what the fuck?? • matt sturniolo

20. i'm so screwed

tw: mentions of alcohol and underage drinking

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𝗪𝗘 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗥, and we meet up with nate, madi and ari, who were riding with nate.

the triplets start asking questions, skeptical. "what are we doing here?" nick asks, "why are we at nathan's" matt asks.

"we're stopping here to pick up some things." the boy tells them.

he unlocks the door with his house key and gestures for us to enter.

when he flicks on the light, about fifty people jump up from behind the couches and tables, where they were crouching behind.

"SUPRISE!!" we all scream.

nick and matt's jaws drop in surpise, and chris starts jumping up and down, screaming happily.

music starts to play and cups start to be passed around, definately containing alcohol.

i go around the house, looking for familiar faces, as i bump into nessa. "ness! hey!" i smile and pull her into a hug.

"bella oh my god i missed you!" the girl exclaims.

"i missed you too, ness. we have so much to catch up on." i tell her happily.

"totally." she smiles. "i'll come find you when the party's over and we have a chance to talk without all these people and loud ass music." she laughs.

"sounds good. bring sab, too! i haven't seen her in so long." i tell her.

"i will." she says, giving me another hug. "see you later, bells."

"bye, ness!"

i turn around and see nick and malina talking excitedly in a corner.

i'm so excited for them to meet because i just know they're going to hit it off right away and become friends.

so i let them talk without interfering, i figure it's best they get to know each other one on one before we get together the three of us.

i head to the pool, where there's people swimming. i love going to the pool at night but i didn't think to bring a bikini so i just take by shoes and socks off and put my feet in, people watching.

"bella." i hear a guy's voice say from behind me.

i turn around. josh.

fuck.

"what are you doing here?" i ask him, annoyed.

"i kind of crashed the party." he shrugs. "look, i'm sorry for what i said."

"no you're not." i smile fakely.

"i am. i think my question was fair and that i didn't do anything wrong but if it can bring you back into my life, then i'm sorry." he explains, shrugging like he's saying the most polite stuff ever.

"can you leave, josh?" i ask, sighing.

right then, i see matt come up behind josh. "wait, this is josh?" he asks.

"yeah, man." josh nods.

"leave." matt demands.

"no. i'm apologizing, and plus, i was invited." he says.

"no you weren't. this is my birthday party, no one i know would ever invite you." matt scowls.

i intervene. "he crashed the party, he literally just told me so." i say as i stand up.

"alright fine, i crashed. so what? it's not like i'm fucking committing a crime." josh laughs.

"you are, actually." matt starts. "you're tresspassing on private property that you're not welcome in."

"i don't care, i'm not leaving, man."

"just go, josh. please." i say.

"no. i'm staying. i feel like getting drunk." the boy responds, shrugging.

"oh come on, you asshole." i start. "just fucking go away."

he gets all up in my face. "what are you gonna do about it if i stay?" he asks.

i start getting flashbacks of that day with louis and my vision becomes blurry, my breathing fast.

"oh, hell no. now you've done it." matt says, clocking my reaction and punching him.

the blonde boy falls to the ground, nose bleeding.

i drop to my knees, starting to cry and not being able to breathe.

the crowd gathers around us and starts chanting. "fight! fight! fight! fight!"

matt whispers something to nathan, who was watching what was going down from a distance, and he nods.

nate goes up to josh, who is still on the floor, clutching his nose in pain, and he picks the boy up and drags him out of the house.

matt then comes up to me and takes me to a nearby bathroom, away from all the noise and the people.

"bella, are you okay?" he asks.

i don't respond.

"this is a panic attack, right?" he asks.

i stay silent, not being able to speak.

"okay, i know what to do, i get them too sometimes." the boy says, crouching next to me on the bathroom floor.

"ch- chris." i choke out the word.

chris is the only one who knows how to help when i get strong panic attacks like this one, at least he's the only one that i know of.

matt shakes his head. "i can't go get chris and leave you here alone. i'll help you, okay?" he asks.

i shake my head but he's persistent.

"i don't give a fuck what you say, bella. i'm not leaving."

i'm so screwed.

if matt is supposed to be calming me down then we have a problem, because i'm fairly confident he won't be able to help much.

"do you remember that time you pushed me in the pool?" he asks, smiling sofly.

i can't bring myself to say anything so i just nod my head once.

"it was the dead of winter, december, i think, and we were all hanging out here, at nate's. we went outside to find something, i don't remember what, and i zoned out staring at the water."

"you came up behind me, not making a sound, which i still don't understand how you did that, to this day." he laughs quietly. "anyway, you came up to me and pushed me into the pool. i didn't even know what was going on until i came up for air and saw you all laughing."

"i thought you were such a bitch for that." he laughs again. "it turns out nick had dared you to do it, saying he didn't think you'd go through with it. but you don't back out of a dare, do you?"

i choke out a laugh, starting to catch my breath. "i never do." i smile.

matt smiles and tells me to breathe with him, so that's what i do.

we sit there, on the bathroom floor, breathing together for a good fifteen minutes until i can take a full breath again.

"okay i'm good." i say. "thanks, matt."

"anytime. i get them too, i know how hard it is." he says.

"yeah."

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ohhh panic attacks are the perfect excuse to turn them into softies lol 😭

anyways there's more to come so be readyyy

LOVE YOU BYEEE ⭐️