NEIGHBORS ➢ C. STURNIOLO

12. somerville, massachusetts

Eventually, she fell asleep shortly after she had her dramatic moment of wanting to leave (her own words, by the way), and the plane was now less than a thousand feet in the air. She woke up and realized she had done nothing to get ready despite having everything she needed to look presentable.

So, upon realizing this, Elena had decided that the brothers would be the ones to grab her luggage off the conveyor belt while she did some makeup in the airport bathroom. Was this necessary? Of course not, but she couldn't help but feel embarrassed that the boys' parents would be welcoming her into their home and she didn't even have the decency to look presentable!

The triplets were obviously annoyed, more Chris than anyone just because old habits do die hard, but they agreed nonetheless. Seven minutes later, Elena was pleased with how she looked and took out her plane braids and twirled it into a bun that sat at the nape of her neck.

Pushing through the door, she sees the brothers off to the side, all of their items surrounding them, and Elena spots her hard white plastic baggage with bright red hearts and now she knows that Chris actually fulfilled a request she made.

Nick sees her as he glances up from his phone and tucks his phone into the pockets of his sweatpants as Elena nears them, "you ready?"

"Mhm."

"Great, Mary Lou and Jimmy are out there somewhere, I'll call them when we exit."

Nick does as he says and a mini van rounds the corner and parks a few feet away from the automatic doors, giving way to the others behind them.

The first one out of the car was their mother, opening the door and hopping out of the passenger's seat to hug her boys. The three boys are standing close together and they all group hug their mother. At the sight of this, Elena's heart warms and she pouts, overcome with emotion. She looks away and sees their dad get out of the driver's side of the car, who was heading over to where his family was huddled. He hugs his boys individually and Matt speaks up, "mom, dad, this is Elena!"

She waves shyly and both parents pull her into a hug and she couldn't help but widen her eyes out of surprise. She loves the affection, but she'd be lying if she said she was used to it. Without hesitation, she hugs both of them with a smile, "hi! Thank you so much for letting me stay in your guys' home, I really do apologize for intruding! Especially during the holidays, I'm so sorry. But these boys," she moves her gaze from the adults and to her friends, "wouldn't take no for an answer!"

Mary Lou laughs at this, "I'm glad they didn't take no for an answer! As a mother, I can't imagine a child having to spend the holidays alone. Nick, can you help your dad load the stuff in the trunk?" She grabs Elena's elbow gently, "c'mon, we'll head home and you can get all cleaned up and you can tell us how you guys got so close! This isn't the first time we've heard about you, I've wanted to meet you since Nick told me he has a friend to take care of him and his brothers in LA."

Again, Elena is overcome with emotion and does nothing but nod, not sure what the right words to say are.

The car ride was filled with the boys' parents asking about upcoming projects that they knew about, how life was in LA, if there's anything new and progressive in their love lives (as caring parents would ask), and their sons were more than happy to give them insight into everything they asked for.

Elena was sat in the back with Matt, who kept a hand on her knee during the ride back to their house. She was thankful for this, it was like Matt could sense some discomfort from Elena's side. Soon enough, they arrived at the house her friends grew up in. Nick gets out and helps the two in the back get out of the car.

Once done, he grabs Elena's attention, "hey, come in– I'll show you where you're staying– spoiler alert, you're staying with me." Nick senses her hesitation, "come, woman. Chris has got it," and he's dragging her behind him.