UNTIL I FOUND YOU , sturniolo triplets !

clean , nick

❝ met you at the right time . . .
feels like, gracie abrams

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cw: mentions of kinda childhood trauma ig
! fluff , hurt/comfort but only implied hurt

again disclaimer, this is written as nick x male!reader out of respect for nick <3

this oneshot is nickxyn but it's also like half nick and chris interactions because yes

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"you're an idiot, y/n," nick says, dabbing a warm, wet cloth on the dried cut that's on your forehead.

"he was beating that kid up, nick," you say, wincing at the sting on your forehead. nick mutters a low apology, and you soften a bit. "what was i supposed to do? i used to be that kid. i wish i had someone to step in for me when i was in that position."

nick frowns. "but you went and got yourself all beaten up. you could've just verbally intervened, you didn't have to throw a punch."

"words don't work on those guys. i know. i've seen it."

nick shakes his head softly, and you look down at your bandaged hands. you had been walking home from getting groceries, and you had noticed a young boy being talked down to by an older kid. the younger couldn't have been more than fourteen years old, and the older looked about eighteen. you noticed a small rainbow keychain hanging from the kid's backpack, and that's when you realized that he was getting bullied. it was when the older began to throw punches that you stepped in, and then continued to get yourself, in nick's words, "all beaten up."

you won the battle, though, of course.

nick continues to clean up your wounds, a million thoughts running through his mind at once. he feels sorry for you, sorry that you had to go through that when you were young, sorry that nobody was there to protect you, sorry that you felt you had to save everybody. he wants nothing more than to take every cut on you and put it on himself. but, you don't know that because he doesn't say it. pride gets in nick's way too much, but you mostly learn to read between the lines.

he finished placing bandages on your forehead and arms, but it feels a bit like putting a band-aid over a bullet hole.

"i'm sorry i don't have anything better for you," he says, taking your hands in his. "i would've gotten some gauze, or something, but i don't know. i wasn't exactly expecting my boyfriend to come home covered in bruises and bleeding."

you stay quiet, guilt overtaking you, because you know nick was scared when you showed up to his house earlier like that.

nick sighs at your silence. "i'm sorry, i'm sorry," he says, lifting your chin to meet his gaze. "i was just worried. i mean, you've gotten in fights before, but you've never come home bleeding."

"i know," you say, quietly. "i'm sorry for worrying you."

nick leans forward and kisses your lips, gently. he pulls away and looks at you, his eyes darting between your eyes as if he can't pick one to focus on. "you have nothing to be sorry for. it isn't your fault," he says, and he glances over at the small alarm clock on his nightstand. 11:30. you'd come home late, and you knew that only added to nick's anxiety. "now, let's get to sleep. it's late."

you're already sitting on the bed, so you simply lay back as nick climbs into bed next to you, spooning you from behind. he lays a kiss to your temple. "i know you were just trying to help," he says, softly, "but putting yourself in danger isn't usually the best decision."

you bite your lip and scrunch up your nose a bit, thinking. "i didn't know what else to do, nick. i couldn't let that kid just... get beaten down. he deserves to know not all people are bad."

nick tightens his grip around you. "you deserve to know that, too, baby," he says, and your eyes grow a bit wet. "you didn't have to face that situation alone. you're never, ever alone. never were."

you relax back into nick's arms, closing your eyes. "i love you, nicky."

you feel nick smile into your hair. "i love you, too. goodnight, love."

...

"i don't know how to help him, chris," nick says, sitting up next to you, sound asleep, in bed. it's about 2 a.m., and you've been sound asleep ever since you laid down in bed with nick. "i should've done something to stop him. i should've done something."

"nick, you couldn't have," chris says through the phone, voice a bit muffled in the speaker. "he was getting groceries. how were you supposed to know he'd get in a fight?"

nick sighs. "you're right, i guess, but i just... i just feel guilty, you know? he's so passionate about trying to help these kids that are getting hurt, but he just gets hurt himself. and he's always on about doing it because 'nobody did it for him', and i know his parents were assholes, but... someone must have been there. and that someone should've been me."

"nick, we were, like, seven when the whole child neglect thing started. there was nothing you could've done to protect him. it wasn't your job. it still isn't your job."

"but i'm his boyfriend," nick says. "it is my job to protect him. his parents never did, so i need to do it for them."

"no, nick," chris says, and nick can practically hear him massaging his temples in frustration. "your job is not to be a step-in parent for y/n. your job isn't to be a mother or a father figure. your job is to be his friend. his boyfriend. it isn't your responsibility to keep him out of fights. you don't need to protect him from the real world. you just gotta be there for him when the consequences bite him in the ass."

"even if it isn't his fault?"

"especially if it isn't his fault. nick, trauma is trauma. his parents didn't care, so he feels like he needs to care about every single kid that he sees himself in. he doesn't know anything else. he's going to get in these fights. there's nothing you can do to stop him. just love him through the comedown. that'll mean more to him than anything."

nick looks over at you. you look so peaceful like this, even with band-aids scattered all over your face and a purplish-blue bruise forming around your eye. it doesn't matter how many cuts and scrapes you have; nick still thinks you're the most beautiful human he had ever laid eyes on. "you're right, chris. damn, who knew you'd be so wise?"

chris laughs. "i'll take that as a compliment... a back-handed one, but a compliment, nonetheless. they're rare from you. i'm sure you just run out, after how many you give to y/n, mr. 'words of affirmation'."

nick smiles, says goodnight to chris, thanking him again, and hangs up the phone.

he lays back down, cuddling up behind you again.

"i know it isn't my job," nick whispers, closing his eyes, "but i will do everything i can to make sure nothing ever hurts you again."

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a/n
i love gay & gracie abrams

if u replace nick with james potter and y/n with sirius black and then make it platonic you have a totally canon (in my heart) interaction. it is taking everything in me to not write a wolfstar fic rn, too.

anyways, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 2K+ READS you guys are amazing and all your comments and compliments make my day. i've never loved writing as much as i do right now, thank yal so much <33