Kacey leans forward to accept the offered s’more out of Matt’s hand but just as she was about to chomp down he retracts and takes the bite for himself with a chuckle.
“Matt,” she exclaims with a whiny laugh as her comparably small fist impacts his shoulder playfully.
“Alright, alright, here you big baby,” he taunts, offering the gooey graham cracker to her once more. She gives him a skeptical glance before going into the bite cautiously this time until the mixture of chocolate and marshmallow melts on her tongue. “Satisfied?” Matt asks. She hums a positive response around the bite as his thumb swipes the corner of her mouth, removing the bit of sticky, sugary food that didn’t quite make it, then sucks the digit into his own mouth, ridding them both of the mess. He offers to make her another one, which she declines, more than full from the several they had already shared together.
Matt straightens the corners of their shared blanket, doing his best to rid the flannel material of sand before he positions himself to allow Kacey to settle between his legs until she’s snuggled against his chest and wrapped cozily in the cocoon of his borrowed hoodie. To Matt’s surprise, this bonfire party had actually turned out to be a good idea– it was nice to be able to just exist with Kacey without feeling like they had to hide their relationship, even if Jude had been throwing them side-eyes and snarky comments all evening from across the fire.
The fact that Kacey’s brother chose the further spot possible away from the two of them didn’t go over Matt’s head. But he couldn’t find it in himself to be salty with her in his arms, a big warm fire at their feet, and a canvas of bright, sparkling stars overhead; it didn’t even bother him when some chode started strumming on an acoustic followed by the soft lyrics of Wonderwall floating on the light breeze. Matt truly couldn’t be happier than he was at this moment.
He finds himself watching Kacey as she chats with the girl she had designated as her bff for the summer– Laurie? Lauren?-- fuck if he remembered her name, it wasn’t important. What was important was the effortless smile on his girl’s face, illuminated by the soft glow of the flames while she laughed with her friend and leaned into his touch, her head landing affectionately on Matt’s shoulder. He couldn’t stop himself from leaning in to nuzzle against Kacey’s neck, inhaling the faint scent of sweat and lake water mixed with something uniquely her.
Fuck, he had it bad for this girl, a thought that he had to quickly push away. Mid-conversation, he pulls her chin toward him before slotting his lips over hers which was immediately followed by the whoops and hollers of their peers but Matt could barely hear the group over the roar in his own ears as blood rushed to his head. He projected all of the thoughts he couldn’t bring himself to voice out loud into this one kiss, leaving them both breathless when they finally pull apart. The sounds around them die back down as everyone loses interest and they all settle back into their own conversations.
“What was that for?” Kacey pants, dazed and a little lightheaded.
“Just felt like kissing you,” he shrugs, not completely sure, himself, what just came over him.
“Why don’t you two get a fuuucking room already?” Jude slurs from his spot–already drunk on whatever he and god-knows-who managed to sneak onto the grounds– where he was spread out on a blanket with two girls that Matt couldn’t care less to try to remember. There was no point– once his best friend was done with them they may as well have never existed in Jude’s world.
The flames reflect in his adoptive brother’s eyes, mirroring the rage that was clearly bubbling underneath the surface. Matt sighs, resigned, now wishing that he would have followed his gut and kept Kacey to himself for the evening. He fucking knew there was no way Jude would have ever been on board with this; and potential repercussions be damned, he was going to make a scene.
“Let’s not do this here, bro,” Matt says, hoping that he would be able to get his closest friend to see reason. But Jude wasn’t exactly a reasonable person, becoming someone completely different and nearly intolerable when he was wasted, so the words fell on deaf ears.
“You’re right, we shouldn’t be doing this here,” Jude burps, rising to his feet to creep around the fire toward Matt and Kacey before continuing, “but you’re the one tongue-fucking my sister in front of the entire camp, so here it’s gonna be.”
“Jude, you need to go sit the fuck back down,” Kacey growls at her sibling, preparing to rise and act as a shield between the two boys, but Matt wasn’t about to let her get in the middle– this was between him and Jude.
“Stay here, I’ll handle it,” Matt whispers in her ear, kissing the side of her head before rising from his spot on the sand to approach his friend, lowering his voice as he gets closer, “let’s go talk about this somewhere quiet, man.”
Jude retracts from the hand Matt hand clapped down on his shoulder, swatting the blonde away and backing up just out of his reach.
“Don’t fuckin’ touch me, dude, the time for talking is over. That little whore–”
“Don’t talk about her like that,” Matt interrupts, his voice cracking with an unspoken threat.
“--may let put your hands all over her but this is one Barber you can’t just paw at whenever you fucking feel like it.”
Jude shoves at his chest, sending the blonde stumbling back and causing Matt to put his hands defensively in the air.
“I don’t wanna fight with you, dude,” Matt says, trying to keep cool for Kacey’s sake but he can feel his own irritation bubbling under his skin and setting his body tense in preparation to defend himself and his girl.
Jude had every right to be mad at him, and his sister, for the secret they had been harboring but this wasn’t the time or place to hash it out. He tried one more time to get through to his intoxicated friend, silently praying that the words would get through and that he would be able to convince Jude to go sleep it off, “You’re pissed at me, I get it– we don’t have to talk about it right now, bro, but at least let me walk you back to your cabin so you can calm down.”
Even though he was ready for it, Jude’s fist somehow slipped past Matt’s defensive position and landed square on his eye, causing pain to radiate around the socket.
“Fuck you, Matt!” Jude yelled, preparing to throw another punch that never lands as Matt blocks the hit.
Matt twists Jude’s arm behind his back and slings the other arm across his friend’s neck, being careful to not press in on his vocal box, and effectively pinning him in place while the angry brunette bucked and pushed, trying to free himself.
“You got your freebie in but I swear to fuck, Jude, you won’t get another one. Don’t make me kick your ass in front of your sister and everyone here,” Matt growls low enough that his words could only be heard between the two of them, “I’m gonna let go and you’re going to let me walk away, do you hear me? I’m gonna walk Kace back to her cabin and you’re going back over to your little girlfriends so we can call it a night, yeah?”
He gives Jude’s arm a little twist, not enough to cause any damage but enough to warn his friend that he wasn’t fucking around anymore. Jude may like to play the troubled bad boy but he was a privileged little fuck who never had to fight for real just to survive– Matt would wipe the floor with him and they both knew it. After a moment, Jude gives a barely audible grunt of agreement then tugs his arm away and makes the smart decision to walk back to his blanket.
Matt stands tensely, watching Jude stumble over to his spot, and doesn’t move until the dumbass plops back down between the two girls. Only then does he allow himself to go back to his wide-eyed girl, tears that had yet to fall gathering on her dark lashes. Offering her his hand, Matt pulls Kacey to her feet and silently begins to gather their small pack of things, tucking the blanket inside before grabbing for her hand once more and gently tugging her toward the trail back toward camp.
