WHO: Matt Summerby and Delilah Spinnet
WHAT: Matt's getting a little intense with his workouts
WHERE: His house
WHEN: Tonight?
Delilah bounced on her heels as she waited for Matthew to open the door. He wasn’t expecting her to come by as technically she should be at practice herself, but she hadn’t seen him in nearly four days and it was at least another three until their schedules allowed them time to spend any time together. Sure she was capable of going a week without seeing Matt, but after her lunch with Charlie and the run in with Penelope, well it was all just really sad. Even if it was just a short takeout dinner on the couch, it would make her feel a bit better.
Her smile faltered ever so slightly at the long wait, tentatively knocking once more. Perhaps she should have owled first. He easily could have been out with friends, or still practicing. Planning things, that should definitely be something she worked on doing more often. Henry was already going to be annoyed when he heard she was skipping practice, but he would be even more annoyed if it was for nothing.
When the door finally opened, her grin returned. “Hii! I bought you dinner, figured you could use something after a long day at practice.”
Matt was in a right state. Since the World Cup teams had been announced, there was one thing on his mind and one thing only. The Snitch, catch that snitch, catch the bloody snitch or die trying. He’d rather not die, so his days had been spent on the field, dodging angry bludgers, and diving as hard and fast in a feint to the ground as he could manage. But it was never fast enough. Matt didn’t know what he could do to make his broom fly faster! Cut weight? The Brazilian seeker weighed barely a stone! He had to compete.
The second set of knocks on his door finally snapped Matt out of his rapid sparring with the punching bag he had set up in his back room. He was keen on muggle workout methods, and thought that the quickness boxers struck their opponents with could help shave seconds off of how quickly he snatched the snitch. He couldn’t fathom who would be bothering him at this time and pulled the door open a little more gruffly than he should have.
“Oh!” he let out, smiling through his heavy breaths. He had not been expecting her, and Matt panicked for a second; had they set up a date? No, no, she didn’t look upset. “Delilah, er---come in. I’m sweaty.”
Delilah reached up for a kiss as she walked in, her nose scrunching a bit as he was indeed very sweaty. He must of still been working out, but it was nearly seven, and Delilah knew he had practice in the morning. “Eh that’s okay. I can deal with sweaty.” She gave him another quick kiss before making her way to the kitchen to unpack their dinner.
“I got Indian! You’ve been working so hard lately, I thought you could use a treat.” She called back to him as she searched the cabinets for plates. “And maybe we can watch another one of your muggley movies?” He didn’t exactly look like he was done with whatever sort of practice he had been doing before she showed up, but surely he had done enough to warrant a break. Delilah really just wanted to curl up on the couch and sit next to Matt for the next hour or two, sweaty or not.
Looking up to Matt she paused though, suddenly feeling like she was intruding a bit. “I mean, if that’s alright?”
Indian? He had no idea how that would fit into his diet. Matt followed slowly behind Delilah, grabbing a hand towel off the counter to wipe his face. He still had...at least another half hour of his workout, but he couldn’t exactly turn his girl away, could he? He felt bad for having the great urge to do so, but---
“Yeah, no, it’s fine,” he said, gathering his bearings. Matt went to get plates as he tried to figure out how he would fit in the remainder of his training. If Delilah stayed over, he certainly wouldn’t be able to tear himself away from her, but that meant tomorrow when he went to the gym he’d have to stay for an extra hour, and that would push into the media blitz his agent had set up for him and---
“Maybe just--you can eat, I’m not very hungry,” he said, putting a hand to his stomach and pulling a face. “But--you could pick the movie, if you want.”
Delilah frowned down at all the food, she had gotten enough based on what Charlie normally could eat after a game, and that certainly was way too much for just her. If he wasn’t hungry though, she couldn’t exactly make him eat. And though Matt said it was fine, invited her in, Delilah got the distinct feeling that she was interrupting. She tapped her fingers on the lid of the takeaway container, scanning over all the food before looking back to Matthew. She could have sworn he liked indian.
“I wouldn’t know what to pick,” she said quietly putting some of the food back in the bag. She didn’t want to pick a movie, she wanted Matt to pick one, but he didn’t seem to be in the mood at all. Which was fair, he didn’t have to want to watch a movie every time she came over, but, well it felt like it had been ages since they had seen each other. She was expecting him to be just a bit more enthused by her surprise. It was disappointing that he wasn’t. It wasn’t worth skipping practice to eat by herself watching a movie that she was sure he would be too distracted to watch.
“We don’t have to watch a movie. Maybe I could help you train instead? Obviously I interrupted your practice, maybe I can help,” she offered abandoning the food on the counter. She had helped Charlie before, so it couldn’t be much different helping a seeker than helping a keeper. “It’ll be fun.”
Aw, hell. The guilt Delilah’s words and tone laid on his shoulders, intentional or not, nearly crushed him. The anxiety Matt had to perform at the top of his game suddenly seemed silly and foolish compared to showing her a good time. They’d been together for a few months now, and it was great, it was fantastic, but he still was not used to letting someone else into the inner workings of his life. It was easy to duck away from Odette and Drystan because they had their families to focus on, but when you became the center of someone’s attention it was hard to hide away your madness. And he knew, Matt knew that Delilah was the center of his, not that they both didn’t have things going on, but at the end of the day, he knew that he should find himself back with her.
“No, no, don’t apologize, I’m being an idiot,” he said, coming forward. He wanted to take her hands, but felt too guilty for his behavior. It felt like he was always explaining himself to her, why he did the strange things he did, and it was always followed by a great fear that she’d find him to be out of his mind and run out the door. But they had some unwritten rule about honesty, it seemed, and Matt let out a breath, feeling sheepish. “It takes--a lot for me to get on the big stage, and I get--kind of obsessive.
“I’m still a fluke in a lot of people’s eyes. Sometimes I still feel like one. I can’t be any less than perfect in New York, you know?” Matt puffed his cheeks, feeling embarrassed about his fears. It never seemed like Delilah questioned how good she was at dueling, or at anything, really, so Matt wondered if she’d really be able to understand.
Delilah pulled his hands into hers as she reached up to give him a kiss. She had no idea that he was stressing so much about the upcoming world cup. Which was understandable, it was a whole new level of competition. “You are not. You are not a fluke, and you are not being an idiot. It’s the world cup, who wouldn’t be obsessive.”
She laced her fingers between his looking down at their hands. He wasn’t being an idiot, but if he was striving for perfection, that left a lot of room for disappointment. Sliding her thumb up along his, she tried to find the words she wanted to say. “You can’t be any less than your best in New York, Matthew.” She chanced a look up at him fearing he might take offense to her words.
She swallowed looking away from Matt. It wasn’t often that she thought about the days when she struggled to be the dueler she was today. Or the days she spent crying on Charlie’s couch when she didn’t succeed the first time. Or how in the beginning every loss felt like she was proving the naysayers right. Delilah had never been a graceful loser, but that was just the surface of it. “It’s fine to obsess to do your best, but you shouldn’t obsess on being perfect. That isn’t something you should strive for, otherwise you’ll end up never wanting to leave the house ever again. Trust me, its not as fun as it sounds.”
He tried to honestly and fully believe her words. He wanted to desperately. Matt just wasn’t sure if he could, if he was strong enough to push past the pressures of the league or the ones he’d put on his own shoulders. Matt’s need for perfection had long been a part of his personality, from the day he decided that he and his brother would not be stuck in the boy’s home forever. They needed to be the perfect set of boys, two sons that would make any parents proud. If they wanted to get out of there, he had to be the neatest, he had to be the sharpest, he had to be the best.
And look where it had gotten him. His brother swept away while he was gone at school, years of working odd-jobs because he couldn’t get any quidditch teams to put their faith in him, and now that he was finally making his mark on the pitch, he was floundered with questions and doubts about his abilities. Matt had been just as shocked about his announcement as everyone else seemed to be. Him? Over Gudgeon, who’d represented the squad before, who had played on an international level--him? He couldn’t believe it, but he wanted to, even if it was just for Delilah.
She didn’t have to be so understanding. She shouldn’t have to put logic into all of his little manias and obsessions. Sometimes Matt felt like he was constantly showing her pieces of how broken and messed up he was, and he wondered how long it would be before she decided she wasn’t going to patch the holes back up. He wanted to truly accept her words, but Matt felt that familiar tug in his heart that kept him from being completely honest with himself.
“How’d you get so good at giving advice?” he asked, his smile true. If anything, even if her words didn’t silence his demons, Matt appreciated them and her. Delilah could’ve easily let him slip into his madness again, but she stood strong and was trying to help. “You should write a column for the Prophet.”
“No,” Delilah laughed shaking her head, her cheeks tingling slightly at the mention of her giving good advice. That was certainly a new idea, she was bad at taking advice let alone giving it. “No, that is a terrible idea, but it’s sweet that you think that I could.” Her writing advice for the Prophet. She barely could think up the right things to say to Charlie and Matthew, she should clearly not be trusted with giving advice to the wizarding masses. That could only end in disaster.
She swung their hands lightly, giving Matthew a smile. Delilah got such a warm feeling whenever she was around him. Sometime just even thinking about him made her smile, and that certainly wouldn’t change if he wasn’t the best seeker the Quidditch world had ever seen. He could be the worst, and she still wouldn’t change her mind about wanting to spend as much time as possible with him. She certainly hoped he didn’t think that her lo-- her liking him was based on how well he did at quidditch, because that was just silly.
Though she didn’t doubt in his ability at all, and was certain that he was going to do much better than he feared he was. “Do you want to finish your practice? I honestly don’t mind. I can sit on your insanely comfortable couch and eat while I wait.”
“Nah,” Matt said, now sure that he would never be able to focus, even if Delilah left his house entirely. He pressed a quick kiss to her forehead before jumping back and clapping his hands together. “I just got this new flick you’re going to love, it’s got action and comedy and---well, let’s just say it’s probably going to be my Halloween costume this year.”
He could definitely figure out a new routine tomorrow, squeeze things in and make sure he made up the missed time. But tonight he had to remember that there were some other important things going on in his life, and that included Delilah.
“It’s about this guy, Indiana Jones,” he said, pulling out some plates to serve the food that was most likely getting cold. He suddenly had a bit of an appetite, and grinned at his girl. “I’ve heard ladies think the bloke’s rather handsome. I’d rather see him in a spaceship, but what do I know…”
