Who: Liv, Matt, Chris, and Avery (NPC) When: Saturday Night, Sept. 19th. What: Trying to have some fun! Where: The dorms then a club in town. Rating: PG Status: Complete
Olivia and Avery had a long day, more so for Liv than Avery as her sister had been playing with her hair makeup and clothing all day long. Liv had finally gave in to her torment, she not only urged Liv to buy a whole whack load of new clothes but insisted that she wear a dress out. Although Olivia did find a dress to her style and it did fit her nicely, it was an emerald green with a tinge of yellow mixed in so it wasn't quite dark, it had a darker vintage inlay which she fell in love with, it wasn't too short either. It did however show off more than she preferred.
Avery sprayed Olivia's hair once more, "Are you done yet?!" she asked through coughing, she wasn't used to so much pampering. Her makeup was done earlier, it brought out the colour of her eyes, but it was too much time for her to bother normally, and now her hair was pumped with volume and in a side ponytail that fell suitably on her shoulder. "Am I going to poison everyone in the club?"
"Oh just be quiet," Avery said making the final touches while adding a soft sent of perfume. "Vola!" she said happily, "Matt is going to LOVE it." Liv merely rolled her eyes.
- - - -
There was a knock on the door and Chris turned to Matt raising his eyebrow, "Your date is here..." he said while opened the door with a large grin on his face, "Or should I say date's??" he looked at Matt confused, then turned to the girls, "Ladies, come on in, I'm Chris." He shook both their hands and with Avery he took her hand and kissed it gently.
Avery merely giggled, as Liv hung back in the hallway, "Liv!" she beckoned.
Matt raised his eyebrows at Chris. He'd been waiting somewhat nervously for Liv and her sister to come by. The more he thought about it, the more nervous he was, because really, what was he going to do at a club? Once Kristine had gotten out of him what he was doing, she'd teased him endlessly, too; and that made him feel worse, because he was ditching them to hang out with a girl. But they didn't mind; in fact, his aunt had encouraged him to go.
Now that they were here, though, Matt was having second thoughts. But he couldn't do that to Liv, so instead, he stood up, threw a paper clip that had been on his desk at his roommate, and said, "It's not a date." Even though he had dressed up in a decent pair of khakis and a dark green polo.
Avery snickered as Chris turned to give Matt a 'what the heck' face, "Hey mann," he said brushing himself off, "If you don't want to take this lovely lady on date..." he now focused his attention to Olivia, who was somewhat hiding out of embaressment in the hallway her cheeks now fully red as he placed his arm around her, "Then I will." He raised his eyebrow at Matt hoping to get a rise out of him.
"Dude," Matt said, shaking his head. "Not cool, Chris. Not cool." He gave his roommate a look; obviously Chris knew what was going on with Matt and Liv, but he didn't want to get into everything Chris knew right now. Instead, he focused on Olivia, who looked just as uncomfortable as he felt, and strangely, it made him feel slightly better. "Hey Liv, we match," he told her, pointing out the dark green in his polo and the green in her dress. Which was very, very pretty and Matt couldn't help but sneak glances at her every few seconds because she just looked <i>that</i> pretty. Whatever she'd done to fix herself up... well... he liked it.
Chris snickered in his head as he knew that he was getting under Matt's skin, and of course he couldn't help but notice how much he looked at Olivia, he smiled and let go of the poor girl who was about to blush to death. "Sorry dear," he said letting her go in a manner that she fell closer to Matt, "You two match... perfectly!" he said with a wink to Matt, before standing next to Avery.
"So Avery, is it?" Chris asked as he chatted her up. Liv cheeks had still stayed the shade of red as when Chris left her, she hadn't said a word. She bit her lip her mouth not wanting to work otherwise. She tried to open her mouth to compliment Matt because he looked really sharp but she was interrupted by Avery's incessant whining.
"Chris..." she rubbed her finger on her arm, "Won't you come with us?" Liv just merely stared at her, she was actually a bit afraid of Chris' advances. Chris merely smiled at his sister and tried to reason with her, and then he gave into her purring, as most men do.
"Yeah, Matt..." he mimicked Avery, "Why can't I come???"
"I never said you couldn't come," Matt said, but he couldn't help but smirk a little. It was funny seeing this side of his roommate; he didn't show it often and he had to admit, having Chris around made him feel less nervous and more... normal. "You can come if you want." Then he glanced at Olivia. "I mean, if it's okay with you." He glanced at Chris again and told Olivia, "He's harmless, I promise."
<i>Are you sure about that?</i> Liv gave Matt a look, it was her baby sister after all, but I guess if Matt said he was okay than he must, when she turned to Chris, he was giving her the saddest eyes she had seen in a long time. "Okay," Liv sighed, finally letting her arms drop so her whole figure was showing instead of hiding it. She tucked some hair behind her ear, "But don't you dare take advantage of her, its just ONE night, okay?" she looked sharply at him.
Chris raised his hands away from Avery and crossed his heart, "Cross my heart hope to die." he said with a smirk to Avery, who giggled further. Liv rolled her eyes as she walked down the hallway, a little shakily mind you, she had never worn heels before, she let her fingers trace the wall in case she needed support.
"You'll have a barrel of fun with her..." Avery nudged Matt, she then winked, "I'm sure she'll lighten up though." She linked her arm with Chris, "Why are you walking so fast Liv!" she called after her, but Liv didn't answer she was trying to hide her embaressment of not being able to walk. "Doesn't she look really pretty Matt?"
Matt, being the last one out, locked the door behind them and then followed them out. "Yeah," he said, trying to stay non-committal about it, because he didn't want to give her sister the impression that liked Olivia (though he totally did). He spared a sympathetic glance to her as she held on to the wall. Ignoring both Chris and Avery, he asked, "You doing okay there?"
Chris in the background whispered into Avery's ear, Liv could hear their laughing in the background, Liv merely rolled her eyes. As Matt asked her if she was okay, she almost fell on her face, but managed to stop herself by having both feet out wide and her hands on the wall for support. She blew her hair out of her face.
"I thought so." she said with a huff of embarrassment, Chris and Avery only laughed further, "Oh shut up!" she said under her breath. As she picked herself up and shoved her dress down. "Sorry." she looked over sympathetically to Matt, "If you can't tell... I don't do this often." She began to walk slowly this time.
"I thought you on a skateboard was bad enough," Matt mused, as he held out his arm for her. "You can use me as your crutch if you want. Again." He smiled at her. "And I don't know if I told you, but you look really nice tonight." He tried to keep himself from coloring as he glanced over to Chris and Avery. "Hmm. Maybe bringing Chris wasn't a good idea after all. Oh well." He glanced back to Olivia. "It'll keep her occupied, at least, right? Make our job a little easier?"
Olivia took his arm out of dismay, she didn't want to seem ridiculous but she couldn't help herself, she didn't have any time to practice, and these heels were so tall, she actually could meet Matt's eyes, which looked much nicer from that height, as she could see the details in them.
"Sadly, I fail at shoes too." she sighed, it wasn't the most attractive thing for her to be scuttling along trying to not fall flat on her face. "I'm sor--" she stopped as he smiled at her and told her that she looked nice, she closed her mouth and turned her head so that he couldn't see the amount of redness coming to her cheeks once again, it was starting to make her stomach do back flips again. She couldn't help but let her smile escape her rosey lips, she looked back to him, her cheeks still a bit pink, "You don't look too bad either sparky." she joked, Liv ciould hear Avery giggle in the background, then Liv realized. <i>Sparky!?!?!</i> This was not her night.
Matt shrugged. "I might have put a little effort into it," he told Liv, grinning at his nickname. What was it with girls and nicknames for him? "Don't worry," he told her. "I've had worse nicknames. It's all good."
"Ha..." Liv tried to keep her nerves in as her body internally was going crazy. "I didn't mean to..." she said quietly, then she became interested, "Worse? Now I'm interested, what else do people call you?" she raised an eyebrow her playful nature coming back slowly.
Chris and Avery had now passed were walking to Avery's car, which she pressed the button simply with the lights flashing on. "Are you sure that you are Olivia's sister?" Chris asked raising an eyebrow, "Matt! You've gotta see this car." It was fancy, that was true, Liv and Avery were not poor, but Avery was more eager to display it to the world, Liv liked more simple things.
"Well, I had a friend who called me--" Matt's story was interrupted by Chris pointing out their car. He had to grin; even though he too liked simple things, he could appreciate awesome cars, such as this one. "Sweet ride," he told Avery. "Did you drive down here in this thing?" He grinned over the car at Chris. Then, looking down at Olivia, he was reminded of his story. "Oh yeah, some girl used to call me Bones all the time. It was kind of weird." He shrugged. "So yeah, I'm used to it."
Liv felt a tinge of jealousy as Matt turned his attention to Avery's car, that was another lure tatic she used to get what she wanted. "You bet," Avery said with a little hop in her step as she sat in the front seat, Chris not far to follow, Liv grumpily entered the car, this was why she didn't like going out with her sister, she always stole the attention.
Avery laughed quite loud, and fake to Liv's knowledge at Matt's joke, Olivia knew she thought he was cute too, it made her sick as she crossed her arms in the seat and gazed out the window as they sped down the highway. "That is a bit suggestive don't you think?" Avery laughed towards Matt's nickname.
Chris piped in, "Yeah man, that's harsh." He winked at him, gesturing to Liv who was gazing out the window, she rolled it down to let the cold air hit her warm skin. One thing she loved about rides with Avery was the cold hair folowing across her, she closed her eyes for a moment, the lights from the street still appearing in her head.
"Hey, it was your brother's girlfriend who gave it to me," Matt shot back at Chris. "I don't think she meant it like... <i>that</i>, though," he said, the end of his sentence dying lamely.
"So where are we going?" he asked, partly because he really was curious and wanted to know what to brace himself for, and partly to make conversation and not make it awkward.
"Well..." Avery said in a snooty tone towards Liv, "Olivia didn't know anywhere, so I took the liberty of looking it up myself." she turned a corner, Liv being her clumsy self smacked her head on the window that wasn't fully rolled down, she cursed internally. Avery looked at Matt through the rear view mirror, "Orchid." she said simply, Chris began to snicker.
He turned back to Matt, "Man, it's going to be awesome, they even have dancing!" Chris was quite enthusiastic. Liv rubbed her head as she listened to the banter back and forth, dancing also was something she wasn't used to, and didn't really have an interest in trying. "Save a dance for me." he said gesturing to Olivia, with a wink.
When Olivia hit her head on the window, Matt reflexively moved closer to her to make sure she was okay. He should have been used to it by now, but it still worried him every time she hurt herself. What if one time she did it and it was bad enough to really injure herself? Matt didn't want to know.
When they'd told him where they were going, Matt sighed inwardly. Of <i>course</i> they were going there. Never mind that none of them were actually old enough to go. And of <i>course</i> there would be dancing. He raised his eyebrow at Chris and said, somewhat flippantly, "I don't think she's going to do much dancing, honestly. And if she does, well..." He glanced at Liv. "You gonna dance with this guy?" He didn't want to speak for her, but he had a feeling he knew what Chris was doing (which he was going to get back at him for later), and he didn't want her to feel any more uncomfortable that he could tell she already was.
Olivia perked up when Matt spoke up for her, she couldn't tell if it was him just joking around or if he was in the least bit jealous, or he was teasing her. It made her head spin, not to mention the speed of the car. She merely shook her head to Matt, she leaned over and spoke to Matt quietly as they pulled up, "Are all your friends this 'friendly'?" she let out a small laugh to let her know she was okay. The thought of a dancing made her stomach flip, <i> Would Matt want to dance?</i> the thought made her more nervous.
"He wasn't like this when I first met him," Matt told her, but he was grinning. "It's okay. Don't worry about him, okay?" He glanced over at her, and for a moment, felt the urge to reach out and touch her gently, to reassure her it was going to be okay. But he didn't. Instead, Avery stopped the car and they all piled out. Matt was quite anxious for what was to come.
- - - -
Avery slinked her way up the line to get in, and the rest of them followed, Chris was thoroughly entertained with what Avery could accomplish with her looks. "Greg!" she ran up to the bouncer and hugged him, Liv rolled her eyes, of course she knew a guy up there.
"Greg?" Chris raised his eyebrow at Liv, he seemed a bit annoyed that another guy was hugging Avery. Olivia merely shrugged her shoulders. Next thing they knew they were in the club with loud music. Avery had snatched up Chris' hand and they were already up at the bar.
Avery motioned for the two of them to join, Olivia looked over to Matt, she never drank alcohol and she didn't know whether or not he did, she decided to follow Chris and Avery towards the bar, through a sea of people.
Matt raised his eyebrows at Liv. First of all, his responsibility sensors were completely firing; he knew they shouldn't have been in there and was surprised they'd made it in this far. Secondly, he did not ever drink alcohol, nor ever had the desire to; alcohol, in an indirect way, was what took his parents away from him. And thirdly, he was concerned about her, and her heels, and whether or not she was going to get anything to drink.
"Seriously?" was all he could ask. "I'm not drinking any of that stuff, Liv. Just telling you now. Unless, you know, it's something like a Dr. Pepper." He shrugged.
Olivia smiled at him, "I have no intention on drinking any," she reassured him, it was cute the way he didn't want to drink. Liv never was fond of alcohol, she never had a desire to drink it.
Avery and Chris were back in minutes, with more than two drinks in their hands, "Guys, there's a booth over there." Chris lead the way and they all followed like cattle it seemed. Avery sat close to Chris, that was evident, and there was no choice but Matt and Liv to sit beside eachother.
Once they were sitting the both of them slid drinks to Liv and Matt, "Our treat!" Avery smiled happily, Olivia glared at her sister.
"You know I don't drink." Liv said bitterly, looking over to Matt with apologetic eyes.
"I'm sorry," Matt said, politely, "but I can't drink this. I'm allergic." He wasn't, really, but that was the only way for him to not be able to drink without them trying to force him otherwise. "Liv, if you want, I can get us something we can drink from the bar?" He glanced at her, then glanced apologetically over at Avery and Chris. "You guys can have extra, if you want." He grinned slightly.
"Liv, just try a sip, will you. Then I won't bother you anymore." Olivia sighed and took a small sip of the fruity drink, it tasted sweet, but she still didn't really like it.
"Are you happy?" in between that time Chris and Avery already made their way to the dance floor. Liv put her head on the table out of annoyance, her sister always made everything difficult, and not only that but Matt must be incredibly annoyed with the situation.
Matt watched them go and then glanced at Liv. "Are you okay?" he asked her, concerned. Yeah, he was a little annoyed but it wasn't her fault, and he wasn't going to take it out on her. "Do you want me to get you some water or something?"
Liv peeked out from burying her face in her arms, "I'm okay," she tried to stifle a smile, and sat up, "Perhaps I should take Avery's advice..." she popped the straw into her mouth and had another sip, her nose scrunching from the flavour, "What do people see in this stuff anyway?" Olivia tried to be light hearted.
"You don't have to if you don't want to," Matt told her, watching her uncertainly. "I mean, I can just get some water or something..." He scratched his head; he wasn't quite sure what to do, honestly. He already felt so out of place already.
"Sorry," Liv rested her head against the high back seat of the booth. "My sister just stresses me out." she pushed the drink away from her, "I bet you wish I didn't drag you here." she looked over to him her head still resting on the surface. "I wish I had little sisters like yours, not that they are easier to deal with, but certainly more fun at least!" she let out a little laugh thinking Matt playing with his younger sister, she was probably just as cute as him if not more, and together would be aboslutely adorable.
Matt glanced at her sympathetically. "You're a good sister, Olivia," he finally said. "You didn't have to bring your sister here. You didn't have to dress up in shoes you can't walk in." He grinned sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders. "It's okay. It's only for a few hours, right?" He pushed away the drink a bit more, absentmindedly, watching the people dance out on the floor and tapping out the beat of the song with his foot unconsciously.
Olivia smiled brightly at Matt, "No one's ever said that to me before." she looked at the glass he pushed away farther her cheeks turning red, "I didn't have to... you are right." Olivia was scared to tell him that it was all for him, and Avery convinced her that it would be a good idea, it made the heat rise to her face more. "Avery tends to convince me that I could look better, that I could dare to be different with the way I look sometimes, perhaps then I may be..." she continued quietly as she was ashamed to admit it, "More attractive." She watched his foot below tapping as she looked down, it made her mouth curve into a small smile.
Matt didn't know how to tell her that it didn't matter what she wore or if she wore makeup, that he found her attractive anyway. At least, he didn't know how to say that without looking dumb, or knocking something over, or stumbling over his words. He watched her watch his foot - which he stopped now that he realized what he was doing - for a while, just studying the way she'd done her hair tonight - it was different, and he liked it, but he didn't really like her just for her hair.
"My sisters can be a handful," he finally said, trying to stick to safe topics before he embarrassed himself further. "My sister, Kristine? She's at that age where she wants to be cool and fit in but doesn't know how, so she tries everything." He paused. "It makes me kind of worry about her, actually. Oh, and she loves to tease me." Especially about the fact that he was going out tonight. Kristine wouldn't let him hear the end of it. In fact, he was sure that the few text messages on his phone were from her. Or maybe from Chris. Either way.
"And my little sister, Claire... she's really hyper sometimes." Matt shrugged and smiled. "She almost couldn't sit still in my orchestra rehearsal on Friday. But they're good kids and we're close." He glanced at Liv and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm sure you didn't need to hear that about my sisters."
Olivia quickly turned back to her regular self, she couldn't stand to have the night be wasted, even though her sister was around, she did get Matt and Liv together so they could talk more, and she did enjoy that. Perhaps her sister wasn't so bad after all.
When Matt stopped tapping her foot she immediately touched his arm in response, "Don't stop," she said with a small giggle, "It's cute... plus you're a musician right? You understand the music like no one else does. I wouldn't be surprised if you were good at dancing also."
See listened to Matt her eyes drifting from him to the dance floor where she could see Avery and Chris waving at them, they were dancing cleanly which she appreciated. Liv let out a smile when he back pedaled about his family, "No, no!" she said with a bright smile, "I think it's great that you have a good relationship with them, I almost envy children I wish life were less complicated and that I found everything new and exciting again." Although everything was becoming new and exciting again, Liv was in a club tonight, and she never thought she'd be there never mind sitting next to Matt.
"I actually can't wait to have children one day-- then I can truly be playful again, and they would be such a wonderful part of my life." She smiled sweetly, Olivia wanted a traditional life, even down to the family pet and two children. It was cliche and un-original for an artist but it was all she ever wanted. "I like hearing about your family." she finished.
Matt waved back at Chris and Avery, grinning a little more before turning back to Liv. "I know what you mean," he said, sighing. "I mean, not about <i>having</i> kids." He shuddered involuntarily. "But being young and carefree... yeah, that'd be nice." Though being young didn't necessarily mean being carefree. Matt could remember a time where he thought nothing would be new or exciting ever again. "We're close... we've been through a lot." He shrugged, suddenly becoming quiet as he remembered what it was like when he was young, but confused and lost.
Liv nodded listening to Matt once again, she was envious of how close his family was. Her smile didn't last long as Chris and Avery approached the table once more, Chris sat across from Matt with a big smile on his face.
Avery reached for Olivia's hand, "Livvy, come dance with me...." Liv shook her head frantically her cheeks becoming red. "Oh come on, you've done it before!" It wasn't that Olivia didn't want to is that she didn't want Matt to see it was embaressing, she tried to tell that to Avery with her eyes, and Avery knew it, but she wanted to have some fun with her sister.
"Yeah give us some guy time will you!" Chris joked helping Avery out. Olivia began to cave, her sister looked at her sadly.
"Only if I can take off these stupid shoes." she said gruffly. Avery nodded, "Excuse me," she said to Matt with an apologetic smile for leaving him alone, but she figured he'd be okay with Chris, it was his roomie after all.
"Oh... oh, yeah, no problem." Matt returned her smile, sliding out of the booth to let her through. "Go have fun, okay?" he told Liv, watching her being half-dragged onto the floor by Avery.
As he slid back into the seat, Matt glanced over at Chris as he did the same across the way. "Having fun?" he asked, amusedly. "Or did we take time away from you getting some attention?"
Liv immediately threw off her shoes as she exited the booth, tucking them safely under the table, she smiled brightly at Matt which didn't last long as she was tugged away onto the dance floor nearby.
Chris laughed pulling back some of his hair, "Olivia's sister is a fun one." he looked out to the dance floor and winked at Avery who was obviously dancing for him, she then took Olivia's hand twirling her around laughing with her. "Wow, Olivia sure has lightened up, it really compliments her, enjoying herself I mean." he smiled at Matt, the situation between him and Olivia seemed to be growing stronger.
"She dressed up for you tonight." he said with a smile, "I don't know how you do it man, I wish I were in your position."
"She's cute when she enjoys herself," Matt said, absentmindedly, letting his gaze wander over to her before he regarded Chris again. He looked down, somewhat sheepishly, at his roommate's observation. "You really think so?" Of course, he couldn't think of any other reason off the top of his head why she would, but the thought had never occurred to him that she'd dressed up <i>just</i> for him.
"Avery told me so," Chris nodded, "I mean Avery worked wonders, she's definitely prettier than I thought." he grinned at the two on the dance floor. "What is the 'status' on you two anyway? It's been a while since we talked about it." Chris laughed a little, being part of this play was starting to really get him into playing John, he almost preferred being so forward, perhaps he would try to keep it up.
Over on the dance floor Avery and Olivia were having fun, but next thing she knew Avery was picked up by a guy and they were dancing and Liv was left alone, she didn't feel like being alone, she turned to go back to the table waving to her sister, who now was pleased.
Suddenly a guy who seemed quite a bit older snatched Olivia's arm, "Hey sweetie, want to dance?" he asked in a sly voice, Liv tried to yank her arm away but he proceeded to sway with her, grabbing her other hand and pulling her close to him, too close for her comfort, she tried to step on his foot, but due to the fact she removed her shoes, it didn't do much. "You're a feisty one," the man said, "I like that..." he dipped her and twirled her around once again, and pulling her extremely close this time, she could smell the alcohol on his breath.
At Chris's question, Matt shrugged. "I don't know, dude. I didn't realize we had a status." He laughed. "You sound like a girl. I don't know, I just... I like hanging out with her, we hang out a lot." And he liked her. And he didn't know if she was just being nice and friendly or if she was into him or what, but he didn't want to look like an idiot in front of her if it was something she didn't reciprocate.
He was about to say more when he saw Liv walking toward them. He moved to get out of the booth to let her back in when all of a sudden, out of nowhere some guy decided to grab her arm and he could tell she was uncomfortable. He glanced over at Chris, and then got up out of the booth completely, putting on his game face as he walked over to the guy.
"Dude, get your hands off my girl," Matt said calmly, staring the guy down as he took Olivia's arm gently enough not to hurt her, but firmly enough to pull her away from the guy. He would have added more, but he was already starting to lose his nerve somewhat, and he was trying to keep his cool without faltering and stammering and blushing and all those other things he did when he was nervous. He glanced down at Olivia, giving her an apologetic look, before turning his attention back to the guy.
Olivia's heart nearly stopped when Matt came to help her out, but that wasn't what made her stomach swirl. Matt had called her 'my girl' all Olivia could do was blink, and stand awkwardly beside him not understanding the situation further, and he was so sure about what he was doing.
"Your girl?" the guy asked with a laugh, "If she was your girl then why was she out here all by her lonesome?" he asked not believing what Matt said. "We were just having a little fun, eh sweetie?" he placed his hand under her chin to look at her face closely.
"Back off," Matt told him, sounding more bravely than he felt. Truth was, why <i>did</i> he let her go off by herself? He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, to do what he had to, and put his arm around Liv's shoulders protectively, glancing over at her to make sure she was alright. Before he could let the other guy get another word in, he steered her away from him and toward the table, sighing heavily (mostly in relief) that <i>that</i> was over. "He didn't bug you too much, did he?" he asked, in a somewhat low voice; he was still slightly shaken himself over the encounter.
Olivia merely tugged her face away from the guys hand bitterly, her eyes falling on Matt's hand which was holding her shoulder protectively close to him. Her face was turning red as it all set in as she was turned around to head back towards the table. She went to open her mouth to speak she was interrupted by the drunk man, who was now angry.
"Hey!" he shoved Matt's shoulder, "No one holds their girl like that, you're just bullshitting me so you can have this pretty thing all to yourself." He tugged Olivia towards him, she was still in a daze falling over in the direction of the guy, "Well I saw her first, and you can shove it--c'mon lovely." Liv's face turned angry.
She shoved him away from her, "Get away from me you pig!" she returned to Matt's side, "Leave me and my-- my..." she knew she had to say it or the guy would keep pursuing her, his slimy hands on her body made her feel sick to her stomach. She leaned closer to Matt, the guy's face turning more angry. "My boyfriend." she said smartly, when the man's face turned to disbelief she swallowed hard, and turned to Matt and kissed his cheek. Pulling back immediately, scared of what she had done.
"You little WHORE!" the man raised his hand to slap her.
Oh, <i>hell no.</i> Matt was not going to stand for any man hitting <i>any</i> woman - his parents raised him better than that. "You heard her, leave her alone," he said fiercely, standing in front of her and raising his hand to catch his before it hit Olivia's face. He had barely even registered the fact that Olivia had called him 'her boyfriend' and that she'd kissed his cheek - that's how mad he was. He shoved the guy's arm back into his chest before letting go. A part of him was thoroughly panicking now, but the adrenaline pumping through him was somehow carrying him through all of this.
The man was thrown back for a minute and his face turned to pure anger, "Who the fuck do you think you are?!" The man lunged at Matt landing a punch to his face, his strength was due to make a fair mark, the man knew to hit there so the 'boy' would have a reminder of what happened.
Olivia nearly screamed when she saw Matt being hit, "Chris!!" she yelled loudly, she didn't know what else to do, the crowd dancing now moved out of the way in a circle and Chris ran up as fast as he could, ready to pounce, although he was too late, as security was holding back the drunk man.
"Get him the fuck out of here!" Chris bellowed to the security guards who were swift to kick the man out.
The punch had landed on Matt's left temple, and he was temporarily winded and staggered back, not quite sure what was going on as Chris managed to get the guy kicked out of the club. He felt his way back to the booth and half-fell into it, leaning his head against the wall of the booth and taking up the whole seat as he reclined in it. "Damn," he muttered, touching his head lightly and groaning in pain. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about how much that hurt, because it <i>really</i> hurt.
The world around Olivia seemed to swirl in a strange slow motion as she couldn't concentrate on more than one thing a time, her head spun and it nearly made her want to faint. When finally clued into reality from the shock, she immediately noticed that Matt wasn't beside her. "Matt!" she yelled searching for him, then she saw him leaning against the wall in the booth they had originally sat at, she ran towards him. His eyes were closed.
There was not any room for her to get beside him she carefully found a spot to place her knees as she leaned forward trying to see if he was okay. "Matt, Matt!" she said shaking his shoulders, "Please wake up, please." her eyes welled up, she couldn't believe this was happening and it was all her fault. "Matt--please! Say something!"
"I'm awake, I'm awake," Matt said, opening his eyes slowly and trying to focus on who was shaking him - he smiled slightly when he saw Liv there. "Stop shaking... it hurts." He groaned again and said, "Can I get some ice?" Usually he tried not to be a nuisance to other people but he <i>really</i> needed something for the pain right now.
Tears streamed down Liv's face while a large smile escaped from her lips when he opened his eyes, and answered her, she was so worried about him it tied her stomach in a knot. "Thank god!" she said squeezing him to death with a hug. She then realized she must be hurting him more and pulled away quickly. "I'm so sorry, did I hurt you? Ugh I'm such a mess." she said trying to push back her hair that was now nearly a mess, she sniffled while she listened to him.
"Ice," she repeated, "Right, Ice!" she turned to find Avery standing there with extremely worried eyes with ice in her hand. Liv took it from her with an angry look on her face. Olivia turned straight back to Matt, "Where does it hurt?" she said worried.
Matt smiled wryly as he told her, "Where the stupid douchebag punched me." Usually he wasn't this crude but he felt that he could get away with it after literally being punched in the face. He reached up to touch his temple again, lightly; he winced as a dull pain began to spread and his head began to throb. "Remind me never to go to a club again," he muttered.
"Chris made sure he was kicked out of the club." Olivia answered quickly as she waited impatiently to see where he was hurting, she was worried he would have a concussion. She noticed that he brought his hand to the temple, she could barely imagine how much pain that would cause. Liv placed the ice softly on his temple, "Is that better?" she asked sweetly, she sighed in relief that he was able to at least have a conversation with her. "I'm so sorry." she sniffled again looking down, Olivia was beside herself, she can't believe she put Matt in this position.
"Remind me to thank him for that," Matt said, looking up and sighing in relief as the ice hit him. It was getting easier to focus on things now; he could see how upset Liv was and if he could, he would have pulled her into a hug. But he couldn't, so he smiled at reassuringly. "That's great... thanks." He paused and then said, slowly, "It's okay. It's not your fault. Don't worry about it, okay?"
Olivia looked up to him tears still in her eyes, "How can I not worry about it?" She said looking into his eyes, "Look at you... its all my fault!" she sniffled again, "I should have just stayed at the booth, I should have never got up to dance, never mind that I should have never asked you to come to the club," she was now blurting out her thoughts, "I should have never put you in the position--" Liv couldn't stop herself.
"Liv." The word was soft, since Matt was trying just to stay still so it wouldn't hurt as much. He reached for her wrist lightly. "I promise. I'll be okay." He smiled sheepishly. "It could have been much worse, really. What's done is done. If you feel like you have to, you can even make it up to me."
Olivia let out a sigh when he interrupted her with his soft words, she sniffled as he held her wrist lightly, her stomach felt like it dropped and her heart beat faster. She listened to his promise, she wanted to believe him, but she was so worried about him. She then heard the last part of what he said, "How?" she asked quietly, searching his eyes.
"Just..." Matt paused, to try and find the words to say what he wanted without coming off the wrong way. "Make sure I get home okay, and if this bruises, don't laugh at me." He smiled, somewhat. "And tell me again what you did to try and get the guy to go away..." The last part was somewhat an ulterior motive, because he had just realized that she'd claimed him as her boyfriend and even tried to act the part, and Matt just wanted to make sure he hadn't been hit <i>too</i> hard.
Liv tried to control herself but she burst out laughing, it was partly because she was so worried and her emotions were screwed up and the fact that he was asking her that and it put her in the most awkward position. "I promise," She said as she calmed down, her head rest on his chest for a moment as she breathed, she lifted her head up and wiped away the stray tears with one last sniffle.
Liv swallowed hard, as her face turned beat red from what she was going to have to say, "I called you my boyfriend..." she mumbled in almost an inaudible tone.
He could feel his heart stop as she rested her head on his chest. He liked how it felt - he liked how it felt a <i>lot</i> - and he liked the sound of her laughter, and he liked how it sounded to have her call him her boyfriend. It surprised him, definitely, but he liked it, and made him feel a little better - maybe there was hope for this after all. "I don't know if I told you this earlier," he said, tripping over his words slightly, "but you look very pretty tonight." Even though she'd been almost hysterical and messed up her hair; he could tell, it was handy having sisters sometimes - Matt still thought she looked endearing. He reached up, tentatively, to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
Olivia nearly wanted to faint, due to the amount of heat in her cheeks, and she felt very light headed. Her smile never left her face, she couldn't remove it even if she wanted to, she let her eyelids fall shut for a moment when he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her nerves got the better of her and she bit her lip. "Do you remember everything?" she asked partly worried if he had lost some memory for asking her the question earlier, as well to hear if he had anything to say about what she had done in the moment.
"I think so," Matt said, slowly. "You were coming back... stupid guy grabbed you... I went to try and stop him, he got mad, you got mad, he got mad, I got mad, and then he hit me. Or something like that." He sighed. He was kind of nervous now, remembering that he'd called her 'his girl,' and... oh... she'd kissed him on the cheek. He colored slightly as finished off, lamely, "Did I get everything right?"
"Heh..." Liv's face didn't fade from rosey red, "Almost..." she tried her best to stop biting her lip, "I kind of did something stupid, so he would just leave us alone already..." she explained rambling again, "I mean you called me your girl, and I didn't know what to do but go along with it, so you know I just called you my boyfriend right back to his face, which he didn't believe because well you know he's stupid... not to mention drunk right? So I thought I'd show him up because he was trying to play with me again and I just wasn't thinking and I kind of kissed you on your cheek, I'm so sorry, I don't know what I was thinking-- by the way how is your head doing?" She lifted the ice to see if there was a bruise forming.
His head was starting to feel better and if he was lucky, he'd only have a small bruise... or that's what he thought, anyway, as Liv lifted the ice. "I was trying to save you, I'm glad you went along with me. Even though I probably shouldn't have tried to do that on my own, huh?" He smiled sheepishly, shaking his head very lightly so as not to cause himself more pain. "That was pretty stupid. I still can't believe I just got myself into a fight." He glanced up at her. "You don't have to apologize, it's not like it made me mad that you did that," Matt told her. In fact, it was probably the opposite, but he wouldn't admit that to her out loud.
"I'm surprised you are not mad at me," she said leaning forward to inspect his bruise which hadn't formed to much yet, she blew air to let the water droplets move so she could see better. "I'm the whole reason you were here tonight." her smile faded. "It's really all my fault." She sighed leaning back again to look at him, he seemed to be coming back to normal, she was about to answer then stopped in her tracks, it didn't make him mad. "Well... I know I-- you know, over stepped your boundaries, I mean... ha, why would you ever be interested in me?" Olivia never could stop herself from blurting out what she thought.
"I might have a few words to say to your sister, but you were just being a good sister," Matt pointed out, beginning to sit up slowly to see if he could tolerate it. "It's not your fault someone else thought you were pretty. It's not like one of those things you can help." He shrugged, then thought about her words carefully; he didn't want her to think that she wasn't worth anything, because she was. But he didn't know if it was the right time or place to be talking about things like that. So he finally said, "I was the one who overstepped your boundaries first. If anything, I should be apologizing to you. And I'm sorry, by the way, if it offended you or anything..."
He glanced at her and then said, finally, "Why do you say that? About... the whole interest thing, I mean." Matt was curious. Did it mean what he thought it meant?
Olivia laughed in relief when he mentioned talking to her sister, and it made her smile that he thought she was a good sister, because she did doubt that at times. He was not allowing her face to turn back to its normal colour as he complimented her once again, she didn't ever think of herself as 'pretty'. "No, no, you didn't offend me!" she said concerned that he might take back his words.
Before she opened her mouth again she listened to his words, "I... I mean I.." she fumbled her words, this was getting worse on her end, her stomach was driving her mind crazy and she felt like butterflies were trying to escape. "Look at me." she said seriously, "I'm a complete mess, never mind this situation I put you in, I'm just so all over the place, and as much as you tell me otherwise you were the first one to ever tell me I looked pretty, and its hard to take in because I've never felt that way. I also talk way too much... like now, I'm pretty much one of those whacko artists who dig through trash to create something... and don't get me started on my clumsiness..."
Matt did look at her, but he didn't see any of that. He decided to tell her the truth - at least, part of it, anyway. "But you <i>are</i> pretty," he told her, sincerely. "And creative, and..." He trailed off, trying to boost her confidence without outright saying how he felt. "Don't ever be ashamed of who you are," he said, finally. "Because all of that? That makes you <i>you</i>. And I know that someone will find that endearing." He half-shrugged, smiling at her slightly. He didn't want to say <i>I find it endearing, I think it's cute,</i> because, well... what if she just laughed at him and said, 'Oh, Matt, you're cute but you're just my friend?' He didn't know how he'd feel then, and he'd gone through enough traumatic experiences for one night.
Olivia's red cheeks started to fade as she became more and more used to hearing his words. "Where did I ever find you?" she asked with a small laugh, her voice became coy, "And let us not forget that you called me 'your girl' first." she smiled at him, "Thank-you, I don't deserve so many sweet and kind words from you, but I do appreciate them."
She then leaned in closer to inspect his injury, she slowly rubbed her fingers across his temple where he was hit. Liv's heart rate sped up, it was nice to be this close to him, but her nerves were like a roller coaster, "Does that hurt?" she asked him still concerned.
He winced slightly; it <i>did</i> hurt, a little bit, but he was more concerned about the fact that her fingertips were moving lightly against his skin. Matt's eyes fluttered closed at her touch and he nodded. "A little," he admitted. "But it's starting to feel better, now." He opened his eyes to look at her. "Maybe we should go. I'm pretty useless here now."
"Way to go Matt!" Chris said peeking over Olivia's shoulder, as Matt closed his eyes. He winked at Liv before running back to Avery.
"Oh, right," Liv said moving off of him, "Sorry," she completely forgot that she was nearly on top of him. She held out her hand to him, "Take it slow, okay?" she said her other hand reaching behind his back to help him up slowly.
With Olivia's help, Matt got up slowly; he reached for her other hand and made his way up. "Thanks for your help," he told her, as he got to his feet very carefully. He didn't feel like he was going to fall down or anything, so instead, he nodded. "I won't go too crazy, I promise." He smiled at her, holding his ice in one hand and consciously keeping his other hand in hers. He knew that maybe that might lead to awkward questions later, but he just wanted to keep her close right now, because for whatever reason, it made him feel better.
Olivia smiled, she was so happy that he was okay, it made her breathe easier, although it didn't last for long when he kept holding onto her hand. Maybe there was something going on between them, maybe she wasn't the first to admit her feelings by kissing him on the cheek. Perhaps he meant that she was 'his girl'.
"Let's get out of here," she said waving to Avery, she motioned that she would meet the two of them at the car as Chris and her paid for the tab they rang up. Liv stayed close to Matt as they walked, allowing him to lean on her, their pace slow.
They made their way through the club, eliciting a few stares and whispers as Matt was 'the guy that got beat up,' but he wasn't thinking about that. He was worried, for one thing, about what his aunt would say and worried about disappointing her - especially since they'd made the effort to come down here this weekend and he'd effectively ditched her and his sisters for a girl. He also knew that maybe, eventually, he'd have to talk to Liv and acknowledge all these little things that were happening between them. But for right now, Matt was relying on feelings instead of logic and thinking, because that was the easiest thing to do and at the moment, he didn't really care about all the other circumstances around them.
The air was chilly as they stepped out of the club a shiver went down Liv's spine as the wind picked up. Her teeth chattering as she looked up at Matt with a smile, she was glad to see him up and about. "What a night." Liv said almost in relief that it was nearly over, despite the cold it was really beautiful out, there wasn't much light around where they were in the parking lot the stars shone, she looked up at them idly, she knew that her and Matt were still holding hands but she just didn't want to let go, especially now that she was cold, she could feel the warmth from his hand.
Matt shook his head. "Yeah," he replied, glancing down at her, gingerly removing the ice from his head to check on it again. He saw she was shivering and his brows furrowed in concern - at least they did until it hurt him and he winced again. "You cold?" he asked, gently.
"I'm okay," she said lying through her obviously chattering teeth, "It's just a bit a wind!" she undid the clips in her hair so it could blow freely.
Matt sighed. If he was going to do this, he needed to commit to it. "Come here, you," he said, smiling slightly, as he easily put an arm around her and drew her slightly closer. Even though his heart was racing, it felt kind of nice to be close to her like that. "Is that okay?" he asked her, his voice low, hoping that it wouldn't bother her if he did so.
Liv was shocked to have his arms about her in such a way, although she was very grateful for his warmth. She could feel his heart beat faster just like hers, at least she wasn't alone, she turned to face him so she could give him a hug, she had never been so rattled than tonight.
"Don't ever scare me like you did tonight again." she said quietly hugging him, Olivia didn't want him to go away, and she wished they could stay in that moment for a long time.
"I'll try," Matt whispered against her hair, hugging her back and holding her close for just a moment. "Can't promise anything, though." He wasn't quite sure what was going on, and he knew that sooner or later this would catch up to them, but right now, it was easy to forget all of that when it was just them.