian and Jimmy both spent Sundays with their families, so I usually spent Sunday at home watching the Eagles get their asses whooped when I wasn't catching up on my sleep. On rare occasions we'd go out for dinner, but that was only when my sister came home from college or when there was a birthday.

I was particularly restless all day on Sunday, partly because I was bored out of my fucking mind and partly because I missed Matt. Our interactions on Friday night kept running through my mind; the thought that Matt actually had feelings for me made me undeniably giddy. I couldn't count the number of nights that I had spent crying over Matt or the number of days that had been ruined by something he had said.

Now, all of a sudden, Matt was admitting that he thought I was cute and that he had feelings for me. Honestly, it seemed way too good to be true.

I found myself in uncharacteristically good spirits when I stepped into school on Monday morning; I hated Mondays with a passion and I was always in a terrible mood when I entered school on Monday mornings. My unusual behavior didn't surprise me in the least bit, though. For once in my life, I was beyond psyched to have Matt in my math class and be the one sitting next to him for an hour.

God, I was absoutely smitten with him.

I was whistling "Hear Me Now" by Hollywood Undead when someone suddenly clapped a hand on my shoulder. Caught off guard, I stopped whistling and turned my attention to Brian; the male gave me a silly grin as I met his gaze.

"Hey, Zack. You're in awfully good spirits this morning."
I laughed a bit and kissed Brian's cheek gently. "Hello to you, too. And, I am in VERY good spirits today."
Brian laughed as well and slipped his arm around my shoulders. "So, mind telling ol' Brian why you're in such good spirits on a Monday morning?"
"Because Mr. Matthew Sanders told me that he likes me."
A huge grin broke out on Brian's face and he gave me a squeeze. "That is AMAZING news. Does he know that you like him? Did he break up with Val? Are you two going to start going out? Spill the beans!"

I let loose a giggle and playfully rolled my eyes at my friend's eagerness.
"No, I didn't tell him that I liked him and as far as I know, he's still with Val. So calm yo' balls, bro."
"Zack. How do you expect him to break up with Val for you if he doesn't know what you like him?"
I shrugged a bit and dropped my head on Brian's shoulder. Knowing that I didn't feel like talking about it anymore, the male gave me another tiny squeeze and kissed my cheek gently.

We walked to my math class together in slence; Brian wasn't very fond of Val and hated Michelle with a passion, so I could tell that he was hoping that Matt would end his relationship with Val so he could be with me. I knew better then to get my hopes up, however. Just because Matt admitted that he had feelings for me didn't mean that he was in love with me and wanted to be with me.

When we arrived at my classroom, Brian dropped his arm from my shoulders and gave me a small smile.
"Well, this is where we part ways. I'll see you fourth period."
"See you later, Bri."
Brian frowned before reaching over and softly placing his hand on my shoulder.
"Promise me you'll consider telling him how you feel?"
"Whatever," I exclaimed stubornly before shaking the male's hands off my shoulder. "See you later."

With that, I trudged into the classroom and dropped my messenger bag on the floor. After taking a seat, I slouched back in my chair and rested my hand on my stomach. I sucked a breath and ran my tongue over my lips before bringing my eyes to the door. A few minutes later, Matt entered the classroom and met my gaze; butterflies erupted in my stomach as a huge grin broke out on his face.

The male stepped over to his seat and dropped his bag on the floor before turning his attention to me.
"Hey, you."
"Hey, Matt."
Matt turned his attention away from me for a minute so he could get his work out before turning back to me and smiling.
"So, how was your weekend?"

I reached down to get my own work out before lifting a hand up and running it through my hair.
"Hung out with Brian and Jimmy on Saturday, but not gonna like, Sunday was boring as fuck."
Matt let loose a quiet laugh. "I feel you there; Sunday was boring as hell for me, as well. Honestly, I spent most of the day sleeping and catching up on the few episodes of American Horror Story I missed."
"Man, I love that show. I'm addicted to it."
Matt smiled and nodded his head in agreement. "Dude, I feel you. Its very well done and extremely creepy."

"Word. Show is brilliant. The only interesting thing I did on Sunday was watch the Eagles get their asses whooped. I swear, there is no hope for them this season and Andy Reid has to go. But, I missed you."
Matt's eyes lit up slightly and he smiled at me. "I missed you, too."
"You really missed me?" I asked, causing Matt to laugh quietly.
"Of course I missed you. You're my Zacky. Why wouldn't I miss you?"

I ran my tongue over my lips and shrugged a bit, causing Matt to laugh softly.
"You're so cute."
"I am not," I shot back stubbornly, causing Matt to laugh again.
"Whatever, dude."

We lapsed into silence after that, but it wasn't long before Matt started a conversation with the guy behind him. I sat in silence and watched them; I wanted to join in on the conversation, but I knew better then to try. Matt and I might have been buddies, but that didn't mean that the rest of the class suddenly loved me. To them, I was still the "gay creep", so they believed it was totally okay to talk behind my back in the hallways.

I was starting to wonder if I should paint my nose red and start wearing antlers to school.

We had ended the week with a small quiz on what we were learning the previous week, so it was time for us to start on something new in math. I was thankful that the teacher graciously decided to start something new when I happened to be there; however, that didn't change the fact that I couldn't understand math any better then I understood Mandarin Chinese.

Fourtnately, Matt spent the whole period helping me out and making sure I understood. The fact that he was going out of his way to help me astonished me, since I had a feeling that some of the kids in the class would start tormenting Matt just because he was helping me out. Although I knew that Matt was very capable of handling their ridicule, it astonished me that people could be so cruel these days.

As the teacher finished up his lecture for the day, Matt turned his attention to me and gave me a small smile.
"So, what do you have next period?"
"English," I replied. "Its literally right down the hallway."
Matt let loose a quiet chuckle and his smile grew slightly. "Right down the hallway, you say? Say, mind if I walk you to your second period class?"
Caught completely off guard by Matt's statement, I felt my mouth drop open. I gaped at the male for a few seconds before finally shutting my mouth and nodding my head quickly, feeling my cheeks warm up a bit.

Matt let loose a quiet chuckle at my reaction. "Delayed reaction, much?"
"Shut up," I grumbled, causing the male to let loose another chuckle as the bell rang.
"I was just kidding. But come on, Zack. Lets get out of here."
I nodded my head and slipped my messenger bag over my shoulder before following Matt out of the classroom.

As soon as we were out in the hallway, Matt surprised me again by reaching over and grabbing my hand, lacing our fingers together. Although it wasn't the first time we had held hands, I still felt an electric shock go through my spine as I realized how well our fingers felt together. I gazed at our entertwined fingers for a few seconds before bringing my eyes up to Matt. He was gazing at me shyly, which caused me to smile at him and inch a little closer to him.

Matt's face completely lit up, and for the first time in two years, I found myself thinking 'Maybe we DO belong together. Maybe we ARE meant for each other'.