Silver Threads ↠ Matthew Fairchild [1]

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F A L L E N W I T H T H E N I G H T

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Willa had never experienced motion sickness before, but it seemed the day was still young and full of many surprises. Each jolt of the Institute's carriage made her feel worse than before and it wasn't helping that not only was she covered in ichor and blood, but Matthew as well.

Even with everything that had happened that afternoon, Willa still found her cheeks heating up at the thought of Matthew and how he had held her in the park. In the moment, she hadn't thought much of it. It was only when he had let go of her in order to escort her to the carriage along with Lucie and Cordelia that she had realized how close they had been and the thought made her skin feel as if it were on fire.

However, she couldn't understand why. Willa liked to believe she was a bright girl, but when it came to matters of the heart she wasn't exactly the best and she knew that. Matthew was merely a friend—one of her best friends. He was her brother's parabatai. She did not have feelings for him. She couldn't.

Her eyes flickered over to the boy beside her, her gaze starting at his outfit which was stained with blood and ichor before moving up to his hair that was sticking out in all directions which was a lot unlike him. Finally her eyes fell back upon his face, tracing the outline of each of his features while she felt her lungs constrict.

It wouldn't be awful if she did fancy him. Foolish, of course, but definitely not awful.

As if sensing her gaze, a pair of forest green eyes suddenly turned in her direction. Matthew's eyes seemed to twinkle as they stared back at her, the corners of his lips turning up just a bit as he tilted his head in a questioning way. The sight was enough to make her heart skip a beat, a fact that Willa didn't entirely hate to admit.

It took a moment for her to register that the blonde had caught her staring and Willa blinked before muttering, "Your hair is a mess, Matthew. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you just rolled out of bed." It was a cover up and a lousy one at that, but Matthew didn't question further and only grinned despite the heavy mood that still surrounded them.

"I was going for the more ruggedly handsome look. I hear it makes girls swoon. Can you concur with that rumor, mon coeur?" Matthew questioned, leaning in slightly before putting on his mischievous smile as a bit of his golden locks fell in front of his eyes.

Willa gaped at him, her cheeks heating up a bit as she grew flustered. "It makes you look homeless," she retorted before sighing and reaching out with her hand which she began to run through his hair. She was silent as she worked and let a small grin appear on her face once she had straightened up the golden locks back to its normal appearance. "There you are. Now that's the Matthew that makes girls swoon."