Work Text:
Nick is starting to regret his earlier decision to push through the pounding in his head. He popped two Advil an hour ago, and no improvement has been had. He’s never had a headache this bad before, and he grossly underestimated its power over him.
He’s in the backseat of the car filming a car video with his brothers, and his eyesight keeps blurring in and out of focus. Chris has decided that today was his day to not shut the fuck up, and if Nick had any energy he’d be screaming right back at Chris.
But as it is, Nick’s head is pounding, and the backseat of the van has never looked like a better place to lay down. He’s lightheaded and nauseous and Chris and Matt arguing in the front is not helping.
Nick couldn’t tell you what started the argument, but it’s getting out of hand. Chris is getting frustrated and Matt keeps interrupting everything Chris tries to say. And instead of Chris shutting up for one damn second to let Matt say what he has to say he keeps increasing his tone and yelling louder.
Nick opens his mouth to try to interject but instead of words coming up it's bile. Nick quickly clasps his hand over his mouth and uses his other hand to throw the car door open. He can hear Chris and Matt call out to him, demanding to know what’s wrong with him, but he focuses whatever strength he has left in stumbling a couple of feet away from the car before his knees give out and he’s throwing up on the asphalt.
The throbbing in his head gets significantly worse and he whimpers. As soon as he’s done ejecting his stomach he crawls to the side to avoid his pile of sick and falls flat on his ass. Suddenly a very blurry brother is crouched in front of him and it's not until his ears work again does he recognize it's Matt. “Nick! What’s going on?”
Nick whimpers again and flinches away from the volume of Matt’s voice. Nick tries to respond but all he lets out is a muffled whine. He brings one of his hands up to try to rub the black spots out of his eyes, but it just makes the blurriness worse. His head is about to explode and he feels like crying. He feels helpless and embarrassed. He just wants to be at home in bed.
Nick can see the silhouette of Chris standing over Matt’s shoulder, “What’s going on? Did you eat something bad?”
Nick goes to shake his head but the action almost sends him into throwing up again so he clasps his hand over his mouth again. He takes a second to breathe through the nausea before trying to speak again, “Headache, I’m okay. Just give me a second.”
He more so hears Matt move than sees as his eyes still refuse to focus but suddenly Matt is closer and has a hand on Nick’s shoulder, “This looks like a migraine Nicky, how long have you been feeling this way?”
“This morning, wasn’t so bad till’ we drove out here.”
Nick hears Matt let out a huff of frustration and shrinks away, he can’t handle this right now. The cold from the asphalt is sinking into his bones and he needs to get up. Nick turns to heave himself up and makes it the majority of the way before he stumbles. It’s Chris who has the fast enough reflexes to catch him before he can faceplant, “Whoa kid, take it easy!”
Nick leans some of his weight into Chris’ arms, he doesn’t know what to do, doesn’t know how to fix the mess he’s gotten himself into, and his head is throbbing too much to even attempt to try. He lets his head rest on Chris’s shoulder and turns his nose into the nape of his neck. Nick whispers the only thing his brain can think, “Can we please go home?”
Chris brings one hand up to run his hand through Nick’s hair, and it doesn’t make the pain any more bearable, but it does help to lessen his embarrassment, “Yeah, ‘course we can. Let’s get you back to the car.”
Nick buries his head deeper into Chris’ shoulder before forcing himself to pull away. He goes to step towards the car and his knees buckle. Chris catches him again and calls Matt over to help, “Matt, help me get him to the car.”
Nick feels Matt take up residence at his left, wrapping his arm around his waist to keep him upright. Nick does his best to work with his brothers as they help him walk to the backseat of the car but he keeps losing a step. He knows he would be on the ground again if not for Chris and Matt. “I’m sorry,” Nick whimpers out. He hates feeling this weak, and he hates that he ruined the car video.
It’s a Thursday night and he was already dreading the minimal editing time he would have to get the video out on time. Hopefully, they managed to film enough for at least a smaller-than-normal video.
He’s deposited back into his seat and lets his head fall back against the headrest, he closes his eyes and tunes out the discussion Matt and Chris are having. He feels someone buckle his seatbelt for him before his door is closed. The sound of the two doors in the front open shortly after and he hears Matt call his name.
He cracks his eyes open but looks at Matt, his vision is clearing up and he can see the worry etched in his brother's face, “Do you think you need a hospital, or are you okay enough to just go home?”
Nick legitimately takes a moment to evaluate his body. He’s in a steady amount of pain, but he knows he’s not injured. A lot of people get migraines, he just needs to wait this out.
“Home, I just need to lie down.”
Nick is thankful that Matt doesn’t try to second-guess his decision and instead turns to buckle up and start the car. Chris gets buckled and pulls the camera off the dash as well before the car lurches as Matt starts to drive them home.
Thankfully Chris and Matt are relatively silent on the drive home and Chris made sure to turn the radio off. Twenty minutes later Matt and Chris are back to helping Nick out of the car and through the front door. They catch him as he trips up the steps but eventually, they manage to deposit him on the couch.
“Have you taken anything for the pain yet? Can we get you anything?” Matt asks.
Nick leans back further against the couch, “I took some Advil earlier, I think I just need to sleep.”
“Okay, let’s get you lying down, do you want help to your bedroom?”
Nick almost refuses, he just got settled on the couch and doesn’t want to move, but ultimately takes up his brother on the offer, “Yes please, it’s way too bright out here.”
Once Matt and Chris get him tucked in his bed and have all the lights off do they go to leave. Nick panics for a moment, he really doesn’t want to be alone right now, “Wait! Stay, please?”
He sees his brother’s faces soften before they come back and climb in with him. Once they get settled Nick turns and rests his head on Chris’s chest. Matt wraps an arm around Nick’s waist from behind and not long later is Nick asleep.
--------
His body is awake before his mind and he’s groaning into a warm body before he is even aware of where he is. Once his mind fully clicks he hears Chris, “Morning, how are you feeling?”
“Like shit.”
Chris chuckles lightly before lightly running his fingers through Nick’s hair, “Head still hurts then?”
Nick takes a moment to wake up more and evaluate exactly how he’s feeling, “A little, not nearly as much as last night.”
Chris just hums, “Good, you really scared the shit out of Matt and I last night.”
Nick buries his face deeper into Chris, “I’m sorry, I didn’t think it was that bad. But then you and Matt were screaming and the lights in the car were too bright, and I just-” Nick breaks off unsure of where he was going with his sentence.
Chris shushes him lightly, “It’s okay, we just wish you would have said something earlier.”
“I’m sorry, I thought I could handle it.”
Chris is silent for a moment and Nick relaxes even more into him. “You know, for someone who is constantly helping Matt and me out when we don’t feel well, you sure do a shit job of asking for help when it’s you who’s hurt.”
Nick lets out a deep sigh, “I know. You’re right. I’ll try to be better about letting you guys know when I’m not feeling well.”
Chris just nods, “Good, that’s all we ask.”
Silence reigns for a moment before Nick asks, “Where’s Matt?”
Chris rubs his hand up and down Nick’s back, “He went to go get breakfast. He should be back soon. He was hoping to be back before you woke up.”
Nick just hums in response. He gives himself another minute before he levers himself up, “I’m going to shower, I feel disgusting.”
Chris smiles at him, “Yeah, I wasn’t going to say anything, but you could use one.”
Nick just flicks him off before disappearing into his bathroom. He emerges under a half hour later and notices that Chris has left and his room is empty.
He gets dressed in sweats and a loose t-shirt before heading downstairs where he can hear Chris and Matt having a muffled conversation.
There’s a bag of food on the island and as soon as Matt sees Nick he smiles and pats an empty chair, “Hey, sorry I wasn’t back by the time you woke up, but I figured you could use some food.”
Nick smiles back, “Thanks, Matty.” Nick falls into the chair and starts to dig in on the pancakes before him.
He catches the time on the stove and heaves a deep sigh, it’s only 11 AM, but he needs to start editing very soon if the video is gonna make it out on time. “So how screwed am I regarding today’s video? Did we even film enough footage last night?”
Matt scuffs at him, “That’s what you're worried about? You had a migraine bad enough that you threw up and almost passed out on us, and you’re worried about the video?”
Thankfully Chris interjects before Nick gets the chance to snap back, “Hey, no. We’re not doing that. Nick, I already posted on our Instagram story that there won’t be a video today. Even if there was enough footage, you’re still in no shape to edit it.”
Nick goes on to interject that he’s feeling better and could at least try to make a video out of what they have but Matt cuts in right after, “Don’t argue with us, Nick. Just take today to rest. The fans will deal.”
Feeling thoroughly ganged up on, Nick surrenders and nods, “Okay. Thanks.”
Nick finishes his meal and goes to throw away his trash but Matt swipes his garbage away before he’s even standing. Suddenly Chris is pushing Nick to the living room where he just now realizes that the couch is decked out in pillows and blankets.
“What’s going on?”
“We are having a relaxing movie day, and no, you do not get to argue with us over this.”
Nick just shakes his head in disbelief, “Just because I don’t feel well doesn’t mean you guys have to baby me.”
Matt comes into the living room with drinks for all of them and deposits them on the coffee table, “We aren’t babying you, you just worried us last night. So today we are relaxing and helping you like you always do for us when we don’t feel well. Deal with it.”
Nick’s eyes widen before he throws his hands up in mock offense, “Damn, okay then. Can we watch RuPaul?” He said it as a joke fully expecting Chris to start whining and for Matt to groan as they always do when he suggests it.
Nick plops himself down on the couch and wraps himself in a blanket. He briefly considers that he woke up in a parallel universe when instead of their typical dramatics they just smile and say, “Sure.”
“I was just kidding, you guys can put on whatever, I’m probably going to end up passed out on the couch anyways, I’m still exhausted.”
Chris sits down next to Nick and bullies Nick into his side, “That’s more than okay with us. How about we re-watch Stranger Things?”
“Good with me,” Nick responds as he makes himself more comfortable. Once Matt gets situated on his other side Nick brings his feet up to lay them in Matt’s lap. If they insist on him relaxing then he’s going to exploit it for all he can.
They spend the rest of the day like that, with Nick lying on one of them in some way, shape, or form except for when they get up to eat. His headache is fully gone by dinner, but that doesn’t deter his brothers from spoiling him.
Nick doesn’t know how to thank them for all the care they showed him today, but he’s pretty sure they know anyway based on the huge grins they both have by the end of the night.