(matt's pov - downstairs)
me, my brothers and mom and dad were sitting in the kitchen, talking about what is going to happen with maddie for school. we had ordered chick fil a (round 2) and it was supposed to be coming soon, so i was excited. i was so fucking hungry dude.
genuinely, i'm so glad that maddie wasn't seriously injured. i mean a knife? if one of those bitches ever touched maddie ever again, trust me. i would be the one with the knife.
"well what can we do?" dad asked us. "obviously she can't stay at somerville high. but where else? when we were going on open days at the other schools in the district last year, maddie didn't like any of them"
mom nodded.
"yeah, and it can't be too far away either. the district wouldn't allow it." mom added on.
nick groaned.
"ugh, shit."
but then i had an idea. and it was an amazing one. but i didn't really think it through properly.
"guys" i began "what if maddie just comes to live in LA with us?"
(chris' pov - a few moments later)
matt had just said one of the most stupid things i'd ever heard him say. we were all discussing possible school options for maddie, and the kid says let's take her to LA with us. does he know how stupid he sounds?
..
well..
actually..
now that i think about it, that's not a super bad idea? it could work?
"matthew, are you crazy? do you think we'd be happy sending our 14 year old daughter across the country? when we're all the way here in boston??" mom asked, starting to freak out.
"yeah, and how would that even work? she needs to have a parent with her surely?" dad mentioned.
but i really want her to come with us.
"it could work. we're over 18, we could be her guardians." nick suggested, as i stifled a laugh.
"yes, but you're her brothers, nick. we don't wanna get all legal about it." mom replied, searching something up on her phone. "oh.."
we all looked at her.
"what?"
she kept reading.
"it says here that apparently as long as me and your father give consent for you to look after her in LA, then it's all good?"
wait
seriously?
i looked at my brothers, half in confusion, and half in excitement.
"but... i don't know boys. that's gonna be super strange having no kids at home. it's enough with you guys gone, but maddie? our only daughter too?" mom frowned.
now i felt bad.
but then the doorbell rung for chick fil a, and i could already hear maddie running down the stairs.
"we'll talk about this tomorrow." dad concluded, headed to the door. "don't tell maddie anything yet."
matt was smiling, which gave me hope.
this could work!!! this has to work!!!!
maddie entered the kitchen, still all bruised and shit, but she was still smiling.
please god. i need her to come to LA with us.
that way, we can protect her forever. she will be so much happier in LA.
and who knows.. maybe we can even pay for our parents to live in LA too with us.
who knows.
(the next afternoon - matt's pov)
once again, lunch had just finished and we were all in the kitchen again (apart from maddie). but i think we were doing very well in convincing our parents to let us take maddie with us to LA.
"it's just.. it's a lot to take on board, you know? like.. we know LA is great, as we can see from you boys, but it's just so far.. what if something bad happened? like something out of your control? we will have to pay a ridiculous amount to come and see you guys-" dad said, before nick interrupted.
"then we can fly you guys out! dad, we make more than enough money to be able to fly you guys out.. and we will protect maddie with our whole life. you can trust us."
chris nodded, "yeah, we'll look after her. just like we do here. she'll love LA, she's always wanted to live there. since she was little."
i smiled at chris, in agreement.
"and also nothing bad has happened to us when we were in LA, and even if something did happen, laura's always there. and we'll be back here at least every month. you're gonna see us plenty of times." i mentioned. my parents looked at each other, still deciding.
i had my fingers crossed underneath the table.
please say yes. just please say yes.
"alright.. i'll tell you what.." mom began. we all eagerly waited, keen to hear what she had in mind.
"seeing as its almost june now and school will be over soon, why don't you all go to LA for two weeks? to have a bit of a break from everything.. and then in two weeks, when it's maddie's birthday, you come back and we make a final decision, because that way maddie can get an idea of what LA is like, and then we can search for schools?" mom suggested. we all took a moment to take in everything she just said, but then it clicked.
wait, that was actually a perfect idea
"i think that might actually be a reasonable decision" dad responded, a smile forming on his face. "and school doesn't start until mid august, so you will still have a month or so in boston or LA or wherever before school so there will be plenty of time to prepare and decide!"
"YES!!!!" i shouted, standing up and rushing over to embrace my parents in a hug. i couldn't stop smiling, and i could hear nick and chris also cheering in happiness as they came and joined the hug. i could feel my parents laughing, and i know this was gonna be a hard move for them, but at the end of the day, it's for maddie's happiness and safety. and that's all that matters to me.
"i love you guys so much. you're the best parents in the whole fucking universe" i smiled, whilst my head was buried in my dads chest. he patted my back.
"we haven't properly agreed to anything yet." he chuckled.
"when are you boys supposed to be headed off to LA then?" mom asked.
"i think laura has booked us flights for next wednesday. we can easily buy an extra ticket, and we'll be back here in two weeks anyways." nick explained. "so like you said, it's a good taster for maddie."
my parents smiled.
"you boys better take care of her. or else there are gonna be serious consequences." mom said. and i know she tried to sound scary, but i just couldn't take her seriously. but we all nodded.
"like we said earlier, we'll protect her with our whole life." chris said.
i felt so so excited. and so happy.
the next two weeks were gonna be a blast.