“What?”
“In my phone. Contact Freckles. He’s a doctor. Give him the address.”
He had just enough strength to unlock his phone for her before he passed out a second time.
Nico looked himself over in the mirror for the tenth time, then checked his phone. Mal hadn’t sent him a message in a few hours. Maybe Maggie had asked him to stay late? Nico’s heart sank. What was wrong with him? Mal had gone hours without texting him in the past and Nico hadn’t thought anything of it. He was already being clingy.
Whatever Mal was doing, it was clearly important because he wouldn’t just ignore Nico or go radio silent for no reason. Except, it wasn’t radio silent. It was just two hours. Still, something was nagging at him. This weird sense of dread.
Nico tried to shake it off, looking down at his sweater and baggy jeans combo. Did he look too dressed up to go eat pasta at Mama’s? Would Mal think he was trying too hard? Would Mal even notice? Nico huffed at his own ridiculousness. Mal always thought Nico looked good. No matter what he wore. Why was he being so lame? Why couldn’t he just relax and stop freaking out?
Shiloh stuck his head into the room without knocking, dropping Nico’s book bag on his desk with a pointed look. Nicowinced, then gave him his bestsorryface. Shiloh rolled his eyes, but the corners of his mouth twitched in a smile. His roommate had spent the day making it very obvious he was getting the silent treatment for subjecting him to his sex noises, but after the group chat, Nico knew to let it blow over.
At the moment, though, Shiloh was on one of his manic marathon cleaning sprees. Nobody really knew what set him off. Anxiety, maybe? Stress? It was hard to say. But once he caught the bug, all they could do was get out of his way.
It was a little weird when it happened—Shiloh going into full mom mode, forcing them to lift their feet so he could vacuum and giving them a lecture about plates in their room. On the bright side, their apartment always looked spotless after.
“Hey,” Nico said before Shiloh could shut the door. “I know you’re still actively mad at me, but…have you heard from Mal since the group chat a few hours ago?”
Shiloh’s brows knitted together, like he was thinking about it, then he said, “No, I don’t think so. Why?”
Once more, that slippery feeling settled in his insides. Nico shook his head faintly, trying to make sense of his thoughts. “He hasn’t said a word to me in a while.”
“What’s a while?” Shiloh asked. “Since the group chat, you mean?”
“A little after that, I guess,” Nico admitted. “It’s probably nothing but I just have a weird feeling.”
Nico rubbed his stomach absently, that gnawing sensation growing.
“Weird feeling like…” Shiloh prodded.
Nico frowned. “I don’t know. It’s nothing. I’m being needy and annoying.”
Shiloh entered the room, closing the door and sitting beside Nico on the bed. “You’re neither of those things. And even if youwere, you can’t possibly beat my brother for that title. He’s been glued to your side since the moment he set eyes on you.”
Nico rolled his eyes. “Yeah?”
Shiloh gave him a flat stare. “Do you remember the first three weeks he lived here? How he used to follow you everywhere, like there was a string tied to your cute little ass? He even tried following you to the bathroom once.”
Nico’s cheeks pinkened. Mal had been so adorable to Nico back then. He’d had all these weird quirky habits that Nico couldn’t fathom. It was like living with someone from another planet. He was so different now. So polished. So much better at masking than he was months ago when he couldn’t stop staring at people and took seven to ten business days to process an emotion.
Nico snickered. “He was so cute. He kept asking permission to grope me, then would get grumpy if I had the audacity to say no.”
Shiloh’s breath hitched. “He’s loved you all this time. Nothing’s gonna change that,” Shiloh promised. “The only thing that’s different is that you love him back.” He grimaced. “And the sex.”
“I’ve always loved him back,” Nico blurted, then looked away. “I just…had a lot of complicated feelings about it. Family shit.”
Shiloh put his arm around his shoulders. “Nobody knows that better than Mal and me. Don’t think too much. But maybe talk to Dr. Jones about it? He’s really helped me and Ever.”
“I’m starting to think the man’s whole practice is just us and the Mulvaneys.”
Shiloh snickered. “Imagine being the twins’ therapist?”
“Oof. I can’t picture Asa in therapy. Half the stuff he says out loud could get him institutionalized. Imagine what happens in his head?”
Nico shivered dramatically.
Shiloh smirked. “I don’t have to imagine. I’ve seen Zane shirtless. Asa’s thoughts are written all over his skin.”
