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“Hey Uce!”
Jey spins around when he hears his twin's voice from down the hall, and he sees Jimmy walking towards him, smile wide across his face and arms outstretched. Jey smiles too, grunting as the older man -by nine fucking minutes, it shouldn't count- brings him into a hug. Jey's had a pounding headache all day, so he grimaces at the contact, but he doesn't say anything, melting into his brother's arms.
“You ok dude?” Jimmy's got an eyebrow raised as he pulls back, hands on the younger's shoulders and he looks for any injuries.
“Fine, just a headache, it'll go away soon enough.”
He tries to wave off his brother's concern, but it doesn't work as well as he hopes to, Jimmy looking at him unconvinced.
“Well if it gets worse, you know where to find me?”
“It's fine mom.”
“Don't give me that sass.” Jimmy ruffles the other's hair, chuckling when it makes Jey recoil. “Just wanted to check that we're still on for dinner tonight?”
Ah fuck.
He had such a headache that he forgot, and all he wanted to do was get picked up from Sami and cuddled till it went away. He's sure his brother would understand, Jimmy likes Sami because Sami likes Jey, but he doesn't just want to cancel on him suddenly. Instead he just nods, resisting the urge to shove his palms into his eyes. “You bet we are uce.”
He watches as Jimmy walks away to go to his match, and groans when he's officially out of sight. He just wants his tamā and his turtle. He drags his hands over his face, groaning again, and heads towards his changing room. The echo of every noise he makes is not helping his head, and he's practically shaking by the time he finds some medicine in his bag. He lays down on the leather couch, swearing he'll only take a light nap, and closes his eyes.
“Habibi?” He's woken up by someone gently shaking him and it takes a moment for him to place where he is. His head feels slightly better, but it still takes him a few blinks to realize the man leaning over him. When he does finally realize it's Sami, he gasps and leans up, wrapping his arms around him. The older man wraps his arms around him too, softly kissing the side of his head. “You ok baby?”
Jey hums, closing his eyes and resting his head against Sami's neck. “Head hurts a little. You make it better.”
Sami's heart basically melts in his chest and he smiles, running a hand over Jey's hair. He reaches down on the floor and grabs the younger's stuffed turtle, handing it over to him as he speaks. “Did you take any medicine?”
“Took some before I took my nap tamā.” He happily tucks the turtle against his chest with one hand, smiling as he does so.
Sami squeezes him tighter at the name, swaying them softly on the couch. “Well we should go home and get something to eat, how does that sound?”
Jey goes to agree before he remembers his plans, and the moment he goes to speak up, Jimmy opens the door.
“Aye! Is Sami joining us? I did not sign up to be a third wheel tonight.” He reaches forward to grasp Sami's shoulder, chuckling as he does so. “Nice uh…nice turtle you've got there.”
He doesn't sound judgemental, but he's raising an eyebrow at the stuffed animal. Jey can't help it, he turns and buries his face into the turtle, refusing to look at either of them.
“His head hurts a little, he may have to skip out.”
“Oh I'm sorry uce, you could've told me earlier and I would've understood.”
Jey still doesn't look up at them, just hums in acknowledgement. There's silence in the room before Jimmy speaks up again. “You look just like how you did when you were sick as a child dude.”
The comment makes Jey's face flush, and Sami grips onto his knee in support.
“Well you know how much pain can suck.”
“True.” There's silence again. The conversation is stilted and awkward, it's usually never like this between the three of them. Jimmy clears his throat, clearly trying to break some of the tension “How about we all get dinner?”
Sami bends his head to look at Jey, and they're staring at each other for a few moments before the younger man nods, moving his turtle to one hand while he wraps around Sami with the other and they both stand up. Jimmy's still looking at them weirdly but he smiles, leading the way out of the room, walking ahead of them. They get to Sami's car and Jimmy hops in the backseat, while Jey stays standing next to the door. They notice he's not moving, and Sami comes over to talk to him, voice a soft whisper.
“What's wrong habibi?”
“Don't wanna sit in the passenger seat tamā.” Jey doesn't see it, but Jimmy's eyebrows fly up and his eyes widen, staring at the two of them in confusion. It's obvious he's not meant to be a part of the conversation so he looks the other way, pretending not to eavesdrop.
“Baby I won't be made if you want to sit with your brother, it's ok.”
“You promise?”
“I promise you.” He holds out his pinky finger, and Jey giggles, wrapping his own around the others. Sami softly kisses him before opening the back door, hopping into the driver's seat.
“Is a vegan restaurant okay with you Jimmy?”
The older twin startles a bit at his name, but he nods. “As long as it's actually good food, not that plant shit.”
Sami checks to make sure Jey is preoccupied with his buckle before he throws his middle finger up, directing it at the older of the two. Jimmy lets out a laugh and does it back, before they start driving away. The car is silent, but a few minutes into the ride, Jimms feels a hand wrapping around his wrist. He turns to look at his brother, and Jey's got his eyes closed, leaning against Jimmy's shoulder as he grabs at his hand. The older twin waits for a moment, making sure he's not actually asleep before he pokes him on his cheek.
“Psst. Hey Uce.”
Jey opens his eyes, humming in confusion.
“You know you'll always be my baby brother right?”
“By nine minutes.” Jey's voice is mumbled but filled with annoyance, and it makes both Sami and Jimmy laugh.
“Yeah but, I mean no matter what. Even if you're a bit,” he hesitates for a moment, eyes flicking down at the stuffed turtle laying between them for a moment. “younger.”
Jey doesn't say anything, just smiles softly and nods, closing his eyes again. “Love you uce.”
Jimmy leans his head on top of Jey’s for a moment, smiling at Sami through the rearview mirror. “Love you more bro.”
There's a few moments of silence before Sami clears his throat, clearly pointed. Jimmy chuckles and watches as a smile spreads across his brother's face. “Love you tamā.”
“Love you more habibi.”
And maybe Jimmy doesn't entirely get it, he's still confused and doesn't quite know what's going on, but it makes his brother happy, and that's all that he can hope for. He closes his eyes too, and lets the hum of the car lull him to sleep, smiling as he does so.