—

Mattias exited Monty's jeep, slamming the door extra harshly as he did so.

His brother only shot him a look, one that was both guilty and a warning.

Both brothers had spent the night at their house, which meant dealing with their father.

Everything was fine until dinner, when their dad asked how their day was.

Estella answered first, going on to say how she made friends with a new girl in their class, proceeding to mention how she passed her math test, earning praise from their father.

Mattias went next, opting to just say how his day was decent and nothing new happened.

Luiz seemed content with the answer, much to Mattias' surprised.

All was well until he moved on to his oldest child.

Monty mentioned sports, how he was ready to get into the football season. He even went as far to ramble about how shitty their basketball team was doing. He thought he was off the hook when Luiz agreed that basketball was the lamest of sports.

And then the older man mentioned his classes.

Luiz couldn't stand the thought of Monty being good at sports but doing horribly in class.

In his words, "Sports means nothing if you're a fucking idiot. Who's to say they won't snatch away that scholarship once they find out you can't do long division?"

And Monty, ever so embarrassed in front of his siblings, decided to bring Mattias into it.

And while it wasn't ideal, Matti preferred he was dragged into it over Estella.

Monty and Mattias didn't agree on a lot, but protecting their little sister was something they never fought over.

Monty mentioned how his father was so worried about him getting distracted with sports but Mattias was "fucking the smartest bitch in his grade and couldn't get higher than a C in Pre Calculus."

The night ended with both brothers bruised up and Estella sobbing into her pillow as she listened to the beating.

This morning, before they left, Luiz shouted out how they both better find someone to help them get their grades up.

It was safe to say that Mattias was far from ready to talk to his brother.

Monty didn't see the issue, simply deciding to pat his brother on the back before making his way to his friends.

Mattias' jaw ticked as he watched him walk away. He wanted to shout out a plethora of curse words at his brother but knew better than to get himself in trouble with the school, who would only call his dad to complain.

"Mattias!"

He would've ignored the voice, if not for who it was that called out to him.

He couldn't help the pounding in his chest as he turned around, sending the girl a small smile in greeting.

"Hey. It felt like forever waiting for you. I didn't think you'd show up." Melanie was slightly out of breath, making him look at the distance from her car to Monty's jeep with a questionable stare.

It wasn't very far.

As his brown eyes flickered back to her, amusement swimming in his iris', he couldn't help but smile.

"Sorry, we had to drop off our little sister at the junior high before coming here."

That wasn't a lie.

They did have to bring Estella to school that morning. But it wasn't the cause of their tardiness.

Mattias wouldn't tell Melanie how he spent his morning attempting to ice his bruises last minute, resulting in him almost being left at home.

"Estella?"

The two began walking towards the school.

He frowned, "Yeah..."

Sensing his look of confusion, she spoke up, "My sister goes to school with her. They're friends."

He nodded with a hum, not needing any further explanation.

They walked through the schools double doors, dodging a few students who stood in their way. Clay Jensen included, the boy having stared up at building like it was his first day there.

They walked in silence.

For Melanie, it was comforting, the same couldn't be said for Mattias.

"Hey, I—uh..." He blinked harshly, "I'm sorry about Monty."

Mel smiled at his apology, "It's not your fault."

"I feel like it is."

She stopped in front of him, grabbing his hand so he'd look at her, "Well, it's not. You've got nothing to worry about."

His eyes softened at the feeling of her hand in his own.

That small inkling of happiness he hadn't felt since their time together the day before was quickly ripped away from him as an arm wrapped around his shoulder.

"Mattias, buddy."

"Get the hell off of me, Bryce." Matti shrugged him off, subconsciously putting himself in front of Melanie.

—

Mattias watched as Melanie ran out of the cafe. Monty's words ringing in his head,

'Dating my boy Scotty, hooking up with Bryce, and then moving on to my little brother... It seems a little slutty, Mel. Wouldn't you say so?'

Melanie's reaction couldn't have been her overreacting. Clearly there was something more behind Montgomery's words.

"What the fuck, Monty?"

"I told you to stay away from her." The older of the two brothers glared at him.

Scott watched with nothing but confusion adorning his features.

"What's going on?"

Monty's jaw clenched as he glanced at his best friend and back to his brother, "Just letting him know he can't go around fucking his friend's girlfriend."

Matti scoffed, "Scott's not my friend."

All while trying not to be offended by the comment, Scott patted Monty on the shoulder, "Relax, man. Mel and I aren't together anymore. She can do what she wants."

Though a part of him was hurt that Melanie was moving on so quick, he couldn't help the other part that was happy that it was with someone like Mattias.

Scott strongly believed that both teens deserved something good to come out of the bullshit that was their lives now.

He knew that Mattias was nothing like his older brother, or their father for that matter. And with his experience in dating Melanie Dempsey, he wasn't too surprised that the two got along well.

"Well she can't do my little brother."

Mattias scoffed, "Monty—"

"No, man. How's dad gonna feel when he finds out you're fucking rich bitch—"

"Watch your mouth." Montgomery was shoved a second time by his brother, his lower back hitting a nearby table.

He smirked at his reaction, "But you're not fucking her, right?"

—

Bryce raised his hands to show he meant no harm, "Relax, brother—"

"I'm not your brother."

"Matti—"

"Can you fuck off?" His voice was stern. Angry. Any longer with Bryce in his presence would have set him off right there.

Luckily for him, or unluckily, Alex Standall decided to make an appearance.

"What's going on?"

"Was just about to convince Mattias to join us for the halloween contest." His words were directed towards Alex, but his stare was on the girl standing behind the De La Cruz.

"I'm not doing that shit." Matti glared at him, pressing
his hand to the small of Melanie's back as they began to walk away.

"We're going as Muff Divers. Don't worry about fitting the criteria. I would assume with all the talk about you and Mel, you're more than qualified for the part—"

Mattias' arm was swinging back before he had a second to think, his fist connecting with Bryce's jaw.

He heard a gasp escape Melanie's lips before Alex's was pulling him back.

He had only managed to get a few hits in before the Standall teen had finally managed to pull him away.

Thankfully, there were only a few students in the hall, no teachers present.

"What the fuck?!" Bryce's voice rose, staggering back onto his feet with an angered look.

Matti shoved Alex off of him, staring Bryce down as he stepped back,

"Keep her name out of your mouth."

—
A/N: the corny ending 😭💀 let's not talk about it