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“We should stream more often.” Chris smiled as he veered around the kitchen island to stand in front of the tripod with his brothers.
Nick bit the inside of his cheek as he smiled back bitterly. “Maybe we could if you’d get off your lazy ass.”
That warranted a forceful jab to the arm (maybe harder than Chris had anticipated), but Nick was lucky enough to have dodged in time to only be grazed. He turned to Matt for support, objecting to Chris’ violent outburst, but the middle triplet just shrugged.
”Your fault.”
“Whatever. You’re gonna get us fucking banned with your attitude,” Nick pointed an accusatory finger to Chris before leaning into the counter to read the Twitch chat on his laptop. Chris only stuck his tongue out in reply. The fans seemed amused by the drama, laughing at Chris’ saltiness and Matt’s indifference. They had wanted to film a completely uncut video for a while now, but their stupid century-old camera only filmed for ten minutes at a time (and Nick simply refused to get a better one for whatever reason). They decided, instead, that they should begin streaming more often in order to provide the uncut content their fans had been asking for.
Organised across the kitchen counter were various snacks from countries around the world, snacks the triplets had been fortunate enough to receive from their subscribers as gifts. Some came from the UK, Canada, France, ranging from strange sodas to extreme sour candies.
Matt had his legs crossed on top of the counter as he munched away at some strawberry laces, a snack he’d stashed away from his brothers and claimed as his own after they had tried them. He would probably complain of a stomach ache in five minutes, but that was a problem for Future Matt to handle.
”Okay! Next snack we’re gonna try came from England and it was sent by Ella – thank you, Ella. It’s called a Starbar! It’s chocolate, I’m pretty sure, I just love the name,” Nick doted with a precious beam, snapping the chocolate bar into three semi-equal parts and passing a piece to each of his brothers.
”Here, Matt,” he prompted, handing him the part still in the wrapper. Matt’s eyes ignited at the sight and he abandoned his strawberry laces, graciously taking the golden wrapped chocolate.
He bit into it without thinking, really. A stupid mistake on his part. All he could think about was how happy he was to be sitting there, in his kitchen at 2 AM, eating candy with his two best friends for a living. As soon as he felt the crunch against his teeth and swallowed he knew he had made a mistake. Then he smelled it.
Fuck.
“Nick?” He mumbled, mouth still half-full of the chocolate. Matt grabbed a paper plate from his side and spat the remaining candy out, trying his best to shield it from the camera. Nick was busy moving his animated hands and telling some engrossing story to the camera, but Chris was stood back, subdued, leaning against the fridge. They met eyes.
Matt and Chris had always been able to communicate without words. That was true for all three of them, really, but Chris had this special ability to know exactly what his brothers were thinking and feeling without saying a thing. Maybe he was just observant. Maybe it was some brotherly instinct. But Chris knew right then and there, as they locked eyes, that something was terribly wrong. A dark feeling sat in his gut.
”What?” He whispered, head dipped. His face was falling.
Matt’s throat tightened and he lifted his hand to wrap around it, eyes wide and helpless.
“Nick, shit! Nick!” Chris yelled suddenly, springing up from his spot and reaching Matt’s side not a second later. He grabbed the wrapper resting in Matt’s limp hand and turned to the ingredients before paling.
”What? What is it?” Nick asked worriedly, clearly startled by Chris’ unexpected outburst. He must have thought this was some kind of prank his little brothers were pulling, a way to get his pulse racing, because Nick still had a hint of a smile on his face.
Matt wheezed out.
“Peanuts, Nick! You gave him fucking nuts?!” Chris exclaimed, and even though he knew not to be angry at Nick because it was hardly his fault, he had to channel his fear into something.
Nick clasped a hand over his mouth.
Somehow, Matt was the calmest one in this whole situation, despite it being his own life at risk.
”Oh my God… Oh my God!” Nick stressed, eyes blown wide. “Okay, let me cut the stream. Chris, go get the EpiPen. Matt, try to breathe!”
As if I needed that advice, Matt pulled a face.
Chris wasted no time in sprinting upstairs, knowing exactly where they kept their pens for times like these. They each had their respective allergies: Matt’s was nuts, Nick’s was shellfish, Chris’ was raspberries (Chris had actually eaten said raspberries a month ago). They had been well-versed in dealing with each other’s allergies from an early age and knew what to do when the time came. It didn’t come often, thank God (unless it was Chris, because Chris thought that eating more raspberries would make him immune somehow), but they liked to be prepared.
”Okay. It’s okay, it’s fine,” Nick spoke shakily both to himself and to Matt, right after he had ended the Twitch stream, stammering out some quick explanation so they wouldn’t worry their fans too much. He turned back to Matt all of a sudden, whose colour was rapidly draining. He itched at his neck repeatedly, wide eyes darting around the room. Nick approached him like a child or a wounded animal, palms held up towards him.
”Nick?” Matt croaked, not quite sure what exactly he was asking for. His breathing was getting faster, shallower.
”It’s alright, Matty, you’re gonna be fine.” Nick spoke so gently, hands resting on Matt’s shoulders. He pulled Matt’s hand away from his neck, grimacing at the flowering rash hidden beneath it.
“Chris?!”
”I got it, I got it!”
Chris nearly tripped down the stairs before he burst into the kitchen, the yellow-tipped needle grasped in his hand. He brought a second just in case. He dragged Matt’s legs over the edge of the counter and clicked the needle into his thigh as swiftly as possible, zero hesitation in his movements. Nick grabbed his hand, giving Matt the once, twice, thrice over.
”It hurts,” Matt puffed out, keeling over and gasping for air. Even as he inhaled, he felt as though he was still holding his breath. Someone was squeezing the life out of him. Stupid body, he cursed, how dumb is it that you could die from one hundredth of a peanut?
Nick squatted down in front of his brother and looked up at him, squeezing his hand.
”Matt. I’m not letting anything happen to you, remember? It’s gonna be just fine. Give the pen a minute to do its thing, okay?”
”We can’t wait a half hour for an ambulance, Nick, how the fuck are we gonna get to the hospital?” Chris worried, swallowing the lump in his throat. Nick blinked, a million thoughts running through his head at once. Always the leader, always making plans.
“…Do you think you could handle driving there?”
“Nick, I don’t have my fucking license yet!”
”Well, you’ve been learning for nearly a year. Use Matt’s. You’re fucking identical.”
Chris somehow looked more stressed than Matt did, and the poor kid was turning purple. Looking over at his brother was all the confirmation Chris needed to know that he could handle this. He had to, for Matt’s sake.
”Okay, shit, okay. I’ll go start the car.” Matt heard keys chime and the front door swing open. The cold air from outside felt like a blessing against his burning skin. With every ounce of restraint inside him, he begged himself not to touch the rashes he knew were blossoming across his skin. It would only make things worse. He coughed as an attempt to open his airway, tears nipping at his eyes. The room was spinning on an axis.
”Hey, don’t cry. It’s gonna be okay, I got you. C’mon.”
Nick quickly scooped Matt up in his arms and carried him out the door, managing to lock it with his spare hand. Matt’s legs hung around his waist limply, his chest rising and falling out of time against Nick’s own. This was bad.
He managed to haul them both into the back seats of the car; Chris had rolled all the windows down despite the chill of the night. His hands trembled against the steering wheel as he reversed out the driveway, hoping to God that his driving lessons would pay off tonight.
“How’s he doing, Nick? Talk to me!” Chris shot out, voice strained. His back was tense against the driver’s seat and he frequently eyed the rear-view mirror to try and catch a glimpse of his brothers. The eldest triplet had Matt’s head in his lap and he played with his hair to keep him alert.
“Can you go any faster, you think? Hey. Eyes on me, Matt.”
Matt nodded, but his eyes felt so heavy, and maybe Nick wouldn’t mind if he rested for just a little while. He let out a stifled breath before his head lolled back against Nick’s knees.
When he woke again, he was laying in a hospital bed and his face felt funny. His eyes squinted against the harsh artificial light, but he managed to tilt his head to the side and catch a glimpse of his brothers at his bedside.
Nick shot up like a bullet. Perhaps it was because he was the eldest of them, but Nick had always felt responsible for his little brothers. He was the oldest, and the most wise, and it was his duty to keep Matt and Chris safe. He remembered promising their mother to always keep them safe when they moved out to LA.
Look at you now, his subconscious cursed. In the span of two hours, he had nearly killed his brother, watched him be wheeled off to the ER, held Chris as he cried, and called their parents to try and get them to California by the morning. He felt like a terrible protector – a terrible brother.
But Nick smiled at the sight of Matt’s weary eyes opening. The sun was rising over this dark night.
“Hey, sleepy head. You’re okay. You’re at the hospital.”
“No shit.”
Matt was suddenly aware of how dry his throat was, how achy his limbs felt. Chris was slumped against Nick’s shoulder, mouth hanging open as he quietly snored. Matt suddenly wondered what time it was now. 4 or 5 in the morning?
Chris was tapped on the shoulder by Nick, and then the boy was rushing forward to embrace his brother as soon as he woke.
”Oh my God. You worried me so much, you asshole.”
“Hey,” Nick warned. “It’s not his fault.”
They both heard the unspoken meaning behind Nick’s words. It’s my fault.
Chris made room for himself on the bed, wrapping his arm over Matt’s shoulders and resting his chin on his brother’s head.
”You stopped breathing, Matt,” the youngest choked out, gulping. Matt opened his mouth but found no voice in his throat.
”Nick carried you into the hospital and they put you on the bed and you stopped breathing. You had these-these rashes and you looked gray. I – We thought you died.”
Something in Chris’ voice hinted at a deep anger, but everyone knew he was only hurting. He did that sometimes, got his feelings mixed up and came across wrong.
”I thought I killed you,” Nick whispered.
Matt turned sharply, ignoring the ache it gave his head. He spoke more sure than ever. “Absolutely not, Nick. Don’t think like that.”
Nick sighed before leaning in to join the embrace. They were out of the woods now.
”Please don’t scare us like that again.”
”Hey, if you did die we could say you were killed by deez nuts.”
”Christopher Owen.”