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Very quickly, Matteo was regretting every moment and decision in his life that had led up to this moment. It hadn’t seemed like too bad an idea when Amira had suggested it the day before, and he’d even been a little excited when they’d gone shopping for snacks a few hours ago. But now they were actually here, sitting under a blanket on Matteo’s couch with the DVD menu open, and he was beginning to feel anxious. David had chosen the film, apparently a remake of a classic horror film- which had in turn started as a book.
Matteo probably would have preferred the book, even if he didn’t read much these days.
He would never admit it to anyone, not even to David, but horror films freaked him out. He could deal with suspense, and tension, but he hated jumpscares. He thought that from a writing and creative standpoint, they were the weakest form of horror - as opposed to actually constructing a scary atmosphere, they were simply yelling “BOO!” in your face - but even so, they still got him every. Damn. Time.
“Are you okay?” David mumbled twenty minutes into the film. The main character was having a nightmare about a forest, and Matteo was gripping the blanket so hard his knuckles were turning white.
“Yeah I’m fine, it’s just a film,” he bluffed as he relaxed his fists, hoping that his boyfriend wouldn’t notice that he was shuffling down further under the blanket. The less he could see of the screen, the better. Amira was sitting on the other side of him, and even though they were good friends, he still didn’t want her to know he was scared. Teasing from David he could stand- but teasing from Amira? He would die.
Throughout the film, Matteo slowly sank further and further into the sofa. He really wasn’t the biggest fan of watching a possessed little girl try to murder her own family- especially not when it felt like they were building up to a jump scare every few minutes. He was constantly on-edge, and the most he could do to distract himself was hide in the blanket and eat as much candy as possible. So far he was two bags down, and the movie wasn’t letting up. At the risk of blowing his incredibly intact manly exterior, he leaned further into David, hiding his face in his neck as much as he could while still seeming subtle. He felt David’s arm move up from where it had been resting on the sofa to circle around him, and suddenly Matteo felt much better. It was as if the simple touch of David’s fingertips to the skin of his hip where his shirt had ridden up was magical- the anxiety brought about by the film dissipated, it no longer mattered. David was there and he was safe, and that was all that mattered, the murderous possessed child on the screen be damned.
“We can turn it off if you want,” David offered, voice barely above a whisper.
“No, it’s okay,” Matteo replied, and finally it was the truth.