GOOGLE TRANSLATE! ( polibio. )

FOURTY-ONE!

LIFE!

MONROE ROLLED OVER ON THE FLOOR, a smile taking over her face when her mom finally answered her facetime and beamed at her daughter. "Hi Mama! I miss you so much," Monroe greeted, knowing that there was no possible way her mom didn't hear the blaring music downstairs but her mom trusted her to make good decisions.

"I miss you too, Baby," her mom moved the camera to show her dad who was involved in the book on his lap, looking up only to see the sight of his daughter and he instantly tossed it to the side. "Roe!" He shouted, climbing over her mom to grab the phone as Monroe laughed loudly. She missed her parents more than anything, counting down the days until she could curl into a ball on her moms bed and talk about her day.

The door swung open as she was mid conversation with her dad and she looked up at Mattia, another large smile taking over her face. "Guys, I want you to meet somebody," she whispered, turning the camera as Mattia froze. He waved shyly and walked up to her, sitting on the ground besides her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"This is Mattia Polibio, he's a super important person to me right now," she admitted, blushing when she saw Mattia smile into the camera. Her mom was ecstatic, bombarding Mattia with questions as his awkwardness instantly subsided and he felt completely at ease with the two of them. He had just started arguing with her dad when Alejandro threw open the door and stumbled in, glaring at the two of them.

Mattia held a finger up to his lips as Monroe quickly began to say goodbye, kissing the screen before she hung up the call.

"What the hell are you guys doing up here?" Alejandro slurred, glaring at them before he realized that they were probably trying to hook up and held up his hands. "Oh my god, I didn't mean to cock block," he whispered in horror, disappearing yet again as Monroe snickered quietly and leaned into Mattia's chest.

"We should go downstairs," she made a move to stand up but Mattia tugged her back down and pulled out a small box from his hoodie pocket, handing it out to her. She looked the box in confusion and then back to his face, not understanding what he was trying to do.

"I got you this for Christmas even though you weren't talking to me," he admitted and nodded for her to open it, watching as she complied. She pulled out the silver chain and instantly felt her eyes begin to well up as she caught sight of the "M" charm that sat at the bottom. She pulled it out of the box and held it in his hand before looking back up at him.

He held his hand out, offering to put it on her for and she nodded, pulling her hair away from her neck so that she could do so easily. When it fell onto his skin, she grabbed it, turning around so fast that he almost jumped when she flung herself into his arms. "Mattia, this means a lot to me. I fucking love it," she whispered, curling up on his lap as he just held onto her and grinned to nobody but himself. This is what life was supposed to be like, he was supposed to be happy.

He stood up, pulling her to her own feet and hugged her once more. Looking down, Mattia's eyes fell to the charm and he grinned, kissing the top of her head before she scoffed and leaned up to kiss him. "Pussy," she teased and Mattia narrowed his eyes, daring her to continue. "Watch what you say, Monroe."

As the night went on, Monroe and Mattia never left each other's sides. The number of kids dwindled down and by the time that neither of them could walk, it was only the two of them and about ten other people left.

"You guys are so cute it's disgusting," Alejandro snapped as he took one more shot for the night, his face scrunching up in disgust as he glared at them setting up Mattia's phone for a tiktok. After he was pleased with the spot, Mattia started the timer and tugged Monroe into the frame, kissing the top of her head as she grinned at the camera and danced to the music.

"You're just mad you don't have a shawty like mine," Mattia shrugged and spun Monroe into his chest, his hand dropping to her waist as he smiled. "Yeah, I am. I set y'all up and guess what I don't get — shit. I don't get shit for it."

Monroe giggles at Alejandro's frustration and stepped away from Mattia, throwing her arms around him. "Poor Alejandro," she coo'd, laughing when he shoved her off and scoffed loudly. "Don't patri — patro — patrost — man, fuck y'all. I don't even know the word," he snapped, glaring again when they all began to laugh even louder at how drunk he was.

When the rest of the kids finally left, they decided to settle on a movie and dispersed to Alejandro's basement to relax. All four of them knew that tomorrow was going to be ten times worse, especially because it was New Years, but none of them seemed to care too much. Instead, Monroe just curled up besides Mattia and focused on the screen, content with life and content with him.

She deserved this, especially after how her month had went. Mattia made her more happy than anyone else ever had and she never wanted that to end. She never wanted to feel alone again and she hoped that she felt the same. Her hand subconsciously found its way to her new necklace and she held it in her fingers, twisting at it with a small smile as she watched the movie.

They were happy, but nobody knew what was coming tomorrow and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

ugh i love them