#this coincides nicely to a fractured group plot imo

[pavlovianpanic]

“What do you know about this?” Beth grabs a hold of Matt’s jersey, staring up at him. She’s a bit smaller than him—a twig, Beth is, compared to Matt’s athleticism. She wrings Mike’s confession note in a white-knuckled fist. “You tell me, now. Matthew. I know you’re nicer than this. That’s your thing. You’re the good guy. Mike is not.”

❝ whoa, @cataschism. take it easy. it was just a ... just a prank. er, going to be ... ❞

he sounds less and less confident as that sentence goes on, ending on a low note. damn. that's not how this was supposed to go. you weren't even supposed to notice, and hannah ... hannah was just supposed to ... to what? learn her lesson? and what lesson is that?

don't fuck with emily. i thought that much was obvious ... because fucking with emily means fucking with jessica. the terrible two. sometimes, it's hard to tell them apart. but even now, matt knows that's no excuse. beth is right. she's right. he's the good guy. i'm the good guy. supposed to be.

but a good guy would have said something. a good guy would have stopped this before it could start. a good guy would have said something / done something. a good guy wouldn't have been ready to film hannah. a good guy wouldn't be holding the camera, ready to get to work. they didn't even ask him to film, though that detail was decided from the start. a camera with no cameraman, they didn't have to request matthew.

i'm tall, he had said. i can get a good angle.

❝ shit, did you ... is josh awake? ❞

if he is, that's going to cause problems. there's a reason this was going to work so well, and that was because josh and chris overdid it, leaving the two mouthiest factors out of the picture.

guess we never considered beth, huh? josh is going to want to kick my ass after this.

❝ beth, i'm sorry. hannah, just ... it wasn't even supposed to go this far ... ❞ if it wasn't, then why am i holding the camera? shit, why am i even here at all? ❝ it wasn't even my idea. ❞ how lame that sounds, especially coming from him. he is compliant, more than, and that is enough. ❝ i wasn't going to do anything with it, ❞ he insists, meaning the footage. yeah ... right. ❝ and ... and look. hannah is fine. you know, you did your job. good sister and all. so. no harm, no foul ... right? we're ... we're cool, aren't we? ❞