American Candy

“I like spending all of my free time with me,” Matty laughed, combing his hand through Lark’s long hair.

Lark rolled her eyes playfully and pushed his hand away. Matty smiled fondly in return. He didn’t care when she did things like that, because he loved her. The two were currently sitting on the couch in the back of Weekend Misery’s tour bus.

“Your birthday is coming up,” Lark stated instead. “In like four days, right?”

Matty furrowed his brows and pulled back from her a little bit.

“How did you know that?”

“You’re Matthew Healy. I googled it,” She shrugged.

“Well alright then,” He laughed. “What if I googled you?”

“Matthew,” Lark rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t find anything.”

“Okay,” He sighed playfully. “I’m getting old,”

Lark shook her head at him, but tugged on one of the curls near his chin. She wrapped the curl around her finger and started to play with the spiral.

“Twenty-six is not old, Matthew,”

“I’m still twenty-five though! But….I’m glad you think so,” He laughed. “How old are you again? Ninety-eight?”

“On whatever,” She scrunched up her nose. “Nearly nineteen…..in like….nine months.”

Matty laughed, and pulled her hand from his hair and into his hand. Matty was genuinely happy. He felt like a weight was off of his shoulders once he cut it off with Maize. Frankly the girl was clingy, and annoying. He was sure that her bandmates were starting to think the same thing. It seemed like they all didn’t like the auburn haired girl anymore.

“You’re lucky that you’re a proper cutie.”

“And you’re lucky that I’m prone to making stupid decisions.” She teased, standing up from the couch. Her hand was still connected with his, she pulled Matty off of the couch. He smiled wide and willingly followed closely behind her. As they came into view of the front lounge, Lark dropped his hand without any warning. She did this all of the time when they were around other people. Frankly, it was hurtful. Much like that day three months ago, Matty wanted to shout how much he adored her. He didn’t know it would grow to this.

“Hey, guys.” Lark stated as she saw George and X sitting down and playing UNO. “What are you up to?”

“Just...chilling,” George sighed. “You?”

“Well we were-”

“Why don’t you guys come hang out with us?” Lark interrupted instead.

X chewed on her bottom lip, but looked at George. She wanted to say yes more than anything, but George hadn’t been up for much of anything since Nirvana was so harsh to him. Her best friend was hurting at the hands of another best friend of her’s.

“I don’t want to see you both snog the entire time,” George shrugged.

“G, we won’t.” Matty sighed. He chose to ignore the shocked look on Lark’s face. She shouldn’t have been, honestly. Matty told X ages ago. Lark was just shocked that George actually said it. “I promise, mate.”

X lightly elbowed him.

“Come on, G. It might be fun,” She said softly. “We need some fun in our boring lives, yeah?”

“I quite like being boring.” He said definately. “I’m not going anywhere,”

“Oh yes you are,” Matty stated. He walked over toward George and gripped him by the ear. George shouted and protested, but the mean trick got George off of the bus. Lark and X followed closely behind until they were all out in the parking lot of yet another venue.

“Why did you do that?!” George shouted. “I’m fine, Matt!” He yelled.

Matty crossed his arms.

“Yes because hiding from a girl who barely reaches your chin is normal.”

“What in the fuck do you know anyway,” George mumbled. “I don’t want to be out here. Can’t I just go back inside?”

“No,”

“Lark?”

Lark chewed on her lip and looked between the two.

“I’m sorry, G. No you can’t.”

“X? Come on...please? Lets just go back in there and finish our game.”

X twisted her hair.

“I’m...I’m sorry, George.”

“What the hell!” He yelled. “You’re supposed to be my best friends!”

“Which is why I dragged you out here.” Matty rolled his eyes. “Let’s go. Follow me.”

“Where are we going?” Lark asked, linking her hand with Matty’s again. She surprised herself when she did so, but the four of them were all so comfortable with each other. They all knew so...Lark was feeling brave. The action left Matty with a smug smile on his face. Lark was falling for him to, she just didn’t know it.

George didn’t want to admit that his friends came to his rescue. He admitted that he was being rather difficult about the entire situation. What happened with Nirvana made him feel a lot of things; things that he rather not discuss with anymore. He hadn’t opened up, he just went on about his day. He didn’t cry in front of anyone except X the day that it had happened.

So now George found himself in an Uber with Matty, Lark and X. Apparently having fun meant ditching the venue for somewhere else. He knew that Charles and TJ would kill them if they weren’t back in time for the show, but he was sure no one cared. Once Matty set his mind to something, he got it. If anything was proof of that, it was Lark who was sitting next to his band mate with their fingers laced and palms pressed together.

They stopped at a nice German restaurant that seemed to have not yet hit the rush of the day. It was really nice, and Lark felt out of place in her simple distressed overalls and black tank top. X was very grateful that she chose today to wear her only dress that she had packed for the tour. The lads didn’t seem to look uncomfortable at all where they were at. Lark both admired and wished that she had that kind of confidence. She just didn’t, and it made her feel worse that she couldn’t sometimes just enjoy herself.
“Is that really what your gonna get?” Matty laughed beside the girl.

She furrowed her brows and looked at him weirdly.

“Is that a bad thing?”

“C’mon Lark! Live a little. I don’t care if you get a burger or something. You don’t have to be a salad eater.”

George laughed.

“I wouldn’t have pegged you as a salad girl,” He stated.

“What does that mean?” X laughed, looking between the two men. She tried to avoid Lark because she knew that the girl was looking down. She would have made her friend feel worse if she would have looked over at her.

“You know, the girl who chooses to eat a salad in front of a date or male instead of what they really want,” Matty filled in. “I’m just making it known that I don’t care what you eat.”

Lark sighed, taking her hand from Matty and grabbing her water.
“Well, Matthew,” She stated. “I, am a vegetarian. Therefore, I love salads and despise burgers. I think that meat is disgusting, and I’d would be perfectly fine if I never have it again. That’s why I got the salad. I enjoy them. I also have a tomato and cheese sub coming.”

George snickered, and Matty let out a hearty laugh.

“That was well put,” He stated, beaming over at the girl. “Lesson learned, don’t mess with Larkin.”

“You should have learned that one months ago,” She dreamily sighed as she picked up her water once more.

X was jealous of the relationship that Matty and Lark had. They were fitting together so well, like Ross and herself had been. She wanted that back. She saw the way that Matty looked at her when she wasn’t paying attention. The male was completely gone for her and she wasn’t even aware of how much he adored her. Maybe Lark did? X didn’t really know. She just knew that it was sweet, and maybe Lark would finally get to a better place.

George was happy in the moment. He was feeling better just by being out of the same environment that they all had been in over the past few months. He also enjoyed seeing that Matty was genuinely happy again. He wasn’t sneaking around and the bag underneath his eyes had all but disappeared. That alone made George want to thank Lark a thousand times over. She had been someone that Matty had been spending quite some time looking for.

“War stories?” George asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked between X and Lark. X had brought up how they should exchange them. “I don’t think I’m following, love.”

X rolled her eyes.

“I said tour stories, George” X emphasized. “Tour, as in what we are on right now,”
Matty cracked up and Lark hit his shoulder. The male just winked back in return.

“Okay, I get it now,”

“Like, for instance, we were in Vegas. Vegas is freaking crazy. So there happened to be a group of girls who were like mega fans. They just came up to us and next thing I know, I’m being kissed. It was the strangest encounter. They didn’t even ask. I practically had a mental breakdown afterward.” Lark explained. “I can’t stand that.”

X looked down and then back up. She caught Lark’s gaze and she knew that if the guys didn’t go, things would get bad.

“We’ve had some fans like… show up on our bus naked.” Matty stated. “Some of them were under eighteen! It was literally the worst thing ever.”

“Ew.” X scrunched her nose. “I boarderline had a stalker. He was the creepiest fan.”

“I don’t think we have any great ones, really,” George sighed. “Well we do, but they’re all just so similar,”

“You’ve heard one and you’ve literally heard them all. I’d rather not bore you with all of the details.”

“Oh whatever,” X laughed loudly. “I hate to be the buzzkill…”

“Then I will,” Lark cut in. “It’s time to go.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Matty smirked at her and willingly followed her out of the booth. X slid out next and she was followed by a much more gleeful George.

It was almost perfect until the four of them were bombarded by fans and paparazzi.



Nirvana felt awful. She realized that she shouldn’t have been that harsh to George. She realized that she should have let Roxie and Ash move away from her. She should have done what she did in private. She knew that she went through with her plan in a way that made it all worse. She didn’t plan on being so mean to him, but he left her with no choice. That’s all Nirvana knew how to do.

Ross kept questioning what happened and why it had happened. He knew that Nirvana felt things for George that she was very much unwilling to admit to him or herself. Ross just wanted his friend to be happy. On one side, Ross was glad that George wasn’t taking his new friend away like he took X. On the other side, Ross was sad to see Nirvana and George so unhappy. He wanted to fix the issue.

Nirvana was wasting the past week trying her best to avoid George, and actually have decent conversations with other people on tour. She was shocked by how little Reckless Little Hearts had been interacting with everyone on this tour. Previously they were the loudmouths and were everywhere. They really had settled down. Ash told her to get over herself and go get her man. Nirvana did not like that plan, so she was left sulking alone.

To make matter’s worse, everyone was coming together for Matty’s birthday party. She was very aware that George would be there. Of course he would, he’s Matty’s best friend. The only thing that made her feel better was the fact that they were all heading to a hotel for the party and the night. Nirvana could disappear at any time she wanted to return to her own room.

“Hey…” Adam trailed off as he sat down beside Nirvana. “How are you?”

“I’m perfectly fine,” She replied in a simple voice. She tried her best to appear indifferent. “How are you?”

“I’m okay,” Adam shrugged. “I could definitely be better.”

Nirvana hummed in agreement.

“Yeah…”

“Maize is a bit….clingy for my taste. I don’t want to hurt her feelings though, you know? She’s a little...delicate right now,”

“You have too big of a heart, Hann.”

“And you have too small of one,” He shot right back. “I didn’t actually come over here to scold you, but...what you did to George was wrong. It was cruel and frankly, you’re a bitch,”

She was taken back slightly.

“Excuse me?”

“I don’t tell women or girls that, but it called for it. You’re mean and heartless, Nirvana. You only care about yourself. You’re doing this to save your ass, and you don’t care about what George is feeling. I may care too much. I may invest in people who I want little to do with or too much from, but I’m not mean. There’s a difference, and I feel sorry that you’ve been going through life so selfishly.”

With that, Adam Hann promptly got up and left to go help Lark with the decorations inside of the conference room in the hotel. He left Nirvana gaping like a fish who desperately needed water. She couldn’t honestly believe that Adam would say that to her. No one had ever talked to her like that before. It made her livid. If Adam thought she was so selfish and heartless, she’d show him just how selfish and heartless she could be.

With an agenda, Nirvana set off to go change into the sexiest outfit that she had with her on tour and tousled her hair. She tried her best to formulate a plan, but she figured a scheme would be too catchable. Nirvana wanted to shock people. She didn’t want them to catch on.

Down in the conference room of the hotel, George, Ross, Adam, X and Lark were all hanging Frozen decorations. It was all that they could get in such a short notice in the country that they were in. So with the help of Adam, Ross and George, Lark decided to throw a completely Frozen themed party. It was sure to embarrass Matty, which was always a plus in Lark’s book. The lads were completely for it. It wasn’t like there was a huge Tesco just sitting around and they could find whatever they wanted.

“God, this is tacky,” Maize stated with a sneer in her voice.

“It’s supposed to be,” X replied shortly to the drummer. Behind Ross, Lark was making faces to mimic Maize. The auburn haired girl was quickly becoming everyone’s least favorite person. She was just that girl.

“Annabelle would freak out right now,” Spencer stated as she entered the room with Roxie and Ash. “And this is for a male that is turning how old?”

“He’s going what age? Twelve?” Ash joked with a wink. “I can’t stand this. It’s so gross in here.”

“Excuse her please. She’s always negative,” Roxie playfully stated, leaving Ash mumbling about not being negative.

“For your information,” Lark sighed, hanging the decorations as she set on George’s shoulders. The tall male was there so lift her because the hotel refused to let them use laters. X, being only an inch or so taller than Lark, was on Adam’s shoulders so they could work equally as hard. It was funny to see them work around like that. “This is supposed to be the tackiest party that Matty has ever had. I want it to make him laugh, not happy. Actually that sounded wrong. I want him to be happy, but this is just so tacky and I couldn’t-”

“We get it, Lark,” X laughed, effectively cutting her friend off of her rambling. “He’s going to be really excited. Especially by the cake,”

They all got extremely lucky when it came to the cake. There was a bakery that willingly filled their order simply because of who went in. The baker’s must have been fans because just a few short hours after ordering the cake, they walked out with a custom one. The cake had been Matty’s head on Elsa’s body. George’s idea, actually, and it turned out bloody brilliant.

“What in the hell?” Nirvana stated as she walked into the room. Maize was the first to see her band mate. She looked pissed off at the world, but she was dressed to kill. “This looks like shit.”

George turned to glare at the raven-haired girl. He was almost satisfied when he realized that Lark was probably glaring at her as well.

“I’d like to see you put in this effort,” Lark mumbled, and Nirvana pretended that she didn’t hear the remark. She knew the instant that Lark glared at her that she had crossed-over a line. She didn’t want to hurt Lark even more by taking her confidence down. So Nirvana just went to sit with Emery, Ash, Roxie and Spencer as everyone waited for Liz to show up. Eventually the girl did show up while Lark and X, with the help of George and Adam, hung a banner that said happy birthday, Frozen themed of course.

“What is this?” A new voice asked. “What the hell,”

Matty was laughing and Lark’s smile turned so big it hurt her cheeks.

“Surprise!” She shouted, and he beamed back up at her. “George, you can put me down now,”

“Okay,” He laughed as he slowly lowered down until her feet hit on top of the table. From there, the girl jumped down and walked quickly over to Matty. She didn’t care at the moment who was watching, so she just wrapped her arms around his neck. She gripped onto him tightly and he returned her affections.

“Happy birthday, Matthew,” She whispered and felt her cheeks go a little warm. She didn’t want to blush, so she hid her face in his neck.

“Thank you so much, Larkin,” He replied, turning his head to press a kiss to her forehead. After his lips left her head, they pulled away from each other and Matty gave the room a proper look around. He was laughing as he saw all of the Frozen themed things. “George, you shouldn’t have.”

“Wasn’t me,” He shrugged. “The cake was though.”

“I’ll check it out in a minute,” Matty smiled, looking at everyone. X was now off of Adam’s shoulders and moving food further around the table.

“Let’s dig in!” She shouted enthusiastically.
They all gathered together and ate all of the food that was set before them. Lark sat closely beside him the entire time. It was honestly the best birthday he could have asked for, even if he was turning twenty-six. Everyone even went the extra mile and got him presents. He really loved having birthdays, regardless of how narcissistic that sounded.

George gave him a bag of weed, which really wasn’t such a surprise. Ross got him a few new black shirts and a floral one. He was grateful, because he had been meaning to buy more. Adam got him two bottles of his absolute favorite wine. X bought him tequila, which again was his favorite. Nirvana got him a sex toy, which didn’t surprise him. The ladies of Reckless Little Hearts got him an assortment of sunglasses, shirts and even shoes. He loved them already.

Lark got him a card. He was surprised by it at first, as he honestly expected something much bigger from her. By the time he got to her card, he found out that she was the one behind the ridiculous party. Matty swore that he fell in love even more. She ushered him to open the card and he did with an uneasy smile.

Happy birthday Matthew!
Okay, first, don’t read it outloud. It’s too embarrassing for me. …...So I know how weird this is. I wanted so bad to get you something that you would love, but I was just at a loss. I may have snuck into your personal belongings to find an idea, but then again you will never know. ;) Anyway, the thing that was in the card, the yellow piece of lined paper, yeah, that’s a coupon. It’s good for secrets. How it works is that when you’re dying to know something about me, or how I think about you, you can turn it into me. I have to be totally honest...and you do as well in return. It’s only good once, so use that sucker wisely.
Also...I called your mom..or mum. Whatever. I called her because I know you miss your family. I know how much they mean to you….and well...I arranged something. I’m not telling you when, but in a few weeks you will see your mum and brother.
Happiest of happy celebration of birth.
Sincerely Yours, Larkin.

“You’re so bloody perfect,” Matty stated, gripping the back of the girl’s head and placing his forehead against hers. “I can’t thank you enough. You’re brilliant.” He stated before he pressed a kiss to her lips, regardless of their company.

No one commented, but the tension was filled in the room. They all played music, drank and danced. They were all having the best time ever, but Lark stayed right by Matty. It wasn’t until the girl was yawning that Matty offered to walk her to her room. Everyone danced around the two until they started to head back upstairs.. They all tried not to say anything about the two of them while Matty waved and supported a sleepy girl on the way out.

When the two were gone, everyone rushed to the glass to see if they would see them. All they saw was Matty link his hand with the silver-haired girl’s hand and they cooed. Well, everyone except for Nirvana or Maize. When the party was over, they all worked quickly to tear down the banners and streamers. But Nirvana didn’t stay. Instead she claimed she didn’t feel well and wanted to go upstairs. X told her that it was fine, as she would stay with Maize for the night. Seeing as Lark had her own room, Nirvana was bunking with X instead. It just so happened that it all worked out.

Nirvana knew this was a bad idea. She knew that she was about to lose trust and possibly someone very important to her. Her mind screamed no. She even stopped at her door and almost went inside. She almost didn’t go through with her plan. However, that changed when she realized that she was going to do it to prove a point, no matter what. It also must have been something twisted inside of her. She didn’t care what though.

She waited as Matty left Lark’s room. She waited until he was standing near her. She reached out and pulled him toward her until she was pressed tightly between her door and his body. Matty looked shocked, and wasted, if she was honest. Nirvana didn’t care though. She leaned up and pressed a kiss forcefully to his mouth. He kissed her back, not as frantically as she was though.

“Wait….L-Lark’s sleeping. She’s sleeping and I can’t.” He mumbled. “I don’t.. please...I just.”

Nirvana smirked and let her hand run over the front of his jeans.

“Come on, Matty. You don’t expect me to believe that you’re going to turn down sex for some girl who doesn’t love you, do you?” She said in her most confident and sexiest voice.

“I...I shouldn’t. I’m too drunk, Ni. You can’t...this is bad.”

“You want me?” Matty didn’t say anything, but he nodded his head slowly. “Good. Forget about the rest. Let’s go have fun,” She whispered before pressing her lips to his. This time, Matty made a slightly better effort to kiss her at the same pace. She turned and opened the hotel room door before wrapping her arms around his neck. He grabbed the back of her thighs and lifted the girl up. Once her legs were secure they walked forward, never breaking their lip contact. He slammed the door, already knowing that he wouldn’t remember in the morning. He just hoped that no one saw and that Lark would never found out.

Naturally, X and George were conveniently coming down the hall and saw the entire exchange.