CHAPTER FORTY-TWO !

[ social media, real life ]

- ❝ MENTAL SUPPORT SOUR PATCH KIDS ❞ 💌

ⁱⁿˢᵗᵃᵍʳᵃᵐ !

storyofstori

therealkaliuchis

mattsboyfriend

liked by minisourgummyworm, lunareclipse, designateddriverasf and 2,491 others

storyofstori waiting for the other lazy fucks to wake up likeeee 💁‍♀️💁‍♀️💁‍♂️

tagged ; therealkaliuchis mattsboyfriend

user LAWWWWDDDD

user idk whose dog that is but i want it

user ik he's just showing off his invisalign but why's chris kinda.....
↳ user no cuz he's highkey........
↳ storyofstori whys this real................
↳ user PAUSE

lunareclipse and if i say i've been watching tiktok for 15 mins now
↳ therealkaliuchis COME DOWNSTAIRS U LAZY FUCK

user rory is sooooooooooo ❤️😘😊😆😇

minisourgummyworm just slapped the shit out of matt to wake him up
↳ user LMFAOO????
↳ storyofstori now we have to deal w annoying ass grumpy matt thx nick

designateddriverasf i hate nick

view all comments.

ʳᵉᵃˡ ˡⁱᶠᵉ !

"are we just supposed to pretend this isn't happening right now or...?" kali asks, obviously referring to chris and astoria sitting on the opposite side of the living room. the two of them, along with matt, are sitting together on the couch, with chris' arm around astoria and the girl's head resting against his chest. the hand that's around her toys with a strand of her hair, meanwhile astoria's hand rests lightly on his leg. matt is literally grimacing from his spot on the other side of chris.

now that astoria and chris are... well, he's not really sure what they're doing. whatever it is though, they seem to finally be out of denial, which leaves matt as the only single person in the group. kali and luna sit together on the other couch, the former laying over her girlfriend's lap. nick and skye are both sat on the floor, acting anything but platonic, as they've been doing for a while. everyone around him is so disgustingly in love that it makes him want to rip his hair out.

it's driving matt crazy because before now, he's never been bothered about having a girlfriend or anything. his friends and family have always been the most important part of his life, and nothing else mattered because he had them. now though, both of his brothers as well as the rest of his best friends have managed to find love and he's beginning to feel like he's missing out on something.

matt's not one of those people who's desperate to be in a relationship, god no, but he can't help but feel a little jealous as he looks around the room. he looks at chris and astoria next to him, the way they're so comfortable with one another.

maybe it's not the relationship he's after, but for someone to fully understand him. chris and nick know him better than anyone, but unlike him they're loud and outgoing. they'll never completely understand his anxiety, or his nervousness around new people.

astoria gets it, though. the two of them don't often talk by themselves, but the rare moments that they do replay in matt's mind frequently. she lost her dad less than a year ago, so she knows better than anyone what it means to have things going on in your head that nobody else understands.

as depressing as it sounds, matt feels like he and astoria know what it feels like to be drowned in your own thoughts and emotions. even so, they are aware that they have this in common, therefore share the understanding that while they're drowning, they're drowning together.

matt's now wishing he has someone to help him remember how to swim.

astoria has that, he can see it in the way she looks at his brother. it makes matt sick. he knows it's a selfish feeling, but he doesn't care.

"what's happening?" chris then asks, snapping matt out of his trance.

kali gives him a knowing look, crossing her arms. "you know exactly what's happening," she replies, gesturing to him and astoria sitting together. "when did this happen?"

"when did what happen?" astoria says, causing chris to look down at her and grin. matt rolls his eyes.

"DISGUSTING," nick adds from where he's sitting on the ground.

"don't even act like you and skye aren't cuddling right now," luna cuts in, narrowing her eyes at them. skye chuckles and nick rolls his eyes, neither of them bothering to deny the truth.

"so, are you guys in love now or what?" kali asks chris and astoria, who both look at each other and shrug.

"nah, i still fucking hate him," astoria answers nonchalantly, moving away from the boy with a forced frown on her face. chris presses his lips together, suppressing a smile as he pulls her closer to him.

"i'm literally in shock at what i'm looking at right now," skye says, shaking his head.

"really?" luna replies. "me personally, i saw this coming from a mile away."

"shut up, lulu," chris says, and luna gives him the middle finger. he shakes his head in dismay, and astoria just laughs.

"i think me and chris are the least exciting news of last night," she says, turning her attention away from the boy and over to the rest of the friend group. her eyes land on nick and skye first, and she gives them a knowing look. nick immediately frowns.

"if you two don't have to confirm anything, then neither do w-" he starts, but skye cuts him off by covering nick's mouth with his hand.

"we're going out," he says, grinning. "not like, officially, but we aren't seeing anyone else, y'know?"

"what about you, matt?"

matt blinks, looking at luna. she nods at him, waiting for an answer to her question. caught off guard, he just shakes his head.

"what do you think?" he asks sarcastically.

astoria and chris look at each other, before they both turn to look at matt. astoria's eyes are wide and chris' eyebrows raised, both looking at him knowingly. astoria appears to want to say something, but before she can do so, her phone rings. she furrows her eyebrows, digging around in the couch for it until she eventually finds it under matt's thigh.

despite himself, matt steals a quick glance at the screen, knitting his eyebrows when he sees the contact name 'maeve 😉😉😉' appear on her phone. he's never heard of a maeve in his life, so it's safe to say he's a little confused when astoria's face lights up and she immediately takes the call. astoria never answers her phone usually.

"who is it?" chris asks, nudging her, and her smile grows.

"maeve," she answers, and chris grins, nodding. this just makes matt even more confused. does everyone know who this maeve is except him?

"hey, what's up?" astoria says into the phone, getting up from the couch and walking away, presumably to have some privacy. nick, skye, luna, and kali seem unbothered, quickly beginning a new conversation that they all soon become engrossed in.

matt faces chris, lightly nudging his brother's shoulder.

"who's maeve?" he asks quietly, and chris shakes his head.

"mhm... you don't know her," he replies. matt rolls his eyes.

"no shit," he says. "how do you and rory know her?"

"we met her last night. remember that blonde girl?"

matt nods, vaguely remembering how astoria had come downstairs with a girl. he recalls finding her somewhat familiar, though he couldn't put his finger on it. now he knows that there's no way he could've known her, so maybe he was just imagining things. he'd been anxious at the party, hence why he'd gone upstairs. that was probably it.

growing impatient, chris gets up from the couch and walks into the next room, where rory has gone to talk to maeve on the phone. when he enters the kitchen, the girl is in fact still on the phone to her new friend, listening intently to whatever it is that maeve has to say.

he's walked a few paces into the room when she notices him, her smile growing as he walks over and sits down next to her on the kitchen island.

"put it on speaker," he tells rory, and she nods, pulling the phone away from her ear and pressing the button.

"chris is here now, too," rory says to maeve.

"that one's gay, right?" maeve replies, sounding confused. "or is chris your boyfriend?"

"yeah," chris answers before rory can, and her jaw drops open a bit.

"yeah to being gay or being the boyfriend?" the blonde questions. chris laughs, shaking his head.

"to being her boyfriend," he says. "nick's the gay one."

"right..." maeve says through the phone. "then who's the other one?"

"matt," rory answers.

"ahhhh," the girl replies. "and which one's matt? y'know, since he's not the gay one or the boyfriend."

chris and rory look at each other, wondering if they should tell her. rory bites her lip, contemplating, but he nods. fuck it, he mouths, and she gives him a thumbs-up in agreement.

"matt's, um... matt's the one you kissed last night," she says nervously.

there's a moment of silence from the other end of the phone, followed by a deep breath. chris presses his lips together to stop himself from laughing, meanwhile rory's eyes are filled with worry. she quickly mutes herself while maeve's still processing the information they've just told her and turns to chris.

"i think that was a bad idea," she says, pressing her lips together.

"nah, it's fine," chris assures her. "if it all goes to shit, at least she and matt never met?"

rory goes to respond, but then unmutes herself when they hear rustling coming from the speaker.

"sorry, i just had to grab some mental support sour patch kids," maeve says like it's the most normal thing in the world. "now... did you just say i kissed your boyfriend's brother last night?!"

"yeah," rory shrugs, amusement clear in her voice. maeve takes yet another deep breath, the rustling of the sour patch kids packet in the background of the call.

"jesus christ," she mumbles, more to herself than the two of them. "sorry chris."

chris' eyes widen at that.

"what are you sorry for?" he asks, trying his best to hide the amusement in his voice. he refuses to look at rory because he knows he'll definitely laugh if he does, and he doesn't want to make maeve any more uncomfortable than she probably already is.

"well, he's your brother, so it's probably kind of weird and gross for you to think about him kissing someone and stuff... and because i'm a total stranger so that's also a bit odd- fuck, i'm rambling."

maeve cuts herself off, sounding embarrassing. chris chuckles - he can't help it. but rory laughs too, and chris wishes he could see maeve's reaction.

"stop fucking laughing, you assholes!" she complains. "this is so fucking embarrassing."

"what the fuck are you weirdos laughing about?"

rory and chris immediately clamp their mouths shut, shellshocked at the sight of matt walking into the kitchen. sensing someone else is in the room, maeve puts herself on silent, but rory subtly decides to keep her own mic on speaker.

"nothing," she replies, shrugging. "what are you doing in here, matt?"

she says his name with a particular tone, and again chris wishes they were on facetime so he could see maeve's facial expression. he can imagine her smile dropping, or her throwing her phone altogether. he's honestly a little surprised the girl hasn't hung up yet, especially now that she knows who they're talking to.

"i needed to escape the couples in the living room," he shrugs. "out of all of you, you two are the least disgusting."

"you're literally like the grinch of valentine's day," rory says, rolling her eyes.

"so were you, until you finally opened your fucking eyes," matt counters, causing rory to fall silent. chris just laughs, pointing at her.

"loser," he says, and she frowns.

"shut up, you're literally in love with me," she answers, and now chris is the one who's been silenced. meanwhile on the other side of the room, matt just grimaces.

"you guys are in love now and shit?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. when the two of them nod, chuckling to themselves, he just shakes his head. "god," he mutters to himself, spinning on his heels and leaving the room.

a few seconds pass until maeve takes herself off of mute.

"so that's matt," rory says. the blonde girl hums.

"he really hates love, hm?" she says.

"no," chris answers immediately. "he's just annoyed 'cause everyone in his friend group is in a relationship."

"he can't even escape it with dante, since he's dating mal," rory adds. "it's kinda funny."

"right..." maeve says, then clears her throat. "so um, does he know?"

"know what?" rory asks smugly, acting all innocent. maeve sighs loudly into her speaker.

"does matt know it was me?"

chris laughs, rubbing his eyes.

"of course not," he says.

"what do you mean, of course not?"

"not like that!" chris says, grimacing. "i just mean, like-"

"chris can't speak fucking english," rory interjects. "ignore him."

"no, let him cook," maeve disagrees. "i want to hear what he was gonna say. i'm invested now."

chris just grins smugly, earning him an eyeroll from the girl next to him.

"it's funny to watch matt all confused because he doesn't know who kissed him at the party," he tells maeve, and his smile grows as he hears her begin to chuckle. "he's acting like a disoriented seal at the circus."

"what the actual fuck," rory says.

"that's so mean, what the fuck?" maeve says.

"you're literally laughing," chris deadpans.

"um, yeah?" she says. "it wouldn't be funny otherwise."

there's another few seconds of silence when maeve suddenly puts herself on mute again. rory and chris give one another confused looks, though her mic is quickly turned back on again.

"sorry, my mom's yelling at me to do the dishes," maeve says. "i gotta go."

"bye, maeve," rory says, chris echoing her.

"bye guys!" she calls back, before hanging up. rory sighs, setting her phone down next to her. then, she turns to chris and crosses her arms.

"so... you're my boyfriend now?" she asks, and chris freezes. he's honestly forgotten that he said that.

"um, yeah?" he answers nervously. "i mean, if you want me to b-"

"obviously," she smiles.

and if i said there's only 5 chaps + the epilogue left then what

getting my wisdom teeth out tmr kinda nerv but likeee hopefully it'll give me time to write cuz i won't be in school LMAO

i can't believe this fic is almost at 200k that is INSANE??? thank you SO much <3

EDIT: if anyone can guess my favorite taylor vault track i'll release a short sequel abt matt and maeve :))

━ ava ᥫ᭡