DON'T YOU TRUST YOUR BROTHER ? | ✅

chapter six ; a sweet and salty christmas

12/24 ; 6:30 PM ; Larcoke Resident Recreational Center and Shelter

The following four days after the kiss were a mess .

Nix's phone had since been blown up with sultry texts from his brother , along with occasional stalker like photos of Nix sleeping , bathing , and any number of other private things through snapchat with flirty little captions that made Nix want to pour windex in his eyes .

They didn't seem to have an end . They just kept coming . Again , and again . They'd come in at the oddest times as well . Sometimes it would be one AM on the dot , others would come at two fifty-three in the afternoon while Nix was reading . They had no schedule and that made it ten times worse .

In total , he had received upwards of a hundred texts , and anywhere between thirty to fourty snapchats .

The most memorable video he had recieved was a one minute , and thirty two second ( Nix had counted the time ) video of Alex rubbing himself through his pants while he said , in amazingly descriptive detail , all of the ' Dirty ' things he wanted to do with and to Nix .

Nix watched every second of it with unblinking eyes as if he was afraid to miss something . Each word got more stomach curling and vivid than the last .

The video started with Alex slightly fiddling with the hem of his basketball shorts and a small greeting of , " Hey Nixie . " before the speech began .

However , for better or for worse , Nix had returned to his room . He had gotten tired of sniffing dust bunnies , and waking up dangerously close to crushing his phone . Alex hadn't pulled anything ( physically ) since the kiss , but that didn't exactly stop Nix from being paranoid .

Both Nix and Alex had bought their gifts for the other that week . Despite everything , Nix still loved and cherished his brother as what he was ; his brother ; This was the first time in fourteen years the two hadn't told the other what Linda got them , mainly because Nix was too busy avoiding Alex to speak to him .

But it wasn't quite Christmas yet , no , it was the eve of , and The Durance family ( and extended ) were doing their annual volunteer work at the homeless shelter . After that they would go home , have their own dinner , and possibly play some games or watch The Polar Express .

Alex was the one who suggested the family do this when he was but six . When asked for his motivation , Alex simply replied he didn't like the idea of people hungry on Christmas .

Remembering things like that made Nix's heart hurt .

This years line up of people consisted of the regulars ; From Thomas's side : Aunt Polly , Uncle Gareth , and their children , Tina and Carlos Durance . Aunt Jenna was set to come as well , but only to the dinner as a precaution for her harsh social anxiety .

From Linda ( and Donny's ) side came Aunt Lucinda and Uncle Gary , in tow their two boys Mortimer and Max , a pair of fraternal twins themselves .

Most of the children looked up to Alex , obviously . But Mortimer was more attracted to Nix . Mortimer was naturally quiet and had begun wearing overly large sweaters in an attempt to look like Nix . A mini-Nix in the flesh .

But even with a tiny Tim ( or a tiny him ) , Nix didn't feel all too in the Christmas spirit . Sam would be disappointed , rightfully so , but who could blame him ?

School had gone out for a scheduled two week break . Nix had one less issue to worry about , even if that issue was part of what kept him sane . He wasn't dealing with another bloody nose during gym at least .

At the moment , the Durance family ( and Extended (( minus Aunt Jenna )) ) stood in the Larcoke Resident Recreational Center , which doubled as a homeless shelter . Nix always found the combination odd , but he wasn't one to question convenience . He peacefully handed out the mass of desserts made for the occasion including green and red sugar cookies , rocky road ice cream , banana pudding , and a chocolate cake larger than Nix's head . He felt fear for the man he gave it to , as diabetes was a major concern , but the man simply nodded , a shaky smile spreading across his face . Nix nodded back .