The Aviators

“Well done. You succeeded in destroying the afternoon with your fucking stupidity, Michelle. Val won’t talk to me now.”

Matt was livid.

The Dibenedettos had come and gone in a whirlwind of shock and chaos. To say that confusion had dominated their short-lived visit was a massive understatement. They barely got done congratulating Brian and Michelle for their engagement when Mrs Dibenedetto had laid eyes on Valary. Her shocked exclamation at the presence of the younger of the twins left little to the imagination.

What the Hell is she doing here? I didn’t think I’d see her again…

Her mother hadn’t even deigned to call her by name. Mr Dibenedetto had been no less accommodating in his reaction toward his youngest daughter. The elder siblings had no real idea how to respond so had completely ignored the fact that she was even there, conversing solely with Michelle.

Val was left feeling awful, heartbroken, and shut herself into the guest bedroom, locking the door so Matt couldn’t get in. In turn, he had threatened and cajoled her to open the door, but she was refusing to budge. And now he was back in the dining room, speaking angrily with her sister.

“What the fuck were you thinking, Michelle? Tell me, if you can.”

Michelle sighed, watching the big man, a wary look on her face. “I didn’t think Mom would react that way, you have to believe me, Matt.” She shook her head, pain ghosting across her features. “I really thought it’d go okay…”

Matt snorted, his tone scathing, “Yeah, well you got that wrong.” He crossed his arms, and glared at her. “They acted like they didn’t want anything to do with her.”

“I know.” Michelle ran a hand through her hair, a nervous gesture. “And I feel like crap. I didn’t think they had any bad feelings toward Val…I mean…I always thought they…well that it was ‘cause we weren’t well off that they left Val at the institution the way they did.” She lifted her gaze to meet Matt’s furious one. “I never meant for any of this to happen.”

He groaned, smoothing a palm over his shorn scalp, but said nothing more, just turned away to look at the others. Brian, surprisingly, was quiet and not interrupting their discussion. He was obviously just as stunned and upset about the way his fiancée’s parents had acted toward Val. The sour expression on his face told that story clearly.

Jimmy was more sombre than he’d ever been. He was seated at the dining table, smoking still, and frowning at the food spread before him as if it could explain to him what had just happened. Johnny, Zacky and the Berrys were talking softly amongst themselves, not willing to allow their voices to rise above a murmur.

Matt blinked slightly, noticing for the first time that JD was there as well. He was slumped in a chair, next to Johnny. He was subdued, though, his big body held still, his mouth sealed tight.

Matt knew he shouldn’t have been surprised to see the tech there. Brian had become quite close to him in the time they’d spent in the studio. But, at the same time, Matt was leery of his presence. Especially after what had happened with the big man’s friend. Still, it wasn’t as if Robert was there, and Matt was beginning to warm to JD, anyway. He hadn’t done anything to cause him any real alarm. Most importantly, though, he hadn’t done anything to make Val uncomfortable. Then again, her parents had done enough of that to last a life time.

Matt grimaced, swinging his gaze toward the dining room door. He needed to go try getting her to leave the guest bedroom. It pained him to see her so devastated. He could see the hurt in her eyes when her parents had distanced themselves from her, right there, in front of her. It was as if they hadn’t wanted to deal with the reality of her existence. That really pissed off Matt. He couldn’t understand their attitude toward Val. In his eyes, there was no need for it. She hadn’t done any wrong.

“Matt?” Michelle spoke up again, drawing his attention back to her.

He lifted an eyebrow at her, but didn’t answer. He didn’t trust himself to be civil if he did.

She cleared her throat several times before she said, “I’m sorry.”

He frowned. “I’m not the one you need to apologise to.”

Michelle sighed, looking down and nodding slowly in agreement.

Grabbing a couple of crackers, chewing on them, Matt then went for the door, not speaking to anyone else as he made his way across the room. As he reached the door though, he caught JD glancing his way, a dark look crossing the other man’s face. Matt wondered at his expression, but then shook his head to himself, figuring it wasn’t worth worrying about. He had Val to think of; if JD was having issues then it wasn’t his problem.

* * * * *

Pausing at the threshold of the guest bedroom, Matt gathered his thoughts, still unsure of how he was going to coax Val out. The door was firmly locked and Matt knew the first thing he had to do was convince her to let him in. No easy task, considering she hadn’t responded to him earlier. He pressed his left ear against the door to hear whether she was moving around or anything. There was no obvious sound coming from inside the room, though.

Matt rubbed at his face, before knocking softly. “Val?”

For a pause there was no response, and then the sound of shuffled footsteps reached his ears. They halted just in front of the door. A moment later, he heard the soft click of the lock then creaking as the door slowly opened. He cocked his head to the side as Val appeared in his view.

“Hey?” he said in a gentle tone.

Val blinked at him. There were dark circles beneath her eyes, tear tracks still evident on her face. It looked to Matt as if she’d been pulling at her top because it was skewwhiff, one shoulder pulled down.

She just stood there, looking at him.

He stepped toward her, gauging her reaction since he didn’t want to make her feel any more uncomfortable than she probably already was. Val made no move, though. Just followed his movement with tired eyes.

Matt, not knowing what else to do, opened his arms to her. She looked at him, blinking still then she shuffled into his embrace, leaning her weight into his solid body. He wrapped his arms around her, one about her waist the other up and around her back. She clung to him, hands gripping the soft cotton of his shirt.

He said nothing to her, just eased both of them into the guest room and over to the bed. Val shifted in his arms so as he fell back on the bed she ended on her side, next to him. Matt rolled onto his side managing to keep one arm around her, while he propped his head up with the other one. They just stared at each other for several long minutes, not moving, or saying anything.

As silence settled over them like a comforting blanket, Val moved closer, cuddling into Matt’s big body. He ran his fingers through her hair, lifting strands up, and rubbing them between his thumb and fingers.

Finally, as they lay there, Val found her voice; it was scratchy though, as she murmured into Matt’s chest, “They hate me…”

Matt grimaced, tracing his fingers lightly over her cheek. “I don’t know about that, Val.”

“They do…did you see the way they looked at me?” Val met his gaze, more unshed tears shimmering in her eyes.

He had and couldn’t argue with her assumption. Her parents hadn’t looked upon her favourably. Yet, a part of him wanted to believe it wasn’t because they felt any animosity toward her. However, Matt wasn’t going to defend their behaviour. He just thanked whatever powers-that-were that he hadn’t mentioned anything about Val being his slave. That would not have gone down well. Sure, Matt was all for being honest, but they hadn’t even bothered to ask how she’d come to be in his company, so there was no need for him to elaborate on something they obviously cared little about.

Matt sighed. “Yeah…I’m sorry you had to go through that.” He rolled his eyes. “Your sister…” He didn’t bother finishing the sentence, just hugged her close.

Val leaned into him, and said quietly, “She means well.”

Matt snorted, not responding to that statement. Instead, he occupied himself by running his left hand along her arm, palm pressed lightly against her skin. Val tilted her head a little brow creasing into a tiny frown.

“What’re you doing?”

He paused, meeting her eyes as a soft smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “You feel so soft…” His voice was husky. And as he observed her reaction to his comment, he felt his cock harden in his pants.

Matt allowed a low growl to escape as he continued to stroke her arm.

Val shivered, lips parting as her eyes widened at the sound. It had been almost two weeks since Matt had even attempted to touch her in any way other than in comfort. But the contact now definitely had sexual undertones. They could both feel the tension increase.

She swallowed hard, grabbing hold of his hand.

“Master…”

“Matt,” he gently corrected, as he kept moving his palm up and down her arm.

Val chewed at the inside of her cheek, before she said, “Matt, please…”

“Please?”

“I…I don’t want…” her voice quavered on the words. Matt stopped his motion, just leaving his hand on her arm. She pressed close and he sighed, wrapping his arms about her smaller body.

He whispered into her hair, “I’m sorry.”

Even though he was now as hard as a steel rod, he wouldn’t pressure Val into doing something she didn’t want. And in all honesty, it probably wasn’t really a good idea to get into anything when they were both still upset. Better that he waited. Still, it was hard to ignore his needs.

Groaning, he withdrew his arms from around Val, sitting up. “I’ll be right back…”

She lifted her head, squinting at him as he swung his feet down to the floor and stood up. Matt smeared his hands over his face before walking to the en suite, closing the door behind him, to shut out the view of Val lying on the bed.

Matt stood for a moment in the middle of the bathroom absently studying the white tile that lined the walls. Then he walked over to the tub, unbuckling his belt and pulling himself free from the confines of his pants. As he braced his right foot against the edge of the bath, Matt took himself in hand, grunting softly.

He was burning, so intense was his need. His skin was hot to the touch. Closing his eyes, and gritting his teeth, he began moving his hand in long hard strokes.

It didn’t take long for him to reach release. He was so on edge that it could only have been a matter of minutes. Breathing out roughly, he wiped himself with the face cloth that was hanging on the tap, and then tossed it in the clothes basket.

Putting himself away, he then turned to lean against the vanity, and frowned at his reflection in the mirror. Brow furrowed, eyes heavy-lidded and dark, he knew he didn’t look particularly happy. He quickly wiped the expression away though. He’d been wearing that look far too much, in his opinion, and he was sick of being grumpy. Of course, it wasn’t his fault, but by the same taken it was a choice he could make. To remain in a black mood, or to lighten up, was ultimately in his power.

Matt glanced toward the closed door, picturing Val on the other side. She needed him to be there for her and he knew the best way to do that was probably not while he was in a bad mood. From previous experiences that had scared her and he had vowed to himself he wouldn’t be like that toward her. He did not plan on breaking that unspoken promise, either.

Squeezing the edge of the vanity, Matt could feel the hard surface dig into his palms. He closed his eyes for a moment thoughts turning over in his head. Though there were many only one of them took up most of the space in his head. Matt clenched his jaw overwhelmed by the truth that filled his mind. None of what had happened truly mattered, because it paled in comparison to what he felt. He loved Val. And no matter how trite or cliché that sounded his feelings for her were all that were of any real consequence.

With a sigh, he forced his body away from the sink and made for the door. It was time to make good on his promises. And he would start by going to Val and just being there for her. Nothing and no one would prevent him from doing that. Not now, not ever. He smiled at that thought, as he walked back into the bedroom.

Val looked up as he approached the bed. Myriad emotions passed across her face; he could read the question in her eyes. Climbing back on the bed, mattress protesting beneath his weight, Matt settled next to her and reached over to stroke her cheek.

“I’m okay, Val…” an answer to her unasked question.

She nodded as she snuggled into his side again.

Matt smiled more, nuzzling into her hair as he held her close. And, they stayed like that, together, letting stillness settle over them once more.

Notes