CHAPTER FIFTY !
[ social media, real life ]
❝ HE'LL BE HERE ❞
in case u missed it, i changed kingstons face claim so if u get confused seeing someone new and kingston's ig tagged, that's why
📂﹖﹕𓂃𐩐💻
ⁱⁿˢᵗᵃᵍʳᵃᵐ
sturniolo.triplets
nicolassturniolo, christophersturniolo
rorysorenson
kingstonj_79
matthew.sturniolo
rorysorenson, kingstonj_79
liked by ravenmarisso, kingstonj_79, and 203,456 others
sturniolo.triplets new baking blindfolded vid w rory, check it out!
user so...
user who wants to start
user i'm
user i'll say it. i'll say it guys. matt&rory obvi had smth going on and now rory's with this RANDOM ASS ross kid and matt is NOT happy. and apparently rory goes by twizzlers now.
↳ user summed it up RQ
↳ user glad we all collectively agree on this conclusion
user THE TENSIONNN BRUH
↳ user felt like *i* was the one matt was glaring at
↳ user FR got me all concerned for ross for a hot min 😭😭
user haha yeah there's so much drama & tension in this video haha. (i just want matt and rory back😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔)
↳ user real
↳ user they weren't even actually together
↳ user SHUT THE FUCK UP
user ross literally being in the second slide w rory but not being tagged is CRAAAAZY
user matt cuddling with trevor in that pic crying and shit bc aurora replaced him w ross
↳ user CHIIIIILL NO NEED TO DO HIM LIKE THAT
nicolassturniolo lurking in these comments w popcorn and a giggle
↳ kingstonj_79 you and me both
user could've sworn we entered the lovers part of enemies to lovers but no. here we are.
user I HATE ROSS.
↳ user I HATE MATT.
↳ user I HATE AURORA.
↳ user420 I HATE UR MOM.
↳ user420 sorry i just wanted to be included my bad guys
user kingstons new face claim🤗🤗🤗🤗
↳ author real
↳ makheartschris real
user in the last baking vid we got w rory her and matt were giggling and insulting (FLIRTING.) each other and now they're basically ignoring each other??? WHERE DID WE GO WRONG.
↳ user AND WHY IS THIS ROSS KID SUDDENLY IN THE MIX????
user matt was giving such jealous ex bf vibes this video and i cant lie i was giggling a bit
↳ user when he emphasized "MY twizzlers" 🤭🤭🤭🤭 had to pause the vid and giggle for a sec
↳ user NO BUT WHEN NICK SAID MATT WAS 'VERY SERIOUS AB HIS TWIZZLERS' AND MATT LOOKED AT RORY AND SAID 'VERY SERIOUS' ??????? I FELL TO THE FLOOR 🤗🤗🤗
user ^^me when i'm mentally unstable
user reminiscing on the time aurora posted matt on her main ig and we all lost our shit
↳ user simpler times💔💔💔
user where are the matt edits w the intense beat drops I NEED THEM FOR ALL THAT GLARING HE WAS DOING
↳ user IM EDITING AS WE SPEAK
↳ user i can faintly hear the beat drop of black out days playing in the background now
user when aurora told matt to go away and he straight up walked out of the vid bruh. ☹️☹️
↳ user and if you listened close enough u could hear the sound of my heart shattering
user kingston and chris giggling on the sidelines during all of the obvious tension was actually the highlight of this video 🙏🙏🙏
user i will legitimately sacrifice my first born child to hear aurora call matt a dumb fuck again and actually talk to him 💔💔💔
📂﹖﹕𓂃𐩐💻
ʳᵉᵃˡ ˡⁱᶠᵉ
if there is anyone making sure nothing will make aurora's day any harder than it already is besides the girl herself, it's matt.
when he picked her up for school this morning, he noticed her moms car wasn't in the parking place. he knew that meant that her mother was probably working instead of spending the day with elijah and aurora. that also meant they probably wouldn't be visiting their dads grave. he knows about the usual tradition because although he only got to be friends with aurora for a mere three years, he was her best friend.
she walked to the car in sweatpants and a zip-up which was particularly out of the usual for her. she's always liked to dress up when leaving the house, even if it's just for school, but she wasn't today. matt doesn't mind at all though because he thinks the girl looks good in anything.
when she got in the car, she was greeted by the friend groups usual enthusiasm for seven in the morning. everyone knows what day it is and knows to be more cautious with her than usual but they'd never treat her like some fragile piece of glass, it's just not who they are.
matt's particularly set on the idea of just staying out of her way for the day. all he's done recently is upset her and he doesn't want to do that anymore at all, especially not today.
he couldn't help the frown that formed on his lips when he turned in the drivers seat to get a better look at her though. matt practically knows aurora like the back of his hand. so although it seemed like the others couldn't, he saw past the plastic smile on her face and noticed the slight eye bags, telling him she struggled to sleep last night and the unusual softness to her voice, the newfound hesitance.
one thing matt discovered a long, long time ago was that there was five things he hated more than anything. elevators, cameron fucking lockeheart, ketchup, aurora, and seeing aurora upset. of course now he would also add ross to the list and maybe.. a question mark with aurora... but seeing aurora upset is still something that tugs at his heartstrings every time.
he first discovered his hatred for it all the way back in fourth grade when she showed up to school teary-eyed, obviously trying to hide her emotions. it was obvious something was wrong but she didn't want to talk about it to anyone. 'anyone' excluded matt at the time of course though.
she was upset because she tried to change the tv from the news to a cartoon and her step dad yelled at her for it right before she made her way to school. she didn't cry to him when talking about it because she hated crying and matt knew that, but it was obvious she had a lump in her throat. something about hearing her voice crack had matt's heart aching in a way he'd never experienced before. seeing her like that made him practically just as upset as her.
he rediscovered his hatred for it again recently too. this time the discovery was ten times worse because he was the reason she was so upset. he's made aurora upset plenty of times before but this time he could see the true hurt in her eyes that she didn't attempt to hide like in previous times. as soon as she stormed off, all angry and emotional because of him, his heart was left to fill with guilt and regret. it's something he hopes he won't have to see again.
right now though, the group is all in their usual place in the library for their free period.
kingston and makayla have skipped class again to hang out with everyone. since they just became friends with the group this year, they don't know what day it is for aurora. matt isn't the type to scream auroras business to anyone else but he did kind of.. pull them aside and tell them to be hesitant with her today. he knows aurora wants anything but attention on her on days like this so he's determined to try his best to help with that.
he just wishes he could actually be there for her, like really, really, really wishes. he doesn't know how to though because he's used to them not talking at all when she has days like this and all he's done recently is hurt her. he's completely afraid of hurting her more than he already has so he'll just settle from watching afar and silently protecting her from anyone else who could worsen her day.
conveniently enough, ross hasn't invaded the groups free period place like he has with their lunch table so matt won't have to.. deal with him and his presence... until later.
he cuts his own thoughts off with a slight shake of his head. he looks away from where he was kind of just blatantly staring at aurora who is clearly fighting the urge to fall asleep and not paying attention to the movie playing on her chromebook, and glances back down at his phone. he exits out of the instagram comment section he was clearly lurking in and goes to tiktok instead.
nick, venus, and raven are across from him, sitting against the bookshelf opposite of him and chris is next to him, separating matt and aurora from each other where they're both sat against the same bookshelf. there's just always a separation between them now, mostly to prevent creating more awkwardness that has already spread through the friend group.
kingston and makayla left the group on a journey to find copies of the book 'moby dick' five minutes ago. they claimed it's to 'research about whales' but it's obvious they're somewhat stoned and just want to giggle at the use of the word dick in the book title.
matt has only scrolled through two videos on his feed when he hears chris groan loudly from next to him. he raises his head, his eyebrows scrunching together a tad once he finds him with his head against the shelf behind them. "wha—"
"bro," he cuts him off, turning to him. "tell me you brought your charger here."
"no...?"
"fuuuck," chris groans again, beginning to throw his head back again before suddenly turning to aurora instead. "rory," he nudges her shoulder slightly since she's half asleep.
she blinks repeatedly before turning to him with a sigh. "what?"
her voice is so small, matt thinks, a frown subconsciously taking over his lips.
chris asks her if she brought her charger and matt watches as he does so. his eyes stay on aurora and auroras eyes flicker over to him for just a moment so he instantly turns away.
not your place matt, he reminds himself, head turning and eyes falling back down to his phone in hand.
a few moments pass and chris eventually asks raven who says she's got one in her locker. she tells him she'll text him her locker combination and he stands up to head out, leaving an awkward space in between matt and aurora.
matt just awkwardly glances around the room, looking up to the ceiling like it's the most interesting thing in the world. aurora isn't bothered, she probably hasn't even noticed seeing as she's now focused on her movie and trying to keep her eyes open. matt's noticed of course, because there's this gigantic space between them that is just getting on his nerves. it's really getting on his nerves because this space has been in between them for at least a week and a half now and now there's a physical embodiment of it right in front of him. he doesn't say or do anything, doesn't even acknowledge it, because it's a hard day for the girl and he refuses to make it any worse for her by involving their issues in it.
he makes the mistake of glancing in venus and ravens direction across from him though because he catches venus' eye. nick is next to her, yawning as he watches tiktoks and ravens head is on her lap as she mindlessly scrolls through her phone as well. venus is looking at him though and as soon as he returns the eye contact, her eyes widen and she immediately tilts her head in a nudging manner towards auroras direction. matt's eyebrows furrow as she continuously moves her head, as if hinting him to move towards the girl a huge distance from his side.
his eyebrows raise once he figures out that's what she means and he instantly shakes his head repeatedly, looking at her as if she's crazy. she just rolls her eyes and continues motioning her head in her direction. matt, again, shakes his head, causing venus to groan quietly and mouth, 'loser.'
it's matt turn to roll his eyes as he looks away. venus just wants them to get their shit together but aurora has always liked being alone when she's in moods like this and matt's not going to ruin that just to try and fix things between them. he was the one who kissed becca or whatever and he still hasn't explained the whole note ordeal or that that's the reason he went to her house. he just.. can't find the right time to give her what he needs to give her.
his eyes seemed to of found their way to aurora herself while he was thinking and by the time he realizes it, he also realizes he must've been staring for a tad too long. aurora, in her tired state, turns her head slightly and glances in his direction. matt instantly looks away as soon as her eyes meet his, feeling like he's been caught and quietly clearing his throat. way to be awkward, matt.
he decides on pretending like that didn't happen and turns his phone back on, retreating to the comfort of tiktok.
only two minutes pass when a giggling kingston and makayla return to the group, makayla with a copy of 'moby dick' in her hand. matt's eyebrows just raise a tad, looking up and glancing at the pair for a second before returning to his phone mindlessly.
it's when kingston reaches down and swats his shoulder that matt looks up and realizes he's kind of sitting at the end of the bookshelf, leaving no room for makayla and kingston to sit down. there's not room for both of them between matt and aurora so kingston says, "bro, scoot."
matt's eyes widen slightly and he glances over to aurora who's chewing on her nails and watching her movie before glancing back to kingston. he silently shakes his head.
kingstons eyes narrow before following the direction he glanced in. matt internally groans when his eyes grow amused and he looks back to him. "ain't no way you're too scared to even sit next to her bruh," kingston chuckles slightly, earning a scoff from matt.
"i'm not 'scared,'" he quotes him in a whisper. "she just really doesn't need me pestering her today."
"it's not pestering, dawg, it's just sitting next to her," kingston tells him. "plus, if she's upset, she probably wants someone to be there for her, bro. all you've done is glare at ross for like.. a week so maybe you should actually try—"
"i have done more than just glare at ross, you dumb fuck," matt interrupts him, growing annoyed as he thinks back to his trip to becca's house and the additional note now sitting alongside the 'rora' one in his nightstand.
"dumb fuck?" kingstons eyebrows raise as he repeats matt, standing up fully from where he was slightly leant down to whisper with matt. kingston turns his head and matt seriously resists the sudden urge to bang his head against the bookshelf behind him when he calls out, "yo, rory."
matt turns his head to watch as she blinks and raises her head to look at kingston. her eyebrows scrunch together a tad. "yeah?" she asks.
"can you scoot down so matt can also scoot down and me and mak can have somewhere to sit?" he asks, sighing and glancing at matt as he speaks.
matt rolls his eyes again. he is literally just giving aurora—
"why can't matt just scoot down?" aurora questions in a bored tone. call matt crazy, but all matt is thinking about is how she said his name. "there is literally space right here," she says, gesturing to the gigantic space in between her and matt. her eyes then flicker from kingston to matt and she speaks to him instead (she. speaks. to. him.) "just scoot down so they can sit on the end."
matt blinks. there's no hostility in her words, just a calm, quiet voice as she speaks to him.
woah.
matt's eyebrows subconsciously furrow. did he just... anyways..
he snaps out of his small trance and begins to nod his head, looking stupid. "yeah, no i mean—i was like going to i just—" he cuts himself off when he realizes he's sounding dumb as hell. aurora just sighs and glances back down to her chromebook.
matt turns his head, recovering from his stupidity, and glancing at kingston who is grinning at him. he grimaces before beginning to scoot down. he stops when there's still a small, safe distance between him and aurora so they're not touching but pauses when he looks over at kingston again. he gestures with his hand to continue scooting and matt narrows his eyes before groaning internally and scooting just a tad more where their hips are touching. aurora doesn't say anything but he swears he sees her glance at him in the corner of her eye.
matt just cautiously turns his head away from her and starts to pull his phone back out so he can get on tiktok again when kingston nudges his side after sitting down. matt looks over at him and instantly has to hold back the urge to roll his eyes when he sees his grin.
'give her a good ole cuddle,' he mouths.
matt blinks. 'no.'
kingston sighs loudly and matt is about to turn away again when he catches makayla next to kingston mouth, 'pussy.'
matt scoffs. 'die.'
kingston then gasps quietly and quickly mouths, 'you sound just like her.'
matt sighs and looks away, catching a glimpse of aurora on the verge of sleep next to him before successfully pulling out his phone and getting on tiktok.
chris returns a bit later with ravens charger in hand and furrows his eyebrows at matt next to aurora but does not object to it at all, instead taking a seat next to nick across from them and grabbing his chromebook to attach the charger to.
it's about five minutes after chris' return when matt feels a weight creep up on his shoulder. his entire body tenses up and he turns his head slightly to confirm his suspicions and find that it's auroras head. she's fallen asleep and rested on his shoulder. his hands fall from his phone and sit on his legs awkwardly instead, now frozen up.
she's so close to him which is so extremely foreign to him now since he hadn't even gotten a single good word from her for at least a week and a half before today. her presence and sudden warmth brings him a comfort he feels guilty for, seeing as she's asleep.
that reminds him, she's asleep. temporarily. when she wakes up, she could beat his ass for allowing her to sleep on him. he can not ruin things more than they already are, especially today.
so, he begins to fidget and move around slightly. kingston notices from next to him and instantly raises his eyebrows when he notices the girl resting on his shoulder. they raise even more when he realizes matt is trying to get her off. "bro, what are you doing? let her sleep," he whispers to him, catching venus' attention across from them. venus gasps and then grins momentarily before going to whisper to her girlfriend.
"she's gonna kill me," matt whispers back, a little harshly since he does not need aurora to get angry at him when she wakes up.
"matt," nick is now also whispering, him having noticed the pair as well too. matt glances over at him, his small movements freezing slightly. "let her sleep," he emphasizes, earning nods from venus and raven. chris glances over curiously before realizing what's happening and nodding as well.
"guys, she—"
"matt," the head on his shoulder cuts him off in a quiet, aggregated tone. matt freezes and glances over to the top of auroras head. "shut the fuck up so i can sleep."
matt begins to stutter. this fucking idiot begins to stutter, "i—yeah—okay. you can—just—yeah.."
matt instantly clamps his eyes shut in annoyance from his own words. he literally looks like a fool. why can he not talk?
while closing his eyes though, he misses the tiny, microscopic ghost of a smile that forms on auroras lips. it's the first hint of amusement on her face she's had all day and it's because of matt tripping on his own words. it's gone as she fades back into sleep and when matt opens his eyes, there's no hint of the small expression.
aurora sleeps through most of the period and matt just scrolls through tiktok, enjoying her presence next to him while he still gets to experience it.
time passes by and when it's five minutes before the bell rings, he groans internally since he has to wake up aurora and then go to class. he glances down at the sleeping girl, a subconscious frown on his lips, before he makes the effort of nudging her with his hand. when her eyes open, he whispers, "the bells about to ring."
she glances around skeptically, noticing chris unplugging ravens charger and raven sitting up more. she then blinks twice and raises her head from matt's shoulder. the spot instantly feels cold but matt ignores it, instead watching as her back doesn't straighten but she just leans her head against the bookshelf. "i'm staying here," she murmurs, her voice still an obviously tired one.
"what?" matt's eyebrows furrow slightly, not sure if he heard her correctly because of how quiet she said it.
"i'm skipping," she tells him, just a tad louder, before closing her eyes.
matt stares at her for a moment too long as her eyes are closed. he eventually looks away and to the floor in front of him. his mind debates back and fourth with himself until the bell rings.
the group around him and aurora all stand up and begin to leave but matt, for some reason, stays seated. he finds himself glancing over to aurora as everyone else scatters.
after the library grows quieter, aurora skeptically opens her eyes as if she senses his still lingering presence. she glances over at him and he watches as, for a split-second, her eyes soften. her eyebrows scrunch together just slightly. "you're still here," she states, voice coming out in a whisper in the quiet library.
"i'm still here," he confirms in a whisper as well, repeating her words.
"why?" she questions simply.
"i'm skipping," he shrugs, repeating the same words she said to him before the bell rang.
aurora glances at him for a prolonged moment, seemingly looking back and fourth between both of his eyes before letting out a sigh. she looks away and lowers her head back down to his shoulder like where she had placed it before. matt's chest is suddenly warm again. when he looks down to watch her eyes close as she nuzzles against his shoulder and seemingly fall back into sleep, his heart feels content.
aurora refuses to let anyone in on days like this but matt's here. she acknowledges this presence of his and welcomes it, even though he's pretty sure she's still very angry with him. with this, matt internally decides he'll do anything to make sure she knows he's here. he's always going to be here when it comes to her.
he glances down at the sleeping girls vulnerable state and is determined to make sure she can always find safeness like this in his arms. he doesn't really care about anyone else. well, he does, of course, but it's different with aurora. he's hurt her and it's genuinely one of the worst things he's ever experienced. he's determined to never hurt her again and determined to make sure when she is hurt, hurt by something like this—something he can't control, she can seek comfort in him.
so, he'll be here. for the rest of this hard day of hers, he'll be here. for the days after that, he'll be here. always, he'll be here.
💌
proofreading & updating this in school instead of doing my math hw i have to turn in next period woo!!! updating after a week and a half woo!!!
matt & aurora are basically back guys like they're not back bc they haven't had the talk yet but cmon they're basically back. like positive interactions???? okay couple goals😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
also the way it reiterates matt is always gonna be here multiple times is bc auroras day is just going to get so much progressively worse but now matt's gotta stick by it bc the kids 'determined' or wtv the fuck. i just love spoiling in these authors notes
oh and this chapter was supposed to be longer but this was alr SOOO long so this day in the idfc universe is gonna be dragged on for a couple more chapters. apologies.
<3
jaden