ALL I DO.
{ irl }

a/n : double update because i feel horrible for forgetting to upload

"dad?" niola says, timidly fumbling with her fingers as she approaches her father. he's sitting at the desk placed in the corner of the hotel room. at the sound of her voice, he looks up. "can i ask you something?"

"of course you can," he tells her with a smile. "don't act so shy about it, dear."

niola bites the inside of her cheek until it begins to hurt. then she bites on the other cheek, trying to work up the courage to ask about the beach.

"would you mind if i went with a few friends and we hung out at the beach?" she asks, biting down on her cheek even harder as she speaks.

"depends." her father replies bitterly, looking back down at the paper he's writing. "are these friends the ones i met at your ex-boyfriend's house? if so, no."

she clenches her jaw shut, keeping herself from cussing him out. "no. they're different friends."

"what friends?" he asks, still writing. "i want their names."

"lucas," she lists, trying to think of fake names. "ella, jamie, and maddison."

her father puts his pen down and folds up the paper, still not looking at niola. he opens the drawer of the desk and slides the paper inside. "yes. you can go to the beach, niola. i don't know why you were so afraid to ask me for permission. as long as you're done with those triplets? i don't mind."

she gives him a smile, "thank you. jamie will pick me up at noon tomorrow."

"what? no." he asks. "no, tell jamie not to bother. i want to drop you off. that way, i can meet these new friends of yours and make sure you're hanging around the right crowd."

niola's heart sinks, but she knows better than to argue. if she does, he'll know something is wrong.

he stands up from the desk, leaving the chair out in the middle of the room. he then walks over to his bed and flops down onto the mattress, his shoes still on his feet as he pulls the blanket over his body.

"i'm going down to the lobby to grab some more bath towels," niola tells him before exiting their room and walking down the hall. she passes two small children who are running up and down the narrow walkway. they nearly run into her, but they don't seem to care.

while waiting for the elevator to open, she pulls out her phone and calls matt. she places the phone between her shoulder and her ear as the doors slide open.

matt picks up almost immediately.

a couple exits the elevator as she walks in. there's still one middle-aged woman standing in the far corner, texting on her phone. niola decides the woman won't be an issue, so she begins to explain to matt what happened.

"so he wants to meet a group of fake people?" matt repeats, still in shock of the news.

"yeahh," she agrees. "i don't know what the fuck i'm supposed to do, though. jamie, ella, and maddison don't exist."

"no, but lucas does." matt says, sounding like he's putting together a plan.

"what are you trying to say?" niola asks.

the elevator doors open at floor 4 and the older woman exits the space. while the door is still open, a family of five walks in. the three kids are shouting and horse playing so loudly that niola can't hear matt's voice.

"i'm sorry, matt," she apologizes, cupping her hand over the speaker. "i can't hear you, can you reexplain that in a few minutes?"

matt's voice comes through the phone quietly, but niola thinks that she heard him say yes.

a few moments later, the doors open at the bottom floor – where niola needs to get off. she begins to walk toward the doors, but the kids rush out before her, knocking the phone out of her hand.

she crouches down to grab her phone, but the mom of the kids accidentally kicks it a few feet farther away. by the time niola has retrieved her phone, the doors have closed again.

"shit." she curses under her breath, now alone. the elevator begins traveling upward, heading toward the next people.

"what was that?" matt asks. "i just heard a bunch of crackling, are you alright?"

"i'm fine, i just dropped my phone and missed my floor." she explains. "what did you say your plan was?"

"oh!" he remembers. "nick said that lucas is bringing some of his friends, right? why don't we just have them pretend to be ella, jamie, and maddison? i'm sure your dad's never met them before."

"that's smart," niola says. "but wouldn't it be weird to ask them to do that?"

"no, i'm sure it'll be fine." matt tells her.

the doors open again and an elderly woman walks into the elevator, hardly able to take two steps without pausing to catch her breath. behind her, her husband is walking even slower.

"yeah," niola says to matt, "but i'm still nervous about it all. what if he finds out?"

"finds out what?" the elderly woman asks. "sorry for bein' nosey, darlin'. i couldn't help but overhear your conversation."

"uh-" niola begins to say, but the woman interrupts her.

"if you're on the telie with your side piece, i've got some tips on how to hide that you're cheatin'." the old woman winks.

"no, i'm not cheating on anyone." niola says.

"i pushed him down the stairs," the old lady says, pointing at her husband who smiles as if he can't hear or see anything. "i wanted to just make him go deaf, so he needs my help and can't leave me. but he went blind too."

niola has to keep herself from gasping audibly. through the phone, matt bursts out laughing. his laughter can be heard through the elevator and the woman clearly is offended.

"tell your side hoe to shut the fuck up before i make him go blind too." with that, the doors open and niola is finally able to exit the elevator without any further distractions.

the doors close behind her as she enters the lobby, matt laughing through the phone – which is still being held up to her ear.

"matthew." niola says harshly into the speaker. "that woman nearly murdered me because you were laughing!"

"that's one feisty ass old lady." he says between laughs.

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a/n : ik u guys prob don't care BUT I JUST REDID MY HOMESCREEN AND I WANNA SHOW IT OFF

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