obviously matt and leo are bffs, right? they’re brothers. they’ve been roommates for forever and they went to school together (leo snuck into matt’s classes even though he couldn’t care less about law or any of that shit) and they’re basically a package deal now.

and matt’s parents (because they’re his parents) start harassing him about how he hasn’t met anybody. and mammy politely asks if he’s ever going to bring anyone home to meet (because you’ve been gone for over four years, boy, don’t tell me you haven’t met anybody). and matt couldn’t give less of a fuck about his parents, but he’d die before he ever disappointed mammy. so he mentions it casually to leo and leo just jumps on it like FUCK YEAH LET’S DO THIS which is totally surprising since matt didn’t even specifically ask him.

so they go back home and leo holds matt’s hand the whole time even when there’s nobody around and he’s totally serious about the whole thing. mammy tells matt that leo needs to get his head on straight (because he does) but that he’s a sweet boy and matt should hang onto him.

which matt totally does, of course.

******

and then there’s winston. so he manages to get out of town and move out of his mother’s house. he wants to make something of himself. but he’s desperately clingy and he can get a little weird at some points, so he doesn’t have a lot of luck with the ladies (and we know how he feels about the men). and his mom keeps asking if he’s met anyone special and he’s so tired of disappointing her, so he lies. he tells her he’s met someone awesome and super cool and it’s the happiest he’s ever been. she’s not there so she can’t verify things, but she can be happy knowing her boy isn’t going to die alone.

only then she invites winston and his new beau back home for a weekend.

obviously he can’t come home alone, because then she’d find out. so win puts an ad in the newspaper. he figures he’s only going to get crazy responses, if any at all, so he’s preparing to disappoint his mother. and then matt calls him. matt, for whatever reason, felt bad that this guy actually has to pretend to be dating someone so he takes pity on him and gives him a call.

they end up going out for coffee a few times just to get a feel and win’s totally freaked out by everything at first but he figures he can pretend for a weekend because if you’re going to lie to your mother, you might as well be convincing about it. she’s a little surprised that win brought a guy home, but she totally falls in love with matt because who wouldn’t?

*******

you had to pick all the matt ones didn’t you

honestly i just see them as the couple that has to try everything once. obviously some things go over worse than others (they almost burned down the building with those candles, skyler i told you) but it’s fun to pick and choose what they’re gonna do next.

Leo couldn’t stop staring.

In retrospect, he figured he probably shouldn’t be so blatantly obvious about it. It was impolite, after all, and he considered himself to be a decent guy. More or less. But all bets were off when it came to Jessie. She was a goddess, and he was completely and utterly pathetic.

This isn’t middle school, he told himself. You’re not a fucking twelve year old. Just say something cool.

Yeah. Easier said than done.

You always want something you can’t have, Jessie had said to him once. Leo was overwhelmingly aware of that statement as Jessie hovered just out of reach. Everything about her made him feel more alive than ever.

He wanted her. Even just the lightest touch. A kiss. He was salivating for it. And then she turned and they made eye contact. As she started walking closer, he froze. For a moment, he could imagine that they were the only ones at the party. Everyone else simply faded away, their voices dulling to white noise.

"Hey Leo," Jessie said with a grin. "Having a good time?" He managed to mumble out an answer, tripping over his words.

I could make you the happiest woman alive, Leo thought.

Mason was halfway through the chapter when he felt something brush against the sole of his foot. He twitched once, not looking up from the page. Vectors were difficult to understand even without distractions, and he didn’t want to break his train of thought. Instead, he focused on calculations.

It came again, a deliberate line drawn up the bottom of his foot. Mason had barely paused before he felt it again. Hands clamped down on both ankles as he tried to pull his feet away. He whined, toes wiggling helplessly.

“Must you?”

"You’re not paying attention to me," Emerson replied in an equally whiny tone. "It’s not my fault you’re so ticklish." He punctuated his statement by flicking the bottom of Mason’s foot, eliciting a yelp from him.

"Emerson!"

"You know what you have to doooooo."