GIRL NEXT DOOR- Matt Sturniolo

-21-

Nick's POV

It's been 3 days since the whole Hannah incident and Liv has been staying at our house most of the times. I guess being alone in a house can make you feel pretty alone.

Chris on the other hand was heartbroken. He was already scared of commitment so letting himself like her and being open about liking her to us, Olivia and even her was a big step for him.

But the stunt that Hannah pulled only dialed his progress back. It only made his fear come to life.

I've never seen Chris this upset before. He doesn't leave his room and doesn't hang out with us.

He keeps saying that he's fine and it didn't bother him, but I know my brother and I know when he lies. It breaks my heart seeing him like this. He's my little brother, even if he's only 4 minutes younger. And I love him so damn much.

I wanted to cheer him up so I knocked on his door.

"Come in." I heard from the other side.

I opened his door and stepped inside, seeing him laying in his bed on his phone.

"Let's go out today. Me, you, Matt and Olivia." I said, hoping he would say yes.

"I'm good, you guys can go." Chris replied.

"Come on, go out with us." I said to him.

"No, Nick. I'm not in the mood. Now please, leave." he said to me.

I got up from his bed and I started walking towards the door. When I almost reached it, I stopped and turned around.

"No."

"What?" Chris looked at me confused.

"I said no." I replied, walking back to sit on the edge of his bed.

"Nick, get out of my room before I hit you." he said, looking me dead in the eyes.

"Then do it!" I provoked him. He looked at me like I was crazy.

"I'm not joking." he told me.

"Neither am I. Hit me."

That's all it took for me to earn a punch in the arm. And another one. And another one.  Each punch was getting less and less strong. Chris was getting tired and I could see tears threatening to pour.

When he reached out to punch me again, I grabbed his arm and pulled him into me. As soon as he was in my arms, he started crying, not finding the strength to hug me back.

"It's okay, Chris. Let it all out." I said as I gently rocked us from side to side, trying my best to calm him down.

"P-lease don't l-leave me!" he managed to say in between his sobs. As soon as I heard him say that, my heart broke even more. Oh how I wish to be able to make all his pain go away.

"I'm not going anywhere. I promise." I assured him as I laid down on his bed, pulling him to my chest.

"Let's try and get a little bit of sleep, okay?" I asked him as he nodded, cuddling closer to me.

One hour later, Chris was still sound asleep. He must've felt tired from all the crying. I couldn't sleep though. I needed to stay awake to make sure he was going to be okay.

I was scrolling on my phone when I suddenly got a text from an unknown number.

XXX-XXX-XXXX

Hey stranger:)

Wait, that was
creepy, sorry.

I'm Jay, from
Equinox. Olivia's
co-worker.