Chapter Fifty Two - Our Anchor

This one's mine...

The words kept playing in my head over the music in the car. The drive back home was a lot like the drive to the gig—me cutting glances at him and him driving in silence. The only difference was he wasn't at ease this time as I could tell by his clenched jaw and tight grip on the steering.

"Matt," I finally called.

He turned the music volume down like he'd just been waiting for me to say something.

"What?"

I swallowed, building up some courage before demanding, "What you said to Brett back there, what was that?"

His eyes fell on me, and he watched me for a moment, then shifted his gaze back to the road ahead and, without saying anything, cranked the music volume back up.

My jaw dropped as a wave of irritation washed over me. And right then, I was really thankful to have reached home because the second he stopped the car in front of my house, I stomped out and slammed the door shut behind me loudly, flouncing towards my house.

"Rebekah," he called. "I need to talk to you."

"Well, I don't. Not anymore. Too late. Nope," I said over my shoulder.

"I'll be in your room before midnight. Stay up for me."

I scoffed. The audacity.

"I said I don't wanna talk to you. Don't come!"

I stayed up nonetheless.

Not because I was waiting for Matt or anything. But because I was scrolling through Instagram. Anxiously.

A tap on the window made me jump out of my bed, and I almost dropped my phone in the rush to pull the window open.

And there he was, the cranky asshole who appeared to be in a nice mood now as he stared up at me with the same humour I'd found on his face when he'd showed up drunk a night ago.

"I asked you not to come."

"You're really gonna leave me hanging here?" He squished his brows together and pursed his lips, once again trying to be cute. And did it immediately work on me? As pathetic as it was, yes.

I crossed my arms and stepped aside to let him in. He climbed through quickly and shut the window after himself.

"Would it kill you to use the front door?"

"I don't like being announced all the time."

"Don't feel the need to announce yourself when you're leaving either. Oh yeah, you can do that whenever you want because I'm in no mood to talk." With that, I got into bed, pulled the covers on top of me, and turned my back to him.

I heard him sigh.

"I didn't want to talk in the car because I needed to clear my head before I said something."

"Was your head not clear enough when you said I'm yours? Or is your ego too big to see me even talk to some other guy?"

I heard his footsteps getting closer, nearing my bed. "You were about to exchange numbers with him. I said what felt right in that moment."

My eyes widened for a second. With a murderous scowl, I sat up on the bed to face him squarely. "So, you didn't mean that."

"That's not—"

"I don't know what you want anymore, Matt. I tell you how I feel, and you ignore it. You act like you don't want me, and then you tell some other dude I'm yours. We—us—we can't exist only when you're jealous of some guy, okay? Oh wait—my bad. Now you're just gonna deny being jealous and make me look like the idiot—"

"I was..." he cut me off, "jealous."

I heaved in a slow breath, registering his words.

"And I never meant to make you feel like that. You're the one who's made it clear to me several times that you and I could never happen, so forgive me if it took me a while to realize you'd changed your mind."

I let out a scoff as I stepped out of bed to level with him. It didn't help since he was taller than me, but I'd still rather stand before him than sit in my bed and appear to be clutching my sheets to keep it together in front of him.

"I kissed you while I was with Sean, the guy I've been crushing over for more than a year, and you still needed time to figure my actions out?"

"You told me that kiss was a mistake. That it just happened in the moment."

"And about five minutes later, you proved me wrong. Am I the only one who remembers the party? And am I the only one who remembers how you pushed me away right after that kiss in your bedroom? Was I supposed to tell you it meant so much to me when it meant nothing to you?"

"Nothing?" His eyes darkened, and he took a slow and deliberate step in my direction. "Were you not there when it happened?"

"I-I..." I faltered, cheeks heating up, and my gaze dropped down to my hands. "Then, you should've said something sooner."

"When? While you were with this guy that you took up a six-month challenge for?"

My mouth opened. "Alright, fine! Everything's my fault. You're just a vict—"

"Shut up." He took the final step between us.

Once again, I was taken aback as I let out a little gasp. "Excuse me? What did you ju—"

I didn't get the chance to finish my question when his hand curled around the nape of my neck and snatched me up against him. And then, his lips crashed against mine.

I forgot everything I had to say or complain once his perfect lips started to move against mine. He'd taken me by surprise, so I was immobile, but his kiss held enough passion for the both of us as his mouth hungrily devoured mine. As I began to arch my back, his other hand cupped around my face to keep it in place. Butterflies erupted in the pit of my stomach, and I felt so many emotions in a single second, I thought I was going to explode.

And just as unexpectedly as he'd kissed me, he pulled away just as I'd started to melt against him.

I stared at his face, breathless. Then, I lowered my gaze to his neck, feeling wildered from the kiss. My breath came in a little shaky as I licked my lips once, still feeling the aftershocks of his electric touch.

"Becks." His voice was soft. I suddenly felt all mushy inside when he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "You have any idea how long I've wanted to do that and had to hold myself back because I thought you didn't want the same?"

I felt bad all of a sudden. All this time, I'd been giving myself reasons not to be with him while he'd wanted nothing more than to have me in his life. How could I have been so naive?

But despite the regret, his words made a deep blush appear on my cheeks. "So, you do have a thing for me."

His thumb caressed my cheek as a soft look reached his eyes. "You think?"

I bit down on my lip to stifle a smile.

As I stared into his deep brown eyes that looked at me like I was the most fascinating thing they'd ever seen, I couldn't believe it—he was finally mine.

My childhood nemesis Matthew Williams liked me, and I liked him back.

This was surreal.

I was so lost in my happy space that when my phone started ringing, I started to vibe to my ringtone in my head like an idiot until I realized someone was calling me. Blinking, I grabbed my phone from my bed, and it was a FaceTime call from Meera.

My brows pulled together, wondering why she'd be calling at midnight until I remembered she'd gone on a date with Chad and said she'd be telling us all about it later at night.

I silenced my phone without answering and looked up at Matt. "It's Meera, probably calling to fill me in about her date."

His eyes lingered on my face before he averted them towards the window with a nod. "I guess I should head home now."

It was more of a question, and when I didn't stop him, he started walking.

I was disappointed. I wanted him to stay a little longer. I felt like talking to him just a little more. Either way, I followed him to the window.

"You can use the front door. I can sneak you out," I offered.

"You can barely sneak yourself out through your front door, and I don't wanna get you in trouble."

I rolled my eyes playfully just as he pulled the window open. Right before climbing out, he turned around to probably say goodbye.

And when his eyes met mine, I felt all air leave my lungs, and I had to fold my arms behind my back to stop myself from pulling him back in. Swallowing, I offered him a little smile.

I don't know what he read on my face because he just froze right there for a moment. Then he advanced back to me.

Whatever he read, he read right.

He closed the distance between us with one large leap and kissed me like there was no tomorrow. This time prepared, I threw my arms around his neck and lifted myself up on my tip toes to match his height, not like I was succeeding at it but he easily took out the problem by wrapping his arms around me and hauling me up.

I'd kissed him before and always felt tingles in my body. This time, I felt relief, too. I wasn't burdened with the guilt of cheating on my boyfriend or worried about getting rejected by Matt again. He liked me just as much as I liked him.

I buried my fingers in his hair and smiled against his lips. He seemed to have felt that as he pulled away and just gazed at me, then he gently stroked my face with his knuckles while his other hand remained intact around my waist.

"I can say it out loud this time," I muttered breathlessly. "Wow!"

He brought his forehead against mine and chuckled. After a pause, he asked, "Does this mean you're my girlfriend?"

"You bet your ass I am."

*****

I woke up with a big smile on my face the next morning, hugging my pillow as I recalled our kiss from last night. Just the image gave me butterflies in my stomach, and I sighed dreamily.

"Did you have fun at the gig last night?" Mom stepped into the kitchen just as I was done with my breakfast and was placing my dishes in the sink.

"Yes." I smiled brightly. "A lot."

"What gig?" Dad frowned from the island while sipping on his coffee. It was a rare occurrence that my parents were not just home before I left for school but were also having breakfast with me.

"I went with Matt. He's a singer, so he usually gets these gigs. It was a nice place. I really enjoyed myself."

Dad nodded. "Which reminds me, how's that animal project coming up?"

"Huh?"

"You and Matt find homes for abandoned and abused pets?" He raised a brow.

"Oh, that. Yeah, we dropped it. It was too much for just the two of us."

"That's what I told you." He shrugged.

"What? Dropped it?" Mom blinked at me. "Are you gonna take up another one?"

"Um...no."

She frowned. "That was supposed to go in your college application, wasn't it?"

I stuttered, "I-it's not that big of a deal, mom. Plus, I'm preparing for the music challenge too so we decided to let the project go. One thing at a time, you know?"

She didn't look happy but nodded anyway. "You're right. But the music is coming up good, right?"

"Yes, it is."

"Matt doesn't mind letting go of the project for you? He loses his grade, too."

"Not really. I told you the project isn't that important. No one even talks about it at school anymore."

"Maybe they're all working in silence for that grade."

"Or maybe," Dad cut in, "it's not that important like Rebekah says."

I passed him a little smile. I hated lying to him.

He turned to me and ruffled my hair. "Do your best, kiddo. And don't forget about the academics, okay?"

I nodded, the urge to shove my math test further down my backpack slowly rising. "I should go. My friends are almost here."

"Okay." Dad nodded, and I got up, grabbing a granola bar from the kitchen to munch on later.

Since I'd gone to school with my friends and we were late, I'd missed the morning practice, and because of the big football game coming up soon, I'd barely seen Matt all day. I couldn't even ride back home with him because he had to stay back with the rest of the players.

So, needless to say, as the evening approached, I was excited to see him. We hadn't gotten a chance to talk after last night. I'd seen him at school while walking down the corridor, but he was busy talking to the coach, so I hadn't interrupted, obviously.

I quickly finished my homework and at exactly 6 p.m., I made my way to his house.

"Hey, Garrett." I smiled the moment he answered the door.

"Somebody looks cheerful today," he noted as I walked inside.

"What are you talking about? I'm always cheerful." I grinned at him before making my way upstairs, straight to Matt's room, and gave two knocks at his door.

"Come in."

I walked in. He was on his study chair with his feet propped up on the table and the textbook that he was reading, lying on his lap. He turned his head, and when he saw it was me, his eyes gleamed up, and the corners of his mouth tugged back into a supposed half smile.

"There you are."

"Hey," I replied. "Were you studying? Am I interrupting that?"

"No." He shut the book and swung his legs off the table. "You're right on time. I wanna show you something."

He motioned towards his bed.

"Okay. I thought we were taking it slow, but..." I trailed off with a shrug, giving him a mischievous smile.

His eyes narrowed playfully, and as he began to advance in my direction, I felt my heart pick up pace. When he was only an inch away, his index finger curled under my chin and angled my face up to squarely gaze into my eyes. "Really? When did we agree upon that?"

"We didn't?" I teased.

My breath hitched when his thumb ran across my lower lip before he shook his head in oblivion. "No. I really can't recall."

Then he took my hand and walked me over to his bed. I sat down on the edge in confusion, watching him grab his laptop from the study table before settling next to me.

An email was already open. He scrolled down and clicked on its attachment. It was an image. "Look."

It was a beautiful sign in black and red. It didn't take me more than a second to read the letters MVP—his YouTube channel's name.

"What is that?"

"We're nearing 100k subscribers, and a fan I met yesterday offered to create a new logo for the channel. Remember the girl I was talking to after the performance? Turns out, she's a graphic designer and asked me if she could do this for us. I said, 'Hell yeah'."

"Really?" I turned to the screen again, impressed over her art. "It's beautiful!"

"It's still in the early stage. She just sent this to let me know what she had in mind. Will and Parker loved it."

"I haven't asked before, but what's MVP? What does it stand for? Is it M for Matt, V for Will somehow, and P for Parker?"

He didn't look too proud of himself as he rolled his eyes. "It wasn't my idea. Will came up with it, and Parker was stupid enough to endorse it."

My eyes widened, and I burst out laughing. "Oh my God! It's wonderful. You gotta hand it to Will."

He deadpanned.

"Come on! It's creative. But this girl's really talented too." I nodded at the screen, then asked, "w-what does she want in return, did she say?"

"In return? This isn't a trade. I mean, I did offer her money when she showed me her other work but she rejected. She's a fan. Fans do that stuff for free. Well, we're gonna have to give her credits, but that's obvious."

"Oh!" I have no idea why I felt so relieved in that moment. Day one of being his girlfriend and I was low-key possessive. Great job, Becks. Note the sarcasm.

"Yep." He shut his laptop and placed it in the corner, then laid back on the bed on his side and propped himself up on his elbow, asking with a sly smile, "what did you think I'd have to do? Go on a date with her?"

"Huh please," I scoffed, acting cool. "I'm not stupid."

"Right." He nodded, clearly holding back a laugh.

"Something funny?" My eyes narrowed.

"Not at all." His hand reached mine, and he started rubbing circles on it. A warm feeling settled in my chest, and I laid down next to him, propping myself up on my side just like him so we were facing each other.

"I did think that," I admitted.

"I know."

"You should also know that I would've tracked her down. And you, along with her, then it would've gotten ugly."

His eyes sparked up with amusement. "I believe you, Andrews."

"Good. So don't even think about it."

"I really don't have to."

Okay, why did he get to say stuff like that while looking at me like that and make my heart flutter?

I plopped down on the mattress with a sigh like I'd lost all focus and balance because of his words. Folding my arms in front of myself, I just stared up at him like some lovestruck puppy.

"That's good to know," I finally muttered, barely able to hold my smile as my eyes darted down to his lips. He noticed that.

I stretched out my hand to his cheek, and all I had to do was give a little tug to have him angling his face down.

But just when he was an inch away, I clasped my arms around him tightly and pulled him into an embrace instead, making him lose balance and fall next to me. "What the—"

That was my cue to cackle while imagining his lost face. In my defense, I really needed that hug. I was still wrapping my head around the fact that we were finally together. With a ridiculous smile on my face that he couldn't see, I shut my eyes and buried my face in his shoulder, muttering, "You're adorable."

"Adorable?" He laughed.

"Has no one ever told you that?"

There was a pause.

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

I deadpanned and pulled back. "Really, Matt?"

His smile dropped, giving rise to mild panic in his eyes. "Sorry. It's gonna take me a while to figure out the says and say nots in a relationship."

I narrowed my eyes playfully. "On second thought, I like you better this way, speaking your thoughts out loud."

"Yeah?" He smirked. "I bet you do."

Tingles shot up in my body when he put his hand on my waist right where my top was riding up so his fingers came in contact with my bare skin. He didn't seem to notice the kind of effect he had on me as he simply rested his hand there, but I was feeling all sorts of things.

Clearing my throat, I rolled on my back and said, "My parents will be home early today, so I won't be here for long. Now, are you bringing your guitar here, or are we going to your music room?"

He froze for a moment, then shot me an incredulous stare like I'd talked in some alien language. "What?"

"It's our training time. Are we not doing that today?"

"Training?" He sat up with a frown, and I followed, confused. "Is the challenge still on for you?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"I just figured, with things over between you and Sean, you wouldn't be taking that challenge now. Since you're not impressing him anymore, you know?"

"Oh!" I frowned slightly. "Matt, the challenge stopped being about Sean the moment he first noticed me and talked to me, seeing that I was using it to get his attention in the first place."

He obviously didn't like to be reminded of that as a deep scowl formed on his face, but he nodded nonetheless, swallowing.

"After that, the challenge was about you guys counting on me to defeat Rebecca. And now, it's just about having something nice for my college application and..." I leaned forward and, like some silly child, flicked his nose. "...getting to spend more time with you."

The creases on his forehead eased up as a soft look reached his face, and I could even tell there was a ghost of a smile playing on his lips.

"You don't need a challenge to spend time with me."

"I know. But I don't wanna show up at your house every day like some clingy girlfriend for no reason. This challenge is my reason. This challenge..." I paused to bring my hands together in front of my chest and blink dramatically. "...is our anchor."

He shook his head to himself before getting up. "I'm gonna go get the guitar."

"You do that." I let out a laugh as I kicked my shoes away and crawled back on my elbows to lean against the headboard, outstretching my legs. Perfect.

When I looked up, I realized he'd stopped in his tracks to watch me lay back on his bed like I owned it. And with the way his eyes glided across my body with a gleam of approval in them, I knew he liked that. Hell, he did more than just like. He loved that.

It wasn't my first time hogging his bed, but it surely was his first time expressing how he felt about it.

"My eyes are up here." I smirked.

"I thought we were taking it slow?" He raised a brow impishly, and his eyes gave away everything that was going on in his head. "That's not slow. Not for me."

"Not my first time taking over your bed." I continued in a husky voice, "makes me wonder if you've always had these thoughts whenever I've kicked my shoes away and taken over your space."

"Becks." He smiled, and the honesty in it made my heart flutter. "You've been a part of my space for a while. You just didn't know."

I blushed. "And you've been a part of mine. I really didn't know."

"But I did."

Don't make me jump you and kiss you senseless, Williams.

I exhaled slowly. Then, I crossed my legs with purpose and lifted my chin boldly. "I didn't know the smallest of things affected you when it came to me. What are you gonna do if I suddenly start stripping?"

His eyes widened for a fleeting moment, and then, like I'd instilled an image in his head, he ran a hand through his hair while his eyes gave me a playful warning. "Don't do that to me, Andrews."

"You gotta deal with it, Williams."

I'd barely finished the sentence when his hand had curled around my ankle and pulled me down towards the edge of the bed. I yelped in surprise, but it was all forgotten once my eyes met his intense ones as he leaned over me.

"I'm not in a rush at all," he said in all honesty, tilting his head a fraction. "In fact, you can take your own sweet time, but when we finally do it," he said in a deliberate, husky voice, "you're gonna wish we never stop."

All of a sudden, the air around me seemed inadequate to inhale, or maybe it was just my lungs refusing to function anymore.

That definitely sounded like a promise.

When I saw the win in his eyes for rendering me speechless and all flustered, I released a quick breath and tossed his pillow towards his face, which he effortlessly caught.

"Get out," I snapped, biting into my lower lip to hold back a smile.

He yeeted the pillow on the bed, and all I heard was his chuckle as he walked out.