Nikita is sitting on the living room couch when his brother enters the home. He looks up, gives a soft smile as he greets him.
“Hey bro.” Normally that would be it, except something about Boyd seems different. He looks as if he is in a daze and there’s a miserable look on his face. “What’s wrong with you?” He questions, brow furrowing in his concern.
“None of your business.” Boyd grumbles, heading for the stairs.
“Whoa, what the fuck has gotten into you?” Nikita scoffs, taken aback by the anger from his normally sweet brother. Sure, he’s been depressed lately and not himself since Jett. It’d been even worse since their mother had gotten knocked up again. But through it all, they had stuck together. They were both having rough times and Boyd had never taken his stress out on Nikita.
“Why don’t you just get off my back? Worry about Ollie or whatever else it is you’re always bitching about.” Boyd snaps as he reaches the stairs.
Nikita stands immediately, pulse racing in anger. What the fuck was Boyd’s problem? He hadn’t spoken to anyone like this since-
“Boyd, show me your arms.” Nikita demands as it hits him, racing over to the staircase before Boyd can disappear. His eyes are searching for bare skin but of course, Boyd is wearing long sleeves. He always used to.
“No way, fuck off.” Boyd shrugs off the arm he feels on his shoulder.
“Show me your fucking arms.” Nikita grabs the boy this time, pulling him roughly by the back of his shirt. It’s enough to have him stumbling back down the few stairs he’d already taken.
“Let go of me!” Boyd exclaims as his older brother grabs his arm roughly, yanking it closer in order to pull up his sleeves. “That fucking hurts!” He tries to fight back but of course, he’s no match for Nikita.
“Should have shown me when I asked then.” Nikky shrugs as he is finally successful in rolling up Boyd’s shirt. He lays eyes on exactly what he had feared, fresh track marks. “Boyd, no.” His voice is merely a whisper then because although he knew his suspicions were right, having them undeniably confirmed was heartbreaking.
“Happy now?” Boyd snaps as he roughly tugs his arm away. This time Nikita lets him.
“How long have you been doing it again?” Nikita asks softly, although he knows no matter what the answer is it won’t make him feel any better.
“Like a week.” Boyd mutters, his eyes suddenly averting his brother’s gaze.
“It’s not too late then. Come on, you know you can’t do this again, Boyd. Shit, you almost died last time. And mom-“
“Don’t you tell me what mom will do. He probably won’t even notice. He’ll have his new precious miracle baby to worry about. Maybe he’ll be thankful for one less mouth to feed.”
“Boyd don’t fucking talk like that! Is that what this is all about? The baby? You know I’m not thrilled about it either but you shouldn’t be so worked up about it. Mom’s always got enough attention for all of us. He won’t forget about you.”
“You wouldn’t understand. You’re not even really theirs.”
Nikita pauses. If you blink you’d miss it but for a split second you can see the hurt in his eyes. He lets out a soft chuckle then, shaking his head.
“Alright, I’ve gotta give it to you. That one hurt and you know it, too. You’ve gotten better at shit talking since the last time. Maybe I should be proud. You’re lucky I know it’s the drugs talking or I’d break your fucking jaw.”
“I’m not scared of you, okay? Now just leave me alone.”
“No way. Not while you’re like this.” Nikita shakes his head. “Will you at least try to stop this? Before it gets too bad?”
“Maybe I don’t want to. What’s the worst that happens? I die? Oh well. What’s the point of living anyways? I’m fucking miserable all the time. All I do is go to school, sleep, and then do it all over again the next day. I don’t care anymore, Nikky.”
“Boyd, just because there’s another baby and Jett is screwing someone else now doesn’t mean you have nothing to live for. Jesus.”
It is Boyd who lunges this time, reaching out to push Nikita’s chest as hard as he can. It succeeds in pushing the Russian back a few steps, though mostly it just shocks him. Boyd has never been physical.
“Don’t even fucking talk about him!”
And then Nikita realizes that they’ve known about the new baby for several months now. Boyd had only started using a week ago. Something else had been the final straw.
Just a few weeks ago, it had come out that Jett had started dating again. And not just anyone, but none other than Gally, his sworn enemy. The world was a weird place sometimes.
“Boyd, is that what this is about? Jett and Gally?”
“I said don’t talk about him!” Boyd snarls and if Nikita didn’t know any better, he’d swear that his brother was a wolf himself.
He merely stares at the boy for a moment, wondering what he could possibly do to help his baby brother.
“Come on, we’re going somewhere. Get in the car.”
“What? No.” Boyd shakes his head, turns around to head back for the stairs. Nikita is too quick for him, though, already is tugging him along by the arm. “Where are we even going?”
“We’re going to go for a drive around town. You’re going to tell me where all your favorite little druggie friends are and I’m going to beat the living hell out of them and tell them there’s more where that came from if they ever even think of selling to you again.”
“Like hell you are!” Boyd protests, once again jerking away only for Nikita to hold him still. “Why the hell would I tell you where they are anyway?”
“I thought you might be difficult. But you’re going to cooperate because if you don’t I’ll stop by Eustass’s place. I’ll go inside and I’ll hurt Jett instead.”
Boyd’s head snaps over to look at him, eyes wide. For a moment, Nikita feels bad. Maybe Boyd does have feelings for Jett like the ones he himself harbors for Ollie. He knows how that feels, being forced to go on while they warm someone else’s bed. But then again, he hadn’t turned to heroin to ease his pain.
“You wouldn’t.” Boyd speaks firmly, despite the worry tracing his features.
“Oh, I don’t think you want to test me. You think I don’t already want to kill him for hurting you like this? I’d love nothing more than to snap his pretty little neck.”
Boyd can’t help but wince at the thought of the love of his life being brutalized.
“You couldn’t. Eustass would kill you. You would never risk papka hating you.”
“Boyd, I think you’d be surprised what I’d risk to keep you safe.” Nikita speaks and as he does, he realizes just how serious he is. Even he had thought that he was bluffing but he knows that if it came down to it, he would kill for his little brother. He would hurt whoever he had to if it meant Boyd being safer, no matter who it pissed off.
“I still don’t buy it.” Boyd shakes his head as they arrive at the car.
“Oh, you don’t? Alright.” Nikita pulls out his phone, dials Jett’s number and shows Boyd the screen as he waits for the boy to pick up.
“Nikky!” He hisses, attempting to swipe the man’s phone out of his hand but missing as he hears a soft voice on the other line.
“Hey Jett, yeah it’s Nikita.” The Russian answers, looking pointedly at his brother as he speaks. “Could you meet me outside in a few minutes? I’ve gotta talk to you about something.”
“Fine! I’ll tell you!” Boyd hisses in a whisper, face alight with panic.
Nikita grins, not even hearing Jett’s answer before he cuts him off.
“Oh, actually, nevermind. I forgot I have a thing to go to tonight. Talk to ya later.” He hangs up the phone and slides into the driver’s seat, starting up the car as Boyd gets in the passenger side, cursing under his breath.
“You’re fucking insane.” Boyd mutters.
Several hours later and they are on the ride home, Nikita wearing a satisfied smile and bloody knuckles. It’s the only sign of what he’d spent his day doing. The car has been mostly silent until Boyd quietly speaks up.
“I’m sorry, Nikky.”
“I’m sorry too.” Nikita nods, reaches out an arm to wrap around the boy’s shoulders as the other guides the steering wheel. “I just don’t want you to go through this again. I don’t think any of us can take another round of what happened last time.”
“I know, I’m sorry.” Boyd hangs his head, runs his fingers over fresh track marks. “Just don’t tell mom.”
“Of course not. He couldn’t take that normally, but especially not pregnant. We might hate the idea of this baby but I’m not trying to make him miscarry from fucking stress.”
“I-I didn’t even think of that.” Boyd sighs. He really is a complete failure. He’s glad Nikita was the one to notice his attitude and not Vitaly.
“I know. It’s okay. We’ll get you through this, okay? Not like I’m busy these days, so whenever you feel like using, come and get me. I don’t care what I’m doing, I’ll stop. Even if I can’t help you feel better, I can at least hold your ass down and keep you from doing anything stupid.”
“Okay.” Boyd nods slowly. “I’ll try. Thanks, Nikky.”
“You don’t have to thank me. It’s what I’m here for.”
