Title: You are my Sun Chapter 9. Bounds of friendship
Author:

thekeyholder (Brigi)
Pairing: Belldom
Rating: PG 13
Beta: The lovely

ms_belle10 :) Thank you, my dear!
Summary: Matt and Dom are classmates and even though at first they are not in good terms with each other, things evolve. Basically, it's a story about how was Muse formed.
Feedback: would be lovely if you have some time! <3
Warnings: Nothing in this chapter.
Disclaimers: As you probably know, I don’t own Muse but original aspects belong to me. So don't steal, please!
Author's note: Hi! Anyone remembers this fic? *blushes* I know, I haven't updated it since November D: , I hope there are still some readers left. Special thanks to

farawisa who helped me out with a difficult essay and therefore I could write this in the weekend. Also many hugs sent to

starlight_myth and

miss_ariake who pressed me to continue writing my first story.

This beautiful sig was created by one of my good friends. Thanks, Rena!

Previous chapters:

Chapter 1. // Chapter 2. // Chapter 3. // Chapter 4. // Chapter 5. // Chapter 6. // Interlude // Chapter 7. // Chapter 8.

You are my Sun

Chapter 9. Bounds of friendship

“A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.” (Unknown author)

The next morning Matthew made sure to arrive early at school to be there for his desk mate from the first moment. As he had anticipated, Dominic entered the classroom with a rueful expression on his face, his head bowed and eyes watching the tips of his shoes. He greeted only Matthew, ignoring the coaxing teenagers as he plodded listlessly to his desk.

“Hey, Matt,” he whispered softly, sighing to get rid of the heavy weight on his chest.

“Hi, Dom! How are you?” Matt asked tactfully, his eyes never faltering from his friend.

The blonde just shrugged, putting his arms and head on the desk and mumbling that he felt very tired. Matt rubbed his back, making sure that nobody was watching them. He comforted Dominic throughout the whole day with kind words, reassuring smiles and light touches. He even packed an extra sandwich for him, the blonde having completely forgetten about eating and similar trivial things.

Dominic, for the first time in his entire life, didn’t want to spend the big break in the hall where everybody could see the dark circles around his eyes, but Matt insisted that he had to eat something more substantial than a few bites of bread. When the two boys entered the noisy canteen, all eyes focused on them and the clamour subsided to curious whispers. Unfaltering, Dom headed to their usual seats, for which he was even more thankful now that he didn’t want the always-hungry-for-gossip schoolmates to pry into his life.

His misery was something private and he was sure that the news about his break-up with Annette had already been spread around the whole school. Dominic knew that most people would think that he was sad because the “northern goddess” dumped him, which was completely false! She didn’t deserve so much credit; therefore, he stared daggers at everybody before taking a seat beside Linda and Matt.

The blonde boy seemed absorbed in the irregular patterns on the table’s surface, his index finger following line after line. He found it hilarious that for the first time he hated popularity, the popularity he so wanted before. His hatred was cast on his schoolmates as well, except of course, on his three friends who were there beside him when others avoided him. ‘How tricky is fate’, he thought, ‘a few months ago I would have been the one making fun of a guy who broke up with his girlfriend and now I am the victim of the same cruel treatment. I probably deserve it and in the end I will be thankful for the useful and educational experience.’

His friends returned with trays packed with food, Matt bringing one for Dom with his favourites: a slice of pizza and apple juice. The blonde boy smiled bashfully, surprised by the gentle love and patience his friends surrounded him with. They indulged in saying jokes and funny stories, avoiding the painful topic hanging heavily above them. Even though Matt was the only one who knew the complexity of the problem, Chris and Linda didn’t ask anything, they just kept nudging Dom to finish his pizza in order to regain his strength and usual vivacity.

Somehow, Dom felt like he needed to let them know the truth, so he asked out of the blue: “What lies did you hear from Annette?”

Linda dropped her fork; Chris blushed and tried to avoid the question, but the blonde insisted that he wanted the truth. That was how he found out that Annette told everyone that Dom was the most egotistical boy she’d ever met because he didn’t let her organise him a fancy birthday party; he just paraded in trendy clothes and showed off, but in fact he was an avaricious, dumb jerk. Oh, and of course, a very bad kisser.

Dominic huffed with annoyance and glared angrily around the canteen. Annette was nowhere to be seen and maybe that was for the better – and for her luck – because the blonde teenager might not have been able to hold himself back from telling Annette off. Instead, he scooted closer on the seat to the person who could bring him peace and comfort; Dominic didn’t hesitate and put his head on Matt’s left shoulder. He closed his eyes and punctuated his gesture with a sigh, meant to signal his relief.

Matt was surprised by the intimate posture his friend adopted, but he didn’t mind it in the least. Oh, no, he didn’t even dream about such closeness and he shifted to make his shoulder as comfortable as possible. The brunet placed his head on Dominic’s for a precious moment and it felt so good! Despite the cosiness, he lifted his head and upon noticing Dom stifling a yawn and complaining about his inability to cope with the last classes they still had, Matt proposed the idea of going outside and taking a walk.

Even though his eyelashes protested weakly every time he tried to keep his eyes open, Dominic accepted Matt’s suggestion to go out for a walk and clear his head of the confusing thoughts. They walked silently, zipping up their coats to be warm. As a thick layer of fog lifted from the ground, the depressing thoughts did the same and left Dominic in peace. He realised that Matthew offering him a piece of chocolate wasn’t only a gesture of politeness and that the yellow umbrella he held over both of them wasn’t just a shield from the rain – they were parts of Matt’s generous heart which throbbed secretly for so long, yet had so much love to share!

Therefore, Dominic squared his shoulders and breathed in deeply the chilly air which not only cleared his mind, but also opened his eyes. He smiled gently at Matthew and thanked the boy for taking care of him:

“I’d be so lost without you today! I don’t even think I would have survived yesterday evening and today without your immense help.”

Matt blushed and hid behind long tufts of hair, but he couldn’t help the little smile forming on his thin lips. He told his friend that he needed to rest a lot when he would get home and shouldn’t worry about homework because he would do it for Dom as well. The blonde refused kindly, replying that work would keep him busy and he also wanted to call Athena, his sister, to tell her the disheartening news and ask for her advice. Matt nodded in agreement and they went back to their classroom.

Although the boys didn’t utter a word about this, both knew, or rather sensed inside themselves, that their friendship evolved to the next level and they trusted each other more and more. That invisible bond between them became ever tighter much to Chris and Linda’s happiness.

* * * * *

Monday morning, a few days after the Howards’ unfortunate evening, Dominic was in a better mood and Matt was happy to hear that the change was caused by Dom’s sister, who had promised to come home next weekend. The blonde boy was confident that Athena’s appearance was enough to make everything better. She could make people see through their obstinacy and convinced them that life was too short to spend it in hatred and it was not worth to be upset with anybody.

Dominic also secretly hoped that his sister would stay until his birthday. He gave up Annette’s stupidly megalomaniac plan and hoped to have a quiet celebration with his family and closest friends. He now understood that a crowded room of boisterous people meant less than a few friends who held his hand. Matt noted happily that his desk-mate’s characteristic optimism seemed to have returned and they could both pay more attention to the lessons that day.

At two in the afternoon, as the pupils were exiting the school building, Dominic asked Matt if he wanted to come to the garage with his guitar and they could both fool around a little on their instruments. The brunet accepted happily because he knew that Ricky, the guitarist in Dom’s band, refused to play since that incident when Matt criticised his playing and he wanted to give Dom the opportunity to play as a whole band until he found someone to replace the impulsive guitarist.

With his guitar on his back and blowing warm air on his frozen digits, Matt stepped into the dim garage. He found Dom arranging things in the small space, but there was no sign of the bassist.

“Hi, Dom! Where’s Peter?” Matthew asked confusedly while he shrugged off his coat.

Dom scratched his neck in embarrassment. “Oh, I thought I’ve told you already. He also quit Carnal Mayhem a few days after Ricky. He said he was looking to play in another genre, but I think that he believed that without Ricky, we would fall apart. Guess he was right,” the boy shrugged and sighed with resignation.

“Come on, you’re a good drummer, I’m sure you can easily find equally talented bandmates in no time,” Matt said encouragingly, guitar already in his hand, fingers probing a few strings.

Dom nodded without much conviction, but he set behind his drum set and started playing a random beat. Matthew walked closer to facilitate communication. He could also come up with better ideas for riffs if he saw the enthusiasm on his friend’s face. In the end, they were so tuned to each other that an outsider would have considered them lifelong band mates playing a well-rehearsed song.

They stopped to catch their breath and Dominic told Matt he would like to repeat that last part when he ceased talking very abruptly. His grey eyes focused on something in the distance and it was visible that many things flashed before him. Then he looked at Matt with an astonished expression, like he would have realised something very simple and obvious, yet essential and smiled broadly.

The brunet was extremely curious now and urged his friend to share his idea. Dominic laughed happily and threw his head back; he still couldn’t stop grinning when he exposed his thoughts:

“I can’t believe that I haven’t even thought about this earlier, yet the more and more I analyse it, the more sure I feel about it. Matt, do you want to be my bandmate?”

The guitarist gasped and asked if he was serious.

“Oh my God, of course I am! Matt, you must accept it, please – I will lock you in the garage until you agree to it!” Dominic laughed mischievously.

Matthew didn’t need much persuasion: the possibility of spending a couple of hours with Dom outside school was a blessing in itself. Moreover, they would play together, which was one of his secret dreams. Maybe they would even play his compositions? The brunet didn’t even dare to imagine such happiness; he was already thrilled by the positive turn in his life. Both boys were electrified by the exciting change; Dominic even pumped his fist in the air.

The blonde boy started making plans about coming up with a logo for the band, maybe even making some shirts and giving them out to their supporters, his enthusiasm so great that he even made a list of local events where they could perform. The guitarist stared in awe as Dominic rattled on about their shiny future, but he couldn’t hold back the question:

“What about a bassist?”

Dominic stopped and blinked slowly. The bassist. Oh, right, they didn’t have one. They had to find somebody very quickly, so they could start working on their own stuff as soon as possible. The boys sat on a dusty box and went through a list of local musicians they knew.

“Hey, what about that Robertson kid?” Matt asked, his brain unable to come up with any more suggestions.

“Too late. Heard he was taken by Adam’s band,” Dominic sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. “We shouldn’t think only about bassists. Maybe someone would be willing to learn to play it for us.”

“Hmm, I wonder who would to that effort for us. Nobody loves us that much,” Matt giggled, though he was a bit disheartened.

“Well, maybe there is someone,” Dominic replied grinning and dragged Matt with him outside.

* * * * *

“Hey, kids!” Chris shouted joyfully as he opened the door to Matt and Dom smiling angelically. “Why do I think that your sly smiles bring nothing good?” he asked suspiciously and quirked an eyebrow.

“Buddy, can we have a word with you?” Matt asked excitedly.

Chris led them to his room and the boys told them the whole story: Matt and Dom formed a new band and they desperately needed a bassist. Chris still didn’t see how he could help in other way than with pieces of advice.

“We thought that you could learn to play the bass and join our band, Chris,” Dom concluded, with Matt nodding seriously.

“But I’m a drummer!” Chris shouted, horror and confusion written on his face.

“Well…erm, the truth is that you are not so great,” Dom whispered shyly, embarrassed that he had to make such a statement.

Chris was about to retort something, but Matt reinforced Dom’s words: “You know, even my grandma said you are not made to play drums.”

Chris gasped like a fish out of water at first, but then he admitted with defeat tinting his voice that he had problems and he probably needed more practice, but his band only had one rehearsal in a fortnight, which was clearly not enough.

Matt and Dom watched as Chris practically fell apart in front of them. They looked at each other and both stepped to the bed where Chris sat. They took place at each side of the grieving boy and hugged him with an arm

“You are certainly destined to be a musician, Chris,” Matthew whispered kindly.

“You have rhythm in your blood; you just need to find the perfect way to express it. Don’t you think swapping the instrument would help?” Dominic asked gently.

“I guess I could try,” Chris sniffed, ever taking up with the idea of him with a bass in his hand. “I think I even know somebody who would sell me a bass cheaply.”

“Oh, that’s great!” Dominic rejoiced at the fortunate circumstances and winked at Matt over Chris’ shoulder.

“You two imps planned this from the beginning, didn’t you?” Chris asked loudly as he put his arms around his friends and tickled them.

Dom and Matt laughed cheerfully, hugging Chris tightly and convincing him for good that the three of them would make a great band.