. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁ Snowy . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁

“What about one last round of varsity hoodies?” Chris asked, pulling out a bright crimson swatch and holding it against a navy blue. “It’s been one of our best drops, and people keep asking for more.”

I nodded, brushing a stray strand of hair behind my ear as I considered his idea. “It’s a safe bet, but if this is supposed to be the final varsity drop, it has to be more than just hoodies. You know, make it memorable.”

Chris raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to continue.

“Think past hoodies” I said, gesturing toward his phone. “What if we added jackets? Maybe patches people can customize or swap out. Make it more interactive, more personal.”

Chris leaned back in his chair, balancing it on two legs like he always did. “Patches, huh? That could actually work. Retro but fresh.”

“That’s what I was thinking” I said, feeling a small surge of pride. Brainstorming with Chris always felt like a challenge, but in a good way. He was quick to shoot down bad ideas, but when he liked something, you knew it was solid.

He nodded, his fingers tapping on the table now as he started building on the concept. “We could package it as a set, hoodies, jackets, and patches. Maybe even limited edition duffle bags to tie it all together.”

Before I could respond, the rhythmic thud of a basketball hitting concrete interrupted us. My eyes flicked toward the far end of the warehouse, where Matt was casually shooting hoops at the makeshift net Chris had set up years ago for "creative breaks."

Matt had tagged along because, apparently, Chris wasn’t confident enough to drive alone yet. He hadn’t said a word since we got here, happy to stay in his own world, his airpods in as he aimed shot after shot. Until now, he broke his solitude, turning toward us. 

“Have you gotten any further yet?” Matt asks us, like it's an inconvenience to him.

“Yeah, we’re thinking varsity hoodies and jackets for a final time” Chris replied. “Y/n came up with the idea to add patches.”

Matt raised an eyebrow, his tone clipped. “Patches? That’s..different.”

I rolled my eyes, the energy in the room immediately shifted. “It’s called creativity, Matt. You should try it sometime.”

He smirked, finally glancing at me. “Right, because nothing says groundbreaking like varsity hoodies.”

His tone was neutral, but it still set me on edge. There was something about Matt that always managed to push my buttons.

“Do you not have anywhere else to be?” I shot back, keeping my tone as even as possible.

Matt caught the basketball mid dribble and leaned casually against the wall, his smirk annoyingly perfect. "Nope. But if you two could stop dragging this since I’m starving. Unless you’re planning to serve snacks with those hoodie ideas?"

"Funny" I shot back, stuffing my laptop into my bag.

Chris didn’t even look up from his phone. "We’re nearly done. Chill out, Matt. We’ll grab food on the way home."

Matt let the basketball roll across the floor and spread his arms. "No rush, right? It’s not like I have a life or anything."

I opened my mouth to fire back, but Chris cut me off. "Y/n, have you heard from Nick today? We should see if he wants food, too."

I sighed, redirecting my focus to Chris. "I’m meeting him when we're finished here actually. I’ve got my six month landlord inspection going on now, so he’s coming over to help me redecorate after."

Chris raised a brow. "Redecorate? Didn’t you just move stuff around last month?"

"Yeah" I admitted, my voice tightening, "but now that I have the apartment to myself, it feels like a good time to start fresh."

Matt raised a brow, his interest clearly piqued. "Apartment to yourself? What, you finally realized living with your boyfriend wasn’t working?"

Chris groaned. "Matt."

"What?" Matt said innocently, shrugging. "I’m just curious. Everyone knew Ethan was a walking red flag. Figured it was only a matter of time."

"Thanks for the unsolicited commentary" I snapped, glaring at him.

"Anytime" he replied with a mock salute, his smirk widening.

“How did he take it? You breaking up with him?” Chris questions.

I let out a small sigh. “I mean he didn’t take it well it went better than I expected. He was angry, saying I was making a mistake and I’ll regret it.” I paused, shrugging. “But he agreed to have his stuff out before the inspection, so that’s a relief.”

Chris, oblivious to the tension, nodded. "Good for you, though. Ethan always gave me bad vibes. Nick’s probably thrilled to help you out now."

"He was practically bouncing off the walls when I told him" I said, trying to ignore the heat rising in my cheeks. "He’s probably more excited about display pillows than I am."

"Sounds like Nick" Chris said with a laugh.

Matt leaned against the wall, crossing his arms as his smirk turned wicked. "Let me guess, Nick’s going to pick some pastel theme, and you’re going to act like you love it because you’re too polite to say no."

I glared at him. "Unlike you, I actually appreciate someone’s help when they offer it."

He raised a brow. "Politeness isn’t going to make your apartment look less boring."

"Neither will your input." I snapped.

"Touche" he said, almost sick I caught him with that one.

Chris shook his head, "Alright, we’re done here” grabbing his keys from the counter, jingling them in his hand as he turned to me. "I’ll drive you back to your apartment, text Nick to see if he wants any food."

"Thanks" I muttered, barely masking my annoyance as I walked toward the door.

Before we headed out, I pulled out my phone, quickly texting Nick.

Hey, I’m on my way back to the apartment if you want to make your way there. You want us to pick up anything for food on the way?

I hit send and slipped my phone back into my pocket, following Chris and Matt out into the parking lot.

"Nick will probably want sushi or something" I said casually, climbing into the passenger seat of Chris’s car. "You know how he gets about food."

Chris grinned as he started the car. "Yeah, he’s got that obsession with sushi, huh? Can’t blame him, though. I’m all about the ramen."

I laughed lightly, glad for the brief distraction. "He’ll probably text me back in a second, i'll let you know."

We drove in comfortable silence, I thought about what Chris had said earlier, about Ethan always giving him bad vibes. Chris wasn’t wrong. Ethan had been controlling, manipulative, and honestly, just a drain on my energy. Still, hearing Chris talk about it made me realize how little I’d talked to him about my relationship with Ethan.

As we pulled into traffic, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I glanced down and saw Nick’s name flashing on the screen, wanting to FaceTime.

"Hey" I said casually, looking at his face show up on screen.

The line was silent for a beat before I heard his voice, shaky and urgent. "Y/n, where are you right now?"

I blinked, a knot forming in my stomach. "Uh, I’m on the way back to my place with Chris and your other triplet. Why, what’s going on?"

There was a pause, then Nick’s voice came through, thick with disbelief. "There’s an eviction notice on your apartment door."

My heart dropped. "What? No, that can’t be-"

"I’m looking at it right now. It’s taped right on the door. You need to get down here."

I froze, my breath catching in my throat. I could feel the sudden heat rising in my face as panic started to set in. "This.. this doesn’t make sense. Everything was ready for the inspection, what’s going on?"

"Wait, what?" Chris pulled over to the side of the road, his face clouded with concern. "You’ve been on top of your rent, right?"

"I.. I have" I said, voice trembling.

Nick cut in, his tone soft but insistent. "Y/n, you need to come down here right now. It’s serious. I’m gonna try to reach the landlord, but you need to be here to figure out what’s going on."

"Okay. Okay, I’ll be there in a few minutes."

I hung up the phone, the weight of everything sinking in.

Chris turned to me, looking torn between wanting to comfort me and knowing there wasn’t much he could say. "What do you want to do?"

I rubbed my temples, trying to clear my mind. "I don’t know. I’m just.. I can’t believe this is happening. Everything was fine yesterday?”

Matt’s voice came from the passenger seat, snide as usual. "Well, sounds like your ‘perfect’ little life is falling apart, huh?"

I whipped around, eyes narrowing. "Really? Now?"

Matt raised his hands in mock surrender. "Just saying. Seems like you might need to start planning your next move. Maybe get a new place.. or a new boyfriend this time?"

"Matt." Chris warned, but it was too late.

I glared at him. "You don’t know anything about my situation, so don’t even start."

"Hey, I’m just here for the entertainment" he shrugged, his grin as infuriating as ever.

I wanted to say something back, but the lump in my throat made it hard to speak. I didn’t want to deal with Matt’s sarcasm right now, not when everything was crashing down around me.

Chris glanced at me again, his voice soft. "Let’s just get to your place first. We’ll figure it out, okay?"

"Yeah" I said, swallowing hard. "Let’s just get there."

But as we pulled back into traffic, my mind raced, trying to figure out how I could possibly fix this. The car ride felt like it took forever, and my nerves only grew worse the closer we got to my apartment. Nick’s voice replayed in my head: There’s an eviction notice on your apartment door. I could barely focus on the road ahead, my grip tightening on the seat as Chris drove.

When we finally pulled into the parking lot, I didn’t wait for Chris to park properly before hopping out of the car. My heart pounded in my chest as I rushed toward the building, Chris and Matt followed closely behind.

As I reached the hallway outside my apartment, I spotted Nick standing by the door, his arms crossed, his expression tense. The sight of him didn’t calm me, it only made the situation feel more real. Nick looked up when he saw me approach, his face showing concern.

My eyes briefly flicked to the eviction notice on my door. It was there, right in the centre of the door frame, almost mocking me. The bold black letters stared back at me, and a wave of dizziness washed over me.

"Thanks for calling me" I murmured, my voice barely above a whisper as I fumbled with my keys.

I inserted the key into the lock, the sound of the metal grating in the keyhole too loud in the silence. The door creaked as I pushed it open.

The instant the door swung wide, I froze.

The apartment was trashed.

Paper scattered everywhere. Broken glass from what must have been the coffee table lay in shards on the floor. It was as if someone had gone on a rampage, tearing through every inch of the space. The once cosy apartment that I had been proud of was now completely unrecognizable.

“What the..” I whispered, my voice trembling as I took it all in.

It wasn’t just messy, it was deliberate. The TV was shattered, clothes thrown across the floor like a hurricane had ripped through my wardrobe, couch cushions were slashed open, foam spilling out like guts, and my framed pictures lay in pieces. My chest tightened as I moved further inside, carefully stepping around the shards of glass and debris.

Ethan.

It had to be him.

I felt my chest tighten as I took in the sight, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe. It was like I was in a nightmare, but I couldn’t wake up.

My stomach twisted as I stepped inside, the mess spilling out into every corner of the room. Ethan had done it, trashed everything. It was too good to think he'd leave peacefully. I could almost hear his angry, self righteous voice in my head, laughing at how easy it was to tear everything down in one final fit of rage.

I should’ve known.

I heard Nick’s muffled curse from behind me. I could feel his anger building up, the tension in the air almost as thick as mine. "That piece of shit" he growled under his breath. "He did this."

I nodded, trying to process what I was seeing. The eviction notice on the door made sense now, it wasn’t just an arbitrary decision, the landlord had clearly seen the destruction, and now there was no turning back. I was out of my apartment.

I tried to breathe, to stay calm, but the sight before me, everything I had worked for, everything I thought I had built, slipped away.

Nick walked deeper into the apartment, kicking aside a broken chair leg. His voice was quiet but full of venom. "I’m gonna fucking kill that motherfucker. I can’t believe he did this to you."

Chris, still standing in the doorway, said nothing for a moment before speaking with a quiet tone. "Did the landlord know about this?"

I felt a stab of humiliation, and nodded. "Yeah, makes sense why I got the eviction notice now. He clearly walked into this when he came to inspect the place."

Nick turned to face me, his eyes full of concern. "You have to come stay with us."

Matt, who had been standing off to the side, his usual smirk nowhere to be found, finally spoke up, his tone laced with disbelief "Wait. Are you seriously offering for her to stay with us?" He looked between me and Nick with a disbelieving frown. "That’s.. insane. No offense, but we don’t have space for an extra person."

Nick shot Matt an exasperated look. "Come on, Matt. It’s not like she has anywhere else to go."

I glanced at Matt, feeling the tension between us rise instantly. I could almost see the wheels turning in his mind, he didn’t want me there, I could tell.

I looked at him, shaking my head. "I can’t, Nick. That wouldn’t be fair to you guys."

Matt folded his arms and leaned against the doorway, his face set in a grim expression. "Yeah this is a terrible idea."

I chewed on my bottom lip, torn.

Chris stepped in then, his voice steady but full of concern. "Y/n, listen to him. I know it’s not ideal, but you need somewhere safe to stay. We’re just trying to help."

Nick focused solely on me. "Y/n, you don’t have a choice. You can stay as long as you need to. We have space, Matt’s just being stubborn. We can make it work. The podcast room is clear now, there’s room for a bed, it’s literally the perfect spot for you to stay, and it’s right next to my room."

I glanced back at Nick, feeling torn. The idea of moving into their place, especially having to live with Matt, wasn’t exactly ideal, but I didn’t have many options.

Matt raised an eyebrow, his arms still crossed tightly over his chest. "A ‘perfect spot’? Nick, it’s a tiny room with no door."

Nick turned to Matt, his tone firm. "We can pretend it’s a cute little loft."

Matt was visibly uncomfortable. "Yeah, but our place is a little cramped for four grown ass people, don’t you think?"

Nick didn’t miss a beat. "It’s not forever, Matt. Just until Y/n figures things out."

I felt all eyes on me, the weight of their stares almost too much. I hated this. I hated feeling like I had no other options, no choice but to accept their offer, but I was also too exhausted to argue. Too emotionally drained from everything that had happened.

Finally, I nodded, the decision feeling like it was being made for me. "Okay, fine. But just until I can figure something else out."

Nick smiled, relieved. "Good. It’s settled, then."

I sighed, trying to push down the swelling feeling in my chest. It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t how I envisioned spending my time, living with Matt, of all people, but it was a place to stay, and for now, that was all that mattered.

Matt, still grumbling, shot a look at me. "Just don’t start stealing my snacks or leaving your crap everywhere. I’m not your maid."

I raised an eyebrow, giving him a sharp look. "I’m not the one who trashed a fucking apartment, Matt."

He rolled his eyes, but there was a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Yeah, yeah. Just don’t make it weird."

"Not planning on it" I shot back, my voice flat but with just enough bite to make him pause.

For the moment, the tension between us felt like it could snap at any second, I was already starting to brace myself for the weeks ahead. I wasn’t sure how I was going to navigate living under the same roof as Matt, but right now, I didn’t have much of a choice.

a/n: eeeeek new series!!! im v excited for whats in store for this one! also theres 100 tags on this already and its only part one??? i love yous so much omfg