"you're the worst social media person ever." cassie laughed as she, alex and matt made their way over to the car.

"am not." he objected, crossing his arms together against his chest.

"yeah, you are." alex chuckled and put her hands in her pockets.

"you're kidding, right? matt, you think the term 'trash' actually means garbage. and you're so afraid of people punching others in the face because you've seen someone tweet that." cassie scoffed and unlocked the car, placing herself in the driver's seat.

"okay, fine. but who even wants to understand that?" he exclaimed, not getting the point with being so harsh. he sat down beside cassie, leaving alex in the backseat.

"if i say that i'm trash for a celebrity, it means i like them a lot. and before you say something, i know i'm lovely." she raised her eyebrows and ignited the vehicle.

matt just sent her a look before smiling and gazing out the window. cassie smirked in success and put the radio on, starting the drive towards her parents.

"marcus is gonna' be there, right?" alex asked while scrolling down her phone.

"yeah, among others apparently. mom said there's a surprise guest for me." cassie mumbled and glanced at matt.

"interesting. wonder who that might be." alex laughed quietly through her nose and put her phone away. "turn the music up, i want to make you both deaf."

"pollux." matt murmured from his seat and closed his eyes when cassie obeyed, and alex began singing very loudly.

"tomorrow's new years eve, be happy." cassie smiled overly wide and suppressed a grin when he glared at her.

the car ride felt shorter than the last time they drove to her home. they gathered their things — which had been put in the car before they seated themselves earlier — and knocked on the door.

konstantin opened the door with a silly santa hat on his head and smiled down at his daughter. cassie laughed before hugging him, noticing her mother in the hallway.

"hi, dad." she smiled and took a step to the side, inviting the siblings in.

"alexandra, how nice to see you again." konstantin greeted the blue eyed one and ruffled her hair.

"hi, mr. marinov. how are you?" alex smiled and took off her jacket, glancing back at matt.

"i'm good, thank you. it's been awhile."

everyone greeted each other, matt getting an unexpected hug from michaela and a fist bump from konstantin. marcus strutted down the stairs with a towel around his waist, catching alex's attention first.

"marcus!" michaela scolded and nodded to the others.

"shit, sorry. didn't hear you." marcus laughed, looking at alex. "hello, love. i'm just gonna' go and get decent." he added, disappearing to his room.

cassie turned her head to her friend and cracked a stupid smile. even matt noticed her absent stare and rolled his eyes, slightly shaking his head.

"stop drooling." she whispered before gently seizing matt's hand, showing him towards marcus's room, not opening the door of course. "do you mind sharing room with my brother or is that too weird?"

"doesn't matter, really." matt shrugged and tucked some hair behind her ear, glancing down at her lips.

"then you'll sleep in here, and alex with me. it's only two nights, so." she mumbled and gazed at him.

matt was just about to lean in and kiss her when marcus opened the door and looked at them with raised eyebrows. cassie pursed her lips and looked at him, smiling awkwardly.

"hello." her brother said, smiling back.

"at least you're decent. can matt sleep in your room with you?" she asked and glanced behind his shoulder.

"of course. now, where's my hug?" marcus laughed, making her wrap her arms around him and hug him shortly.

"okay, i'm gonna' go and settle in my room. marcus, be friendly." cassie warned before walking backwards and then to her room. alex was already in there, changing to a hoodie.

matt happily stepped inside his room and scanned it quickly. he liked marcus, and sharing a room didn't sound bad at all. the two guys sat down and played some video games after a while.

"and by the way, i wasn't drooling before." alex muttered and sat down on the big bed.

"sure you weren't." cassie smiled and opened her drawer. "when are you two going to talk? like, really talk?"

"please don't bring this up again. i can't talk to him, and we both know it'd be hard to work it out." alex sighed and crossed her legs.

"i'm gonna' get sappy for a second and a second only. i just want you to be happy, and i see the way you act when you're around him. one of you gotta take the first step."

"you're so annoying."

"i know, but you love me."

"unfortunately."

cassie entered the kitchen after a while, beginning a conversation with her mom. the inevitable topic about matt came up, so she briefly explained what happened after the time they visited for dinner.

she helped her parents make the table before knocking on marcus's door and opening it. folding her arms together, she leaned her body against the doorframe and cleared her throat.

"dinner." she announced blankly and looked at the screen.

"we'll be right there." marcus mumbled and peered up at her.

"now." she smirked and placed herself in front of the tv, being the annoying person she is.

the boys turned the game off and marcus was a little more bitter than matt when they joined the rest in the dining room.

matt, alex and cassie felt that odd stomach feeling after almost finishing their meals. they had been eating a lot those past days, and it started to become too much, even for alex.

as the night started to approach, everyone changed to pj's, more or less. cassie had brought the t-shirt matt gave her as her christmas present, and she loved it; more because of the shirt as a garment. it was soft, but not too thick, loose and not too long and not to high up the neck. and of course the best part; she could wear it bra-less without showing.

matt knocked on her door and waited for her to actually open herself now. with a slight frown because of the unusual act, she took a step to the side and watched him enter carefully.

"you know, i was never actually in your old room the last time. at least i don't think so." he uttered and eyed her light room, the simple decoration reminding him about her and alex's dorm.

"nothing special worth seeing, really. except for maybe my collection of movie posters from the cinema." she laughed and hugged her own elbows.

"you collected movie posters? those big ones?" he asked in surprise, yet he found it very interesting.

"yes, a friend of mine worked there and stole them for me. although it didn't really matter to the boss since they just throw those posters in the trash when the movie's irrelevant." she shrugged and carefully pulled out a huge box from under her bed.

matt crouched down beside her and smiled when he saw the top one. she sat down with her legs to the side and moved the first poster to the floor. he then did that himself after looking at each one.

"wow. some of these are really old. enchanted, for example." he smiled and glanced at her.

"i know, she worked there for a really long time. i made my mom swear that she would never, ever throw these away." she snorted and licked her bottom lip inside her mouth.

"i understand you. i wouldn't want her to do that." he agreed and put them all back as he finished. "oh, and... nice shirt."

"it's comfortable, okay. it's a nice t-shirt to sleep with or wear with sweatpants." she pushed the box back under her bed and stood up, offering him her hand.

"yeah, i know." he laughed and stood up with the help of her hand. "can you believe it's a new year tomorrow?"

"we've known each other for almost four months now." she murmured and puckered with her lips to the side.

"well..."

"if you don't count with the masquerade." she added quickly, giving him a look.

matt pulled a satisfied, half smile. he put his hands on the sides of her head before kissing her forehead and then going back to the family with her.

alex and marcus sat on the couch talking, probably not realizing just how close they were. cassie just mentally rolled her eyes and decided to sit and have a conversation with her dad, whilst matt had one with michaela.

they all decided not to watch a movie. needless to say, the three students were pretty tired of watching one by now, and the marinov's preferred playing card games — or any game for that matter — with maybe some low music in the background.

the day after, when everyone had finished breakfast and just sitting, the boys and girls were outside, sillying around in the snow. well, not cassie because she was drinking her hot chocolate and watching. she didn't like snow one bit, but the other three had such a great time, she couldn't just go inside.

marcus drowned alex's face with snow, causing her to whine and do the same. matt watched as cassie turned around, giving him a perfect opportunity to mess with her. he formed a snow ball before throwing it straight at her.

cassie gaped a little as she slowly turned back around and stared at him, until she cracked a little smile. he grinned, innocently looking away and rested his hands against his hips. putting her drink away, she tossed a snowball back at him, distracting him as she approached him with fast steps.

matt quickly grabbed her wrists and raised his eyebrows, seeing her sigh through her nose and narrow her eyes at him.

"you look mad." he smirked and kissed her hand briefly.

"i hate snow and now i'm cold as shit." she muttered and jerked her hands away. "i'm gonna' take a shower before new years."

"we'll be outside?" marcus laughed and frowned at her. "at least during the hour. fireworks and all."

"well, i'll shower and change into a big, fat, hoodie." she answered and went to take a shower anyway.

matt walked inside too after a while, placing himself on the couch to watch some tv. konstantin accompanied him and talked every now and then. cassie put on one of marcus's old hoodies, one that almost reached her knees, and a pair of black leggings.

she didn't bother straightening her hair, leaving it curly, and jumped down the stairs. the door bell rang, and since she was the closest to it, she slowly opened the door.

"surprise." tyler smiled stupidly, already opening his arms.

"hey!" she laughed and hugged him carefully, leaving her hands on his arms. "you're the secret guest?"

"yes. your mom called and asked me to join you during this new year. which actually felt good, because i haven't seen them in a while." he laughed and glanced behind her shoulder. "alex and... shit."

"shit." she mumbled and bit on her bottom lip. "matt, who's probably pissed at you still."

"my question is, why is he here? are you two actually together? and you didn't tell me?" he asked slowly, looking back at her.

"yeah, we are. i would've told you the next time we'd see each other." she nodded and looked back shortly. "i'll tell you later."

"okay, but i have to–"

"some of us are pretty cold out here." another voice uttered, causing cassie to harden her face and take a step back.

tyler sent her half an apologetic look before stepping inside and taking off his jacket. cassie crossed her arms together and bit on the insides of her cheeks.

"what are you doing here?" she asked blankly and gazed at him.

"celebrating new years eve with the marinov's. isn't that what we used to do for almost three years?" he smiled and closed the door after him.

"sebastian." she sighed and glanced to the side, noticing both alex and matt in the corner of her eye. "don't you have your own family to celebrate with?"

"they moved a year ago or so, and i wanted to finish college. so no, not at the moment." sebastian laughed and eyed her for a second. "you look beautiful."

"okay, just come in and shut up." she said and waved her hand behind her shoulder.

sebastian ruffled her hair on his way to her parents, leaving her glaring on tyler. alex rubbed her face with her hands due to the scene and matt just folded his arms together and frowned deeply.

"look, i just thought it'd be nice. his family actually did move, and he loves your parents. i had no idea you had a boyfriend over." tyler apologized quietly, removing the more harsh expression on her face.

"right. speaking of my boyfriend, can you talk to him now?" she raised her eyebrows and turned around. tyler nodded and took a step closer to matt, pursing his lips.

"we didn't get off on the right start. i guess i'm sorry for kissing cassie, i was just drunk and acted like a fourteen year old. sorry."

"i'm not mad or anything, so i forgive you." matt surprisingly smiled and shrugged carelessly.

"great. alright, i need to say hi to your parents." tyler directed his words to cassie before leaving them. the second he did, alex dropped her hands and neared cassie even more.

"why is bash here?"

"sebastian, alex." she laughed and then raised her shoulders. "how would i know? tyler brought him."

"okay, can one of you tell me who he is?" matt butted in, moving his hands as he usually did when he spoke.

"he's just an old friend from high school." cassie mumbled and instantly saw that matt didn't quite believe her. "a flirty friend, but you don't have to worry."

"no, of course i don't." he scoffed and looked away for a short moment.

"matthew." she said sternly, putting a hand against his cheek so that he had to look back at her. "you really don't have to worry. come on, we're supposed to be happy and have fun today, which we have. it's been a really cosy holiday so far."

matt sighed in defeat and followed her to the living room, where sebastian was talking to michaela and tyler stood gazing at the christmas tree. cassie pecked matt's cheek discreetly and checked the time on her phone.

"remember when you used to eat all the candy canes that your parents hung in the tree?" tyler smiled and sat down on the couch.

"how could i not? they were really good." cassie mused and folded her arms together.

"candy canes are so gross." sebastian grimaced from his seat, only causing matt to annoyingly roll his eyes. thankfully no one saw.

"thank you, you've already shared that inaccurate opinion with me before."

"i know, and it bugs you just as much each time." he chuckled and leaned forward, his arms against his legs.

"what do we do until midnight? we have almost two hours until then." alex asked and looked at everyone.

"we could play that word game, where you're in teams and guess a word that one in the team is describing." tyler suggested, frowning with his lips.

"sounds fun to me." cassie smiled and then regretted it a little. sebastian averted his blue eyes to her, a remembering smile on his face.

"teams of two of three? we're uneven." tyler asked, fiddling with a pillow.

"oh, i am the worst at this game. i'll just watch." michaela laughed, and it was true. she was really bad at that game.

they all decided to go for teams of two, so three teams in total. konstantin and tyler, the daddarios and then cassie and sebastian. unfortunately for matt, it was sort of a tradition — or at least a habit — for cassie and sebastian to be in the same team. mostly because they were really good at the game.

before they all were to go outside and prepare the fireworks and everything, sebastian wanted to talk a little with cassie. she followed him to an empty, short hallway and leaned the side of her body against the wall.

"hi." she said, biting her thumbnail.

"hey. can i ask you something?"

"of course."

"why were you so hostile when i came?" he asked quietly and folded his arms together. "i mean, yeah, it's been quite a while and all, but you almost seemed angry."

"i was just surprised to see you. maybe i was a bit cold, yes, but was i really hostile?" she frowned, a weak smile on her face.

"maybe not that much. guess i'm just used to a warm greeting and maybe a hug. and who's that guy? i know alex, but–"

"it's her brother, matt." she cut him off and nodded slowly. "also my boyfriend."

"really? that's great." he grinned, and she knitted her eyebrows together.

"really?"

"yes, really. don't look so surprised." he chuckled and watched as she relaxed in her posture. "cassie, i love you and i care for you, and i want you to be happy, which you seem like you are."

"i am. i'm very happy." she clarified and suppressed a wide smile. "this feels weird. you've always been so..."

"i know, but you were single then. and can you and i really be explained?"

"perhaps not. let's go celebrate the new year to come." she smiled and straightened her back.

cassie decided to give him a soft hug before they joined the others outside, after grabbing her winter hat of course. matt had managed to convince himself to just not bother. he trusted her, and whatever relationship she had with sebastian wasn't going to ruin anything. they seemed like good friends, and he didn't want to let his silly jealousy ruin that either.

so when cassie stood by his side, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and placed a quick kiss on her head. marcus locked his eyes with hers, silently asking if something happened. she just shook her head and then they were preparing to light the fireworks.

as the sky lit up with explosions, cassie turned around and looked at matt with a soft smile. he returned it, his thumb stroking her chin lightly, and kissed her tenderly.

"happy new year, cass." he whispered and pushed some hair away from her face.

"happy new year." she smiled and looked behind his shoulder, just in time to see marcus and alex ending a kiss too.

the next morning, cassie and matt were in her old room, placed on the bed. she was as usual drawing, and he was trying his hardest to solve her rubiks cube.

"tell me your and sebastian's story." he requested after a while, not in a harsh tone or such. he was genuinely curious.

"it's true what i said. he is an old friend, since the beginning of high school. he was charming, and even though he probably had a lot of relationships, he was always friendly to me. like a best friend who also treated you like a girlfriend sometimes, but playfully. after a while, we both realized that we sort of liked each other, but it'd be too weird. i can't really explain it, but if we were to be in a serious relationship... we wouldn't be able to be serious. yes, he's flirty, he gives me compliments, he sometimes kissed me on the cheek and held my hand, or had his arms around me, but it was all in a friendly way somehow." she explained, looking up at him.

matt took in her words and pouted a little, trying to picture it. he did understand their relationship though, but it also meant that he understood their closeness.

"sounds like a comfortable guy." he mumbled and turned his focus back to the cube.

"there's one thing though that you should know." she licked her bottom lip inside her mouth and rolled the pen between her fingers.

"do i want to know this?" he asked carefully.

"probably not. it got a bit weird between us after we... slept together. that's why it felt so cold when he came, because we just ended things in a bad way. the last time i saw him we had a fight. and i'm sorry i haven't really told you this, but