Imagine you’re Nicky Hemmick.
You just became the guardian of two teenagers who have never been in a stable situation in their lives, despite the fact that you’re just barely out of your teens yourself. They’re both incredibly indifferent to you and don’t seem to realize the sacrifices you have to make everyday to give them a semblance of a home. But, honestly, you don’t care about that. You don’t care because they need you- they need the stability and support you can and will offer- whether they’re grateful or not. You have vowed to always be there for them, unconditionally- something you never had growing up the way you did.
One of the twins acknowledges you (in subtle ways, at the very least) but the other downright refuses to interact. He’s cold and distant and when you try to reach out to him, he lashes out. You try so hard to not take it personally, but it hurts. You see him make deals with people- deals to protect them, deals to keep them in his life- but he never even bothers with you. You assume he must not give a shit whether you’re there or not. Not for the first time, you question if you’re even helping. Maybe you’re making things worse. You don’t know- you’ve never been in this situation before.
And then you and your cousins are at a club. You’re at a club and some homophobic assholes try to attack you and, oh- this is familiar. Because you’ve been resented and bullied and hated for who you love your entire life.
But this is different, you quickly realize, because they’re drunk and angry and at least twice as big as you. You brace yourself for the inevitable, knowing your escape routes have been cut off. But the blows don’t come. Before they can reach you, you look up to see your cousin- the kid you practically adopted, the one who never so much as acknowledges your existence- shield you from your would-be attackers.
He fights like he cares and you finally understand that what you’re doing must mean something. You think you might even finally understand why he never felt the need to make a deal with you. Because maybe, just maybe, despite every evidence to the contrary, you’ve earned his trust.