ALL I DO
{ messages , irl }

xxx-xxx-xxxx
is this matthew?

xxx-xxx-xxxx
mhm
who's this

xxx-xxx-xxxx
niola
i need to ask you something

matt
oh hey silvers
what's up?

silvers <3
did you happen to take my sister's toy?
it's a light brown stuffed bear
a little larger than the size of your palm

matt
no i don't think so
why

silvers <3
it went missing while we were in the store and she's been crying nonstop since we got home

matt
oh shit
hang on i'll go ask nick and chris if they've seen it

silvers <3
okay

a few moments later ( in spongebob voice )

matt
turns out nick accidentally took it
rayne must have dropped it into his bag or smth

silvers <3
so you have it?
oh thank god

matt
yeah i'll give it back to you tomorrow at school

silvers <3
well actually
rayne won't be able to fall asleep without it
send me your address and we can come get it

matt
no
don't you dare move a muscle
i'll come give it to you

silvers <3
if you insist 🤷‍♀️

matt
send me your address and i'll be there in five mins

"shh," niola hushes, bouncing rayne on her knee as they wait for matt to arrive. it's been about four minutes and rayne hasn't stopped crying. "i know, i know. he's on his way."

as if on que, the doorbell rings. niola hardly heard it over rayne's crying, but she didn't hesitate to stand up when the noise just barely rang throughout the house. she quickly rushes over to the door and opens it.

standing in the doorway with a teddy bear clutched in his hand is matt. he's wearing plaid pajama pants with a black hoodie.

the moment she sees him, rayne runs up to matt. she nearly falls over multiple times on her way over, but that doesn't stop her from grabbing into his legs. the weird thing is that it seems like it was matt she was missing rather than the bear.

not to mention how comfortable rayne is around matt.

the thing is, rayne struggles to pronounce words correctly and it frustrates her. so over time, she completely stopped trying to talk to anyone who wasn't niola. well, until she met matt – who just intsantly understood what she was saying.

for niola, rayne is the only person in her life that has been by her side through everything. she has no friends – she never really had a desire to make any, so it doesn't bother her. her schedule is always too full with other things that she has no time to prioritize a friendship.

so she's never introduced anybody to her sister. matt is the only exception because he just happened to bump into her at the store.

"you good? you're zoned out." he asks, waving a hand in front of niola's face. the action draws her attention back to him.

she notices the way he's still standing on her porch, so she grabs him by the sleeve of his hoodie, dragging him into the house.

"yeah, i'm fine." she responds. "do you need anything while you're here? anything to drink?"

"sure." he agrees easily, slipping off his shoes before rayne ushers him farther inside.

matt looks around the house, taking in his surroundings. overall, the house is nice. it's neatly decorated and very clean. the only thing that seems out of place is how quiet it is. at his house, mary lou would have answered the door or greeted niola when she walked in. if that's not the type of thing her parents do, that's fine. but why hasn't he at least heard them walking around or something?

he walks into the kitchen, seeing niola standing at the counter as she pours him a small cup of soda. she turns to him before handing him the glass.

"where are your parents?" he asks, casually taking a sip of the liquid. he expected her to simply say that they were working or out on a date. but as soon as he asks the question, her eyes widen and her entire body goes stiff. "shit, i'm sorry. is this a sore subject? i can-"

"no, no, no." she says quickly, shaking her head. "no, it's fine."

she grabs rayne under the armpits and lifts her into the air, making the child giggle happily. matt smiles at the sight of niola in such a mundane, domestic setting.

they've known each other since they were in middle school and he's had a crush on her for years. still, they've never been to each others houses or met each other's family. mainly because niola hates him.

before he came along, she was the top of her class. she was the smartest student in the school. despite her lack of friends, niola has tons of admirers and she's decently popular due to her intelligence and beauty. and she took pride in the title due to how hard she worked for it. but then matt and his brothers transferred to her school and everything changed.

and suddenly, someone else can match her smarts. 

having competition isn't the issue. the issue is that matt doesn't even seem to even give a shit about his grades. he doesn't even study and he still gets the same scores as her. on top of that, he's a sarcastic asshole.

their entire relationship is centered around arguing and trying to one-up the other. but something about today feels out of place.

matt feels like he's seeing a different side of niola. something more laid back and calm whereas she's normally independent and doesn't care about anything except for getting goof grades and being better than matt at everything.

"my mom is at work." niola says, avoiding eye contact. she walks across the kitchen and grabs another glass from the cabinet. "she's a waitress. she works all day, and oftentimes picks up night shifts as well."

"what about your dad?" matt asks, keeping his voice soft just in case niola doesn't feel comfortable talking about this.

"he, uh," she hesitates. "he doesn't have a job."

"then why isn't he at home taking care of rayne?" matt wants to ask. but he decides against it – feeling like he's already asked enough questions about her personal life.

"i can tell what you're thinking." niola mumbles, keeping her back facing matt. "he's at the casino, gambling away all of the money my mom is working hard for."

"that's why you're so annoyed that i get the same grade as you when you work hard for it." matt says, finally putting the pieces together. "you feel like your hard work is being brushed aside like your mothers is."

out of nowhere, niola drops the cup out of her hand. it shatters as soon as it hits the ground, glass scattering across the tile floor. "shit," she mutters, gently setting rayne onto the countertop before kneeling down to the ground and picking up the shards of glass.

matt rushes over to her, holding her wrists to stop her from picking up anymore glass.

"quit it. your hands are bleeding." he tells her, examining her sliced up fingers. blood drools from her skin as matt sighs at the sight. "i thought you were smarter than this."

"i'm not going to leave the glass on the floor when rayne is too young to understand not to walk into the kitchen." niola tells him, snatching her wrists out of his grasp. she tries to pick up more glass, but matt grabs her again.

"go to the sink and fix those cuts." he demands. "i'll stay here and clean up the mess."

allegedly, she nods.

niola stands up from the floor and walks over to the sink. she rinses her hands, scrubbing all of the blood from her skin. she winces in pain as the cold water comes into contact with the open wounds.

meanwhile, matt uses a folded-up papertowel to grab the pieces. one by one, he puts the glass into the trashcan. in the corner of his eye, he's watching niola very carefully.

when it comes to rayne's safety, she suddenly doesn't think straight. there's no logic behind her decisions. the only thing on her mind is her sister's well-being. she sighs, knowing it's a good thing that matt was here to help. otherwise, she would have picked up every single shard with her bare hands, not even thinking about the pain.

the way she's growing close to him scares her. the way he seems to actually care about her is a foreign experience –  she's not used to it and the unknown is horrifying.

why did she trust him enough to leave him alone with rayne at the store? why did she feel so lenient as to let him into her home? why did she feel comfortable enough to explain her family situation to him?

"i think you should go." niola says, turning off the sink and drying her hands off. thankfully, the cuts were all thin enough that they'll only leave a small scratch so she doesn't have to bandage it or anything. "it's getting late and i need to put rayne to sleep."

matt nods, "of course. i understand."

.∘◦❀◦∘.
a/n : my oh my there's already tension 😱😱😱 anyway, how do you guys like the story so far?? i like it and i have tons of plans for the future, but your opinions are what matter
◦∘.❀.∘◦