Chapter Text
They won.
Not really a surprise for anyone. But they had done it now. They had won and the asshole drunk driver was currently serving 14 years, for reckless driving resulting in grievous bodily harm.
Sentencing had been a good day. Matt didn’t go, he couldn’t bring himself to be back in the same room as the driver. Tom had stayed with him, trying his best to distract the boy from the trial. They all knew they were going to win, but there was always that nibbling sense of doubt they something would go wrong.
Nick and Chris had gone though. Chris, obviously, as he had instigated the entire trial for his boy. But Nick needed to be there. He needed to see the asshole that had ruined his little brother's life face justice. He had been ready to fight if they hadn’t won.
When the judge gave the sentence, both boys nearly lost their minds. Both of them throwing each other into a tight embrace, letting some excited, happy tears fall. It was over. After a month of going back and forth to court nearly every day. It was finally over, and they had won. Both of them were on cloud nine. They imagined that’s what Matt’s Subspace must feel like.
Chris had wanted to call Matt straight away, but he also wanted to tell his boy in person. He knew Matt wanted Ashten behind bars as much as they did, but now that it had finally happened, Chris was worried about how he might react. The news could be slightly overwhelming for the boy and he wanted to make sure he was there in person when he told him.
Since the accident, Matt didn’t do too well with phone calls either. None of them really knew why. Maybe because the conversations weren’t happening in person, it gave him more room to get distracted and confused. They couldn’t be sure, and the doctors hadn’t exactly been able to give them a clear answer either. So, they mostly just didn’t call him, rather, calling someone he was with. Letting them relay the message to the boy.
Nick had texted Tom as soon as he got to the car, making him swear he wouldn’t tell Matt. They were going to wait until they got home to call their parents as well. They knew they’d probably want to speak to Matt straight away, so it would just be easier if they waited until they got back home.
So the two of them raced to get home, still driving safely though. They would never risk it. One car accident was one too many for a lifetime, thank you very much.
The second they burst through the door they had bolted to the living room to find Matt. Cheshire Cat grins plastered across both of their faces. When Chris spotted him, sitting on the couch, slightly cuddled up with Tom, he ran straight over to him.
Matt barely had time to process that Chris and Nick were home before Chris had snatched him up in his arms and was twirling him around.
“We won Princess! We won!” Chris cried cheerfully.
Matt allowed himself to be held and twirled for a few moments, taking in what Chris was telling him.
Nick and Tom watched the pair, large smiles on their faces.
They had to give Chris credit, for holding the boy in his arms, making him straddle the Dom while spinning around. Matt making no attempt to really hold on, and his legs were completely immobile, just hanging on either side of Chris’ waist. All the while Chris cheered and smiled, making it look completely effortless. They knew Matt was the smallest of the three of them, but that was still pretty impressive.
Nick felt Tom look at him with a smirk.
“Pick me up and I will kick you in the balls” Nick threatened, not joking in the slightest. Tom just chuckled at him, before he kissed him. “Wouldn’t dream of it”
Chris had stopped spinning now and was just holding Matt close. He shifted their bodies slightly so he could look at Matt’s face properly “We won Princess, it’s over” He told him gently, pressing a kiss to his forehead.
Matt looked up at him with big wide eyes “We won?” He almost whispered, not exactly believing what Chris had told him. The Dom nodded at him, a big smile on his face, his eyes filled with love. “Yeah, baby. We won. It’s done. He’s gone” Chris told him slowly, but happily.
Finally making some form of effort to hold onto Chris, Matt reached up wrapping his arms around his neck and pulled him close. Chris readjusted his boy slightly higher on his hip, so they were pressed closer together.
Chris felt him slowly start to become sluggish “You okay Princess?” He asked gently. It took a few moments, but Matt eventually let out a small hum. Still not satisfied his boy was alright, Chris slowly started to adjust them so he could look at Matt’s face again. But upon doing so, caused Matt to unwillingly whimper, at the smallest loss of connection.
Quickly putting two and two together, Chris figured that Matt was going into his Subspace. He chuckled slightly, tightening his hold on his boy. Matt didn’t want to be put down, so Chris wasn’t going to put him down. If Matt stayed in his Subspace for hours, Chris would hold him for hours. Anything for his boy.
“Take your time Princess. I’ll be here the whole time. Take as long as you need, my sweet boy” He whispered to him, kissing him on his temple. Smiling at the boy in his arms.
Nick looked back over at the pair “He okay? He in his Subspace?” He smiled at them, happy for the two of them. Chris looked back at him and smiled brightly, nodding his head “Yeah”
Matt did in fact stay in his Subspace for hours, and Chris couldn’t be happier about it. The boy hadn’t been able to float into euphoria since before the accident.
As he promised, he never left his side. It was almost comical really, well, that’s what Tom and Nick thought. Watching Chris carry his boy around like he was a feather, never once looking put out or tired. Just holding him in his arms, like it was an everyday occurrence.
The trial had really helped to give the boys closure.
There were still hard days, but they were very few and far between what they used to be. Most days, they were back to their normal bickering selves. The Dom’s had been slightly concerned that they wouldn’t be able to slow their usual fast-paced conversations down, once things had started to become ‘normal’ again. But, they needn't have worried themselves so much.
By the time they were back to bickering and being their more normal selves, the accident had been ten months prior. For nearly a year they had been subconsciously learning how to speak at a pace that was easy for Matt to keep up.
Neither of them ever spoke down to Matt, they just stopped with the rapid-fire conversations for him. The two of them often found themselves talking at a slower rate even when Matt wasn’t around. It was normal for them now, and they were both perfectly happy with that.
Matt still got confused and muddled of course, he always would. But he was a lot more accepting of it now, even asking them to slow down or pause when he needed a minute to catch up.
He still couldn’t walk, his legs just did not want to cooperate with him, and he was starting to accept that too. He still got sad about it some days, but he knew it was better than the other alternative. At least he was still alive. Still with his friends and his family. Still with Chris. The single most important person in his life. His Chris.
The three of them were in the kitchen, eating some food that Nick had ordered on DoorDash. Tom had gone out for dinner with a couple of his friends, leaving the boys alone. It felt kinda weird, Tom was usually always just there. Not to say that they didn’t enjoy spending time, just the three of them. It was just different.
Nick and Chris were waffling on about some video one of their favourite creators had posted.
Matt, not really listening, interrupted them “Do you miss YouTube?” He asked concerned before he realised he’d completely cut them off “So-Sorry” he apologised, feeling bad.
Chris and Nick just smirked at him, they knew he didn’t cut them off on purpose, it just happened sometimes. They had grown, ten months ago Matt would have been berated for that. But now, they knew it genuinely wasn’t his fault, so they just didn’t care.
“What was that Princess?” Chris asked genuinely, smiling at Matt.
The Sub started to feel his cheeks getting hotter “Oh, um. I just was wondering if you guys missed doing YouTube?” He asked the pair shyly.
His brothers weren’t expecting that if they were being honest. They hadn’t really spoken to Matt about coming back to YouTube, they had sort of assumed he didn’t even want to think about it anymore. The Dom’s had spoken with each other about it. They did miss it and did want to go back to it. But both of them had agreed that they couldn’t do it without Matt.
For a multiplex of reasons really. They were the Sturniolo Triplets, they couldn’t exactly be triplets if there weren’t three of them. Aside from the obvious reason, neither Nick nor Chris wanted to do it without Matt. He was such an important part of their lives and channel already. They had discussed the possibility of doing just personal channel vlogs/videos instead. But that had always been something they had done on the side, not their main focus.
They also didn’t want to make Matt uncomfortable if he did decide he didn’t want to film anymore. The two of them filming for their personal channels could have upset him, and they had no interest in doing that.
So no, the Dom’s hadn’t made an effort to get back on YouTube as of yet. They wanted to be respectful of Matt and what he might be feeling. If he turned around and told them he didn’t want to film anymore, then that would be it. They would retire their channel and move on to something else. But, as of until just now, Matt hadn’t uttered the word ‘ YouTube’ so they had just stayed put.
“Oh, I-I guess. Sometimes, yeah” Nick told Matt honestly, giving him a small smile. Matt just nodded and hummed, looking lightly lost in thought for a few moments. He was nibbling on his bottom lip before he looked over at Chris with wide inquisitive eyes.
“You?” He asked the Dom gently, looking slightly nervous. Chris reached over and softly pushed the hair that was falling into Matt’s eyes, out of his face. Matt slightly leaning into the touch.
“Yeah. Sometimes I do, sure” Chris told him with a small smile. Matt looked up at him for a moment, his eyes still wide, before he started to chew on his nails. Nick and Chris made brief eye contact before Chris started to speak again.
“Do-do you miss it?” He asked him gently, not wanting to upset the boy. Matt hummed at him after a few moments, taking slightly longer to form his words.
“Um, yeah. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, and, um. Yeah, I miss it too” The Sub told them cautiously. At that, both Chris and Nick raised their eyebrows at him, again, neither of them expecting him to say that.
“Would it be something you wanted to do again?” Nick asked him with a smile. Matt nodded at him, looking slightly nervous, but a small smile was evident on his face.
“Yeah, I mean, I think so,” he told the pair. “Maybe just car videos or something to start. I don’t think I’m ready to do more than one video at a time at the moment.” He added honestly. Both Dom’s gleamed at him, they really had thought he was done with YouTube, and they were okay with that. But, this was even better.
“You sure? You don’t have to if you don’t want to Princess?” Chris wanted to check with his boy and make sure he wasn’t just saying that to make them happy. Matt just shook his head at him, a smile still on his face.
“No, I want to. I think I’m ready” He told Chris honestly, which made Chris practically leap onto him. Causing Matt to burst into giggles.
The boys went back to YouTube.
As Matt had requested, they started with just one video at a time, and it was going well. Their fans had been absolutely ecstatic when they returned. Before they came back, their most viewed video had been Matt’s story time. But after they posted their coming back video, that had blown up like crazy.
They took their time getting comfortable with filming car videos each week, making sure all three of them were still comfortable and enjoying it. Before they progressed to filming vlogs as well. Their channel was starting to feel like it had before the accident and they were all pleased with it.
The content they were putting out was basically the same as what it had always been, and the fans adored it. There were some slight changes, obviously, to accommodate for Matt. But no one had an issue with it. They were still the same three idiots they had always been, just slightly more mellowed out this time around.
People had gone crazy for Matt, they had missed him and were so worried about him. It was nice to see him back on their screens again, smiling and being genuinely happy. A lot of their disabled fans had reached out to him as well. Telling him how much of a positive impact he had made on their lives. That made him feel good, knowing he was helping people like him accept themselves.
By now their fanbase knew nearly everything about them, and still absolutely adored them. Everyone supported Matt when he returned, never pressuring him or making him uncomfortable. Just genuinely caring for him and understanding where his head might be at.
No one cared about Matt and Chris being together anymore, most people actually loved it. It was still bizarre, but the boys truly were soulmates and everyone could see that. The two of them never intentionally did coupley things in front of the camera, but that didn’t mean they weren’t caught being cute, on camera.
Matt blames Chris whenever those incidents occur, and Chris couldn’t really find a reason to argue it. There must have been about a hundred videos of them kissing online by now, all of which were initiated by Chris. Whether it be in a vlog, car video, a TikTok, or someone else had just recorded them, when they were about. It was always Chris initiating it.
It’s not like Chris did it on purpose, he was just obsessed with Matt and wanted to be around him all the time. Always wanting to shower him with love and affection. Matt wouldn’t lie and say he didn’t enjoy it, he was always just the shy one of the two of them. Very rarely would he initiate something between them, even rarer in public. Whenever Chris kissed him and they were filming, he’d give the boy an exasperated look, but everyone could see his blush and a small smile.
Their fans loved it. Nick did not. Compilations had been made of a fed-up Nick, disapprovingly saying ‘Chris!’, which always made Chris laugh. Winding up Nick was just too easy. Their fans had also been obsessed with the fact that Chris calls Matt ‘His Princess’ and went to town with it.
If fans met them while they were out, they'd ask Chris "How's your Princess Chris", which always made the Dom smile. The poor Sub couldn’t escape it, and eventually had to just accept it, with an eye roll of course.
Which is why, this conversation shouldn’t have been a shock to anyone.
The three of them were in the car filming another video. None of them could tell you exactly how they got onto it, but they had started talking about weddings and marriage. Before Chris turned to Matt and blurted,
“Do you ever think about getting married?” Quite nonchalantly.
From the back, Nick’s jaw had dropped to the floor and was currently playing eye tennis. His eyes rapidly switched between Matt and Chris. Bringing his hands up in front of his face, and sitting them just below his eyes. Watching on in confusion and shock.
In the front, Matt wasn’t doing much better. The boy had froze, he was completely frozen, looking at Chris with pure bewilderment. Somehow switching between rapid and slow blinking. He took a few moments to try to think of a response but struggled. Not due to his injury, but due to what the fuck Chris had just asked him.
Eventually, he settled on a very confused and slightly passive “What!”. Simple, but effective.
Chris just looked at him confused, like he hadn’t just asked an extremely out-of-pocket question, in the middle of a car video.
“What? You don’t think about getting married?” He asked again, still interested.
Again, Matt could only look at him in bewilderment and shock. He wasn’t really sure what to say here so he just turned it back on Chris.
“Do you?” He asked genuinely.
Chris took him in for a moment before he replied “Yeah” like it was obvious.
Now, Matt knows, that he is the king of side eyes and eye rolls. TikTok had made that very clear to him. But he also knows that in this moment his eyes look like they are about to pop out of his head. And if this video ever made it to the internet, he’d be a meme for years to come. But how the hell was he supposed to react, when his boyfriend of 5 years has just told him he thinks about marriage, so calmly?
Chris could sense that Matt was having some internal dilemma and spoke again “Do you not want to get married?” Slightly confused.
Matt had to take a moment to think about his answer, reaching up to hold his tag “I’ve jus- I guess I’ve never really thought about it?” He told him honestly, still in shock. Chris was clearly confused now.
“You haven’t? Really?” He asked him surprised, his eyes slightly squinting in shock. This really was not what Matt had expected getting in the car to film today.
“Well yeah. I mean, it’s no-….We do-…. I tho-….” He tripped up his words, struggling to make a clear sentence. He sighed at himself, rolling his eyes. Chris reached over and held one of his hands, giving him an understanding smile.
“You’re fine, take your time,” he told him seriously.
He didn’t care what he and Matt were talking about, even if they were fighting and Matt got tripped up, he’d reassure him that it was okay. He would wait forever and a day for his boy.
Matt nodded at him and took a couple of breaths before he started to speak again, finding his words slightly easier this time.
“I guess, I never really thought about it, 'cause we don’t, exactly need it…… You know, being Matched , and all” He told him slowly, but honestly.
While it was true, they technically didn’t need to get married, as in the eyes of the law they already sort of were. Some Matched couples still did to signify their love. More often, it was the ones where the Dom and the Sub genuinely did love one another, like Matt and Chris. Other Matches didn’t usually bother, as the Dominant was the superior in the relationship and didn’t want the Submissive to feel equal. For them, the collar around their Sub’s neck was all they needed.
“So you don’t want to get married?” Chris asked, almost sadly. He was staring at Matt, fiddling with the boy's fingers in his hand.
“That’s not what I said,” Matt said defensively, staring back up at Chris.
In the back, Nick wished he was anywhere else. This was too awkward and he didn’t know what to do with himself. It was almost like watching a car crash in slow motion, but he couldn’t look away. He had started to curl up into his hoodie, but he kept his eyes out, wanting to watch the scene in front of him unfold.
Chris smirked at Matt “So you do want to get married?”
“Are you asking me? Like? Right now?” Matt asked confused and concerned. He was in a state of complete shock and really didn’t know what to say.
“Well I’m not saying we get married right now, but…” Chris told him seriously, trailing off in thought. Matt was sure if he opened his eyes any wider they’d fall out of his head.
“Chris!” He shrieked.
Chris just laughed at him “Matt” still smiling at him. Matt shook his head in surprise.
“We’re only 20” he exclaimed, a surprised laugh of his own coming out as he spoke. Chris just giggled at him again.
“We have been together five years now, Matt,” he told him in amusement, he loved flustering his boy. Flustered would actually be an understatement to describe how Matt was feeling right now.
“We- well. Wh-what. What’s the rush?” Matt replied, almost in hysterics. He couldn’t even believe they were still talking about this right now. Why hadn’t Nick stopped him? Chris was almost full-blown laughing now.
“Princess. You do realise that this, is for life right?” He told him with a cute smile, motioning between the two of them. Matt couldn’t help but blush and smile at that. He did love being reminded that Chris was his for life.
“Well obviously. You’ve just never mentioned marriage before. That’s. Big. Marriage is big” he stammered to the Dom, the boy was a flustered mess and Chris loved it.
“Well, yeah Matt,” he told him unfazed, still smiling at his boy. His boy was a blushing, shy mess and he loved it, he thought it was adorable.
“So you can’t just bring it up in a car video like that. What are you even saying?!” Matt asked him incredibly, after taking a few moments to gather his thoughts. Chris was honestly going to be the death of him if he kept this up.
Chris just gigged at his theatrics, he loved his boy so much, and he told him that.
“I just love you, Matt. I already think of you as my wife anyway. A wedding would just confirm that” he told him with a grin, still messing with Matt’s fingers.
Nick wasn’t doing a very good job of not reacting anymore, doing his absolute best to not laugh out loud. He had slapped his hand over his mouth when Chris called Matt his wife and now had tears streaming down his face, trying to contain himself. His body was shaking from his silent laughter, much more of this and he’d need to leave the car.
He made the mistake of looking over at Matt and physically had to bite his hand to stop himself from making a noise. Matt’s jaw had dropped further than it ever had before, his eyes were seconds away from popping out of his skull, and he was blushing everywhere.
“Your wife!” The Sub exclaimed loudly, “How dare you!” He continued.
His reaction caused Chris to burst into giggles, squeezing Matt’s hand for support. Matt was just shaking his head at him, trying not to laugh with him.
Fucking Chris.
“Matt. You’re my Princess, of course you’d be my wife” Chris told him through his giggles, at that Matt couldn’t hold back his own exasperated giggles.
Chris had always used feminine terms for him, and after so many years of dealing with it, he really didn’t care anymore. He knew he was Chris’ Princess and he was okay with that. Aside from the whole marriage conversation, hearing Chris refer to him as his wife wasn’t honestly that much of a shock. He just wasn’t prepared for it.
Still shaking his head at Chris he spoke again “If this was your idea of a proposal, I don’t like it” he told him still giggling, letting out an unwilling smile. Chris just looked up at him for a few moments, giving him a closed-mouth smile, eyes filled with love.
“Oh no. Don’t you worry, I have something much better planned. Only the best for my Princess” He told him cheekily before leaning over to kiss Matt. The poor Sub was a flustered, shocked, blushing mess, only being able to smile and roll his eyes at Chris.
A few days later when the video went up and so did their photo dumps, it wasn’t too much of a surprise for there to have been a photo of Matt and Chris looking very coupley. An engagement ring sitting snug on Matt’s left hand. The caption read “Princess said yes.”