American Candy

The thing is that Matty did not want to let Maize go. Despite their huge differences in both personality, age, and lifestyle, he had grown attached to the girl. She wasn’t Nirvana, X, or Lark. She was her own person; different from the rest of her group. Matty liked that. He liked how naive the girl was, and how she just believed in him. She was his cheerleader, that’s for sure. No one saw that though. It might have something to do with running away from the girl, but Matty was actually interested in spending time with her. He just didn’t want to all of the time.

“You look beautiful, love.” He said earnestly.

“Thank you,” She beamed.

They were in some dimly lit restaurant in a town that Maize couldn’t properly pronounce. He bought them a bottle of wine, and they ate the best pasta. Matty was a true gentlemen, and he tried to be on his best behavior. He didn’t want the girl to catch on to his infatuation with Lark or his night time visits with Nirvana. He did actually want her to think that she was the only one. Matty didn’t know why, but he couldn’t just break her heart.

The evening was great, filled with sweet looks and lovely conversation. They had a blast, and they enjoyed themselves. Maize didn’t want to say it, but she had fallen in love with Matty. She was thinking that he was feeling the same way, because this evening was perfect. She didn’t want to say it though. She didn’t want to tell him that she felt this way. Maize didn’t want to scare him off by revealing too much. It’s happened before.

As the night went on, Matty suggested that they headed back to the hotel, and Maize just nodded. She wasn’t going to disagree with him at all. Maize was bursting to tell Matty, well anyone, that she was falling in love. She wanted to shout it out for the world to hear. Maize wanted to tell the girls in her band what was really happening, but she knew that it wasn’t the wisest idea. She knew that would end up badly, though she didn’t know the real reason why.

Matty was a true gentleman, down to the very end. Maize considered herself lucky that the lead singer always was sure to take care of her. Matty was a generous lover. He enjoyed taking care of someone else much more than himself, and that made her beam in happiness. In the afterglow of the night, Matty laid half-asleep with Maize to his side. While he was trying to sleep, she was staying up and looking at him. She felt her heart explode and she couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“I think I love you,” She sighed before pressing a kiss to his bare shoulder and getting comfortable next to him. Matty’s eyes shot up and he tried to stay as still as possible. He waited until he knew that the girl was asleep. Slowly, expertly, he crawled out of her bed. After he was dressed, he grabbed the hotel notepad and pen from the stand. He thought for a moment before writing down a simple message;

I had to go, sorry love xx

With the message written, he slowly snuck out of her hotel room, and down the hall. Of course with his luck, he had forgotten his room key. He knocked a few times on his own door, but there was no response. He almost resorted to calling George names when a sleepy-eyed X answered the door instead.

“Oh...I’m sorry. I thought that I was at my room,” He stated, looking utterly confused.

“You are,” X sighed. “Come in,”

“Where’s G?” Matty asked her.

“He’s not here,” X sighed. “He’s letting me crash here for the night since you went out with Maize.”

Matty smiled bitterly.

“Oh okay,”

“What happened?” X asked, raising her eyebrows at the man standing in front of her.

He shook his head at her and walked toward his bathroom instead. X decided to sit back down and watch whatever movie was on the tv. X heard the shower going and she realized that she felt bad for him. He looked gutted when he walked into the room. There was also a hint of fear there. She wasn’t sure what happened with Maize, but she figured that it couldn’t be good. He looked far too frazzled for it to have been the perfect night.

Matty joined the pink-haired girl on the bed. He didn’t want to sound like a proper bird, but he wanted to be cuddled. There weren’t many times that the male would admit that. Yet, here he was, invading X’s personal space. Eventually the girl sighed and caught on. She laid back and opened her arms. It must have been an odd sight, she thought. Matty’s head was laying on her chest, and his legs wrapped around hers. Even though he was taller than she, he managed to make himself incredibly small. X’s arms were wrapped around him, her hands combing through his wet hair.

“She told me that she thought she loved me,” He sighed, finally.

“Whoa…” X trailed off. “I mean...did she know that you were awake?”

“Probably not,” Matty sighed. “I don’t think I love her, or if I ever will.” As Matty admitted it out-loud, he felt freedom. He didn’t realize how unhealthy it was to keep it inside of him. He wasn’t sure if he ever would love her, and he was coming to terms with that in his own way.

“You’ve created quite the web, Mr. Healy.”

“I know,” He admitted. “The worst part is that I’ve fallen for someone who doesn’t want me,”

X’s heart felt for him, as she was in the same position that he was. She had fallen for Ross. She wasn’t in love with the bass player, but she fancied the pants off of him. Ross still wasn’t trying anything, and it seemed like their relationship had gotten worse. He wasn’t ignoring her, but he definitely wasn’t pursuing her either. She felt at a loss, and George was trying to divide his time between her and Nirvana. The pair had grown quite close, so much that George felt comfortable sharing his secrets with the female bass player.

“Matty, I know that this sucks…” X didn’t get a chance to continue because Matty had pressed his lips to hers desperately. She was so shocked at first that she didn’t know what to do. Instinct kicked in, and she started to move her lips with his effortlessly before pulling back. “Matty, stop...we can’t.”

“Why not?” He asked, looking up at her with hurt eyes. She could have sworn she saw tears building.

“We’ve already hooked up a few times and we agreed...I just...not again, okay?” She sighed. “You’re miserable, and this is only going to make it worse okay?”

Matty acknowledged defeat. He wasn’t going to get any better from running from it. It was going to get deeper and more entangled than he already was. Maize was in love with him, X knew his tricks. Nirvana wanted sex and Lark pretended it meant nothing. He was stuck, and suddenly, Matty realized that he only had himself to blame.

If only he didn’t fall so fast, he wouldn’t be in this mess



Nirvana watched George intently as he interacted with X and Matty. It seemed like all of the sudden, the three had become a weird trio. They talked and interacted with each other much more than anyone else. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it. George was spending more time with her, but because of that, Matty had pulled back. She wanted her cake and to eat it too. Nirvana wanted to have fun, and she was slowly realizing that this was becoming less about the fun.

Maize was jealous that X was getting her guy’s attention. Just a week or so previous, they had a fantastic evening together. Now it was definitely different as Matty went back to his usual self, and she couldn’t get alone time with him. He spent way too much time with George and X for her liking. She was pissed that the pink-haired girl would carry on a conversation with him like they were old friends.

Adam was suspicious of the three. It hadn’t been that long ago that he caught the three coming back from what seemed to be a sexual activity. He wasn’t sure honestly, but it felt obvious to him. He just thought that it was weird that now they were spending their time together. It was almost as weird as Ross and Lark becoming friends. That one confused him a bit, but it seemed like he was the only one that Lark wasn’t talking to. Ever since Adam saw Lark and Matty get hot and heavy, he’d been wairy. He felt like he had to tell her about Maize.

“X! No!” George laughed boisterously. “You can’t bloody do it!”

“I can to,” The pink playfully winked before looking over at Matty. “I can totally do it, can’t I, Healy?”

Matty just shrugged.

“Sure,” He laughed. “Feel free to try it.”

“Maybe I will then,” The girl stated, pinching the singer lightly on the arm. “You guys know nothing,”

George rolled his eyes before ruffling her hair.

“Go for it then, lovebug.”

At that, Nirvana’s eyes moved even further into slits and she was out of the room so fast that no one even noticed. She loathed hearing that George was calling X pet names so openly. She got that he wanted X more than her in public, whatever. It was the fact that he called her friend something so cute, and it made Nirvana want to pull her own hair out. She walked until she found Ross and Lark jamming out together. She flopped down beside her friend with an irritated noise.

“Uh oh…” Lark sighed, stopping her strumming. “What happened, V?”

Nirvana shot her best friend a look for calling her a nickname, before looking over at Ross. His eyebrows were raised rather high, and stopping his movements as well. He felt slightly uncomfortable, but didn’t do anything about it. The dark-haired girl just shook her head, and sat back further on the couch.

“Play me anything,”

Ross shrugged.

“Okay...let’s just continue…”

Lark nodded before starting the song, and Ross jumped in to join her. Nirvana sat back and enjoyed what she was hearing. It went on until Adam entered the room, and sat on the same couch that Ross was.

“What are you guys playing?”

“A little something,” Lark laughed. She stopped playing and Ross followed. “We just wrote it.”

“Well, Lark wrote the lyrics and stuff. We just so happened to write the guitar parts together.”

“I thought you played bass,” Nirvana joked.

“Hey now,” Ross laughed before re-positioning the strap on his shoulder. “No comments out of you.”

Adam shook his head.

“Can we actually hear the song?”

“I...yeah, sure,” Lark nodded. “I think it’s ready?”

“Definitely,” Ross laughed.

They were about to start playing when Maize walked in the room and joined the group.

“Oh man! Jamming!” She laughing, sitting down on the couch opposite to the four musicians.

“Shut up so they can play.” Nirvana groaned. Lark looked at Maize and rolled her eyes. It was the first true interaction the friend have had in a month or so. Maize figured that she would take it.

“1, 2, 3, 4…” Ross counted off before strumming his guitar. Lark jumped in before she started to sing.

I carry the weight of you in my heavy heart
And the wind is so icy, I am numb
I carry the weight of you heading back to start
With a thousand eyes on me, I stumble on

I am tired, I’m growing older
I’m getting weaker every day, yeah
I carry the weight of you
I carry the weight of you

No one seemed to notice but Matty, X, and George had slipped in as well. In fact, the trio had all gotten there before Lark even began to sing. While George and X sat down on the couch with X, Matty chose to lean up against the door frame instead. He was comfortable with not looking at her face at the moment. He was sure it revealed way too much.

Lay down here beside me in the shallow water
Beside me where the sun is shining on us still
Lay down here beside me in the hallowed water
Beside where the silver lining stays until
The sirens’ calling

We follow the sun down low ‘til we hit the night

Matty decided to move until he was visible, sitting on the ground in front of Lark and Ross. He was mostly to the side, but he had the best seat. He leaned back until his back hit X’s legs.

And you hold me so tightly, it’s hard to breathe, oh
And I’m tired, I’m growing older
I’m getting weaker every day, yeah
We follow the sun down low
We follow the sun down low

Lay down here beside me in the shallow water
Beside me where the sun is shining on us still
Lay down here beside me in the hallowed water
Beside where the silver lining stays until
The sirens’ calling
The sirens’ calling

Nirvana was actually smiling at how carefree her friend was while she sang, she wished that Lark was like this all of the time.
Maize was excited; they would have a new song to play.
X was nervous, as Matty wouldn’t stop moving around in his spot on the floor.
Lark took a deep breath, giving a small amount of eye contact to Matty.

Yeah, I’m tired, I’m growing older
I’m getting weaker every day, yeah
I am drowning and you’re stealing every breath
Take me away and just

Lay down here beside me in the shallow water
Beside me where the sun is shining on us still
Lay down here beside me in the hallowed water
Beside where the silver lining stays until
The sirens’ calling
The sirens’ calling

George was impressed, as was Adam. Ross was beaming from his spot as he played the guitar along with the girl. When they finished, the band members clapped. They had truly enjoyed the song. Nirvana now had a look in her eye as she eyed Ross up and down. Matty was beaming at Lark. George was laughing along with X, and Adam congratulated Ross on not fucking up while he played. Maize enjoyed the song. She enjoyed it so much that she was looking around to make sure that the rest of the group had responded properly to the song. She was happy about it, well until she looked at Matty. When she looked at him, her heart felt like it dropped to her stomach. She felt like she was going to choke up or run away. When she looked at him, she felt weird inside.

Maize certainly felt weird because suddenly she knew what Matty’s face looked like when he was in awe; when he was in love. She just knew and supposed that maybe no one else did. No, for the first time, Maize saw what Matty looked like when he was looking at something or someone he loved.

And he wasn’t looking at her. No, Matty was looking at Nirvana.

At least, that’s what she thought. Turns out, Matty was really looking into the silver-haired girls eyes and he never felt so warm inside. Maize stood up abruptly, leaving without a warning to anyone else.
Tangled webs, indeed.