The screams from outside penetrated the cafeteria, mingling with the sound of rain pouring and thunder reverberating against the floor-to-ceiling windows. The stormy, cloudy skies beyond the glass seemed to mirror the chaos unfolding just outside.

Jesse's gaze shifted to the commotion beyond the cafeteria doors, then back to her friends at the table—Toni, Richie, Jasmine, and Matthew—who were equally riveted by the chaos erupting outside, besides the man she considered her brother who remained uninterested. 

"Are you going to deal with that?" Jesse pointed toward the entrance as a few more soldiers briskly made their way toward the doors. She stared at Matthew, waiting for a response. He took his coffee, brought it to his lips, and took a long drink, staring at her as though his silence was all the opinion he needed to give.

"Toni?" Jesse flung her head toward him.

He looked from the red-haired whose eyes were practically shooting daggers at him, to Matthew, who was staring into the distance with the coffee cup still at his lips. Toni opened his mouth to respond, but before he could answer, a loud roar of "catfight" erupted, drawing all their heads toward the entrance.

Jasmine nearly spat out her coffee in excitement at the mention of a "cat fight," always eager to witness a spectacle. The shouts continued to fill the air, drawing more spectators to the scene. The idea of a brawl seemed to electrify the atmosphere, with some cheering on the fight and others expressing shock and concern.

"Matthew!" Jesse snapped, "go and sort them out!"

"Why?" he drawled unimpressed, "did anyone stop us back in the day? Or did those fucking teachers just let us have it out?"

"You are in a real cunty mood today, aren't you?" she snarled, squinting at him. "I don't know wh—"

"THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTING!" someone incoherently screamed, silencing the room, followed by an exuberant, "IT'S HIS GIRLFRIEND!"

Matthew rolled his eyes, staring at Jesse. "Domestics, see? I'm not wasting my energy on that," he raised his coffee cup and took another sip.

"I wonder whose missus it is," Richie speculated, his tone laced with amusement. "Bet ya it's Jono's. Kellie was—"

"JESUS STOP!" Mya's frantic voice cut through the speculation, her urgency snapping the group back to the reality of the escalating situation outside the cafeteria, especially when she dropped a certain friend's name in a fierce scream. "EKO, ENOUGH!"

Without a word, Matthew, Jesse, Jasmine, Toni, and Richie leaped from the table and rushed toward the growing crowd. They battled through the chaos of screaming students, pushing their way to the center of the commotion. As Matthew finally reached the edge of the crowd, the sight before him shocked him to his core.

Eko straddled Gracie, delivering a relentless barrage of punches. Despite Gracie's attempts to defend herself, Eko's fury was overwhelming. Matthew stood frozen, horrified, as he watched Eko block Gracie's strikes, maintaining her dominance in the fight.

Gracie swung her fist toward Eko, but Eko instinctively blocked it. Consumed by blind rage, she kept Gracie pinned down, continuing her relentless assault. The hallway fell into a stunned silence as everyone watched Eko land another blow on Gracie, her wild hair mirroring the intensity of her actions.

When Gracie finally hit the ground, the impact jolted Matthew into action. Without a second thought, he lunged for Eko, his movements driven by urgency. His arms, strong from years of training, wrapped around her small, thrashing body, trying to calm her wild energy. Despite her desperate struggles, Matthew's grip stayed firm, his strength easily containing her.

Eko's legs kicked out, aiming at Gracie, fueled by a mix of rage and adrenaline. Her body twisted and turned in Matthew's hold, her movements frantic and unpredictable. She fought against him with fierce determination, her voice a hoarse, furious cry, lost in the chaos of the moment.

"Eko, stop!" Matthew shouted, tightening his hold. But Eko's rage was a force of nature, and it took more than his usual strength to restrain her. He glanced at the crowd, seeing the mix of horror and fascination on their faces. This wasn't just a fight; it was a breaking point, and everyone knew it.

With his muscles straining against her relentless resistance, Matthew could feel the heat of Eko's anger radiating from her body, her struggles becoming more frantic with each passing second. Despite the chaos around them, he focused all his energy on keeping her restrained, determined to prevent any further violence.

***** ******

Jesse and a few girls from the fan club managed to grab Gracie and slowly pull her up, while Jasmine checked her over for injuries. Despite her resistance, Gracie was gradually being led away from the chaotic scene.

Meanwhile, Richie found Mackenzie, who was huddled in a corner with Mya. He lifted her onto his shoulders to keep her safe from the wild gazelle of idiots before him.

"Mattie's girlfriend is really angry, Daddy," Mackenzie commented, gripping her father's head tightly. Richie smirked before turning his attention back to the crowd.

"She gets as angry as Mommy, huh?" Richie quipped, causing Mackenzie to chuckle. She tapped her father's head, pointing out that her mother and Jesse were already coordinating with the soldiers to quickly control the crowd.

"Yeah, just like Mommy," Mackenzie giggled, holding on tightly as Richie maneuvered through the chaos, keeping an eye on both the scene and his daughter.

Richie knew it was crucial to prevent further chaos, especially since he had spotted some students filming the fight and trying to conceal their devices. The soldiers were desperate to avoid having the footage confiscated, and that's when they heard their headmaster's voice cut through Eko's screams.

"If I find any fucking videos of this shit, I'll fucking kill the lot of you myself!" Matthew bellowed, having noticed the same thing. His threat sent shivers through the soldiers, and instinctively, half of them turned their attention to a few cadets who bolted.

Eko continued to thrash and yell at Gracie, who was finally escorted out of the hallway by Jasmine. Seeking to escape the pandemonium, Matthew maneuvered Eko back into the cafeteria. Upon entering, he noticed some soldiers lingering and staring.

His patience exhausted, Matthew exploded, "Get the fuck out now! Everyone, out!"

The soldiers in the cafeteria didn't hesitate; they hurriedly abandoned their food and scurried away. They knew better than to provoke Matthew, especially when he was grappling with the volatile Eko. As the cafeteria emptied, Eko finally wrenched herself free from his grasp. She stumbled forward, breathing heavily, in the sudden silence of the now deserted cafeteria.

As she turned to face him, she unleashed a torrent of screams at Matthew. Mya, standing by the entrance, ushered the last of the students out, feeling a twinge of sympathy for him, yet knowing the situation was a result of their own actions. With a decisive press on the control panel outside the cafeteria, Mya locked the doors with her access codes. The cafeteria workers had also disappeared, leaving Matthew and Eko completely isolated.

Both of them panted heavily, catching their breaths, hearts pounding in their chests. They were at a loss, unsure of their next move and grappling with what they were becoming and who they had become since being together.

"I need you to get out of my face!" Eko barked, her eyes blazing with fury. "I need you to just fuck off!"

"Not until you tell me what the hell that was about!" Matthew shot back, his own anger flaring.

"That bitch started it, Matthew! That whore comes—" Eko began, her voice echoing off the cafeteria walls, but he cut her off abruptly.

"That doesn't mean you deck her down to the fucking ground like a wild youma!" Matthew yelled, his hands threading through his hair in frustration. He knew Gracie could be provocative, but he had never anticipated it escalating to such violence.

"If she wants to get in my face, then yeah! She's going to get knocked the fuck out!" Eko retorted sharply. 

Everything that Gracie had said swirled in her mind, igniting a fierce anger within her. Unable to hold back, she took a step back and with a swift, furious motion, slammed a tray of food off a nearby table. The tray clattered to the floor, scattering its contents wildly across the room. Plates shattered, food splattered, and cutlery clanged loudly as it hit the ground. Eko's breathing was ragged, her chest heaving as her emotions surged uncontrollably. Her ability to contain them had slipped away entirely, leaving her raw and exposed.

Matthew flinched at her outburst, shooting her a sharp glare. Her display of anger only fueled his own. "Fuck! What the fuck, Eko?" he exclaimed, gesturing to the mess on the floor now. "Jesus, what the fuck is all of this? Why were you both screaming and fighting with each other like raging lunatics?"

Eko's chest heaved, her hands clenched into fists at her sides, her eyes avoiding his. "She had it coming, Matthew. She fucking deserved it!"

"How?" he snapped, stepping closer. "LOOK AT ME, HOW?"

But Eko barely heard him, her fury now equally directed at him, the world, and herself for foolishly allowing her heart to love him. "It's because of you!" she spat venomously.

"Me?" Matthew roared back, incredulous.

"Us, apparently!" she countered bitterly.

"Good!" he spat back fiercely. "Fucking good!"

"No! Not good, Matthew! We're not FUCKING together!"

"That's because you don't want it! I have so much fucking love for you, and you don't want it! And I can't have it because it's not mine, and I can't just go and give it to anyone or anything else because they're not you!" His fist beat into his chest, each thud echoing the depth of his anguish. His voice cracked, raw and desperate, as he laid his heart bare, the intensity of his feelings radiating off him in waves.

"It's you, Eko. My fucking heart, my love for you... it's all yours and there's nowhere else to fucking put it. It's so fucking heavy, and I have no idea what to do with what I feel for you anymore!"

Eko stood there, mouth agape, heart racing, completely taken aback by Matthew's outpouring. His confession struck her forcefully, sudden and intense. It felt as though the ground had shifted beneath her, leaving her scrambling for stability. She searched his eyes, looking for any sign of insincerity or hesitation but found only the pure, unguarded truth of his emotions.

"And whether you believe it or not, whether this is some stupid game for you, I want you to know that for me, there's been an 'us' for months now! You and me, Eko. I don't know when it happened, but somewhere along the way, you became everything that I fuckin' wanted in my life! Okay? There, I stopped being a fucking pussy with this shit, and I said it."

"You really... like me?" she whispered, barely able to articulate the words.

"Like you?" he scoffed unbelievingly, "I fucking love you." Then he nodded seriously. "For this," he said, stepping closer and placing his palm gently on her chest, right in the middle of her sternum, closest to her heart. Her heart kicked inside of her chest as she looked up at him, caught in the intensity of the moment.

"I would spend my whole life on my fucking knees for you."

"W-what about everything else?" Eko tried to steady herself, her body trembling from the overwhelming rush of emotions. 

"What about everything else?" he repeated softly, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Just... we talked about this at the beginning, didn't we? We don't do relationships. We can't with what we do. And we certainly don't do love. Love, Matthew?" Eko's voice trembled, her lip quivering as she bit down on it, tears slipping down her face. "N-neither of us ever wanted that, right? We don't live in a world where we can just have this, do we?" Her eyes searched his desperately. "Knowing it can be ripped away from us at any moment? We don't want that, do we? The love part?"

"Eko, what if I told you that if you really wanted it, we could?" Matthew's voice was soft but resolute, his hand resting against her chest, feeling the wild beat of her heart. "The world will come at us, but should that ever stop us? Should that stop the fact that I love you and you love me?"

Eko could only softly shake her head, her eyes wide and glistening.

Matthew nodded, his resolve firm. Eko felt another sharp sting in her eyes as more tears welled up, the world around her growing blurry. Her vision clouded, each tear proving to be her undoing as the overwhelming emotions she could no longer contain burst forth.

"And to be honest, I think I've known for a while what this could really turn into," Matthew continued, his voice steadier than ever. "It's been happening to us for so long already, even before either of us realized it. I think that's what was fucking me up. I think I've known exactly what's coming next for us, and as absolutely terrifying as it is, I'm here for it all, Eko. I'm done with everything else."

His words pierced through the fog of her anguish, and Eko's breath hitched. She looked up at him, her tears blurring the edges of his face, but his eyes—those steadfast, loving eyes—were clear as ever. In that moment, she saw the truth in his words, the unwavering commitment, and it struck her deeply.

Matthew then took her hand and gently laid it over his chest. Eko's fingers splayed across his shirt, gripping him tightly, their touch grounding them both in the profound moment. Under her palm, his heartbeat pulsed steadily, each thump echoing through her, drawing her in.

"Matthew..." she whispered, her voice barely audible. "I don't know if I can handle losing you."

"And I don't want to spend the rest of my life wondering about the what-ifs. I want this, Eko. I want everything with you. I want the future we could build together. I want to wake up beside you, to face whatever comes our way. If you'll let us, Eko? If you just let us have this?"

Eko's eyes widened as she absorbed his words. "Just.. are you really asking me?" Her brows furrowed in disbelief struggling with her words, her mind reeling as if she had been knocked senseless. "This can't be real... can it?"

"It can be," Matthew nodded, his grip tightening on her hand against his chest. "Last night, I was trying to find the words for all of this. At the end of the day, I'm just as terrified as you are of losing what we have," he explained, his voice trembling with fear that she might reject everything he was offering. "When I asked you what you wanted, this is what I meant. So, what do you want, Eko? No more games—this decides everything for us. Whatever you want, I'm okay with that."

"You," Eko whispered without pause as the droplets fell down her cheeks. "I want you, Matthew, for the rest of my life."

Relief washed over him, lifting a burden from his shoulders he hadn't fully acknowledged until now. It was as though the clouds had parted, and his smile now spread broadly across his face, illuminating his features. "You know, I've spent too much of my life trying to convince myself that I could make do with less, but I can't."

"You can't?" Eko's voice trembled, her eyes wide with wonder and vulnerability. It felt as though this god-like man had taken her beating heart from her chest and now held it in his hands. She trusted him not to break it.

"I can't," he admitted, his voice cracking slightly. "My life is not enough without you in it. I've realized that... and nobody has ever made me realize it until now. I thought I was okay with it, but I'm not."

As Eko struggled to keep all of her emotions in check, Matthew reached out and gently grasped her chin, ensuring she met his gaze. "I want you by my side, and I know that there is so much wrong with our world, but you are the one constant that brings me happiness. With you by my side, everything will be okay, I just know it."

Eko's eyebrows furrowed as she let the words she never thought she'd say to anyone slip out. "Hello, forever?"

"Hello, forever?" he echoed, his eyes searching hers for meaning.

"It's... that's," she paused, the memory bittersweet. "It's what my mama and papa would say to each other. So," she shook her head, her words becoming frantic, her hands latching onto his shirt desperately. "If we're doing this, Matthew," her gaze locked with his, her sky-blue eyes bouncing between his steel ones. "There is no goodbye for us. Ever. It's you and me. Always. We're going to make this work until we grow old and very wrinkly together. You are not allowed to be another person in my life who dies on me, okay? This is it for us!"

Matthew's eyes softened as he listened, feeling the depth of her plea. He cupped her face with both hands, his thumbs gently wiping away her tears. "This is it for us," he repeated. Eko watched as his fear melted away, replaced by a happiness she had never seen in someone before.

She moved her hands from his and wrapped her arms around his neck, embracing him fully, feeling an overwhelming sense of completeness being right beside him.

He smiled broadly and leaned in to kiss her, holding Eko in his arms where she belonged. It was the most real and happiest he had felt since his childhood. In that moment, he knew this was the best decision of his life.

For Eko, Matthew's kiss demanded everything from her. She felt it in every movement of his lips and tongue, coaxing her own, conveying his emotions in the most intimate and passionate way possible. She melted into him, their connection deepening with each passing second, the intensity of their feelings enveloping them both.

Tenderly, he drew back, cradling her face in his hands. Eko's small hands gripped his wrists tightly as she gazed at him, and his thumbs one again gently wiped away her falling tears.

"I love you," he whispered.

"And I love you," she replied, her voice soft but full of conviction.

Eko knew that Matthew had no idea how much she longed to spend the rest of her life with him, how their love had consumed her entirely. Her heart overflowed with emotion as she melted into his hands, her trembling fingers moving from his wrists to grasp his cotton shirt again. "God knows I love you, Matthew."

Matthew leaned in, his touch gentle as he traced the line of her bottom lip with his thumb. His gaze was solely fixed on her, filled with love and intensity. "And He knows that I love you, Eko," he murmured, his voice tender and sincere. He closed the distance between them, his lips meeting hers in one of their softest, most heartfelt kisses yet. "Hello, forever, baby."

Eko couldn't help but giggle softly against his lips, her happiness bubbling over. "Hello, forever, Matthew." Her voice was light, filled with joy. In that moment, Eko knew this was the beautiful beginning of their love story, one that would last a lifetime—the kind that fairytales were made of. She felt a profound sense of completeness, as if every piece of her heart had finally found its place.