nicky hemmick connoisseur

is/has been an active suicide risk

“I’d like to stay as long as Coach Wymack will have me.”

Kevin sank back onto his cushion, but he was paying more attention to Riko than where he was going. He ended up with his thigh pressed against Neil’s, hard enough Neil could feel him trembling.

He reached for Neil, but Kevin caught his arm to stop him. Riko slammed his elbow back into Kevin’s face without missing a beat.

Abby jogged the last couple steps to Kevin and crushed him in a fierce embrace. Kevin held onto her for dear life while the team hovered nearby.

Kevin had a knee hugged to his chest and his face hidden in the fold of his arm.

Kevin had eyes only for Andrew as he crouched in front of the downed goalkeeper. “So,” Kevin said, “did you have fun?”

Kevin spoke up in French. “I will watch you. If you want to drink tonight,” he added when Neil looked at him. “I won’t let you say something you’ll regret.”

“I know what he’s like,” Kevin said. Neil looked at him, but Kevin was studying his hands. “Riko. If you want to talk.”

Neil considered that, then said, “Good thing you’re not there anymore.” “Jean still is,” Kevin answered.

Kevin still hadn’t messaged Nicky by the time they reached the ice cream aisle, so Nicky gave in and called him. Neil half-expected Kevin to ignore Nicky’s call, but Kevin wasn’t so sour with them that he’d turn down a free snack.

With an astounding thirty-seven goals between their three round-three games, the Trojans were following the Ravens to the second set of death matches. “You could look less happy about this,” Nicky said when he saw Kevin’s satisfied smile. “We’re going to have to face them.”

Instead of falling he leaned forward and pressed his forehead to the mirror. “We’re all going to die,” Kevin said at last.

Then Kevin gave one of his rare real smiles, and Jeremy gave his shoulder a hard squeeze.

But. Andrew doesn't know Nicky. Nicky is a stranger. He's a stranger who, in many ways, controls both his and Aaron's life. A stranger who *seems* friendly but who still has too much power. And off he goes, spending his free time locked away in his room, speaking to another stranger in a foreign language.

Learning German was survival. Learning German was control.

But it still made Nicky feel like home. It still gave him something to do with the twins that he loved. And for the first time, when andrew tries to take control of his situation, he is not scolded or punished, but celebrated. Cherished.

Oldest child savior complex