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"Your heart is racing." Matt finally said after him and Sam had been sitting in silence for maybe ten minutes.

"Yeah. Yeah I can feel it racing, Matty." She leaned back in her chair, wiping a hand over her mouth whilst sucking in a sharp breath, her leg bouncing up and down. Matt's head tilted as he listened to her heart, which didn't seem to slow down.

"Are you... going to tell me what happened? Did someone try to hurt you?" He asked as she scoffed quietly, wiping a nervous tear from under her eye.

She wanted to tell him. The truth about her last relationship and what followed after dumping Ben. But she didn't know how to put it into words.

"You don't have to tell me." Matt spoke softly, his voice fading in and out from speaking quietly. Sam shook her head, leaning forward and resting her head in her hands.

"I want to tell you, Matt. Seriously, I do. But I— I don't know where to start... God, you missed so much of my life." Her hands muffled the last part as she covered her face, trying to take shallow breaths to calm her racing heart.

Matt stood up slowly, walking over to Sam and sat on the arm of the chair, running his hand through her hair as she muffled a soft laugh to herself.

"They played favorites at the orphanage, you know? They loved you, Matt. I'd get scrapes and bruises all the time and they'd brush it off. When you got a simple splinter, Maggie was by your side in seconds even when you said you were fine." Matt tilted his head in confusion.

"I'm sure that's not true, Sam." The woman stayed quiet as Matt put his hand back on his lap, Sam staring at the ground.

"Did they ever wonder where I went... When I ran off?" Sam questioned quietly, and this time, Matt had gone silent.

Because they didn't. They didn't notice she was gone until Matt had brought up her disappearance. Sam scoffed, wiping away her tears. "Right. Of course they didn't. It's not like I lived there my whole life." Sam stood up and walked to the kitchen, Matt staying where he was.

"When I went to college. I met a lot of guys. Some of them stuck around, but a lot where one night flings, y'know? Something to get my mind off of school when I was stressed. Guys just wanted sex, a few thought I wanted to be in a relationship with them." Sam grabbed a beer from her fridge, snapping it open. Matt stood up slowly again, walking towards the counter.

"One of these guys... Ben. He was a handful. He was clingy and controlling sometimes. He was scared I'd leave him for a better guy, so he always made sure the sex was great." Sam laughed at the embarrassment of it, shaking her head.

Sam took a long sip of her beer. "Graduation rolled around.. I got tired of being Ben's object so— I broke it off. I wasn't very nice about it, from what I can remember. I said I wanted to remain friends but after that night I blocked him on everything. He got a new phone a year after... Tried calling me all the time and begged me to come back. It was... A lot." Sam sat on the counter, facing away from Matt.

"A few hours ago... He called me. I thought that getting a new phone number got rid of him but— but I guess not. He sounded different, you know? Time changes people and all that but Ben... He sounded like a god damn villain." Matt walked over to stand in front of Sam, and although he couldn't see her, it was like he was looking right at her face, memorizing every detail about her that made Sam, Sam.

"I didn't know what to do. I don't know what to do. It probably sounds confusing, because at the time, Ben was fairly sweet and now all of a sudden he's like this evil guy that wants me back—"

"I understand, Sam." Matt spoke, interrupting Sam, who looked at him with a puzzled expression. "I can't do much to help, but I do know that he can't hurt you. Maybe emotionally, yeah... But if he hurts you... Then he's got some people he does not want to meet." Matt promised Sam he'd protect her if she needed, a soft smile on her face as she nodded.

"Thank you, Matt." Was all she could say before Matt pulled her into a tight hug, Sam discarding the beer as the two al just hugged.

hey it's been a minute 🧍🏻‍♀️
ignore the short chapter, I didn't know where to go from this