008. ━━━ ❛ THAT'S ALL MATT ❜
real life. . .

MAISIE WATCHES THE lipstick she just finished applying spread evenly across her lips as she stares at her reflection in the mirror in front of her. "can you hand me your gloss?" she murmurs as she checks over her lips and closes the cap of her lipstick once deemed alright.

sunny hums from next to her, rummaging through her small purse in hand until she finds the gloss, and then handing it out to her. maisie takes the gloss and hands her the lipstick, to which she puts in her bag instead. sunny clicks her tongue once she clips her bag, glancing around the bathroom they're stood in while maisie begins applying the gloss. "it's so gross in here."

"yeah, it reeks of sex," maisie agrees, her nose scrunching up as she finishes with the gloss. she spreads it evenly over her lips before closing the bottle and handing it back to sunny. she then takes her turn to glance around the bathroom before looking back to her. "there better be a bathroom backstage. i didn't check when we were here last time."

"there probably is," sunny responds before they are interrupted by a sudden loud pounding from the other side of the bathroom door. in sync, the two both roll their eyes. "that's the fifth fucking time."

"people always treat club bathrooms so life or death," maisie complains, stepping away from the bathroom sink and towards the direction of the door. "let's just go already."

sunny nods and follows behind her, maisie opening the bathroom door and shooting a nasty look at the girl on the other side who was banging. the girl avoids her glare, and the pair continue past the bathroom line going onwards out into the busy main center of the club. maisie looks around at the crowd all spread throughout the place, murmuring to sunny as they begin maneuvering their way through people, "i can't believe there's so many people here so early before the show starts."

"it's a popular club," sunny shrugs, connecting their hands as the crowd they're walking through becomes tighter. they continue making their way through though, and sunny eventually turns back to look at her, "a lot of people come here regardless of if there's even anyone playing."

"oh," she responds, pausing for a moment before asking, "did you tell chris we're here?"

"yeah, he said to just get backstage," she tells her, receiving a weird look from maisie as she doesn't see how it could be that easy. she goes on to explain further, "apparently he told security our names, so we should be able to get in without a problem."

maisie hums a response, sunny turning with her hand still in hers and guiding the two of them towards the direction of the stage. they begin approaching the area and receive some looks when they continue past the restricted section, but are ultimately stopped by a security guard coming up to them. he blocks them from going onward and gives a stern look. "better turn around, ladi—"

"i'm sunny; this is maisie," sunny speaks up for the two of them, maisie dropping her hand and looping their arms instead. the guard's eyebrows raise as sunny continues, "chris said you should know our names."

maisie feels on edge for a second waiting for the man's response, his face unchanging for a long moment. he ultimately nods and takes a step back though, maisie and sunny instantly sharing a look as they weren't sure if it would work. "right this way," he says, turning with a nudge of his head to guide them towards the backstage entrance.

he does not take them directly through the stage like maisie and sunny had gone through previously, but instead continues on the main floor level and around the side of the stage to a door with a keypad. he enters a code, and maisie feels like she's in a movie once the door opens and he steps aside for them to go inside.

sunny offers an appreciative smile to the cold guard and he doesn't react, but maisie gives one as well once she passes by him. he instantly shuts the door behind them and the girls turn to take a glance at what area backstage they've entered into.

they seem to be in the middle of a long dimly-lit hallway, so they both share a glance before beginning to walk down it. maisie curiously glances over the few doors they pass, but none of them are opened or have windows, so she mostly keeps her eyes ahead.

the hallway eventually leads them to the lounge area they last hung out with chris in, maisie's eyebrows instantly raising as tonight, all of the band is currently occupying the room. she guesses this must obviously be where they hang out before going on, judging by the comfortability of all the band members and a few randoms she doesn't recognize. they must be some backstage crew and possible others given extra privileges for some reason, she figures.

their additional presence is instantly noticed by chris on the very end of one of the couches, his face lighting up once he sets his eyes on sunny. maisie and sunny dressed up extra tonight, seeing as they're in a club and all, and chris seems extremely appreciative immediately. "about time," he muttters as he stands up from his seat, catching the attention of his peers as nick smiles subconsciously watching him. he approaches sunny with a grin, reaching forward to swipe an arm around her waist. "hi, baby."

maisie's eyebrows raise as sunny's eyes shine with admiration. "hi, angel," she responds before he pulls her in for a kiss. maisie wasn't quite aware how serious things must have been getting between the two, but she has no feelings of disapproval about such a cute sight in front of her.

except for when she remembers his brothers all bruised up under his clothes, so he could be too. maisie's lips twist downwards at the thought and on instinct, her eyes travel to the practical magnetic force field she's been trying to avoid the gaze of.

immediately though, her eyes narrow just slightly. matt is lazily leant back against the loveseat in the room, his ring-clustered hands holding a cup of sorts over his lap that she is not fully sure of what it's contents are, until she takes notice of the girl next to him. this girl is noticeably different from the one she just saw in his room earlier today and—who is this guy kidding? she's all over him with how close she's sitting next to him, and she has a variety of guitar picks in her hands; he's showing her his collection of guitar picks, for fucks sake. everything he does is so unfathomable to maisie. he can not be serious.

maisie's tongue rolls against the bottom inside of her lip before she can help herself—he just manages to anger her deeply like no other. she has every intention of looking away, but their eyes lock and his amusement is visible. the corner of his lip instantly turns upwards to form a smirk and maisie has to resist from scoffing as she pries her eyes off of him.

"never thought i'd see the day chris is in love," quinton speaking up to crack a joke takes the groups attention, eyes going to him leant against the back of the chair dylan is sitting on. chris amusedly rolls his eyes as he hastily steps away from sunny.

"kinda loving it though," dylan shrugs honestly from her seat, a sheepish grin on her lips when chris gives her a look. the two share a laugh as maisie glances over to nick and roddy on the couch chris was previously sat on, wondering where she should sit.

her focus is taken from that question however, when as if on cue, matt leans forward to whisper something in the girl next to him's ear that causes her to stand up. she gives his guitar picks back to him and maisie's eyebrows raise, watching as she seemingly walks off with a smile on her face. she doesn't understand how all these girls fail to resist his charm. he literally just shooed her, does she not realize that?

her thoughts trail off when matt's eyes meet hers after the girl has gone, maisie half expecting it when he nods his head towards the now empty spot. her eyes narrow skeptically, but after looking over to see sunny and chris squeezing on the other couch, she realizes she has little to no choice here.

while resisting a sigh, she dreadfully walks over to the loveseat and ignores the fury building within her at the sight of matt's smug expression in the corner of her eye. she takes her seat, and when there is a fleeting touch of their legs brushing for only a moment, all maisie can think of is his bruise-littered torso. she takes a glance over at him and squints, wanting to punch him for how he's clearly enjoying this so much already despite her not saying anything.

she feels as if she is proving some internal point by not being the first to speak, and matt catches on, judging by the the amusement growing in his eyes. he looks down to the cup he's still holding, and then looks back to her. "wanna see the guitar picks?" he asks, instantly receiving a blank look in response.

"don't tell me that's the only move you have," maisie almost laughs, looking away from him to readjust on the couch.

she hopes for him to grow offended, but he only smirks further. "jealous?" he teases, it seeming to be apart of his nature at this point.

she looks back to him and scoffs, finding his perspective absurd. "please." dryly laughing, she sits up just slightly and doesn't bother with answering his question, instead using the opportunity to curiously tilt her head at him. he noticeably furrows his eyebrows at her change in body language, paying closer attention when she lowers her voice. "tell me," she starts, glancing over his unsuspecting expression. "does it hurt when she touches you?"

her words are obviously meant for the sight they both know she previously saw, and just as maisie intended, matt's face drops at the mention. his falter is satisfactory for maisie—seeing the smugness wiped away for a short moment feeling worth it.

his recover time is speedy, however, when he sits up just like she had before, and lowers his voice as well. he looks between her two eyes once he replies with his unmistakable smirk, "only because she's not you, mason."

maisie's face falls, her heart instinctively skipping a beat in her chest due to the unfortunate effect he's had on her body since the forbidden night shared between them. she presses her lips together, matt's smirk only growing into a grin as he's satisfied with what must be displayed on her face. she eventually forces a huff. "don't even."

matt shakes his head, not dropping the conversation since he's obviously having too much fun with this. "come to see me after all, huh?" he questions smugly, referring to how she had previously confidently stated she wouldn't be back here.

her lips form a straight line on her face. that was before she had seen the mystery of all matt's bruises and become invested, which is so matt's fault. "don't flatter yourself," she ultimately responds, crossing her arms over her chest and momentarily glancing to her best friend happily cozied against chris on the other couch. "i came for sunny." sure, it's a lie, but it feels right.

"so you keep saying," matt responds with a roll of his eyes, maisie grinning momentarily at provoking aggravation within him. it's clear he's still unbothered though, when he scoots forward and readjusts on the couch. maisie's eyebrows raise as he seems to be attempting to make his exit, when he suddenly pauses to lean towards her for a moment. "make sure you listen closely tonight, yeah?" he tells her like she came for him—giving a closed-mouth grin at the way she glares at him. "i don't want you to miss anything."

maisie offers a sarcastic smile as he stands up, his eyes still on her sat down. "i'll be sure to put my ear plugs in just for you, matt," she tells him mockingly, causing him to sigh exasperatedly. "where are you going anyway?" she continues with a cock of her eyebrow, "to go do something illegal?"

he narrows his eyes at her. "to tune my guitar, mason," he corrects, watching her roll her eyes before he turns around and announces his exit before leaving.

maisie's eyes stay on his back until he disappears around the corner of a hallway, and she's not sure who she should talk to now, when dylan suddenly appears next to her. maisie surprisingly looks over to the girl so quick to take matt's spot and notices quinton now in her previous place on the chair. "i think you're the first one of matts girls i've ever vibed with," is the first thing dylan says to her, maisie's eyes widening at her words.

"woah, i am not one of matt's girls," she almost laughs at the insane term, growing defensive as dylan's eyebrows only raise. "but i understand how that's a compliment," she then adds, "thanks."

dylan laughs after a moment. "you're welcome?" she says questionably before squinting her eyes at the girl in front of her. "you're sure you're not one of his girls?" she asks, unaware of the groan maisie has to hold back as she shares a look with quinton.

"oh, i'm sure," she assures dylan, looking at both her and quinton who are giving her doubtful expressions. "he's made my life hell since elementary school and my parents would cast me six feet under if they ever saw me so much as smile at him," she tells them knowingly. "i just fell victim to fireball and his tattoos once."

this time, quinton joins dylan when she bursts out laughing. maisie feels relieved that they don't find her openness weird, and laughs as dylan looks over to quinton and says, "see q, i told you i knew i vibed with her."

"yeah, yeah, dj," quinton responds with a chuckle, then looking to maisie. "it's nice to finally meet the girl behind all the complaints, i can't lie."

maisie instantly perks up. "aw," she coos mockingly, "he complains about me?"

quinton shrugs and dylan answers for him, "eh," maisie looks back to her as the corner of her lips turn upwards. "not as much."

"oh," maisie blinks, expecting a definite answer because she'd definitely expect such from him. she decides to forget about it though, and brings up, "he told me you guys are performing a new song tonight." dylan hums as she continues, "i thought it was funny 'cause i'm literally from carolina."

dylan and quinton's faces both first wash over with surprise, before registering with something else than she can't quite decipher. quinton chuckles underneath his breath, sharing a look with dylan, "he's so obvious."

maisie's stomach does a thing and she furrows her eyebrows, looking back to dylan. "i was wondering if you or roddy wrote it," she goes on, making an assumption due to them being the only singers.

dylan naturally laughs at her question. "oh babe, roddy has no creative bone in his body," she tells her amusedly, maisie chuckling momentarily before she continues, "but you realize it's not only the singers that write, right?" she asks, furrowing her eyebrows slightly.

"oh," maisie's head is now roaming with thoughts she does not need. "i just assumed..." she trails off.

"yeah, no," she shuts her down politely, beginning to list all the writers out: "i write, quinton writes, chris writes, matt wri—"

"matt writes?" maisie cuts her off before she can help herself, almost dumbfounded. "that's hard to believe," she says matter-of-factly, most definitely not wanting to believe it.

"well, believe it," dylan sighs, sharing another look with quinton that has maisie wanting to scream already. "carolina?" she mentions, maisie's lips pursing. "that's all matt, maisie."

"oh," she says, and oh, she thinks.

"yeah," quinton replies, smiling amusedly as he leans further back in his chair. "oh."

she suddenly feels like she's in a fishbowl being watched, so she clears her throat and suddenly stands up, now taking the full group's attention. "i need to use the bathroom," she announces so that she can ask, "where uh, is it?"

"it's by the dressing room," nick tells her, offering her a smile of assurance before additionally asking, "and could you grab matt for us? i don't why he left when we're about to start getting ready to go on."

maisie tight-lipped smiles at him. great. "sure!"

nick thanks her, and she begins making her way to the bathroom with a fierce frown on her face. once she makes it to the room due to nick's directions, she spends extra long staring at herself in the mirror to avoid finding matt. it's good to know though, that they do have bathrooms backstage.

after a few minutes, she ultimately sighs and exits so that she can search for matt. she's not sure where he would go to tune his guitar, but she figures she should check the dressing room since she's already here.

she apparently comes up correct after all, because as she nears the dressing room, she can hear faint talking the closer she gets to it. she furrows her eyebrows, approaching carefully when she makes out matt's voice.

once she reaches the open door of the dressing room, she curiously peeks inside without making her presence obvious. her eyes widen slightly at the sight of matt on the phone. he's stood up facing the mirror, his face one of annoyance as his guitar is mindfully sat to the side on a couch. she knows she shouldn't eavesdrop, but after all she's experienced recently, she seriously has no choice but to listen in.

"i told you last night—next week. why can't you leave me alone until then?"

maisie's eyebrows raise at his hushed tone as he talks into the phone, instantly getting the feeling that he must be talking to the same person they ran into in that damn alleyway. either him, or someone in relation to him, she guesses. it's what matt next says though, that really catches her attention.

"what?" matt's disheveled voice is a mix of urgency and surprise, causing maisie to lean forward slightly as the crease between her eyebrows deepens. "i thought you said you'd give chris a break if i took on more."

the concern building in maisie's chest is no longer ignorable, and she feels all the more invested at the fact that chris is also involved in on whatever the fuck is going on. the bad feeling she has growing over what all she's discovered recently is unbearable because she knows it's her job to watch out for her and sunny. she doesn't know what to make of anything, and it's eating at her, especially now knowing it's not just matt involved. she knows curiosity has killed the cat before, but she still feels brave enough to continue eavesdropping. she's gotta figure this out.

her choice seems to only be a mistake, however, because suddenly, matt's eyes snap to hers through the reflection of the mirror he is facing. maisie's heart drops and he instantly turns around, his jaw going slack. she feels like a mouse caught by cheese in a trap, and matt clamps his eyes shut in frustration before muttering into his phone speaker, "i'll call you after the show tonight."

maisie gulps as the phone call ends, and if looks could kill, matt would be a murderer right now. she then realizes though, that honestly, that could already be a possibility and she could have no idea. she then gulps again. she's done for.

"how many times do i have to tell you to mind your fucking business?" matt's quick to scold the girl as he storms over to her. maisie sighs at his booming voice, crossing her arms over her chest with a defensive frown.

"your band needs you," she tells him without acknowledging his previous words, causing him to narrow his eyes as she blankly stares up at him. "you're about to go on."

matt's eyes glance over her face for a lingering moment, confusing maisie slightly before he eventually blows a breath from his lips. "whatever," he responds, clearly still annoyed. he turns his body and seems to intend to step past her, but evidently pauses, reluctantly turning to her once more. maisie furrows her eyebrows at his hesitance, and he offers a low, "your songs last," before walking past her.

maisie feels dumbfounded at the way he leaves her standing there in shock. she can't believe he wrote a fucking song about her. she can't believe she has to hear it.

💌

guitar!matt drought = over 💧💧

ALSO WHY DID YALL JUMP TO THINK JIMMY IS ABUSING HIM PLSSSS ???? i said happydays1d guys get on track

<3
jaden