I Love You/I Hate You

(¬_¬)Chapter 40(¬_¬)

          Gavin laid on the couch, listening to his music. He had his eyes closed but wasn't asleep. He pet Smokey, who was laying on his stomach. Nines walked into the living room, seeing him. He smirked, picking up Smokey, who hissed at him, Gavin not opening his eyes but giggling, knowing what was happening. Nines glared at the cat and laid down on top of Gavin, Smokey glaring back at him. Gavin groaned. "Get off; you're heavier than a cat." He complained. Nines smirked and closed his eyes too. Gavin gripped Nines' shoulders, trying to push him off. "Asshole." He huffed. Nines chuckled. He grabbed Gavin's phone and looked at the song playing. "Hidden Citizens?" He seemed confused. "They have good music." Gavin responded, looking at his phone in Nines' hand. Nines clicked off Spotify, the music still playing. He started going through other apps Gavin had on his phone. Gavin looked away, closing his eyes again. "You're still really heavy." He mumbled. Nines smiled, getting off of him. He clicked on Gavin's photos, scrolling through them. Gavin sat up only to lie down again, this time resting his head on Nines' lap. Nines ran his fingers through Gavin's hair, still scrolling through the photos with his free hand. "How far back do these photos go?" Nines asked. Gavin reached up and took his phone back. "Far, you don't need to see those though." He hid his phone under him, muffling the music a little. "Why not?" Nines asked, looking at him. "Cause it goes all the way back to 2019. The first few pics are of my old cat, but the rest are just embarrassing." Gavin answered. Nines tried to grab his phone, wanting to see the pictures. Gavin fought back, eventually grabbing his phone and moving away from Nines. Nines gave up, giggling. "Don't ask Tina for stuff from 2019 either." Gavin spoke, Nines rolling his eyes. "What about 2020?" He looked at him. "Actually, I think that's worse." Gavin looked at him too. Nines quickly grabbed Gavin's phone, moving away from him. "Hey!" Gavin followed him. Nines scrolled up to the top of the photos, seeing Gavin's old cat at first. He continued scrolling while Gavin tried to take his phone back. "Everything looks fine. You took really nice photos of the city and your cats." Nines looked at him, confused as to what was so embarrassing. "You were 19." He clicked on a video and watched it. "Yes, I was. Good job. Now give my phone back!" Gavin complained, reaching for his phone again. Smokey jumped onto Nines' shoulder, Nines looking at her. Gavin stopped and watched her. Smokey looked at Nines before digging her claws into his sweater. "Sorry Smokey, but that doesn't work on him." Gavin giggled, picking her up. Nines put the phone on the bed before laying down on it. Gavin sat beside him, petting Smokey. Cinnamon ran in, jumping onto the bed and cuddling up to Nines. Nines petted him as he held Gavin's hand with his other hand. Gavin felt tiredness rush over him. He moved, laying down now. He kept petting Smokey, trying to keep himself awake. "You're tired. You didn't sleep well last night, didn't you?" Nines looked at Gavin. "I didn't." Gavin spoke. "Why?" Nines rolled over a little to face Gavin. "That case was a lot. I know it's over, but I'm still worried about everyone." Gavin looked at Nines. "I know that whole thing had to be terrifying. Someone was going after your brother, but it's over for good." Nines tried to reassure him. "Also, now I feel like an asshole for thinking Kamski didn't care about me when, of course, he cares about me." Gavin hid his face. "Well, you are an asshole sometimes, but-" Nines was interrupted by Gavin hitting his arm. "But!" He repeated. "You're an amazing brother, friend, and boyfriend." He held Gavin's hand, running his thumb over Gavin's knuckles. Gavin looked at him. "Also, why do I still feel inferior to my brother?" He asked, his voice softening a little. "Gavin, it is human to feel inferior at times. If you don't make mistakes and learn from them, you won't grow. You definitely have grown since then." Nines moved closer to Gavin, Cinnamon and Smokey moving away and cuddling next to each other. Gavin stayed quiet, not knowing how to respond. After some silence, Nines spoke. "Hey, Gavin." Gavin looked at him. "I'm proud of you." Nines spoke softly, smiling. Gavin felt tears form in his eyes. He pulled himself closer to Nines, not caring anymore. He let the tears fall down his cheeks. Nines rubbed Gavin's back, holding him close. "I have noticed how hard you're trying. You've worked really hard, and I'm proud of you. I know everything must be hard for you, but you handled everything well." Nines continued. Gavin hid his face in Nines' chest, not used to this praise. "Look at me." Nines looked at Gavin. Gavin looked up at him. Nines sat up with him and wiped Gavin's tears away. "I love you." He kept his hand on Gavin's cheek. Gavin held Nines' wrist, almost nuzzling Nines' hand in a way. "I love you too." Gavin smiled. Nines kissed his nose before pulling him on top of him and laying down. He held him close, Gavin slowly falling asleep in his arms. Nines created a group chat, adding Tina, Chris, Sarah, Hank, Connor, and Gavin. "Do you guys want to hang out tomorrow? Just all of us together." He sent the message. "Hell yeah! I'm down!" Tina responded. "Of course!" Sarah and Chris responded. "Why?" Hank asked. "Sure!" Connor responded too. "I just thought maybe we could all use some kind of break after that case." Nines answered Hank. "I think we deserve a break too!" Tina responded. "True." Hank responded too. "Is Gavin awake?" Connor asked. "No, he's asleep on top of me." Nines responded. "That sounds nice." Sarah responded. Tina sent a smug face while Chris sent an "awe." They continued texting for a little while until Tina sent Nines a message separate from the group chat. "Is Gavin okay?" She asked. "He will be." Nines responded. "I feel so bad for him. He tries so hard and hardly anyone acknowledges it." Tina sighed. "But we've noticed and I think he's realized that now." Nines responded. "I hope so. Hopefully, after all this, we can just go back to normal, simple cases with the occasional easy chase." Tina leaned back on her couch. "I hope so too." Nines kept running his fingers through Gavin's hair. They continued talking for a bit until Connor messaged the group chat. "When he wakes up, can you tell him I'm proud of him?" He asked. "Me too!" Tina responded quickly. "Same here!" Said Chris. "Yes, me too, please!" Sarah sent a heart. "From me too." Hank seemed to respond reluctantly. Nines chuckled. "Of course I can, or when he wakes up, he can just look at the chat." He responded. It went silent for a bit until messages started coming through. The words "I'm proud" and "we're proud" along with hearts started to fill the chat. Nines laughed, letting them spam the chat. After a while, Gavin woke up, looking up to see Nines asleep now too. He sat up slowly, not wanting to wake him. He grabbed his phone, noticing the music had been turned off. He turned it on only to be flooded with notifications. He clicked on one, taking him to the group chat. He scrolled through all the messages, reading them. He felt the tears starting to form again. Once he reached the bottom again, he noticed a message from Nines saying "I love you.💙"