baby blurb bc my tongue looks weird :))
tw for hypochondria and medical anxieties!!! //
you shake matt awake at two in the morning.
“matt,” you mumble, shaking his shoulder gently, “maaatt,” you try again, “baby, wake up, it’s important.”
it’s not that matt doesn’t believe you, or doesn’t care or doesn’t have any concern for your health, it’s just that as he lifts his head from the pillow, blinking away sleep, he seriously doubts that.
you’ve woken him up late at night before, scared that you’re dying. you got a root canal when you were younger and when you’re stressed, you clench your jaw, so that spot hurts. matt remembers dating you for a few months, then getting woken up late at night by your sobs as you tried to wrap your head around a potential infected abscess in that tooth.
matt couldn’t tell you at the time, but he knew it wasn’t an infection. he listened really closely and knew there was nothing flowing in the empty space beneath the replacement crown you had in the back of your mind.
at the time, he had kissed your tears away, given you some ibuprofen and told you to get some sleep, that if you were still in pain in the morning, he’d get you to the dentist, but there was nothing the two of you could do about it so late at night. he held you tight until he could tell by your heartbeat that you’d fallen asleep. of course the next morning, you felt much better.
this had happened a few times over the course of your relationship. you, overthinking, would make yourself even worse off by imagining all the horrible things every little ailment could be. a pain in your nail was accused of being ingrown, a bump in your mouth was accused of being cancerous, and ringing in your ears was tinnitus (okay, that one actually was tinnitus, so your hypochondriac tendencies weren’t always unfounded)
but no matter how many times matt had found himself woken up after a long night of being daredevil, he couldn’t find it in himself to be mad at you. you were scared, you just needed to be reassured. it was his job as your boyfriend to gently talk you off the ledge, get you to rest, and deal with it in the morning.
“what is it, honey?” he asks and you bite your lip.
“nothing, it’s stupid, i’m sorry.”
matt lets out a deep chuckle, one that makes your head spin. his voice is thick with sleep, and he rests his cheek back on his pillow, head tilted towards you.
he sleeps in nothing but his boxer briefs, and right now, he’s sleeping on his stomach, arms around his pillow. his hair is messy, and the lights of nighttime in hell’s kitchen barely illuminate his features. his back is the sexiest thing about him, especially in this pose. you can just make out the shape of his nose.
“i’m already up, sugar. what’s up?” he yawns. you melt. sugar is his ‘i’m too tired to not be horrifically in love with you, you’re not bothering me and i would do anything for you’ nickname.
“my tongue looks weird.” as soon as you say it, you’re embarrassed.
“looks weird how?” it’s been a while since matt has seen a tongue, but he knows how one should look.
“like.. it’s got weird edges.” you try to explain, “like the sides of my tongue have a squareness to them.”
matt runs through all the likely possibilities, before deciding on,
“i think that can be a sign of clenching your jaw. driven by stress.” which, you know you suffer from. “maybe we should look into getting you a mouth guard.” his words are laced with sleep, and you slink down into the bed, curling into his side. one arm removes itself from his pillow to wrap around you, pulling you close so he can inhale your scent.
“i’d look like a dork.” you grumble, and matt smiles sleepily.
“somehow, i don’t think i’d mind.” it makes you half laugh, half scoff.
“i’m serious.”
“so am i.” he kisses your shoulder. “if you think it’ll help you sleep through the night, you can at least try it. whatever’s gonna make you the most comfortable.” he promises, and you melt like ice cream.
matt’s pretty much the only person who never dismisses your anxieties about your health, instead trying to gently help you to overcome them.
“thank you, matthew.” you kiss whatever patch of skin your lips can reach. he hums in response, already falling back asleep.
“anytime, sugar.”
