A/N: Welcome to Chapter 5 of Reality Check! Prompt #5: "We showed up at a book club meeting but we're the only people there who are not interested in Nicholas Sparks."

"So."

"...so." Matt arched his eyebrow at the blond man sitting beside him in Linda's parlor. In the three weeks since joining, Matt wasn't sure he'd ever heard the man talk before. He vaguely remembered Linda introducing everybody during the first meeting, including Matt and... what was his name? Mello?

"So," Mello cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably between two decorative pillows in Linda's wingback chair. "Did you actually read this crap?"

"Every single word," Matt chuckled. "Utter garbage."

"Oh thank God," the man laughed, scooting the chair closer to Matt's. "I just want to strangle the main character, like, 'What's wrong with you?' - ugh, teenagers! I cannot deal with these sappy, mindless, annoying-"

"Wow, tell me how you really feel?" Matt grinned. "I agree. I couldn't connect with the characters at all."

"It's like, who cares? Seriously. I mean, I'm not the best one to comment about the struggles of family, but-"

"Family issues?" Matt asked. He immediately regretted it as Mello's face grew somber.

"I don't really have a family," Mello said quietly. "Never got the whole 'marriage and divorce' thing. I was a foster kid from the time I could walk."

"Really?" Matt asked. "Huh. So was I."

"No shit?" said Mello. "Small world."

"Yeah, for sure," Matt said. "How many homes for you?"

"Three. You?"

"Seven," Matt shrugged. "First one was the best. But my foster brother died, and they couldn't keep me anymore. I bounced around a lot after that. What about you?"

"I barely remember my first family. They only kept me when I was a toddler. My second family wasn't great. Third family just didn't care. I moved out at fifteen; went to a boarding school, paid majority of my own tuition. I aged out."

"So did I," Matt said. "Though, I applied for emancipation. Got my own flat and did pretty well."

"It's infuriating to see the whining brats in these stories, isn't it? They don't know how lucky they really are."

"Makes you wonder what it might've been like," Matt nodded, looking up as Linda and the others joined them in the parlor.

"Are you guys ready to start?" Linda said cheerfully, putting down a tray of ladyfingers. "I wanted to talk about the ending."

"I wanted to talk about the relationships!" Ruby sighed, giggling. "Who do you think Ronnie should have ended up with?"

"Nobody," Matt and Mello both said, glancing at one another.

"Guys…" Linda frowned. "Look, we get it. It's not your cuppa. But, would you please take it seriously for once? It's a book club. I bet you didn't even read the book."

"I read the book," Matt snapped. "Unfortunately. That's two hours of my life that I'll never get back."

"It only took you two hours to read the whole book?" Ruby gasped.

"I read fast," Matt said. "Look. It's teenage angst, trite relationship drama, and cancer."

"Wasn't it sweet, though? And sad?" Caroline tilted her head. "I cried! And when Will showed up to Juilliard, I thought I was going to-"

"What's on the menu for next week's book?" Mello interrupted, crossing his arms. "May I suggest 'Fight Club' or-"

"Ew, no," Ruby scrunched up her nose. "Next week, Linda said we could read 'The Notebook'."

"Well, this has been lovely," Mello said, standing up abruptly. Decorative pillows fell to the floor, upsetting the doily hanging from the cloth-covered side table. He gestured to Matt. "But actually, I think he and I are going to start our own book club."

"What?" Matt blinked. "Oh. Oh, yeah. Sorry, Linda. See you around?"

Matt stood and followed Mello out of the parlor, down the hall, and onto Linda's front porch. The stark summer sunlight hurt his eyes after the dark, cramped parlor. He pulled his goggles over his eyes, sighing in relief.

"Well that was a hot mess," Mello laughed. "Seriously, though. Do you want to start our own book club?"

"Oh. Uh, well…" Matt thought for a moment. "Sure?"

"Great! We'll start having meetings at my place." Mello smiled cheekily, snatching Matt's mobile out of his pocket. He tapped out a message quickly, handing it back to Matt. "The first meeting is tomorrow. Bring your favorite book for me to read, and I'll give you mine."

"That… actually sounds like fun," Matt said, awkwardly glancing at Mello's address in the notes segment of his iPhone. "Sure."

"Someone once said that you learn the most about a person by paying attention to what they read," Mello nodded, looking Matt over from head to toe. "I'll see you tomorrow, Jeevas."