𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐢 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼

i'll make more time for you, promise.

two
( m )

lovesick people usually spend most of their time with each other, and matt was absolutely lovesick. whipped like whipped cream. down horrendously terribly awfully bad. as his relationship continued blooming though, he and arielle fell apart.

matthew sturniolo didn't notice. he thought things with him and arielle were fine - their friendship has never been not okay except for that time when they argued over who's the best power ranger. or when he didn't let arielle copy his math test and she ended up sulking. the duo only ever argued about silly things - they're always happy with each other. that's what they were known for.

arielle porter noticed, of course. he was the one slipping away from her grasp, after all. he always replied to her texts hours late. and whenever she called, his line was constantly busy. and when she waited for him during lunch, he never came. and he stopped entering her house using the spare key under the rug. and he was never at home when she'd come by. and she found herself sipping sweet tea alone at mcdonalds all the time now. and this. and that. and so many more things they used to do that just stopped because he was occupied with lauren.

mario kart played in the background as arielle and chris played. nick sat cross - legged on the bed, scrolling mindlessly through tiktok. they were lounging in chris' room, per usual. now, arielle wasn't really one to play video games. it's not that she was horrible at it - she was excellent. too excellent.

and too competitive.

after one incident where she threw the controller to nick's face, and wailed about her being a failure - it was decided by the triplets and herself to ban her from video games. not even non - competitive ones because arielle being arielle would compete herself by trying to beat her own high score. for the sake of the triplets' safety and her own well - being, she was only allowed to play video games as last resort during times of boredom.

matt's unavailability was the epitome of boredom.

"holy fuck, you're dogshit at this!" arielle exclaimed, eyes hyper focused on the tv screen. if they continued playing for another half an hour with arielle's focus being consistent, chris was certain she could go cross - eyed permanently.

"i'm not dogshit bro, you're just fucking insane at this."

the two continued to argue while the game continued, earning a few chuckles and shake of the head from nick. series of cusses echoed throughout the room - if mrs porter was here, she would most probably tape arielle's lips together. they also chatted about so many things - and arielle quickly realized she told so many stories she would've told matt first.

for instance, she told chris about the fact that she got a B for a math test - something that has never happened to arielle in her high school life. she usually failed her math tests. it was definitely something she would normally tell matt first.

"shit, congratulations dude! i still remember that time you copied matt in math, ended up getting a C but the teacher could tell you copied matt 'cause you forgot to change some answers," chris exclaimed, and they both laughed at the memory.

a part of arielle throbbed, missing her best friend. the last time they hung out was over a month before, and it was rushed because lauren kept calling.

"hey guys," a voice cut them off while they played.

matt.