How We Became Us

Chapter 7

"How much did you have to drink?" Matt asked, and Kelly shrugged.

"Two beers and two shots, not drunk. That file certainly sober me up," Kelly said, and Matt nodded.

"I have a feeling Heather and Andy might take a while," Matt said, and Kelly chuckled and nodded. "I have a pool table. Do you play?"

"You have a pool table?" Kelly asked, mouth dropping open without his brain's consent. "Wait, why am I surprised? You live in a fucking castle, like seriously? The gold and silver are accented with the marble, and everything here looks so shiny you can see your reflection in it. I'm pretty sure the air in the house is expensive." Matt shifted on his feet and looked away while Kelly rambled on and gestured widely around the hallway they were standing in. He hated how people reacted to his "wealth" since he always saw it as his parent's money.

"So... the game?" Matt asked, switching the topics. Kelly froze for a second, caught off guard, and nodded.

"Sorry," Kelly said, shaking his head to expel any lingering shock to Matt's wealth. He noticed that Matt was always cautious about hiding his wealth. His clothes never had any name brands on them, even if they looked expensive; he never brought up money or made any comments that made him look out of touch with the rest of the world. But seeing Matt's uncomfortable position now, he knew he had overstepped, and once again, Matt was showing him that everything he knew about rich people was wrong. That is another thing that makes Matt all that more interesting.

"Oh, you're on, Princess," Kelly said with a smirk, and Matt's eyebrows shot up, but he said nothing about the nickname.

He certainly did not get little butterflies in his stomach at the pet name. Nope. Abso-fucking-lutely not. Nada.

"Alright," Matt said, matching Kelly's smirk with his own.

"Every missed shot is a shot of vodka," Kelly said, and Matt made a disgusted face. "What?" Kelly asked.

"You just want to get me to drink, Severide," Matt said with a scoff but didn't disagree. Kelly rolled his eyes and deadpanned Matt.

"It's a party, Matthew," Kelly said in a bland tone.

"It's Matt," he corrected immediately. "And if I don't agree to the terms?"

"We can play strip pool," Kelly said with a shrug. Matt's jaw dropped, and Kelly smirked.

"No," Matt said with finality. "I'm doing tequila," Matt said, shocking Kelly as he hadn't seen Matt go near alcohol the entire party while the rest of his friends were probably pretty close to wasted by now.

"Fine," Kelly said, and Matt led the way to the fourth floor. Kelly had to focus hard, not look around in awe, and follow Matt.

"I would like to point out that Connor's better at it than I am," Matt said when they entered the game room. It was a large U-shaped room that had a pool table, poker table, a small bar area, a large TV, comfortable couches and beanbags near the back. The floor-to-ceiling windows face the back gardens and double doors that open to a balcony.

"Guess you're drinking up, Princess," Kelly said absentmindedly as he took in the sheer size of the room. He shook his head again and focused on Matt, who was setting the table up. Kelly walked over and noticed the rack of cues hanging on the wall and the stand where he assumed the balls went after they finished playing.

"I said he is better, not I suck," Matt said with a challenging grin and walked over to the bar in the corner of the room and grabbed two shot glasses and a bottle of vodka and tequila. He placed the drinks at the end table and tossed a cue to Kelly, who quickly caught it with one arm.