back home | matt sturniolo

chapter 4

matt realized having ari back home had been quite odd and interesting. he honestly thought the only times he would have to see the girl was at the party and then again at the concert, but what he didn't expect was his friends to plan something nearly every day with ari.

like today. they had just saw aria at anne's party the day before, but now alahna is inviting their whole friend group over to have a grill out. and of course ari was invited to it, alongside matt. all their friends expected matt to just tag along and casually hang out with his ex-girlfriend like it doesn't bother him. the two of them had left on tensed terms the night before after they had their talk. matt walked away from aria and left their conversation incomplete.

what was matt supposed to do, though? ari had been trying to act like everything was fine between her and matt. like ari didn't just blatantly leave matt behind and ignore him for the past three years, which is what bothered matt the most. matt is justified for not wanting to beat around the bush with ari considering what happened. matt finds small talk bullshit and thinks ari should own up to what she did and accept the fact that matt is pissed about it.

with all things pushed aside though, matt gathered up the courage to approach alahna's house. she lived right in the edge of somerville, not too far from where his house was. they asked the triplets to bring a dessert since everything else was taken care of. they decided to stop by the bakery on their way over which happened to be the ari used to work part time at when she was younger.

matt didn't think much of it when they ordered a batch of cupcakes, but once he left the shop he only wished no one made a big deal out of it. the bakery did play a significant role in his relationship with ari, and he hated how he was quickly reminded.

when matt walked up to the front door, he knocked twice and waited. he had to compose himself for a moment by slowing his breathing down and relaxing his muscles. he knew aria was inside and they would have to face each other again. just a few minutes passed when someone answered the door, and matt froze when he saw that it was ari. nick and chris shoved their way passed matt giving ari a hug as they walked in.

"uh-hi," matt greeted, awkwardly waving at ari in the doorway. he realized how dumb that probably looked and chives his free hand back in his pocket.

ari simply smiled and gave a tiny wave back. she opened the door further for matt and stepped to the side. "cupcakes?" she gleamed.

matt walked through the door and turned his head around to nod at ari. he gave her a brief, tight smile and watched as ari bit her lip, looking down at her shoes and blushing profusely. matt then felt and actual smile creep up on his lips, but he quickly punched it away as he turned to walk further inside. he didn't understand how he could still have that same effect on ari despite them being broken up for so long. matt always made ari become a shy blushing mess she. they used to be together, and it seemed like nothing had really changed from that.

matt walked into the living room to see alahna, and nicm sitting around the table with cans of soda out in front of them. at matt's approach, they looked up and smiled at him. alahna raised her glass, blowing a dramatic air kiss his way, "our prince has arrived."

matt snorted, correcting her by pointing his finger up, "it's king, actually. i brought fresh cupcakes."

alahna smiled as she stood up from the table. she walked over towards matt and grabbed the box of cupcakes from his hands. "i'll put them in the kitchen," she informed, "the boys are outside grilling."

matt nodded his head and glanced around the room. his eyes just so happened to stop in the direction aria was approaching from. matt caught sight of ari's cheeks looking a light, rosy pink and her eyes slightly glassy.