from this world to the next | sturniolo triplets oneshots

growing up is a complicated feeling (but love isn't)

Tropes: Hurt/Comfort, Brotherly Affection, Coming of Age (i don't know what else to call it?), Childhood Nostalgia, bittersweet, veryyyy Chris-centric, 1.5k-ish words

A/N: this one is more of a slice-of-life thing instead of an alternate universe! just me writing some emotional projection about moving on from my childhood honestly

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"Do you ever worry about getting older?"

Chris was laying with his head in Matt's lap and his legs laid out atop Nick's, the three of them crowded onto their couch doing nothing in particular, talking of nothing specific. They were just existing together, as they always did. 

As they always would. 

When they were kids, they'd watch cartoons or talk late into the night when they should've been asleep. Even though the routines were mundane, it was okay because it was them, together.

Now that they were older, it wasn't all that different but it felt as such because they were growing. And growing up is a complicated feeling. 

Matt looked away from his phone screen and down at him, words dying on his lips as he locked eyes with his younger brother. He did speak after another moment, but he had this soft, concerned look on his face that he always got when he was worried. "What do you mean, Chris?" 

Nick's looking at him now, too, and now they were doing something in particular and talking of something specific. They were paying attention to Chris and talking about whatever was upsetting him because that's what brothers did. 

"I'm just talking about the idea of 'growing up', I guess." he tapped his fingers against his chest, against the blue fabric of his hoodie. Well, Matt's hoodie. But the other man had only rolled his eyes when he saw that he had stolen it that morning, and then he was smiling, so Chris knew it was okay. 

"Not being kids anymore. Now we're not teenagers anymore, either." he let out a huff that was suspiciously shaky, shifting his eyes so that he was staring at the ceiling above them instead of facing his brothers. 

"I like seeing how we've grown." Nick admitted carefully, setting his phone on the cushion behind him and placing his hands on Chris's legs. They just sat there uselessly, not really holding him or serving any purpose, but it was a form of physical connection and physical connection mattered. "Everything we've done together." 

"Yeah! Five million subscribers before we turned twenty is an insane accomplishment." Matt agreed easily, frowning at the way Chris's entire body reacted to the reminder that they were twenty now. "Growing up isn't a bad thing, bub." 

The nickname is an old one, something their mom used to call all of the kids. It stuck around for him the longest, though, because he was the youngest and didn't find it as embarrassing as Nick or Matt did. It still felt like a nostalgic punch in the gut, though. 

"I know." Chris replied quickly. "It's just...complicated, I guess." 

"Too complicated for us?" Nick tried. 

"Maybe." he whispered, and then the blonde is rolling his eyes. 

"Try us." he challenged, "We know you better than you know yourself sometimes."

Matt smiled at that, giving him this little encouraging nod. His hand comes down to Chris's hair, intertwining his fingers in the locks and brushing through them. 

They did that when they were younger, too. When Chris stayed up too late and curled up for a mid-day nap while his brothers were doing something more interesting, when they watched movies during spontaneous sleepovers in their early teen years.