Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
On Matty’s day off, he decided to go out shopping for ‘straight’ clothes as what he preferred to call them. Sammie was oblivious to the emergency message that Matty left for her asking her to come to the mall or she’ll never see him again. Sammie rushed out of the bar and threw her apron over the counter “Lauren, I’ll be back later, can you watch the bar for me?” she didn’t wait for Lauren to answer as she sped out of the exit door.
She tried calling Matty hastily trying to hail a cab. Her eyes darted from her cell to the cab that was riding up. She was about to reach for the door when a figure pushed her out of the way “Excuse me!” the woman yelled never bothering to care that Sammie tripped on her ankle and was sitting on the curb rubbing her left ankle in pain.
The next cab took another 10 minutes to get but by the time she reached the mall, she was about to have a panic attack when she realized that there were a crowd of people hovering over something. She limped her way through and squeezed in to see who it was “Matty!!” she was crying over and over. Suddenly her brows wrinkled, it wasn’t Matty. It was an older man who seemed to be having an asthma attack.
She began walking away from the crowd trying to get to a bench to sit down since her ankle was aching in pain. Suddenly her phone rang. She picked it up and Matty’s whining voice was heard clearly “Where are you!!! I’m dying….” He sobbed uncontrollably.
Her worried face took over “I’m in the mall you told me to come to. Where are you?”
“The biggest department store in the entire mall…hurry…I…I don’t know if I can live.” He said dramatically.
Sammie let out a sigh “Don’t you dare tell me it’s a fashion emergency!”
Matty’s sweet laugh gave her the shivers “You could always read my mind. Now hurry before I get a migraine.” With that he hung up on her.
She looked at her cell and made a face “Damn it!” she got up and limped her way to the opposite end of the mall to the department store he told her to go to. When she got there, she was practically holding onto her leg. She went to the men’s department where she found Matty arguing with the sales girl about what shirt looked better.
On one hand was a navy blue shirt and the other one was a gray shirt “I like the gray one.” The girl was saying.
Matty shook his head “No, I like the gray one, which means the right one is the navy shirt.” The girl looked at him in confusion while he snapped his tongue at her and rolled his eyes “You don’t get it.” His head spun around and caught onto Sammie’s exasperated expression “Sammie!!” he cried happily while running over to her “Now tell me, which shirt do you like? These salesgirls don’t have TASTE!” he said loud enough for the girl to hear.
Sammie tilted her head “You called and left me a message saying it was life threatening? Are you for real?” she shook her head angrily.
Matty brought the gray shirt up to cover his lips “So you like this one?” he was totally ignoring her outburst.
“Yes. Are you happy? Now can I go?” she said hastily.
He instantly smiled and gave the sales girl the blue one “I’ll take this one.” He turned in time to see Sammie limping out of the store “What happened to your ankle?”
She stopped and turned to face him “You really want to know?” he nodded like an excited puppy “A lady pushed me out of the way when I was hailing for a cab so I can get here and chose a shirt for you. Now tell me why I should still stay?”
Matty looked down at the ground with big innocent eyes “Because you’re a great friend and you would want to help me, who’s your best friend in the whole wide world. Plus, I’m so adorable, how could you resist me?”
She couldn’t help but smile at the last comment, he was irresistible as usual “Fine. But I have to get back to work in one hour.”
He was practically bouncing with his hands clapping “Great!! You’re the best!!” he gushed over and over.
“Please, flattering will get you no where.” Sammie joked while the two linked arms like girlfriends and walked to another section of the store.
“Oooh, this is cute!!” he picked up a pair of khaki pants “This will go great with my black top I just got.”
Sammie shook her head as she took the khakis from his hands and placed it back “First off, khakis are too ‘cute’ for a straight man. You need jeans…hard, tough… jeans.”
Matty stifled a giggle “For a minute there, I thought you were talking about…you know what.”
Sammie instantly blushed as she pushed at his arm “That’s sick! Gees, for a gay guy you sure have a dirty mind.”
He snickered with his head in the air “Hmph! So I’m not allowed to think about that stuff? Well, who died and made you the queen of gay men?”
She laughed at his reaction but decided not to comment as she headed to another section where the jeans were “What size are you?” Sammie asked.
Matty dropped his jaw with a look of shock “Sammie!!” he said it loud enough for some people to hear “Well, I don’t believe this is the time nor place to be asking such informal questions.” She only rolled her eyes while he continued causing more eyes to stare at them “Anyways, you measured it the last time, you should know what size I am.” As he guessed a few people snickered with disgust and some even gave him strange looks. Suddenly he snapped his eyes at them “What? We’re talking about waist size, get you heads out of the gutter people!” he snarled. Soon the people began to disperse.
Sammie shook her head “Do I have to put a leash on you now? Come on.” She pulled at his arm.
By the end of the hour, they were able to get 3 pair of jeans and 4 shirts for Matty. All of which had the okay from Sammie that they were ‘straight’ enough. Although she didn’t understand why he needed so much since it was just for one night. When they were outside the mall, Matty turned to her with a happy grin “Thanks for all your help!”
“Anytime.” She smiled and began walking away when he called out to her.
“Sammie, you have a ride back?” he asked and she shook her head “Well come on then.” He pointed to the structure “My car’s in there.”
She nodded “Okay.”
Suddenly he stopped her “Wait, your ankle. I’ll go get the car, you stay here. I’ll be back quicker than you can say Matty’s straight.” He quickened his steps and began jogging.
“Don’t run!” Sammie called out.
Matty instantly stopped as he turned and gave her a smile and then continued on his way. In a few minutes his car pulled up and he helped Sammie inside “I feel like I’m helping a grandma across the street.” He teased. Sammie threw him a dirty look “But you’re a cute grandma.” He added.
Sammie nodded as if she was able to take that criticism “Just drop me off in the front.” He nodded in agreement after all he wanted to try on his new clothes. Work for Sammie was mostly painful. She didn’t dare pull up her leg pants to show Lauren, she would have a complete cow if she knew what had happened earlier.
That night, Sammie was sitting at home in her shorts as she examined her swollen ankle when the doorbell rung. She got up from her couch unwillingly and opened the door “Hi friend!” Matty sang sweetly.
She opened the door and began limping back “I didn’t make any food Matty. You might as well go to the corner shop to eat.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk…is that the friend you think I am?” his voice squeaking. He shook his head and held up a thermo container “I know you wouldn’t be able to walk around much so I made you chicken soup. It’s good for the soul.” He giggled brightly while skipping over to her.
“I’m not hungry.” Sammie shook her head.
Matty sighed “I didn’t ask if you were hungry. I said drink the soup.” He began opening it and poured out in the cap for her “Here, it’s my specialty.”
Sammie couldn’t refuse as she soon realize and took the cup from his hand “I thought your specialty was men?” she joked while she sipped on the soup.
He laughed humorously “It is. But I have a specialty in ever category.” Matty suddenly sat up straight and clasped his hands together “Okay, now let’s see the damage.” He pointed to her ankle.
“It’s not that bad.” Sammie tried to play it off while she brought her leg up “But…is it suppose to be that purple?” she’s never had a broken ankle before or even a sprained one.
“That happened before to my last boyfriend…hm…I think he said if you just ice it down, it’ll be better.” Matty said thoughtfully. He got up and retrieved a bag of ice and came back to the couch. She had finished the soup and was pouring another cup “I told you it was the best.” He smiled proudly.
Sammie laughed “I guess I was hungry.”
“No, it was because the soup was great.” He corrected. She knew there was no arguing as she eventually nodded in agreement. Matty moved her leg up on the couch as he placed a pillow under her ankle. He placed a towel over her ankle and put the bag of ice on. “There…all pretty. And it won’t wet the cushion.”
“What would I do without you?” she joked.
Matty looked at her with a serious facial expression as he sat down on the coffee table and reached over to her hand and sandwiched it between his own “The question is, what would I do without you?” he said whole heartedly.
His sincerity made Sammie’s smile fade slowly “Matty, I have to tell you something.”
As quick as his sincere face, a smile quickly appeared “What is it? Is it about Ethan? What dirt do you have on him?” She opened her mouth to explain when he hushed her “Wait…I’ve got to be relaxed for this. I’m gonna fix us two cups of hot cocoa and some popcorn…then we can talk about it.” He popped up like a daisy and skipped his way into the kitchen.
Sammie let out a sigh as she leaned back on her couch, her head rested to the back of it. Maybe it wasn’t the best thing to do, after all it would only ruin their friendship. It was definitely the last thing she ever wanted to do.