Page 73 of Matched

“We’re not actually together, and the thing we have is going to end when I move to Plymouth. I’m not gonna hold him back, and the whole distance thing?—”

My sister shot upright, whacking me around the back of the head. “You’d better not be serious! Don’t even think about splitting up with him. And you do love him, you liar. You seem toforget I’ve known you for nineteen years, and you can’t pull the wool over my eyes. Not now I’ve seen the two of you together. I’m your sister. I know these things. Go and get your boyfriend, tell him you love him, and sort your shit out. No one’s breaking up with anyone.”

“Whoa. Soph.” I stared at her as she came to the end of her rant, her eyes still flashing with fire. “Where did all that come from?”

Her shoulders slumped. “I just want you to be happy, and I don’t want you to fall back into the same old habits. Just because Mum and Dad couldn’t stay together doesn’t mean the same thing will happen to you. We’re not our parents, Nate.”

“What?”

“That’s a big part of why you push people away, you know.”

I stared at her. Fucking hell, was I that easy to read? Gritting my teeth, I conceded her point. “Yeah. You’re right.”

“I know. Sort it out.” Her serious expression eventually relaxed, and she grinned at me. “Is it weird, me giving you advice?”

“Nah. Okay, a bit. But…yeah. I don’t want to lose Charlie, but I don’t want him to have to deal with only seeing me very occasionally for two whole years, especially when he already has to juggle his uni work with two jobs. And I don’t want him to have to feel like he has to spend his money on getting trains down to see me, because I know he wouldn’t let me be the only one travelling. Then there’s the fact that after his degree, which will be the same time I finish my postgrad course, we might want to go in different directions. We might end up at opposite ends of the country.”

“Your worries are valid, but shouldn’t that be up to him to decide? Not just you. Have you even spoken about any of this with him?”

I grimaced. “No. We’ve both been burying our heads in the sand, I think.”

“Of course you have.” She rolled her eyes. “Talk about it. Tell him what you just told me and see what he says.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes.” Unzipping her bag, she pulled out her phone, glancing at the screen. “We’d better head back. Promise me you’ll talk to Charlie as soon as you can?”

Climbing to my feet, I held out my hand, pulling her up to stand next to her. Wrapping my arms around her shoulders, I kissed the top of her head. “I promise. Love you. Thanks for helping me see sense.”

Hugging me back, she smiled. “Love you, too. That’s what I’m here for.”

32

“Ihave a hypothetical situation, and I could use your advice.”

Ander held up his hand. “Before you tell me what this is all about, is it gonna require the assistance of Sid?”

“Sid,” I muttered, but when Ander continued to look at me expectantly, I sighed in defeat. “Okay. If you really think it’ll help.”

“Sid’s a great therapist.” My housemate made for the stairs, and I followed him up on autopilot, not even realising we were heading for JJ’s bedroom until he was knocking on the door.

“JJ—”

“JJ has custody this week. He’s good for advice, too.” Ander glanced back at me as he pushed the door open. “Mate. We’ve got your back. Don’t look so stressed.”

“Make yourself at home,” JJ said drily when Ander flopped onto his bed. He was leaning back in his desk chair with his feet kicked up on the desk, a music video playing on his open laptop. The sound was muted, and when I took a closer look, I realised the video was playing at half speed.

“Dance moves,” JJ explained when he caught me staring. “Now, do either of you want to tell me why you’ve invaded my room?”

Ander rolled over onto his back, his head hanging off the edge of the bed. Looking at JJ from his upside-down position, he lifted his hands in the air. “Charlie needs our advice on a hypothetical situation.” He did air quotes with his fingers when he said the final two words. “I thought we could use Sid for moral support.”

They both glanced over at where the giant snail was gliding along the bottom of its enclosure, completely ignoring the humans in the room.

“See? He’s listening,” Ander said, and JJ nodded in agreement. My housemates were weird.

“Okay.” JJ lowered his feet from the desk to the floor, pausing the music video. “Let’s hear it.”

“Yeah. Uh.” Crossing to the wall, I leaned back against it, shoving my hands in the pockets of my shorts. “Hypothetically, if you’d been seeing someone and you’d agreed to keep it casual and end it when he—they were moving away at the end of the semester, what would you do if you caught feelings? Would you keep to the agreement or, I dunno, do something else?”

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