NEIGHBORS !
╰┈➤ 07. we're friends, right?
irl, instagram
DISCLAIMER/TW: small mention of drug use, triplets are NOT participating!!!!
"Roman. Your car is in my driveway."
"I don't see the problem."
"You don't see the problem? You want me to take me home when your car is already there and you don't see the problem?"
"No. I don't. I can Uber back here tomorrow. I don't wanna drive."
"Just sleep over! Why are you wasting money?!"
"Elena, you're so smart. Because that didn't cross my mind at all."
The triplets stood outside of the Corolla, watching Elena and Roman argue like an old, married couple.
"Are you guys done yet? It's cold as shit, my fingertips and nuts are about to freeze and fall off," Chris complained.
"Shut up about your nuts maybe, yeah?" Matt shot at him, smacking him in the chest with the back of his hand.
"Well, she needs to hurry!"
"We made the decision already, Christopher!" Elena snarked.
"So open the fucking car door," he gritted out through clenched teeth.
"Can we just be nice? You helped her golf form, I just wanna go home, please!" Nick said, bouncing up and down to try to generate some body heat, "it's cold as shit, though, Elena. Unlock the doors, please."
Clicking a button on her key fob, the doors unlocked and Elena decided to drive home so Roman wasn't tempted to take himself home.
Although the December air was cold and nipping, Elena still wanted her windows down. Something about saving gas since she wasn't using her AC, but anyone who knows Elena knew that it was just because she loved the feeling of wind in her hair as she drove, especially when she was going down the Pacific Coast Highway.
To stop the brothers from complaining, she gave her phone, granting them full control of the music playing in the car. If she wanted a car ride with a little less chaos than us usual, this was all that they needed to remain content.
After almost an hour of LA traffic later, they made it to their houses and Elena got ready to sleepover. Again. It was Christmas break, in her defense. She knew it would be hard to do this during a regular semester schedule. In her eyes, she was just making use of all the free time she had.
Lucky for Roman, he had clothes in both Camila and Elena's room, so he could choose from wherever he wanted and he'd be comfortable for the night. Opting for a basic pair of plaid pajama pants and a black Nike hoodie, he also slid on random Nike slides that he also left at their house and waited for Elena to finish getting ready as he laid on her bed with his limbs sprawled out.
She found a pair of loose pajama shorts and a white tank top with a zip up that she was yet to return to Nick, it was too comfortable to ever let go.
Once she was ready, she smacked Roman on his backside as he decided to lay on his stomach instead of his back.
He yelped and slapped Elena's hand away, who was just giggling to herself. She had now taken off her makeup, put her hair into a loose bun at the base of her neck, and had glasses covering half of her face since she removed her contact lenses for the day.
"Did you still wanna smoke?" She asked as she rifled through her drawers for a pre-roll she stored.
"Yeah, you have something? Or did you need me to roll?"
"I should have a pre in here somewhere– found it!"
"Perfect," Roman rubs his hands together in excitement.
"You fine with sharing one? Or did you want me to pack you a bowl, too?"
"This should be fine, they won't mind that we're gonna smoke?"
"Nah, I'll text them right now that we're gonna smoke a bit but we can stay outside for a little to air out, I don't wanna make their house stink," Elena explained as she walked in front of Roman to lead them to their backyard.
"Got it."
15 minutes later, the duo had a quarter of the pre-roll left, opting to ash it out since they didn't want to be too under the influence around their sober friends. Elena stored it back in the glass tube it was packaged in and got water for her and her friend. They stayed outside for another 10 minutes as she texted Matt that they were getting ready to leave finally.
"Let's go? Matt told me they wanna watch Snowfall tonight together, I'm excited."
"Yeah, we can go. Oh, do you have snacks?"
Elena giggled, very familiar with the fact that Roman was a very hungry guy when he was high, "I should but I'm running low. Take what you want, just remind me to go to the store soon." She waited for him to leave her kitchen before shutting off her lights, closing and locking the door behind her.
Roman stuffed and adjusted what was in his arms along with a water bottle from the pack on the floor and they walked to the triplets' house.
Elena opened the front door and was greeted by all three triplets sitting in their living room. Chris was sitting on the floor, his back leaned against the bottom of the couch as Matt played with his hair. Nick was standing in front of the TV, looking like a toddler, as he tried to turn Snowfall on.
The blanket bin was empty, as all of them were draped in their blankets and two were folded and placed neatly on the couch for Roman and Elena to use.
"Wanna just share one?" Roman asked and Elena just nodded, "yeah, just need it for my legs anyway."
He nodded and took place on the couch on the far left side closest to the window, "Nick, which side are you on?"
Nick turned his whole body around to look at Roman, "you're good there."
"Did you want anything from the kitchen, Nicky?" Elena called.
"Just a can of Dr. Pepper, please. Matt, Chris? You guys?"
"Pepsi, please."
"Water for me," Matt said. She nodded as a sign that she took note and threw the beverages respectively.
Once she finished filling her Stanley with water and ice, she walked back and took the place next to Roman, who was already cuddling into the arm of the couch.
"Of course you leave the side you're facing open for me. If you wanted to be held you could've said that, I could call Camila."
"No, she's busy. Unfortunately I have to settle for you."
Elena gasped at this, smacking the beanie off Roman's head, earning a chuckle out of Chris and Matt.
"You guys really act like you're fucking married, it's so funny," Matt commented.
"That hypes him up. Don't say it anymore."
Three episodes into Snowfall and Matt, Nick, and Roman were dozing off. Elena was still enthralled and Chris was beginning to get more and more into the show, stealing his attention and keeping him awake.
With a loud gasp, Elena woke up Roman (who smacked her as a reflex), and that noise woke up Matt and Nick.
"Who smacked who. What the fuck," Nick said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"Elena's ass can't shut up. Why would you do that," Roman whines.
"Sorry. But on the bright side you guys can move to your rooms if you want!"
Matt and Nick groaned, knowing that Elena was right but they had no intention of moving to the bed. Until they realized that their beds felt amazing.
"Yeah. I'm heading to bed. Roman, where are you sleeping?" Matt gets up and stands, stretching his arms above his head and outstretches them to the front as well.
"I was gonna sleep with Nick."
"Let's go, Romie."
"Yay," he gets up and wraps his arms around Nick's middle, who pats his arms in appreciation.
Once those two left, Matt heads to his room, leaving Chris and Elena alone. Chris gets up from the floor and takes a spot next to Elena, wrapping a blanket around his body. The next episode continues and they sit in silence for a good 10 minutes, and Chris speaks up.
"Elena."
"Chris."
"I'm sorry."
"Huh."
"Don't make me say it again, please."
"No. I will make you say it again. What did you say?"
Chris grumbles and rolls his eyes, "I said I'm sorry."
"Uh huh. For what?"
"Elena!"
"This is me letting you off easy. As fuck. Apologize correctly and it'll be water under the bridge," and if she was being honest, she was happy she was still a little high, it made her more open to listen to Chris.
"I'm sorry for being a dickhead for the past year. I'm sorry for literally being a pain in the ass. But not all the way sorry, because our car videos with you always end up super funny. But really, I don't even know what made me keep going. To be fair, I had told you recently that I also cannot get rid of you, so this is really me saying sorry for everything. Since I can't get rid of you," this earned him a slap on the chest from Elena which he retaliated.
"Really though, you were just so annoying when you first showed up. I literally still get annoyed when the memory of you saying you had a system with Nick pops up in my head. Pick me shit, honestly," Chris further explained.
"Right. You made progress with the apology, then just completely regressed," she giggled.
"Okay, I still said sorry! But to be fair, you continued it, too."
"I'll take some of the heat, sure."
"Okay."
"So I agree and you now have nothing to say. Great. Should've done this a long time ago."
"Hey! I really am sorry, Elena. It was so uncalled for, all of it."
"You're all good. We're friends now, that's all that matters. Speaking of which, why did you decide to say sorry tonight? Of all nights?"
"I felt like the golf thing made me realize you're not as terrible as I thought you were."
She looks at him with a straight face, lips tucked in, "Christopher."
"Sorry."
"Whatever," she laughed again.
When her laughter died down, she cleared her throat and faced the TV instead, watching intently for the next few minutes while Chris scrolled on his phone. It was silent for a good 3 minutes, then Chris spoke up.
"Elena."
"Yes?"
"So, we're friends, right?"
"I just said we were, so I would say that yes, we are friends. Why are you asking?" She paused the show, concerned for what was coming.
Her phone had chimed, signaling that she had gotten a text. She grabbed it from between her legs where it was nestled, and she unlocked it to see a picture from Chris. A complete bleeder, something from when he was prepubescent.
"Christopher Owen, what's this?" She asked in between giggles.
"My peace offering! Oh– you shit, triplet number three?! Really?"
"Sorry. In my defense, you were rude so you didn't even deserve your name. Now this is my peace offering!"
She goes to adjust his contact, adding the magic wand emoji at the end of his name, knowing that it was currently one of his favorites since he used it in every caption of everything he's been posting recently.
Elena flashed her phone screen toward Chris, and he read the display: chris ! 🪄
"Nice."
She laughed and rolled her eyes, "I forgive you. The bickering was fun, nothing you ever said really ever hurt my feelings and I hope the same goes for you."
"Oh, it absolutely goes the same for me, because your insults suck. But I am glad to know I've never hurt your feelings, it was never like that for me."
"Great."
"Agreed," he finished.
Now, it was Chris's turn to focus on the TV as Elena scrolled on her phone. He heard her small giggles but thought it was just something she had seen on her phone.
It was true, it just wasn't what Chris had expected.
His other phone buzzed, and he read a notification that he had been tagged in something that Elena had posted.
"Elena, what did you do now?"
She chucked, trying to sound mischevious, "open Instagram! This is my last and final peace offering. Swear. Now after this, we can be friends, for real this time."
Chris side eyed her as he unlocked his phone, making small comments as he scrolled through the pictures.
"When did you get that pic of me eating grapes?"
"Like three days ago, didn't even know green grapes were in season. Keep going!"
He looks back at his phone, swiping and then landing on the last picture.
"You're shitting me."
"We're friends officially! So now you have to make an appearance on my Instagram. Welcome, friend!"
And it was always so funny, because no matter what it was, her friends would always rally together whenever she posted. In this instance, the three who turned in because they were super tired ended up commenting and liking Elena's post right away. She read their comments and responded, giggling as she tucked her phone away for the night.
"Where are you sleeping, Lena?"
"Probably with Matt, nothing new. Why?"
"Just wanted to ask."
"Mmkay."
"... you heading in soon?"
Elena lets out a yawn she didn't know she was hiding, "I think so, yeah."
"Okay. Me, too," he grabs the remote from Elena's other side and turns off the TV. He reaches his arms above his head, a small sliver of skin peeking as his shirt lifted up the slightest.
She yawns again, "goodnight, Chrissy."
"Night, Lena."
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tagged: christophersturniolo
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Liked by christophersturniolo, romanhines, nicolassturniolo, and 1,793 others
elenahart went shopping w my FRIENDS🤣🤣🤣🤣 (mila we miss u)
christophersturniolo Elena what is this
christophersturniolo I did not give you permission to post my bleeder 😐
↳ elenahart womp womp
matthew.sturniolo Not liking how there's more Chris than me
↳ elenahart u will be the focal point of my next post
↳ christophersturniolo Womp womp
nicolassturniolo Petition for more Roman pictures
liked by romanhines and elenahart
↳ christophersturniolo No one sign that shit
↳ romanhines Alr bro
camilachoi WHY MUST I WORK!!!
↳ elenahart 1 like and we'll write the resignation letter
liked by romanhines
user THEY ARE FRIENDS FINALLY
user CHRILENA STANS WAKE UP!!!! WAR IS OVER WAKE UP NOW!!!!
user such a good day today i think the birds are singing again
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘˗ˏˋ ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ ˎˊ˗∘∙⊱⋅•⋅.
EDITED (again) :D
let me also take this time to say i'm working on an academic rivals fix, not sure if i want it to be chris or matt ! so if u guys wanna lmk which one u would prefer, go for it!! i would really appreciate the feedback and i would love to hear from u guys <3 thank you lovelies
📁 l1velaughluke:
i'm unstoppable i got two updates that aren't too far from each other😏😏😏😏 the next chapter should be fun lol AND DONT WORRY U WONT HAVE TO WAIT LONGGGG MAYBE TEEHEE
LOVE U BYE
votes and comments are always appreciated 🩷 thank you for all the love on this fic recently! u guys make me happy :,)