viszlát ✕ matteo/paige
Paige was shocked to say the least. She had to blink a couple times before concluding that was Matteo indeed traveling with a female partner. The girl - Jane, as she so friendly introduced herself - reminded Paige of her half sister back home. It might have been the brightness of their hair, or the way that they were genuinely kind in a way that Paige could never be. Memories of Arabella flooded the brunette’s already cluttered mind. She remembered all the times she went out of her way to make her sister’s life a living hell. She remembered the mission to steal her father back. Yet, all of her treacherous deeds were accompanied by a lack of guilt. She remembers feeling nothing as she hurled razor sharp words in the direction of the bambi eyed innocent. For only a second, Paige is jerked back into reality. Her lips remain pressed even as Jane offers a friendly introduction. The slender brunette had never been one for polite formalities, she wasnt going to start now. Her eyes narrowed as she took in the girl in front of her. The similarities to Arabella went so far as to match the hatred Paige suddenly felt towards the unfamiliar face. She moved her gaze once again to rest on Matteo’s features. She felt the contrast of emotions as she remembered the immense guilt that resulted from her heartless crimes. For the first time in her life, someone had made her feel the need to actually apologize. She remembers the feeling of hopelessness and longing she felt in the period of Matteo’s silence, but mostly, she remembers the confusion which had followed her into today and had driven most of her decisions since that summer in Gulf Shores.
Jealousy. That was the feeling Paige felt when witnessing the exchange of looks between Matteo and his redhead – she was not going to give him the satisfaction of acknowledging Jane’s name. Suddenly, she was exhausted. Despite having the ability to dance for hours on end, her emotions had drained her of any excess energy. “Hm.” Paige hummed through the sound of the Hungarian festival. The noise level of the outside environment had lessened itself to a simple hum in the heat of the moment. Her words pierced the tense aura the trio had created. “I speak English, don’t worry. However I doubt that exempts you from making a fool of yourself. I saw you dancing earlier, i’d recognize that hair from a mile away.” the lie flowed so easily past Paige’s soft lips. The same lips that were once pressed against Matteo’s own. The thought brought a smirk to the girl’s features. It was a smirk that should have been all too familiar to Matteo. “Watch out, Taylor Swift might sue you for using her dance moves.” she finished sharply before turning back to Matteo. She wanted to tell him how much she really missed him. Maybe in another world she would have told him how many times she replayed that day at the zoo in her mind, or the time they went streaking in the yacht. If she had her way, Paige would have manipulated Matteo over and over again just like she manipulated everyone else. She would have not allowed herself to feel, to suffer, the emotions that surrounded the curls. Yet, as much as she likes to think differently, Paige Cohen doesnt always get her way. It happened all at once, the confusion and heartbreak, and there was nothing she could do about it. “I wish I was sorry.” she said suddenly. Paige wished she were sorry for vowing to discover what the boy had to hide, she wished she was sorry for exposing him before crushing him. In reality, however, she had made up her mind that she could not be sorry. Without her treasonous actions, she would have never realized that she actually cared for the boy and his happiness. She would not have experienced his gentle touch, or witnessed his genuine smile while holding the reptile that scared her to death. She would have never realized how safe she felt in his presence. At the same time, she would have never had to experience such hurt and loss. Yet, deep down Paige knew that it was all worth the small moments of genuine emotion. The girl glanced over her shoulder, a small part of her hoped to be met with a Matteo-like smile from Bryce, but instead was met with nothing but a stare. “It was nice seeing you again, Harding. Always a pleasure.” She said, taking a step back.
Any type of explanation regarding Matteo’s answer to a simple question he was more than used to at getting would have to wait. He felt guilt for haven forgotten that the reason he had got himself into the crowd had been because of Jane, but that was something the bright haired girl didn’t have to know. Instead his face fell blank again as he watched the interaction between Jane and Paige— two completely different type of people. Whereas Paige was rash and loud, exciting even, Jane was quiet and practical. She was someone who found happiness in the simplest of things whether it was a newborn pup or a brightly colored shirt, but these days Matteo hadn’t failed to notice her smile was usually paired up with little acts of kindness from his part (a hug, a peck on the lips, holding hands). Of course it was somewhat mutual— she had the tendency to make him smile at odd times and interest him with engaging conversations, and overall it just felt nice to have that person with him. The body heat she provided was certainly a plus. He just wished it was more mutual, if that made any sense. Not that he was ever one for romance, at least from his point of view anyway. It always confused him why his brother would say he was the romantic one when it was Rhett that had people shamelessly exposing themselves for him. Matteo’s actions were what he called common sense when it came to being in relationships, and if that made him the more amorous or amatory of the twins then be it. At least Jane was happy, and as a friend or a lover, he cared about her happiness.
He shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was when he really began to listen to what Paige was saying, her sharp tongue spitting out not the worst of her agonizing words. He felt the second Jane tensed up and he followed suit with that, the smirk on Paige’s lips something he couldn’t quite get off his head no matter how many drugs the other Cohen once sold to him. Jane’s smiled only faltered a little, her features confused if anything but still friendly and overall hopeful. Something so empty-headed for someone with a mind as bright if not brighter than Matteo’s. Any sign that Matteo had once been smiling before was gone by the time he met Paige’s gaze again, blinking but looking away with a shake to his head. He could have said he was disappointed, but that would require him to say he had high expectations of Paige and honestly, he wasn’t sure he had any expectations from her at all that didn’t correlate with her acting exactly as she was then. The truth was, he didn’t know what he felt. If it wasn’t disappointment then it was frustration and if it wasn’t frustration it was indignation, and if it wasn’t that then it was just plain old irritation. Whatever the feeling was, it was something he hadn’t had to deal within the last year— something he hadn’t had to put up with since the end of last summer when he returned to his home in New Haven and decided to continue his life there, leaving Alabama and his fears behind him as best as he could because he knew he deserved better than a house and a group of people from which he could count on his hand how many he actually befriended. He needed normality and he got it until he decided he needed more, which he also got but was currently being disturbed by someone he had once felt his lips on and embarrassed him that now had the decency to belittle the one good thing he had going for him. "Oh.” Jane still smiled although it was clear on her face she wasn’t expecting such a response and chose to laugh of all thing, nervously but still an almost aching smile on her porcelain like features. “You and your friend should have dinner with us tomorrow night.” It was Matteo that spoke up when Paige was set to leave, looking over her shoulder to see the man that had been standing by throughout their whole encounter. “I think that’s plenty of time to come up with an apology for Jane.” Where he managed to get the courage to say that, he didn’t know, but courage was something he was building up. Even if the build up was slow. Looking back at Paige, he sighed when he stared at the same girl from about a year ago. Maybe he had hoped things would have been different upon first landing his eyes on her, but he was proved otherwise. “A sincere one, as hard as it may be for you.”
