34

irl

"kaiaaa, wake up." chloe shakes her.

matt squeezes her hand in an attempt to wake her up.

"kai, wake up." matt gently tugs her arm.

"you guys are back on kai basis?" nick whispers.

matt shrugs and nods. he pats the side of her face and she slowly opens her eyes, not realizing she fell asleep.

"hmm?" she groans.

"wanna go to the corner store? we want snacks." matt speaks.

"give me 5 minutes." she whines, rolling over on the couch.

"we're gonna wait in the car, and if you're not out in 5 minutes, we're leaving without you." chloe says.

"alright, alright." kaia sits up, rubbing her eyes.

nick, chris, nathan, and chloe all go out to wait in the car while matt takes a little extra time to tie his shoes.

"you want the front seat?" matt asks, watching her pull her hair up into a messy ponytail.

"yes, chris always farts in the back." kaia complains.

matt finishes tying his shoes and he offers a hand to help her stand up from the couch after her nap.

she accepts, holding onto his hand for balance and walking to the door to slide on her lightning mcqueen crocs.

"you look pretty even in a sweatsuit." matt smiles before she grabs her purse.

"and you look pretty even without a haircut." she replies.

"what? that's rude!" he laughs.

"you insulted me first!" she defends.

"i was complimenting you! i literally said you look pretty." he crosses his arms and stares down at her.

"it was a back handed compliment." she glares at him.

"nuh uh. i meant that you always look beautiful and you don't even have to try." he rolls his eyes.

"thank you, but i try very hard." she mocks him.

he smiles, scanning her outfit, hair, and fake angry face.

"okay, not right now. but don't look at me." she breaks eye contact.

"i love looking at you." he grabs her by the face with both hands, pulling her into a deep kiss before suddenly breaking away to open the door and walk outside.

"matthew!" she flails her arms up in defeat, following him out to the car.

nick already got aux and is making everyone listen to happier than ever, one of the best albums of all time.

kaia sits in the passenger's seat and matt starts the car, backing out of the driveway and heading to the closest corner store.

once they arrive, everyone gets out of the car and matt locks the doors with his key fob.

the group walks in and matt tosses an arm over kaia's shoulders while they walk up and down the isles looking for what they want.

matt and kaia stop in the candy section and look at all the options. matt decides to get oreos a few sections down, and kaia chooses sour strips. chris, nick, and nathan all opt for different bags of chips, and chloe grabs sour peaches.

chris and nathan both grab a king size pepsi, nick gets dr pepper, chloe chooses arizona, matt gets rootbeer, and kaia gets a large sugar free redbull.

matt and kaia pay first, and head to the car to wait for everyone. chloe really had to pee, so she had chris hold her things while she was in the bathroom.

some teenagers walked into the store while nick, chris, and nate were paying, and they all had let's trip merch on.

"oh my gosh, can we get a picture with you guys?" one of the girls asks.

"of course." chris smiles in response.

nick, nathan, and chris all huddle together and take a picture with the group of girls.

"where's matt?" one of them asks.

nick refrains from rolling his eyes and being passive aggressive, and he manages to answer calmly.

"he's in the car, he's not feeling good today, though. he hasn't taken pictures with anyone." nick answers.

"oh, okay, no worries. it's really good to meet you guys." she answers sweetly.

"especially you, nate." a brunette girl says.

chris pats nate on the back and smiles as the group of girls pay for their things and leave.

matt and kaia are still sitting in the car, listening to music, and waiting. kaia has aux and is humming her music while matt plays pokémon.

once, i took your medication to know what it's like. and now i have to act like i can't read your mind. i ask you how you're doing and i let you lie. we don't have to talk about it. i can walk you home and practice method acting. i'll pretend being with you doesn't feel like drowning. telling you it's nice to see how good you're doing, even though we know it isn't true.

"yes!" matt shouts, startling kaia.

"what? what's going on?" she asks.

"i caught a shiny mew." he smiles happily.

"you scared me." she laughs.

"sorry." he apologizes, looking at her.

she was catching her breath from the jumpscare and looking at her lap.

"i meant what i said earlier." he starts.

"what?" she tries to remember what he's talking about.

"that you always look beautiful." he nods.

"thank you, but i-" he cuts her off.

"no, really. like, i don't think there's been one time that i've looked at you and not been in awe. my jaw has literally dropped on occasion." he continues.

"you're funny." she laughs and tucks hair behind her ear, grabbing her phone from her pocket.

"i'm not joking." he leans in closer to show her his full attention.

she looks at him, and shuts off her phone. she leans in and starts to close her eyes when he wipes the smudged lipgloss off the corner of her lips.

"whoops." she laughs.

he holds her face in one hand and presses his lips to hers, leaning over the center console to be above her.

she sinks into the seat beneath her, basking in the kiss and smiling at the touch of his soft skin.

he trails the kiss down the side of her face to her neck, and gently sprinkles kisses around the area. she closes her eyes in euphoria, suddenly hearing a noise outside and opening them.

"matt." she tries to stop him, but he's buried in her neck and barely hears her.

she taps his shoulder and he reluctantly pulls away, he sees a group of girls in their merch emerge from the store and run the opposite direction.

"oh, please. it was nothing." he smiles, fixing her hair again.

"look, there they all are." kaia points to the door of the corner store.

he quickly pecks one last kiss to her lips which she graciously returns before adjusting themselves back in their seats, nick, chris, chloe, and nathan all climbing in the car.

"ready?" matt clears his throat, turning the key in the ignition.

"yup." chris answers from the back row, his arm around chloe.

"good." he nods, beginning to drive away.

kaia resumes her playlist and rolls her window down to enjoy the breeze on the ride home. chloe and nick sing the music with her while matt just enjoys the sight of kaia leaning her head out the window and quietly singing the words to the song.

your integrity makes me seem small, you paint dreamscapes on the wall. i talk shit with my friends, it's like i'm wasting your honor. and you know that i'd swing with you for the fences, sit with you in the trenches. give you my wild, give you a child. give you the silence that only comes when two people understand each other. family that i chose, now that i see your brother as my brother. is it enough?

1287 words