Four's Company | Stucky / Marvel Polyamorous LGBT Romance

Chapter 14: Nicky

"No...you're right, of course it will be fine. I'm just..."

"Frightened, disturbed, and frustrated?" Charlie offered.

"I think I would have used more aggressive words than that but, yes."

They didn't say anything for a moment, just pressed against each other. "Do you want to talk about it?" Charlie asked gently.

Nicky glanced up sharply, needs and wants solidifying in that moment. "No. I want you to fuck me. Now. I want to still feel you on me for the next four days while I get through this godforsaken visit. And then I want to burn down the city on my way out."

Charlie smiled gently and bent to catch Nicky's mouth in a kiss, already starting to undress him.

They spent the next six hours in bed together, Nicky vacillating between conviction, panic, and ending in resignation as the final hour before his departure drew closer.

Charlie was gentle with him, but firm. Not allowing him to fret or worry for more than a moment before silencing him with his mouth and with his body.

He desperately wanted to talk to Bucky, and even Steve, but it would take more explanation than Nicky was capable of right now. Somewhere in the back of his mind he noted that this was a huge win, that in his time of need he wanted nothing more than to curl up with his three lovers. In the front of his mind, however, he just felt sad and lost.

Charlie went with him to the airport, holding him at the entrance to security for an unreasonable amount of time. Nicky had demanded first class tickets with lounge access so he could drink in peace before getting on the plane.

Once he was finally in his seat on the plane, he closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the plush headrest.

As the rumble of the plane threatened to put him to sleep, he let his mind wander back, not to those eight horrendous months, but to his childhood before it.

Nicky had lost both of his parents to the opioid crisis when he was a toddler. He didn't remember them and although he always felt like he had lost a tiny part of himself in losing them, it didn't define his childhood in the way the foster care system had.

He was one of the "lucky ones." The worst he had dealt with was one of the houses where the old woman had put locks on the fridge and cabinets, only letting him eat meals with her, and another where they had taken all of his clothes and burned them, giving him a uniform to wear.

Nicky learned early on to save his money religiously, and he had already been picking up odd jobs by the time he ended up in these two different houses, so he was able to feed and clothe himself on his own.

It wasn't really the series of foster parents that left their mark on Nicky's life, it was actually the other kids. Well, he had one foster mom who had changed the course of his life, helping him apply for scholarships and eventually get into and attend college. They still emailed from time to time and he swore he would make a trip out to Hawaii, where she had moved a few years ago, to see her one day soon.

When he had been new to the system, he was placed in individual homes, but then he started to "act out" at age ten, sneaking out to work jobs and explore the city. After that he ended up in group homes and stayed in them until he aged out of the system. He had actually much preferred this. It was easier to avoid the watchful eyes of the foster parents when there were five or more other kids to watch.

He met his best friend, a boy named Mateo, when he was thirteen. They became fast friends, spending every moment in and outside of the house together.

One day Mateo had confided in Nicky that he identified as asexual. This had been Nicky's first time ever even hearing the word, let alone meeting someone who knew themself well enough to identify as it. They stayed up night after night discussing what it meant.