——————————————————

THATS HOW THEY SPENT THE rest of the evening. they both laughed, and talked as they stared into the water.

after a while, chris glanced at the time on his phone. "we should probably head back. it’s getting late."

"yeah," summer said, though part of her didn’t want the night to end.

they walked back together, the silence between them now comfortable, their hands occasionally brushing as they walked side by side. when they reached summer’s house, she turned to him, smiling softly.

"thanks for tonight," she said. "i had a really good time."

"me too," he said, his voice quiet. "goodnight, summer."

"goodnight, chris."

she hesitated for a moment, then leaned up and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before slipping inside. as she closed the door, her heart was racing, and she couldn’t stop smiling.

——————————————————

THE NEXT MORNING SUMMER was woken up by the sound of knocking downstairs. groggily, she checked her phone—it was barely 9 a.m. she rolled out of bed, throwing on a sweatshirt as she made her way to the front door.

when she opened it, she froze.

standing there was chris, holding a bouquet of her favorite flowers in one hand and a small teddy bear in the other.

"good morning," he said, grinning nervously.

"chris?" she blinked, still trying to process what was happening. "what are you doing here?"

he shifted on his feet, looking uncharacteristically shy. "i couldn’t stop thinking about last night. about you. so i figured i’d make it official."

her heart skipped a beat as he held out the flowers and the bear. "summer, will you be my girlfriend?"

she stared at him, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. "you’re serious?"

"very," he said, his grin widening. "but if you need me to get down on one knee, i can—"

"no!" she interrupted quickly, laughing. "you’re fine." she stepped forward, taking the flowers and the bear from him, her cheeks flushing. "yes, chris. i’ll be your girlfriend."

the relief and joy on his face was immediate, and he let out a small laugh. "you just made my day."

"you showed up at my door with flowers and a teddy bear," she said, smiling up at him. "you already made mine."

he reached out, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "i guess that makes us even."

she smiled, leaning into his touch, and when he kissed her again, it felt like everything was finally falling into place.

summer laughed softly as she leaned against the doorframe, still holding the flowers and teddy bear. chris stood in front of her, his hands shoved in his pockets, a boyish grin plastered on his face.

"so," he said, rocking on his heels, "we should probably tell the others, shouldn’t we?"

she raised an eyebrow. "you mean nick and matt? oh god, nick is going to make such a big deal out of this."

chris groaned, but there was a playful smile on his face. "he’s never gonna let me live it down. matt’s just gonna be like, ‘finally.’"

"then what are we waiting for?" summer asked, setting the flowers on the hallway table and grabbing her jacket. "let’s get it over with."

chris chuckled, holding out his hand. "alright, come on. let’s go."

——————————————————

WHEN THEY GOT TO THE sturniolo household, the door was already open, and they could hear nick and matt arguing about something from the living room.

"i told you, nick," matt was saying, exasperated. "you can’t just eat the leftovers and then act like you didn’t know they were mine."

"oh, so now we’re keeping track of fridge inventory?" nick shot back. "grow up, matt!"

"grow up?! you literally ate my food—"

"hey!" chris called, cutting them off as he stepped inside with summer.

both of his brothers turned to look at him, their arguments forgotten as they noticed the way summer and chris were holding hands. matt’s face immediately lit up, and nick’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"oh my god," matt said, a grin spreading across his face. "finally."

"what do you mean finally?" nick asked, crossing his arms. "wait—are you two...?"

summer nodded, unable to hide her smile. "yeah. we’re together."

nick stared at them for a moment before letting out a loud, dramatic gasp. "i knew it! i called it! matt, didn’t i call it?"

"you didn’t call anything," matt said, rolling his eyes. "you were too busy pretending you didn’t notice the way chris has been staring at her for, like, months."

"okay, first of all, rude," chris said, his ears turning red.

"and second of all, nick," matt added, "we’ve all known this was going to happen. it’s not exactly groundbreaking news."

"groundbreaking or not, im just saying i was right," nick said, smirking. "so, when’s the wedding?"

"nick!" summer and chris said in unison, both of them turning red.

"what?" nick said, shrugging innocently. "i’m just preparing for the future."

matt shook his head, laughing. "ignore him. seriously, though, im happy for you guys. it’s about time."

"thanks, matt," chris said, smiling.

"yeah, congrats, i guess," nick said, though his teasing grin gave him away. "but just know, if you hurt her, chris, you’re gonna have to deal with me."

chris rolled his eyes, pulling summer closer. "yeah, yeah. not gonna happen."

as nick and matt started bickering again, this time about who was the better wingman, summer looked up at chris, her smile soft.

"you were right," she said quietly. "telling them wasn’t so bad."

"told you," chris said, grinning down at her.

and as chaotic as the sturniolo household could be, summer couldn’t imagine a better group of people to share their news with.

@summerqkingson

liked by christophersturniolo, matthewsturniolo, nicolassturniolo and 836,935 others.

summerqkingson MY BF IS BETTER THSN YOURS !!! 😋😋😋 ily 🤍🤍

COMMENTS

nicolassturniolo no seriously whens the wedding?
↳ summerqkingson 🤹🏻🤹🏻

matthewsturniolo 😁😁😁😁😁

username OMGGOMGOMGOMGGG

user YES YES YES

user i told you his mine bitch
↳ summerqkingson i-im s-so s-sorry user. p-please dont cancel me 🥺🥺

christophersturniolo i love you ml ❤️
↳ summerqkingson ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

user YES. YEEESAHSHDHSHSHS

user LOVE THSISISISUDHSYSUGDY

——————————————————

yall....

i fear this is the end.

*sigh*

i love you all sm who read this story and supported me through out this journey. like this story was so fucking fun to write.

I love you all.

— your mom.