Midnight Visits (Ari)

Matthew's house was silent and dark, the only light coming from the moonlight shining in through the windows. That was because it was night time, and things were usually silent and dark at night time. Or, at least, if they weren't, it was because Matthew was making noise, or making fire. One of the two. And right now, he was doing neither. As he slipped through the dark hallway toward the stairs, Matthew was positive that he wouldn't run into his mother or Ollie - both of them went to bed obnoxiously early, far before Matthew could even imagine being tired. The only way they would be up right now was if Matthew managed to wake them - something he was trying to avoid. Because Matthew wasn't just up for a glass of water - though that would be his excuse if he got caught. No, Matthew was finally doing something that he'd always wanted to do - he was sneaking out of the house! Which was way cooler than leaving in plain daylight when he was allowed to. And it turned out to be much easier than they made it seem in movies.

As he neared the back door, however, a loud sound startled him. Matthew jumped, knocking a fork loudly off of the kitchen counter, only to realize that it was just their grandfather clock, chiming midnight. He froze in place, listening carefully for any sign of movement upstairs, but sighed in relief when there was nothing. He bent down to put the fork back, and then darted silently through the door, like some kind of stealthy assassin, or a thief who had just gotten away with a grand robbery. As soon as he clicked the door behind him, a huge grin spread across his face and he turned around to stare at the world, which was dark and quiet and way more epic that way. Just standing in his backyard, just outside his door, felt so daring and adventurous when it was night time and he was supposed to be in bed. And now that he was there - well, he had no idea what he wanted to do! He hadn't really had a plan - his only plan had been the actual act of sneaking out. Now that he was there, he wasn't really sure what the next step was.

Well, he figured if nothing else, he might as well start walking. Matthew crossed his yard and hopped over the gate instead of opening it, because he was tall enough to do that now and it made him feel cool. And then, he went to explore London at night!! Which, as it turns out, was actually slightly boring. Matthew ended up just walking around the streets and the park, with absolutely nobody to talk to. He did climb an awesome tree, but he could do that in the day. He needed to do something that he couldn't do in the day. Something that didn't involve breaking into a shop and stealing things, which he assumed was what people normally did if they were out at this hour. He probably wouldn't have thought to do it - after all, Matthew didn't really like her, right? Except that just as he was trying to come up with the next thing to do, he passed by her house.

Matthew came to a halt, staring at the house, and instantly started trying to talk himself out of it. He definitely didn't want to do that. It would make it seem like he wanted to be friends - but they were friends, weren't they? And she hadn't been so bad lately - but no, she was definitely bad. Or definitely annoying. But, Matthew really wanted to. So, in the end, after a long, painful internal battle, Matthew stepped forward, deciding to pay Ariadne a post-midnight visit. He actually knew which window went to her room, because she'd pointed it out to him before. And, there was a tree so conveniently placed just outside of it. Most people probably wouldn't be able to scale it, but most people weren't a master tree climber like Matthew. So, he climbed the tree, but still had to stretch pretty far to reach the window. Hoping that her parents weren't light sleepers, and hoping that Ari was a light sleeper, he reached out and knocked on it. "Ari, open up," he called quietly, though she wouldn't exactly hear him through the glass. Even if she did wake up, and her parents didn't, Matthew wasn't really sure if he could make it into the window from the tree. But then again, Matthew was a professional climber. He'd manage.

Ari had been silent all through dinner. Her parents didn't even notice, which had annoyed her to no end. Aunt Evelyn had come back from leaving Ari her travels, and acted as if nothing had happened. Was Evelyn aware that Ari had not spoken for three months because of her? Did the nanny even report Ari's odd behavior to her parents? Or was this all for nothing? To top everything off, Aunt Evelyn brought home a husband. She messed with her peas and ignored everything they had to say. Aunt Evelyn tried to hug her at one point, and Ari had gone upstairs to her bedroom locking the door. She had only came down because she was forced. Ari hated being at home even more now. She wished she were at Hogwarts. Right now she would be sitting with Matthew probably in the common room going over homework. Ari had had enough of the gibberish Aunt Evelyn's new French husband was talking about, and slammed her fork down and left. She went upstairs to her room, and locked the door. This was absurd. One simply didn't walk out of somebody's life, and then expect to be welcomed back with some kind of French pet. Ari was more than pissed.

She had fallen asleep without realizing it. She had a horrid dream about her entire family being invited to Aunt Evelyn's wedding, and Ari was shut out and not invited. Even though Aunt Evelyn had promised her when the time came she would be a bridesmaid if she was old enough. Ari had felt scared, and alone, like she had the entire summer when Aunt Evelyn was away. She hated the feeling, of being tossed to the side like she was nothing. She jumped in her sleep and woke up. The sky was dark out. Her clock read a ridiculous hour of the night, and then she saw a shadow in her window. Freaking out for a minute, she got out her wand even though she wasn't allowed to use magic outside school. She went to the window, and breathed sigh of relief. It was just Matthew. Which was weird. Ari opened her window, and let him in.

She asked, "What in the world are you doing here? Well, obviously to see me of course, but at this hour?" It was then she realized she hadn't told Matthew what had happened ever since their last runin at the park. She said, "It's terrible! Aunt Evelyn is back, and she's replaced me with a fancy French husband. She's going to forget all about me." She hoped that summed up her entire day. In one word, it was terrible. She went to her bed, and waited for Matthew to come up with some great solution that didn't involve burning the house down. Because if he did, how was she going to explain that to her parents. If they even noticed. She would be surprised if they did. And now that her best friend Matthew was here, she was glad that somebody was here to notice her. Because everyone seemed to be ignoring her nowadays.

Matthew was beginning to wonder if maybe Ari was a deeper sleeper than he'd thought - or maybe he'd gotten the wrong window. Or the wrong house! Oh, that would be pretty embarrassing. But then, someone was at the window, peering out. Matthew stared cautiously for a moment, because if he had gotten the wrong house and it was some old woman with pepper spray opening the window, he didn't have much time to run for it. But Ari's bright red hair was unmistakable, and be breathed a sigh of relief. She slid the window open, and he grinned at her from the tree. "Hey!" he said casually, as though this was a perfectly normal thing. Okay, and now, he had to figure out how to get from the tree to the window, and not fall to his untimely death. "I was bored," he replied, edging further out onto a branch and carefully reaching for the windowsill. It was actually slightly easier than he'd expected to catch it and pull himself inside, and after it was all said and done Matthew felt a lot like a ninja.

Then, once he was finally inside, he processed Ari's question a little further. "Oh, I mean, I snuck out," he clarified proudly. "Which was supposed to be cool, but it was actually really boring because there's nothing to do at night..." but Matthew trailed off as he glanced around, suddenly realizing that he'd never been in Ari's room before. He'd never been in any girl's room before, actually. She'd gone to sit down on the bed, and suddenly, Matthew wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do. Was he supposed to go sit on her bed with her? Or would that be considered rude? Or would it be considered not rude, and would that be worse than it being considered rude? He wanted to go sit by her, but for some reason he was afraid to get any closer to her in her bedroom. Which was stupid, because he sat next to her on the couches in the common room all the time. In the end, he just ended up standing awkwardly in the center of the room, stuffing his hands in the front pocket of his hoodie. He'd just leave it up to her, and not sit on her bed without an invitation. That was simplest.

True to her nature, the moment Matthew got there, she started going on about all of the troubles in her life, primarily concerning her Aunt Evelyn, who had apparently returned from her trip. "She's back?" Matthew asked. "And she brought a husband?" Matthew wasn't sure, but he didn't think people usually got married that fast. Anyway, after a moment, he shook his head and responded. "I mean, I'm sorry - you can always just give her the silent treatment, like I've been doing to Ollie." Still standing, he continued. "Or maybe, you know, you need to be the one to forget all about her. She hardly sounds worth it, you know, based on how you talk about her." Really, Ari made her Aunt Evelyn sound like a terrible person, but he wasn't sure if it was true or if it was just Ari exaggerating. "Or, you know, I can always set her hair on fire or something, though I'm not sure how that would help."

Matthew glanced around her room again, falling into silence. Maybe coming here was a mistake - actually, being around Ari at all was a mistake. Because he was supposed to not want to be around her, but when he wasn't around her, he did want to be around her and that went against everything he believed! And even now, he wanted to go sit by her, which made no sense because he usually wanted to stay as far away from Ari as he could. And, worst of all, he hadn't really of her as annoying for ages! At least, not without purposefully making himself think about it. Not liking the silence, Matthew glanced over at her. "So... this is your room..." Yep, that only made it worse. Definitely worse.

Ari looked at him weird. Didn't he know he could come sit on the bed with her? She didn't have cooties or anything. He started saying things like setting Aunt Evelyn's hair on fire. She got freaked out and said, "No! You shouldn't hurt her! That wouldn't solve anything!" Like he had said. Maybe she was over reacting. Maybe it was time to be the bigger person and forgive her. Maybe it was time to grow up a little bit. After all, she was a fifth year. She wasn't a baby anymore. And that freaked her out. She forgot about Matthew's awkwardness, and said, "Sit on the bed! You're allowed you know!" She laughed a little. She said, "I don't know, it's just complicated. Maybe I am over reacting. Maybe I'm being a selfish spoiled brat. Maybe... What do you think? Tell me your honest opinion." She had never known what Matthew really thought of her. So she wasn't sure if she was gearing the question at her personally, or the whole Aunt Evelyn situation. She blushed a little bit.

She thought back. She had forced them to be best friends. She had forced herself on him. Not in that way, but in a way that was emotionally draining for some, and she would be forever grateful to him for sticking with her since day one, whether he was forced to or not. She had thought that maybe his attitude of her had changed. She hadn't asked him to come over at midnight. She hadn't been the one to ask him to climb the ridiculously high tree that led up to her window. Maybe they could start a real friendship now. One that wasn't forced. One that was real. She looked at her hands nervously waiting for his answer. Then again, he wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, so maybe he wouldn't read into her question all the way. She hoped in the end, he would like her for her, and not because her hair reminded him of something he loved. Fire.

Ari asked, "Do you think everything is going to end up alright? Or is she going to just leave again..." She knew only Aunt Evelyn could answer that question. Matthew didn't know shit about the situation which made things worse. Maybe if she actually listened and talked to Aunt Evelyn, she would know more details. At dinner, she had drowned out everything, and stormed off. Not the most productive way to leave things. She had been so miserable without Aunt Evelyn. It was time she deserved some happiness in her life. She was about to start fifth year. It was time to leave the past behind. She had just gotten over her relationship with Derek, that part of her life was over, if she could move on from that, and still remain friends (well somewhat friends) with him, then she could move on with Aunt Evelyn. That much was for sure. But she wasn't sure about it. It was just a thought.

Matthew raised an eyebrow at Ari's quick refusal of his fire option. "I wouldn't hurt her!" he answered with a grin. "Just burn some of her hair off, that's all. I can stop it before it gets - " but Matthew cut himself off, because it didn't really matter. "You know what, nevermind. I'm not supposed to do magic outside of school anyway, and I guess it isn't worth getting expelled over." Well, fire was worth getting expelled over, but Ari's Aunt Evelyn wasn't. "But I'm really good with fire spells now, you know - I would have been able to do it!" he added, just so that his skill with fire wasn't missed by Ari. It was important that everyone understand his fire prowess, after all. Though, it would be even cooler to be able to make fire without a wand, but he wasn't sure if that was possible. But he couldn't be a real fire bender with a wand.

When Ari told him he could sit down, he nodded, but remained where he was for another moment, hesitating. Then, deciding it would be fine, he stepped forward, plopping down on her bed beside her and leaning back against the wall. His arm brushed against hers slightly, and she probably didn't notice, but for some stupid reason, Matthew did. So he scooted sideways a little until he was sure he wasn't touching her, and then was able to relax a little bit. But Ari had to bring the awkward back by asking him what he thought of her. He opened his mouth immediately to tell her that he thought she was annoying and stupid and that she had a terrible singing voice, becasue that's what he was supposed to say - but when no words came out, he closed it, frustrated with himself. "I think - " he tried again, but when he looked over at her, meeting her eyes, he stopped again. He couldn't say it to her. He was pretty sure he didn't even want to say it to her. So, for a second, he just stared at her - or what he could see of her face in the dark, anyway, and for the first time actually allowed himself to think about what thoughts had replaced his old opinions of her.

"I think," be began again, speaking slowly, "that you do overreact sometimes. But I think that you definitely deserve to be treated better than you are." There was almost a hint of an apologetic tone to his voice, because a very tiny part of him was referring to himself, and how he'd treated her in the past. "I mean, don't get me wrong, you're definitely a spoiled brat," he added, just to be sure that he hadn't been entirely too nice the whole time. "But you're also nice and smart and pretty -" What? No, not pretty! Where had that come from! Had Matthew ever even thought that before?! Well, too late now. Best way to cover it up was to keep rambling like he didn't realize he said it. So his voice got even faster as he kept talking. "- and loyal and thoughtful sometimes when you want to be. And, most importantly, you have fire hair, which makes you pretty cool compared to other people." Matthew could feel his face heating up in slight embarrassment for admitting all of those things, and he was glad that it was dark so hopefully she couldn't see it. "And I wish you weren't always sad now," he added, just so that he could get it all out of his system and never have to speak of it ever again.

As soon as he was done, he released a huge, exhausted breath, and was grateful that Ari asked another question, because he really needed to move on from what had just happened. "Ari, even if she does leave again, everything is going to end up alright," he said, his voice steady, looking over at her. Maybe she just needed somebody to tell her that. Maybe she just needed to know that Aunt Evelyn wasn't the only person in the world that gave a shit about her.

When he had came and sat on the bed, she felt him brush against her arm. He instantly moved away, so she didn't bother to bring it up. She didn't want him to hurt aunt Evelyn. Of course, she knew if she had asked him, he could probably do it without injuring her to badly. His fire skills where that good. Sometimes she wished she had ice powers like Elsa's. Then they could get into a fighting match and see who was more powerful. That would be cool! She then remembered that they where supposed to be quiet. Not that anybody would really care that Matthew was there, she just didn't want to risk getting caught and possibly getting in trouble. Even though they probably forgot her existence anyways. What with Aunt Evelyn's fancy new French husband, and her parents worrying about their jobs all the time, it seemed like there was no room for her. Like usuall. She said, "I know your getting good. I don't want you getting expelled either! It wouldn't be worth it!"

Pretty? He had called her pretty! She wasn't sure why her heart started to flutter as fast as a hummingbirds wings, but it had. And suddenly, even though he wasn't touching her, she could feel the heat radiating off their bodies. Hers in particular. She said, "you... You carlled me pretty?" She had drowned out everything he had said, and pretty was there in big capital letters. Well, of course she was pretty, but coming from Matthew, somebody who had always deemed her annoying, it meant something more. Something deeper than just friends hanging out. And suddenly, she wasn't sure why she found herself analyzing their entire friendship. Was it because she was thinking differently about him? Everything with Derek had happened so fast, she wasn't sure about moving things along with Matthew, or even if she thought that way about him at all. She didn't want to force anything. And who knows. Maybe in the end they would work out. He could be the Prince Charming she saw in the Disney movies she watched. But she was getting ahead of herself. She was just as confused about everything as he was. She didn't even know if his maturity level was to the point to where they could be something more.

He was always so optimistic about everything. In his world everything always turned out alright. Just like the Disney movies. The prince always defeated the bad guy and got the princess. Well this was real life. Sometimes in real life, things didn't always work out. Like with Derek for the first example. It had seemed like an excellent idea at first, but then he got annoying, so that ended. Aunt Evelyn leaving and her plan of rebellion failing also ended badly. Matthew had no right to say that Everything would end up alright. With her luck, it would end in the world ending and everybody she knew dying. There she went again with her over reacting. That was what got herself in this mess in the first place. She should be happy for Aunt Evelyn. She had found the one thing she had always dreamed of. The love of her life. So maybe if Aunt Evelyn's life could turn out in a happily ever after like Matthew thought everything did, then maybe she had a chance too. She said, "maybe your right. I'll work on the over reacting part... I mean, that got me into this mess in the first place. Hey! How about this, I forgive Aunt Evelyn tomorrow, and you forgive Ollie tomorrow! I mean, like it or not, they did come back for us. And like you said, it will turn out alright. So if it can for me, it can for you!" Ari smiled at herself. She was so smart!

Oh god, what had he done? Honestly, what in the world had possessed him to say that? And he'd been an idiot to think he could just brush over it so easily. Of course, Ari would train in on the one thing he said that he didn't want her to notice. And she couldn't just have noticed - no, she had to repeat it. She had to ask him about it so that he couldn't just go on pretending he'd never said it. He felt his face redden even further as he tried to keep his cool and figure out how to handle this. But in the end, he just ended up panicking and saying the most ridiculous thing he could have said. "I didn't say that," he deadpanned, knowing it would sound incredibly stupid coming out. And it was the most blatant lie he'd ever said, since he'd literally just said it, but he really couldn't think of any other way to get out of this. Surely there was a more mature way to handle it, but not one would get Matthew out of admitting that he'd brought it up in the first place.

And then, there was still the entire issue of where the words had come from. Because it wasn't like he'd ever consciously thought them before, they just kind of spilled out. So did that mean that they were true? Did he really think that? And if so, what the hell was happening to him? Something was going seriously wrong in his brain - he'd come to Ari's house in the middle of the night, snuck into her room, and told her she was pretty. All in one night! If there was a right move at the moment, it was leaving. But again, his thoughts betrayed him, and he suddenly was worrying that he'd hurt her feelings by just running out after that. And then, he wondered if he'd hurt her feelings by denying that he said it, and that made him feel bad, so he mustered up some courage to at least make a slight attempt at fixing it before he ran away. "I mean, I did say it, but I was just being nice and trying to make you feel better." Oh, wait, that was bad, too. Why did he care? More flustered than ever, he tried again. "I mean, that isn't what I mean - I don't mean that you aren't, I just mean that I - er - " Wow. This was bad. "I said it, but I didn't mean to." There. That was the closest thing to the truth that might not upset her. And Matthew decided he should probably stop talking before he made it even worse.

And finally - thank the good Lord Jesus and all that is holy - the conversation moved in a different direction. "Oh, no way!" he replied, shocked. "After what Ollie did to me? I'm not forgiving him. I didn't say you had to forgive her, I just said to forget her. That's what I did. Forgot about Ollie - and snuck out, which I know he wouldn't like." But forgiving him? Not even close. Ollie didn't deserve forgiveness. "If forgiving your aunt will make you and her feel better, then you should. But I don't have to, and I won't."

BUT HE HAD SAID IT. Matthew was a liar. He had called Ari Pretty, which she totally was, and everybody knew it, but he was the only one who had said it out loud. Even Derek hadn't called her pretty when they were together, if he had, she probably drowned it out because he was annoying as shit when they were together. Ari replied, "Yes you did! I HEARD you. But, why would you say that? I mean, even Derek never called me pretty." Ari blinked at him several times in wonder. PRETTY. HE HAD CALLED HER PRETTY. This was a game changer, and Ari was terrified. What if it ended like her and Derek? She was positive she was never going to talk to him again. It would be too awkward and scary. And that she couldn't handle right now. Now he was trying to cover it up with excuses. Like it had just slipped out. And he didn't mean too. Which kind of hurt her feelings a little bit, but she knew that Matthew was in an awkward stage in his life. The Nanny had given her the talk, which was the most embarrassingly disgusting thing she had ever gone through in her entire life.

What she had suggested about him forgiving Ollie had totally taken an opposite turn in what she had hoped. He had completely different feelings about it. She replied, "But it's in the same situation I'm in. I'm pissed about her leaving me. You're pissed about Ollie leaving you. I think if we both move past this we would both be happier. It might make a world of a difference. Just at least please think about it! I know how close you where with Ollie. And I bet he misses you." Just like she knew Aunt Evelyn missed her. First thing tomorrow at breakfast she was going to talk to her. Let her know how she felt about her leaving, and then forgive her for everything. It was going to take so much weight off of her shoulders, and she was sure if Matthew did the same thing, so much stress would be lifted off him too. and that was all she wanted for her best friend!

Ari then thought of something. Matthew had probably never seen Frozen. And there she was, in her room, with her book shelf of movies, and Matthew in her room. She looked at him and smiled. She went to her movie shelf that was alphabetized by genre, company, and title, and pulled Frozen from the Disney section. She went and got her portable dvd player, and some headphones. She went up to Matthew with big pleading eyes. She said, "Let's watch it! Pleaseeeee. Or I'll tell Ollie you called me pretty." Hook. Line. Sinker. She had the bait, and just needed the fish.

God, all those times that Matthew had teased Ollie and been angry at him about how he acted toward that Veronica girl. And only now was Matthew starting to realize that maybe he shouldn't have, because if what Olile had gone through with her was even half as frustrating as this, he really didn't need Matthew to make it any worse. But, he wasn't sure that was the right comparison, because Matthew was pretty sure that Ollie actually liked that girl. In that way. And there was no way that Matthew felt that way about Ari. Matthew wasn't entirely stupid and naive - since he was the rebellious child of the two, his parents had been sure to lecture him endlessly about the consequences of being careless with girls. It wasn't even that Matthew thought that girls were disgusting or gross like he used to - he was just absolutely adamant that if he decided to like a girl in that way, it would not be Ariadne O'Rieley, of all people.

But okay, maybe panicking hadn't been the right way to go about it. When she asked again why he would say it, Matthew decided maybe he should stop and actually think about his answer instead of just blurt it out - at least, that's what his mom told him to do. To "stop being so hyper," and to "think before he talked." So, what would a less hyper, less panicked Matthew say here? He sighed and glanced up at her. Her red hair was surprisingly bright for the darkness of the room, and the moonlight lit up her face a bit, and Matthew would rather jump out the window than admit it to himself, but he realized in that moment that he'd said it because it was true - entirely obvious even. She was pretty - and he was plenty old enough to realize it. And there was nothing wrong with admitting it. And when she said that even Derek had never told her that, his brow furrowed a little in confusion. Weren't they dating last year? Wasn't Derek supposed to tell her she was pretty? Suddenly, Matthew felt a bit bad for Ari - if she was that surprised to hear it - if her own boyfriend had never said it, maybe she needed to hear it, even if it was only from Matthew. So, he didn't deny it again. He just said, "Well, I think you are," and decided to leave it at that.

He frowned when she pushed the subject about Ollie. "I guess it's sort of the same - but it's still different, because Ollie's a git." Maybe Aunt Evelyn was a git, too. But Ollie was more of one. "But, maybe I'll think about it. But probably not tomorrow." Because Ollie didn't deserve forgiveness that soon. But maybe she was right - maybe Ollie did miss him. Actually, Matthew knew Ollie missed him. It was Matthew giving Ollie the cold shoulder. But he changed the subject, because he wasn't a fan of talking about his brother anymore. "What about your parents? Are they treating you any better? I know they weren't letting you do much before."

No. Noooo, no no, definitely not. "No way!" Matthew exclaimed, but then remembered that it was the middle of the night and he wasn't supposed to be there. Lowering his voice, he whispered this time. "Absolutely not, I will not watch that movie! Never!" Matthew had never seen it - he didn't have any sisters after all, and after hearing Ari sing it all the time, he was pretty sure it wasn't worth watching. And then, she was saying she'd tell Ollie what he'd said if he didn't stay! "That's blackmail!" he accused her. "That isn't fair!" But in the end, it was the sad, pleading face she was giving him that made him give in, though he'd never, ever admit it to her. "Fine," he said with a sigh, readjusting on the bed and making room for her to sit next to him so that they could share the screen. "But I'm going to hate it."