CHAPTER FIVE
( THE BEST UNCLE(S) )
IF THERE WAS ONE thing that was a constant throughout life, it would be the fact that people loved to spread false information and believe everything tiny thing. Little kids play with toys and have those toys gossip about other toys that wronged them. Teenagers start rumors and gossip about people they don't like. Adults judge harshly and gossip about anything or anyone that seems to be in the wrong. People believe rumors and gossip so easily, almost in love with the idea of possible new scandals that weren't directly related to them in any way, shape, or form. Nick was quick to figure that out at the ripe of twelve when someone started a rumor that he was adopted just because his parents weren't the same race.
Really, though, he couldn't say much about how wrong gossiping and believing rumors were. Because he loved hearing about some scandal that happened between a sophomore and a senior, or who cheated on who, or who recently punched who, or who told off another student or teacher. The drama was amusing, to say the least – mostly because it wasn't his drama. Ever since the rumor about him being adopted cleared out, Nick went from hating kids around him starting (most likely fake) rumors to quickly jumping at the chance to talk about anything that might or might not have happened.
So, he wasn't surprised that the school was buzzing with stories and gossip from the weekend. More specifically, stories from Frank's party. As he sat down in his class, waiting for the teacher to show up and the tarty bell to ring, Nick could hear multiple different conversations and shocked explanations about who made our with who and what surprising thing happened. He put his chin in the palm of his hand and looked around. Almost everyone was in the classroom. Students were sitting on desks and standing around as they talked to their friends. He then glanced over to where Marty was, already passed out for the class period until he was forced to wake up by the teacher.
He really wanted the class to be over already so he could get lunch. Such a shame that it hasn't even started yet. Such a terrible thing that it was Algebra.
"...you hear about what happened?" Nick heard a girl ask behind him to whatever friend she was talking to.
"A lot of things happened, please elaborate."
"With Ben Parker?"
Nick perked up some, remembering how Peter had texted him something about his Aunt May and Uncle Ben Sunday morning. Nick had been so tired when he read it that he doesn't remember the text now, but it was something about some date the two were planning on later that night. It ended being that the text was for Ned Leeds, but Nick hadn't really minded – too half asleep to care. But now, he kinda did.
"The quiet kid's uncle?" The second girl questioned, "Peter, right? No, I don't..."
Nick leaned back in his seat so he could hear better and picked at a loose thread on his sweater so he wouldn't look too suspicious. His eyes moved to the door as someone walked in: Peter. His hoodie was pulled up over his head, which was lowered to where no one could really see his face. As Peter found his seat, he plopped down and let his bag fall to the floor before laying his head on his desk, crossed arms propping his head up.
"Yeah," the first girl said, "My dad and step-mom live in an apartment a couple doors down from them. Dad said he looked out last night around ten because of some commotion and saw police at their door, and Peter's aunt sobbing. Dad went over to comfort her and found out her husband got shot. Don't know where Peter was."
"Fuck- no, that's terrible," the other girl let out in a whisper, gasping in shock.
"Wait, what's terrible?" A boy behind Marty asked the girls, who quickly explained without hesitation.
Nick could only stare at the top of his desk in shock before looking back to where Peter was sitting. All he could really think of was why the fuck Peter decided to come to school? It was quite obvious the boy wasn't okay. He also didn't know what to do. He couldn't exactly go over to Peter and tell him 'Sorry for your loss' with a bunch of nosy teens around them who would probably chip in and cause the kid to cry more. Right as the tarty bell rang out and as the teacher walked in, Nick pulled out his phone and hovered over Peter's contact to text him, only to back out as the teacher started telling everyone to get in their seats.
But he did tear out a blank sheet of paper out of his note book, wrote down part of the lyrics to 'Just Hold On' by Louis Tomlinson. The song had helped him get through his grandmother's death last year, and he has never been good with words during emotional times so why no just write down lyrics? So, afterwards, halfway through class, Nick stood up after finishing the problems the teacher had given them to do and slid the folded sheet of paper under Peter's arm as he walked up to turn in the work.
"Hey, psst," Marty whispered to Nick once he was sitting back down.
"What?" Nick whispered back, making sure not to be too loud since everyone was deadly silent while they worked.
"What'd you give Peter?"
"A note."
"Yeah, but what did it say?"
"Just, you know... Something about the project we're doing together," Nick lied. He gave a small shrug as Marty raised an eyebrow, but nodded before going back to his work again.
By the end of the class period, everyone in the room was itching to leave. Algebra had been more boring than ever since the teacher didn't teach anything, and made them be quiet during the entire hour and a half, so they were all ready to bolt out of the room. When the bell rung, the students shot up from their seats and left as quickly as they could. Nick was ready to run out of the class with Marty, but at hearing his name as he rushed down the isle of desks, he halted and stumbled into a desk to let a few others pass before he turned around to see Peter looking at him. Marty groaned in slight annoyance since they weren't exactly leaving, and walked over by the doorway to wait for his friend.
Nick stood there for a moment, heart beating faster and cheeks probably pink. He walked over to where Peter was standing by his desk still, and as he got closer Nick could see the red eyes from crying, the pink nose, and tear stained cheeks. An instant frown formed on Nick's own face and he wanted to pull Peter in a hug, but that'd be weird. The two barely know each other.
"What's up, Peter?" He asked.
Peter lifted the note that Nick had put under his arm. "You gave this to me, right?"
Nick's eyes widened slightly. "Um, I- I, yeah, I did. Or not, if you didn't like it? I dunno, I heard about what happened and I can't really express verbal communication when things get emotional unless it's through song lyrics. Sorry if it's weird for you, I just- family deaths aren't fun, and I wanted to say something to you, but then the class would've been watching and-."
"Thanks," Peter's voice cut off Nick's nervous rambling. Nick looked up at Peter in slight surprise. "It's better than hearing 'sorry for your loss'."
The shorter boy gave a sad smile. "Yeah... You should go home, Peter."
"What?"
"You're uncle just died, and you're crying and look like shit, so go home. I can work on some of the project by myself today. Just go home, okay?"
Peter stared for a moment before giving a hesitant nod, making Nick smile a bit more. He mumbled a 'good' before turning on his heel and going to where Marty was leaning against the doorframe with a bored yet intrigued expression. The best friend had obviously been listening in on the conversation. As the two friends walked to the cafeteria, Marty spoke up.
"So what did the note really say?"
Nick didn't want to say, he really didn't. Just incase Marty thought it was weird. But he told him anyway, only to rush off to the lunch line the second after he said it to leave Marty alone. Marty furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he slowly followed the short boy, and pulled his phone out to google the song. He blindly got a tray of food with one hand as he scrolled down to the end of the song with the other.
The sun goes down and it comes back up
The world it turns no matter what
Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh oh, if it all goes wrong
Darling, just hold on
"Nicholas, you fucking softie," Marty muttered to himself followed by a chuckle.
+++
That day, when Nick got home, he got a pleasant surprise of seeing his uncle lounging around in the Berry living room. He had taken the subway again, but not because his mom was busy and his dad was running late again. It was just because he wanted some alone time before getting home. Though, it looked like the only person in the house was Ryan Berry, a very experienced cop and definitely the best uncle Nick had. When Nick saw the man sitting on the couch in the living room with his uniform on but the belt of holsters and few guns on the coffee table, the high schooler dropped his soccer bag and backpack.
"Uncle Ryan!" He shouted, a large grin forming on his face.
Ryan looked up from the TV where a show of Blue Bloods was playing and smiled widely at seeing his nephew. He stood up right as Nick raced towards him, engulfing the thirty year old in a tight hug. "Well, you're certainly not happy to see me."
"Why are you here? Where's Valerie? Did you lock up any bad guys recently?" Question after question rolled off of Nick's tongue as he pulled a bit away from the hug and looked up at his uncle, eyes bright. He hadn't seen the man since Thanksgiving, and only for a few minutes on Christmas before he was called into work for the rest of the day because of some big illegal thing that happened.
Ryan laughed and set a hand on Nick's head before ruffling his hair. "Chill, kiddo," he said. "Val's with her mother until this weekend, sorry, Nick. I'm here because I had a rough night last night. A man got shot last night and died seconds after I got to the scene, and the man's nephew showed up, too. I had to tell the man's wife. Apparently he was friends with your father back when, so your parents are on their way over there to comfort the family."
Nick's bright smile instantly fell. He knew exactly what family Ryan was talking about, and he really wished he didn't.
The man saw the change in expression and sighed. "You know the kid?"
He slowly nodded and crossed his arms, looking to the couch. "Yeah, he's my uh," crush, "partner for a project."
"Damn," Ryan mumbled. "Well, hey, put your bags in your room and then we can watch something together as long as you don't have any major home- wait, you said you have a project."
Nick groaned and let his head fall backwards, and his arms fell limp at his sides. "I can work on it later."
"Maybe I can help?"
"It's on cell regeneration."
"...Never mind."
The boy rolled his eyes as he turned to walk over to where he let his bags fall to the ground in a heap. He picked both bags up while he suggested, "How about we still watch something, but I just get started on the homework when my parents get home?"
"I'm not gonna be the reason you stay up past midnight to finish work, kiddo," Ryan said, and followed the boy up the stairs to keep the conversation going. "But if you have anything like English or Math, I'd be glad to help there. Just not on cell regurgitation."
"Cell regeneration, shit head, get it right."
"Oh dear, so sorry for my mistake, Nerd Lord."
Nick rolled his eyes and tossed his backpack and soccer bag on his bed before turning to look at his uncle who was looking at a few soccer trophies on top of the boy's book shelf. "Are you coming to the game next Friday?" He asked, hoping that the man would say yes.
The cop shrugged as he picked up a trophy Nick had gotten when he was ten. While looking at the writing on the bottom, he said, "I dunno, kiddo. Maybe- hopefully. I want to, but who knows? I might be put on duty that night." Ryan looked over his shoulder to see Nick's straight faced expression. The kid clearly didn't like the answer. "I promise I'll be at the state championship, though. Okay?"
"You've missed most of the games this season. I mean," Nick paused and shrugged as he looked down while scuffing the tip of his shoe against the carpet, "I know you're not Mom or Dad, so maybe this shouldn't be as important as it is to me, but you've been coming to my games -- all of them -- up until this season." Deep down he also knew the main reason he wanted Ryan to be at his game so badly at the moment, was because Nick wanted to spend as much time as he could with the man. Because if Peter's uncle died just on the streets, who knew when Nick's uncle, a police officer, would meet his end?
Ryan set the trophy back in the spot he had grabbed it from before he walked to stand in front of his nephew. He sighed, and then said, "I know, and I'm sorry, Nick. But this past year and a half has been wild for me. Being a cop is hard, and sometimes they need me for extra reinforcement. Crime's getting bad again and I can't exactly turn down my boss's orders. I'm not sorry for saving people, though I'm sorry for letting you and Val down as much as I have recently." Ryan had bent down to be eye-level with Nick, just to make sure that the boy was listening to him.
Nick stared at him, arms crossed over his chest and eyes narrowed the slightest bit with his brows furrowed together. He kept his mouth shut and nodded after it was silent for a moment or two. "It's alright."
Ryan smiled. "Good."
***
A/N— hello yes Ryan Berry's played by Shermar Moore aka Derek Morgan from Criminal Minds aka the loml. Ryan might not be present much, but he's important to Nick; they're close, Ryan's daughter and Nick are close too despite the age gap. The Berry fam is honestly just a bunch of sweethearts, I love them. Hope you liked the chapter! x