Ribstickers

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(that’s a real ribsticking meal) his father always used to say, and he thinks maybe Matt’s smile is too, swallowing it every time he sees it, so no one else can have it, and it settles in his chest, sticking to the inside of his ribcage, crowding his heart so the only room left for it is too small to hold it in. Which is why, he tells Jake in a drunken daze at the bar one night, his heart always hurts when he thinks of Matt.

Jake just gazes at him speculatively, and when he walks out into the kitchen the next morning, Matt’s smile is so fake, and going down it hurts even more than usual, burning like acid in his stomach and throat, dissolving his ribs and heart.