Chapter 14

The teacher's voice were all those deep and dull voices on very old documentaries that one would only watch when they wanted to sleep. It wasn't a problem on any other day, but today wasn't any other day. His fans were demanding and they wouldn't stop until they were satisfied. He had been up listening to a man talk about how unhappy he was in his marriage and how if things were better he would be with him. The man didn't need to tell a cammer about his problems. He needed to talk to his partner and a therapist after he had heard his colorful imagination of what he wanted to do to him. Roleplay was what he did now on private sessions. He had only started sleeping by three and his body had an internal alarm clock that woke him up half past six.

If the teacher didn't stop talking he was going to fall out of his seat. He had tried to take notes to distract himself but it didn't work. The bags were heavy under his eyes and they seemed to be pulling him down to his desk. Soon his head was down on the desk and he was out. He wasn't conscious to see that he dropping had not been so discrete and the small 'bang' had gotten the attention of his classmates.

"Mr. Henderson!" the teacher snapped.

"Present!" he replied abruptly sitting up and cleaning his lips on instinct. The tiny giggles made his ears burn. He looked up to see Beck giving him a questioning look. He just shook his head and lowered his face back to his arms in shame. Somehow he fell asleep again. He only woke up due to Beck shaking him.

His face asking all the questions and he could only shake his head.

"Come on" he removed his strap from his right shoulder. "I'll get you home. You're way out it" he helped him up placing his hands on his shoulder to assist him.

"I can still walk" he pushed Beck away. He almost stumbled but Beck was there to catch him.

"You look like a zombie" he tried to help him but Matthew was adamant on walking on his own. Luckily this was the final class.

"I can do this myself Beck!" even with his tired mind he could still snap.

Beck relented with a very loud sigh but still smiled. If Matthew accepted defeat easily he wouldn't be his best friend. He made sure to follow him closely just in case.

Immediately he got into the car he was asleep. He didn't even put his seatbelt on. Beck had to lean over and do everything. He put the seatbelt and fell the seat back. He lost his balance once and almost fell on him but he caught himself the last minute. He sighed relieved because there was no way that would have ended well.

He looked down at Matt for a while. A long while that was more than the accepted standard. He found himself smiling and he didn't really care. He put all his weight on one hand which wasn't hard and the other hand hovered shakily over Matt's head before he brought it down and caressed his hairline.

Matt mumbled something incoherent and Beck fell back in his seat. His heart beating hard against his ribs like he had done something bad which he didn't. He put his seatbelt on shakily and drove.

He slowed to a stop in front of his house and in his usual Beck fashion he shook him wildly and Matt jumped like a scared cat. The seatbelt held him down and he looked around in panic. "Something for the birthday" he said still recording as he laughed.

"Fuck you Beck" he yawned removing his belt, struggling to open the door.

"Do you need help? Don't want you falling and hurting your pretty head".

He waved back closing the door really soft that it didn't click properly. Beck had to make sure he didn't fall on the steps and was able to open the door himself before driving away.

Matt felt a bit refreshed after that little nap. He wondered if Beck drove around longer on purpose. Well now that he was here he might as well start all his school work so that he'd be able to sleep all through the night. That was if he didn't have anything scheduled. He yawned loudly as he knelt to look for his books. He took them out and took them to the living room before plopping down on the couch. All the deadlines for submission were approaching. He didn't want his dad to have something else to worry about.

He looked down at his pages and his eyes lost focus a little. He had to shake his head so his eyes could focus. He could feel a headache behind his eyeballs. He had to power through this and then he would have the rest of the day to relax and get his hours of sleep.

He scratched at his eyes before yawning again and going back to his book.

55555

He woke up warm, relaxed than he had been when he rested. A very nice aroma filled the air and he realized that he was hungry. His body was not listening to him when he wanted to get up. He tried moving his head and neck to see what he could make out and surprisingly dad was in the kitchen cooking.

Dad made breakfast, but breakfast and cooking were two different things. The last time he remembered seeing his dad cook was when he had been young. Maybe eight or nine. The three of them had been in the kitchen cooking. His favorite foods were macaroni and soup and he had thought one day why not combine it together. The three of them had gathered round the house computer trying to get the recipe. It had been a very fun day. No yelling, no cursing. Just all of them happy and the food had been superb.

He did power through all his work even if the headache got worse. First his eyeballs and then his entire face apart from his nose. Like he had a cold or something. He succeeded but he must have passed out without him knowing.

His eyes looked up lazily when he heard footsteps. His dad dropped the tray on the table. "Can you get up?"

He blinked stretching his lips in affirmative. Trying to sit up was such a herculean effort but he couldn't ask for help. He didn't want to look weak in front of his dad. He might have caught on and stood to assist him so he could rest his back before bringing the tray to his laps. "Do you want me to feed you to?" he smirked.

"Dad! I can manage" he sniffed but didn't make any movement to touch the spoon.

"I honestly thought you didn't get sick. What sort of food did Beck give you?" he interrogated.

"What food?" he asked confused.

"The exotic foods you went to try with Beck" he was trying to jog his son's memory, when he had been the one to tell him.

"Oh that" he finally remembered. "No" he shook his head.

"Thought you were running a fever but you weren't burning up. Even with all the noise I made you didn't wake up".

"You were loud on purpose while I was sleeping?" he gave him a blank look.

"Just to prove how exhausted you are. And it worked" he said unfazed.

"Dad" he groaned. The constant back and forth seemed to be strengthening his bones and he was picking the spoon up. Tasting the broth was like tasting happiness. Sweet nostalgia. He did suddenly realize that he was hungry so he ate quite fast. His dad gave him the parental look that he wasn't doing something right but he didn't care.

He would have ignored him but his dad's eyes were on him the entire time.

"Something wrong dad?" he finally turned to him. He put the tray beside him on the couch not even bothering to drink the water.

"No" he shrugged with the face he normally pulled when something was wrong. "Is something wrong Matt?"

"There's nothing-"

"Yes nothing's wrong but I saw you passed out utterly exhausted and it's happening in class too" he stated firmly.

"What?!" he was honestly surprised.

"Are you going to have an excuse for this too?" he leveled his stare at him waiting for him to say something.

Matt's mouth opened and closed with a tiny squeaky sound coming out of it but for the first time since everything he couldn't think of what to say.

"And somehow you're not as focused as you were. I can guess why".

"You-uh?" his blood was rushing fast in his ears with anxiety and fear.

"That editing job of yours. See what it's doing to you" he gestured to his person.

He almost wanted to sigh in relief but he didn't. He kept his lips firmly sealed.

"You are not a burden Matthew. You certainly don't have to work odd hours that you forget school and your personal wellbeing just to prove something to me".

He bit his lips and looked at his knees. The immense guilt was a constant feeling. His dad talking passionately was like a knife being stabbed into his heart. It hurt him physically. He was trying not to cringe and recoil, just to breakdown in front of his dad ant tell him everything.

He needed to be strong. If his dad didn't want to face his mum then he would.

"I'm sorry dad" he said in a raspy voice. "You know I can't lie to you. It's best not to say anything".

His father groaned visibly put off but he was trying to control himself. He could hear the calming breaths he was taking.

"Drink lots of water and take some pain medication. You fell asleep at an odd angle so you're probably going to feel it later" he stood up before Matt could apologize and explain himself again. He walked to the kitchen to go and clean up.

He hated this but it would end soon. He told himself that every day. It would only be temporary. He reached to his side for his water and his medicine. Why were teachers so nosy anyway? He'd have to be more careful.

He swallowed his medicine and he felt strong enough to clean up his area at least. He couldn't let dear old dad do everything.