MATEO || bxb

- 13 -

| Camden |

Mateo didn't come over yesterday like planned. We'd started texting each other the last couple of days, nothing serious just stupid memes we found. I thought about texting him to ask why he didn't come round when Ade told me he'd bailed but I didn't want to make him feel like I was intruding. For all I know he might have been going through a rough time. Though, later Adrian told me he'd just been hanging out with his sisters, and I felt happy for him and a little stupid for overthinking that maybe he was upset.

"So... do you think Mateo will come round tomorrow instead then?" I asked Adrian as casually as I could. Our parents had gone out for a date night, and I'd been bothering my brother in his room because tonight I felt like I wanted a little company.

"Why? You miss him?" Adrian asked, eyebrow raised from where he sat on his desk chair playing Minecraft. He'd been working on building this giant mountain as his home with the inside hollowed out.

"No! It's just. He hasn't been here in a while," I said very much aware that it sounded like a complaint which in reality, it very much was.

"Like 3 days," Adrian said snorting. "You're so whipped."

"I am not!"

"You are though."

"Fuck off."

"You."

I huffed and almost left until I realised mum and dad weren't here and like I said, I wanted company tonight.

"Do you really think I'm whipped?" I asked curious. If it was so easy for Adrian to see how much I liked Mateo, I dreaded to think what anyone else thought.

"A little bit. You didn't even act this way around that guy you were seeing a year ago."

"What do you mean? What way do I act?"

"You get all weird and giddy around him. You literally cannot stop smiling when he's here and you're always trying to be near him. And you can't seem to stop asking me when he's coming over."

"Do I actually do all that?"

Adrian didn't say anything instead choosing to laugh which was confirmation enough. Did I get giddy around Mateo? I guess maybe I did. I couldn't help but feel happy around him and that's not a bad thing, right?

I laid on Adrian's bed a while thinking of what I should do about my feelings. Obviously, I had concerns about the intimate side of being in a relationship but other than that, having a boyfriend is like having a best friend that you can kiss. Kissing was not something I think I'd be afraid to do. Lately when I did manage to fall asleep and dream of something pleasant, kissing Mateo was all that seemed to happen in those dreams.

I'd decided at the very least, when I came back from holiday, it might not hurt to tell him how I felt. I knew Mateo was a kind person and as much as it would hurt for him to reject me, I knew that he wouldn't start treating me like shit afterwards. Maybe he would distance himself from me a little and that would hurt but I could handle that. And if he did reciprocate my feelings then that's the best possible outcome I could hope for.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when Adrian's phone started ringing.

"Who's that?" I asked, being nosey, before he could answer the phone.

"Uhh, one of Te's future sisters, Lilliana, DMed me asking for my number. Said she needed to talk about him. Something happened," Adrian replied, a frown on his face as he finally answered the phone.

Something happened with Mateo? I didn't want to interrupt while Ade was on the phone, but I wanted the conversation to hurry up, even though it had only been a few seconds, so I could find out what was wrong. Was Mateo okay? My heart started racing at the thought of something bad having happened to him. Whatever it was he didn't deserve it and he had been there for me once and I'd be damned if I wasn't there for him now if he needed me in even the slightest capacity.