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The triplets were doing a car video like they always do on Friday, the topic wasn't important at the moment but as they talked, the brothers continued to hear unknown noises from outside the vehicle. At first, they shrugged the sounds off as jokes of someone drunk on the street. But when the noises began to get closer, they had to pause the video and take the situation seriously. They looked around the car to make sure they weren't in danger.
“Seriously dude what is that noise?” Matt asked looking for the responsible of the noise.
“it's starting to freak me out!” Nick echoed from the back seat.
The triplets were right to be afraid, as the second the oldest talked, they heard footsteps outside the car and someone knocking on Chris' window. They look at each other shocked and scared. Chris rolls his window down, a little hesitant…
An imposing figure, standing tall with muscles bulging from the skin. His face is rugged and weathered, with narrow eyes and a stern expression. His gaze is dark and piercing, as if he can penetrate your soul with a simple glance. Behind him stands another man of similar features. He too is imposing and muscular, with a piercing gaze and a stern expression. However, his face is somewhat younger and his eyes are slightly kinder. He gives off the impression of being the right-hand man of the tall man.
"Are you the ones who keep doing videos in this parking lot?" The man lowers himself to look at the siblings properly, keeping one arm above the roof of the car.
"Yeah, we are..." Nick takes the initiative seeing the tension in the air.
"Do you have any idea how much noise you're making?" The man asks, a bit more angrily this time.
"Well, we are filming a video, so..." Chris replies, trying to keep the banter going but deep down he knows he shouldn't, especially to a stranger who's probably intoxicated but he was just having fun with his brothers sue him.
"Do not talk to me like that." The man says, keeping his voice lower but with his anger still noticeable, making the brothers nervous. He lowers his hand from the roof of the car but keeps it hovering near his side, showing he's still confrontational but now with more subtlety and not directly shouting at them. The older sibling grabbed Chris's shoulder from behind and took over the conversation “I'm sorry for my brother, we're just filming a video and we were done anyways, we'll leave”
“I want you out of the car now.” He demanded, opening the door to pull Chris by his shirt and forcing him to get out of the car. The two other triplets are shocked. Nick quickly grabs his phone to call 911 while Matt was trying to get Chris back in the car.
“Let go of him right now!” Nick yelled.
“Are you calling the police!?” Their man’s friend yelled back and forced open the back seat door trying to get to Nick. The man climbs on top of Nick in order to reach the phone, grabbing his wrist and snatching away the device. As this happens, the friend attempts to pull the young boy out of the car while he fights back, trying to free himself from the man's grip.
In front of the car, Matt grabs Chris's hand, who was still fighting the man to let him go, and tries to pull him back inside, but the man only grabs his gun out of his back pocket and points it directly at Matt's head, with deadly eyes staring at him.
“Get out of the fucking car or I'll blow your brains out!”
The siblings were left frozen, the sound of the gun and the sight of it being pointed at their middle triplet sent Nick and Chris, for the first time in their lives, into silence. They no longer tried to fight back against the men. And Matt, on the other hand, was terrified. He couldn't look at anything but the gun in front of him and even his breathing was becoming labored.
"Matt get out of the car, please" Chris pleaded, he wouldn't let his brother be killed because he couldn't keep his mouth shut. When he saw his brother didn't move, he repeated forcefully "Matt, please".
To this Matt blinked as if he was returning to reality and let go of his brother's hand, retreating to his seat and opening his door to get out and approach the men with his hands clearly in sight to avoid being shot. Nick was shaking and looked at the men doing this to his brothers.
The siblings were seated on the concrete of the parking lot, their backs against the side of the car. The two men in front of them and the gun still pointing at one of the triplets.
Nick couldn't calm down, being in this situation alone was scary enough, but being in this situation with his siblings, who could be used against him and hurt them, was terrifying. He couldn't imagine his brothers ever getting hurt and now it seemed like they may not even make it out of this alive. His eyes began to tear up and his heart was pounding, he couldn't breath and couldn't hear anything that was going on around him.
The man noticed Nick's shaking and shouted at him to shut up, a few seconds as the triplet kept crying only got the man more pissed and pointed the gun at his side, yelling at him even louder to be quiet before he loses his temper.
Chris jumped in front of his brother and shouted "He's having a panic attack dude! Just - please let me calm him down"
At the brothers' pleading, the man finally agreed to let them approach and lowered his gun, but stayed on alert in case they attacked him.
The twins kneeled down on each side of Nick, the youngest one holding his brother's face in his hands and looking him straight in the eyes, while Matt was on the opposite side with one hand on his chest to help calm his breathing.
“he's not shutting up!”
“Just shot him Luca, he's being a sissy anyways”
The brothers could hear the two men talking about Nick, and could tell that the taller man was getting impatient from the way the gun he was holding was shaking around. This only made Chris and Matt become more desperate and panicked as they try to get their brother to calm down.
"Come on Nick, you gotta stop crying, you gotta be strong, okay?” Chris whisper to him.
“Nick breathe, you're okay” Matt this time.
“I can't - they're gonna kill us and throw us in a alley and nobody will know what happened to us and -”
"Hey Nick, listen to me! I'm not going to let these people hurt you. We have to stay together, okay? Can you do that for me?" Matt said a little more louder.
Nick looked at his brother, his tears still flowing but he managed to nod a bit, trying to calm down. He hated everything about this, he was supposed to be the older one and protect his brothers, but now Matt, his Matt, his quiet and shy younger brother who was always afraid to talk out loud and worried what others thought of him, who was now trying not to cry in front of him and keep him safe from these strange men. And Chris, who was holding him close and away from the danger. He even jumped in front of the gun, which was pointed directly at him! His Chris, his little ray of sunshine who is normally so energetic and happy, was now shivering and looked so scared in front of him.
Behind them, Luca was getting impatient with the brotherly bonding moment. He immediately grabbed Matt's hair from behind and yanked him away from Nick, making the younger brother cry in pain. The siblings screamed his name and when they tried to intervene they were stopped by Luca's friend.
"I am sick of hearing your voices, where you ever taught how to keep your mouths shut!?" The man shouted to the air, he has a hold of Matt, who is now on the ground under his strength. "Each week I hear your car park in this same parking lot and you just yell for hours! I'm damn tired of it, and today you’ll learn to shut up, by force if I have to!”
The twins jumps as they see what happens next, Luca repeatedly hits Matt with the butt of his gun right in the face, making him cry out in pain and pleading for his abuser to stop, but only making the man angrier which results in him hitting him even harder. Luca sits on top of Matt to continue hitting him and all Matt can do is beg for him to stop while trying to grab him or stop him in any way possible. His lip is bleeding, he can't feel his nose, his eye may have been hit too, but at this point his whole face is in excruciating pain.
“Stop! Fuck - leave him alone!”
“You're gonna kill him! Stop!”
After what seemed like hours, the man finally stopped hitting him, there was no point in continuing since the victim could no longer keep his eyes open and was no longer fighting. The man stood up breathing heavily, wiping the blood that splashed from the sibling's face and throwing a glance at the twins who had been pleading with him to stop. The twins were crying, they were shocked as well, but seeing his brother like this only made them angrier.
After a few seconds, Nick finally broke the silence letting out all his anger since the moment he saw his brother being forcefully pulled out of the car. He finally unleashed all the fear he held since they overheard the noises while recording. Looking up directly into the man's eyes who had terrified his brothers, he shouts
“What the fuck is wrong with you! Do you think you're so manly for beating up a 20years old over a fucking video!?”
The man only stares at him in silence, Nick still yelling and the friend trying to hold him down. “If you so want to beat someone up, tell your friend to let me go and I'll get you a fight!”
Chris only looks at him shocked “Nick, what are you doing?” he asked, terrified what the older men could do to his stupid brother who is literally offering to fight him. But the older Triplet didn't want to hear what Chris had to say. He was too angry to deal with his brother's concern right now.
The friend lets him go and holds Chris instead. Nick then gets up and the first thing he does is approach his brother who is still on the floor and make sure he's still breathing. When he gets close enough, Matt reaches out his hand, grabbing Nick's hand. “Nick... don't do it.” he said, looking at him with pain, pleading.
“Yo, are we fighting or not?” Luca yelled where he was standing
Nick only ignores him and whispers to his brother, repeating the words Matt said before. “I'm not going to let these people hurt you anymore. We have to stay together, remember?”
He realizes the moment his brother’s eyes get wider, as if he wants to tell with his look that his words weren't referring to this situation but he doesn't get a chance to respond before Nick suddenly gets up and faces the man, who is still looking at him with a sinister smile.
On the other hand, Chris was freaking out, he couldn't help but struggle to get free from the friend's grip as he held him with strength. He desperately wanted to intervene with everything he had. It wasn't that he didn't believe Nick could stand his own in a fight, he knew how physically strong his brother was, he just didn't want to see his brother fight, especially in this situation where these people could potentially hurt or kill his two best friends.
“Let's make this more fun. You win, I will leave you three alone and you can keep making your stupid video whenever you want..”
He paused for a bit.
“I win. And I get to beat up your other brother as well. I think beating triplets would be a cool story to tell” He smirked. Laughing at the thought of hurting the three of them. Like they were punch bags for people to get what they pleased.
Nicolas sighs, he knows he doesn't have a say in this anyway, so he just braces himself mentally for what's about to happen. No matter what happens, he's ready to give it his all until he literally can't anymore.
Luca suddenly runs at him, knocking him down and quickly nick use his arms like a shield. He kicks him to get him off and hits him in the ribs, the man groans and Nick takes his chance to kick his face and knock him to the ground. Before he can deliver another blow, Luca recovers and grabs Nick's wrist bending his arm, causing the younger boy to scream in pain and try to pull his arm away but all in vain, as the other man punches him in the face repeatedly.
The triplet does land some punches but he was still getting a fair share of hits. He feels like he's going to pass out numerous times, he feels it when the man kicks him in the ribs, his face, his arms and legs, and as he tries to fight back it only ends with him on the ground, as Luca tries to restrain him.
"Nick!" his brothers yelled as they saw the state of the eldest, they wanted to intervene but one was injured and the other was still under the grip of the man’s friend.
Nick was running out of options and his breath was getting shorter, his eyes frantically looking everywhere, searching for the slightest opportunity to somehow escape his attacker. His eyes instantly locked on the gun that Luca was carrying in his pocket and without a second thought he reaches out his arm and grabs it, aiming the gun at the man and pulling the trigger.
The loud gunshot leaves everyone stunned for a few seconds before the friend lets go of Chris and runs away fearing that someone would call the police after hearing the sound. Chris and Matt, not wasting a second, run up to Nick to see if he was alright.
A scream of pain emerges from Luca from the gunshot wound on his shoulder and he looks at the brothers full of rage, "You shot me you bastard! I'm going to kill all of you, you're gonna regret doing this to me!”
Luca tries to get up still cursing them and threatening them but his speech is cut short when a punch to his face knocks him back down to the ground. Looking up he sees Chris, his face filled with contempt and venom that seeped through each and every word. “Shut the fuck up.”
The man looking at the younger and realizing he who was now unarmed and without his friend's help, decides to leave, he gots up while holding his wounded arm and spitting out blood as he walks away. And the brothers stayed there, watching the man that had just put them through so much physical and mental abuse leave their presence. None of them had the strength or energy to move or even talk at that moment, they were still fearful that the man would return with another weapon soon and if they got distracted he would take the opportunity to hurt them again.
After a moment, Chris turns his attention to his brothers, seeing Matt crying silently as he held Nick close, his face was a disaster with dried blood and tears. And Nick, his older brother who had gotten into a fight for his sake, was no better and even worse off than his younger brother, he was just standing there in shock, staring blankly at Chris and his breathing was heavy and labored, or was he just having a hard time breathing?
Chris walks over to them and holds his brothers close, the very souls he had been blessed to grow up with and beside. He promises that he wouldn't cry but a few tears still get out and this makes him hug them even tighter. The three of them stand there, holding onto each other for dear life, rubbing each others backs and consoling and loving each other mutually.
Eventually Chris pulls back
"Shit, Nick, does it hurt?" He asks him, trying to touch his wounds with kindness and concern.
"Yeah..." Nick replied softly with a raspy voice but with a small smile on his face, his face hurt so much more now that the adrenaline from the fight had begun to wear off, but he was so happy to see his brothers and hold them close. Knowing everything was over, he felt a wave of relief crash over him and he couldn't help but let a few tears escape as he clung to them.
"Nick, don't cry, you're okay, you saved us. You fought that son of a bitch to protect us and I could never be more grateful. Even though you scared me to death and I don't ever want you to do it again, right now, at this moment, I couldn't be happier to have you as my brother.”
"No, no I'm not crying because I'm hurt, I mean sure I'm hurting right now but the only reason I'm crying is because I'm so glad you're okay. That man wanted to hurt you so badly he laughed at the thought of it, and he already hurt Matt, I couldn't let him hurt you too. And Matt I'm so sorry I didn't do anything to help you sooner, and I hate seeing your face all beaten up like this.” Nick told his brothers clinging onto both of his brothers, making sure his hands were still touching them, as if he had this irrational fear deep within him that if he didn't keep holding onto them they would disappear.
"Youre so emotional,” Chris breathed out, letting out a small laugh, trying to downplay his own feelings, he wanted to be strong for his brothers. The feeling of guilt was starting to cross his mind, all the abuse they just went through was his fault, for replying to that unstable man. Worst of all, he was the only one who wasn't hurt, he felt like he deserved to be hurt too, maybe then he could share some of the pain that his brothers were going through. “This is all my fault, if I hadn't upset that man he would've probably let us go.”
“What? Chris don't be stupid, the man would've hurt us no matter what! And if it someone's fault it's mine, I couldn't calm down when they pull us out of the car and that made him more mad at us and attacked Matt!”
“Your fault!? Are you stupid? How could that be your fault? I was the one -”
“You're both stupid.” Matt interrupted, who has been quiet this whole time holding Nick for dear life. "None of this is anyone's fault, we all did the best we could to keep ourselves safe. The only ones who are at fault are those two men who came with the intention of hurting us no matter what we did. We all were scared and couldn't interfere many times and that's okay. I will always prefer to be the one who gets hurt before you guys and I know that you both think the same since Chris stepped in front of a weapon and Nick offered to fight on his own for our sake. I love you both, you guys are everything I have, so please stop blaming yourself and hug”
And they did, Chris and Nick held on to Matt for a long time, all three of them crying and whispering reassuring words to each other. Saying that everything was okay now and they were safe and they could go home and never return to this stupid parking lot again. They knew that the trauma would not be gone so easily, they would have to stop uploading on their social media during their recovery period.
But once they would be ready, once Chris would stop waking up from nightmares and having to go to one of his brothers' bedrooms to sleep, and once Matt would stop daydreaming at the moment he was being held at gunpoint and having a break down everytime someone calls on him, and once Nick stops looking at his reflection in the mirror and not think he's ugly because of the scars and wounds the man left him with.
Only when all of the pain and trauma has finally subdued, they could get back to their car, driving somewhere safe. At that moment they would record a video, feeling like themselves again, they would apologize to their viewers for their absence and the promise that they are finally back and doing better. They will laugh and shout and no one will be able to hurt them. And they will get to live another day and will continue doing what they love.