he had lost track of time long before he left his dorm that night (morning?). the son of gambit had walked to the dock and back, feeling no pain in his muscles until he wandered back to the courtyard. his voice of reason is ignored as he deviates the path to the dorms, treading carefully towards the body lying on the grass. itâs rather pathetic, the same voice tells him, that even in the dark of night he can make out his frame. pathetic.
silently he slides down beside his best friend. arms raised to mirror his, eyes locked towards the sky also. catching the end of his sentence, he laughs wryly, his mind filing through who it could be. when he canât frame a proper greeting, he laughs.Â
it takes him a full moment to absorb that not only was there another person with him but, speak of the devil, that person was henry lebeau. he mumbles an anxious âtalk to you laterâ to his sister and hangs up the call, leaving his phone to sit on his chest. it rose with his breathes, the fluorescent screen slowly returning to darkness.
rather than question motives, nico forces himself to slow his breaths and slow his heartbeat. it was dumb. how realising his feelings changed everything-- he didnt want things to change. âyou should really be in bedâ he replies to the laughter, âwe should both really be in bedâÂ
out by the courtyard a little past three in the morning, nico barton is lying on the grass, head rested on this folded arms as he watches the stars. as more time passes from his birthday, the more firm the idea remains in his mind. what if, what if, what if. he called his sister for piece of mind and wasnt the slightest bit surprised when alistair answered. a movie night, he assumes, as the phone is passed to her. she sounds concerned at first but it takes a single word for her to understand what the problem was: henry.
he never had excuses when it came to declining nico whatever activity the other wanted to do to waste time. henry never really had excuses, at all, when it came to his best friend. he turns in his seat and begins to work on the problems, easing his way through one to for and coming to a stump at question five. he sits and contemplates his answer, pouring over the textbook for an answer and then continues to work through the exercise.Â
"hm?" humming, still busy with his work, that he doesnt look up at nico. once heâs crossed off all the questions in the exercise does he turn to his friend. "the carnival?" why do you care⊠"iâm taking camila. are you taking anyone?"
this was the first time information regarding his sister surprised him. they were attached at the hip, nico and camila, and they spent most of their childhood as one entity rather than separate siblings. without a doubt she knowâs him better than anyone else, as he does her. when nico hears that henry is taking camila as his date to the carnival, heâs more surprised at the fact that he was only hearing this now rather than the fact that they were going together.
he also canât help but wonder at the back of his mind: why hadnât henry asked him? he was going with liliana, of course, so he wouldnt be able to say yes. but... still. they were bestfriends, they were both single, it would have made sense for nico to be the first preference. right? right. âoh. iâm--iâm taking alistairâs sister, liliana...â he turns his head down at his work before looking up again, âhave you put in your valetineâs day orders yet?âÂ
"unbelievable, i cannot believe you two are already 18, i remember the times i use to babysit you two." she joked and pinched his cheeks with a playful smile, "happy birthday little nico, you're growing up, and it feels weird. but remember aunt blair loves you." she patted his cheek before hugging him.
aunt blair⊠are you sick? youâre pinching my cheeks⊠smiling at me⊠telling me you love me? okay. well. ebola or not, iâm thankful. thank you for everything.
he stays quiet then. there was no use arguing with a determined liliana and seeing as it was his birthday, he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. he hopes to the heavens above that it wasn't too over the top. "if you say so..."
'--and you just would not believe the mess that followed. it was like a volcano erupted'
'you didn't tell me there would be so many boxes--'
'--you didn't ask'
camila watches on as her parents bicker through the screen--something so normal for the couple--and her face falls into her palm. 'oh god'
both her parents freeze when they hear the two words escape her and she's faced with dead stares. 'what's wrong budapest?' her mother asks, stern as she always was.
'nothing, mama, i just--' camila shakes her head
'what is it honey? did you finally kill someone?'
'mom!' she tries to sound appalled but she's laughing too much to sound anything other than amused. 'no i just really miss you guys' they both look at her with a smile, her mother links her arm into clint's whispers something into his ear. clint reacts by laughing quietly, eyes turning to the ground to avoid camila's look.
nico stirs a little from where he's fallen asleep on her lap only waking up to hear camila confess that she misses her parents. he smiles from his position, too lazy to move, and nods with her. 'i miss you guys too'
there is silence over the call as the four of them watch each other through their screens. they had been attending elias for their fourth year now but these calls were always the highlight of the week. 'so how have you guys been?' natasha asks.
camila shrugs, 'nothing interesting has happened. i got head girl' she informs her parents as nonchalant as ever.
their father stands to his feet, hands raised in praise. natasha pulls him back, rolling her eyes at his reaction; even across an ocean he was an embarrassment. 'and you igor?' shrugging from his position, nico doesnt say anything.
when she receives no reply, natasha informs them: 'we had dinner with remy...'
nico is sitting up instantly at the mention of their uncle, eyes wide, panic stricken. 'what did he say?'
natasha is coy, both in tone and laughter 'he says henry is really enjoying his time over there. that's all'
the reaction to her words flew through their family like a mexican wave does in a sporting stadium. camila is the first to laugh, her surprise and amusement melding together in a bellow. her father was next, his own shock all too evident on his face. nico has stumbled off her lap, rolling onto the floor, face first onto her carpet. natasha remains sitting, her smirk familiar.
camila is still laughing when her brother stands, pointing a finger at her 'mila is dating alistair again!' it was more an accusation than anything else.
she, too, is on her feet within seconds, 'he kissed henry!'
'we know'
they both turn to the screen instantly, 'you do?'
'you two are horrible at secrets, did you know that? we spoke to francesca. i don't need to remind you that bash and frankie are your god parents'
'yes, mama'
'don't do anything stupid. alistair and henry are both kinds boys. we'll be seeing them tomorrow?'
'yes, mama' they reply, too caught up in their embarrassment to truly be listening to her.
'they'll be coming over for the summer, yes?'
'yes mama'
'your faces are hilarious' she pulls her phone from clints pocket and snaps a quick shot of her twins before raising her hand and high-fiving her husband. 'we have an early morning flight, we'll see you two soon, okay!"
"You can believe in God all you want to give you the strength to endure all the campaigns she has or is planning to, but that still does not make you Godâs favourite." He did not mind how passionate Camila was when it came to the things she stands for and believes in, because he would much rather have her be with an opinion than to have none at all. However, it would be nice if she does not bring it to the dinning table as well. "Did you actually make the effort to go to town to just buy bibles? Not going to be long before you will be seen as the church going guy next door."
had it really been that long since he had seen his brother, nico is left wondering, as he laughs. his specifically chosen words a cause for laughter. shaking his head, he has to ask what twist of fate he was dealt to be left with a cynical giant and an overactive hobbit as siblings. like gandalf and frodo. "i was in town with henry and we passed by a store that had a package deal. thought i'd be a good person and get you guys a bible each. i doubt that'll ever be the first thing people think of when they hear nico barton"Â
Evan does not say a word as he goes up to his brother, easily bringing him in a headlock as he ruffles up his hair. "Happy birthday to you."
whoa thereâi didnât realise happy birthday was code for lets abuse the eldest. {* lets evan have a minute of ruffling before he pulls himself away, throwing a playful punch afterwards } thanks evan.Â
"do you know how hard it was to shop for you? itâs like⊠what do you buy someone that already has everything? what do you get someone that doesnt want anything? and then it clicked!" henry, stupid, silly, bucktooth smile still on his face, hands him an empty box "you get him nothing! nah, iâm kidding. i got youâ usâ these. my dad has a pair from his x men days and i remember us being so jealous of them as kids. full names and birthdates are on this side and theres space to engrave more on the other. happy birthday broseph and many more to comeâÂ
"henryâŠ" they had been friends for long enough that nico knows the motions. "you need to stop. i refuse to accept anymore gifts from you" his hands already pushing away the empty box until he sees the dog tags fall in his hands. the metal is cool against his fingers as heâs tossing them, observing his name on one and henryâs name on the other. he didnât realise this was what he always wanted until itâs sitting on his neck, because of course he would be so excited about having them that he would want to wear it now until forever. "you have to wear yours too" he slips the other dog tag over henryâs shoulders before lifting his own in comparison. "hey, look, itâs like we have a couple item-whatever-thing now"Â
skipping towards him with a grin she stopped before him ending with a twirl, "it's a special day today~" she said in a sing song tone, before standing on tip toes to kiss his cheek "happy birthday prince, a birthday kiss, because well it's tradition." she smiled cheekily and poked his nose. "I was going to give 18 punches but backed out of it, so instead, you have to come with me for your present." she held her hand out towards him.
he reaches out to pinch her cheeks when sheâs back on her feet, taking her hand and following after her. âi hope you didnât do anything drastic for me today. itâs really not that big of a deal. birthdays come and go, you knowâÂ
because of their mutual interest in sciences sebastian found it easier bonding with nico than he did camila; though she was his goddaughter. sebastian appears to surprise the other with a slap square across the face ânow weâre even. happy birthday buddy and, maybe just for today, the science bros can live on â â heâs grinning now, pulling a letter out from his inner blazer pocket â â i gave my old lab a call, you know that one in london, and theyâre happy to give you an interview under my reference if you choose to pursue a career in scienceâÂ
heâs confused when sebastian slaps his across the face, for no reason he can think of. his hand comes to sit on his cheek, where he can feel the slightest tinge of pink underneath âeven forâwhat did you just say?â the slap is forgotten, as was the greaten, as he greedily dives for the letter, internally screaming when he reads the letter head. âuncle bashâthisâthis is too muchâyou didnât get meâuncle bash" heâs spluttering, embarrassed and excited melding together. his resists the urge to hug his uncle but it gets the better of him as he tackles the other, arms aiming for his waist and pulling him into a hug "you dont know how much this means to me. thank you, thank you, thank youâ
with a plastic trumpet in his arsenal alistair goes out in search of the eldest barton. when he finds him he sounds the ridiculous instrument right in his ear "happy birthday barton!" he screams afterwards, laughing his head off.
thanks. now you better run boy or i swear i will shove that trumpet so far up your ass that youâll be a walking orchestra for an entire month.
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