not so scary.

she loved the look on his face when he saw her, realized who was waking him up. her fingers slid down the side of his face and she leaned down to give him a peck on the forehead. 

“hey, mon,” she said softly. she rubbed his cheek with her thumb. she chuckled and her hand went back to his hair. in will’s opinion, he could fall asleep anywhere he wanted as long as she could wake him up. he was just so cute with that look in his eye, happy to see her and a little bewildered.

“i’m glad we’re starting your day right. wanna get breakfast with me?”

monty couldn’t fake the joy he experienced every time he caught a glimpse of those hazel eyes, a portal to some other world, one where everything was calm and loving. his smile widened, peeking at his cheek bones as he grumbled awake. 

“ breakfast ? sounds amazing. “ the boy groaned, hand swirling around her waist as he pulled her close, a soft chuckle on his lips. he knew they were alone, his sister having stormed out last night, so he didn’t have to be afraid to show how much he cared. 

his laugh made her angry. it sounded like doubt, like she wouldn’t- couldn’t do it and anyone who knew tess knew that telling her she couldn’t, only made her want to do it more. you can’t run away from everything. her head screamed watch me but her mouth wasn’t as straight forward. “oh i’m not running, monty. i run because of a lot of things. i run from them, toward them… but this, i’m not running from this, i’m walking away. because you’re not going to let it go and nothing you can say or do will change my mind about it. and you can’t fight me if i’m not here.” she made her way to the door. “i’m not running away, you’re pushing me.”

monty can feel hot tears stinging his eyes, piling at his lash line and threatening to spill over any second. the de luca siblings didn’t do this. they don’t leave angry, yelling and spitting and bearing their teeth, they just didn’t. maybe a shout, a yell, but not this. not this final. “ you keep saying i’m pushing you away, but all i’m doing is asking you to open up ! “ monty yells, but the slam of their front door interrupts his silent cry for her to come back, not to do this. he was sure she heard him. but now she was gone. 

an exasperated yell erupts from monty’s throat, hot tears finally dripping down his face as he takes the couch pillow and throws it across the room, shattering something he didn’t bother picking up.

“I can’t imagine…” Elle trailed off. Of course it had been exhausting in there. Someone had died, and Cassandra was in a coma, and everyone who was close to either of them was probably freaking out. Cassandra was a household name here, so of course that boiled down to a lot of people. Elle bit her lip as she looked over at him. Even if she knew how to offer him help, she doubted he’d accept it. From what she could tell about him, he was the kind of person who would make sure everyone else was okay at his own expense. “Do you wanna grab a snack somewhere else?” The ‘get out of here’ was implied. Even if Elle did convince him to leave, she knew he’d be right back. Still, some time away might do him some good. Worst he could say was no.

monty didn’t find himself incredibly close to either of them. keiran was a familiar face, but cassandra had meant so much more to his best friend. that’s why he was busting his ass off in there, anything to make his friend feel even the tiniest bit better--- he knew his efforts was all for naught, but it helped knowing that he... helped. 

her question brought a little light back to the dull pupils of monty’s eyes, a small smile lifting to his lips as he pushed off from the hospital’s outside wall. “ i’d love to... thanks, elle. “ he smiled kindly her way, gently shuffling closer as he found his way away from the hospital.

tess considered lying to him. telling him it was because they knew they had to break up to go to college and wanted to get used to it. but she was already keeping a secret from him, she didn’t want to add lying to the list. “because it’s nobody’s fucking business! it’s between grizz and me!” she watched as he continued to yell at her and she couldn’t help but feel a tinge of something wrong with this fight. not because they were fighting, but the way he was fighting. it was almost like he was too mad. it made her think about why she was getting too mad about this fight - because she had a secret to keep. that’s what the tinge was, the feeling that he was also keeping a secret and she definitely did not have the energy for that right now. “monty, i can love you and be practically twins with you and still have a secret. if you can’t accept that, then maybe i should leave.”

monty knew better than anyone that a secret between the de luca kids was a secret that tore them apart. this had only happened a few times before, some having to do with family, some with their surroundings that tore them down when they needed most to build, but those never felt like this. like it could be nearing the end, that maybe they’d both truly end up alone in this world, no family to back them. but monty couldn’t think like that--- if he lost hope, he lost everything. “ you... you wanna leave ? “ he couldn’t stop the shattering laugh that fell from his lips, his head shaking in disbelief. “ you can’t run away from everything, tess. it’s gonna catch up to you one day. “

willow felt awful that monty and tess were in the middle of such a huge confrontation since prom. they didn’t need that, especially not right now with so much else going on. she could easily see both sides of the story, and she was finding it hard to try and give her comfort to both of them at once. she’d come from tess straight back to the de luca residence to find monty out like a light, curled up on the staircase. so she sat with him until he woke up.

“good morning, sleepyhead,” she said softly, running her fingers through his bedhead. “you are on the stairs. i have no idea how this was comfortable for you.”

monty felt disoriented, like his mind was in a blur and his vision was obsolete, but the one thing he could make out clearly was that soft, soothing voice breaking through the haze of his head. the blur of the sunlight began to subside, and monty could finally see the other clearly--- willow. 

“ hey, “ he mumbled through early morning husk, but the smile on his lips was unmistakable. “ the stairs ? “ he glanced down before him, chocolate hues meeting rigid hardwood, “ oh. “

he pushed himself up, but the feeling of her fingers through his head nearly dropped him back to the floor. “ god... well, no matter where i fell asleep, that was the best wake up ever. “

nina watched as the boy struggled to piece together his surroundings. she waited patiently with arms folded for some kind of explanation and when none came, she sighed. “it’s fine.” though her knitted brows as he arose said otherwise. “besides the fact that you had your outside clothes on my sheets.” the thought of the germs made her skin crawl. “truly, i’d rather you had stripped naked first.” she lifted the corner of the fitter sheet, catching the comforter in the clump of linen and began moving it off the bed.

nina was standing near the curtains that she had just pulled apart to let the ray of sunlight in and flood the room. “you’re in my bedroom. and before you ask how you got here – that’s the answer i’d like to know.” she had spent the night in her parent’s room and when she returned to her own in the morning, she found herself in her very own goldilocks situation.

“hide what?!  i obviously went to his house after prom! we were… stuff was happening when peyton called and we left! that’s it! i don’t understand what’s so important about knowing that!” she was pretty sure that wasn’t what he meant but that was the best he was going to get. “why does everything have to be a direct attack on us being siblings? i’m entitled to secrets, monty! i’m sure you have some things you don’t want me to know, do you see me yelling at you about it? no!”

“ that’s not what i’m talking about anymore and you know it. it’s been half a year, tess, and you still haven’t told me what happened. that shouldn’t be a secret anymore--- if i knew what went down, maybe i wouldn’t want to fucking kill him anymore ! maybe we’d be able to talk it out, because so much shit has had me confused the last six months, and i don’t want to be confused about you anymore ! “ monty was only seeing his side, the waves of anxiety, frustration, utter desperation clouding most of his judgments. he was just so sick and tired of all the secrets, he was sick and tired of his secret. “ because we are siblings tess, practically fucking twins and we’ve never been like this before. it’s changed, and i hate it. “

“i grabbed the first thing i could get my hands on so i could go help our best friend! and yeah, my only options were grizz’s clothes because that’s where i was! i’m lucky i found a pair of my sneakers or i would’ve just spent the last god knows how many hours in heels or barefoot.” tess shook her head angrily. “nothing about what you did today was in any way to help me.” she snorted at his response. “day one? you’re my older brother! don’t act all high and mighty like you deserve a fucking award or something for doing what you’re supposed to! if you shut yourself out.”

“ okay, fine, what the fuck ever. i don’t even care about the fucking clothes anymore--- but saying i shut myself out ? bullshit. we talk about everything else. we’ve gotten each other through everything else but you’re really gonna hide this from me ? why can’t you just tell me ? tell me what happened ! “ his voice was demanding, but his eyes were begging, just for her to reach out, to give him a branch to clasp to keep her from pulling away again. “ you could’ve gotten an asshole for a brother, act like i never did shit for you other than be a brother. like we haven’t been best friends since we met--- like we weren’t all each other had before moving here ! “

“my only other option was a prom dress! next time i’ll show up in my underwear, would that make you feel better?” she realized he was probably going to assume that meant she had been in her underwear, which to be fair, she had been. but he didn’t need to know that. “you made it clear you don’t like him anymore so why would i tell you about it? all you’re going to do is talk shit about him and that’s not going to help me.”

“ like you couldn’t have found something else ! you’re being ridiculous ! “ he seethed, turning to look at her with bewildered eyes. “ you fucking hate vicky and we still talk about her ? we work shit out, don’t we ? that’s what we do, or at least--- that’s what i do. guess it never works the other way around, right ? i wan’t to help you but you won’t even give me the chance. i’ve been there for you since day one and now you shut me out. “