"Matt! How are you doing today?" Josh asked me cheerfully, but his eyes seemed to be asking me something else.

"Not good. I am absolutely, thoroughly confused." I told him honestly.

"That's alright Matt. You take your time. I completely understand how you feel right now, but it's something one needs to figure out on their own. But if you need me to help you make a choice," he gave me a shy half-smile, his gaze dropping towards my lips.

I just nodded and quickly walked to my cabin hoping to lock myself in and get some solid work done.... to find Sam waiting for me.

Usually when I find Samirah Mathers in my cabin, I used to be thrilled. But today I needed time and space from any and everybody to think.

"Matt!" She stood up and hugged me and I just let her, not returning the hug.

"Matt is everything alright?"

"No, yeah I'm fine."

"Is it about Josh and you?" She asked gently and I looked up at her, seeing the searching gaze for the first time.

"What? No!" I shook my head but that made it look worse as though I was avoiding talking about him.

But it was the devil I wanted to forget. Not anybody else.

"Hey hey it's okay to be confused." She smiled at me and patted my shoulder.

"Wait a minute! How do you know about Josh and I?"

"Because I was the one who told him to go after you, when I understood what you told me that day when we had lunch... that you liked someone but you had to sort through your issues... maybe all you needed was a nudge from the other side?"

"Sam? Did you just-"

"I know I know, that sounds very meddlesome... but I have your back Matt. I don't want my friend to be sad and lonely."

"Samirah Mathers, did it ever occur to you that I didn't want to be friends with you? That I kept trying to ask you out but you just thought of me as nothing but a colleague? Do you understand how absolutely miserable I felt as I saw two men gallivanting around with you, and I tried to support you through it all? Oh my! Trust me I tried so hard... but I am done trying to play charades and let you turn a blind-eye towards my feelings... I like you Sam! You! Not Josh or the devil or that bartender or whatever!"

"What?" Sam had the most confused face on.

"Yeah I know I probably don't make much sense now, but every word of what I said is true. I like you Sam. Enough to wait for you to sort through whatever you are feeling, and respect your wishes. I- uh I'll just leave now." I turned back and sped walked out of my own cabin, leaving the puzzled redhead gawking at me, just before the door closed.

"Hey Matt!" Josh called me again and I just really wanted to sit on the floor and sob.

Why was life so difficult? Arduous?

"Here you go. I got you your usual coffee, because I don't know? You seemed pretty stressed then." He offered me my black coffee and I couldn't help but feel immediately better knowing that the huge Venti's constituents would be in my belly soon, jolting my brain and clearing my thoughts enough for me to focus on work.

"Thanks mate!" I took the coffee from him but almost dropped it when I realised what I said.

"Oh uh... your welcome buddy?" He replied, wincing at his own words and that's when I really wanted to the earth to open me up and swallow me.

Like the coward I am, I sped walk out of there again, and typed out an email to my boss asking for a work from home shift since I knew I could never get work done if I stayed in the office after all that had transpired.

I got home in record time, realising that 11 o'clock traffic was pretty mellow compared to the rush hours.

I went upto my third floor apartment to find the main door ajar.

"You took your time, puny boy."

"Funny, coming from you Luke." I tried to smirk as I made my way into my now-violated home.

"Already in the pet names stage, are we, Matt?" He smiled.

"Fuck off. I am not in the mood for your asshole glory right now." I snapped.

"I am not going anywhere... I quite like it here." The devil made himself comfortable on my couch and patted the seat next to him, offering me a sheepish grin.

"I am not sitting anywhere next to you. Just tell me what you want to and then leave."

"Matthew Pearson...." My breath hitched when I heard him call my entire name. "You are stupid." He finished and all the air in my lungs left me.

"What are you talking about?"

"After all we that happened, and you are still behind Sam?!" He seethed, and the air seemed to suddenly hiss and crackle.

"What do you think? Of course I choose Sam! She's the love of my life! You could maybe do whatever you want, but no, Mr. Diablo I am not foolish enough to not see through your plans! I know that yesterday was in fact the jealousy trial!" I glared at him, trying to imbue the triumph I had felt when I had figured it out at 3 in the morning, devoid of sleep, but failing, miserably.

"Sure it was a trial, but the uh kiss in the end wasn't part of a trial...." He mumbled, not meeting my eyes.

"Nope that doesn't sound true at all. Cause that was a cheap distraction! Something you knew will torment me, but not part of your actual trial.... you do know how to mess me up real good, you devil!"

"You know if it were upto me, you would be mute right now while I'm snacking on these delicious Jellybeans." He closed his eyes as though to calm himself down.

"Yeah yeah belittle me because that's what you are best and most creative at." I threw back, not ready to give up on Sam. She was the one who I knew from the start, who had my back when I was down and let me help her even though she knew she didn't have to. She was perfection.

"Ok I'll be absolutely honest with you! You are the black sheep of your family, the absolute disgrace, despite trying so hard both academically and otherwise.... your parents control you! You have been lonely since high school and you just latched onto the first female thing with two legs in the office, and made her your object of affection, you idol-worshipped her everyday and fell in love with the construct of the perfect "her" that you had built up in your mind... when in reality, you don't like her that way at all!" He simmered.

"Are you done? Is this also one more of your insolent trials? God I wish I could just annoy you at least 10% of how much you poop over my parade, just to give you a taste of your own medicine... Nothing you are going to say will change my mind. I want Sam."

"Do you even listen to yourself? You want Sam? Do you even realise that maybe Sam doesn't want you? Okay okay, let's stop thinking about what anyone wants because you came to me for that exactly. But do you understand that maybe Sam is not what you need? Maybe you are not what Sam needs to continue being perfect?" He searched my eyes, as though he was looking for answers into my eyes.

"Wow! You seem to have suddenly grown a conscience! How really angelic of you Mr. Devil! You think your paltry words can change my mind? You know what you have been doing to me? You have been bringing nothing but misery since day one, and suddenly you care what's best for me and Sam? You are the reason I may never even get her!" I laughed mirthlessly.

"Matthew Pearson. You are being absolutely irrational here. You knew what you were getting into when you pledged your allegiance to me before the trials began. You were warned several times not to take this path and yet you blame the consequences on me?" He exploded as he suddenly got up and pinned me to the wall his eyes glowering through me with an expression of pure hatred on his handsome face.

"You and I? We are playing a dangerous game. Fatal Tango. Some downright dangerous quadrille." He tipped my head up with one finger and my breathing become more ragged as my eyes squinted at the bright light in his red ones.

"But your denial in what was actually the most obvious thing in this world...." he sighs and the air fans my cheek and I became more and more conscious about how we probably looked and what position we were in.

I was intimately aware at how his usually obedient wavy hair had a few stray wisps that somehow made him look less organised than usual, how his left hand against my shoulder while not exactly pleasant, but felt kind of right since his hand fit between the crook of my neck and shoulder, how is deep red eyes seemed to be ablaze with an all-consuming flame that somehow seemed to be beseeching me into just giving him everything I had and giving up everything I wanted...

He came close to me but I stopped myself from leaning back and away from him despite all my natural urges that were warning me.

He sighed, released me and stepped away.

"You are right. That was also a trial. Congratulations you passed both the Envy and Wrath trials with flying colours and woohoo no one can scam you, you are Matthew Pearson and even the devil is a fool in front of you." He sputtered in an almost emotionless voice and stomped out of my home, his luscious dark hair whipping behind him, the jellybeans on the couch, forgotten.

~*~*~*~

A/N:-

Whoop whoop!

Shit hit the fan! 

Stuff happened!

Okay this chapter was 1704 words of pure fictional rambling from my brains and I congratulate and thank you for going through that!

Also, did you realize that each of the trials in this book correspond to a particular sin from the 7 deadly sins? Was it too obvious or is it like too subtle?

Vote and comment!