If Only Tonight

One Shot: Chapter Sixty One - Giving In To Frustration

One Shot:
Chapter Sixty One: Giving In To Frustration

There was a knock on her office door.

"About time you showed up." Mia's tone was laced with irritation, as she looked at her scheduled appointments.

Turning around, Mia sighed with disappointment. He had managed to avoid her during training, and escaped her gaze on match day, and still he was avoiding her. Too bad it wasn't him, the source of her bad mood, the person she wanted to see. Instead standing in the doorway was Oliver.

"Did I do something?" He asked, surprised to earn her ire.

"Sorry...I thought you were-"

"Matthew?" He completed for her.

"Pretty much..." She muttered.

Her entire vacation had been marred by the fact that he had been no where to be found. He kissed me, I should be avoiding him! She thought, all her pent up frustration was bubbling towards the surface.

"I thought you would have seen him. Didn't you spend the holidays with him?"

"Not exactly...it's a long story..." She said, realizing that she had forgotten something.

"Eh, Oliver, I almost forgot! Congratulations. You're a dad!" She said, going over to him, and giving him a hug.

"Thanks. I got your message that night. Let me show you her pictures. Lily is adorable." Oliver beamed, as he pulled out his phone.

Flicking through pictures he settled on one before turning to phone to face her. A tiny little baby was cradled against Ariana in one picture; while in another it was Oliver and the baby.

"You're right. She looks so cute!" Mia exclaimed, as he showed her more pictures of just the baby.

Tucking his phone away, Oliver gave her a knowing look.

"So now that I've distracted you long enough...what's going on? What's the long story?" He asked.

Mia turned away, unable to face the older player. It was so stupid what she had done, she wished it would just go away.

"Come on, it can't have been that bad." Oliver pressed on.

"It was really stupid." Mia told him, her back still facing him.

"I'm sure it's not as bad as you think it is. What happened?"

The blonde haired boy came to stand in front of her. She grimaced, looking up at him.

"What if it is?"

"We'll figure it out." He promised her.

Thinking hard, Mia didn't know who else to turn to. Stacie had not been any help, and she hadn't been able to ask Lina for advice. Here was her last resort. She was tired of the way things had been going, all she wanted was for him to tell her what they were now...but Matthew had been hard to find.

"Remember the Christmas dinner?" She started.

"Yea..."

"I may have blown up on Matthew...a little. He wound up telling me that he had pushed me away because he liked me." She said, staring at the ground as her face started to heat up.

"I didn't take him seriously...and at the end of the dance I was going to go...but..." Mia couldn't bring herself to say the words. She was furious he still affected her this way. Please kill me now, she thought, embarrassed beyond measure.

"But?" Oliver's voice questioned her.

"Urghh...we...kissed..."

-----

Still too busy avoiding her, Matthew was walking around the house trying to figure out what to do. He hadn't called her or talked to her, or even looked at her. During their training, he had been the farthest away from her. During the match, he didn't dare look at the dug out. Ending up in the family room, he sat down on the couch.

Having missed his appointments for most of the week, he knew he was walking on a thin line. She could have easily put him as undeclared only because he hadn't shown up.

Felix is going to kill me if I miss a match, he thought, especially if it's over something completely ridiculous!

"Have you talked to Mia yet?"

Lina had come in to the family room. Having berated him for the rest of his days off, he was surprised she was still talking to him.

"No..." Upon hearing this he could see that she was furious with him.

"Matthew, I swear if you don't get her to come back...I'm going to kill you. I will drag you there myself and force you to apologize to her. I don't care what happened, fix it!" She said, taking a seat beside him.

"Why do you always assume that I did something?" He complained, annoyed at the treatment he was getting from his own kin.

"Well...I doubt it was her. She's so sweet compared to you."

Matthew shook his head in disbelief.

"I can always count on you to side with the enemy." He muttered.

"She's not your enemy." Lina retorted.

They were quiet, as Matthew fiddled with his phone. He could feel Lina scrutinizing him.

"What happened?" She asked him at last.

Placing his head in his hands, he closed his eyes.

"I told her how I felt."

Lina gasped.

"You did! What did she say?"

"She thought I was toying with her."

"So? What did you do?"

Wincing hard, he gritted his teeth.

"I kissed her...and I ran..."

Before he could say anymore, his cell phone beeped. He clicked open the text message.

Oh shit! He thought.

-----

"How many appointments has he missed?" Oliver asked her, after his chuckles subsided.

Mia regretted telling him. Oliver must have known more than he was letting on. Don't worry about that, he had told her. Just relax, Matthew's always been a bit of a flight risk, he had mumbled. What does that even mean? She wanted to demand.

Instead Oliver had neatly segued in to the long line of appointments Matthew had missed, his brows furrowing as he saw how serious it was.

"Tomorrow is the match, and his skipped the entire week." Mia told him.

"Sorry Mia, but you don't have any other choice. You have to put him as undeclared." Oliver said, seriously. "It'll motivate him." He added.

"I don't know...I have a few hours left. He could show up." Mia hesitated.

"You can change it once he shows up. If he doesn't, then too bad for him." Oliver reassured her.

Steeling herself for what needed to be done, Mia went over to her computer. Scrolling down to Matthew's name, reluctantly she changed his status, so that it read MATTHEW ROSSI – STATUS: UNDECLARED.

-----

Storming down the hall, Matthew couldn't believe she had put him as undeclared. Felix had called to ask what had happened, to which Matthew had no good answer, leaving himself open to Felix's rapprochement.

Turning in to her office, he found her sitting there. An open book in front of her, she was reading with her chin resting on her hands.

Knocking on the door, Matthew walked in without waiting for her to answer.

Looking up, she seemed surprised to see him.

"You put me down as undeclared?" He asked, annoyed at the position he was in.

"Did you show up to any of your scheduled and re-scheduled appointments?" She asked him, frustration in her voice.

"No."

"Then yes. I put you down as undeclared. Felix already knows." She told him defiantly.

"Why did you leave the house?"

"Why did you avoid me?" She countered.

When he didn't answer the expression on her face changed, like she knew he wouldn't be able to offer her a good reason for his behaviour

"Had you showed up for your appointment, I wouldn't have left you off the squad as undeclared. Had you not avoided me, I wouldn't have left the house." She told turning her back to him, as she faced her book once more.

"Mia..." He said, quietly. What could he say to her to make her understand...he was trying to do what was best for her.

"Just go...I get it. It meant nothing." Her voice was filled with hurt.

"Mia...I'm sorry." He apologized, unable to stop himself. He should have walked away, left her, allowed her to stay angry with him. Instead he walked to her, and turned her chair to make Mia face him.

"I left you so you wouldn't get hurt worse. I was trying to save you from me."

"What you did...you've already hurt me." She told him, pain shining in her eyes. "You just left me standing there looking stupid. And then you didn't come back...you just avoided me. What did I do?"

"You never did anything." He assured her.

"Then why?"

"Because I didn't know what to do."

They were quiet. He could feel her intense gaze searching his face for something.

"Do you even have feelings for me?" She asked him.

How much longer could he lie to himself? How much more could he push himself to deny it? He was silent.

She stood up to face him, her eyes glimmering in the light, as she looked him in the eyes, her arms crossed.

"Well?"

Throwing caution to the wind, Matthew decided he couldn't do it any longer. Not telling her was killing him. What the hell, he thought.

"I can't keep a distance any more, Mia." He said, in answer to her question.

Before she could say anymore, he wrapped her in his arms, finally giving in to his desire, he kissed her.