butterflies ઇଓ matt sturniolo imagines

𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴

ॱ⋅.˳˳.⋅˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.⋅ઇଓ

     you're not a people person. matt knows you're not a people person. his brothers know you're not a people person. everyone knows you are not a people person. but you just had to date into a family that lives by exposure therapy, didn't you?

     your first night out with matt's friends- well, more like night in- was tonight. this will be the first time your boyfriend introduces you to everyone officially. his brothers orchestrated the whole affair; nick ordered a gigantic amount of takeout chinese, chris bought cases on cases of soda at the store, and everyone is showing up to see you. like, every friend they have available to them that isn't madi, who you've met plenty of times. nathan, malcolm, tril, max, sabrina, oliver, anna, johnny, waylon... everyone.
     you didn't agree to this plan. when they proposed you meet everyone all at once, you asked, "why can't it be one at a time? spaced out significantly?!" and they smiled at your nerves, but brutally shut you down nonetheless. matt was a firm believer in confronting your anxieties head on, and he knew you would survive and end up far happier if you just got it all out of the way at once. he knows you; meeting everyone individually would build too much stress and turn you into a nervous wreck. and in your logical brain, you knew this was the better option, but you were not happy about it.

     you were so nervous that you let matt do everything for you all day. he offered each time, so you tried not to feel guilty, but you hated needing his help for something that shouldn't be scary. he brought breakfast home for you; he picked out your outfit for you, which you had to do with him because he was going to give you the shortest dress you owned if you let him do the job alone (because he's a boy); he picked out the color of your lipstick, because you couldn't decide; he helped you tidy his apartment, trying to stop you from stress cleaning. he was only mildly successful. and now, after passing a day's worth of worries and regular tasks that felt monumental, you sat in matt's living room like a ticking bomb.

     everyone was about a half hour away from showing up. you'd stepped into your matt-approved blue jeans, the baggy ones he bought you for your birthday, and a baby tee with dark blue and green stripes. he forced you to buy the shirt at a thrift store not too long ago, insisting that he could see how pretty you looked in it when he closed his eyes. you sat silently on his couch, snuggling the one pillow matt always lays on when he watches movies with your eyes shut tight. you were counting your breaths slowly, using the exercises he had shown you when the two of you started dating. you were beginning to mellow out when the couch dipped beside you and you jumped, spooked by the sudden presence.

     "i know i'm pushing you to do this, but if you really can't handle it, i'll call it off," matt smiled with the corners of his mouth turned downward. you felt guilty for ever making him smile so sadly.

     "no, you don't- i just... ugh."

     "i can feel your nerves," he chuckled, "it's making me nervous."

     "sorry."

     "don't apologize. i'd be nervous meeting all of your friends."

     "yeah, but i don't have any," you smiled, and you felt his body lurch with laughter behind you.

"you know what i mean."

     you hadn't done much but admire the charming twinge in his eyes since he sat beside you, but now you began to look elsewhere. you saw he was wearing your favorite shirt of his- a snug black long sleeve with dark detailings of a skull and wings. you thought he could be a walking tim burton animation in that shirt. his hair was getting a bit long in the front, but you adored that, and you scolded him constantly not to cut it (which you felt like doing now). you saw his soft smile, and the nonchalant way he sat himself on the couch, and in his big hand, you noticed something out of the ordinary. a hairbrush.