Dirt

(Matt's POV)

She wanted to kiss me. She was going to kiss me. I could see it in her face. And damn Zee for interrupting us. Him and Jimmy had teased me mercilessly once we got back home, but I didn't care. Ash was gonna kiss me. I remember Johnny asking me why I was so obsessed with her. I wasn't even all that sure. I couldn't put my finger on it. There was something about the way she looked at me with those big beautiful eyes, with their combination of innocence and well kept secrets behind them, that just drew me in. There were moments when she would smile, and it would light up an entire room. Plus, she didn't take any bullshit from me. Most girls just went along with pretty much anything I said, so the fact that she called me out on a lot of it was really a plus.

But unfortunately, she was still pretty mad at me. She was doing pretty good being just my friend, but I wanted to be more than that. Did her feelings for me just suddenly vanish? I figured I didn't want to give her the chance to have that happen. Since it had been a couple days since the dinner with Zee's parents, I decided to see if I could make good on my promise to her. I texted her to see if she wanted to hang out.

She sent back, 'Can't right now. Going to class. Will be done about 4. Want to hang out then?'

She wanted to hang out. That was surely a good sign.

(Ash's POV)

I just had to keep reminding myself that we were just friends. I couldn't concentrate at all during class. My mind kept wandering back to Matt. I was so relieved when the professor let us go for the day. I wasn't sure I could've stayed in there much longer without going crazy. I rushed out to the parking lot and headed towards my car. I heard my name being called behind me and as I turned around, I rolled my eyes.

Harrison was jogging up behind me. "Hey beautiful," he said like we didn't have an understanding that I hated him. "I came to see if you needed a ride home."

I'm sure I looked confused and I almost laughed at the situation. "Are you shitting me? No, I don't need a ride. I'm fine."

"Aw, come on Ash. Why can't we be friends like you're friends with that Matt guy?"

I eyed him. "Because you've never wanted to be friends. You always want something else. You know what? Just go away." He didn't though. He just stood there seething. Only he wasn't looking at me, he was looking behind me. I turned my head slightly to see what he was looking at and saw Matt walking up to us. I started to smile at him being there, but I had to deal with a pest first. I quirked one eyebrow. "Goodbye, Harrison."

"Yeah, yeah. You're boyfriend's here, so you feel okay to say whatever you want to me," he said sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes. "You seem to have forgotten how much I used to tell you that I couldn't stand you. I don't need anyone around to pump me up to tell you that. I don't like you. I don't trust you. I think you're a snake in the grass. If you fell off the face of the Earth, I wouldn't give a flying fuck. There, is that clear?" I turned around and started to walk off.

"You know, one of these days your Daddy won't be around, and you won't have any power to talk to people the way you do. Just remember that, Princess!"

I stopped mid-stride. I don't think my head could've spun around any faster if I was Linda Blair in The Exorcist. I had a brief moment of deep satisfaction at how surprised he looked. I started towards him, yelling the whole time. "Is that a fucking threat?! Are you shitting me?! I fucking dare you to challenge my father. He'll murder you! I'll help dig your grave! You better watch who you're talking shit to." I got about six steps in his direction before I was being picked up and thrown over a giant shoulder. I didn't care, though. I kept yelling at him. "The next time you won't be so lucky! There won't be anyone to hold me back! I will fucking destroy you!"

I was plopped down on the back of a bike and Matt lowered himself to my level. He had a big smile on his face. "You are one feisty chick. I can't believe you told him you were going to destroy him." He laughed and after he said it that way, I did too. "It was the funniest and the scariest thing I've ever seen. Do you really think he'll challenge your dad? He'd have to be an idiot."

I shook my head. "I'm not sure. I know that I will be talking to Pop later to let him know there may be a traitor in his club, though. If that little shit thinks I'm going to sit back and let him talk shit like that, he's sorely mistaken. He must not know me at all." I took a deep breath to calm down and looked at Matt. "So, not to sound rude, but what are you doing here?"

Matt smiled. "I was hoping to surprise you. I had planned to show up here, looking all cool, as you walked out to your car and saw me leaning against it. What really happened was way better. Do you think that if I hadn't been here you would have hit him?" Probably. He laughed again. "Do you want to get out of here? We could go get something to eat."

I told him yes and repositioned myself on his bike as he climbed on. We sped out of the parking lot and went on a very long ride. It seemed like we weren't rushing. We just rode around for a while. I think Matt was letting me cool down. The long ride was perfectly fine with me, because it gave me time to feel all the muscles in Matt's back as he drove us around. I laid my head down and breathed in his scent. He smelled like cologne and cigarettes, and a bit like cinnamon rolls. I know that sounds crazy, but he did. It was a heady combination and it was purely Matt. Finally, we pulled into a small, hole in the wall Mexican food restaurant. I'm sure my hair was crazy and windswept, but I just didn't care. We sat down at a corner booth and ordered our food.

"So, aside from that run in with Harrison, how was your day?" I told him it was pretty good. Class was boring, but what else was new? "I'm glad you decided to come out with me," he told me while stuffing a salsa covered chip in his mouth. "I wasn't sure you would come."

"I decided to cut you some slack today. Your text seemed so sad and depressed. It was really bringing me down." We both laughed at that. "Really, though, I...I wanted to see you." I felt my face heat up and I just knew he was smirking. I told him not to read too much into that statement.

"I'm reading everything I can into that statement," he said with a chuckle. "It's okay, you know. You can just admit you're totally in love with me. I won't mind."

"In your dreams," I said as our food was placed down in front of us. We spent the rest of the time eating and cracking jokes with each other. It was fun and easy. That's what I liked about spending time with Matt. At least, before he screwed it all up. Things with him were always fun and easy. After we were finished Matt paid the bill. I tried to pay for my half, but he told me that since I gave him one hell of a show earlier, it was the least he could do. He took a shorter route and dropped me off at my car. We decided to go back to my house so I could drop off my book bag.

We both climbed up the stairs to my room. Matt stood in my doorway, seemingly afraid to come fully into the room. I threw my bag down by my desk and flopped down on my bed. "You can sit down, you know," I told him with a smile.

"So, I noticed that you're wearing the watch I gave you," he said quietly while sitting on the very edge of my bed. "Do you like it?"

I could feel my cheeks heat up. "I already told you I did. It's beautiful."

"You're beautiful."

I froze. I didn't know what to do. I just stared at him. "Thanks..."

Matt rubbed his face and shook his head. "That was really stupid to say. I dunno...I feel like I don't know how to talk to you sometimes. I've never been nervous around someone like I am with you." We sat there in silence for a minute. I still was completely unsure what to say. "I really am sorry, you know."

I sat up next to him. "Matt, you've got to stop apologizing. I know you're sorry. But...I mean, it's not like we were really together or anything."

"But I wanted us to be. I did. I even called you my girl."

"That was one time," I reminded him.

Matt sighed. "One time in front of you, maybe. Did you know that in Texas, if you announce in public that you're married to someone three times, then officially you're married?" I asked him how he knew that. "Not sure. I think I read it in some book that talked about old laws that never got changed. But, my point is, that I talked about you being my girl with my friends. I said that shit a dozen times or more. If we were in Texas, whether you knew it or not, you would've been my girl."

I laughed at that. "Good to know, I guess. But...I don't know." I flopped back again and covered my face with my hands. "I just don't know, Matt."

He leaned over and moved one of my hands out of the way. "So, why don't we start over." I was confused. Start over? "Yeah. Look, we'll start with this," he said quietly as he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. It was perfect. It was everything I'd been wanting to do since I broke off what we had started to have. "There," he told me as he pulled away. "Now we can move forward. I'll even do this all official-like. Ash, I have no intentions of dating anyone else. I like being with you and I'm going to tell everyone I see that you're my girl. I would like it if you would do the same."

"You want me to call you my girl? Alright, I guess. It seems a little awkward, though." I started to laugh, but Matt quickly silenced me by kissing my soundly.