Nate's POV
Matt sat there, shivering in absolute terror as I attempted to get closer to him.
"Matt," I began, speaking as gently and quietly as I could. "I'm just gonna take the gag off, ok? Just try to relax and control your breathing."
Matt was still shaking, although he'd managed to calm himself a little bit. I slowly reached forward and gently untied the gag from behind his head. Matt instantly started sucking in deep breaths of air.
"Easy Matt," I warned, trying to get him to slow down his intake of air. "Nice and slow, I don't want you to hyperventilate. Remember your breathing exercises? In for 4 seconds, hold it for 5 seconds, out for 6 seconds."
Matt started to follow my advice as he focused on counting the seconds between breaths. I sat perfectly still until I saw his chest rising and falling at a regular pace.
"Good Matt," I praised, glad that he was finally calming down. "Alright, now I'm going to untie your hands and upper arms, ok?"
Matt looked up at me with fear, too afraid of me to even mutter any words. I held my hands up and backed up a bit, afraid of panicking him again.
"It's ok Matt," I said, assuring Matt that I was in control and not Mason. "I'm here now. It's me Nate, your best friend. I'm not gonna hurt you."
"H-how do I kn-know you're really N-Nate?" He questioned with fear, too afraid to trust my words. "This c-could all be a tr-trick to get m-me to let my guard d-down."
I heard his breathing start to pick up again, so I decided to try a different approach.
"Ok then," I agreed. "You're right, this could be a trick. I don't blame you for being skeptical. Why don't you ask me something only the real 'Nate' would know?"
Matt nodded his head as he looked back up at me.
"Where did Nate a-and I go to eat after Senior p-prom?" He asked.
"We went to the 'Silver Moon Diner' first, but it was too crowded." I began, remembering how much fun we had back then. "Then we decided to go to the local steak house near my house and since the manager knew your mom, she paid for our entire meal. You and Stephanie had your very first kiss that night, and me an Morgan were able to capture the moment on her polaroid camera. You always keep the picture on your pin board in your closet recording studio to remember that special night."
Matt had tears in his eyes as his bottom lip began to quiver.
"N-Nate?" he chocked out, tears spilling down his face.
"Yeah buddy, it's me." I said, feeling tears well up in my eyes too.
Matt began openly crying as I quickly went over and untied the ropes. As soon as his arms were free, he wrapped them around me and pulled me into a hug, sobbing into my shoulder.
"I-I m-m-missed you s-so much!" He cried out, holding on to me like I was the last thing he'd ever touch again.
"M-me too, so damn much." I said as I held him tightly, holding back tears of guilt as I saw the state that Mason had left him in.
"Oh come on!" Mason yelled in my head. "He's fine, he was just scared. Don't get all dramatic on me like that."
"Look at what you did to him!?" I yelled back in my head as I continued to try and soothe Matt, rubbing his back slowly and holding him close. "Does that look fine to you!?"
"I've seen worse, remember?" Mason's voice said, becoming slightly sadder as he relieved some of his dark memories.
"Right," I said sarcastically, "I forgot about your little pitty party you've been having. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to help my friend, ok?"
"Don't try my patience Nathan." Mason said darkly. "I'm only giving you until tomorrow afternoon with him. After that, it's back to me in control. And don't bother trying to help him escape. If you even think about, I'll take over you so darn fast! And I'll make Matt pay the price for your misbehavior. Understood?"
I gulped as I helped the now soothed Matt out of the rest of his binds and picked him up in my arms.
"Understood." I reluctantly agreed.
Matt hugged me tightly again as I took him up the stairs and into my living room. I sat down on the couch and just held him close, so happy to be with my best friend again... even if it was only for a little while.
©Forever_In_A_Fantasy
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Hello Mystical Creatures!
It's done! Sorry it's late guys, but thank you so so so so so much for being so sweet to me! You guys left such nice comments telling me to take my time and to focus on my schoolwork, and I really appreciated that. I hope to be back on schedule for Monday's again, but if there's trouble again, I'll let you all know.
I hope the chapter turned out well! This was fun to write! Let me know what you think will happen when Nate has to tell Matt that he's only back for a little while.
Stay 'Magical' my Mystical Creatures!
~ Elenora ~ Forever_In_A_Fantasy ~