Chapter Text
They had just finished filming a car video and it was late at night, as per their weekly routine. Nick appeared to be more high tempered today than usual, with seemingly no real reason why. Which was fine, it'd happened to all three of them before, no one ever took anything said personally and they knew it wasn't their fault for the brother's temper.
Tonight was a bit different though. Nick was getting angry and yelling yeah, but his tone had a bite to it, and Chris and Matt weren't sure if some of the things said were meant to hurt. They weren't sure if it was said as jokingly as it normally is. They knew he didn't actually mean the rude comments he said, but he still said them with intent.
And he wasn't smacking shoulders when he got excited about something, he was punching shoulders when one of them would talk over him, disagree with him, or try to change the topic to something before he was done. Which was still a normal thing for Nick to do, but not the punching. Matt and Chris both had a sore shoulder by the end of the recording, and shared glances at each other when Nick was looking down at his phone.
Nick's mind was racing, never stopping or even slowing down for a second for any turns or speed bumps. He was overly anxious today, not sure as to what the reasoning for it was. It just sprang on him during lunch. He was eating, as one does when they have lunch, then Chris came up behind him and smacked his arm as he passed him to get his own lunch. It's not like it was something new, they'd always just randomly smack each other as they passed each other, he's just not sure why this was any different.
But the touch on his skin had made him feel exposed, he got goosebumps all up his spine and he shivered, feeling lightheaded. He felt his heartbeat in his throat, eyes blinking quickly as he tried and failed to process what was happening. He didn't bother to finish eating what little he had left, instead pushing it to the side and retreating to his room quickly, opting to put on a hoodie to try his best to not feel exposed. He didn't care what hoodie it was, as long as it was big and had a hood Nick was good to go.
He'd spent the rest of the day in that hoodie, even when filming the car video he stayed with it on, holding the sleeves and constantly hugging up to it for some sense of security. Chris of course used it as a chance to plug Fresh Love, and while Nick didn't care he still smiled about it and showed it off a bit. It was something his little brother made and was proud to show to millions, he wasn't gonna be mopey when it was something Chris was always so eager about.
Matt and Chris were getting on his nerves the entire time, talking over him and changing the subject before he was done. By the end Nick was just ready to go home and curl up in bed, hoping when he wakes up everything will be fine. But Matt seemed to delay him getting to bed, which made him more tense.
"Nick what's been up with you today?" Matt questioned as he took the camera off the dashboard, looking in the rear view mirror to try to look Nick in the eyes, except Nick was looking out the window trying to avoid the confrontation that was right in front of him.
Nick said nothing, the silence long and awkward, drowning him in his own thoughts and what his brothers were currently thinking of him. He couldn't open his mouth to explain how he's been feeling, he didn't trust himself to let them in. He just let out a sigh and slouched down further in the seat, moving the front of his hoodie over his chin.
"Nick c'mon, somethin's obviously bothering you, you barely did anything except shout and hit the entire time, and you know hitting Matt is like, against the law." Chris tried to joke, but Nick just snapped his head in Chris' direction, silencing him with the death threat in his eyes. Chris turned back around defeated and looked at Matt, trying to signal for him to just go home. That now wasn't the time. Matt shook his head and threw the keys in the center console, turning his whole body to face Nick.
"Nick." Matt said, trying to stay calm about the entire situation. Nick knew Matt wanted him to look over to him, but he was still busy burning holes in the back of Chris' head. "Nick." Matt said firmer this time, not giving room for argument. Nick slowly moved his head to face Matt before moving his eyes to him as well. He stared at him hard, just wanting Matt to pick the keys back up and drive home, but that wasn't the case. Nick just couldn't seem to get lucky today.
"Look can we just fucking go home I'm tired of being here" Nick stated, dropping his hand from the hoodie at his chin to instead cross his arms over each other. Matt rolled his eyes and sighed at Nick, which only made Nick's eye twitch.
"Not until you tell us what's up Nick. Come on man, you know we're here for you, if something's bothering you just tell us and we can help. And if it's cause of a person, you know Chris and I will take care of them. We wanna be there for you, but it's kinda hard to do that when you won't tell us what we need to be there for." Matt tried to reason, his tone taking one of more sadness towards the end.
Nick wanted to sympathize with Matt, but he couldn't. Not when he felt like a fuse about to go off and the only way to stop it is for Matt to put the keys in the ignition and drive home so he can be swallowed by his bed.
"No. Take me home, Matt." Nick said, keeping himself firm and trying not to explode at the two boys who he knew only meant well.
Matt shrugged and turned back in his seat, getting comfortable. Nick hoped and prayed he would pick the keys up next, but he never did. Without speaking a word Nick knew Matt would sit here until Nick opened up about what was bothering him. Nick groaned and searched around for his phone and wallet, opting he'd rather aimlessly walk around the 7 eleven across the street than be trapped in the box of silence. Matt picked up what was happening in the backseat, and locked the doors and put on the child lock.
Nick tried to open the door but it didn't budge, even after he manually unlocked it. It took a second for him to realize why the door wouldn't open, but when he did he felt trapped.
Like he'd fallen into the lion enclosure at the zoo with no one else around except him and the surrounding predators. Like he was heading down the elevator to get some snacks for his brothers and the elevator broke, and he was stuck without his phone and only the scratchy voice of the responder on the other side of the help button to aid with his rescue. He needed to get out, it was getting harder to breathe and it felt like the car was shrinking. He looked around in a panic, trying to figure out how to escape the shrinking box.
He frantically tried opening the door again, not caring if he broke the handle off. When that seemed to be obviously not working, he tried the other door, which didn't work any better. His eyes were like saucers and his chest was rising and falling rapidly. Matt and Chris' attention were fully on him, eyes concerned and watchful, with Chris starting to reach a hand out, he felt trapped and scared.
"Matt if you don't fucking unlock this door right now I'm gonna break the goddamn window." Nick said, his voice shaky but firm in its intention. Matt looked at him questioningly, and when he made no effort to move to undo the child lock Nick started banging on the window with his elbow.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Chris and Matt shouted at the same time, both reaching to grab hold of Nick's arms. They each held one of his arms and he looked between them, shaking and struggling to get out of their holds. He put his feet on either seat and pushed himself away, climbing to the trunk and opening the emergency exit button to open the trunk and run out.