Chapter 11 part 1

Matias

"I'm used to it by now"

Matias was no good at comforting people. No matter how hard he tried he always froze up and made things worse in the end.

That's why when Samuel stiffened and looked up at him with upset eyes, a rush of worry went through him.

"You shouldn't have to be used to it, Matias"

Samuels voice broke Matias's heart. It was cracking with every few words and quivering every time he paused between words. It was clear he was doing his best to remain calm, but was failing miserably.

"Samuel" He said slowly, though he didn't have a plan for what to say after that.

Silence overtook the room. Matias looked right into Samuels eyes, but this was different than any other time. This time he didn't bother trying to hide the concern in his face. He simply let his face express his emotions, which was something he hadn't done in a while.

"I'm sorry" was all Matias said.

Samuel looked up at him with a puzzled look.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, I'm the one who should be sorry" he remarked sadly.

"You'd think that wouldn't you" Matias mumbled and laughed quietly.

Samuel looked at him as if waiting for him to continue.

"Oh, never mind. Don't worry about it" Matias stuttered, realizing that Samuel was looking at him patiently.

Matias looked away awkwardly and took a sip of his water. He could feel Samuels look burning a hole into his face as he resisted the urge to look back at him.

Samuel chuckled quietly, making Matias finally glance over. Samuel was wiping a tear from his cheek with the saddest smile Matias had ever seen.

"I'm sorry, I'm really trying not to cry" Samuel tried his best to add humor behind his words.

Matias couldn't help but feel bad for the crying man beside him. It was painfully obvious how he was trying to remain calm even though tears were spilling out of his eyes.

He searched his brain for an idea, any idea, to make him feel better. Samuel hugged him while he cried before, would that help? Or would that just be weird? Matias didn't want to stare at Samuel as he cried for any longer, so he decided to act on his only idea.

He stood from the chair he was sitting on and wrapped his arms gently around Samuels back. He held his breath and prayed that this was actually a good idea.

He stood there awkwardly for no more than a second before Samuel also stood up. Matias worried that he was upset by the hug, but that thought was pushed away when he wrapped his arms tightly around Matias's back.

It wasn't long before Samuel was all out sobbing into Matias's shoulder. The two could feel each others hearts beating and their chests rising with every breath.

"I'm sorry" Samuel managed between quivering breaths.

Matias paused, debating his next words.

"I think you're the last person who owes me an apology" he whispered.

He could feel Samuels grip tighten around him. He had the back of Matias's shirt balled up in his fists and his face was buried into his shoulder.

"I don't know why I get like this around you" Samuel said suddenly

Matias held his breath for a long moment, waiting for an explanation.

Samuels breathing calmed mostly back to normal and his sobbing had stopped, though he was undoubtedly still crying.

"I don't know why I get so emotional" he continued "it's like you make me so happy but I just feel so guilty by everything I've done to you. It's like.."

Samuel stopped for a long moment. Matias felt his heart speed up and his breathing become rugged. He was relieved that Samuel also felt.. different.. while they were together, but he couldn't imagine saying that to Samuels face.

"It's like I don't deserve to be happy around you" Samuel finally confessed.

Matias felt cold as Samuel pulled away. They looked into each others eyes, and Matias couldn't help but feel guilty upon seeing Samuel's red and puffy eyes.

"You know I don't blame you for that, Samuel" He spoke soothingly.

Despite himself, he gave Samuel a comforting look. He had always found himself keeping a blank face whenever he could, but he had this tugging urge to do whatever he could to make Samuel feel better.

"I know" Samuel mumbled "but I still feel guilty"

Matias could feel his heart ache for the crying man before him. He had never cared this much about other peoples emotions, but he was starting to understand why he cared so much about Samuels.

"I'm sorry" Samuel said once again.

"Don't be"

That was all Matias said before he pulled Samuel back into a close hug. His arms wrapped around his middle-back tightly, though his injured arm had a much looser grip. He could feel Samuel's chest press against his own as Samuel wrapped his arms around his shoulders.

They stood there for a surprisingly long time, unmoving. Despite how long they had been standing there, neither of them had any desire to move. Samuels crying had slowed to a halt and both of them could finally breathe as their thoughts slowed down.

Matias didn't think he had ever been more comfortable in his life than he was right now. He couldn't think of a single time anyone had hugged him as affectionately as Samuel was. It made him feel good. Hell, it made him feel special.

Footsteps coming into the kitchen finally interrupted the moment they were sharing. Samuel pulled away slightly, still keeping his hands around Matias's neck, and greeted the person who had entered the kitchen.

"Hi Ellie, did you sleep well?" Samuel asked, looking over Matias's shoulder at her.

Matias, though he didn't want to, let go of Samuel and pulled away from the hug. He turned around to face the little girl who was rubbing her eye tiredly.

Her eyes widened when she finally looked up.

"Mat!" She squealed, running over to cling to his leg.

"Hello, Ellie" Matias laughed.

Samuel put a hand on Matias's shoulder, making his heart race. The girl on his leg was giggling and looking up at him but he was too distracted to pay her any mind.

Samuel glanced up at Matias before looking back down at his daughter. His eyes showed nothing but love, though they were irritated from the crying.

"Can I play a game with Mat?" Ellie looked up at her father enthusiastically.

"I guess that depends, does Mat have somewhere to be?" Samuel looked back at Matias.

Matias had ended up leaving the shop around 1:30, a few hours earlier than normal. Now he was just killing time anyways, he didn't enjoy being home alone all that much.

"I could spare a few minutes" Matias replied.

Ellie squealed and started running in a circle around Matias.

"Okay Ellie, calm down" Samuel laughed.

She stopped and hugged onto Matias's leg once again. Matias leaned over towards Samuel's ear.

"You think she likes me?" He whispered sarcastically.

Samuel let out a short laugh, his eyes never leaving his daughter.

"Maybe"

Ellie finally took a step back from Matias, looking up at him.

"Can we play Go Fish?" She asked enthusiastically.

Samuel scoffed and laughed while looking at the floor. Matias looked over curiously at the now giggling Samuel.

"Do you ever want to play anything besides Go Fish?" Samuel questioned.

Ellie crossed her arms and displayed a frown. Matias joined Samuel in his laughing, trying to compose himself.

"I'd be happy to play Go Fish with you, Ellie" Matias finally spoke.

Ellie didn't verbally respond, but she started jumping up and down, running around both Matias and Samuel.

"I'll go grab the cards, you two find a seat at the table" Samuel said, still laughing, as he went into the other room.

"Okay!" Ellie squealed

She grabbed Matias's hand, or rather his finger, and dragged him to the table. The table was a decently small circle with four chairs around it.

Ellie sat in one of the chairs and urged Matias to sit beside her. Samuel tossed the cards into the room, startling the other two who hadn't heard him come back into the room.

"Ellie if you sit that close to him he'll be able to see your cards" Samuel informed her as she was trying to scoot her chair even closer to Matias.

Ellie gasped offendedly and looked at Matias. She hopped off of her chair and dragged it further away from him.

"Thanks, now your kid thinks I'm a cheater" Matias complained.

Samuel only laughed in response, unboxing the cards.

The three of them played for longer than they expected to, Samuel trying to let Ellie win, but Matias refusing to let her win easily.

"Alright Ellie, I think that's enough Go Fish for one day" Samuel suggested as she won the last game.

"Noo" Ellie pouted "I want to play with Mat some more"

Matias rolled his eyes at the nickname.

"Ellie, how about I come over another day and we can play lots of Go Fish, okay?" Matias said soothingly

Ellie's eyes lit up and she jumped from her chair at the table. She jumped onto Matias's lap and hugged him tightly.

Matias's heart warmed at the girl hugging him, but he didn't enjoy the moment very long before a shock of pain went through his torso. His face scratched up and his whole body stiffened.

"Ellie, be careful" Samuel asserted.

He grabbed Ellie off of Matias and set her on the ground. He gave Matias a questioning look to which Matias nodded, assuring that he was okay.

Samuel crouched down beside his daughter, who now had a sad expression.

"Do you remember the other day how I had to help out Mat because he was hurt?" Samuel asked softly

Ellie nodded.

"Well he's still hurt really badly, and you can't jump on him like that or you might accidentally hurt him even more, okay?" He kept his voice quiet and soft, which made Matias happier than he expected.

Ellie nodded and looked back at Matias sadly. She looked like she could burst into tears at any moment.

"I'm sorry Mat" she looked at him regretfully "I didn't mean to hurt you"

Her expression made Matias want to crouch down beside her and hug her tightly, but he knew that wouldn't work out. He felt like just standing up right then would be far too painful.

"It's okay Ellie, you didn't hurt me at all" he smiled sweetly.

Ellie's face seemed to brighten, but she didn't move towards Matias to hug him like he'd expected. Matias wanted to tell her she could still hug him gently, but Samuel spoke up first.

"Why don't you go play with your toys, me and Mat have some adult things to talk about" He suggested.

Ellie frowned, but didn't protest. She dragged her feet all the way out of the room. By the time she was gone, Samuel had stood up and was now beside Matias, who was still in his chair.

"That hurt like a bitch" Matias joked suddenly.

Samuel laughed for only a second.

"I'm sorry, do you need help?"

He stepped in front of Matias's chair and offered a hand.

"I wish I could say no, but I think I might become acquainted with the floor if I do" Matias managed to joke, though he was in incredible pain.

The pain was just as bad as when Lexi had hugged him in the shop, but it was different. He didn't feel like he was going to cough up a fit or pass out.

Samuel held out both of his hands and Matias gripped them tightly. The wound ached and begged Matias to stop moving, but he pulled himself up anyways.

His teeth were gritted and he had a tight grip on Samuels hands, but he finally stood up straight.

"Are you alright?" Samuel questioned.

Matias looked up from the floor up to Samuels face. He had a clear look of worry that made Matias feel a bit guilty.

He put on his most convincing smile before he replied.

"I'm okay"

Samuel smiled weakly, making Matias's heart skip a beat. Just looking at Samuel made his heart speed up and his stomach become tingly. He had not once in his life had anyone make him feel the way Samuel did, but he finally knew, without a doubt, what that feeling was.

Samuel let go of one of Matias's hands. He stepped to stand beside Matias and brought his other hand around his shoulder.

Matias couldn't help but laugh

"Samuel this really isn't necessary"

"Of course it is" Samuel corrected, only half joking

Matias laughed again. He couldn't believe the irony behind the hero helping out the villain in such a way.

"Laugh all you want, I'm helping you to the living room either way" Samuel continued to insist.

"Alright, alright, lead the way" Matias finally said, giving up on changing his mind.

Samuel helped Matias to the living room, though Matias could walk perfectly fine, and they sat side by side on the couch facing the tv. They sat closer than what Matias expected, which made his whole body become stiff.

Their legs were touching from their hips down to their knees. If he were to uncross his arms his hand would land right on top of Samuels.

"Did you ever watch the things they said after the interviews?" Samuel asked, grabbing the remote.

"Nah, you woke up before I got to that part" he answered

Samuel pulled up a news recording and skipped to the interviews.

"You didn't finish the interviews did you? Do you want to watch that part?" He looked at Matias curiously.

"Nah I was basically done with all that bit anyways. Just skip to wherever you want" He replied casually, though his heart was ready to leap out of his chest.

Samuel skipped only a few seconds after the live interviewing with the hero had ended. They cut to a lady in a annoyingly bright red dress.

"Victims of the attack have all reported unharmed. One of the witnesses said it was as if the new villain wasn't trying to hurt them in the first place" The lady spoke blandly.

Matias scoffed. It wasn't like anyone was forgiving this 'new villain' or anything, but the fact that they gave her the benefit of the doubt in the slightest made his blood boil. Nobody had ever doubted that he was anything but a cold hearted villain.

"There were a collective five victims who had a direct encounter with them. All report that they were picked up by some kind of powers" She emphasized nearly every word, giving Matias a headache.

"Funny to think that the first thing they did after assuring those people were okay was question them" Matias blurted.

Samuel looked over at him genuinely.

"They don't even wait until after first aid a lot of the time. I've seen them question people with gashes and broken bones before" His voice was filled with regret, though it couldn't have really been his fault.

Matias looked back at him. The two had almost completely tuned out the news station, which was just going over recent event anyways.

"Funny how those pricks are the good guys right?" Matias said with a chuckle.

"And they say you're the bad one" Samuel half-joked back

They looked into one another's eyes for a brief moment. Matias searched through Samuel's honey colored eyes. They were dark, but still had a glow that drew him in. They were simple, and Matias loved that about them.

After only a second of observing one another's eyes, Samuel looked away. Matias was disappointed, though he didn't want to admit it. He followed Samuels gaze back to the tv, which was now cutting through clips of people walking out of the buildings all down that road.

"Amazing how she managed to break every single front window on all the shops down Greenlake" Samuel commented "while kicking my ass and harassing pedestrians none the less"

Matias pushed away the urge to look back at Samuel, glueing his eyes to the tv.

"What's amazing is how she controlled her powers while doing so" Matias added

Samuel looked over at him puzzled, but he kept his eyes on the screen.

"I could easily walk down a street, break a bunch of windows, and beat up some pedestrians. I just couldn't do it without running out of energy or over exerting myself" he spoke in a flat tone, though there was clearly emotion behind it.

"Yeah" was all Samuel said before turning back to the tv.

Samuel and Matias had both seen each other over exert or run out of energy while fighting. Though it wasn't a common occurrence, things just went too far sometimes. If they used their powers for too long or too much at once then they'd die down. And it sure wasn't a pretty sight to see.

The screen shifted to show an officer who had a stern look on his face.

"It's no secret that this new villain is incredibly powerful. If there are any other sightings do not approach them. Get as far away as you can and hide." His voice was strict and would probably make anyone who encountered him shiver.

"Damn who spit in his coffee" Matias joked

Samuel chuckled a bit

"That's Officer Weldon, he's always like that" he said in a voice that managed to sound sad and happy at once.

It seemed like he was going to continue, but he never did. His attention never left the broadcast, not elaborating on Officer Weldon.

The news clipped to a different officer once again, but Matias recognized this one. It was the same officer who had evacuated the coffee shop.

"We are all devastated at the recent events that have just went down, but there has been some happier news in the midst of the chaos. Just here in this coffee shop a ninety year old man says a young boy probably saved his life" the officer gestured to the shop behind her.

Samuel looked over at Matias questioningly, probably thinking it was a bigger situation than it actually was.

"The man says that he was struggling to get out of his booth, which was right beside the now smashed window. He says that one of the workers had ran from behind the counter all the way over to help him even though everyone else was already safe in the back room"

Matias rolled his eyes at the story. He didn't believe he did anything heroic or praise worthy. He just did what he could, nothing special.

"The boy helped him out of the booth and towards the back room. He says that just seconds later the window was smashed, and that if it weren't for that boy he could've been hurt or even killed."

Matias sighed. Almost every time there was an upsetting event they'd find a way to make a hero out of it. It helped lighten the mood but Matias thought it was a bit silly.

"A young, male, worker had saved that old man?" Samuel asked teasingly.

Matias looked back at him, mentally hitting himself for forgetting he was there.

"So was there a different worker that fits that description or?" He didn't bother finishing his question.

Matias rolled his eyes.

"I didn't do much. They exaggerated it" Matias said blandly.

He never received much praise for his actions, so when he did it was always a bit weird. He believed that in order to get valid praise of anything it would have to be something big.

"You saved his life, Matias!" Samuel nudged him teasingly.

"He wouldn't have died, she didn't kill anyone else did she?" Matias responded, downplaying his actions.

Samuel laughed quietly. He didn't bother protesting though it was clear that he didn't agree with what he was saying.

They continued to watch the news as they showed both photo and video of all the damage. The news discussed the villain's involvement and if it's safe to go out in public, but there was nothing they didn't expect.

The station was still playing when Matias felt something heavy on his shoulder. Samuel had leaned his head over casually, resting it onto his arm.

"This whole thing is stressing me out. She's only appeared once and I've already humiliated myself" Samuel complained

Matias let out a silent laugh.

"They've been ramblin about the whole thing for like thirty minutes now and not once have they mentioned how badly you failed at fighting that new villain" Matias joked in response, referring to the news station.

A few seconds of comfortable silence passed. Matias's muscles all relaxed and he was calm. Which was shocking considering how bad his heart raced when Samuel laid his head down.

"If she comes back" Samuel started

His voice fell, pausing for a long while. They both just sat there, thinking.

"If she comes back I won't be able to beat her" Samuel finally said.

Matias looked down at him, though he looked back up after realizing how hard it was to see someone who was on your shoulder.

"I'm sure it'll all work out fine" Matias comforted.

Samuel chuckled lightly, though it was obvious that he was still uncomfortable.

"We'll figure it out"

----------------------------------------- Ngl I added some stuff in here just cuz I felt like it lol

I edited this whole hella tired so sorry for any mistakes I might've missed!!