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"What is the surprise?"

Matty groaned and looked at Karl like she was begging him to just go with the flow and stay put, "I'm not telling you!"

The two had been driving for 45 minutes and Karl made it his mission to mess with her the whole ride. He'd repeatedly asked her the same thing when they were still at the house eating breakfast together, to when Matty started to back-up from the driveway until now. And to think that this could possibly go for an hour or more was making Matty think if she should just tell him but she liked how persistent he was on getting on her nerves. It was obvious he was trying to annoy her. It was challenging but amusing at the same time.

"Why not?" Karl complained as he leaned back on the car's door rather than the actual seat so that he could see her easier instead of having to crane his neck every minute just to talk. Plus, it felt comfortable. More leg space.

He was sat with his legs close to his chest with his whole right arm keeping them together while the other gripped the back of his seat as he tried to balance and keep himself from falling sideways. So far, the whole sitting plan works.

Was it safe? No. Will he stop and sit properly and put a goddamn seatbelt on? No.

"Because! It will ruin the fucking surprise."

Karl let out a sigh, defeated, "I hate surprises." He mumbled before opening his phone to scroll through god-knows-what.

"Boohoo, cry about it."

"I actually will cry."

"Do it. Do it. Do it." Matty challenged. Karl squinted his eyes at her like she was telling her to back down through eye contact but Matty matched his gaze like she wasn't going to let him slide this one over.

Karl sighed in defeat, "Alright, where are the eyedrops?" He asked as he opened the glove compartment of the car with determination. As he began to scavenge for the eyedrops, his eyes brightened with mischief as he saw a picture buried beneath leaflets and paper with scribbled words and a copy of The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom and did a loud ha! at the discovery that made Matty jump in her seat.

She looked his way for a split second with wide eyes and a look that could bury someone 12 feet underground rather than 6."Dude! What the hell. We could've swerved and died!"

Karl rolled his eyes and gave her a smug grin, "I would say I'm sorry but..." He then showed her what was in his hand.

It was crippled in the edges, getting kind of powdery so it must've been accidentally drenched during a rainfall or perhaps got spilled on with water. You can still see the people in the picture though. It was still clear, clearer than her eyesight during nighttime and Matty went beet red as she began to recognize what it was.

It was a fairly old picture and fuck, it was that one picture she was so embarrassed about and thought was stored away. Why did her mother let her go out with 1D painted in bright and thick red letters when she went to the boyband's meet-up? She was standing right next to Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson and her face looked like that? Like a fucking kindergarten who got a hold of paint that they weren't allowed to use without supervision? Why did she not stop her?

Well.. her mother probably did try and stop her but little Matty probably didn't budge. Screw you younger Matty. Where on earth did you get that confidence? Why did you think it looked badass?—

Now that she thought about it, only her mom had that picture. It was the only copy.

When her parents visited her a few years back, her mom thought it would be funny to show the photo the entire day, her dad egged her mom on and also annoyed Matty himself. He took the picture and left it next to Matty's phone so that she sees it first thing in the morning. They were like a beast duo when it comes to pranking Matty. A bunch of boomers bullying their only child.

It went for almost a month until Matty pleaded for them to store it away, even dramatically saying to set fire to the whole thing. Just to banish its existence. Her fox-like mom must've slipped the picture inside the compartment, like a little souvenir. A little souvenir Matty didn't need to be haunted by. Her mom was the culprit and she will call her about it as soon as she gets home.

"Shit. Why is it there?" Matty yelped as she tried to snatch it from his grip but Karl just moved it further away from her, "Burn it! Throw it out of the car. I don't care what you do but just extinguish it. Make it disappear."

Karl couldn't control his amusement any longer because of how dramatic she was being and let out a stream of giggles that made Matty want to throw herself out of the moving vehicle.

"Stop." Matty whined as she tipped her head forward to let her dark wavy hair cover Karl's view of her face. No seeing her face privilege. She doesn't want to see his reaction right now, his laugh was enough to make her feel flustered.

It was totally because of him making fun of her and not because she found him endearing. Yep, that's the reason. Exactly.

"I will kick you." She threatened as he didn't stop.

"You– You can't, idiot. If you do, we die." Karl managed to say in between laughs. His face was red and his hand still clutched the piece of paper in his left hand.

"I don't care if we die. I'll spare your life if you give me the picture, Jacobs. Hand me it and I'm gonna throw it outside."

"No."

"No?" Matty asked with a face that said 'hand me the shit or I'll deck you'.

"No. If you don't want it then I'm keeping it. Blackmail material." He replied as he pocketed the picture making Matty gasp in protest.

It was final she will get a face surgery and change her name to Richie Heathens and move to the Netherlands or live in some country, far away from civilization, in a farm, with cats and dogs even if she's allergic to them.

"You little—"

"Ray of sunshine? Yeah, I am. Thank you."

"You know what. My mom will fight you over that pic. It's hers."

"Your mom will let me have it, idiot."

"Don't get too cocky, Jacobs."

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Karl's mouth parted in awe as he took in the view. His face was slightly red and sweaty from the hike and he could feel heat emit from his body but it was slowly cooling down as the cold air from being at the highest peak of the mountain blew around him, ruffling his hair. "Not gonna lie, I thought you were taking me to a park or something." He said before turning to look at Matty who laid a huge thin grey blanket on the ground.

"Would you rather we go to the park?" She asked, patting the space next to her as soon as she sat. She opened her backpack and took two cool bottles of water out from it.

Karl shook his head and was careful not to step on the clean sheet as he settled in, "No, it's because you asked me to put on running shoes and shorts. So, I was like... is she taking me jogging?" He said before gratefully accepting the cool bottle and opening it to soothe his drying mouth.

"Why the hell would you think that I would take you jogging?"

"I don't know because... maybe you're trying to make me live a healthy lifestyle? Being a streamer doesn't exactly sound like you're keeping track of your health and what you're eating because of hours of being in front of a camera."

"Hm. Would you want to go for a jog tomorrow then?" Matty asked with a tilt of her head.

Karl laughed, "God, no. Thank you but I don't exactly find the idea of exercising during my break quite nice. I mean we could walk around, that's exercise right?"

Matty chuckled and offered him a chocolate covered biscuit. Ironic because they were talking about living a healthy lifestyle but here they were, surrounded with sweets.

Karl took it graciously and bit on the biscuit, humming in delight at the flavour. "Where'd you buy this?"

"I made it...?"

"You cook and you bake?! What can you not do?"

Matty felt her face flush and quickly downed her water to cool herself down. "I can not talk to other people even if it'll cost me my life."

Karl made a face, "We're talking right now." He replied smartly which earned him a punch on the shoulder.

"Oh fuck off. You know what, alright then... I cannot cartwheel." She giggled bashfully. "I tried when I was kid. Didn't end well." She added.

"What do you mean?"

Matty removed her thin black jacket and Karl furrowed his eyebrows. His brain was going 'what the fuck? what the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck—' until she pointed at something just below her elbow. Karl didn't know what she was pointing at and looked at her expectantly.

"Um—" His voice croaked so he cleared his throat, furiously blushing at the amused smirk on her face. "What exactly am I supposed to be looking at?" He asked, scrunching his nose up in confusion.

"I got a scar from cartwheeling." She said while nodding her head towards her elbow. "Pretty badass right?"

Karl looked at it intently and saw that there was a slight discoloration but it wasn't really noticeable. It looked lighter, like white paint, than the rest of her pale skin that still had a pink glow from the scorching sun. It wasn't really big but it was there. You won't see it unless you really try and look at it it.

"Pretty badass."

Matty chuckled and puller her jacket back on, "I actually used to say I got the scar from getting mauled by a bear when I was a kid. Chicks dig those." She jokingly bit her lips and cackled at what she just did.

Karl laughed with her and shook his head, "Oh my god. Matty Simmons, the heartthrob." He narrated in a voice used in boxing matches. I'm sure everyone everyone cried because of how pretty you are.

Matty laughed and nudged his shoulder that was still sore from her punch from earlier, "You think I'm pretty." She teased.

Karl mentally yelled because how on Earth did he manage to say it out loud. Matty noticed how he turned into a blubbering mess and shoved a biscuit in his hand out of panic. She didn't even know why she did it, she just thought it could help.

"Hey, it's cool! I mean, you're pretty too, Jacobs." She said out of nervousness as she thumbed the blanket beneath them.

"Oh."

"Yea—"

"Thank you."

Matty nodded. The two of the, went silent as they stared at the view before them. The sky was still a bright blue. You could see the highway from afar if you squint. There were greens and dots of yellow, red and violet on them just below. A field of flowers that Matty will probably drag Karl into if she wasn't fucking allergic.

Fucking allergies. It's like nature's out to get her!

"Ugh."

Karl turned to look at her and smiled at her expression, like she was grossed out by something, "What?" He asked.

Matty shook her head with a grin, "We're kinda cheesy, don't you think?"

Karl shrugged, not really knowing what to say. Cheesy? Cheesy in a friend way? Or cheesy in 'I might have a chance with you' way?

"I'm lactose intolerant. We can't be this cheesy, Jacobs." She said while waving a threatening finger jokingly. "Don't go falling in love with me like we're in some rom-com novel." She quipped.

There it was. She already answered the question he was thinking about beforehand. It was just cheesy in a friend way. Nothing more, nothing less.

He pursed his lips, ignoring the heavy feeling in his gut. He felt pathetic. The feeling's pathetic.

"Don't worry. It's not like I'm gonna fall for you, idiot."

hehe AnGST ;) i hate myself for this, but i work so well with pining LMAOOO

matty's literally a heartthrob bc karl's heart be ACHING. alright i'm done. there are so many jokes i could make out of this mf chapter.

anyways, i definitely recommend u lads to read The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. it's such a great book, a fav. i don't know why the heck it has a rating of 3.9/5. tell me what u think about it!

and tell me if u liked this chapter.

lots of mwa's. take care of urselves or else.

jk jk.

sending yall positive energy and loveeee. byeee.