I really like your theory! You did mention it, and I'm glad you remembered. Thank you for sharing. :) I really like the idea that Matt purposefully tried to remove himself from his home situation, and it makes sense that Kelly, who has little self esteem and depends on men for her self worth, would expect her son to grow up fast and be mature. Without a father, Matt probably looked for men to serve as role models and might have learned from someone like Mr. Gilbert; whereas Vicki, who deserved a better role model than her mother, probably didn't look for one simply because one (though terrible) was already there. It's very interesting and unfortunate all around and makes Vicki's story even sadder. I wish we could have seen more of Matt and Vicki's relationship before she got so deeply into drugs because he seems like such a loving brother that I'm surprised he didn't try to stop her the way Elena tried to stop Jeremy; maybe it around the time when Elena's parents died and she broke up with him, which would be a very legitimate reason for Matt to be distracted from Vicki.