—

Melanie had decided that it made much more sense to bring Mattias' belongings into the house before helping him walk there. It might have been the smartest move she made today, as she was now using all her weight to hold up a grumbling Matti.

It's not like he wasn't trying to walk on his own. He definitely was. Emphasis on trying.

He had managed to make it to the doorway before deciding that he needed a moment to catch his breath. Unfortunately, every break he took resulted in Melanie damn near losing her head. The Dempsey teen was convinced that he was on his way to falling unconscious again.

"I'm okay." He reassured her, pushing himself off the wall and towards the stairs that probably lead to the bedrooms, plopping himself on the bottom step with a pain-filled huff.

As Melanie closed the door behind her, he couldn't help but follow her every move with his eyes. From the kitchen, where she closed the blinds above the sink, and back to in front of him.

"Why am I here?"

"Monty." She kept the response short, not wanting to give him the full rundown until he was at least cleaned of the dry blood on his face. "I need to get you to the bathroom."

He gave an odd look, one she noticed immediately, "That's where the first aid kit is. I can bring it out here if you can't move, but it'll probably be easier if we go there."

"I can do it myself."

"I don't doubt that you can, but at least let me help."

Matti sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was burden her with his problems. He cursed Montgomery in his head for going to Melanie of all people. Then again, Mattias didn't have any other friends. He wasn't used to anyone other than himself or his siblings helping him clean up the mess his father left him.

There had been many nights when Estela would stay up late to help him clean his cuts and ice his bruises, Monty as well if the older teen had managed to slip by their drunken father that night.

He wanted to question why Montgomery had chosen to leave him with Mel, but he knew how their dad would react if he got a call that both his sons skipped school.

In Luiz's mind, Mattias' excuse would be his swollen face, and Monty wouldn't have an excuse at all, because "Mattias' problems didn't concern Montgomery.".

As he sat on the closet toilet in the Dempsey family's guest bathroom, he thought over what his plan for tonight would be.

He knew he couldn't return home. And if Monty left him with Melanie, he knew he wouldn't see his brother for the next few days.

He was snapped out of his thoughts at the sudden sting that touched his nose. Jerking back, he hadn't realized that Melanie had begun playing doctor.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Her voice was low, but he could hear the shake clearly.

"I zoned out. It wasn't your fault."

She seemed like she wanted to ask him something, probably the obvious question, but didn't want to make him uncomfortable. Matti didn't think he could get any more uncomfortable than the cut in the crease of his nostril.

He saved her the task of asking, "It was about you."

"W-what?"

He cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact. "My dad called you a bitch; I said you weren't, and I got my ass kicked for it."

Her hands fell from his face. "Mattias—"

"It's not your fault at all, I promise." He reached for her hand, slowly intertwining their fingers, taking her attention off the floor, "I promise."

Melanie didn't respond, her eyes darting back and forth between his brown eyes, flickering to his lips before they flew back up.

He hated the way she looked at him. With pity. With care. He wasn't used to it.

His own mother didn't give two shits about him when this stuff happened. Estela cared about everybody. And Monty only ever felt bad when Mattias got in trouble for something he did.

Those people were family.

Even if they didn't show it, they were pretty much obligated to care.

Melanie wasn't family.

She was some rich, pretty girl he had been going to school with since the fourth grade. A girl he had watched from afar. Someone who deserved much better than some guy whose dad beat on him whenever he got slightly irritated about something.

She was Zach Dempsey's twin sister. The same Zach Dempsey who was a star basketball and baseball player at their school. Someone who fit in with the cool kids, not because his older brother played sports with them, but because of who he was as a person.

Mattias never thought he and Melanie Dempsey would go further than a few awkward smiles at each other when they locked eyes.

But for a split second, as she looked down at him, her hazel eyes as soft as ever, he wondered that maybe the words that rang in his head from just a few nights ago weren't so true after all.

"A girl like her would never date a guy like you."

Maybe Monty was wrong.

•••

"Are you hungry?"

He wanted to say no, but Mattias had never been a liar. He also didn't eat breakfast that morning, so he was starving.

"What do you have?" He moved to sit up, having been resting on the couch, per Melanie's orders.

"What do you want?" She raised a brow, looking back at him with a small smile. Her face flushed as he pursed his lips at her, tilting his head slightly, "Grilled cheese?"

"Oh, please." He practically purred in satisfaction.

As Melanie began to prepare lunch, she figured now would be the perfect time to bring up the sleeping arrangements.

"Hey, so, uh... Monty mentioned how you wouldn't be able to go home for a few days and suggested you stay here—

"What?"

"Which I don't mind at all, actually. But my mom's work schedule is a little iffy, and if Zach finds out you're here, we're pretty much dead. So—

"Hold on."

"He never goes in my room, so you can stay there—"

"Mel, wait." The chuckle that left his lips held no amusement.

She paused her rambling to look over at him, "Hmm?"

"I can't stay here."

She understood where he was coming from, but Montgomery made it seem like his choices were either her or the streets.

Melanie refused to let him live on the streets for a week.

"I can find somewhere to go."

"You don't have any friends, Mattias."

It was harsh, but true.

"Seriously, you can't go to school looking like that, and you'd barely last three days by yourself." She placed his sandwich on the coffee table in front of him before sitting down in the spot on his right.

Mattias chewed down on his bottom lip in thought.

"I would seriously never forgive you if you ate the most delicious grilled cheese of your life and then walked out of here like nothing happened."

Guilt tripping.

Not her finest quality, but Melanie was quite the mastermind.

If guilt tripping Mattias was the only way to get him to hide out in her house until he recovered fully, then so be it.

Luckily for her, he found her words funny. A snort left Matti's body as he shook his head.

"Monty insists."

That seemed to be just the push he needed.

"I'm gone as soon as I'm healed."

Her eyes shined, "Deal."

The smile she gave him was enough to ease the hesitance that bloomed in his chest.

—

A/N: - They might be my fave OC's... 😬
- since S1 consists of clay and the tapes, there will be my own moments (like this) rather than everything seen in the show