Lonely hearts

19. dinial

Chris POV:

The next morning, I woke up with a lingering sense of discomfort. After the awkward and sad evening yesterday, I had no idea how the day would unfold. Matt had left without saying a word, and Olivia had quietly packed her things and gone home. The triplets' house felt empty and silent without the usual liveliness.

Nick and I had been cleaning up the house, but it was difficult to lift the mood without Matt, who was still missing. We waited  for him to return, hoping he would offer some explanation for where he had been.

Around noon, Matt finally came home, looking clearly exhausted and somewhat somber. Nick and I were in the middle of preparing lunch when he walked in.

"Where have you been all night?" Nick asked with a concerned look as he opened a can of cola. "We haven't seen you the entire night." Matt looked annoyed and wore an expression of fatigue. "I was at Amber's," he said curtly as he took off his shoes.

"At Amber's?" I asked, my tone a bit sharp. "Why didn't you send a message or say something? We were worried."

Matt sighed and leaned against the wall. "I needed some time to myself. Things happened, and I thought it was better to be away for a while." Nick and I exchanged worried glances. The tension in the air was palpable. I decided to steer the conversation toward what had happened the previous evening.

"Matt, you know Olivia was here yesterday, right?" I asked cautiously. "She had a hard time after the... situation."

Matt looked up, his eyes lighting up with frustration. "Yeah, I know. It seems like you all know better what's going on with me than I do." The conversation quickly escalated. "Chris," Matt said, his voice hardening. "Why didn't you just tell me honestly what was going on? Why did you and Olivia try to make me jealous?"

I felt my heart pounding in my chest at his words. "I really thought you had feelings for Olivia. It seemed like a good way to show you what you wanted." Matt's face turned red with anger. "So you just used me as some kind of experiment? Couldn't you have talked to me directly? Instead, you involved someone else."

"I thought you needed it," Chris defended himself. "You had so many doubts, and it seemed like you didn't know what you really wanted." Matt shook his head, visibly frustrated. "This is ridiculous. Even if I had feelings for Olivia, you had no right to play with her to get a reaction from me." Nick stepped into the conversation, trying to calm the situation. "Matt, maybe we should all stay calm. There are a lot of feelings involved. It's not just Chris who's made things escalate."

Matt turned to Nick and said, "What's the point of staying calm? It seems like everything here is a big mess. And I'm fed up." Chris, now visibly distressed by the situation, tried once more to explain his actions. "I really thought you had feelings for Olivia. It wasn't the best way, but I just wanted to help."

"It doesn't help if you hurt people and use them as pawns in a game," Matt replied, his voice bitter. "I just don't want to be in this situation." Nick and I watched as Matt's anger and frustration grew. It was clear that the situation was far more complicated than we had anticipated. "Matt," I said gently, "you really need to explain what's going on. It seems like there's a lot of miscommunication and wrong assumptions."

Matt looked at me with a somber expression. "Maybe you should just accept that I'm not interested in Olivia in the way you think. This was all a misunderstanding."

"But we thought you might actually have feelings for her," Nick said, with a worried tone. "What's really going on?"Matt sighed deeply and shook his head. "It's complicated. But right now, I just want to find my own way without more drama and misunderstandings."

With those words, Matt turned and walked out of the house. The door slammed behind him, and the silence that followed was almost deafening. Nick and I stood alone in the kitchen, our thoughts and emotions shaken by the conflict we had just witnessed.

"This has really gotten out of hand," Nick finally said, his voice filled with uncertainty.

"Yeah," I replied somberly. "We need to do something to resolve this, but I'm not sure exactly how."

We sat down and tried to understand what had happened. The situation was far more complex than we had expected, and it seemed that everyone's emotions were on the verge of escalating further.

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Matt Pov:

The door slammed shut behind me as I left the house, breathing in the fresh air in an attempt to calm my thoughts. My head was spinning from the exchanges with Chris and Nick. Everything felt so tangled and confusing. With each step I took, the world around me seemed to fade into silence, except for my thoughts, which continued to race on the surface.

I soon found myself in the park, a place that had always felt like a sanctuary. It was a place where I could clear my head, away from the hustle and chaos of daily life. The trees swayed gently in the wind, and the sound of birds calmed me somewhat as I sat on a bench, staring at the pond in front of me.

I had spent the entire night at Amber's, but even that didn't feel like an escape. While Amber was a source of comfort, I couldn't deny that something was missing between us. Over the past few weeks, I had noticed my thoughts drifting more and more toward Olivia, and that gave me a sense of guilt. I loved Amber, but there was something about Olivia that touched me deep inside.

I took a deep breath and tried to sort out my feelings. What did I really feel for Olivia? Was it more than just friendship? The moments we spent together, the conversations, the quiet times where we just understood each other without needing words—they held a special meaning for me. But my relationship with Amber was also important, and I didn't want to hurt or betray her.

Chris's words kept echoing in my mind. He thought I liked Olivia, and maybe he was right. But it was more complicated than that. My feelings for Olivia weren't black and white; they were nuanced and confused. I felt attracted to her, yes, but I also didn't want to give up my loyalty to Amber. I felt torn between two worlds that I couldn't reconcile.

"Why does this have to be so complicated?" I whispered to myself, running my hands through my hair. I wanted nothing more than clarity, but it seemed like every step I took only brought more confusion.

Time passed as I sat there, the sun slowly setting behind the horizon, painting the sky in warm orange and pink hues. The tranquility of the park gave me the space to explore my feelings, but also the painful realization that I had to make choices that would inevitably hurt someone.

I eventually stood up and began walking back home slowly, my thoughts still a tangled mess. I knew I had to be honest with myself and with the people around me. Olivia deserved the truth, and so did Amber. No matter how difficult it would be, I had to untangle this knot before it was too late.

When I finally stood in front of our door again, I took a deep breath and opened it. Inside, it was quiet, a stark contrast to the emotions I had felt earlier that day. Chris and Nick were sitting in the living room, still clearly concerned about what had happened.

"Matt," Chris began cautiously as he stood up. "I'm sorry for everything I said. I didn't mean to hurt you."

I nodded slowly. "I know, Chris. And I understand why you did what you did. But we have to get through this, and that can only happen if we're honest with each other.".