( ⁱⁿ ʳᵉᵃˡ ˡⁱᶠᵉ ⁺ ⁱⁿˢᵗᵃᵍʳᵃᵐ )

ⁱⁿ ʳᵉᵃˡ ˡⁱᶠᵉ !

THE notes come easy to her. her fingers dance over the familiar keys like muscle memory, the song so entwined with her very soul that she could play it in her sleep. the first song she ever wrote. the first song she ever wrote about him.

"don't wanna be forward," she sings quietly. "don't wanna cross a line. but if i were to crash in this plane tonight, i'd want you to know this..."

she becomes one with the piano, one with the keys, one with the song. she feels it deep in her very bones, the lyrics shattering like glass around her and cutting into her skin in the most beautifully painful way.

"don't wanna say too much, intrude on your space. but if i were to crash and i never made it home, i'd want you to know this."

a body falls onto the seat next to her, and she falters for a second as she turns to look at the culprit. her fingers stop as she stares into dark brown eyes, those same ones that made her fall so hard.

he smiles softly and then his fingers touch the keys and he picks up where she left off. she's frozen for a long moment until louis sends her a comforting look and gestures to the piano.

her mouth curves up lightly as she starts to play alongside him, her lips parting as she starts singing again.

"oh, and to tell you is too scary, so i'll just say something else. and i wish that you could hear me when i talk to myself."

she turns to look at louis as she sings, but he is focused on the keys. her eyes convey all the emotions running through her veins, every little thing she wishes she could tell him still, all those years she spent in love with him, all those lyrics she wrote about him, all those people she dated just to get over him. it never worked, and maybe it never will.

they play together in perfect harmony despite never having played this song together before. they are in sync, souls desperately intertwined with one another.

"but this plane might not land safely, so what the hell do i have to lose if i just tell you?"

she looks back down at the keys of the piano at the same moment louis turns his head to stare at her as she sings.

angelic is the only word louis can come up to describe the girl beside him in this moment, but even that isn't enough to express how devastatingly beautiful she is. had he truly never realized it before? had he been so blinded by the fact that she was his best friend's little sister that he had never once thought of her as anything other than that?

he can't stop thinking about it. that night she had been so drunk and blurted out that she had feelings for him. the moment she leaned forward so suddenly and her mouth touched the corner of his lips softly, slowly, delicately.

and had he always wondered before? if her lips were soft, if her eyes fluttered shut as she breathed someone in, if she sighed just a little when she kissed someone as if she couldn't imagine being anywhere else but right there in that moment. and why was he wondering about it now? why did he want to know? for real, this time, not just a small peck on his cheek.

he was ashamed to admit it, even to himself. he shouldn't be thinking about things like that with this girl he has known for nearly a decade, especially not when she's related to his best friend.

but he's thinking about it anyway. and he hasn't been able to stop thinking about it since she admitted her feelings. how long has she felt that way about him? was this recent or has she always felt this way? since they met all those years ago when they were just kids. but no, she couldn't have. he would have noticed if she had had feelings for him all this time.

wouldn't he?

"i wanna eat pancakes for dinner. i wanna get stuck in your head. i wanna watch a tv show together and when we're under the weather, we can watch it in bed."

he is breathless, utterly and completely speechless, so taken by her and her ability to command his attention.

"i think that i should probably tell you this, in case there is an accident and i never see you again. so please save all your questions for the end, and maybe i'll be brave enough by then."

they both end on the same note. louis continues staring at her, but her gaze lingers on their fingers touching the piano keys. a moment passes and then she meets his eyes. he smiles.

"i love this one," he says, referring to the song, referring to her smile, referring to her eyes, he doesn't know anymore. he doesn't know anything anymore.

"it's about you," she blurts out, and then widens her eyes.

his eyes widen too, and he's shocked at the words that just came out of her mouth but definitely not more shocked than herself at her own words. is she stupid or what?

"fuck," she mutters under her breath.

she gets up and tries to leave so she can save face, but his hand shoots out to grab her wrist to pull her back. she turns, still standing. louis sits there, staring up at her, his hand still burning into her skin.

he doesn't say anything. she doesn't say anything. he doesn't move. she doesn't move.

and then there's this slow humming in louis's body. it starts out quiet, on the surface of his palm where his skin is touching hers. and then it shoots up his arm and down his body and then it's everywhere and nowhere and he wants to soak it all up into a pillowcase so he can dream about this moment, this feeling, every time he falls asleep. because moments like these can only ever exist in dreams.

it is too much, too intense a feeling for him to think about.

he clears his throat and lets go of her. she's more surprised at that than when he pulled her back. disappointed, maybe, is a better word.

she waits for him to speak, but he doesn't. so she leaves.

and louis sits there, thinking about how much of an idiot he truly is. he should have wondered sooner.

꘏

"SHE can't hate you that much," stella insists even as chris places his head in his hands and groans.

"she does," he replies. "she really, really does."

matt and nick both roll their eyes.

"drama queen," nick says.

matt agrees, "literally. i doubt june hates you. she probably just doesn't care."

chris glares at them both. "like that's any better. besides, you weren't there when i saw her and you didn't see her face when she said my name and i didn't even know who she was. she hates me."

stella purses her lips, trying not to laugh at her friend's predicament. "she seems like a really sweet person. i really don't think she hates you, chris. you're being overdramatic. and it's not your fault you don't remember her."

matt hums. "kinda is. like, seriously how do you not remember her? she was class president all four years of high school and also came over to our house like a million times. she was also the one who threw that insane grad party."

"crazy shit happened there," nick says, sending stella a look to which she laughs. "definitely chris's fault for not remembering literally the prettiest girl in our grade. everyone had a crush on her, even me. and i'm fucking gay!"

chris groans again and stella can't help but laugh at how ridiculous the situation is. "racecar girl," as the triplets called her after she commented on stella's post, was actually june dawson, a girl they went to high school with. and apparently chris had no clue who she was when they saw each other at chipotle where she "got mad" when chris didn't know her name.

stella seriously doubts chris's version of the story, but she wasn't there so she can't say anything.

"gotta be honest," matt admits. "i kinda had a crush on her in freshman year."

chris gapes at him while stella snickers and nick just looks bored.

"we know, matt. we've established that everyone liked her. except chris, and now that he does it's too late."

"gee, thanks, nick."

"you're welcome, brother!"

"should i dm her?"

"NO!" all three of them shout at the same time.

chris scoffs. "okay, fine. geez. i won't dm her."

"that's too embarrassing, mate," stella says.

chris quirks a brow. "like your drunken fiasco?"

her ears flush red. "shut up!"

matt sends him a flat look. "not cool, bro."

chris opens his mouth but stella just flips him off and says, "this is why i've decided to marry matt and not either of you."

nick scoffs. "okay fine, bitch. i'll remember this."

stella rolls her eyes. "hey, you're my second option if matt ends up finding someone before we turn thirty."

"second option?! wow, stella. i thought we were closer than that."

"at least you're not third."

matt just shakes his head. "so are we going to talk about the real issue at hand, or what?"

stella looks at him, puzzled. "what?"

"you and louis, obviously."

she bites down on her lip. "no. we are not going to talk about that, matt."

"i think we should," chris says.

stella scoffs. "you don't count."

"hey!"

"well, i think we should talk about it too," nick says. "seriously, stels. don't you think you should, like, make him jealous or something?"

stella gapes at him. and then at the others when they nod in agreement. even matt, the rational one, says, "you should do that!"

"absolutely not," she replies. "that's too petty, even for me. if he couldn't fall for me in eight years after i dated all those people, how is he going to do fall for me now if i go out with someone else? no, i think it's seriously time for me to stop saying i need to get over him and actually do it."

"okay, that's a good point but also not," nick says. "i mean, look at chris. he couldn't even bother to notice june all those years we knew her and now look at him. he's whipped after a single meeting."

"dude, what the fuck!"

"that's so different," stella argues.

chris nods. "exactly." he pauses and then says, "although...i do actually have this friend who you would like. he's totally your type."

stella pulls her mouth into a flat line. "i don't know..."

matt jumps in, "actually, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. maybe you just need to actually go out with someone for the sake of going out. doesn't have to be for any reason other than just getting out there again."

"i agree," nick adds. "if you're really set on getting over louis, maybe you should go on this blind date."

stella is unconvinced. is a blind date really all she needs to get over someone she's spent so long loving? maybe not, but it could be a start. and isn't this what cora, daisy, and sebastian have been telling her to do ever since she said she needed to get over him? they just want her to be happy just like the triplets do, and she loves her friends for that. and maybe they're right about this, maybe they aren't. either way, it couldn't really hurt to try, could it?

"okay," she finds herself saying. "i'll do it."

ⁱⁿˢᵗᵃᵍʳᵃᵐ !

stellafranklyn.miller

✦ ✧ ✧

✧ ✦ ✧

✧ ✧ ✦

liked by sturniolo.triplets, louispartridge_, junedawson, and 992k others

stellafranklyn.miller reunited #quadruplets

tagged - matthewsturniolo

view comments

user any day stella and the triplets are together is my new favorite day

user THE WAY ONLY MATT IS TAGGED LMAO

user the matt favoritism is so real

nicolassturniolo cancelling stella for not tagging me cannot believe her fake ass

user ok but guys can we talk about how pretty she is??!?!?!?!!!
liked by louispartridge_

sebedwards why is stella so short
↳ stellafranklyn.miller 🖕

coraeverly is that my top.
↳ stellafranklyn.miller perhaps.
 ↳ daisygonzalez is that the top we stole when she went to italy
  ↳ stellafranklyn.miller it is. it was too cute not to steal
   ↳ coraeverly ...

user SO WE'RE JUST NOT GONNA TALK ABOUT HOW LOUIS LIKED A COMMENT ABOUT STELLA BEING PRETTY?!?!!?!?!!
↳ user MY STOUIS HEART
 ↳ user i can't do this anymore i need them together

matthewsturniolo the way we practically spent the entire time talking about chris and racecar girl
↳ christophersturniolo MATT STFU YOU BITCH
 ↳ stellafranklyn.miller bro messed up so bad
  ↳ nicolassturniolo just so you know chris...she liked this
   ↳ christophersturniolo FUCK

load more comments...

𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲 !

can yall tell i'm a matt girl