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Despite the address matching, despite his GPS telling him he has arrived at his destination, and despite the friendly sign on the mailbox designating this house as the Brown Family’s home, Matt still thinks this must not be the place. He puts the car in park and dials down the Christmas jazz, tempted to text the group chat something like holy shit Ashley I didn’t know you lived in a mansion!
Then again, maybe it’s common knowledge that her house is this huge. Before Matt started dating Emily he only knew the others through their shared social sphere of high school, and so he wouldn’t have been invited to any birthday parties or shindigs or whatever else. And then again, he doesn’t want to make Ashley feel awkward about asking him to watch the place for a few days. It’s hardly an imposition to stay in a five-star joint like this. And also— the most prominent deciding factor— the group chat has only just started to get busy again after months of spotty inactivity. Matt doesn’t want to shake the already tenuous beginnings of conversation.
The Brown Family house is not brown, but Matt sees clear signs of the family everywhere. Someone strung up Christmas lights around the huge pine outside, and a wreath on the front door, even though they wouldn’t be home themselves to celebrate. There’s a pile of rolled newspapers on the step that Matt scoops up on his way inside. He opens the door carefully so as not to disturb the wreath, and not to let the cat out.
As it turns out, his efforts are unnecessary. He glances around the foyer for any furry creatures and finds none. Despite the absence of the promised cat, the inside of the house is just as warm as the outside, and obviously well-loved. A bay window in the adjacent living room instantly calls Ashley to mind; Matt can just picture her there curled up writing some story. It has been said time and time again that people resemble their pets, but more accurately he thinks they resemble their homes. This place has Ashley all over it, from the to-do list on the kitchen island that she probably scrawled down five minutes before leaving, to the pictures of her family lovingly tacked to the fridge with magnets from around the country.
One of the pictures is a bad selfie of Ashley, Chris, and Josh. Matt’s heart twists in his chest.
House Sitting To-Do List
Thank you so much for doing this Matt you are a lifesaver!! :) There really isn’t too much that needs to be done just kick back relax and enjoy yourself and you’re welcome to anything in the fridge or pantry or liquor cabinet! Our casa is your casa or whatever :) Merry Christmas and Happy NYE!
Following the sweet note is a bullet list of many, many tasks to do. Matt reads it with a smile that only slips slightly into bemusement as the responsibilities continue. Basu, Ashley’s cat and star of her Instagram, is the real responsibility. He needs to stay inside, needs his litter checked once a day and changed twice a week, needs morning and evening meals, needs regular treats, needs his fancy water jug on the countertop refilled— boy is Matt glad he read the note before pouring himself a nice glass of water— and needs lots of TLC. He might come cuddle with you after he warms up to you, Ashley has promised in one of the bullet points. Before any of that, Basu needs to be found.
Matt spends longer than he’d like to admit exploring the house with a bag of Whiskas treats in hand, shaking them every few steps to try to lure the kitty from its hiding spot. He tries, the entire time, to avoid thinking about the last time he was wandering around a giant unfamiliar house like this. It helps that instead of remnants from Hannah and Beth and Josh’s lives, all the detritus here belongs to the Brown family. He checks Ashley’s room, her sister’s, the master bedroom, the guest room, and all of their many bathrooms. He checks… well, he stands on the top stair of the basement without descending, shaking the Temptations like a tambourine. No meows come in response.
“See you when I see you,” Matt tells the absent cat, shutting the basement door.
Even the guest room is bigger than it needs to be, with a closet Emily would have loved. Matt groans, collapsing onto the bed. There goes his streak of not thinking about his ex-girlfriend.
@emilyduh: Tis the season to… get on a plane and say bye snow ✌️ See you all in 2017
Liked by @chartley96 @friend.to.animals and others.
Comment from @jess.riley: My bikini is PACKED
Comment from @munroem: My bikini is packed too girls. Did my invite get lost in the mail? Lol
Comment from @emilyduh: [This comment has been reported and subsequently deleted].
Comment from @jess.riley: sorry @munroem no boys allowed!
@officialashleybrown: Gonna miss this cute little face so much. Thanks @mtaylor.97 for keeping Basu company! Next stop: Costa Rica! (✿◡‿◡)
Liked by @mtaylor.97 @friend.to.animals and others.
Comment from @friend.to.animals: HE’S SO CUTE!!!
Comment from @officialashleybrown: @friend.to.animals thank you Sam!! (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)
Comment from @munroem: how are you making these weird typing faces
Comment from @chartley96: @munroem ( ͡°( ͡° ͜ʖ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ʖ ͡°) ͡°)
Comment from @officialashleybrown: @munroem ( ͡°( ͡° ͜ʖ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ʖ ͡°) ͡°)
Comment from @jwash: @munroem ( ͡°( ͡° ͜ʖ( ͡° ͜( ͡°( ͡° ͜ʖ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ʖ ͡°) ͡°ʖ ͡°)ʖ ͡°) ͡°)
Comment from @munroem: @chartley96 @officialashleybrown @jwash What the hell.
@jwash: forgot that social media existed. @itsbeth and @x_butterfly_lover_x begged me not to post this pic of their matching elf pajamas. oops
Liked by @friend.to.animals @chartley96 and others.
Comment from @itsbeth: you’re toast
Comment from @jwash: @itsbeth watch your language young lady
Comment from @x_butterfly_lover_x: OMG Josh asdfhgjkl DELETE THIS!
Comment from @friend.to.animals: So cute! 💖
Comment from @x_butterfly_lover_x: Ok you can leave it up actually asjkdfjklfhjkldfhjkkldfh
@jess.riley: F*ck a white Christmas unless we’re talking sandy beaches!! So grateful to get to relax in the sun with my bestie ☀️😎🌅 No boys no stress just GOOD VIBES AND GREAT TIMES! 👙💋 “Everything I went through you were standing there by my side. And now you gonna be with me for the last ride.” 🤝 I’m never taking anything for granted ever again. 💁🏻♀️ 📸🧳
Liked by @friend.to.animals @emilyduh and others.
Comment from @emilyduh: 🖤
In the selfie, Jess smiles bright and proud on the hotel room balcony, hand on her hip as she holds the smartphone so that Emily can be seen in the background. Even though Matt has seen her since, he always holds an image of her as the battered ghost of a girl he’d found in the mines— or maybe she had found him. The memories are blurred and sharp at once, but he remembers how scared she’d been as she clung to him and barely spoke. When she did speak it was hesitant, not wanting to draw any attention as they dragged their tired feet through the tunnels under that cold mountain. She had asked for Michael, her tone as soft as a sinner pleading for an angel. They had made it out onto the harsh, high cliffs and held tight to each other all the way back to the police station, where they had finally been dragged apart to deliver their separate testimonies. Matt feels like he hasn’t really seen her since then.
And now she’s smiling with Emily in some warm paradise. Matt doesn’t even know where to begin to address that. He shoves his phone away, and heads downstairs to try to cobble something together for dinner.
[received, 10:19 P.M.] Hey Matt! How’s the first night going?
‘Good’, Matt texts back, his arms still covered in flour. The sugar cookies were a success, and the cinnamon buns are cooling off right now; the jam was less of a triumph, but still passable. At this rate, he’ll have to go drop off some baked goods at his mom’s church or something. He wipes off the screen with a dishrag before continuing his response: You never mentioned you lived at the McAllister house. This place is freaking huge!
Ashley replies right away. LOL it is too big for just us! Has Basu warmed up to you yet?
Um. Not quite yet. He guiltily glances around the empty kitchen. How is your trip?
We just landed. Everything is so beautiful (*^_^*) I’m sure if you try giving him some extra treats he’ll warm up to you quicker! Send a pic when you can please! I miss him!
“Easier said than done,” Matt mumbles. He types out a reply but taps out of actually sending it, chewing his frown as he rereads his words. He’s only going to worry Ash, when she should be enjoying her vacation. He scrolls through his contacts for a different number, seeking advice.
Twenty minutes later, the advice rings his doorbell.
Matt opens the door, ignoring the voice of Josh in his head— if this were a horror movie, you’d be so fucked! Matt has had more than his fair share of horror for life. Plus, the Brown family has a peephole. Standing on the front porch is Chris, hulking tall and awkward, his winter coat zipped up to his chin and his hands shoved into his jean pockets. He looks surprised to see Matt, even though he answered the texts and drove all the way here. Then Matt realizes what Chris must be seeing, following his gaze down to Ashley’s mom’s paisley-print apron. He grimaces. “Doing some baking.”
“I can smell that.” Chris lingers awkwardly on the step. “Can I come in?”
“Of course, man.” It isn’t his house, but he hardly thinks Ashley would mind letting her best friend inside. “Thanks for coming by. I’m sure I’ll feel better when I actually lay eyes on this thing, but so far Basu is MIA.”
“Basu,” corrects Chris. Matt groans. “Short for Basura. Have you checked the basement yet? He loves to hole up down there.”
“Not really,” he admits. What is he supposed to say here? Basements give him the heebie-jeebies now? Awkwardly, he angles for the route of everything-was-a-mistake: “She should’ve just asked you to watch her house instead. I was kind of a bad draft pick; honestly, I’ve never even been here before.”
Chris unwraps his scarf from around his throat, shrugging his jacket off his shoulders. He doesn’t quite make eye contact. “Ashley and I don’t really talk anymore. Well… we do, but it’s not the same.”
“Oh. Right,” says Matt faintly. thinking about Emily. About Jess, and Mike. How is it possible that they all left the mountain huddled together but wrenched further apart than ever? “Still, dude. Thanks for coming over.”
“Um… yeah, no problem.” Chris rolls up his sleeves. “If I catch the cat, can I have a cookie?”
Matt laughs, and Chris grins too, sheepishly looking him in the eye for the first time since arriving. The tension between them begins to thaw. “Deal.”
It was about due time for a reunion anyway.
Matt combats his dread with vindication when the basement is exactly as creepy as he had imagined it being. The shelves along the walls are lined with lifetimes of memorabilia, all shadowed thanks to the dim light from above their heads. He’s sure something crawls past them, or skitters. With the bag of treats as his only weapon, he clings to Chris’s back the entire way.
Chris is taller than him, and he’s grown a little wider since they last saw each other. He seems braver, too, although that is probably just Matt’s desperate projection of him as they hunt for the mystery cat. Before the first mountain trip, he and Josh were like two peas in a pod. From what little Matt has seen on social media, they’ve been seeing each other occasionally, but nothing close to their codependent high-school hang-out rate. Matt had no idea Chris and Ashley fell out. If he’s honest, he had thought that the two of them were one of the few couples who might have made it down from the mountain unscathed. They used to act like schoolgirls around each other.
Matt supposes that your crush showing hesitation to save your life would dampen any relationship.
He thinks of Emily again, of their brief fling that had left her a little sore and him in shambles. For Emily he was just a rebound from Mike; he can see that now as clear as day. But it had yanked him out of his comfort zone for better or worse. On his bad days, he probably thinks it’s for worse— he supposes now he knows what he wants.
“I don’t see him,” Chris breaks the silence, making Matt jump— which makes him jump too. “Shit, sorry! I haven’t seen any signs of him.”
“Me either.” He’s hardly looked at all. “Um. I don’t really talk to Emily anymore either.”
Chris glances back over his shoulder at Matt, his expression inscrutable. Neither of them need to ask what happened, and somehow that feels like a huge relief.
Matt soldiers on: “Is it bad that I don’t miss her that much? Well, I mean, like, I miss her, but I don’t miss being with her. Being with her was mostly just stressful, even— even before the mountain.”
“Yeah,” says the other man quietly.
Matt teases, “‘Yeah’, it’s bad that I don’t miss her?”
“No, uh— I get it, is all. We went through a lot up there.” Boy, he can say that again. “I think it’s reasonable.”
“Thanks, Chris.”
“You’re welcome.”
For the first time in a long time, the weight sitting heavily in Matt’s chest starts to erode. It feels like when Josh had sent the first picture of Beth and Hannah, healed and human again, to the group chat— or when Ashley had reached out this summer inviting him to come run errands with her. It feels like the first time he’d seen Emily since February, when they’d both showed up at the same time for Sam’s birthday holding presents of the same specific shape, and Emily swore like a sailor and Matt just laughed and laughed until finally she smiled too.
Maybe the human connection between them isn’t going to drag them back down into the same vicious cycles of bullying and vengeance and petty hatred. Maybe their connections— their relationships to each other— are the only rope they have to pull themselves out of this.
“Hey,” Chris says. Matt realizes Chris has been staring at him a little oddly for a few minutes. “What say we get the hell out of this creepy basement, bro?”
Matt agrees immediately, leading them back to the light from upstairs and scaling the steps two at a time. Chris follows close behind. When they bolt back to the safety of the main floor, Chris lets out a startled squawk; Matt turns, only to produce a similar sound. On the kitchen counter, carefully walking around the trays of baked goods and sniffing everything, is a cat that looks a damn lot like a raccoon.
Basura lifts his head, blinking prettily at them, before ducking back down to sniff the whisk in the sink.
“Careful,” Chris breathes. “If we don’t move, he can’t see us.”
“Asshole,” Matt laughs, shoving his shoulder. Abruptly, he remembers the one thing Ashley did mention about Chris, which is that even since before their first mountain trip, he hasn’t been spending a lot of time with his folks. There’s a lot of pressure this time of year to reconnect— if Matt’s mom wasn’t on vacation with her new boyfriend right now, he’s sure she’d be dragging him to church even though they never go any other time of year. Since Chris dropped everything to come and look for a cat he wasn’t even in charge of, Matt imagines the situation might be tense.
“Hey, um… I know it’s the holidays and everything, but… any chance you’d wanna stay and watch a movie or something?”
Chris mulls it over for only a moment. “If there’s space…” They both glance around the giant house. “Um… that would be really nice.”
@mtaylor.97: Should @chartley96 and I do a Wet Bandits costume for Halloween next year?! Yes or no, sound off in the comments 😂
Liked by @officialashleybrown, @x_butterfly_lover_x, and others.
Comment from @officialashleybrown: OMG this is the cutest picture I’ve ever seen! Basu looks so happy and spoiled and those cookies look so good! I’m so glad you two are hanging out *^____^*
Comment from @mtaylor.97: <3 @officialashleybrown
Comment from @jess.riley: That would make such a good costume 😂 Merry Christmas Chris and Matt!!
Comment from @emilyduh: Merry Chrismatt @jess.riley @chartley96 @mtaylor.97
Comment from @jess.riley: LMAO!!!!!!
Comment from @friend.to.animals: I want an invite next time! I love Christmas movies! Have fun you two 😍
Comment from @chartley96: @friend.to.animals you got it Sam
Comment from @chartley96: @friend.to.animals we’re watching Black Christmas next if you wanna come join
Comment from @mtaylor.97: @chartley96 Like hell we are. I just Googled that one it looks terrifying. Elf is next @friend.to.animals
Comment from @jwash: you guys seen Krampus yet
Comment from @mtaylor.97: @jwash Absolutely freaking not!
Comment from @munroem: If we all do Christmas costumes I’ll be John McClane :D
Comment from @jwash: @munroem you literally already dress like john mcclane every day
Comment from @munroem: What’s wrong with that @jwash
Comment from @x_butterfly_lover_x: Merry Chrismatt sdfjkhdlfkj
Comment from @friend.to.animals: Merry Chrismatt!!
Comment from @jwash: Merry ChrisMatt you filthy animals
Comment from @officialashleybrown: Merry Chrismatt (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
Comment from @munroem: Merry chrismatt everyone
Comment from @chartley96: @x_butterfly_lover_x @friend.to.animals @jwash @officialashleybrown @munroem @emilyduh @jess.riley ❤️
Comment from @itsbeth: Can I be Kevin