a sudden thudding on the door woke me up, throwing me into a frazzled and disorientated state, a daze of confusion.

his arms were still snaked loosely around me, and even in sleep he held me close to his chest, allowing me to bathe in the warmth of his aura, soaking in his familiar scent as i traced the outline of his ribs. i ignored the rattling of the door for a small moment, breathing in his naturally clean smell, and allowing the hushed lullaby of the slow, sleeping pulses of his heart to soothe me.

something about the feeling of the surface of his cold, creamy skin sliding gracefully across mine had always caused a forest of safety to blossom around us, a sense of infinite happiness that i could only ever feel when i was in his presence, the sensation so potent that it would force the corners of mouth to curl up into an embarrassingly uncontrollable smile.

i gently guided my index finger against the edge of his arm, venturing upwards in small, circular motions until my hand rested around his jaw, and i gripped him softly, his warm flesh moulding slightly to accommodate my fingertips as i began showering him with a fast flurry of kisses, pressing my lips against the familiar dip past his throat and savoring the unparalleled sweetness of his surface.

'mattia,' i whispered, laying a hand flat against his chest as i chafed the sleep out of my eyes with the other, 'the door.'

his eyelids almost immediately fluttered awake, a sight that i never grew tired of, i watched in awe, soaking in the satisfaction that he provided me with by performing just the simple action of waking up. he got up quickly, the tips of his eyelashes brushed onto me, tickling my cheekbone slightly as he moved, before smoothing one of his hands against the side of my face.

he stretched out his limbs and i moved out of his way, my eyes following him as he got on his feet and placed himself in front of the steel door.

'just here to make sure that you still want those waffles for tomorrow? nothing else?' the officer's voice was hard to understand, as only his eyes were visible through the slit of the open peephole of the door, but i was still able to recognize his kind tone, the one that i knew had been helping mattia see me as much as possible.

'yeah, nothing else.' mattia said.

'great.' officer noah responded, a quiet depth in his eyes pooling with sympathy as the sound of pen scratching against paper filled the silence.

'hey, thanks for knocking, man.' mattia pointed out sincerely.

'least i could do,' he responded, 'hey, y/n.' the officer's eyes met mine.

'hi noah.' i replied, my voice full of the high respect and gratitude i felt for the man.

'do you have the time, actually?' mattia asked, raking a hand through his loose, bed-head waves, and leaving me to watch as they bounced back with easy animation.

'yeah, i think it's quarter to six.' he informed.

mattia and i stared at each other in shock, both of us exceeding each other's display of surprise, the knowledge of the fact that the prison demanded all visitors to be out by 6pm loomed over me, casting a dark shadow of reminder of the anguish that tomorrow would hold.

'six- as in six pm?' mattia questioned desperately, an almost unnoticeable shaking breaking out in his lower leg.

the guard cast his eyes over at me for the second time, and a flicker of light almost convinced me that that a watery layer had washed the waterlines of his eyes.

'listen, she can stay the night.' he turned back to mattia, his words gushing out so rapidly that they were difficult to understand.

my heart gave out almost instantly upon processing the sentence, my mind surging with disbelief as the immensity of the relief shook me.

'for real?' mattia almost squealed.

'yes, just stay quiet. i'll be back in the morning.'

'thank you, thank you, thank you.' mattia and i buzzed as he strode away quickly, locking the peephole behind him.

mattia turned back towards me, a sleepy smile plastered brightly across his face, and he glowed like an angel, his internal joy turning his exterior to pure gold. for a moment i understood how much i meant to him, and for the first time in my life i felt valuable. i craved nothing more than seeing the electric serotonin that my presence would bring him, and suddenly nothing was about me anymore.

'yes.' i said, with no trace of doubt in my low voice.

'yes?' he replied, innocently.

'i will be there with you tomorrow,' i swallowed stiffly, gulping down and burying any seed of fear that still laid within me, 'at your execution.'

a tiny curtain of still, unwavering silence fell delicately between us, before being shattered entirely.

he leapt forwards, his arms scooping up my body and pulling me into him, my face buried in his chest as he squeezed me so tightly that i could hardly breathe. nothing could have made me happier.

he rocked me slightly as he sunk his face into the dip between my neck and shoulder, and i felt a lump begin to form in my throat, one which i forced myself to swallow - i refused to make things worse than they already were. i held him tight, the rough material of his scratchy overalls balling in the palms of my hands.

'thank you so much.' he whispered directly into my ear, his voice calming as it brushed against my eardrum.

'of course.' i assured him, my eyes connecting with his as i pulled away and relocated my arms around his neck, using my fingers to comb through the back of his hair.

'i love when you do that.' he beamed contently.

'i know.' i smiled lightly, all my energy going towards preventing the burning, wrenching sensation of my heart from exposing itself externally.

a buzzing from my back pocket broke the tension. i looked up towards mattia, as if to ask for permission, to which he nodded his head gently, his smile never fading. something i didn't say was that i was hoping it would be natalia, bearing good news, but when i pulled my phone up i was disappointed to see that my mom was trying to face time me.

'ugh.' i frowned, showing the screen to mattia.

'you should pick it up, it could be important.' he advised cautiously.

'yeah, but-'

'she's your mom, y/n, stop being so mean about her, just answer the call, at least she actually cares about eliza.' a half-shadow of sadness dampened his expression as he referenced his parents.

'okay.. i'll answer it. i'm sorry.' i replied as gently as i could.

'don't be sorry, it's not your fault.' he squeezed the side of my face affectionately, making me feel warm again.

'hi mom,' i turned away from him, answering the call, 'i'm kinda busy right now.'

'no, y/n, you have to see this.' her voice bled through the speaker phone in an almost yell.

'what is it?' the concerned undertone of my voice was obvious.

she turned the phone to eliza, garbling in front of a plate of food. a few seconds of confusion passed by, when finally mattia and i both became ecstatic, realising that she was forming actual words.

'waffles!' was the word we were able to make out.

'holy shit!' i turned back to mattia, 'do you hear her?'

'she's talking!' he gasped, 'oh my god, i literally called it, didn't i say those would be her first words.'

'like father, like daughter.' i laughed at him.

after showering eliza with well received praise over the facetime, we finally hung up, and mattia and i laid clung together in the bed.

'it's been so long since we've been able to sleep together.' i giggle-whispered giddily.

'reminds me of when they had us cooped up in that house.' he responded.

'god, that feels like an eternity ago.' i sighed.

'yeah, i miss it.'

'me too. it was easier back then.'

'are you scared?' i asked quietly, intertwining my fingers with his as we both drifted closer toward sleep.

'not scared, just.. sad.' he said.

'i wish we had more time.'