RHYS:
rhys was grateful to have met mattie when he did – he knew that most weren’t lucky enough to find someone so genuinely open and caring, more worried about you then they were for themselves. it was a kind of love and care that he wasn’t used to, a type of intimacy that they didn’t often write stories about. but there was definitely something magical about the way mattie could be such a good friend; rhys remembered being young, of wanting a sibling, wanting someone to be required company in a world where he felt like he was all on his own, with no one to understand him. then he met the beautiful blonde, the girl that was brighter than sunshine, always making it a priority in her day to make other people feel good, to make him specifically feel great. she never let him be too hard on himself, and was probably the only person in his life that could pull him out of the dark place he went in his throughs when things got too difficult.
and now they were here, sitting on the roof, reminiscent of the many early mornings and late nights they had spent together back in their city. he breathed in, and he was glad that at least los angeles was just as smoggy as home – it almost smelled the same. but before, things were much easier, not wrought with death of a once-friend, of tragedy striking so soon after the first; he wanted things to be how they used to, when he could breath lighter, the weight of the world and the fate of the very people he was trying to protect resting on his shoulders. ‘ how about you go first, hm ? i don’t think anything i have to tell you is all that interesting. i mean, it’s me, so you know it will at least be melodramatic. ’ he smiles, nudging her with his shoulder before giving her a half smile. ‘ tell me what’s going on, kid. ’
‘ oh please, anything to me at this point will be interesting. especially if it involves you ! ’ she replies affectionately with a bump of her elbow. an exhale escapes her as she looks out to the setting sun and then back at rhys as she prepares herself to finally, finally let herself find some sort of relief in telling him what she’s kept bottled up within her. mattie typically hates burdening people with her own emotions and problems, but with rhys, at least, she didn’t fear judgment. ‘ okay, yeah... i guess the only really big thing that went down was, um... i had a crush on rafe. ugh, that hurts to say now, ’ she interjects with a laugh followed by a small shrug, ‘ but i did. and it didn't work out. we kinda had this big blow up at the gala way back in may and we haven't really talked about it since, you know ? suffice to say, i’m over said crush now and don’t intend to really talk to him either... i mean, he said some choice words that i think he should apologize for. i think i let some things get to my head too, but i’m not sorry for it all, i guess ? ’ she pauses, a clear echo of her words to him and his words to her resound in her mind. ‘ so i guess that's my update. your turn ! ’
