Chapter 6 part 1

Matias

Matias stared down at his lap, replaying all the previous events in his head. He had found out the hero, Samuel, has a daughter. He explained how he even became 'the villain'. He showed the hero his face and told him his name. And then Samuel had apologized to him and gave him a hug. Not to mention cried all over his shoulder.

He genuinely couldn't believe it. The hero that he spent so long fighting with and all around disliking now knew all kinds of secrets, and they had even broken the friendship barrier in a way. Matias wanted to tell people how he wasn't a villain and that it was all a misunderstanding, but this isn't how he imagined It'd go.

Samuel exited the bathroom, snapping Matias back into reality. Matias looked Samuel up and down, from head to toe, and noticed how much of a mess he was. He was wearing loose sweatpants accompanied by a t-shirt that seemed old. His brown hair was unkempt and tangled a bit as it flowed down to his shoulders. His eyes were shadowed by dark circles and the rim of them was red from crying.

He sat down lazily and held out his hand.

"Here, give me your arm"

Matias glanced at his own hand before slowly raising his arm and dropping it into Samuels hand.

He felt the lukewarm cloth dab at his arm and quickly tensed. He looked away and bit down on his lip.

"Tell me if it's too much and you need a break, okay?" Samuel spoke with such care and worry in his voice, it made Matias question how he had ever hated him as much as he did.

"I'm fine, just keep going" Matias complained despite how warm Samuels voice had made him feel.

"Alright, I just don't want you to do what you did last time. There's no need to hold out until you physically can't take it anymore"

Matias could feel Samuels eyes on him and refused to look over to check.

"I was fine. Would you just shut up and clean the damn wound"

Samuel frowned, but continued dabbing and wiping at Matias's arm.

Matias looked down at his arm, almost making the pain worse. There was dried blood everywhere and in the center there was still dark, wet, blood pooling up.

A long and uncomfortable silence sat between the two. The only sounds were Matias's unsteady breathing and the occasional hiss or grunt from pain. Samuel made a point to consistently look up at the villain to make sure he was really okay.

Samuel finally broke the silence.

"I know you're not going to like this, but you're going to have to take that wound in your stomach to the hospital. I can't take care of it properly" Samuel spoke quietly, not bothering to stop his work on Matias's arm.

"I'm fine, there's no need to go to the hospital." Matias responded coldly, his eyes shifting up to Samuels face before quickly moving back down to his arm.

"Are you serious? You're not fine! That needs to go to the hospital or you could seriously hurt yourself!" Samuel raised his voice which was filled with worry.

He finally looked up from his work on Matias's arm and looked him right in the face. Matias remained looking down.

"I can't" Matias half mumbled

"You have to! They won't even know you're the villain!" Samuel didn't lower his voice even a little.

"What do you want me to tell them? That I was chilling in an alley when I was attacked by some people I have beef with?" Matias said sarcastically, desperate to come up with some kind of excuse.

"You can just lie! Tell them you were on the street and attacked by strangers or something!" Samuel was practically begging Matias to look him in the eye.

Matias shifted uncomfortably and looked at the wall, trying his best to ignore the look Samuel was giving him.

"If I go to the hospital I'm going to get caught up in all the legal government shit. I ain't go time for all that." He only partially lied.

"I know hospital paperwork is a lot but it's not worth dying over"

"I'm not going to die, and it's not the paperwork" Matias finally looked at Samuel as he spoke, but he quickly turned away soon after.

"Why don't you go get your daughter? She's been waiting for a while"

Matias tried to change the subject, biting down harder than he intended on his lip. He could feel and taste the blood that drilled into his mouth. His teeth only let go of his bottom lip after a gentle hand grabbed his chin.

Samuel had turned Matias to face him, Matias being too shocked to object. Matias felt Samuels thumb reach up and slowly brush his lip, wiping a drop of blood off.

"Would you stop doing that? You haven't stopped chewing on your lip since you got here." His hand remained on Matias's face as he spoke.

Matias did his best to ignore his abnormally fast heart rate and sweaty palms.

"Wait here, I'll go get a napkin or something" Samuel finally pulled his and away and started to get off the couch.

"No it's okay, I'll get it"

Matias practically flew off the couch, doing his best to ignore how that made his torso ache.

"But this is my house, you don't even know where they are?" Samuel questioned, shooting Matias a puzzled look.

"They can't be that hard to find, right?" Matias dashed into the kitchen before Samuel could object.

And Matias was right. It wasn't hard to find. The kitchen counter only had a few things on it, and right in the middle of it all was a roll of paper towels. Matias snatched one up and pressed it to his lip.

He leaned down and placed his elbow on the counter before placing his hand of the same arm into his hair. His grip tightened, pulling his somewhat curly hair just a bit. He took multiple deep breaths, allowing his nerves to relax and his heart to calm down. Why did he feel like this? He thought hard on what this feeling could be but drew a blank.

"Hey, you alright?" A familiar voice said from behind.

Matias quickly pulled his hand out of his hair and stood up fully, straightening his posture.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm good." Matias replied as casually as he could, which of course wasn't very casual.

"You sure? I guess I'm not exactly the person you'd want to talk to, but you definitely seem stressed" Samuel gave Matias that look of worry and sadness that he had done multiple times that night.

"Stressed? Try working during rush hours at the shop. Then we can talk about stressed." Matias replied sarcastically before his eyes widened in realization.

"Shit"

"What? What happened?" Samuel took a step forward closer to Matias.

Matias lifted his hand to his forehead and wanted to shoot himself for forgetting.

"I have to go to work in the morning." He said dreadfully

"You can't seriously be considering going to work tomorrow!" Samuel raised his voice more than necessary.

"Well there isn't anyone else who can come in-"

"I guarantee whatever reason they have for needing you there isn't as important as this!" His voice didn't lower even a little.

"Okay chill out, there's no need to shout" Matias tried to calm down Samuel but was met with a harsh gaze.

"Why are you yelling?" a high pitched voice asked from near front of the kitchen.

The two both whipped around, partially forgetting that they weren't the only two in the house.

"Ellie baby, I'm so sorry" Samuel limped over to his daughter and crouched down slowly, obviously trying not to hurt his leg.

As soon as Samuel had gotten situated in a crouched position Ellie had run off and, within what seemed like half a second, she was latched onto Matias's leg.

"Hello, Ellie" Matias said, smiling mockingly at Samuel.

"What did I tell you about stranger danger Ellie? Now you're choosing a stranger over your own father" He pouted.

Samuel reached to the wall for support and slowly pulled himself off the floor before looking back up at Ellie and Matias.

Matias looked down to the girl on his leg. He let out a soft laugh and looked back up to Samuel, who was now walking in their direction.

"Your friend? Ellie, do you even know his name?"

Ellie responded with silence.

Samuel was now standing beside Matias, both of them looking down at Samuels daughter. Matias felt a hand on his shoulder and stiffened only slightly. Samuel continued to get closer and closer until is mouth was right beside Matias's ear.

"Keep the cursing to a minimum around her, kay?" Samuel whispered into the other man's ear.

Matias hummed in response, turning away and putting a hand over his face.

"And by a minimum, I mean don't do it" He whispered again before leaning back and taking his hand off of Matias's shoulder.

Matias stood there, unmoving, for another few seconds. Why did Samuel make him feel like this. When he was close to Samuel his heart sped up, he broke a slight sweat, and he got an unnatural pit in his stomach. It was almost as if he was sick.

"What is your name?"

His thoughts were interrupted by the little voice coming from below him. He hadn't even noticed that Ellie had let go of his leg and was now looking up at him.

"Mat! His name is Mat." Samuel said mockingly, putting a hand on Mat's shoulder.

"That's not-"

Samuel wrapped his hand around Matias's mouth before he could object.

"Okay Mat! Now we're really friends!" The girl smiled sweetly and started skipping in circles.

Matias turned to Samuel with a scowl presented on his face. Samuel met his look with a joking smile. As much as Matias tried to object, his face softened and a small smile tugged at his lips.

The two simply stared at each other in a moment of nothing but pure relaxation. The only sound around was the sound of Ellie's feet hitting the floor as she skipped around the two and made laps around the kitchen.

Another moment passed before it was interrupted by a thud and a small voice.

"Ow.. that hurts" Ellie said drawing the two men's attention.

They watched as tears formed in her eyes and she started sobbing. Samuel didn't hesitate for another moment before he was picking Ellie up of the floor and holding her in his arms.

"Samuel your leg" Matias reminded, sure that it was hurting under the added weight.

"It's fine, don't worry" Samuel said to Mat before comforting his crying daughter.

"Come on, let's go back to the couch"

-----------------------------------------

So sorry if this seems lazy or rushed! I had to retype the entire thing after I accidentally deleted it.