CHAPTER TWENTY SIX !
[ real life ]

❝ JUST STAY ❞

tw: mentions of vomit

📂﹖﹕𓂃𐩐💻

ʳᵉᵃˡ ˡⁱᶠᵉ

matt sits on chris' bed, leaned against the wall as nick sits on the couch. chris and nick have been playing some game for a bit and matt's just been sitting here in his own world. chris has currently left to go to the kitchen for something to eat.

when he gets bored of mindlessly scrolling through tiktok, he switches to instagram. he doesn't follow a lot of people on his main account so he quickly grows bored of scrolling through that feed and switches to his spam account.

when aurora is the first post on his feed, he's not surprised. they don't follow each other on their main accounts just to prove some sort of point but the logic doesn't apply to their private accounts for some reason.

he is surprised however, when he actually looks at what she's posted. why is she at a random party on a thursday?

and why is this random guy laying on her?

a frown subconsciously takes over his features as he begins reading the caption and looking through the comments. why is she drinking? she doesn't even like alcohol.

he clicks on the picture that only tags the random guys spam account. there's no way he's requesting to follow it but luckily, his main account is tagged in the bio. he clicks on that and goes to his most recent post, it dating back to earlier last summer.

kingstonj_79

liked by veerosaro, user, and 3,409 others

kingstonj_79 happy 4th, america sucks

tagged - //

jaden i know a lot of u imagined very different people as him so you can imagine him however u want!! lol i don't want to disappoint anyone with who i chose so u can picture whoever :)

user when he has common sense >

user MY bf fr
↳ user doesn't he have a...
↳ user shhhh i don't need that negative energy rn

veerosaro caption ✔️
↳ kingstonj_79 off to canada we go bro

user when he when he when he when he when he when he when he when he

nicolassturniolo slay

once matt notices nicks comment and realizes he obviously knows the guy, he looks up at him. "hey," he says, turning his phone around to him once he looks back at him. "who's this?"

nick takes one glance at the picture before responding, "oh, that's kingston."

he turns his phone back around to him, glances down at the picture once more, before looking back at nick with a now scrunched up face. "who the fuck is kingston?"

nicks eyebrows are immediately furrowed. "you don't know kingston?"

matt is about to answer with an obvious no when chris suddenly appears, stepping through the door with a bowl of cereal. "hey," he says, walking over to them. "what's going on?"

nick glances once at matt before looking back to chris and shaking his head in literal disbelief. "matt doesn't know kingston."

"wait what?" chris instantly furrows his eyebrows, looking at matt in a form of shock. "you don't know kingston?"

literally what the fuck?

"no?" matt says obviously. "should i know kingston?"

nick just sighs as chris comes and sits back down next to him in the couch. "everyone knows kingston."

matt just rolls his eyes before asking the question he actually wants an answer to. "since when has aurora known him?"

"oh," nick raises his eyebrows, thinking on the question for just a second before answering. "they met for the first time just today in like third or fourth period?"

matt instantly thinks back to business class when aurora left the class for at least twenty minutes. he noticed but refused to make it obvious, instead not even glancing at her, even when she left and then came back. the entire time she was gone she was with this kingston guy.

he just shakes his head. "they just met today and she's at a party with him?" he questions, failing to hide the annoyance in his voice judging by the looks he receives.

"yeah?" chris shrugs. "i mean it's kingston. she's in good hands, don't worry."

matt immediately hates that. why is she in anybody's hands? who even is this fucking kingston guy?

now matt's mood has soured even more than it's been for the past week. whoever the fuck this guy is, he's already pissing him off.

nick notices matt's expression and begins to laugh a bit. "chill, i seriously doubt he's gonna steal your girl."

"whatever," he just sighs, scooting forward from where he was leaning against the wall and standing up once he reaches the edge of the bed.

"woah," chris raises his eyebrows, sharing a look with nick. "no denial?"

matt rolls his eyes and walks out of the room, ignoring how chris and nick cheer like literal children.

he's already on the way back the his room when in the middle of the hallway, the phone he's holding begins to vibrate rapidly in his hand. he sighs and raises it up, eyebrows immediately furrowing when he sees the contact.

aurora. since when has aurora called him? he knows she absolutely hates the awkwardness in it and much rather prefers texting. throughout all the time he's been ignoring her, she hasn't tried calling once.

he also knows she's at a party.

so, he curses himself internally before clicking the green button and raising the device to his ear.

"hey," a voice that is definitely not auroras comes through the tiny speakers. "is this matt?"

"yeah," he answers shortly. "who's this?"

"kingston."

"oh," matt's voice is a blank one as his tongue begins to roll against the inside of his bottom lip. there's a random guy who's been laying on aurora calling him through her phone. "great."

"listen uh," he pauses for a second, something indecipherable heard in the background before he speaks again. "your girls over here throwing up and shit."

"well, maybe you shouldn't of let her drink so fucking much." his voice comes out harsher than expected, the frustration he's feeling pretty much taking over his tone.

kingston takes a moment to respond, taken aback from matt's angry voice. "alright, it was her choice, bro."

matt is already done with this. he begins to continue walking back to his room and just as he's about to pull the phone from his ear and hang up without further explanation, kingstons voice comes through.

"the girls been mentioning you throughout the whole night and right before she started throwing up, she was talking about you for like ten minutes," he explains through the phone.

matt pauses his movements, going still for a moment as kingstons sigh is heard through the phone as well. "look, i can obviously take her home or you can just-"

"just send me the location," matt cuts him off, already walking over to grab his keys.

"alright," kingstons voice is heard once more before matt hangs up, grabs his keys, and walks out of his room.

whenever matt gets to the house, it's not as full as you would think it'd be. it must just be a small party or it's already died down a lot. either way, he doesn't want to go inside.

luckily for him, when he begins walking up to the house, he spots aurora sitting on one of the porch steps with the same guy from her instagram standing behind her. when aurora sees him, she grins, and when he reaches them, she speaks up. "ello, bernard."

matt's eyebrows furrow and he glances up at the kingston guy. he just sighs and shakes his head. "sorry, she's put on this british accent for like the past five minutes."

matt glances back down at aurora who's still grinning at him and sighs. "are you done throwing up?"

"well, i sure hope so, broski," she giggles. literally giggles.

matt spares a glance back at kingston for a second. how much did he let her fucking drink? he just shuts his eyes for a moment to refrain from saying anything and looks back down at aurora who is yet again, still grinning at him.

wasn't she just throwing up before he got here? why's she so happy?

"okay, let's go," he just says after a while, her instantly nodding in response.

"okay!" she responds enthusiastically, standing up way too quickly and almost losing her balance.

just as kingston raises a hand to hold onto her shoulder, matt grabs her two hands in front of her so she doesn't end up falling. he looks past aurora and narrows his eyes at kingston behind her. "i've got it from here," he tells him quite harshly. "thanks."

kingstons eyes widen just slightly and he takes a step back. "alright," he shrugs, about to turn around before glancing at aurora once more. "see ya, sleeping beauty."

matt's face twists up. the fuck?

aurora turns her head in kingstons direction and grins. "see ya, dawg." kingston chuckles at that before finally, thank fucking god, turning around and walking off towards the front door.

matt sighs and just as he's about to step back, aurora turns her head back to him. she pauses for a moment, glancing over his face before giggling yet again. she just keeps giggling and it's a very weird sight for matt. "woah," she says.

"what?" he questions.

she groans loudly as if frustrated by the question before tilting her head at him. "has anyone ever told you you're like actually super pretty?"

he pauses for a moment to just stare at the girl, receiving compliments from her being very unusual for him. "aurora," he just sighs eventually, dropping her hands from where he was very weirdly still holding onto them and taking a step back.

"it's true," she tells him pointedly although her words slur together just a tad and deduct from how she's trying to be serious.

he squints his eyes at her. "you're drunk."

"well," she sighs loudly, crossing her arms to try and prove her point further. "drunk thoughts are sober words."

"okay first of all," matt starts. "you've got that saying completely wrong," he tells her, her huffing in response. "and second, you can tell me when you're sober then."

she begins to frown from his second sentence. "i can't."

he just rolls his eyes in response, unsure of why he continued with the subject anyway. "okay. how about we just go to the car already?"

"okay," she sighs, looking down to the ground for a moment before suddenly looking back up at him, now with her eyes lit up. "can you give me a piggyback ride?"

he blinks. "no."

"why?"

"just no."

"but why?"

"because."

"because why?"

"because i said so."

"not good enough."

"then make it good enough."

she narrows her eyes at him intensely. "give me a piggyback ride."

"no." he crosses his arms at the childish girl defensively.

she makes direct eye contact with him as she sits right back down on the steps, crossing her arms as well once she's sat. "then i'm not leaving."

he narrows his eyes at her before scoffing. "seriously?"

"look!" she suddenly says, pointing her finger out to him. "there you are with that scoffing thing you always do."

"aurora," he just sighs for what feels like the hundredth time tonight. "get up."

"no." she stands her ground.

he narrows his eyes at her again, a silence falling between the two as they have what feels like a staring contest. ultimately, matt clamps his eyes shut and shakes his head to himself before looking back at the girl. "fine," he sighs, her eyes lighting up. "i'll give you a fucking piggyback ride."

"okay." she's suddenly grinning and standing up too quickly again, making her almost fall forward for the second time. matt rolls his eyes and grabs onto her hands, pushing her up straight again.

"woah," she says the same thing she said earlier, once again giggling. matt just sighs and drops her hands, turning around to face his back to her.

since she's higher up than him from being on the porch steps, he doesn't have to squat any. she just leaps forward and hops right onto his back, his arms immediately looping around the underneath of her legs to prevent her from falling. she hooks her arms around his neck and grins brightly.

"isn't this fun?" she asks cheerily as he begins walking.

"totally," he responds sarcastically.

she doesn't even say anything about his sarcastic tone, instead just enjoys the moment as it falls silent between them. she rests her chin on top of his head as they continue the long journey to the car. it must be quite the while away because she starts to grow tired the longer they continue.

"okay," matt sighs eventually when they reach the car, letting go of her legs slowly so she doesn't fall or anything. "here."

"thanks," she says, beginning to yawn as she steps away from him. "woah, i'm tired."

"you can sleep in the car," he tells her before beginning to walk to the other side.

"okay!" she responds, instantly walking to the door and trying to open it. "it's locked."

"yeah, i was getting to that part," he sighs before pulling his keys out of his pocket.

the drive to auroras house is a quiet one as the girl is obviously quite tired now. throughout the way there, matt glances over at the girl multiple times to make sure she's alright but it seems every time he looks at her she's fighting sleep.

when they arrive at her house, matt thinks about just dropping her off and letting her make her way inside on her own but he also know she's drunk and how her parents can be at times. so, when she opens her door, he opens his as well.

when he walks around to her side of the car, she's still struggling to climb out. he sighs and walks over to see, glancing over her once before turning around so his backs to her.

"what are you doing?" she furrows her eyebrows, confused why he's literally just standing there. maybe he's had a drink or two as well but she kinda hopes not since he was driving and all that.

"what?" he turns back around and raises his eyebrows. "you don't want a piggyback ride?"

she instantly grins, not expecting him to offer it again since it's just a short walk to the house. "no, i do. turn back around."

matt sighs and does just that. aurora frowns when he just stands there again. "you have to actually squat this time, you dumb fuck."

he rolls his eyes but again, does exactly that. once she's on his back and his arms are looped around the underneath of her legs, he sighs. "it amazes me how you still manage to call me a dumb fuck even when drunk."

"well, you're my favorite person to call it," she huffs.

he just shakes his head, walking closer to the car instead of away from it. "here, close the door," he tells her, referring to the car door she kept open.

"okay." she smiles, reaching out one of the arms she had wrapped around his neck and closing the door with just enough force to actually close it. her arm returns to it's original place once she's done.

they walk to the house now and it falls silent between them again, a comfortable silence. once they enter the home, aurora doesn't say anything until matt starts making his way to the stairs. "i wanna sleep in the living room."

"are you sure?" he frowns, pausing his movements from where he was walking.

"yeah," she confirms, him nodding and turning around.

when they make it to the living room, matt sets her down on the big couch. he turns around to make sure she landed safely and once he's sure, he begins to turn away. aurora frowns and grabs his wrist. "where are you going?"

matt pauses, turning back around and speaking in a quieter tone than before. "i was gonna grab a blanket from your room."

"oh," she responds, slowly letting her of her hold on his wrist. "okay."

matt turns around then and begins making his way to her room. he grabs the fuzziest blanket and walks back down the stairs and to the living room. when he returns, she's laying down now. he walks over to her slowly, unsure of if she's sleeping or not. he notices her eyes are open though when he's in front of her.

"here," he hands the blanket out to her. when she literally just blinks at him, he sighs. "okay," he responds, pressing his lips together before just throwing the blanket over her.

"thanks," she sighs, adjusting the blanket where she's fully underneath instead of how he just threw it on her.

"yeah," he just says, beginning to hesitate for a second as he starts awkwardly rubbing at the back of his neck. "okay uh.. i'm gonna go now."

aurora doesn't say anything in response so he just sighs and turns away, only taking a couple steps away before her voice stops him. "can you... um."

he turns back around, furrowing his eyebrows as he didn't make out what she said. "what?"

"can you just like... stay for a bit?" she asks quietly, a hesitant tone to her voice as if she's unsure of what she's saying.

"what?" he repeats again, now quieter. he heard what she said this time, he just wants to hear her say it again.

she sighs. "just stay, matt."

he pauses for a long moment, this weird feeling in his chest as he stares at the girl. after debating with himself internally, he sighs and walks over to the couch. he hesitantly sits next to where her head rests on a couch cushion and he swears he sees the faintest of smiles on her lips but it goes away once he looks at her.

it grows silent between them as they just sit in each other's presence. after almost a full minute, aurora speaks up quietly. "do you want some of the blanket?"

"no," he answers easily, knowing the blanket obviously won't even reach over to him since she's laying down and he's sitting next to her head.

"i feel like a blanket hog."

"you're not."

it falls silent between the two again for a long few moments before aurora suddenly sighs loudly and reaches all the way down at the other end of the couch to grab one of the throw pillows. matt watches her without saying anything as she sits up slightly, turns to him and places the pillow on his lap. he still doesn't say anything even when she scoots towards him slightly and lays back down, this time her head on the pillow over his lap. her head is facing his chest and nothing, not a single word is spoken between the two.

"hey, matt?" she says quietly after a while.

"yeah?"

"thanks for caring."

he doesn't say anything in response.

after a couple minutes, when her breathing grows lighter, he lets one of his arms come down to rest over her, his hand falling in her hair. he looks down at her for a moment before sighing quietly and managing to pull his phone out of his pocket with his other hand. he opens tiktok and turns his volume down all the way which gets rid of half of the purpose but he doesn't really care all that much.

💌

well.

auroras the one saying woah now huh 😟😟

writing authors notes after chapters like this is so... because i don't know what to say. i just want to let u guys sit in this without saying anything else

edit: i have changed kingstons face claim from michael clifford to this extremely fine man u can see in the ig post 🤗🤗🤗🤗

<3
jaden