Chapter Text
"Do you like it?" Matty asked. It was not the first time he made a cake but it was the first time he baked a chocolate cake so he felt a bit insecure. He tried not to look like it, but his shaking hands exposed him to George and Ross, who were sitting at the dining room table tasting what his friend had created after spending the whole afternoon in the kitchen.
George and Ross had arrived an hour or two ago so they could greet Adam who was returning from a trip he had taken with his girlfriend. From Cyprus, according to Jamie. George was the first to arrive, as always. He wore, under his giant coat, a white T-shirt with a Fleetwood Mac photo engraved on his chest and he was also wearing black jeans. Ross, on the other hand, arrived a few minutes later. He was wearing a long-sleeved black T-shirt and black sneakers that he bought at the Camden market that morning.
Matty wished they hadn't come so early. Because when they did, he didn't even have a shirt on (which had surprised the other two since they were in the middle of winter). He had only black shorts and Crocs on his feet that weren't even the same pair. Despite that, the boys told him not to worry, but please wear at least a nice shirt for dinner.
Matty went to George to wipe a trace of dulce de leche that had been left on the corner of his upper lip... Since Jamie shared some dulce de leche with them in 2017 when they visited Argentina, George had been obsessed with it. And Matty was surprised by how good it tasted on a chocolate cake.
"I don't like it."
Matty looked at Ross.
"Oh, too sweet ...?" Matty interrupted him. He was ready to start asking ten thousand questions in less than a minute to find out where he had failed.
"I love it," Ross finished. He had already finished his piece of cake and he seemed to want more given to his ear-to-ear grin.
Matty, delighted, sat on the end of the table without having wiped the corner of George's lip, who was somewhat indignant with Ross. He didn't like it when they were interrupted in their little moments.
The ones where it was just Matty and George.
George and Matty.
"George... George!"
Sometimes he scared himself, he could be incredibly jealous. He had immersed on his silly thoughts so much that he stopped listening to his friends.
"Yes?"
"Do you wanna take a selfie?"
George took a second to understand Matty's words. He nodded and positioned himself between Matty and Ross.
"I take the photo..." Ross said, and he took it.
"We look so beautiful. Especially you Ross," Matty said, smiling. "Remember to send me the photo. The last time you forgot to do it."
"Yes, I'll do it right now," he promised. He looked up from his cell phone for a moment and stared at George, who was staring at nothing itself. He looked somewhat lost. Weird, Ross thought. Before arriving he was completely normal, but he seemed upset. Maybe Ross was paranoid and George was just bored, with nothing to do.
Ross giggled, but he didn't even know why. He hadn't even started drinking! He took his beer and took the first sip of the night. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and got up, announcing that he should go to the bathroom.
George and Matty were left alone.
"So you're still making your album?" George asked.
"Yeah, Phoebe came over the other day to help me write some lyrics," Matty said with a slight smile.
There was something in Matty's eyes when he said that that didn't sit well with George. He must be affected by his absence, George thought.
Maybe he was just exaggerating. The fact that he moved to the other side of town couldn't affect Matty that much ...
"Hey, I'm sorry I can't visit you so often..."
"But?"
"But I really need some alone time".
He was lying. He left because he was falling in love with Matty.
Actually, he was in love with him. But he didn't want to screw things up.
"Besides, I'm close to finishing the project I told you about," George continued, trying to talk about something else.
Silence. They looked at each other for a few seconds until Matty dared to say something else.
"I miss you, George."
"I know, Matty."