you love me?
summary : matt is scared of fucking up his first valentineâs day with jess!â #jessmatt post-canon until dawn! jess has a sister #tw mentions of death, abuse, alcoholism, body dysmorphia, slight nudity, mentions of weed.
⢠cross posted on ao3!!
matthew taylor rung the riley familyâs doorbell holding a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a gift bag holding a jewelry box with a valentines day card in the other. he waited a beat until he heard footsteps on the other side of the door. jessicaâs mother, joan, opened the door for him. âaww are these for my little goldy locs?â she cooed before giving matt a hug. âhow are you sweetheart?â she asked, taking the bouquet into her own hands and leading him to the kitchen to grab a vase. their house was ginormous compared to his, granted they had another daughter in college and a guest bedroom. so it made sense considering matt is an only child, his own house seemed huge to others as well, but jessâ house blew his mind every time he stepped inside.
âiâm doing alright mrs. riley.â he smiled politely.
âjeez, donât make me feel older than i already am matthew! please, call me joan.â she laughed in fake offense.
jess was a lot like her mother, at least the good parts. jessâ âbitch sideâ came from the trauma of her abusive, now deceased father. he was a drunk, but jess still loved him. everyone went to support jess at his service back in seventh grade, bringing their own families with them. jess didnât cry until it was just her and emily by his grave. everyone knew after chris asked where the pair were located, sam found them, but her and chris convinced everyone to not bother them, and causing everyone to agree simultaneously out of respect.
anyways, back to the present.
âsorry, joan, iâm just nervous.. do you think sheâll like the flowers?â matt said nervously.
âthey look expensive, so iâd say so!â she smiled, âplus it came from you matthew, she cares about you deeply. sheâll love them no matter what.â she put her hand on his shoulder. he put his own on hers before saying a quiet thank you.
âokay! letâs get these bad boys in some water!â she removed her hand and scanned her cabinets for the perfect vase, âdo you want red, white or pink?â
âpink would be excellent mrs-â she raised an eyebrow at him, âjoanâ he smiled, feeling his nerves lessen as he scratched the back of his neck smiling. he always felt welcomed in the riley household. anna-marie always made sex jokes towards the couple to embarrass jess, but she genuinely respected matt enough to smoke her weed outside so he wouldnât smell like it the next day at practice, so he wouldnât have smell like it and feel the embarrassment of getting drug tested as an athlete. joan was kind and when she found out matt was the reason jess made it out alive that night.. letâs just say heâs been invited to many family dinners, even with mike in the picture.
he often declined politely back then, respectfully saying it was mainly mike that saved her.
jess dumped mike for matt ironically, just after emily and matt broke up. mike respected her decision and is now a single man that was very obviously into sam now. mikeâs a romantic, even though he was a player, so the pressure was on considering it was his and jessâ first valentineâs day together so it had to be perfect.
joan found a curvy, soft pink glass vase and put it on the kitchen counter after filling it about â of the way with water. she picked up the flowers she took from matt earlier and put them in the vase before saying, âdonât overthink it. i can see the nervousness in your eyes,â smiled, ânow, sheâs upstairs.. and you look quite dapper matthew. sheâll blush like a schoolgirl.â
she waved him off and he headed up the stairs with the gift bag in his hand. he quietly muttered to himself âsheâs gonna love it.â
her door was slightly cracked open.
âjess? you ready?â matt asked from the other side.
the door opened fully and matt was met with jessica in just her bra and panties. matt blushed immediately and started to look away out of respect. until jess grabbed him by the side of his face, pulling him in for a soft kiss.
âhi prince charming. youâve seen more than this before, donât act stupid now.â she said now lightly patting his face, âcome in!â
âyeah, right, sorry. itâs just, you look more and more beautiful every time. it feels like the first time no matter the situation.â he said as he walked into her primarily pink room. she had a speaker playing âi wanna be loved by youâ by marilyn monroe. he put the gift bag on her vanity.
she blushed before pushing matt lightly onto the bed. she stood in front of matt for a second before looking in the mirror.
she scrunched up her face, â i donât see it. not anymore.â
matt grabbed her waist.
âlook at me, you are the most gorgeous woman i have ever seen in my life. iâm lucky i even got a chance with you.â he said wholeheartedly.
she blushed again, she crossed her arms, âthank you, you dork. i know you hate when i talk bad about myself, but i canât help it.â she said, brushing his face with the back of her hand.
âi understand, but your âflawsâ are so fucking beautiful jess.â
jessica decided she wanted to cuddle before they went out. so she told matt she wanted to lay down briefly. he obliged and they enjoyed each otherâs body heat for an unknown period of time.
âiâm glad my sisters at a party, because if she walked in on this she wouldâve ruined the moment.â jess whispered as she played with the collar on matts button up.
âyeah, she goes overboard sometimes.â matt chuckled softly.
âlet me finish getting ready and then we can go.â jess smiled, before she pryed herself out of matts hold.
he sat up.
âyou mean after you get ready and open your gift.â he smiled.
âoh yeah,â she laughed, âthe gift before.. the gift.â she winked causing matt to laugh at her antics.
she turned around and pulled a wrapped box out of her closet.
âi got this for you.â she said softly. it was a big fucking box so matt just stared in awe for a second before eventually getting out an, âare you sure?â
jess just laughed and put the box in front of him on her bed. âopen it, youâll love it.â she looked at him in anticipation.
he undid the pink bow and opened up the box and was met with a variety of things, including a jacket saying, âi love my girlfriend!â with a picture of jess in the heart. he laughed at that, âi think this will be my favorite in this box!â he looked up at her, but she nodded indicating at a âkeep going.â
he dug around some more and the second layer were a pairs of football and sonic socks. the final layer however, made matt tear up a bit.
it was every single picture of him and jess together since they started dating with the final page being a diary entry; god matt looks so cute today! how could emily treat him so poorly? he such a gentleman!! manifesting a break up soon! idc if emily hates me after this tbh. he saved my life and god his ability to make me feel human and normal, no matter how many stares i get in public.. he helps me in so many ways, but i canât tell mike. iâll play the long game! manifesting that heâll be my boyfriend asap - jess.
âyouâve liked me for this long?â matt looked up at jess. she just nodded her head, âwhy? is that weird?â
he stood up and held her close, ânot at all.. i donât think my gift will top this one.â
they kissed passionately until jess moaned and started to undo his buttons on his shirt.
ânot yet my love.â matt smirked and pulled away.
he grabbed the gift bag from her vanity top, âsince you clearly arenât getting dressed soon-â
âi donât know what to wear.â jess corrected him.
matt laughed, âokay, okay. since you donât know what to wear, this might help.â
jess took the relatively medium-sized bag and started going through it. it was filled with her favorite candies, a yankee candle, a card and a small jewelry box.
she picked up the card as it read; happy valentineâs day to my favorite person ever! iâm so glad i get to call you my girlfriend, i love you - matt
âi love you?â she turned to him.
she hugged him so tight, it felt like her arms were gonna fall off, âi love you too matt.â she sobbed in his arms bringing them to the floor. she pulled away, mascara running, âi canât believe our first, i love you, was in card form matthew!â she punched him lightly and smiled, causing him to smile back.
âopen the last one, babe.â he smiled and kissed her on the cheek.
so she did and it was a silver necklace with small diamonds flooding through it getting bigger and bigger until it reached the middle where there held a ruby heart.
jessica was shocked, âhow did you afford this?â
matt shrugged, âpicked up a few extra shifts with my dad.â
she hugged him again.
âmy gift feels like nothing now!â she said as matt pulled the both of them up with ease.
âyour gift is perfect jess. i love you.â matt blushed, still nervous for her reaction to that phrase.
âi love you too.. can you put this on please?â she said happily.
âshit, yeah!â matt put the necklace on jess, and they stood in front of the mirror together looking incredibly happy. except the mascara part.
âplease donât tell me you made reservations within the next hour?â jess realized.
âwe missed ours,â matt shook his head lightly, âbut i think a cheap dine-in will cut it.â
jess laughed and started getting dressed, fixing her makeup in the process.
she put on a short, white lacey, strappy, backless dress and some red, short fancy looking heels.
âletâs go to our dine-in my good sir.â she grabbed his hand, âhow much do you wanna bet weâll find ashley and chris there?â
âvery likely.â
they left after jess said goodbye to her mother and noticed the flowers.
they got in matts car.
âyouâre definitely getting a little more attention tonight..â jess said flirtatiously.
matt blushed, âweâll see where the night takes us.â
they gave each other a peck on the lips.
âweâre gonna look so stupid.â jess laughed and covered her face in her hands.
âstupidly cute.â matt said as he reversed out of the driveway.
âi hope so!â












