CHAPTER TWENTY NINE !
[ real life ]

❝ SHUT UP FOR ONCE ❞

this chapter is dedicated to makheartschris 🫶🏻

📂﹖﹕𓂃𐩐💻

ʳᵉᵃˡ ˡⁱᶠᵉ

"you want me to seek with... kingston?"

"yes, that's what we just said." chris rolls his eyes at matt.

they're all currently stood in the living room with their phones out and their flashlights on. nick also has their camera for youtube and told them to all film on their phone cameras so they can make it into a vlog.

"i don't understand why we're even seeking in pairs." matt crosses his arms.

"i don't understand why it's such a big deal," venus rolls her eyes. "it'll be fine, you baby."

matt glances over at kingston and aurora a few feet away, talking about something else. kingston says something with a smile that makes aurora literally giggle and matt looks back at venus and chris in front of him. "nah."

chris narrows his eyes at him before turning to where he was looking at, literally groaning once he turns back to him. "kingstons not into her bro, you're making a big deal out of nothing."

"i never said shit," matt instantly defends, chris and venus literally just blinking.

"see, you didn't say it but your voice said it."

"that makes no sense, vee."

"OKAY!" chris suddenly shouts, catching them both off guard as he suddenly turns around to everyone else. elijah, raven, and nick from where they were talking (nick with pink cheeks of course) all turn their heads. kingston chuckles and aurora just sighs. all she ever does is sigh. "kingston and matt can go on the porch outside or something for five minutes."

"what! i never-"

"shhh," chris cuts matt off with a roll of his eyes. "go wait on the porch, set a timer for five minutes, admire the storm or something, and then create a group chat and text it when you're coming."

"i-"

"shhh."

"don't seem too excited, bro," kingston laughs at matt's clear distaste for him.

matt sighs. he just sighs.

"go on the porch," venus demands the two, raising her voice into a yell when they just stand there. "NOW HELLO?"

"fine." matt rolls his eyes, turning in his spot and heading straight towards the door without bothering to wait for kingston. he can hear kingston sigh before speed-walking to catch up with him.

"i'll set the timer," kingston says once they're outside on the porch, matt not even responding. he sits down on one of the chairs wordlessly.

kingston sighs, setting his phone down and walking over to matt. "listen bro," he starts, matt legitimately already sighing for the hundredth time and looking at him with slightly narrowed eyes. "i'm not trying to steal your girl."

"i never said you were," matt shrugs, blinking when kingston raises his eyebrows at him.

"so she is your girl?" he questions.

"why?" matt squints his eyes. "you wanna know if she's available?"

kingston pauses for a moment. see, he's never been a smart guy but right now he kinda feels like one because... if matt's already this defensive because kingston questioned if aurora's 'his girl'... he wonders how defensive he can get.

"what if i do?" he says nonchalantly, watching as matt's face falls just slightly.

holy shit, he thinks as he refrains from grinning, i'm such a genius.

matt goes silent for a few short seconds and kingston feels as if he's already being murdered violently in matt's mind from the way he's looking at him.

"she's not."

kingston almost wants to giggle.

"she's not what?" he narrows his eyes at him like he's actually into aurora.

"she's not available."

matt's glare is a very intense one and although kingstons already got his answer from the way he's looking at him, he still says, "why?"

"she's just not," matt says blankly, obviously beginning to grow frustrated from the pushing.

"why?" kingston repeats.

when matt just glares at him, kingston speaks again, trying to go for the final push. "she seems pretty available to me," kingston shrugs easily, watching as his jaw begins to tick. "i think i might just go for it honest-"

"you're not going for shit."

and, there we go.

"why's that?" kingston manages a dry laugh like he's some intimidating guy when really, on the inside, he's giddy like a kid on christmas morning. "are you two dating or something?"

matt's jaw actually clenches now. "no."

"great!" kingston says cheerily. "she's not yours then."

matt goes silent.

and then, finally, what kingstons been pushing for, gets said.

with a shake of his head, matt finally confirms, "she is."

kingston pauses, just sitting in what matt's admitted, before grinning. "i fucking knew it!" he exclaims, all of a sudden cheery.

"what?" matt's eyebrows are instantly furrowed.

"i don't like aurora, bro," he shakes his head, genuinely beginning to chuckle. "i just wanted you to admit you like her."

"what?" matt's face falls, feeling as if he's been caught doing something bad for some reason. "no."

"what?" kingston narrows his eyes at him. "you're trying to tell me you don't like her but she's... yours?"

"i..." matt trails off, not wanting to admit to his own mindset and instead shaking his head. "you're trying to tell me you aren't into rory?"

"aw," kingston chuckles. "you call her that when she's not around but not to her face earlier?"

matt rolls his eyes. "shut up."

kingston just shakes his head before answering his question from before. "nah bro, i've got a girl."

"wait what?" matt's eyebrows furrow yet again.

"yeah," kingston is suddenly grinning from the thought of her. "you know makayla marie?"

matt blinks. "your girlfriend is named makayla marie?"

kingston pauses for a second before shrugging. "i mean that's not like her full full name but it's what i call her, yknow?"

"oh," matt blinks again, going silent for a second before raising his eyebrows. "and she's okay with you hanging out with rory all the time?"

"uh yeah?" he furrows his eyebrows like it's a weird question. "she trusts me, plus, i keep her updated about you and aurora."

"you what?" matt narrows his eyes at him.

"yeah, like i've told her about your guys' kiss, you avoiding auror-"

"you've told her about our what?"

kingstons eyes suddenly widen. "wait i-"

"aurora told you?"

"uh..." he trails off for a second before sighing and just being honest because he can't really get away with lying. "yes but it was kind of a drunken ramble and she said it was top secret so i don't think she's been like... telling a bunch of people."

"hm," matt just hums before questioning just a tad quieter, "she was drunkenly rambling about it?"

kingston just sighs. "you've both got it so bad."

when aurora gets a text from the new group chat saying they're coming, she realizes she hasn't actually hidden yet. she sighs and quickly rushes upstairs to her bedroom. the door is still open from when she left it open way earlier and she climbs in the closet, turning her flashlight off and piling a bunch of clothes over herself.

when two minutes later she hears someone come in, she instantly keeps her mouth shut and tries to breathe quietly as if that'll do anything.

when a couple minutes pass after that and she doesn't hear the person leave, she internally groans. what the actual fuck?

"hey guys," she hears a very quiet voice and instantly snaps her eyes open, shoving a couple clothes off of her as if it'll make her hear better.

"i just ran into auroras older brother. i'm literally so," the person cuts themself off with a sigh and it takes aurora 0.01 seconds to realize that it's nick and that he's obviously talking to his camera.

he goes silent for a moment before sighing, "okay so yeah..." he pauses again before continuing, "guys, not gonna lie, i have the fattest crush on auroras older brother but please don't tell him or her because i'll actually piss myself."

"nick, what the fuck!" aurora whisper shouts from her place in the closet, her jaw dropping. it doesn't take a genius to see that nick gets nervous around elijah but him admitting to liking him while auroras unknowingly listening is a little bit surprising.

nicks eyes immediately widen and as a reflex, he lifts his head and instantly bangs it onto the bed above him because yeah, he's hiding under auroras bed. "FUCK!" he shouts without thinking.

"NICK!" aurora whisper shouts. "ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID?

when a minute later, kingston and matt come in and easily find nick, nick says, "auroras hiding in the closet guys."

"WHAT THE FUCK!" she instantly shouts seconds before matt walks over and opens the closet door.

"woah," he laughs, genuinely laughs, once he finds the girl sitting on the floor covered in random clothes. "you look rough."

"die."

when a couple of rounds later elijah and chris are seeking and aurora doesn't know where to go when the timer starts, she remembers how as little kids matt always had the best hiding places. so, as she notices him turn a corner down a hallway, she follows behind him.

"hey, matt," she coughs behind him, shining her flashlight as she watches him visibly sigh and turn around.

"no."

"what!" she exclaims. "i haven't even-"

"no."

"yes."

"no."

"i'm just gonna follow you."

he sighs again.

"if i recall, you used to always let me follow you in hide and seek with no problem when we were kids," she brings up as a way of convincing him but instantly frowning once she realizes what she's said.

she didn't mean to bring up a time so far away. she can't even remember the last time her and matt's past friendship was addressed between them.

matt's lips twist into a line and he turns around. "that was different."

he begins to walk away and aurora sighs, ultimately deciding on following him anyway. "why?" she questions as she finally comes in reach to walk beside him. she knows why it was different but she doesn't know what else to say.

"because i thought we were friends then," he answers blankly. "we're not friends now."

"wait what?" aurora instantly frowns, her face twisting up as she realizes his wording. she stops in her place and when matt continues walking, she rolls her eyes and catches back up to him. "you thought we were friends? we were friends."

"yeah okay," he scoffs.

aurora freezes in place again from walking and this time, with a roll of his eyes, he stops as well. "okay, what the fuck are you talking about?" she furrows her eyebrows. "we were like best friends."

matt pauses for a second, something indecipherable flashing through his eyes at her use of words, before shrugging it off and narrowing his eyes at her. "you're a shitty best friend then."

"what?" she's the one scoffing now, her face now scrunching up. "that's funny coming from you."

"me?" he exclaims. "what the fuck did i do to you?"

"on the last day of fifth grade you literally fucking-"

"oh my god, hey guys," kingston suddenly comes rushing down the hallway, matt and aurora both instantly turning to him. "i need a hiding spot so fucking-" he cuts himself off once he reaches them and notices the weird tension in the air. "shit, am i interrupting some-"

"yes!"

"no."

aurora turns to matt and frowns at his answer before turning back to kingston. "yes, you actually are. can you just-"

"no, he's not," matt interrupts her, her instantly looking back to him. "it was years ago. the shit doesn't even matter anymore."

aurora frowns. it does matter.

matt turns to kingston, glances at aurora once more, before walking towards him. "come on," he says. "i'll show you a spot."

"i wanna tell you something so bad but i can't," kingston sighs, glancing at aurora as she sits against her beds headboard staring out a window and the rain outside. "i just can't."

everyone had decided to stop playing hide and seek not that long ago and kingston and aurora are in her room chilling on her bed. aurora lit a couple candles so it's not completely dark in the room. the powers still out so everyone's just staying the night. she's not sure where everyone's sleeping but they said they'd all find somewhere so she's just letting them do that.

"okay thanks," she says sarcastically, glancing back at him. "why can't you tell me?"

"matt would probably kill me if he found out i told," he answers, shrugging once she tilts her head at him.

"i thought you said matt hated you?" she questions, pausing for a second before questioning him again. "wait, was it something matt said?"

kingston suddenly stands up off of where he was sitting on the edge of the bed. "you know what? it's probably time for me to go to find somewhere to sleep."

"kingston!" she groans, just wanting the answers.

"gotta go, bro," he laughs, literally laughs.

aurora just sighs. "fine. can you just blow the candles out before you go?"

"yeah, of course," he nods his head, walking over to the night stand on the opposite side of the bed shes on and blowing that candle out. he walks over to the door and pauses, blowing out the other candle on her desk first before glancing back at her in the now, very dark room. "see ya in the morning, sleeping beauty."

"see ya, dawg." she grins at him.

he returns to same grin before walking out and closing the door behind him.

"aurora, aurora, aurora," aurora wakes up from her sleep to her shoulder being shook repeatedly. "rory!"

she slowly opens her eyes and furrows her eyebrows at the figure standing beside her. "matt?" she questions. "what the fuck?"

"can i sleep in here?" he asks with zero hesitation.

"what?" she just sighs, far too tired to have to deal with this right now. "sleep somewhere else."

"there's literally nowhere else," he tells her seriously.

"i'm not sharing a bed with you," she says before carelessly shutting her eyes and attempting to go back to sleep.

"we've kissed before," matt suddenly responds, auroras eyes immediately opening back up. "i think we can share a bed, aurora."

"oh, are we actually addressing that happened now?" she raises her eyebrows at him despite her tiredness.

he just sighs. "please just let me sleep in here."

she goes silent for a long moment, and matt's almost sure she's fallen back asleep despite her open eyes, when she speaks. "fine," she sighs, scooting away from the side of the bed he stands on since she's kind of in the middle. "just stay over there."

"yeah, no problem." he rolls his eyes, assuming that to be very obviously easy as he climbs in the side of the bed.

so, they just lay there in the bed quietly.

auroras 99% sure they're facing each other but she's not really sure it's pitch black in the room. her eyes are also closed because she doesn't really want to find out from the brightness lightning flashes provide every couple minutes. it's completely silent between them, the only thing being heard is the quiet patter of rain against the windows and thunder every couple minutes.

aurora tries to fall back asleep but for some reason, it's extremely hard to now. matt is laying beside her and his presence makes it all the more difficult.

when at least five minutes pass and she begins to hear movement on his side, she hesitantly opens her eyes. she can't see anything until a strike of lightning flashes.

matt is facing her but he's not looking at her. he's looking at her hand. she spots the arm that's closest to her moving around, his hand patting the small area right in front of her arm as if he's searching for something. because of the lightning flash though, he finds what he's looking for.

his hand comes to grab hers as the brightness from the lightning completely disappears. auroras breath hitches and his hand trails up to her wrist. before she can even process what's happening, he suddenly pulls her right towards him.

"what are you-"

"shut up for once, rory."

she immediately opens her mouth to give a snarky response but her words die right on her tongue as she's suddenly pulled into his chest. he lets go of her hand and instead pulls the comforter that their arms were on top of right over them and up to their necks. "okay," is all she can come up with instead as one of matt's arms wrap around her waist and pull her impossibly closer to him. his other arm wraps behind her head that's resting against the pillow and instead goes around her shoulders.

aurora doesn't say anything else, she just accepts the sudden comfort and warmth and buries her head further against his chest. one of her hands come up and loosely hold onto the collar of his shirt, just to make sure he doesn't suddenly pull away and leave.

she can feel the heat of his breath as he sighs against her. "now i can fucking sleep."

💌

giggles

THIS IS MAKS CHAPTER GUYS!!!

matt and aurora arguing in one scene and cuddling in the next 😂😂

<3
jaden