the small screen displayed laggy, black and white images of mattia and i walking towards nat's house yesterday.

we were standing close together, our fingers were intertwined and for a few moments of the video we were just staring at each other in awe.

the statements and signs of love were clear.

my mind was racing and i started to feel sick.

natalia's eyes were still glued to the TV in shock.

the sound of a knock at the door made my heart drop.

a million different thoughts flashed through my head and the sound of my heart thumping was almost audible.

the knocking continued, my heart rate speeding up with every beat.

suddenly, i saw my phone light up.

i glanced at the message i had just recieved and a wave of relief came crashing over me.

i pulled the door open to see him standing there.

so effortlessly perfect.

after a second, he flashed his winning smile and opened his arms up, offering a hug.

i rolled my eyes and dragged him in by the elbow, making sure to check every direction to make sure nobody was around before i shut the door.

'the fuck- whats going on?' said mattia.

'you gotta see this.' i said, frantically.

i pulled him into the kitchen and showed him the tv.

his face fell.

'fuck.'

'i already told nat everything.' i said.

'oh-'

'mattia what the fuck are we gonna do? it's obviously us.' i tried to suppress my sobs.

mattia pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arms around me, stroking my hair.

i could feel his heart racing.

'look we're gonna do whatever we have to do.' he said, attempting to sound confident.

my phone started blowing up, it was my mom.

she had texted like a million times, telling me to come home and asking what was going on.

i couldn't even face her right now, she was the least of my worries.

natalia finally broke out of her trance and peeled herself away from the tv.

'y/n this is bad.' she said.

'i fucking know-'

i was interrupted by the sound of someone pounding at the door.

a few seconds passed by, the three of us exchanging silent stares.

'new jersey state police. open up.'

the voice boomed, causing my heart to stop for a second.

i clung to mattia like my life depended on it.

i felt dizzy and jaded, my eyes darted around the room as i watched the colors begin to melt away.

i turned to nat, seeing the pigment drain from her cheeks.

it felt like time had stopped.