🍓🍓🍓

୨⎯ "𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒙 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆" ⎯୧
⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : check yes juliet - we the kings
ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ : ▮▮▮▮▮▮▯▯▯

Just sneak out
And don't tell a soul goodbye
Check yes Juliet
Here's the countdown
Three, two, one, now fall in my arms
Now they can change the locks
Don't let them change your mind

𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. . .

Gemma nervously bites the inside of her cheek as her thoughts are consumed with nothing but Matt being here with her. She contemplates even sending the text. She doesn't want to look desperate because they'll be seeing eachother in less than a week, but she can't shake the thoughts out of her head.

She bites her tongue and types her message, sending it before she can think too hard about it.

ⁱᴹᵉˢˢᵃᵍᵉ !

gemma evans
how serious were you abt buying a plane ticket?

matthew sturniolo
I wasn't serious at all

matthew sturniolo
Why?

gemma evans
well

gemma evans
i'm serious

gemma evans
come to new york, i'll fly you out first thing tmrw morning

matthew sturniolo
Wait

matthew sturniolo
Seriously?

gemma evans
dead serious

Gemma stared at her phone in anticipation as the typing bubble disappeared and reappeared as Matt typed his response, anxiety and anticipation bubbling in her gut.

matthew sturniolo
Give me 5 mins

She looked at her phone in immense confusion but messaged him back anyway

gemma evans
okay
read

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

Matt huffed and opened the door to the bathroom whilst throwing a towel over his head, making his way downstairs to where he knew his mum was sitting in the living room. He was joking around initially but now as he comes up with something to say to his parents.

MaryLou is sat on the couch with her iPad in hand when Matt walks in and stops in front of her, fiddling with his phone in his hands. She notices him and places her iPad down on her lap, looking at him expectantly.

He throws all caution to the wind and just asks "Can I go to New York?"

A confused look crosses her face and the use of I and not we "You? as in just you? why?"

Matt goes to open his mouth when Nick decides to enter the room excitedly looking at his phone as he comes to stand next to his brother, a hand hastily finding a shoulder to lean on.

"Matt have you seen this video of Gemma? It's so fucking funny"

Matt shuts his mouth and looks back to his mum who is now curiously looking at two of her sons. Matt casts his eyes to Nick's phone screen and sees a video of Gemma talking to the camera before being his in the face with a snowball and falling flat on her ass. He cracks a smile as Nick turns his phone and shows MaryLou.

She's got a small smile on her face as the video runs through fully and begins to laugh out loud when Gem falls over "Was that snow?"

"Oh yeah, she's with her family for the holidays" Nick says whilst looking back briefly at his phone, typing out a reply.

MaryLou hums "Where does her family live?"

Matt closes his eyes in anticipation as Nick answers.

"New York City"

He says it so simply, so cluelessly that Matt can't help but run his hand down his face, not daring to look at his mother as she connects the dots.

He opens his eyes in time to see her eyes snap towards him over Nick's shoulder. Nick is still none the wiser to his mum and brother's half assed staring contest happening right in front of him as he continues to talk and then decide that he has something better to do than stand around and talk his family's ears off.

Matt has never wished that Nick would just continue talking more in his entire life. It wasn't the fact that he was afraid that his mum would say no, he's an adult and he earns his own money, it's more the fact that Chris and Nick don't know.

"So... When would you leave?"

Matt rocks on his feet "Tomorrow morning, hopefully"

MaryLou's eyebrows raise at the late notice and tilts her head "And this conversation came up when?"

He purses his lips "Like, 5 minutes ago"

Her eyebrows fall and her mouth presses into a line "Matthew"

He cringes at the use of his full name and rings his eyes shut briefly, blowing air out of his nose and then opening his eyes again to face his mum "I know, I know but you don't even have to take me to the airport! I'll just order an uber"

Matt faces his mother's silence and watches as she really thinks about her answer. He wasn't expecting her to say yes straight off the bat, but the sight of her really thinking about it settles his nerves a bit.

"Okay"

"Okay?"

She shrugs "You're 19, if you want to go see your girlfriend for the holidays there's not much I can do to stop you"

Matt opens his mouth to protest and then closes it, choosing to avoid further questions and instead just nod and grip her shoulders so he can pull her into a tight hug "Thank you."

He pulls away quickly and makes his way back upstairs, not noticing Nick standing in his room with the door open.

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

Gemma scrolls her youtube homepage to avoid biting her nails. Matt still hasn't said anything and she's beginning to get really nervous every minute that he leaves her on read. She scrolls and finds a video she likes, a makeup artist that does her makeup and talks about true crime cases.

She gets about two minutes into the video when the notification drops onto her screen and her heart stops

iMessage
matthew sturniolo
Okay I'll come to New York

Her mouth drops and she presses the notification so fast she almost drops her phone

gemma evans
actually?

matthew sturniolo
Actually

matthew sturniolo
Sorry had to check w Marylou 😌

gemma evans
i <3 her

gemma evans
ok hold on i'll look up tickets now

matthew sturniolo
You don't have to actually buy my ticket I'll get it

gemma evans
no i'm the one asking you to come out sooo

gemma evans
it can be ur christmas present 😌😌

matthew sturniolo
Gem

gemma evans
i'm looking up tickets now!

gemma evans
my card is in my hand btw

matthew sturniolo
😐

gemma evans
anywho

gemma evans
how do u feel abt early morning flights

matthew sturniolo
Just pick whatever you want

gemma evans
fr??

gemma evans
weird way to tell me ur in love with me but okay

matthew sturniolo
😐

gemma evans
i love how you never deny that <3

gemma evans
ur flight is 7 am 😁😁😁

matthew sturniolo
Gemma...

gemma evans
you gave me permission!!!

gemma evans
now go pack and get a gr8 night sleep 😁😁😁 can't wait to see you 😘😘😘

matthew sturniolo
can't wait to see you too 😘😘😘

gemma evans
why'd you use those emojis

matthew sturniolo
you just?????

matthew sturniolo
i'm gonna go pack.

gemma evans
not the period

gemma evans
but k bye 😘😘🤞🏼🤞🏼💜😁😀😌

matthew sturniolo
pls

Gemma smiles pathetically before she realises that her parents actually don't know that by tomorrow night they'll have a guest. Her face drops and she throws back her covers and pushes herself out of bed before sliding on the hardwood floor and straight into the living room, coming to a fast stop as she uses the wall to brace herself.

Both her parents look at her blankly before her dad quirks a brow "What are you doing"

Gemma's smile is slightly nervous and she crinkles her nose choosing to just rip off the band-aid "oksomattiscomingtomorrowandIknowIdidnttellyoubutyousaiditwasokayandhismumsaysit'sfinesoit'sfine"

Her mother's face scrunches up "All I got out of that sentence was Matt and his mum?"

"Matt is coming here. Tomorrow. And I know I didn't tell you but you said it was okay and MaryLou was fine with it so...?"

The two adults look at eachother and then back to their daughter, her dad smirking "So we get to meet Matt?"

Gemma nods once.

He raises his brow "And he's staying here?"

Gemma nods again.

"As long as the door stays open I don't really care"

Gemma burns scarlett and puts both hands over her face as both her parents erupt with laughter. The embarrassing joke would be funny if she wasn't on the receiving end of it and if her dad could actually keep a proper straight face as he says it.

She waves them off and begins to make her way back to her room as laughter continues to echo through their house, her mum egging on her father even more when they think she's completely out of ear shot.

Her door clicks shut softly and she watches small rainbows dance around her room as the setting sun reflects through a sun-catcher hanging in front of her window. She grins and sits back on her bed, continuing the video she was watching as butterflies flood her stomach.

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

Matt pulls out his duffel bag from under his bed and carelessly throws it on his bed before walking to his wardrobe and beginning to pull out clothes. He's two sweaters and three pairs of pants deep in his packing when both Nick and Chris walk into his room unannounced.

All three boys stop what they're doing, with Matt half in his wardrobe, Nick practically standing in the middle of the room and Chris with his hand still on the door knob and one foot past the threshold. Matt doesn't dare move as Nick and Chris look to him and then the bag on his bed.

If there's one thing Nick can do, it's state the obvious.

"You're packing"

Matt and Chris look at eachother, an almost identical expression present on both of their faces.

"Yes Nick, I am" Matt says as he grabs two shirts and folds them on his bed, choosing to just act as if he isn't kind of freaking out right now.

Chris swings the door fully open and sits down on the end of Matt's bed so he doesn't disturb him "Where are we going?"

Nick cuts in before Matt even has the chance to answer "We're not going anywhere"

Chris looks to Nick and Matt and shrugs as if to say that Matt going anywhere without the two of them is a little bit unbelievable. It wouldn't be absurd necessarily, but the three of them live almost identical lives, they're together always. Wherever one goes the other two follow.

Not this time though.

Matt goes back into his wardrobe and then back to his open duffel, placing his folded up clothes into it whilst mentally checking off what he needs "I'm flying to New York"

Chris flops his hands out in front of him, his eyebrows drop and his mouth screws up at the corner "Why the fuck are you going to New York? And why are- oh my god you're going to see Gemma"

Matt ignores Chris as best he can and continues what he's doing as his brothers look to eachother in shock. This isn't what he wanted out of this. He loves his brothers, they're his best friends and he tells them everything. But this, this, is just his. He likes it like that. Likes the fact that he has something that is seperate from his brothers, likes that his relationship with Gemma isn't something that's his in the sense of MattNickAndChris but just. Matt.

He turns around and faces them anyway, practically already giving an explanation "Yes I'm going to see her, no we aren't dating, yes it's been going on for months, yes we were going to tell you eventually"

Nick places one hand on his hip as the other clutches his phone "Okay... and you didn't tell us because?"

Matt scratches his shoulder "I guess we just liked the extra privacy? It wasn't a personal thing at all, the girls don't know either but after all that shit with Finn we just wanted to sort eachother out without other people knowing"

Chris quirks his brow "You tell us everything"

Matt rolls his eyes "Yeah okay, acting as if you and Josie weren't doing the exact same thing"

Chris' mouth drops and he swiftly turns his attention to Nick "Have you got any secret relationships we should know about?"

Nick shakes his head "No fucking way, that's only you two"

Matt shakes his head and Chris leans back on his hands, placing one of Matt's shirts in his bag. Nick rolls Matt's desk chair out from behind his desk and sits on it, propping his feet up on the bed and just watching Matt go back and forth until he zips up the duffel.

"When are you going?"

"My flight is at 7"

Chris raises his eyebrows "Tomorrow morning?"

Matt looks to him and nods simply "We're gonna fly back to LA together on New Years"

"What about a car video? and the vlog?" Nick asks from his spot on the chair

Chris nods in agreement and Matt purses his lips "We've got one to put up for this week and we'll be back before we have to post the next one"

"And the vlog?"

Matt shrugs "We'll have time to film when I get to LA. I've thought about this and I wouldn't be going if I thought we wouldn't be able to do our job"

It's Nick's turn to shrug "You've thought about it even though it's a last minute trip?"

Matt licks his lips in annoyance "We were joking about it last week and I thought about it then"

"Wait what do you mean you guys were joking about it? When?" Chris says as he sits up straight and hands Matt his backpack that's leaning on the end of his bed.

"When that article came out and I messaged her about it, I joked about her coming here and then she was like 'More like you come to New York'" Matt flails his hands as he mocks Gem and Nick and Chris smile "Then she was kind of like, asking me if I was serious and then asked me if I would come anyway"

Chris hums "So this was completely impulsive?"

"Yeah pretty much"

"And her parents?"

Matt shrugs again "It was their idea at first, her dad told her that if I wanted I could go and stay with them for a few days after Christmas"

Nick raises his brows and smiles enthusiastically "Okayyy Matt!" His words drag out loudly and Matt resists the urge to smile as his brothers hype him up. In all honesty, he was excited about the fact that it was her father that had offered and considering how much he means to Gemma, Matt knows that she felt the exact same.

Nick's feet are still propped up on Matt's bed when he swats them off "Okay let me pack you two are distracting me"

Chris rolls his eyes and stands, walking behind the rolling chair and pulling Nick towards the door. Nick, who wasn't anticipating the action, flails in retaliation as his feet drop off Matt's bed and onto the floor, dragging him down as Chris pulls him towards the door more. He pushes himself up completely and his socked feet slide along Matt's floor as he falls on his ass, Chris letting go of the chair completely and running out of Matt's room.

Nick gets up off the floor as Chris' infectious laugh echos through the house and he pushes the chair out of the way to chase his brother. Matt watches the whole thing unfold before turning back to his bag and seeing his phone light up on his pillow. The messages makes him smile.

iMessage
gemma evans
we should get breakfast tmrw after I pick you up from the airport

iMessage
gemma evans
also mason is rlly excited to meet you

iMessage
gemma evans
k i've gotta have a shower i'll talk to you after 🥸🥸

💌
MEMMA IN NEW YORK !! MEMMA IN NEW YORK !! MEMMA IN NEW YORK !!

this chapter was so cute #slay also chris and nick now know 🫣🫣

MaryLou coming through 🤞🏼🤞🏼 I also wasn't going to give Gemma's parent's names but I have to bc they're gonna be in these next few chapters so their names will be debuting omg

ok i love u lots thank you for reading <333