85

irl, messages

anne drops chloe off at home because she has school in the morning, but kaia doesn't.

because kaia stopped attending in person school to avoid matt, she was doing perfectly fine to graduate from home.

obviously, kaia is now going to be attending the graduation ceremony next week with matt, but she doesn't need to attend in person anymore, she's already earned all her credits.

once they're home from dropping off chloe, kaia takes her dress up to her room and hangs it on the back of her closet door and sends pictures of it to matt.

kaia showers and changes into pyjama pants and one of matt's hoodies that she snuck home, putting her hair up in a ponytail as she enters the kitchen to look for a snack.

she decides on making a burrito with some leftover grilled chicken from the other night and a quick pot of rice.

she wraps up all the toppings in a tortilla and makes her way to the living room to watch a movie, her mom joins her on the couch a few minutes later.

kaia is looking forward to seeing willow tomorrow as it'll be friday, so she decides to watch ratatouille so she feels like willow is with her.

she eats her burrito and sets the empty plate on the coffee table, bundling up under the blanket as she settles to watch the rest of the movie.

kaia notices her phone light up, she grabs it and opens the message from matt.

______________________________________

my love ❤kaiiiwhat are you up to rn?

kai 💋i just made a bomb ass burrito and now i'm watching ratatouille with my mom bc i cant wait to see willow tmrw

my love ❤ooohhh can i join u guysi'll bring you both drinks from 711

kai 💋my mom says absolutely yesshe wants sprite i want diet coke 🙏

my love ❤sounds like a plani will be over in 20 im just helping chris clean his room

kai 💋ugh its awful right

my love ❤its mostly clothes he just threw everywhere but yeah its a lot

kai 💋ok well i'll see u when ur donelove youu

my love ❤love you mostread at 11:49pm

______________________________________

kaia shuts off her phone and returns to watching the movie, resting her head on her mom's shoulder.

she loses track of time and right as there's a scene where anton ego pops onto the screen, matt knocks on the front door at the exact same time, making kaia jump and briefly scream.

matt walks in the door and sees kaia with a hand on her chest facing the front door and he laughs, realizing he startled her.

"a ratatouille jumpscare? really?" he laughs, kicking off his shoes and walking over to the couch.

"you scared the shit out of me." kaia breathes heavily.

"language." anne warns her.

"sorry." kaia rolls her eyes, scootching over to the middle of the couch so matt can sit on the end next to her, anne on her other side.

matt hands anne her drink first, a big-gulp of sprite. she accepts politely and thanks him for the drink as matt hands kaia her diet coke and tosses an arm around her.

"how was your day, matt?" anne asks him, sipping her drink.

"it was pretty good, we just filmed the car video for tomorrow then i helped chris clean up his room. nick is editing the video right now." matt answers with a smile.

"that's good." anne nods her head, everyone turning their heads back to the movie.

"when are you guys getting your suits for prom? kaia asks matt.

"hopefully 2 or 3 days beforehand, we're just renting them." he answers.

"that's probably way cheaper than buying the whole thing." anne looks at him.

"oh, it is. my mom told us not to waste money on buying it if we're never gonna wear it again, anyway." matt nods.

"smart woman." anne laughs.

by the time there's about half an hour left in the movie, anne announces to matt and kaia that she's tired and gonna go to bed.

they both hug her goodnight and she tells matt he's more than welcome to sleepover and he thanks her as she heads upstairs, leaving them to finish the movie without her.

"i think you actually like this movie, not just because willow does." matt nudges kaia as she sips her drink again.

"maybe i do." she shrugs, smiling and avoiding eye contact.

he presses a kiss to the side of her face and she leans her body weight into him under the blanket.

"do you have any plans for grad night? i heard that zeke is throwing an after party, but i'm very skeptical given his last party." kaia laughs, turning to face matt.

"as long as james isn't going, i'm fine with it. if he is, we can just stay home and order food." he answers.

"yeah, i'm absolutely never going to a party with him ever again. that ruined so much shit for everyone." kaia nods in agreement.

"i'm pretty sure things with zeke and nick are going pretty well, nick won't stop talking about him at home." matt adds.

"that's good, he'll have a prom date." kaia smiles.

"i have a question." matt starts.

"anything." she nods.

"what if we go to the grad party and james does show up? like, what if you get spooked about everything again? i wouldn't be able to handle a repeat of last time." matt asks with genuine concern in his voice.

"first of all, zeke completely cut out james, so i highly doubt he would be there. secondly, we've had the conversation now and we've both experienced how much worse our lives are without eachother, there's nothing in this world that could ever make me leave you ever again. i wasn't thinking clearly last time, and you make me feel so much better about things so i don't have to feel guilty for the past any more." kaia looks at him seriously.

"are you sure there's nothing at all that's still bothering you? like, absolutely anything?" he sighs slightly.

"matt, i don't think i'd be able to hide anything from you since the other night after the grocery store, i told you everything and i promise that there's nothing else. you made me feel so much better about everything i used to worry about." kaia reassures him.

"okay, that's good. i just wanted to make sure." he nods.

"i love you." she kisses him on the lips.

"i love you more." he smiles, kissing her back.

they continue watching the movie and kaia ends up falling asleep in matt's arms by the time it's over.

he carefully picks her up, and carries her upstairs so she doesn't wake up. he sets her down in bed and climbs in next to her, covering them both in her big blanket.

he kisses her forehead goodnight and sleeps with his arms around her and he eventually also falls asleep to the sound of her fan in the background.

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