27

irl, social media

the next day, kaia had promised willow they could go visit the triplets. nick said he would do what he could to minimize her interactions with matt.

chloe slept over at kaia's house and around noon, kaia drove herself, chloe, and willow over to see them.

she parks in the driveway next to matt's van, and unloads her little sister from her car seat and carries her to the door.

willow knocks and waits happily for someone to open the door. matt was aware they were coming over, but it slipped his mind last minute and he opened the door.

"matty!" willow leaps out of kaia's arms and matt catches her.

"hi, willy." he smiles and walks into the house with her.

kaia and chloe follow behind and walk into the living room where nick was editing and chris and nate were just drinking pepsi and playing games on their phones.

chris hears willow giggling with matt and turns his head towards the door. he sees kaia and chloe and stands up to hug them.

he gives kaia a quick hug, then squeezes chloe a little extra hard. he plants a kiss to her forehead that nobody else notices.

chloe blushes and hugs him back as they enter the living room with everyone. willow will not let go of matt, she hasn't seen him in months.

"i saw you on tv yesterday." she giggles and says to matt.

"really? what video?" he asks playfully.

"rocket stomper, duh. i thought you were smarter than that." willow rolls her eyes.

"oh, i'm so sorry. of course i should've known that." matt apologizes.

"i'll forgive you if i can have pepsi." she says.

matt looks at kaia, silently asking if she can have some.

"you can share one with him. you don't need your own." kaia laughs.

"ugh, you're just like mom." she rolls her eyes again.

"willy, you're not even 5 yet. maybe you can have your own when you're 6." she laughs.

"we have mini pepsi cans. i never drink them." chris chimes in.

"okay, you can have a mini. but you have to use a straw." kaia says.

"okay!" she jumps up off of matt and runs to the kitchen.

he chases after her and swoops her up, earning a loud laugh as she tries to escape him tickling her.

"doesn't seem so awkward anymore." nick says.

"i'm trying to ignore it." kaia responds.

"just give it more time." chloe says, chris' arm around her.

"i know." she sighs.

"how are you feeling with everything?" nate asks her.

"better, still in shock, though." kaia answers.

"i would assume so. we're gonna have so much fun for your birthday, though." nate comforts her.

"my gift for you is gonna be the best." chloe says.

"nuh uh, mine is." chris argues.

"guys, guys. obviously mine is best." nick adds.

"i don't care about gifts, i just want to spend time with you guys and meet your la friends." kaia laughs.

"you're gonna meet everyone. madi, baylen, madison, jake, johnnie, tara, cole, waylon, laura, you're gonna love everyone." nick says.

"i cannot wait to meet laura." she smiles.

"she's awesome." nick responds.

matt come back carrying willow, she has a mini pepsi in her hand with a little pink straw, and she's chugging it.

"willow! slow down." kaia warns her.

willow lets out a mini burp and everyone laughs.

"you stink." matt sets her down and sits on the couch next to nate.

willow climbs up and sits between matt and nathan.

"what do you wanna watch?" nate asks willow.

"frozen." she says.

"not ratatouille?" he asks, surprised.

"no. i'm bored of ratatouille this week." willow sighs.

"whatever you say." nate laughs, putting on frozen.

about half an hour through the movie, kaia has to go to the bathroom, but chris is in the one downstairs from all the pepsi he drank, so she goes upstairs.

she walks down the hallway towards the bathroom, but she notices her sweater she left in matt's room when she slept in there.

she opens the door fully and grabs her hoodie off the floor, but she notices the photo before she leaves.

she sets the sweater down and sits on the edge of his bed, picking up the picture.

"i thought i left it here." she says to herself.

she runs her fingers over the crinkles of the previously crumpled up picture. she looks at herself kissing matt's cheek and admires his smile.

matt had gotten frustrated arguing with nick downstairs, so he came upstairs to watch tv in his room. he walks in and sees kaia holding the picture and stops in his tracks.

"sorry, i was just getting my sweater and-" she starts, standing up off the bed.

"it's okay. sorry i took your picture. i found it on the couch and kept it." matt says.

"it's okay, i don't need it." she says, walking towards the door.

"hey, thanks for bringing willow over. i missed her." he says before she leaves.

"she's been talking about you all week." kaia smiles.

"yeah, she's sweet." matt agrees.

"i know things aren't normal yet, but i will make an effort to act better around you. it's not fair that i stay mad forever, i've been thinking about it." kaia admits.

"i just want what's best for you, i would never want to make you uncomfortable or force you to be around me." matt looks at her.

"i'm not uncomfortable, it's just awkward sometimes." she says.

"i'm really sorry about everything. i never should've yelled at you, i was thinking with my emotions and i lashed out when i shouldn't have." he says, avoiding eye contact.

"so, you don't hate me?" she asks.

"what? is that a real question?" he looks stunned.

"yeah- i mean, with me ignoring you and everything, i've been treating you like shit and i-" he cuts her off.

"i could never hate you, kaia. i don't think i'm physically able to ever have any negative feelings towards you. ever." he says.

"then what kind do you have?" she asks nervously.

"um- i don't know, i guess. what kind do you?" he hesitantly makes eye contact.

"i miss you, matt. it's killing me. but i'm fine with being just friends." she sighs.

"well, you know we could talk about that. but, you don't hate me either?" he asks.

"of course not. i just felt like i have to keep a front and pretend like it didn't hurt me." she admits.

"i've been thinking this whole time that you hate my guts." he slightly laughs.

"definitely not." she smiles.

"can i tell you something? and if it's stupid, either forget i said it, or you can just never talk to me again, that's fine." matt starts.

"i think i know what you're gonna say, but go ahead." she says nervously.

"i think i like you. i mean, i think i have. for years. but it didn't feel like i should so i never said anything." he breathes shakily.

"i always hoped you did. i keep trying to tell myself i don't like you like that because people will just call me a slut moving from guy to guy. and nobody would believe me if i had actual feelings for someone. then everything with james, and i got all confused and pushed my feelings for you even further back." kaia speaks.

"really? you mean you do have feelings for me?" he smiles.

"i think so." she nods.

"okay, we don't have to talk about it all right now, i can wait for you to be ready." he replies.

"thank you, matt." she smiles again.

he holds his arms out, gesturing for a hug.

"you don't have to." he looks at her.

she walks forward and hugs him back, her face buried deep in his chest, his arms around her as tight as he can without it hurting.

he rests his cheek on the top of her head and they both breathe out shakily.

"i miss hugging you so much." she says, eyes still closed.

"me too." he doesn't let go.

they stand there, hugging eachother like it's the last day on earth. neither one of them wants to let go, but they do when they hear someone coming upstairs.

they seperate and kaia walks down the hallway to make it look like she was leaving the bathroom. matt quickly turns on his tv and quietly closes the door.

"hey, you were gone for a while. i was just coming to check on you." chloe says to kaia.

"sorry, got distracted on my phone." the girls walk downstairs together.

"kaia!" willow runs to her sister.

kaia picks her up and gives her a big hug.

"where were you?" she asks as kaia carries her to the living room, chloe close behind.

"i had to pee, willow." she laughs.

"did you wash your hands? with soap?" willow asks with a hint of sass in her voice.

"of course." kaia rolls her eyes.

they sit down and finish watching frozen. willow keeps requesting new movies, they eat dinner there and stay until about 8pm before kaia's mom wants willow home for bed.

kaia and willow hug everyone goodbye, except kaia doesn't want to hug matt infront of everyone. they pack up and leave, driving home listening to music.

______________________________________

matthewsturniolo posted

●○○○○

○●○○○

○○●○○

○○○●○

○○○○●

liked by nathandoe, chrissturniolo, kaiawright, chloe.warner, nicolassturniolo, 674,349 others

matthewsturniolo good week 😊👍

comments

nicolassturniolo we probably got suspended how is this a good week>matthewsturniolo no school

chloe.warner not one appearance>matthewsturniolo sorry i didn't take any w you in it>chloe.warner oh but you can post a pic i took w kaia in it but not one w me>nicolassturniolo this is real beef

chrissturniolo awwww willy the cutest>matthewsturniolo she like me more 🖕🖕🖕>chrissturniolo nuh uh>matthewsturniolo whos she hugging in the pic?>chrissturniolo 4+4 i fear 😔

kaiawright to leave the warmest bed ive ever knownnnn>matthewsturniolo we could call it even 🎵🎵🎵>chloe.warner wtfff?????

nathandoe once again, not included>chloe.warner i feel you

user i mustve lost my ever loving mind if im seeing this correct

user im in such shock i cant even overreact>nicolassturniolo HOW DO YOU THINK WE FEEL>chloe.warner right??? i wasnt even warned

user MATT AND KAIA IN THE SAME ROOM THEY MADE UP>user MORE IMPORTANTLY MATT AND KAIA INTERRACTING DIRECTLY

user im like so baffled rn i knew it

user fuck james' bitch ass we have matt back______________________________________

the rest of the week leading up to the trip went well, nothing crazy between matt and kaia, just small interactions. they haven't spoken a word about the conversation they had or the hug.

they also didn't tell anyone about it, if this was gonna go anywhere, it had to be private.

friday morning, everyone slept at the triplets house. kaia said goodbye to willow and her mom the night before, and she stayed the night with chloe.

chloe slept in chris' room "as bros", kaia slept in nick's, and nathan in matt's. marylou made them all breakfast before they called an uber xl to take everyone to the airport.

the flight went well, they landed in lax and had a taxi take them to the triplet's la house. they've been in boston the past few months to finish school.

1904 words