𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨 𝐎𝐧𝐞-𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬/𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐬 ♡

𝖲𝗈𝗆𝖾𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖾𝗌 𝖸𝗈𝗎 𝖩𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝖭𝖾𝖾𝖽 𝖺 𝖧𝗎𝗀 𝖯𝖺𝗋𝗍 1 - 𝖬𝖺𝗍𝗍

Hello friends, hope everyone is having a great week.

Summary: Thank you for your kind words on Immunotherapy Part 2. I had a couple requests in the comments of that chapter. TheOnlyFruitBasket asked for a Nick story with angst. Shittydaysinlife has prompted, "aftermath where matt has a breakdown from how stressed he was but like, tries to hid it from nick/chris but they find out." I had this story come to mind as I watched their recent podcast episode with their parents, MaryLou and Jimmy. Got me thinking about how I can included these two prompts in one.

Words: 1816

♡ In the days following the boys' trip to the Dale clinic all three were drained. Chris had been a mess of emotions for almost a week after the appointment, complaining of a sore arm and seeking extra amounts of comfort from the other two. Matt of course obliged the youngest, but the continuous need to be strong for another person was slowly taking it's toll. Chris slept in his brother's bed for four nights in a row, which was nothing unusual for the youngest triplet, but Matt was starting to feel his energy shift.

On Sunday night, the mood was low in the house. Rain had been coming down heavy since the early evening and the boys took the opportunity to watch movies on the couch. Matt was attentive to the game on his phone, zoning out to clash of clans as he build his virtual village. Chris had been clinging to him majority of the day. He followed what seemed like every step Matt took. His brother was constantly beside him, touching him, tapping his arm, talking to him excitedly about JID's new songs. Matt just wanted a moment of peace. He was happy Chris had chosen Nick's lap to lean on during the movie marathon. Chris had moved a pillow onto Nick's legs at the start of the movie, Renfield, and placed his head down onto it. Nick instinctively moved his fingers back and forth along his brother's scalp gently. When the credits rolled around Nick looked down to see Chris had fallen asleep. The oldest nudged Chris slightly, trying not to wake him abruptly. After rubbing at his eyes with his fists, Chris stood up from the couch. Matt assumed he would follow Nick to the master bedroom. Instead, he watched Chris make his way past the kitchen and into Matt's dim-lit doorway. Matt caught himself lightly roll his eyes, he didn't mean it as a malicious action he just truly wanted to be alone. Free from the obligation to mediate a separate person's emotions. Especially when he could feel his own emotions become overwhelming.

Nick took notice of Matt's demeanour, "you good?" he asked in a casual tone as he worked to shut down the tv.

"Yeah, yeah," I'm fine, "just-" Matt paused, "yeah, I'm good," he confirmed.

"Alright," Nick kept his eye on Matt for an extra moment, almost baiting him to be truthful but the younger brother just left it at that.

"Night Nick, love you bro," Matt's voice was monotone, yawning at the end of his sentence.

"Love you Matty," Nick smiled as they went separate paths to their respective bedrooms.

Matt entered his room to find Chris shirtless and wrapped in his large black comforter. They exchanged a few words before Chris shut his eyes, snoring quickly followed. Matt starred at his ceiling, unable to find the ability to fall asleep.

Looking at the tv screen he saw the bottom right corner glow with the time, 3:16am it read. Matt's expression changed to disbelief. Disbelief he had been laying, on his back, silently day dreaming for three hours. Not once were his eyes closed or his mind settled. He found himself snap back into actuality, a heavy pain creeping into his chest. His body felt restless, his skin was too tight, the blanket on him felt like flames. Suddenly the white noise on the tv sounded like static and the air he breathed in dried out his throat. Matt's fingernails dug into his palms as he tried to ground himself in the moment before his anxiety took over. His mouth let out a barely audible whimper as he faced the reality that he was too exhausted to fight his panic alone. Without thinking much more, Matt sat up in his bed and walked fast towards the stairs. He gripped the side of his head with his hand as a weakness overwhelmed his body. He pulled at strands of his hair in frustration, quickly losing control of himself as he walked up the staircase.