and just like that, the trip was just about over. it was almost three weeks to the day since freyja and madi had met up with the sturniolo family in the dolomites. they had spent two weeks there and then had driven to bolanzo for the final week of the holiday. freyja couldn't believe how quickly the trip had gone, and now it was the evening before they were due to leave.
madi, the triplets, freyja, and justin sat on the living room floor playing Mario kart on the old tv. they had split themselves into two teams: the red team consisted of madi, freyja, and nic, and the blue team was chris, matt, and justin. they were taking turns versing each other, and when mary-lou walked into the room, freyja and chris were facing off on one of the hardest tracks in the game. so far, freyja was winning.
matt looked up as his mom entered the room. "hey mom," he said, and everyone except chris and freyja turned to look.
"if we are gonna be out here by 9 am tomorrow morning, you guys need to hurry up and pack," she said sternly, glancing at the tv screen.
chris was about to overtake freyja on a sharp corner, and mary lou called out "freyja look to your left!" matt laughed. his mom had a very short attention span.
"thanks mary-lou!" freyja exclaimed as she passed the finish line ahead of chris. she grabbed chris's arm. "i win you lose now you get a big bruise!" she bumped her fist against chris's arm, and he groaned.
"ow, freyja! that's gonna bruise." she just flipped him off. nic and matt were getting ready to verse each other when mary-lou switched off the tv at the powerpoint, cutting off the game as the screen turned black. the group groaned in protest.
"no more games until everyone is packed and ready to go by 9 am tomorrow." and with that, mary-lou turned on her heel and stalked out of the room. madi and nic got up first, and chris and justin reluctantly followed. freyja began to gather her belongings up from the couch ready to pack.
"do you know if justin has heard anything?" she kept her voice low as she spoke even though there was no one in the room with them. matt knew what she was talking about: the website handling the comments.
he shook his head, and freyja's face fell. justin had sent the screenshots on saturday, and it was now monday. it had been three days and they had heard nothing. "im sure we'll hear back from them soon," he said, trying to make her feel better. freyja and matt hadn't been back on her account since justin took full responsibility of it when he sent the screenshots, so they had no idea if there had been more comments.
freyja forced a smile on her face, and started up the hallway. matt followed slowly behind. he wished there was a way to make all freyja's pain go away. he saw through all her forced smiles and laughter that she was hurting, and there was nothing they could do but wait.
matt watched from the doorway of their room as freyja pulled clothes out of her section of the singular wardrobe. she folded them neatly and then placed them carefully into her suitcase. she looked up as matt sat down on his bed. "oh," she said, looking at him.
matt sighed, standing up and walking over to his suitcase. he opened it up and began to haphazardly throw clothes in. "your never gonna be able to make all that fit if you just throw them in," freyja grinned, holding back a laugh.
matt sighed, again, but this time it was one of defeat. freyja smiled, walking over to help him. "here, fold your shirts like this," freyja folded one of his t-shirts into a neat square and placed it into a corner of the suitcase. matt smiled and attempted to copy her.
"almost," she said, fixing up matt's messily folded shirt. they stayed like that for a while, packing matt's suitcase. they worked out a system: matt would pass freyja an item of clothing and he would watch as she folded it and placed it neatly in the suitcase. after a while, their idle chatter fell into comfortable silence. that is until matt broke it.
he sighed heavily, and it was a sigh weighed down with emotion. freyja noticed his change in mood, and looked up at his unreadable expression. "what are we doing?" he asked, looking down at freyja as he stood up and sat on the edge of his bed.
"what do you mean? we're packing," freyja spoke like the answer was obvious, but it clearly wasn't the one matt was looking for. he stared aimlessly out of the window as he began to speak.
"you know that's not what i mean. why are we dancing around each other like this?" he finally turned to look at freyja. she was standing to the left of him, looking confused.
he sighed again, and stood up. matt closed the door and then began to pace. freyja watched him as he walked around the room, back and forth, back and forth. "matt-" she began to say, but shut her mouth as matt stopped directly in front of her.
"you know what im talking about freyja! i cant do this anymore! i wanna be your friend but you keep giving me all these mixed signals and then i start to feel......things. and I've never felt this way before! its like, one minute your sleeping in my bed with me, and the next your saying your so happy you could kiss me and you don't! i don't know what to think. im just....so confused." matt trailed off, looking down as freyja took his hands in hers. she smiled softly.
"this isn't how i wanted this to go. im sorry I've been giving you mixed signals. I've just been going through a lot - and i know it isn't an excuse - but i just need a friend. i don't know if being anything more is the greatest idea right now." matt sighed, looking back up. freyja was looking down at their joint hands, but she looked up as matt moved one of his to touch the soft hair on her neck.
her breath hitched in her throat. when matt looked back at her, they were staring at each other. they were so close that if freyja leaned in even the tiniest bit more, their noses would touch. were they even breathing?
"matt i-" she stopped as matt moved his hand to touch her cheek. he closed his eyes. "don't say anything." he whispered, and freyja tentatively reached up to run a hand over matts cheek. she could feel the tiniest bit of stubble near his chin, but his cheeks were soft and smooth. her eyes flicked between his lips and his eyes. and his eyes.....they were so blue, so piercing blue that she felt them in her soul.
freyja looked up to meet matts eyes, and he smiled at her softly, using his other hand to brush a strand of hair out of her eyes. he leaned in so that their noses were touching. freyja held her breath, neither of them daring to breathe. he tipped his head forward so that their foreheads were touching, and moved his hand to hold the one that was cupping his face. freyja closed her eyes, letting out a soft breath, and matt took the time to admire her face. her smooth skin, piercing green eyes, and soft-looking lips.
matt leaned back a tiny bit so that their foreheads were no longer touching, and freyja opened her eyes. they stared at each other for a minute that felt like an eternity.
and then
freyja closed the distance between them, connecting her lips with his. matt sighed into the kiss, pulling her closer and wrapping an arm around her waist. freyja kept her hands on his face, but after a few secons she pulled away.
"matt, i don't know if i can do this," she said, looking down.
"but, this? right now? can you do it?" he spoke softly, tipping her face back up with his fingertips.
"yes," she breathed, and matt connected their lips again. this time, freyja smiled into the kiss, and matt closed his eyes. they stayed like that for a minute or so, not thinking, just feeling, until freyja pulled away, leaning her forehead against matts. his eyes were still closed, and his breathing was still ragged.
when he opened his eyes, freyja was staring at him. "freyja," he began to speak, his voice hoarse.
"don't. don't say a word." she silenced him, and he sighed quietly. they stayed like that for a while, foreheads pressed together until freyja slowly backed away.
"wha-"
"don't move." matt shut his mouth and stayed where he was.
he watched as freyja carefully zipped up her packed suitcase and walked to the door. "once I've closed this door, you can move," she said, and matt looked at her confused. freyja watched him as she backed away towards the door, suitcase in hand. she opened her mouth to say something as she put her hand on the handle, immediately closed it, opened the door, and then she was gone. the door slammed shut behind her.
"fuck!" matt exhaled, sitting down heavily on his bed. he could hear the sounds of his family and friend's laughing in the kitchen, and he put his head in his hands. he plugged his ears with his fingers to block it out. it was matt. just matt and his thoughts.
what the fucking fuck had just happened? he had kissed freyja! or had she kissed him? he honestly couldn't remember. maybe she left because he was a bad kisser? he can't have been that bad. at least it wasnt his first time. but that kiss.....it was different from the ones he'd had before. there was more meaning and emotion behind it.....more feeling. she definitely wasn't a bad kisser. but why had she left?! matt felt like screaming, but he knew it would do more harm than good. he guessed she had made him stay where he was so that he wouldn't try to talk to her, try to make her stay. but why? had he done something wrong?
matt took his hands away from his face and slowly stood up. his half-packed suitcase lay discarded on the floor, forgotten amongst all that had happened in the past five minutes. matt knelt down on the floor next to it and began to fold and pack the small remaining pile of clothes. exactly like freyja had shown him.
freyja didn't return to the room that night, and matt didn't come out. he sat up and waited until all the chatter died down and everyone went to bed, and there was just silence. he stayed where he was, leaning against his bed, looking out at the starry night, for a while longer, hoping freyja would appear at the door, but she never did. eventually, matt went to bed, feeling cold, lost, and empty.
when he woke up the next morning, freyja's bed was made up neatly, the covers pulled right up and the pillows resting neatly against the headboard. all her belongings were gone. matt sat up slowly and rubbed his head. he could feel a nasty headache coming on, and needed to chase it away with some tylenol before it developed into a full-blown migraine.
he groggily stood up out of bed and headed into the bathroom. he almost smashed into chris who was coming out. "morning soldier," chris grinned at him, and matt glared.
"you look like hell." chris frowned.
"thanks." matt glared.
"well, we're leaving in half an hour." and then chris was gone. matt closed the bathroom door and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. chris was right. he did look like hell. he had big bags under his eyes, and his hair was sticking up everywhere. not to mention the pimple on his cheek. matt was also wearing the same hoodie and jeans he had been wearing the day before.
matt groaned, before grabbing his box of tylenol out of his toiletry bag. he swallowed the small pills dry, and then stripped off, stepping into the steaming shower.
it wasn't like matt had forgotten what had happened with freyja yesterday, he was just trying not to think about it. ok, so they had kissed. so what? sure, she had then ghosted him and he hadn't seen her since, but whatever. no, it wasn't whatever. it was a big deal.
when matt got back to the near-empty bedroom, he saw something sitting on his pillow. so far, the tylenol had done nothing to chase away the headache, and matt forgot about it until he had zipped up his suitcase and was about to leave the room. curiosity got the better of him, and he walked over to take a look.
on top of the little bundle sat a packet of his favorite candy: rainbow bullets. matt looked around the room, confused. they hadn't been there when he left to shower, so someone had obviously put them there while he was gone. the answer to his question was revealed when he grabbed the second item. it was the hoodie he had lent freyja on the day they left the dolomites to come to bolanzo. it was his favorite black ransom hoodie that chris had bought him for his birthday last year. matt had almost forgotten that he had lent it to freyja, but now the memory rushed back.
freyja opened the bathroom door, squeezing water out of the ends of her hair. matt looked up when he heard her. "you're gonna be cold in that, ya know," he said, chuckling when he saw her outfit.
"I forgot to grab a hoodie out of my bag last night and now its all packed," she grimaced awkwardly, and matt reached into his bag.
"here. you can wear this so you don't freeze," he held out his hand, and in it, he held a black ransom hoodie.
"oh no, its ok. ill work it out," freyja chuckled awkwardly, and matt just smiled. when he didnt drop his hand, freyja smiled as well and took it.
"thanks. ill give it back to you when we get to bolanzo." matt just nodded, and freyja walked out of the room.
matt smiled fondly, and pulled the hoodie on over his t-shirt. it smelt.....nice. he could smell strawberry shampoo, a hint of mint, and a refreshing sea salt scent. matt vaguely remembered seeing freyja shove a bottle of sea salt body mist into her bag the night before.
with no one around to see, matt let himself inhale freyja's scent. then, after one last look at the bare and empty room, he grabbed his suitcase and backpack and closed the door behind him, rainbow bullets shoved hastily into his pocket.
AUTHOR STRIKES AGAIN
AHHHHHHH
so it finally happened!
give me y'alls reactions in the comments!
i really hope this wasn't cringy! i tried my best to make it cringe-free! this is the first kissing scene I've written, so hopefully it's not too bad!
i go back to school in 12 days 😭😭😭
drama is heading your way
keep reading....if you dare
love u guys
p.s. happy 4k!