○ Eleven ○

"Going out tonight?" My mother asked as I placed my school bag on a chair in the kitchen.

She was drinking a cup of coffee and looked up when I walked in. "Nah, don't really feel like it" I replied, walking over to the cupboard and grabbed a glass.

Moving to the fridge, I pulled out the orange juice and poured it into my glass. "Looks like you had a rough day" mum said, trying to keep the conversation flowing.

"I did, but I'm all good now" I answered.

I glanced at mum, seeing her nurse scrubs. "Work again?" I asked, before taking a sip of my orange juice.

She nodded before frowning. "I know we don't spend a lot of time together anymore and I promise I'll make it up to you, we're just struggling a bit babe" she said, turning her phone off.

"Its fine mum, I'm a teenager anyway, I'm not that cool to hang out with" I replied.

Her phone buzzed and she glanced at it before standing up. She leaned over to kiss my forehead. "I'll see you later, okay?" She asked, looking at me worriedly.

I nodded and watched her walk out for work. Sighing, I slid into her now vacant seat and stared at the same spot on the bench as I drunk my orange juice. My doorbell rang, startling me and making me spill my juice all over my shirt.

Cursing, I grabbed the nearest cloth and started to dab at the sticky mess and walked to the door. Pulling it open, I rolled my eyes. "What?" I asked as Matthew leant against one of my posts.

His arms were crossed and he stared at me as I kept dabbing at my shirt. "What did you do?" He asked, clicking his tongue.

"What did I do? I spilt juice all over my uniform because someone frightened the crap out of me" I scolded back.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, forgetting my shirt.

"Thought I'd come annoy my new best friend" he replied a smirk gracing his face.

I rolled my eyes again, opening the door wider. He walked in, the smell of rose and sandalwood followed him. I tried not to look at him too much, sometimes guys were really just the package deal.
They smelt incredible, had a great body, they were really sweet and incredibly hot, and that was Matthew Kane.

He was the package deal. Plus we had grown up together so I knew what he liked and didn't like, knew his fears and he knew mine. His eyes met for a brief moment and something passed between us until Matthew looked away.

Why did he have to be so good?

"So what are your plans for tonight? Crazy train?" He asked walking into my lounge room.

I followed him. "No, tonight I'm going to sit my ass on that couch and catch up on 'The Good Place' on Netflix" I replied, shrugging one shoulder.

Matthew shook his head. "That simply will not do, go upstairs and get changed" he bossed immediately.

"No, I'm fine" I replied, crossing my arms.

He sighed. "Shels, you're 19 and only have one friend who dogged you today, go get your ass upstairs and get dressed" he said, staring at me intently.

I glared at him and he glared back. "How am I dressing?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Whatever you like" he replied, sitting down on my couch.

Grumbling to myself about the unfairness of our new friendship, I trudged upstairs and got ready for whatever Matthew had in store.

I wore a light blue long sleeve shirt before pulling a black overall over it and pairing it with my black combat boots. I brushed my hair up into a high ponytail and applied light lip gloss to my lips and a little mascara to my eyes.

I walked back downstairs and saw Matthew staring out the window. "Is this okay?" I asked from the bottom of the stairs.

He turned his head to look at me, his eyes drifting down my body and instantly making my cheeks heat up. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, looks great" he replied, before standing up.

I grabbed my phone off the bench and waited for him as he reached the front door.
I locked the house behind me as I walked with Matthew to his car. He kept glancing at me and shaking his head, making me question my fashion choice.

"Climb in" he said, as he climbed into the divers seat.

I pulled open the door and sat down as he started the car. "Where are we going?" I asked, closing the door and putting my seatbelt on.

"You'll see" was all he said as he turned his aux cord on.

Music started to blast through the speakers and he tapped his hand against his steering wheel in time with the music. His hand only moved from the wheel to change gears. I cleared my throat before looking out the window.

Even the most basic of actions made him hot.

"How was school?" He asked, trying to break the silence.

"The rest of my day was fine" I replied.

He glanced over at me, his eyes studying my expression before turning back to the road. "How do you feel now?" He asked, tilting his head slightly.

I looked down and fidgeted with my hands. "Over it, I feel over it" I replied.

"But I want to thank you, for coming after me" I said, looking up and at him.

"I'm sure you would have done the same for me" he replied.

"How can you be so sure about that?" I asked, starting at his intent tone.

"Because I know you, you're the sweetest girl I know, and you always care about everyone first and even if we still weren't talking, you would probably still come to see if I was okay" he trailed off.

I looked at him, studying his side profile. His jawline and slanted nose. "Maybe" I replied distracted.

I looked away.

"Okay, we're here" he said, pulling into an underground parking lot.

I frowned and sat up straighter as music started to play. "Isn't this illegal?" I asked as I spotted the dancers not too far away.

Matthew shook his head as he parked the car. "It depends on where you are, this place is a police guaranteed street party place, one cop patrols the party.." he trailed off, pointing to the police officer who was sitting down and watching everyone dance.

He took off his seat belt. "Its okay Shelby, I would never take you anywhere illegal" he replied, glancing at me.

He got out of the car and I followed him. "Aye! It's my main man, the King of the Kings!" A voice shouted.

Matthew grinned and held his hand out to grasp him a manly handshake as they bumped shoulders. "Shelby, this is Visor, or his real name is Patrick" Matthew said as he looked at his friend.

Patrick pressed a hand to his heart as he looked at me. "You sweetheart, are the finest girl I had ever seen" he said, glancing me over.

I blushed. "Thanks" I replied.

He chuckled and turned back to Matt. "I thought you weren't going to make it?" He asked, before looking back at me.

I turned my head to look at the dancers. "Wasn't but I decided to bring Shelby with me, she doesn't really know how to have fun" Matt replied.

I glared at him. Patrick laughed. "Well thanks for coming bro, enjoy" he said before scampering off.

Matt turned to me. "Want to dance?" He asked, holding out his hand.

I hesitated but than what he said rang through my head. I'll show you I can have fun.

"Make sure you keep up" I teased as I ignored his hand and stepped back until I disappeared into the throes of the dancers.

I danced, finally feeling a little free. Jumping up and down to the music and I turned around to see Matt push his way to me. I grinned, flicking my hair out of my face. Another song started and Matt tripped forward, grabbing onto me.

I laughed as I helped him up. He stood up and I realised we were super close but the word fun just ran through my mind. I continued to dance as Matthew held onto me. "You're insane" he yelled out over the music.

Grinning, I pulled him into the middle of the floor and danced. Rolling his eyes, he danced with me. Keeping one hand in mine. Patrick joined us for a while, talking and laughing to Matthew.

I rolled my body to the music and felt Matt's eyes on me more than once. At this point, I was deliberately doing it. I bumped into another body and turned to find a boy dancing. He smiled apologetically and I just shrugged.

I raised my hand as I danced, closing my eyes as I danced.

Was this why everyone went to parties? For this feeling of freedom? Because if it was, I wanted to be at every party. I wanted to feel more like this, to stop worrying about everything and to just dance.
A body pressed against me and I turned around, opening my eyes to see Matt. I smiled.

Raising my hands, I locked them behind his neck. I was so in the moment, not thinking about anything but this as we swayed and danced together.
Staring up into his eyes, I watched them darken.

He raised a hand and brushed some hair away from my face, his thumb lingering near my lips. The air between us crackled with intense heat. I don't know if it was him or me that made us move closer but we did.
My hand scratched the nape of his neck gently, pulling at his fine black hair.

He leaned in closer, pressing his cheek to mine. I could feel the heat from his breath against my neck and I shivered. I felt his lips move as he spoke but I wasn't paying attention. I slowly pulled away, our skin just barely touching until finally we were face to face. Our noses an inch apart. I lifted my head up slightly and Matthew's eyes dropped to my lips. Years seemed to go by as he slowly leaned in.

My breath caught.

"Hey guys! Come check this out!" Patrick's rough voice said, making us spring apart.

I cleared my throat and dropped my arms. I tucked my hair behind my ear as Matthew gave Patrick a look that could kill. "What is it?"I asked, as my heart pounded.

I was waiting for it to calm down. "Just come on!" Pat exclaimed, grabbing my hand and pulling me off the dance floor.

Matt followed.

A/N

They. Were. So. Close. To. Kissing.
Why did Patrick have to interrupt?
Why? Why am I so evil?

I wonder what Pat wants to show them!

What did you think of the chapter? Have I got you craving a Matt and Shelby kiss yet?

Please don't forget to vote and comment!
Lots of love, T xoxoxo