I set my tea cup down. 

"So your manager found Rome on SoundCloud," 

"Yes." Matty says, tucking his legs underneath him. 

He insisted on changing into the dress before we did anything. He looks lovely in it. 

"And you contacted him because you liked his style," 

"Right," he says, taking a sip of his tea. 

"And you lived in the Philippines?" I ask, pointing at Rome. 

"Yeah." 

"And he offered to fly you out here so you could work together?" 

"Yes." 

"And then you just moved in with him?"

"Yes he did." Matty says, taking another sip of his tea. 

"That's insane." I say, sitting back in my seat. 

"I know. To be fully honest, I thought it was a trick when I first got the message." Rome says, taking a swig from his bottle of water. 

"I would have, too." I reply. 

"You're literally out of your mind." I say turning back to Matty. 

"You know me." 

I stare at him for a moment. 

Something flashes in his eyes. 

A silence settles over the room for a moment before Matty stands up and walks over to me. 

"Come with me." He holds his hand out to me. 

"What?" I ask, a bit confused. 

"Have a word." He says softly. 

I glance over at Rome, who shrugs. 

I look back into Matty's eyes and then place my hand in his. 

"We'll be right back. Keep an eye out for the food." Matty says to Rome as I stand to my feet. 

He leads me into his room and closes the door. 

He kicks some stray clothing items that I don't recognize as his over to the side and then crawls onto his bed, patting the spot next to him. 

I walk over and crawl onto his bed, sitting next to him, with a little distance between us. 

"I'm sorry." Matty lets out after a few seconds have passed.

When I don't say anything, he reaches forward and grabs my hand again, holding it between his. 

"I shouldn't have disappeared like that. I was going through rough shit." 

He looks down and I stare at him in silence for a few moments before speaking up. 

"Why didn't you tell me?" 

He looks up at me. 

He opens his mouth as if to say something, but closes it again, sighing deeply through his nose. 

"You couldn't have helped me." 

"How do you know? You didn't reach out-" 

"I know. Sarah. I know." he interrupts. 

"I got into some stuff. Stuff that you just... wouldn't understand. Stuff that I hope you never understand, really." 

"What does that mean, Matty?" 

A pained expression comes across his face. 

"I got into some... Heavy... drugs. Okay? Things that you do not want to hear about, and I don't want to talk about." A slight annoyance coats his tone. 

I look down and he squeezes my hand. 

"I'm sorry." I let out under my breath. "I shouldn't be so short with you." 

"It's okay. I'd be much angrier if I were in your position. God knows George was absolutely livid." 

Matty pauses. "We, uh..." I look back up at him with a raised eyebrow. 

"George and I ended things." 

My lips part in shock. 

"Are you serious? When did that happen? Why?" 

"A combination of things," he starts, playing with my fingers. 

"The drugs being one of them." 

"Oh," 

"Yeah."

"Mm." 

"We uh... We'd been on different pages for a while, I think. I don't think that either of us were really... Providing what the other needed." 

I just stare at him. 

"It was a mutual decision," He continued. "George had been staying with the other boys for a while. He's going to actually move out, I think. Properly, anyways..." 

I scoot closer to Matty as he continues to play with my fingers. 

"We didn't speak for a while, and it left me kind of... fucked? I've never really been without George. I didn't know what to do with myself and I got a hold of some of the hard stuff so I just... Well. Anyways... Jamie, our manager managed to knock some sense into me, and he had found Rome and promised that we could work something out because I was really interested, but he wouldn't let me do anything if I was all... fucked up." Matty shudders a bit. 

"So, I had to do a little bit of rehab type stuff. It's really boring and I don't want to talk about it but it helped so that's what led us up to where we are now. Rome started working on songs, he's quite genius, and we began working together and it even brought George and I back on speaking terms. He's been involved with it as well. Rome and I wrote a song together, and... Well I can tell you about it later but we all worked on his new album together. It was so much fun. It gave me a feeling that I hadnt had in a while. I know It has only been around two months and this is a lot to happen in such a short time but..." He stops. 

"I've been really happy since Rome walked into my life." 

I feel a bit of water rush to my eyes. 

"Matty," I launch forward and hug him tightly. He hugs me back, petting my hair a little bit. 

I feel him bury his face into my hair and we stay like that for quite a while. 

Eventually we pull away and he reaches up to brush my hair behind my ears. 

"So, is he..? Are you..?" 

Matty inhales. 

"A little bit. I do like him a bit but I don't know if anything will come of it. Doesn't matter. He's genius to work with and he's phenomenal to have around, so... I'm content." 

"Good...Good," I breathe. "That's what matters." 

~~~ 

"So, one thing before I go..." I turn back to face Matty and Rome at the door. 

"Why the blue hair?" 

"Oh, we... Actually, just did a shoot for a music video. It's in editing right now but when it's out, you'll know." 

"Oh, okay. I'm excited to hear it. I haven't heard you sing in ages and I'll be excited to hear you, Rome." 

"Thanks." He smiles, shoving his hands into his pockets. 

He's quite cute. 

His personality is really nice. He's very laid back. I can see why Matty likes having him around. 

"Text me, okay? We'll meet up, soon." I turn to Matty. 

"Of course." 

"Do you promise?" 

"I promise." he replies. 

I nod. 

"Okay, good. If you disappear again, I will hunt you down." 

"I know, I know." He laughs. 

"Oh," he says as I step out the front door. 

"If you need any help with the big move, which, I'm proud of you by the way, let me know. I'll be there." 

"Of course!" 

"Good. I love you." Matty says. 

"Love you, too." I reply. "Lovely to meet you, again, Rome." 

"You, too!" He says before Matty waves and closes the door. 

Well...

That was unexpected but it went way better than I thought it would. 

I look at the time on my phone and see that I am running a little late for dinner with Ellie. 

I jog a bit until I'm back on the road with all the restaurants. 

I grab my phone from my pocket, and give Ellie a ring. 

"Hello?" 

"Hey! Ellie, I'm almost to the restaurant. I have so much to tell you." 

"It went well then?" she asks. 

"It did." 

I accidentally bump into a stranger. 

"Oh! I'm so sorry," 

"No worries, love." The man replies. 

Sounds like a Liverpool accent? 

I look up at him and he has a long face, with almond shaped brown eyes. He's got a mop of brown hair and if I'm honest, he seems quite charming. 

A cig dangles from his hand. 

I smile and nod at him as I keep walking. 

"Sorry, I bumped into someone." 

"It's all good. Would you like me to order you a drink?" 

"Sure, just water." 

"Okay, see you in a bit!" 

"See you in a bit." 

I hang up and shove my phone back into my pocket. 

I get an odd feeling. 

I look behind me to where the man was standing, and another figure has joined him on the side walk. 

He's wearing all black, his somewhat long and brown, but his back is turned towards me. 

I feel a funny feeling in my chest as I watch the man I bumped into laugh at something his friend said. 

I turn back around and keep walking.