Hey guys! I know most of you want to just track me down and throttle me for updating more than a month after the last update. And I'm very, very sorry about that. I did have writer's block, or something milder than that, considering that I'm not a real writer. Then what would we call it, instead of writer's block? Anyways, we're getting off topic here. Turns out, this is not my best work, but I had to continue the story so...But I promise the next chapter's gonna be a lot better. And yes, I will try my best to update as frequently as I can. Love ya!

MATT

"How about I help with some of the work?", Matt offered sweetly, and everyone just stared at him as if he had announced he was pregnant.

"What help would you possibly be?", Emma asked flatly.

"Hey! I didn't fail", Matt said, then shut up when the others gave him alarmed looks and...Penny began crying again.

"Oh God, even Matt passed and I didn't. How can I suck so much?!", she cried, and Matt tried to not get offended by that. But he still got offended. 

Even though what she said made a lot of sense. And she clearly insulted both him and herself in the process.

He watched Kyle pull out book after book out of his duffel bag. That duffel bag was huge. 

Liv was sitting in one corner of the room, wearing one of Penny's too big sweat pants and hoodie, considering how tiny she was. She was still as red as the big stain of marinara on Matt's apron when Emma had used it to make pancakes, because of the...small encounter. Will was sitting in the opposite corner of the room, also red. It was so awkward that it was funny now.

"Okay, duties", Emma said, and clapped her hands together, "Will and Kyle, you're starting basic Cartesian coordinates with Penny till six o'clock, while the rest of us plan to watch Brooklyn nine-nine, then we're going out for dinner, which is Shane's treat", she said, earning cheers from everyone but Penny, "Liv and Kevin, you're helping with Straight Lines and other important curves from nine to twelve. You can have a small nap from twelve to two, Penny, then you're starting circles, triangles and squares with Shane and me until five. Matt", Matt turned around to look at her, "You're on coffee duty throughout the night, because your coffee is like nectar from heaven."

Matt tried not to let the praise get to his head. But it was true, he was a God when it came to cooking pancakes and coffee. Actually, he was a God in cooking breakfast in general. Matt would have flipped his hair, if he had enough of it. His mom always tied him to a chair and cut his hair, every time he thought of growing it.

Emma continued, "From five to seven, you're gonna solve a mock test, then rest till nine, when you have to leave for the examination. Clear?"

Penny frowned, "This night is gonna be the death of me."

"Honey, you should have thought of that before not studying for Geometry", Emma replied curtly.

"Em!", Penny complained, but Matt cut in.

"You'll have to get used to the tough love, Pen. Emma gets crazy in such times", and for saying that, Matt got one of Emma's death stares, which he had hoped never to encounter in his life. So he shrank back into the chair he was sitting, and just sipped his Gatorade quietly, as Emma and Kyle began going through all the books that the duffel bag spat out.

Then Emma ushered everyone but Will, Kyle and Penny out of the room, and they headed downstairs to binge-watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

*****

Matt walked into the kitchen, to make pancakes on popular request to see John standing near the stove, stirring something in a pot. Matt walked up to him.

"Um, Mr. John, please go rest, I've got the kitchen", Matt said, trying to sound as polite as he could, which was very hard, because he never really had to be polite.

"Mr Lewis can I trust you to be alone in this kitchen?", John asked, with his eyes narrowed.

"Sir, I cook for my family all the time. That's my mom and five other siblings. You can trust me", Matt felt confidence well up inside him, "And please, call me Matt."

John looked convinced. Or he was so tired that he was ready to get convinced by Matt. There very, very dark bags under his eyes.

"Okay, Matt, please don't burn my kitchen down."

Matt just loved to hear the soft sizzle of the batter, as soon as he put it on the pan. He felt this weird kind of satisfaction as he watched the bubbles appear on the top side. And when he flipped it and saw the golden brown color, he could just picture Q and Hannah standing at the dining table, fighting for the second pancake, while Derek would be sitting on the kitchen counter, eating the first one while holding it in his bare hands. 

Then realization struck him. He would have to leave them all, when he went to Duke. How would he do that? The Peppa Pig marathons with Erica, the extremely long hours of listening to Derek blabber about Star Wars, shouting at Quinn when she back-flipped off the couch, Hannah calling him a virgin every morning he woke up, he wouldn't get to do any of it anymore. Oh God.

He felt a pair of hands on his shoulder blades, which traveled down his arms, and he turned to be face to face with Emma, who raised herself on her toes, and whispered in his ear, "The first pancake better be mine. And I want Triple C."

Matt lowered himself, brushed off some strands of her golden hair which were covering her ears, and whispered back, "I'm gonna need payment", then again leveled his face with hers as she smirked at him.

"Will this work?", she asked, and then Matt felt her lips on his, soft and gentle, but still forced his heart into doing an intense routine of Irish tap-dance. He was completely aware of every touch that her fingertips made, like little firecrackers bursting on his skin, as they traveled back up his arms, then onto his shoulders and neck, and finally tangled up in his hair. He too wrapped his arms around her waist, the soft fabric of her sweater grazing his bare arms, slightly tickling him, as he pulled her closer. But they broke apart, when they heard a groan.

"Aw come on! Can't a guy even get some water in peace?", Shane said, standing next to the refrigerator, holding a water bottle.

"I see you that you have gotten your water now, so you can leave", Matt said, and watched Shane walk out before turning back towards Emma and leaning back towards her. She too leaned forward, but then jerked herself as he heard her phone ring, their foreheads clunked together, and Matt groaned, rubbing his forehead.

"Sorry", Emma muttered, clutching her forehead with one hand, while fumbling with her phone in another.

"Hey mom", she said on the phone, "I'm at Penny's house, why..."

And then her eyes widened, and she went still, which freaked Matt out. What could have her mom said...

And then phone slipped from her hand and fell towards the ground, but Matt thankfully caught it before it hit the ground.

"Emma, what...", he asked, but she gripped his right arm.

"St-St-Sta", she stuttered.

"What?", Matt asked, a lot more concerned than before.

"St-St-Stan-Stanford", she continued.

"What about it?"

"St-Stanford wants me!"

"Oh my God!", Matt shouted, and caught her as she flung herself into his arms, and he buried his face into the side of her neck. He knew it. He knew that she would get some excellent offers. And she had been hating herself a week ago and calling herself a failure. What an idiot.

But then she pulled away from him and looked down. He knit his eyebrows, and lifted her chin up with his index finger, "What happened?", he asked, looking into those bright electric blue eyes for an answer.

"What about Duke?", she whispered. And it struck him. Duke and Stanford were on literally opposite sides of the States. Great.

He was so preoccupied by that single thought, that he didn't smell the burning pancake on the stove, or hear John walk into the kitchen.

"Matthew, I had specifically told you not to burn my kitchen."