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ALL I DO. { irl }
matt was sitting in the kitchen while he texted niola. but then she had to leave, so now he's just aimlessly scrolling through social media. it's not her fault she had to go, but he really wishes she didn't have to.
"matt?" he looks down at the sound of rayne's voice and the feeling of her tugging on his hoodie sleeve. "why haven't you and nick talked like normal?"
"we got into a little argument." matt explains. "that's all."
as soon as rayne is about to say something else, chris shouts her name from down the hallway. the child shrieks before running off and hiding from chris. when she's gone, matt returns his attention to his phone. but a few moments later, chris walks into the kitchen looking around for something – or someone.
chris spots matt and asks, "have you seen ray? we're playing hide and seek."
"if you're playing hide and seek, find her yourself." matt responds without looking up at his brother. "don't cheat in a game against a two year old."
"it's not cheating." chris defends himself. "i'm just using my resources."
"don't try and justify yourself." matt jokes, looking up from his phone to glare at chris. but just as he raises his head, matt spots nick walking down the hall as he passes the doorway. matt doesn't say anything as he stands up from the table and rushes over to nick.
chris groans at matt's dramatic exit as he turns his attention back to his game with rayne.
"what do you want, matt?" nick asks, rolling his eyes when he heads his brother run up behind him.
"to talk to you." matt says.
"well i don't." nick says, turning back around and continuing to walk down the hall. matt grabs nicks wrist to stop him from leaving. "don't fucking touch me."
"nick," matt says carefully, trying to treat this situation delicately as he drops his brother's arm.
he remembers what niola said — that something may have happened to upset nick and now he's using matt as a scapegoat. and seeing as matt doesn't know what happened, he wants to approach this conversation gently.
"matthew." nick responds, waiting for matt to continue while his brothers works up the confidence to address this topic.
"did something happen?" he asks softly.
"what are you talking about?" nick says, genuinely confused.
"you got super defensive about something that normally wouldn't have bothered you so much." matt states. "i was just wondering if you were on edge because something else happened beforehand."
nick's eyes widen. at first, nick is surprised that matt knew something was wrong. but his shock quickly turns into frustration.
"no. everything was fine." nick lies. "well it was. until i found out that you and niola had been lying to me!"
as much as matt is trying to be understanding and kind, he's now angry as well. it's completely matt's fault for not telling him, not niola's. she did nothing wrong.
"don't bring her into this." matt says, trying to keep his voice level.
but nick knows matt. they're brothers, so he can read his emotions better than anyone.
nick knows that he's being a big unreasonable and he's acting on his negative emotions. but now that he knows matt is angry, nick's irritation rises as well.
all nick wants is to be included.
"don't relationships bind two people together?" nick points out. "which means your mistakes reflect back into her."
matt's anger falters.
niola already goes through so much. i don't want to burden her even more with my stupidity.
"oh." matt says.
when nick sees matt's expression, he wants to take back everything he said. but he was so blinded with anger that he wasn't thinking through everything before speaking.
"matt-"
"so you're saying that our relationship is nothing but a liability for her?" matt asks, his eyes blank as they stare at the floor.
it would shatter his heart to break up with niola when they've just gotten together after all this time. but he's willing to destroy himself if it guarantees her happiness.
"what? no, that's not what i'm saying." nick says, grabbing matt by the shoulders and making his brother look him in the eyes.
nick knows how much matt wants this relationship to work out. he's been in love with niola for years, and it would be cruel for nick to make them break up regardless of how angry he is.
"i'm so sorry, matt." he says, pulling his brother into a tight hug. "i didn't mean to say that."
"do you actually think that she feels burdened by me?"
"no." nick says. "i'm sure that having you by her side is exactly what she needs right now."
matt wraps his arms around nick, feeling nothing but sincerity and comfort in his brothers embrace.
.∘◦❀◦∘. a/n : they've resolved their issue 🥱 ◦∘.❀.∘◦
