irl
"sure." she answers.
"you don't have to say anything, and i know things are still awkward right now. i don't want to force you to talk to me, i know you're not really ready to yet, i just wanted to say thank you for earlier. you know, with james." he manages a full sentence to her.
she takes a deep breath and looks at him.
"you're welcome. and it's fine, but i don't really think i am ready to just be hanging out with you casually and talking and stuff, you know?" she responds.
"yeah, that's fine. i'll give you space." he nods.
she smiles in agreement and matt goes into the men's washroom. kaia walks back to the table and sits down next to chloe.
"you okay?" chloe asks, noticing the unsettled look on kaia's face.
"yeah, i just probably need to get home and explain what happened to my mom." she says.
"me too. when matt gets back we should go." chris agrees.
they all make light conversation, and matt eventually comes back from the bathroom.
everyone pays and they all get in the minivan. matt drives to the school so kaia can get her car and drive chloe home.
chloe hugs the triplets goodbye, and kaia hugs nick and chris. before getting in her car, kaia accidentally makes eye contact with matt and he smiles at her.
she automatically smiles back and awkwardly gets in her car with chloe.
the triplets drive home, and kaia heads for her house.
"can i sleep over?" chloe asks.
"duh, bitch." kaia responds.
they pull into kaia's driveway and park the car. the girls grab their schoolbags and walk inside.
"why are you girls home early?" kaia's mom asks from the kitchen.
"did marylou call you last night?" kaia asks her mom.
"yes, she did. she explained what happened, i'm so sorry sweetie." her mom gives kaia a big hug.
"i'll get over it. but we're home early because james showed up and tried to fight matt, so we kinda fought him off and we left before the principal could suspend us." she answers.
"i got a call from the school asking to talk to me, but i figured i'd wait to hear your side of whatever happened first." kaia's mom explains.
"kaia totally whooped his ass. i just held him still." chloe smiles.
"thank you, chloe." kaia's mom smiles at the girl.
"anything for your daughter." she bows.
"well, you only have a week left before your trip, i'll just call you out of school so you don't technically get suspended. they'll forget about it by the time spring break is over." kaia's mom smiles.
"oh, thank you so much, mom." kaia and chloe both give the woman a huge hug.
"you're the best!" chloe says from the stairs as the girls go up to kaia's room.
they sit down on kaia's bed and turn on the tv.
"so, how are you feeling about all the james stuff?" chloe asks.
"i really thought he liked me. it's like, every single new relationship i'm in i always think "this is the last one, i never have to worry about dating again" and it never is. it always ends. this isn't my first time being cheated on, but i totally didn't expect it from him." kaia sighs.
"i understand how you feel. and i know i tell you the same thing after every break up, but time is always the best healer." chloe comforts kaia.
"but you don't know how i feel. you and chris are, like, perfect together." kaia rolls her eyes.
"first of all, i'm not dating chris. second, i could say the same thing about you and matt, but you don't wanna hear it." chloe responds.
"what the hell are you even talking about?" kaia looks confused.
"i know you're not talking right now, but even just as friends you two are soulmates. i mean, your personalities are perfect for eachother, you're always- sorry, you WERE always there for eachother, i've never seen two people match eachother so well, and we've all seen the way he looks at you." chloe explains.
"wow. all of that was a reach. he doesn't look at me some type of way, and you're just trying to change the topic away from chris." kaia teases.
"look, i don't care about chris and i right now, i care about you and matt." chloe says.
"there is no me and matt. our friendship is over. for good. but i do need to tell you one thing." she looks at chloe nervously.
"you made up?" chloe asks excitedly, giggling.
"no. but he did talk to me." kaia starts.
"oh my gosh, tell me everything now." chloe giggles and squirms around in the bed.
"he said he knows i'm not ready to be friends yet and that he'll give me space, but he thanked me for this morning with james." kaia answers.
"KAIA!! do you know how awesome this is?? you can get him back!" chloe shouts.
"get him back? i never had him. and i don't want him." kaia rolls her eyes.
"bull fucking shit." chloe laughs.
"you care more about this than me, anyway." kaia huffs.
chloe looks around the room nervously and bites her fingernails, avoiding eye contact with kaia.
"chloe." kaia forces her to make eye contact.
"what?!" she defends herself.
"what did you do?" kaia asks.
"nothing! i just kinda, told- no, encouraged, matt to talk to you." chloe hesitantly answers.
"chloe! you knew i wasn't ready!" she slaps her friend's arm.
"ugh, whatever. you never would've been ready, i was just helping. we're flying across the country in a few days WITH HIM and you're gonna have to get used to it eventually." chloe replies.
"i don't care." kaia lays down under the covers.
"you're so dramatic." chloe laughs, also laying down under the blanket.
kaia keeps her room cold because she loves blankets. even with how hot today is.
the two girls scroll on their phones and watch tiktok for a bit. they eventually get hungry so kaia's mom makes fettucine chicken alfredo for dinner, and the three of them have a girls night eating food and watching tv. chloe also calls her mom to tell her why her and kaia can't go to school this week.
when the triplets get home, matt immediately goes up to his room. he takes off his pants to switch into more comfortable clothes, and lies down in bed.
he reaches into the pocket for his phone out of habit, even though it was on his bed.
instead of his phone being in his pocket, he finds the crumpled up photo of him, kaia, and his brothers with willow.
matt flattens out the picture and sets it up against the lamp on his bedside table. he spends the rest of the night watching liam neeson movies, and glancing over at the picture everytime he remembers it exists.
1163 words
YOU ARE READING
as you wish
Fanfictionkaia wright is a beautiful girl who meets the triplets in her childhood, growing closer to them over the years but never seeing any of them as any more than her best friends. in her senior year, she's introduced to a boy named james and she thinks s...
