𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔
"forgive and forget
chris woke up in a sour mood. everything was a reminder of what happened yesterday, as there was a small pool of thick, red blood on his white sheets which pissed him off. the gate that he had stumbled into when jude pushed him, had cut his hand open which bled throughout the night as he slept. he groaned out of annoyance as he pushes himself off the bed to take his dirty sheets off. he tugs at every corner until the sheets were completely off, before walking downstairs to put them in a wash where he sees matt and nick sitting down in the kitchen, "hey." yawns nick, noticing chris' arrival from the corner of his eye. chris smiles back as he shuts the door of the washing machine.
"what time are we all going to dejah's?" asks chris, pulling a stool out and taking a seat next to matt and opposite nick.
matt takes a spoonful of his cereal and swallows it before he answers, "we're supposed to be there for like.."
"5am tops" finishes nick, tapping on his phone to check the time. he sighs before standing up, making his way to his room.
chris forces a small smile. he didn't know if he was excited to go or not, especially after what happened yesterday. he knew he needed to talk to her but what would he even say? that's if she even wants to talk to him. all these thoughts and emotions rushed through chris' head at a fast pace, giving him a slight headache. "errgh" he groans, grabbing at his head.
matt looks up confused, "you good bro?"
chris flashes a quick smile at him, "yeah.. just got a headache that's all" he says, reassuring him, "i'm just nervous. she probably hates me right now and i don't even know what i should say to her, i'm just going to mess it up."
matt frowns and stares at the vase in front of him. he takes another spoonful of cereal, "you'll be fine, i wouldn't stress it." he says, taking his last spoonful before putting the bowl into the sink. he walks towards the door and stops to turn to face chris, "if you truly are sorry about everything, then the words should come naturally." he says finally, before walking out of the room to go to his room also. chris sits there in perfect silence, just thinking. mainly about what matt had said before he left. he was right. and that's exactly what he was planning on doing.
he analysed the colours on the vase in front of him before standing up from his seated position. he walks towards the cupboard in front of him and opens it, taking a bag of chips and opening them up taking a few bites out each chip.
———
4:25
painting was one of the things that dejah loved to do. it helps her keep calm and it's something she does so she can snap out of reality for a moment, so she only paints things that she loves like sunsets, birds, her family, her dog. it's therapeutic for her.
she found herself painting an album of taylor swift. specifically fearless as it was her favourite album, it also had her favourite song in it. you belong with me.
as she was painting the album cover, she had the sudden urge to start painting her younger self as that album reminds her of her younger self back when she used to listen to it all the time. but she stopped. she didn't know why, but she just stopped painting. she took the canvas off of the stand and placed it on her desk, also placing the paint pallet on her desk along side the canvas too. she sighs before checking the time on her phone, 4:33.
"yo, i'm going to the store for a few things for chris. he just messaged me to get them for him so do you want anything?" says nate, opening the door revealing dejah who's laid on her bed.
dejah perked up in her bed, she couldn't tell if it was because chris' name was being mentioned or it was because she wanted takis. "yes please, takis." she smiles, watching nate nod and close the door behind him.
dejah takes a deep breath in and breathes out loudly. she had completely forgot that she was going to have to face and talk to chris today. a lot of things had happened yesterday that she really doesn't want to talk about. like, at all. she sighs and crosses her legs, grabbing her stanley cup from the side that was filled with water and begins to take big sips from it. she would never admit to anyone, especially jude but for some reason she's happier when he's not around. that's partly the reason why she didn't invite him. in fact, he actually has no idea that she's invited the triplets, liv and abbie because she didn't want to hurt his feelings that she didn't invite him so what he doesn't know can't hurt him. she wants to fix whatever she had neglected with the five of them ever since she has got with jude, and to just have fun tonight. although she was fucking nervous about the whole chris thing, she was excited to hang out with them all again. it's nice not hanging out with the same person every second of every day to finally hang out with other people.
matt 😮💨
matt 😮💨
yo
we're setting off to pick up liv n abbie then we will be on our way
me
okk
cya all there!
———
"get in the fucking car bitchh" says nick, rolling down his window to shout at liv who runs towards the car. she opens the back car door and sits next to abbie who is now in the middle seat next to nick. they all greet each other briefly before matt begins to drive towards dejahs house. chris stares out of the window anxiously. his knee was bouncing up and down from the nervousness that was flowing through his entire body. the suspense had finally caught up to chris and he was realising that soon he was going to have to find the words that he had been dying to say but... he hasn't quite figured out what those words are yet. and that's what scared him.
when they turned that familiar corner, chris looked at the back seat row and saw how smiley they were. it made him smile slightly, which faded once he spots dejah standing outside her door. "ahhh" squeals abbie, rolling down the window, "heyy"
matt laughs and parks outside her house. liv opens the door and they all pile out, hugging dejah tightly. "i missed you." whispers nick, pulling her in for a hug.
"i missed you too." she smiles, seeing matt standing awkwardly. she laughs and pulls away from the hug to skip towards matt and when he notices her he begins to laugh, putting his arms out also.
chris was still in the car. he was the only one who hadn't got out to greet dejah yet. "is he.. coming or what?" asks liv, pointing at chris who plays with his shoe laces as his leg is propped up on his seat. everyone turns to look at him except dejah who can't see as her head is still buried in matts chest. chris finally notices the crowd of people waiting for him to come out, so he does exactly that. he opens the door and slams it shut loudly which made dejah jump slightly. she sighs before pulling away from matt to turn around to look at chris who.. woah. he looks fucking.. amazing. is his hair extra shiny or what? is this his best outfit that he's ever worn or what? no, there's no way that he is wearing those expensive jewellery that matches perfectly with his outfit theres no way?
her eyes linger from top to bottom for a quick second before looking at the grass in front of them, "so um, let's go.. inside!" she says grinning, making her way through the door and into her house. the rest of the group followed behind her shortly and into the living room where nate was already sat down.
"yoo, nate what's good man?" says matt, dapping him up immediately.
chris follows up behind, also dapping him up. "i'm good, how are you guys?" replies nate, looking at the pair who both sit down on the big, soft couch in front of them.
"pretty good"
"yeah, same here."
liv and abbie follow dejah to the kitchen to give the boys time to catch up with nate and so then they can also catch up too. nick came along shortly after.
"oh shit, here's that thing that you wanted." says nate, passing chris some snorkels. yes. snorkles.
matt immediately bursts out laughing at the sight of the snorkles being passed over to chris who smiles once they reach his hand, "the fuck do you need those for?"
chris puts them down on the floor before looking at matt for a brief moment, "swimming? duh." he says plainly, "what else would they be used for?"
nate and matt both start laughing, "i mean.. whatever man." chuckles matt. he props his feet up upon the table and turns to nate to talk to him about college and other shit that chris didn't really have any interest in. sure he was happy that he was talking to nate and stuff, but he couldn't stop thinking about dejah and what he was going to say to her? he stands up and makes his way over to the kitchen where nick, dejah, liv and abbie were stood talking.
chris' sudden presence alerting the group as they all turned to face him as he entered the kitchen. the whole room went silent as he pulled out a chair and sat in it. liv and abbie shared a look at each other for a split second, opening the fridge and grabbing a drink from it, "anyone.. want one?" she says, offering the selection of drinks to everyone in the room.
"i'll have a pepsi" says chris chiming in. he stands up and grabs a can of pepsi from the fridge, turning around to walk back to his chair.
"yeah, same here." says dejah, beginning to walk towards the fridge when chris grabs another pepsi can, holding it out in the space between them both. dejah paused and looked at chris who shakes the can slightly towards her. "t-thanks" she says grabbing the can, slightly brushing her fingers against his which sends a cold shiver down her spine.
the room fell silent again as chris sat back down and dejah went back to her spot in the corner of the kitchen next to nick. the tension in the air was suffocating, and chris couldn't bare it any longer, "you guys wanna go swimming?"
________
liv and abbie borrowed a bikini from dejah and had already jumped into the pool while chris had packed his, matts and nicks trunks already. matt drops down on the edge of the pool as he dangles his legs in there, he was planning on getting in soon but he had to adjust to the coldness first. nate runs upstairs to get changed into his trunks, as chris and nick walk to the pool.
as soon as chris slid open the glass door to dejahs backyard, it caught dejahs attention. he was wearing black and white dior swimming trunks with a small chain dangling from his neck, along with his multiple rings. she looks away quickly and swims towards the steps, sitting on them. nick runs and jumps straight in, wetting matt a little bit, "bro, that's fucking freezing." he says, shivering slightly.
"cmon, stop being a baby and get in already" groans abbie, swimming towards him. once she reaches his legs she puts her arms over the ledge next to him.
"no. not yet." he replies, getting splashed in the face from her, "hey!" he says, kicking the water around to splash her back.
abbie squeals and swims out of matts reach, "i'm gonna fucking drown you when you get in this water.." she says, pausing. she lets out a little giggle before saying, "matthew bernard."
she knew it annoyed matt. and her plan worked because matt shortly after jumped into the pool, swimming towards her. "NO, IM SORR-" she says before she gets dunked into the water, making everyone laugh. except dejah. she just sat on the step emotionless, taking small sips from her pepsi that was sat on the ledge next to the stairs.
chris notices her dull expression, and instead of jumping into the pool like he was planning on doing, he walked towards her. he sat down on the step next to her, placing his pepsi on the other side of the ledge. dejah notices that he's there. i mean, obviously she did. but she didn't act like she did. she just stared into the distance emotionless like she had been doing for the past few minutes. she doesn't even move or sigh or even glance at him. "hey dejah." he begins, still not getting her full attention. instead of staring at the water, she turns to look at chris' shoulder.
chris has no idea how to start the conversation at all. he just freezes. his heart was beating out of his chest and he felt like he was about to throw up. maybe this wasn't the best time to start to apologise yet, he wasn't ready. "i uh.." he says, filling the silence. he takes a deep breath in and grabs his pepsi from the side to try and wash the lump down that was forming in his throat, "my intentions were never to hurt you. ever. i had no idea about all that stuff that happened all those years ago, and if i could go back i would."
dejah finally looks at chris. his big blue eyes that reflects off of the pool in front of them, they were filled with guilt. dejah could tell that every word that was coming out of his sorry mouth, was true and he meant every last word. "i want to stop hurting you. i just feel as though every time we talk or try to talk it always ends up bad? it's like the world is trying to punish us for even trying again. it's like we're not meant to be. and i guess what i'm trying to say is that i'm sorry." he says, ruffling his wet hands through this hair. he faces dejah who's face is scrunched up.
she looks away and looks back at the rest of them in the pool. nate had now joined them, and was talking to nick at the side of the pool. matt and abbie were still fighting and liv was helping abbie. "you know it made me really not want to trust any other guy again. i was scared that.. i was going to get rejected or led on again." she speaks plainly. chris could tell that she was hurt when she spoke but she had no emotion behind her words. no expression or anything.
chris didn't know any of that. he didn't know that he had ruined her trust and he felt so incredibly sorry. he knew it was all his fault and he was stupid for ever rejecting her or for ever leading her on. how could he not see that she was right there in front of him all this time. he wanted to hug her so tightly right now, but he knew it wasn't the best time. "that's why i'm always hanging out with jude. because i'm scared he's going to move on.. or get bored of me or something. and when you guys starting fighting at school, it fucking scared me. i thought he was going to break up with me. i thought, i was going to get my heart broke for the second time."
chris looked at dejah who was still still looking in front of them, refraining from any form of eye contact. she looked deep in thought. as she shared her story with chris, he emphasised, realising the depth of their past relationship. determined to offer solance, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her to his chest, "i'm so sorry dejah. i've recognised my mistake and i'm a terrible person for not realising how amazing you are." he says, hugging her tighter than before. he apologised with sincerity with a mix of vulnerability and humility, he conveyed the depth of his regret, hoping to mend the things that he has broken in the past.
dejah finally wraps her arms around chris, latching onto him tight. so tight, just to make sure that he wasn't going to leave again for the third time. "it's okay." she says, "i forgive you."
chris pulls away to look at dejahs face. her eyes were glazed over with tears that could spill over with a blink of an eye. he wipes them away with his thumb, caressing her cheek, "i won't hurt you anymore, dejah. i promise. and i'm so sorry." he says, breathing heavily. the cold air brushed over the pair, wafting away the tension and sorrow. chris' headache finally faded away as he pulls away from the hug. they both sit there in silence. not an awkward silence, but a comfortable silence.
_______
"liv, get him off me!" shouts abbie, being held down by matt who was struggling to breath from the laughter. liv jumps underwater and tries to push matt away. abbie starts to burst out laughing, which made matt laugh even more which tired him out causing him to finally let go. liv swam back to the surface, "yayy!!" she says giggling, high fiving liv.
"whatever, it was an unfair fight" laughs matt, splashing the pair one last time before he starts to swim over to dejah and chris who was sat on the step, "hey guys." he says, taking a seat on the step below them.
"hey"
"yo"
"i'm gonna get out and dry myself off if you guys wanna join me?" he suggests, watching as dejah begins to stand up. chris stays seated.
"i'm gonna talk to the others and stay in the pool for a bit. but cya." says chris, diving into the pool.
"i'm gonna dry off with you matt." says dejah, following matt inside the house where they grab the towels that nate had left on the side for everyone to use. matt was about to go upstairs and take a shower in the spare bedroom, "hey, matt." she says, stopping him in his tracks.
"yeah, what's up?" he answers, looking back at dejah who looks a little lost for words.
"i'm sorry matt. for y'know, not being the best friend and ignoring you. i'm gonna try be better, okay." she says, staring at the floor in front of them. matt notices her uncomfortable posture and immediately runs towards her to give her a hug.
"it's okay, no need to be sorry" he says, reassuring her. nick and nate walk through the door and see the pair hugging. nate grabs a towel and makes his way upstairs but nick stays.
dejah looks up at nick and pulls him in for a hug too, "i'm sorry too. for being such a bad friend." she explains again.
nick sighs, "don't be."
_________
liv and abbie had brought their towels outside with them, so they were already drying themselves off, "do you want me to get you a towel?" asks abbie, looking down at the pool in front of them that chris was still in.
"nah, i'll get it later." he explains, swimming over towards the steps. he walks out of the pool, waiting for liv and abbie before he opens to door to the kitchen where dejah, matt and nick were in still hugging.
"aw cute" says liv, making her way upstairs to get in the shower. abbie followed her shortly after. they all pull away from the hug and matt and nick also go upstairs to take a shower, leaving chris and dejah alone in the kitchen.
dejah spins around and when she sees chris she jumps slightly, "gosh, you scared me." she smiles, grabbing ahold of her head.
chris laughs, taking a towel from the side and wrapping it around his neck, draping onto his back, "sorry." he says, for what seems like the millionth time today. "also, where am i going to sleep tonight? matts sleeping in the spare bedroom with abbie and liv and nick are sleeping in your mom and dads bedroom."
"erm, maybe nate's room?" she suggests, taking ahold of chris' hand. the sudden touch makes chris' stomach swirl. he looks down at his hands that were interlocked with dejahs and smiles, "yeah sure." he says, facing her. dejah leads the way up the stairs, facing the door that was nate's room. she let go of his hands and they instantly get cold. he looked down at them one last time and they were now empty. that made him frown. she knocks on the door, but no answer. she knocks again and still no answer. "shit, he's probably asleep." she grabs his hand again, taking him to her bedroom.
"oh no, i can't sleep in here. jude will probably get angry at me" he says, gripping onto her hand tightly.
"yeah you're right. he'd kill me if he ever found out." she says, letting go of his hand again, "if it's alright with you, you could sleep on the floor?"
chris accepts the offer and he starts getting spare blankets and pillows from the cupboard, laying them down on the floor as dejah hops in a quick shower. he pulls out his phone as he's waiting on his makeshift bed for dejah to be done with the shower so that he could use it, and he sees that dejah had started following him on instagram. he smiles as he follows her back, scrolling through her instagram.
ⁱⁿˢᵗᵃᵍʳᵃᵐ
dejah_do3🟦✔️
@natedoe8
@matthew.sturniolo
@nicolassturniolo
@livcore @abbie.howard @nicolassturniolo @matthew.sturniolo @christophersturniolo
_____
liked by christophersturniolo, abbie.howard and 155,456 others
caption- dump from today with my best friends +nate 🫶🫶
———
comments:
user matts so stinking cute w his popsicle 😭
user WAIT SHE FOLLOWS CHRIS NOW??
user tagging chris n adding a pic of him is crazyyy
user dejah. ur so hot.
user why is nobody talking abt nick? why is his feet up like that 😭😭
nicolassturniolo i js wanted go play mermaids..
abbie.howard ur so cute dejah
➯dejah_do3 not as cute as u stink 🥺🥺
user matts fit is 🔥🔥
➯matthew.sturniolo thank you!!
➯user i js fucking fainted
user so cutee!!
user hope u all had funn
user r u still dating that jude guy?
user THEY FINALLY FOLLOW EACHOTBER?? DID THEY GET HACKED OR SOMETHING?
user ask the triplets when the new vids coming out
christophersturniolo 👍
jude.cung u didn't tell me u invited everyone over w/o me? wtf
➯dejah_do3 omg i'm so srry i totally forgot to mention it, ilyy x
➯jude.cungg yh wtever
ミ★
³⁹⁰⁰ ʷᵒʳᵈˢ
maisie
💌
this chapter was so fucking long omg 😭but anyways hope u guys enjoyed!!
dejahs such a cutie patootie 🥺
jude's cmnt 👀
#scared
#idkwhattosay
#bye
#nextchapterisafillerchapter