001, I WANT A BABY

     A GUST OF CHILLY WIND blew past the three brothers who were making their way over to their best friend's house. Christopher forcefully began to chatter his teeth, earning a playful smack to the head from his brother Nick.

"Do you think AJ will let me borrow one of her sweaters?" Chris asked, rubbing his hands up and down his exposed arms.

"For sure," Matthew nodded. He had told his triplet brother to bring a hoodie before they left the house but Christopher refused and marched onto the street silently but instantly regretted his choice.

"Yeah, fuck controversy!" Nick enthusiastically threw his fist in the air.

The other two brothers nodded in agreement. Nicolas loudly knocked on the red front door and the trio patiently waited for the door to open.

"Hi, boys. Holy shit, Chris, are you not cold?" Zara Valentine worriedly asked the boy, ushering the triplets into her house.

Zara was Avery's older sister, if it wasn't for Zara suggesting her younger sister stayed in Boston with her when her parents were thinking of moving to Alaska, Avery and the triplets would not be as close of friends as they are now.

"I'm cold. Need Avery," Chris chattered in unfinished sentences, the boy only had sweatpants and a thin t-shirt on so of course he was freezing.

"She's in her room," Zara chuckled, going back to editing her video on her MacBook.

"Avery Jane!" Nick jokingly bellowed, stomping up the stairs that lead to the second story of the home.

Avery rolled her eyes at the familiar footsteps of her three best friends and continued to pluck away on her electric guitar. The triplets burst through her door and Chris immediately placed his hands on the girl's exposed shoulders, causing her to shriek and shove him away.

"Put a fucking sweater on, Chris!" She shuddered, hanging up the red and white guitar on her wall stand before going into her closet and coming out with one of the boys' sweaters that she had 'borrowed' ages ago.

"Thank you, Aves," Chris flashed a cheeky smile, pulling the sweater over his head and happily sighing as he got comfortable on the girl's neatly made bed.

Avery blushed lightly at the nickname but blew the boy a kiss, which he pretended to catch and then smacked his backside.

"Oh no, that was out of pocket," Nick commented, Avery nodded and poked her finger into Chris's side which made him jump and squirm with a giggle.

"Sorry, boys, I didn't get to properly say hi!" Avery smiled softly.

Matt and Nick shrugged, not bothered by the fact. She grinned, pulling the pair into a suffocating hug. The two laughed and squeezed her as well.

"What about me?" Chris whined from the bed, opening his arms like a child.

Avery shook her head with a smile, refusing to give the boy a big hug. Christopher gasped dramatically, throwing his head onto one of Avery's pillows and pretending to sob.

AJ huffed, jumping on top of the dramatic brunette who yelled as the air got knocked out of him. Chris weakly rolled over onto his back and allowed Avery to give him an affectionate squeeze, which he excitedly returned.

"Drinks, food, anyone?" Avery asked the three boys, standing up and walking towards her bedroom door.

"Pepsi, if you have any!"

"We always have Pepsi because of you, Chris," Avery pressed her lips into a thin line.

"Water for me," Matt nodded.

Avery looked over to Nick who seemed to be stuck on what he wanted to drink or eat.

"I'll come with you," the boy shrugged, following Avery out of her room and back downstairs to the kitchen.

Zara looked up from her computer, reapplying her chapstick and smiling at the pair. Nick gladly opened the refrigerator and grabbed a can of Pepsi and two cans of Sprite while Avery filled a cup of water from the fridge door for Matthew.

"You make such a bomb pink lemonade, you already know what I want," Nick grinned.

Avery laughed, nodding her head and grabbing the fresh raspberries out of the fridge. Nick excused himself and ran back upstairs with the drinks that both his brothers requested.

By the time he came back down, Avery had already finished making the drinks and was decorating the pink soda with fresh mint leaves.

"Gracias," Nick joked, taking one of the glasses from Avery's hand.

"De nada," she winked, earning a baffled face from Nicolas.

He stared at her in confusion, trying to put two and two together but failing miserably.

"It's you're welcome? In Spanish?" She chuckled.

"Oh!"

The pair walked back up the stairs and into Avery's room. Chris was helplessly trying to strum a tune on the girl's ukulele while Matthew's shoes were thrown on the floor and the boy himself was tucked under Avery's bed covers with his eyes peacefully shut.

"What is this? Roleplay of Romeo and Juliet mixed with High School Musical?" Avery sarcastically asked the two brothers.

Chris placed a hand over the soundhole and looked over at Matt who had one eye open and was already looking at Avery.

"Technically, H-S-M was based on Romeo and Juliet," Chris shrugged.

"Shut up," Avery grumbled at his comment.

Nick sipped his pink lemonade quietly and sat by Avery's desk, looking through all the recent sketches she had done. Chris walked over to stand behind his brother, watching as he flicked through the pages.

The pair looked through her sketches in silence, new and old, regardless if they'd seen the drawings one hundred times.

"We should do something," Avery suggested, feeling nervous about how quiet Nick and Chris were while looking through her sketchbook.

"I second that!" Matt called from the bed. "I'm tired though," he added, nuzzling his head further into Avery's satin pillowcase.

"Lazybones," Nick coughed into his elbow jokingly.

Matt rolled his eyes having heard his triplet brother's remark but said nothing of it as he was way too tired to say something back. He got only four hours of sleep last night after staying up until four am live streaming on Instagram with Nick and his other girl best friend, Alahna.

"We should go ice skating," Chris harmlessly suggested.

"No," was his chorused response. The boy shrugged, to be fair he did make them go ice skating three days ago.

The four thought for another minute, unable to think of what to do for the day. Matt pulled out his phone and began to look for ideas since everyone else was silently thinking.

"Oh my gosh, let's go to the beach!" Avery jumped off of the end of her bed.

"It's winter, AJ," Nick deadpanned, there was no way he was going to the beach in such cold weather.

Avery rolled her eyes at how unenthusiastic the boy was being but didn't put up a fight, she barely wanted to go to the beach either the idea was more of a spur of the moment.

"We can go out and do literally jackshit, vlog it and have content for Wednesday?" Nick suggested with a small grin.

"Sounds good to me," Avery shrugged with a smile.

Matt and Chris agreed and were forced out into the 'freezing' cold just so Matt could drive them everywhere and 'it wouldn't be the same without Chris' so they pulled Chris's stubborn self outside too.

"Hello!" Nick yelled into the camera excitedly. Making Avery suck air through her teeth while holding her ears.

"Fuck, Nick! Shut up," Chris whined, a small smile still prominent on his face.

Nick giggled at the boy's reaction and spun the camera to face Chris and Matt. Both boys paid no attention to the camera and engaged in their own conversation.

"We're with Avery, by the way," Nick explained, pointing the camera towards the brunette girl.

"That was so unenthusiastic, what the fuck?" Avery gaped, making Matt laugh from the driver's seat.

Nick rolled his eyes, turning the small camera back around to his face.

"My bad. Avery is here today! Oh my God! Avery, my idol! I love you!" He exclaimed with a laugh before pausing dramatically. "Better?"

Avery nodded with narrowed eyes, waving sweetly at the camera. Nick passed her the small device so he could adjust how he was seated.

"Hi, vlog! I hope you're all fantastic because you deserve to be. For anyone who doesn't know me, I'm Avery Valentine and if you're currently thinking 'oh, this bitch is using the triplets for clout', then yes. Three year old me definitely let Chris fall asleep on me on the kindergarten bus trip to the zoo and then forced him, Matt and Nick, to walk with me."

Christopher giggled from the front, stretching his arm out to dap the girl up.

"Guys she's actually such a clout chaser," Matt yelled, earning a playful punch to the shoulder from Avery.

"The true story is... wait, I'll tell you," Nick yelled, snatching the camera out of Avery's hands and rambling into the camera.

"Our boy Christopher over here decided to fall asleep on this poor little girl on the bus ride to the zoo and then she fell asleep on him, then, Chris made Avery meet me and Matt. Against AJ's will! Then he forced her to hold his hand and explore the zoo with us."

By the end of Nick's story, Avery was flopping around in her seat laughing obnoxiously at his storytelling antiques while Chris shouted many objections while trying to grab the camera from Nicolas.

"Chris also has a crush on Avery!" Nick loudly whispered making both Chris and Avery go silent and turn red.

"HAD! I had a crush on Aves! Just stop talking, Nick!" Chris screamed with laughter.

Avery laughed off whatever feeling appeared in her stomach when Chris turned down the accusations of liking Avery.

"Are we picking up Anabell and Dylan?" Matt asked as he stopped the car at a red light.

"I think so, Belle will need to bring Soph though," Avery pursed her lips, wondering where the six teenagers plus toddler would be seated in the minivan.

Nick squealed excitedly, out of the three brothers he was always ecstatic to see the two-year-old girl. The boy's excitement always surprised the other four as he was normally one to see a child and bully it.

"AJ can you text Dyl please, let him know we're five minutes away?" Matt asked once again.

Avery nodded with a smile, texting Dylan Alcaraz (who was currently with Anabell and Sophie) and letting him know that she and the triplets were picking them up.

"Sophie, baby!" Avery cooed as she walked inside the home, spotting the young girl running happily across the floor.

"Avey!" Sophie giggled, gripping the girl's leg. Avery picked her up and spun the toddler around, earning an excited yell from her.

Keeping the young child in her hands, Avery walked into the kitchen where Anabell was speaking to her mother who was cutting up a mango.

"Morning, Belle, morning second mom." Avery grinned, holding the baby on her hip while greeting both women with a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, favorite child," Stella Carter smiled kindly, kissing the eighteen-year-olds head.

Avery chuckled, childishly poking her tongue out at her best friend.

"Sorry, girls, I can't watch Sophie today because Nonna has yoga!" Stella enthusiastically punched the air, kissing her granddaughter's head before sliding the lunch box of mango into her tote bag.

Anabell rolled her eyes at her mother's behaviour but took her daughter from Avery's hands, leading Avery into the living room.

"Soph!" Nick grinned, reaching his arms out to take the baby from Anabell's hands.

The three brothers fawned over the toddler for a few minutes before finally greeting their friends.

"Dyl, Belle, hey," Chris smiled, handing Sophie to Matt while doing a handshake with Dylan and hugging Anabell.

Nick and Matt mirrored his actions not long after and five minutes later the six teenagers plus the baby were piled into the car and on their way to go to one of the cafes they also went to as a group.

Avery brought Sophie into the kid's playpen and helped the toddler slide down the slides and play in the sandpit.

"I want a baby," Avery pouted from the cafe's play area.

"You can have her," Anabell laughed from the table, waving sweetly at her daughter before turning back to the menu.

Nicolas held in a laugh but managed to nudge Chris who just shoved him back in response, the pair resulted in a shoving match which Matthew gladly broke up.

"What the fuck was that for?" Chris frowned, dusting his shirt.

"She wants a baby," Nick shrugged, hiding the big smile that was appearing on his face.

Christopher dropped his jaw in shock, finally understanding why his triplet brother had nudged him, the boy began to furiously shake his head.

"First of all, we're friends! Second, I'm not having a kid now, what the shit?!" Chris defensively yelled at his brother.

"Who's not having a kid now?" Avery's curious voice spoke from behind the triplets, spooking all three brothers as they spun around in fright.

Nick nervously laughed, blurting out the first name that came to his mind which happened to be Christopher's.

"Bro!" Chris cried.

Avery glanced at Chris with a confused face but still slid Sophie into the high chair and took her seat beside Matt.

"What can I get you guys?" The waiter asked politely, mainly looking between Sophie and Anabell.

He looked as if he was in his late twenties, or early thirties and was unsure if the toddler in the high chair was Anabell's sister or daughter.

"What, never seen a teen mom before?" Avery sassed him.

The waiter panicked, shaking his head and apologizing to Anabell who sweetly accepted his apology.

"Avery! He did nothing wrong," Dylan scolded her silently. Avery shrugged, she was always one to confront anyone who looked confused when they saw her best friend and 'niece'.

Anabell rolled her eyes, fighting away the soft smile and apologized to the waiter for her best friend's behaviour.

"Vee, I love you for always confronting people for staring at Soph and me but he was harmlessly looking at us," Anabell sighed with a smile, reaching over to grab Avery's hand.

"Oh, sorry," Avery mumbled, quickly scanning through the menu so she could avoid the topic.

The table finished stating their orders and went back to chatting happily, though Avery grew unusually quiet. She felt bad for immediately assuming the waiter thought there was something wrong and wanted to apologize but felt awkward doing so.

"Avesssss," Chris dragged out, stretching his arm around Matt's back to ruffle the girl's hair.

"Yes, Chris?" Avery turned, smiling softly at the boy.

"Take a shower, you reek," he deadpanned, fighting the urge to break into a fit of laughter.

Avery gaped at him in offence, knowing he was joking around but still playing along. She punched his arm while scoffing.

"Matthew, you are officially my new best friend," Avery grinned up at the boy, leaning her head on his shoulder.

Matt aggressively shrugged her head off of his shoulder and spun his head to stare at Chris wondering what he had done for her to bother him.

"Okay, well, fuck you, Matt," she rolled her eyes, playfully pushing him.

Matt grinned, blowing her a kiss before turning back to talk with Dylan who sat a seat away from him. This time, Avery leaned onto Nick.

Nick looked at her confusedly but lay his head on hers. A cold hand on Avery's neck made her jolt in fright. She slowly turned her head to see Chris almost falling to the floor in laughter.

"Ohh, funny guy alert," she spoke, keeping a straight face.

Chris gathered himself and stood patiently behind her, waiting with open arms so that she could hug him back.

"What?"

"I'm cold," he lied, keeping his arms out.

"You're cold?" Avery raised an eyebrow, gesturing to herself while being in biker shorts and a hoodie.

Chris rolled his eyes at her outfit, knowing that Zara had tried to tell Avery to wear sweatpants instead.

"So if you're cold, give me a hug," he shrugged, still not letting his slowly-beginning-to-hurt arms down.

Avery huffed but still stood up, Leaning into the boy's chest, feeling a grin form on her face as he carefully wrapped his arms around her.

A marshmallow was thrown at Chris's head and then fell onto Avery's. Both teenagers glanced up and looked around for the food throwing victim.

Nick was licking powdered sugar off of his fingers which caught Avery's attention. She skipped over to him, an overly sweet grin on her face which made Nick realize he had been caught.

"What's on your fingers, Nicolas?" Avery asked, grabbing one of his hands and dusting the sugar off of his palm.

Nick nervously laughed and licked the girl's cheek, Avery shrieked and stared at him in shock. The boy giggled, popping another marshmallow into his mouth with a toothy grin, showing off the previously chewed marshmallow.

"Ew!" Avery covered her eyes, running back to her seat and hiding her head in her hands.

Matt laughed at his triplet brother and handed a marshmallow to Avery under the table. The girl smirked, glancing over to Nick and making sure he was occupied.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Bernard," she whispered with a laugh.

"Anytime, Jade. Fuck, why do you have a nice middle name?" He groaned, running a hand down his face.

"Hey, Bernards a pretty cool one," she shrugged with a smile, trying to help with how self-conscious he was of his middle name.

Matt chuckled nodding his head, watching as Avery perfected her aim and threw the marshmallow right at Nick's nose.

"Fuck off, AJ!" Nick complained, dusting the powdered sugar off his nose.

Avery fell back in her chair with laughter, fist-bumping Matt, Dylan and Chris.

( 💐 ) MAL SPEAKS, 

chapter one already?? that's a record
for any book i've ever made. also, i'm
listening to harry's house rn (i'm not 
exactly his biggest fan) but IT'S SO
FUCKING GOOD, HELLO?????

thank you all for the support so far
and thank you jaden, maha and macy
for threatening people so i could get
'clout' LMFAOO

i hope you're all having a great day,
if not hopefully this helped! happy
friday from where i live!! (maha don't
leak my location, AGAIN)

LYRIC CHAIN:
i was nosebleedin' looking for life
out there. . .

xoxo, mal <333