dysfunctional-college-roommates:

magnus-and-the-dragon:

Okay but Nicky is such a fascinating character

Like honest-to-God one of the most amazing to me

Because everyone likes to treat him as comic relief and such? Which I mean you’re not wrong he is a spot of sunshine in this mess of a family

But think about teenage Nicky, coming so very close to the edge and traveling halfway across the world just to be pulled back

Nicky who has finally come to terms with his sexuality, managed his depression, is happy with a fiancee and a future

Who decides, on the spur of the moment, to drop all of that to come back and look after the twins

There’s nothing to suggest he and Aaron were ever close

He doesn’t even know Andrew

Its not even like they don’t have anyone else, his parents COULD take them in, and he’s practically a kid himself no one could be expecting him to take responsibility for a pair of traumatized teenagers

But he wants to protect these two boys, even though he’s just a little older than they are, even though it means putting his own life on hold

He leaves his fiancee and his world that HE made for himself and HE fought for, fought back from the edge for

To come back to the place that almost killed him, to work stupid waiting and bartending jobs, just so he can take care of his cousins who seem like they couldn’t care less

And he never reacts. He never guilts them or acts as though they owe him something. Andrew attacks him on a regular basis and Aaron treats him like he’s some stupid pet and he still stays and fights for them

Yes Nicky is funny and light and a spot of sunshine in this mess of a family

But he is also so good and loyal and selfless and has so much more /depth/ than you would think

And I just. I need more people talking about this please.

What about the fact that Nicky refuses to give up on family? He keeps trying, and trying, and believing that Andrew and Aaron can make up and be a family and that he can be part of it, even though he showed up during what must have been the worst of their relationship. But he never gives up, and he latches onto any hope that he can.

And he doesn’t give up on his parents, either – not for years. He knows that they don’t accept him, but he never gives up hope. He never stops thinking, maybe this will be the time. Maybe this time, they’ll understand me for who I am.

That is, he doesn’t give up until his parents do the unthinkable and actually facilitate physical harm instead of only psychological. But the amazing thing about Nicky? He still doesn’t give up on family. He chooses instead to follow his own advice, and define his family not by his blood, but by who he can rely on – those he chooses to stand by, and those who choose to stand by him.

Erik. The Foxes. That is his family, and he is never giving up on them.