Perfect Match

by Monica Miller

  And Alex would be the bad guy… Who’d rise from the dead… No, he’s dead already. Now… He’s dead. And I can fly!

  “What are you doing here alone?”

  I heard her voice that sounded like… Christmas bells. I started laughing because I didn’t know what to answer and Emma came and sat next to me, crossing her arms across her chest. That didn’t make things easier for me.

  “I noticed you drank a lot tonight. I was worried for you.”

  “I love you, too,” I said as I took her hand and kissed it.

  “I said… What’s wrong with you?” Emma said as she pulled her hand away and got up to her feet and when I looked at her she looked like a giant. I could be a giant too, I thought as I tried to get up, but the stairs were pretty clingy.

  “Dance with me,” I told her as I took her hand in mine.

  Of course she protested at first, but we were in front of our office building at 11 PM and the air was pretty cold for her strapless black dress and she didn’t have the time to complain too much before I placed my hands on her tiny waist and pulled her closer to me. She placed her hands around my neck eventually and everything stopped being so funny. It was us again, the Avengers.

  The air was making her hair float so gracefully and she looked perfect right there, in the darkness of the street and her brown eyes glowing.

  “Matt, we can’t do this,” Emma said eventually as she let go of me and took a step back. “I just wanted to check on you, cause I didn’t see you for a while and I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

  “I am now,” I said with a laugh.

  “Okay, this might get a little weird, but… Why were you looking like that at me while I was dancing with Alex?”

  “Because I hate the guy. I physically… drunk him. No, I’m drunk. And this is fun. You should be drunk too. And then we could be the Drunk Avengers.”

  “What? Are you even listening to yourself?” Emma asked, but I could tell she found this funny, cause the sides of her lips were turned up in a cute smile.

  “Yes, I thought about it. We’re the Avengers, Emma. It’s our job to be… drunk.”

  “No, it’s not, that’s your job!” she said laughing.

  “Then what would your job be?” I asked as I managed to get closer to her and I placed my hand on her waist and slowly caressed her back.

  “My job… would be far away from you.”

  “Wrong answer. You’re my Pepper, you know? No. You’re hotter than she is. You’re Gwen Stacy and I’m Peter Parker.”

  “But he ends up with Mary Jane. It’s always been Mary Jane,” Emma said as she shook her head.

  I took a step towards her and placed my lips on hers before she could react and protest. I wrapped my hands tight around her and just enjoyed the closeness between us, the feeling that I had with no one else but Emma, because I loved her.

  She grabbed my collar and pulled me closer to her, kissing me so passionately I barely could keep my balance due to the amount of alcohol used to forget about my stupidity.

  The way I held her in my arms, the way I felt about kissing her… I knew I’d do anything to have this again, that I’d do anything to keep her happy, and be happy myself at the same time and I knew that there was only one way to do that.

  She pulled out from the kiss, her hands still on my chest as mine slowly moved up on her back. I touched her cheek with my fingertips and she gave me a small smile.

  “I could break up with Monica. I’d do that for you now,” I actually did, but I didn’t tell her that.

  “No! I can’t do this!” Emma yelled at me and ran a hand through her hair. “Are you being serious?” she asked a few moments later with a softer voice. “Would you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then do it,” Emma said and I placed my hand on hers and she smiled. “I could break up with Alex too.”

  “Yes, please do that!” I said and she started laughing as she moved a little closer to me.

  “And you had to do this now?” Emma asked and I could barely keep my balance so she wrapped an arm around me and the other one placed it on my chest.

  “Yes…” I heard myself saying, even though every single word was giving me a headache. “I love you.”

  “Matthew, you know that you can’t say that, right? And you wouldn’t say it if you hadn’t drank the entire lot of alcohol from the party,” Emma joked as she helped me to sit on the cold stairs from the entrance of the building.

  “You know me so well…”

  “If I don’t know you, who else will?” she asked with a giggle.

  I was completely surprised she wasn’t yelling at me anymore or making a scene about kissing her a few minutes ago. And that was perfect. Her lips were practically heaven.

  “I don’t know. I think you really know me better than I know myself. Except when I’m a fuckin’ jerk.”

  “Good point, Matt. Look, you can’t say that today. Everything’s going great with Alex and Monica was practically bragging about her ring to everyone. There is not a single person who hasn’t heard her say how amazing you are. And it’s awesome… She asked me to be her maid of honor, Matthew. And we’re not…”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Yes, me too. I’m really sorry because at some point I thought we could have something and I was wrong, I know you and I should’ve been the rational one. And I hate myself for it.”

  “I’m sorry,” I repeated and I felt myself sound like a broken record. “I want you to know you’re awesome. And I think I would’ve said that even if I was sober.”

  “I know,” she said and rested her head on my shoulder. “We really have to stop being like this, Matthew… It’s not good for Monica or Alex or us.”

  “I know… But I can’t help it…” I said and ran a hand through my hair. “I hate seeing you with that guy,” I confessed with a sigh and she nodded.

  “I hate seeing you with Monica too, but I’m not complaining, Nicholls. I really think we should stop this, even if it’s killing me.”

  “I love you,” I said and every single part of me felt the reality of it. I took her hand in mine and squeezed it and she moved even closer to me and placed her arm around me. I kissed her forehead and she sighed.

  “I love you, too, Matt,” she whispered eventually and I turned my head and kissed her one more time.

  Chapter 34

  Changing minds

  ~*~ Emma West ~*~

  “Matt and I broke up,” Monica said when I opened the door and she burst in before I said anything. “Just like that, he called off the wedding and everything.”

  No, no, no!

  Why not? You should be happy, I thought to myself as I looked at Monica who was sitting on my couch with her arms crossed over her chest and at her big, red eyes. She looked sad and depressed and inside me I felt… nothing. I couldn’t be sorry for this, because, well, I loved Matt.

  “Monica…” I finally said as I sat next to her and took her hand in mine.

  The tears started falling down her blue eyes and I hugged her just so I could have the chance to erase the stupid smile growing on my lips. Why was I smiling? My friend was hurt, because of Matt, and I was happy about it? That didn’t make me better than they were when it all began.

  “I’m gonna get you a glass of water, okay?” I told her and she nodded.

  I walked slowly until the kitchen where I started jumping like a five year old. I knew it was wrong, because there she was crying, but I’ve been there, I felt miserable and I loved him, and I still love Matt more than she does. I know Alex was awesome and so, but my heart always belonged to Matt and I never understood how Monica got over Ben so fast. She loved him and I knew it, and I was trying not to judge, because I was nobody to judge, I have no right plus she’s my friend, but seriously? And she never even considered the fact that I could feel something for him?

  I calmed down and drank a glass of water and ran my hand through my hair.
Now it meant Matt was single, and I could… No, I couldn’t. Not that fast. I know Monica didn’t even think about me, but I wasn’t her. I cared about her and I knew she loved him.

  Pulling out my phone from my back pocket I spent a few seconds before typing “I love you” to Matt. Then I deleted it and placed my phone on the kitchen counter as I ran my hand through my hair. I typed it again and deleted it for a couple of times, then typed “Matt and Monica broke up!!!!” with a lot of exclamation marks and sent it to Gabrielle. I placed my phone back into my back pocket and took the glass of water and a pack of tissues and came back to the living room, where Monica was sitting in the same place with her head in her hands.

  “There you go,” I told her as I handed her the glass.

  She muttered ‘thanks’ and I nodded, sitting uncomfortably next to her and wishing I’d known what to say in a moment like this. I looked at the blue paint of the walls of my living room and the vintage furniture Rick insisted on keeping, the black fluffy rug in the center of the room and the big flat TV where Rick spent most of his free time.

  Even if I’ve lived here for quite a while, I never felt like home. It didn’t quite feel like home without Matt in it, without us having breakfast together and watching TV shows where he’d say how unrealistic everything was – starting from Stephen Amell’s abs to the fact that nobody understood the love between Dean and Castiel – or yelling at some football games with Rick. I missed all that and when Monica showed up at my door crying and telling me they broke up I felt like I could have that again, even though I knew it was wrong and that I wasn’t like that at all.

  I sighed and placed my hand on her shoulders as she silently cried for a few minutes more, until the door opened and there was Rick.

  “Hey, Monica,” he said avoiding to look at her as he walked towards his room.

  “Hey, Rick…” she replied with a low voice.

  As it was obvious to anyone who knew that Rick had the biggest crush on Monica since the very first time they met, he stopped in the middle of the distance towards his room and turned to look at us and his eyes widened as he noticed the tears in her eyes. He frowned at me like it was somehow my fault that she was like that and walked towards us.

  “What happened, Monica?” he asked softly, but as I knew him really well I knew he was all furious now that something made his Monica cry.

  “Matt and I broke up,” Monica whispered and new tears fell down her red cheeks.

  “YES!” Rick shouted and Monica and I looked at him in surprise then he added, “Yes, I’m so sorry… Can I help you with anything? Emma, would you like to go outside and take a walk?” he asked with a very nice tone.

  I barely could repress my laugh when I saw him standing there as cute as always with a big smile on his face, even though Monica was crying. He wanted to run a hand through his hair, and then he reminded he’d ruin it and stopped halfway.

  “I think it would be good,” I said as I got up from the sofa. “Could you be more obvious?” I whispered to him with a smile on my face before taking my purse and walking out the door.

  Just after I closed the door, I felt so relieved. I sighed and smiled to myself and wondered where I should go. Maybe I should see Matt and tell him… something. But then when I was on the street and the cab stopped so quickly, there was only one place where I wanted to go.

  The ride to Gabrielle’s apartment wasn’t too long, about 15 minutes where I could happily smile and express my happiness and then I jumped on the stairs until I reached her apartment.

  “Hey!” she said opening the door quicker than usual. “Come in. What do you mean Matt and Monica broke up?” she asked getting right to the point.

  “I don’t- I don’t know, it’s just I feel so…”

  “Happy? In love? Happy?” Gabrielle asked with a laugh.

  “Yeah. But a little sad, too. You should’ve seen her, and man she looked awful. I mean not awful-awful, because she is still Monica, but…”

  “Look, I love Monica, but I’ve seen you that way and trust me, it’s not nice. Obviously, right now I should be a good friend to you and express my reticence about the fact that you and Matt could actually be together right now since there’s nothing stopping you, but, Emma… He has hurt you before and what he has done was really, really bad. And you know, once a cheater…”

  “Gabrielle!” I complained as I sat on her couch and took a bite from one of the cookies standing on the coffee tables. “These are good.”

  “Yeah, I made them for Jensen. Hey, do you know I ended things with Shia? It wasn’t working anymore.”

  “What?” I asked totally caught off guard. “I’m so happy!” I said as I jumped and hugged her. “Now you’re gonna date Jensen Ackles and make super cute babies!”

  “If you say so…” Gabrielle replied and for once I was surprised by the fact that she wasn’t saying ‘no’ anymore. “I know you love Matt and in a weird, but very, very weird way he loves you, too, but he’s a douche bag and a jerk and a…”

  “Okay, skip to the good part,” I told her with a smile.

  “But… I don’t know I’m not sure about this. What’s gonna happen to Monica now? Or… Alex? What would you do about Alex?”

  “I don’t know I didn’t even talk to Matt yet…”

  “You didn’t?” she asked completely surprised. “Then what are you doing here, woman? Go talk to him.”

  “I don’t know,” I repeated and ran a hand through my hair. “You should’ve seen Monica, so sad and…”

  I wanted to say more, but the knock on the door stopped me. I looked at Gabrielle with a raised eyebrow, thinking that it was obviously Jensen and she gave me a smile as she walked towards the door.

  “Matt!” Gabrielle exclaimed and I froze. Matt? Here?

  “Hey, Gabs,” he said as he entered the room and stopped when he saw me on the couch. “Oh. Bad time?” he asked as he looked at Gabrielle, and she and I exchanged confused looks.

  “No, of course not, come in,” Gaby said as she closed the door behind him.

  For a moment I could actually feel the tension in the air, you could’ve cut it with a steak knife, and I never felt more uncomfortable in my life.

  “Anything to drink, Matt?” Gaby asked as he sat on the couch a little too far from me.

  “Oh yeah, anything would be great,” he said and Gabrielle turned on her high heels and left the room.

  “Hey,” I said as I gave him a little smile and he smiled back.

  “Hey, Ems. So, I was actually… Looking for you,” he said as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

  “Oh. Okay. What happened?”

  “I don’t know. Monica and I had this big fight last night… At the Christmas party, except I… can’t remember why and… what the hell I did last night.”

  No. This can’t be happening.

  I looked at him, completely off guard and opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Was he sorry about his break up with Monica? Did he remember telling me that he loved me? Why was he even here anyway?

  “I’m sorry, I… I don’t know what to do.”

  “About?”

  “About the fact that Monica and I broke up and I know she… must really hate me, considering I had to sleep at a hotel last night and she isn’t answering my calls and… Have you seen her?”

  “Yes… She came to my place, but I left her with Rick.”

  “Oh. Good. The same Rick who’s in love with my girlfriend,” he said sarcastically.

  “What… Do you… No, forget it.”

  “Forget what?” he asked harshly and I felt how my whole world was falling down. “Look, I can’t do that to her! I promised her I won’t hurt her!”

  “What? Really? You promised her? But what about me, Matthew? What about hurting me? You really don’t care about that, right?”

  “It’s not that, it’s just the fact that I want to…”

  “No, save it. I under
stand. Go talk to Monica, kiss her, marry her, whatever. I don’t care!” I said as I got up from the couch and ran a hand through my hair and sighed.

  Why did I even think he’d break up with her for me? That he’d come to me and tell me that we can finally be together now? I wanted to kill him right now, for always giving me hopes and after breaking them like they didn’t matter. They mattered to me.

  There was another knock on the door and Gabrielle popped out of nowhere and in the door was none other than Jensen.

  “Hey, beautiful,” he said as he kissed her before noticing we were there. In a normal moment, Matt and I would’ve made fun of it, but right now it was just really uncomfortable. “Oh! The kid’s here!” Jensen exclaimed as he noticed me there and came to hug me like we were old friends. “Don’t tell me. I wanna guess. So…” he took a few steps closer and looked at Matt. “With my personal experience, I’d say you are… Matthew?”

  “Personal experience?” Gabrielle laughed as she took his arm and laughed.

  “Yep. So are you Matt?” Jensen asked looking at him.

  “Yes. Nice to meet you, Jensen. I was really glad to hear you’re dating Gabrielle.”

  “But I never said…”

  “I might have,” I said and Jensen laughed as he came to sit on the couch, right between me and Matt and placed his arm around my shoulders.

  “So, kid… What’s new? Matt? What’s with this tension around here?”

  “Um… Maybe we should just-“Gabrielle started, but Jensen stopped her.

  “No, I wanna know. So what’s it about this time?” the actor asked looking from Matt to me.

  “Nothing,” Matt replied with a harsh tone.

  “Oh, okay, someone’s mad. Cookies! Don’t you have some pie, sweetheart?” Jensen asked as he took a cookie.

  “No, I don’t have pie,” Gabrielle replied as she rolled her eyes. “But could you please, come for a second?”

  “It takes more than a second, sweetheart,” Jensen replied and winked at her in a very sexy way. “And I’d love to, but I wanna know what’s happening here,” he said as he pointed at Matt and me.