crestfallenmurtaugh:
Matt took another brief moment to shake away the memory before offering Asher’s mom a soft smile. (An almost apologetic smile.) “Meatloaf sounds-” He shot Asher a look, thankful that his first instinct to elbow the other was shut down before he could actually do it. “-delicious. It sounds delicious.” He rocked back onto his feet, his eyes moving to the array of photos that lined the walls.
It wasn’t there anymore, but there used to hang a photo of the two of them. Even back then Matt had looked sheepish, but he could remember the grin on Asher’s face as he held up a pair of fingers behind Matt’s head. It was a ridiculous photo, one that probably had been thrown away ages ago.
Feeling a small pang in his chest, Matt looked to the three, grateful to see his parents had turned away for a moment. It was long enough for him to grab Asher’s sleeve and whisper. “Should I mention it? Like, just clear the air? Or do you think that’s a terrible idea and that I should just not talk for the rest of the night?” He wasn’t sure why he went from one extreme to the other, but his nerves were driving him crazy.
“No it doesn’t.” Asher responded on instinct, his natural tendency to be belligerent and difficult when it came to Matt winning out over his instinct to be polite to his mom. “I mean--sorry. Yeah, it sounds fine.” He rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at Matt.
The house around them was worn and lived in, but clean. It showed the signs of wear-and-tear from housing a rambunctious teenage alien with enhanced strength for years. Asher eyed the poorly patched hole on the staircase and cringed as he remembered the time he and Matt had decided to try sledding down the stairs. The resulting crash had been pretty bad, and they were both lucky to have walked away without any broken bones. Brushing aside thoughts of the past, he responded to Matt’s tug on his sleeve with a sharp turn of his head, somehow still on edge despite everything. “Should you--Fuck. Should you? I don’t know. Is that a good idea? Would it make things worse?” No, he needed to get a grip, because they couldn’t both panic here. That wouldn’t help anything.
“Okay. How ‘bout this? You very causally bring it up like no big deal, and they’ll probably act like it’s all chill. But I don’t really see things getting less awkward if we keep ignoring it.” Either way, he needed Matt to talk for the rest of the night so he didn’t have to talk to his parents. And, for some reason, he really wanted his parents to forgive Matt. But he wasn’t ready to try examining the reasons for that.








