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It had been merely a few days after they recorded their zoom call youtube video. They were on their way from the airport after Nick and Matt picked up Chris from his flight to Boston.
All of them were running on barely 3 hours of sleep. Even if Chris was the only one to openly admit it, they all had trouble sleeping when one of them was missing.
Maybe they really were soulmates. Or maybe they were just insanely codependent.
Needless to say, sleeping in their new custom-made beds together for the entire day, sounded like a great plan.
They got to the porch of their house and Matt was seconds away from opening the front door, when they suddenly heard a banging noise coming from inside.
All the color from their faces drained out and they were frozen in place.
They were taken back to the stalking situation that happened almost a year ago, leading them to being extra paranoid of everything and everyone, before they realized it was time to move out and find their new forever home.
Nick walked forwards and protectively stood up in front of Matt. Even if he was just as scared, his need to be the bigger person when it was just them was stronger than the immense fear he was feeling at the moment.
"What do we do?? Do we call the cops??" Whispered Chris, getting alarmed over Nick standing in front of the door. He had seen way too many true crime cases about a similar situation.
Nick was about to come up with a solution, when they heard a yell that sounded very much like Chris. A very much younger Chris.
They all looked at each other, concerned about how that scream scarily resembled the youngest, before they also heard some muffled complaints coming from the other side.
"Chris, seriously?? Dude, we are supposed to be quiet— what the fuck is wrong with you."
"That's what happens when you run around not looking when you're going, idiot."
Ok. Those were definitely younger Matt and Nick's voices.
They didn't understand what was happening. Was this part of some weird joke? Were they hallucinating everything?
"Was that... me?" Whispered Matt, pinching himself and trying to wake up from this insane fever dream he had found himself in.
"I'm going in. I need to know what the fuck is happening." Nick said exasperatedly, his need to be in control and aware of the situation was stronger than his survival instincts.
Chris tried grabbing him and pushing him away from the door. But it was too late, Nick had already opened it, leading them to seeing the scene before them:
In their entrance, next to the kitchen, stood Chris.
The 18 year old version of Chris, in front of a picture frame that he probably dropped on accident. With the other 18 year old versions of Nick and Matt behind him.
Well, Nick thought:
This was probably not good for his already damaged psych.
"Wh— how— what are you doing in our house?!" Nick managed to get out, somehow. He knew none of them were gonna be the firsts to open their mouths, and he needed to know what the fuck was going on.
"This is so trippy. Why do I look like that?" Said younger Nick, walking in front of him and looking at him with a strange look. Younger Chris used this opportunity to get away from the entrance and hide behind Matt.
"Look like what?? What do you mean— Nevermind. That doesn't matter—" Nick sighed, looking at his younger version:
"You are me. And that's younger Chris and Matt. What the fuck is happening."
"I knew I was gonna have some insane dreams after not sleeping in the plane, but this is fucking crazy." Chris muttered rubbing his eyes, trying to make some sense of anything.
"Ew— why do I sound like that?" Younger Chris giggled, and younger Matt couldn't help but to giggle with him.
"Dude— Even worse for me. Why do I have a beard? I look a million years old—" Younger Matt replied, which made younger Chris burst into laughter, with him and younger Nick following along.
"Okay, enough of this shitshow. I'm way too tired to care if this is real or not. How the fuck are you here?" Nick tried reasoning, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Matt walked forward as well and stood behind Nick and Chris, closing the front door behind him. Still not being able to come up with any words at all.
"I don't know bro. We saw some time machine shit in a sketchy website and decided to buy it since it was only ten bucks. We thought it might make for a good youtube video. We might surpass 500k after this." Younger Chris casually mentioned.
"500k?? This shit actually worked, we're getting at least three million." Younger Nick corrected.
"So what? You bought a cheap time machine from fucking tiktok shop and it worked? Was the date randomized?" If Nick was telling anyone about this, they would have put him on a padded room immediately.
Thank God Matt and Chris were also with him witnessing the same fuckery he was, otherwise he would've sent himself to the psych ward.
"Kind of. Well, the date wasn't randomized. We thought about going to the past but that was meh. It's not like we did much when we were 13. We thought it would've been way cooler to see our future 5 years ahead." Younger Chris commented, shrugging like this was a normal conversation.
"It's not that cool tho. I'm still not a fan of 'my' beard." Younger Matt snarkily added, physically signing quotation marks.
"Okay, that's enough." Nick groaned, already done with the conversation. He looked downwards and then to Chris and Matt, who were also visibly exhausted.
"Can't you like go back? Yeah, you saw us. You saw our house. Whatever. We're tired."
"Damn, you are no fucking fuuun." Younger Chris teased, fake yawning and booing when he saw his older self walk by to sit on the living room's couch with Matt.
"The website said the whole thing lasts 3 hours. We've been here for like 20 minutes, sooo—" Younger Nick said with a shy smirk.
He was obviously the most interested one out of the three of them to stay, even if he didn't let it show.
Nick noticed though. Whether it was because it was him from 5 years ago, or because he still did that to this day, he didn't know.
"Fine. Whatever. Walk around the house and do whatever you want for your 'content', but leave us be. We're tired." Nick sighed, walking to the couch to sit with Matt and Chris.
He was stopped by hands grabbing at his arms.
"No, wait—" He turned around and saw his younger self, looking at him with pleading eyes.
"Tell us something."
"What— what do you mean by that?" As much as Nick hated his past, he also knew that his 18 year old self wasn't in a good mental health state. He wanted to strangle himself, but at the same time he remembered crying himself to sleep every night. Feeling disgust and hatred over what his heart was telling him.
He knew what his 18 year old self wanted to know. He knew the second he saw younger Chris and Matt laughing together, while he was on the side, watching them with that fond smile that he, at the time, thought wasn't obvious.
But he also knew that 'the day' wouldn't happen until late 2022. He had to let time flow it's natural course. Even if he sometimes wishes the three of them had acted on their feelings before they spent all those previous months wallowing in self hatred and guilt.
"I don't know— What's something we achieved in the future that we haven't lived yet?" Younger Nick asked, his wide and hopeful eyes never leaving his expression.
There were so many things Nick could say. Their 7 million subscribers, their three fantastic tours throughout the states, his successful brand, Chris' own brand, Matt's book—
Yet all he could think about was the ring on his finger.
He started fidgeting with it, moving it around with his other hand— a nervous stim he had picked up during the nights where they all stayed up looking up houses for sale.
Younger Nick was immediately drawn to it. He looked at it curiously, having assumed it was a normal ring.
He quickly realized it was a promise ring.
"Oh. You're— I'm. Engaged." Younger Nick murmured. He was smiling, trying to appear happy about the new information. But Nick could tell he was upset about it.
His brothers, on the other hand—
"What???" Screamed younger Chris and Matt, immediately dropping the picture frame they were looking at and running where their brother and his older self were.
"That's— crazy." Replied younger Matt, inspecting the ring himself. Younger Chris didn't say anything, but the way his mood immediately shifted, let Nick know what they were all thinking.
'He's engaged. He's in love with someone else.'
Nick knows he shouldn't interfere with the timeline. He really shouldn't.
He turned his head around to look at his Matt and Chris, who had apparently not fallen asleep and were looking at the scene before them.
A soft knowing smile was on their faces, and it only grew when they saw Nick looking at them.
Fuck the fucking timeline.
"Yeah— I'm engaged. We are, actually." Nick pinched the bridge of his nose again, this time to hide the growing smile on his face.
"Who is 'we'"? Asked Younger Matt.
"Us? Obviously." Chris yawned from his place on the couch, moving his hand upwards so they could see the same ring on his hand.
The younger triplets were speechless. They were probably understanding it all wrong, surely. Surely they were different rings. Or maybe they were matching ones. It didn't mean that Nick and Chris were—
"Yeah. This guy with the beard has more game than you do." Matt snarkily added, directly looking at his younger self while also lifting up his hand to show his ring.
Younger Matt blushed at the snarky comment, before he realized that he was a part of whatever was going on.
Of course he was.
"Ok, but what do those rings mean? We got matching jewelry and shit now?" Younger Chris questioned. He was trying so hard to be nonchalant it was both absurd and adorable.
"Was I really that annoying when I was 18?" Chris asked, laughing when he saw Nick's knowing smile.
"Yeah, you were. Don't think about it too hard babe. I sadly found it endearing. I have no idea how." He replied, getting out of the center of attention of the younger triplets and walking to the couch with Matt and Chris.
"Hey, shut the fuck up! Wait— you find me endearing?" Younger Chris shyly asked, his whole demeanor switching when he turned around to look at younger Nick.
"He also has the hots for you. If that wasn't clear." Chris teased, and Nick and Matt laughed at his comment, loving the way younger Chris went red in the face and younger Nick looked like he wanted to disintegrate.
"I knew you took too long in the bathroom the other day after Chris came home from the gym!" Younger Matt added and laughed, which only made younger Chris look more red than humanly possible, and younger Nick look like he was seconds away from strangling the older.
"Don't all cocky, we both know what you do with the laundry after Chris comes back from the gym." Matt added with a smirk, which made Nick laugh even harder and Chris absolutely lose it.
Younger Matt shut up after it, his whole face going completely pale and not daring to turn around and face his brothers. He prayed that they didn't know what his older self meant by that.
"You guys are fucking weird." Younger Nick said, after getting some of his composure back.
"Oh yeah, we do. We fuck weird. A lot of the times." Nick replied, and they all lost themselves in a fit of giggles again, while their younger counterparts looked at them like they were aliens.
"I don't know if I'm concerned or happy that we're still like this five years later." Younger Chris whispered to his brothers, who subtly nodded in agreement.
They feigned annoyance and cringed at their older selves, but they would be lying to themselves if they pretended that the image of them still being happily together years later, wasn't ingrained into their memory forever.
Nick was the first one to open his eyes in the mess of giggles he and his brothers were in, and made eye contact with his younger self.
He smiled at himself. For the first time in many years, he was looking at his past self with a fond look. Despite all the shitty decisions he had made as a teen, he really couldn't be mad at himself.
He was just a kid in love.
He glanced at younger Chris and Matt too. He knew how he felt about them at the time. He loved them so much, but he also hated them. Hated them for how much he needed them. He felt isolated from the bubble they were in, felt like a complete outcast.
At the time, he held invisible grudges with them. They got into fights all the time, and they were mostly caused by Nick reacting poorly to their bond. He was jealous, and heartbroken.
But after knowing what he knows now, he's able to look at their younger selves in a different light.
They never shut him off and they never excluded him. They felt the same things he did. They were terrified of saying the wrong thing, and having Nick isolate himself again. They didn't wanna lose him, and they never had wanted to.
They were all stupid teenagers.
Stupid teenagers in love with each other.
"Not to interrupt your moment, but— we just noticed you entered the door with a suitcase. You're coming home after a flight and are probably tired. And— we're being annoying." Younger Nick broke the silence, and his brothers nodded, their snarky attitude completely gone.
"Didn't you say you had like 2 hours left on the time machine?" Chris mentioned, looking at the previously hidden clock hanging from younger Nick's pocket.
"Oh— that. That was a lie. We just wanted to see what you'd do? Or say?" Younger Nick confessed, looking down at the floor ashamed.
"I think we heard enough." Younger Matt shyly added, looking at his older self and immediately breaking eye contact.
There was a minute of silence where they all looked at each other, while also avoiding direct eye contact.
Except for younger Nick. He couldn't take his eyes away from their older counterparts.
"Your— Our... voice? Is not ugly. By the way." Younger Chris broke the silence, looking at his older self with a shy smile, his previous nonchalant persona completely gone.
"And your beard—" Younger Matt quietly murmured, still not being able to keep eye contact with the older: "It's cool."
Younger Nick saw the older versions of his brothers fondly smile at them, and felt the need to say something else before they left.
"I—" He looked to his older self, a few tears starting to make their way into his eyes.
Nick was afraid of many things when he was 18. Still, his biggest, most prominent fear, was their future. The uncertainty of their relationship.
Most nights he went to bed and wondered why he still tried. Why he still tried to convince himself that maybe, just maybe, his feelings were okay. That the future might not be as dark as it seemed like it was going to be.
Somehow, seeing his future self be happy, was harder to process than time traveling to the future.
"You're everything I ever wanted to be."
Nick smiled at his younger self and softly laughed. He hadn't even realized he was crying until he felt two hands reach for his own.
"You're not as obnoxious as I remember." He replied, smiling at his younger's self grin grow even more.
"Well— We better get going. This is getting into corny territory and I think we've already had too much of that." Younger Matt said, grabbing younger Nick's hands.
Younger Chris did the same, and they all glanced at their older selves before they turned around and grabbed the funky looking clock from Nick's pocket.
Nick thinks he saw his younger self glance at him one last time with a teary smile before the whole room turned pitch black. He wasn't sure.
***
Nick found himself opening his eyes in a darkly lit room.
He quickly noticed he was in his bedroom, and glanced at the phone on the bedside table.
'5:58 pm.'
He felt someone move beside him, and turned around to see his two sleeping brothers, holding onto each other tight, with their free hands reaching for him even when they were sound asleep.
He smiled at them and slowly got out of bed and walked downstairs to fetch himself a glass of water.
Nick was on his way to the kitchen when he quickly realized that he was stepping on broken glass.
He looked down and saw that he was stepping on a picture frame. He picked it up, noticing something was written on it.
That handwriting was very familiar.
He was about to read it, when he was suddenly interrupted by a yell coming from his bedroom:
"Niiick— can you bring me water too?"
He laughed to himself, leaving the picture frame on the counter, and opening the cabinets to get 3 glasses.
The past could wait.
His brothers could not.