off limits ( m.s. )

TWENTY NINE

XXIX.
SOTC: serpentine - renforshort

- irl, social media -

irl

matt has barely come out of his room since being home, so he actually doesn't hear his brothers leave. the only reason he knows they're gone is because he gets a notification that they stopped sharing their location.

he taps on it, and their last spot makes his heart stop. it's immediately apparent to him that they're on their way to ruby's place. his stomach feels like it's twisting around and around, and it fucking hurts.

it sucks that she's ignoring him, but it's even worse that she's still seeing his brothers. he should be there. this should be different. that's why it's so bad, because he feels so fucking shitty and it seems impossible to communicate that effectively.

it's so hard to motivate himself to do anything, because all he can do is overthink everything that lead up to that moment. so many thoughts crowd his mind that he feels like he physically can't move.

all of them include ruby of course. it's embarrassing, but matt's thinks about her constantly. and he beats himself up for losing her.

    he knows the deadline for the festival is coming up, which means she's buried in her work anyways. it's such a critical moment, and the fact that he might not be welcome as a part of it anymore kills him.

    he wants to be there, celebrating her first film, showering her in compliments and letting everyone know that's his girl.

    a small thought brews in his mind, and it quickly grows into something bigger. he grabs his laptop off of his nightstand and types something into the search bar.

    the more he scrolls, the more options he comes across, and he knows he has to get it right. it has to be perfect.

    then he finds it, sitting right there in the suggested bar. the one. he's typing his credit card information seconds later, he's that sure.

a small part of him feels more satisfied. almost a little bit relieved. like he actually did something, an attempt at reparations of any kind. matt just prays ruby gives it chance.

    "im literally out of breath." ruby sighs, hands on her knees after mimicking yet another lemonade mouth performance perfectly.

    "okay, you've officially seen this way too many times." chris shakes his head, but he's been laughing along with them the whole time.

    "i can admit to that. it's a great movie." she shrugs, still grinning as she sits back down between josie and nick.

    they'd been hanging out for two hours now, and to her surprise, she's actually been feeling a bit better. granted, she's a little wine drunk, but it only enhances how much her friends are helping.

    and it makes her giggle a whole lot more. 

    that being said, he's still on her mind constantly. she doesn't know how to explain it, but he's in the back of it somewhere at all times. matt never really goes away.