Younger Siblings And Repossession

The Third Time

A hoodie. A large, dark blue hoodie with fluff on the inside that was black and thick. That had been the third thing that Noah had lovingly removed from his brother's possession.

Noah had been barely fifteen whilst Ian had been twenty-one. Noah didn't know where Ian got the hoodie from or why he had bought it, all he cared about was that Ian never used it.

Not in chilly autumn, biting winter or even in the colder days of spring; not once did Noah see his brother wear that lovely article of clothing. All it did was rot in that man's closet like the set of old curtains in the attic. It was sad seeing such it go to waste.

Noah didn't own a lot of hoodies but the ones he did, he wore regularly. Anytime he felt ill or burnt out, he'd pull out one of his hoodies and let it envelope him. It felt nice to wear something that felt so heavy - almost like it would protect Noah from the harsh reality that was bad days.

But the best thing about hoodies? The best thing was that they had lots of excess material around the neck (enough to hide his collar; hide his nervous heart rate, hide his upset, hide that he was sickly and frail compared to everyone - compared to Ian). Hoodies were undeniably one of the best forms of clothing and Ian had one wasting away in the back of a dark closet.

So Noah, for the third time in his life, decided to once again take something of Ian's. Waste not, want not, after all.

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Taking it was easy; easier than the fountain pen and definitely easier than the hair-gel.

All Noah had to do was go into Ian's room, open the closet and grab the hoodie. The most difficult part of it all was not choking on the almost lethal amount of dust in Ian's closet, it was almost as though everything had gained a second furry skin. Gross and to put it lightly, a slight threat to Noah's health. (The collar around his neck had beeped and glowed a steady yellow for a moment. Only for a moment, though.)

In short, Noah had obtained the hoodie! He had quickly scurried back to his own room to inspect it.

It was a bit dusty for sure but that was nothing a good wash couldn't fix. The fur that lined its inner side was as soft and fine as it looked and the outside was an almost velvet texture. Noah dusted it off as well as he could before deciding to try it on.

It was big. So big it covered Noah's hands with ease, reaching down to his mid-thighs. The neckline, like expected, covered his collar. In other words, it was perfect.

Noah couldn't wait to wear it at every opportunity.

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Noah had put it in the wash with some of his other clothes. He had been waiting for it to finish its cycle in the washing machine and had completely missed the fact that his father had headed into the laundry room.

When Noah heard the ding of the machine, he went to check on his lot of clothes. To his mounting horror, Seth Collins had taken it upon himself to empty the machine out on Noah's behalf.

"Dad, I can do myself, it's okay," Noah went over to his father's side, hands up in an almost surrendering gesture.

"Don't worry, I needed to used the machine anyways. Helping you put is no problem," Seth smiled at his son and ruffled his hair. He continued pulling things out of the machine.

"Really, there's no need-"

"Noah, it's alright. I don't mind helping," Seth continued.

A polo shirt got put into the basket.

Then a light jacket.

And then, to Noah's dismay, Seth picked up the hoodie. For a moment, it looked like Seth would simply puy it in the basket with all of Noah's other things - for a moment, Noah dared to breath - and then-

"Huh. This is a bit large for you?" Seth checked the tag. There, in a scrawled writing that Noah had completely missed, was Ian's name. "How did one of Ian's things get in with yours? I'll have to return it afterw-"

"No! It's mine," Noah had said. It didn't matter that Ian's name was on it, he didn't wear it or love it like Noah would. Noah wouldn't leaving it rotting in an attic or cupboard or closet. It may have once been Ian's but that didn't matter. It had been Noah's from the moment he had removed it from Ian's closet.

"Noah? This has Ian's name on it," Seth looked at Noah curiously.

"So does the living room table but that doesn't mean he owns it," Noah had grumbled. Ian had carved his name into the living room table three years ago for a reason nobody could figure out - it had been a very strange situation because for once, Seth Collins had been too confused to scold Ian and instead had just asked, bewildered, 'Why, Ian? What reason does this possibly have?'.

"So, he put his name on one of your things, Noah?"

...

"No..." Noah had looked down, fully expecting to be made to return the hoodie.

"Does Ian wear this hoodie?"

"No?"

"Would he miss it?"

"It's been rotting in his closet for longer than it's been out of it. I sincerely don't Ian would realise it was missing."

"Okay then," strangely enough, Seth handed the hoodie to Noah. Noah blinked up at his father. "I've taken all of your things out of the wash. You should take them upstairs now."

Beaming, Noah nodded. Because if Seth was handing the hoodie back and saying that all of Noah's stuff was to be taken upstairs then that meant that Noah would get to keep the hoodie.

He had gone upstairs with his clothes, hoodie included, extremely happily.
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Noah would wear that hoodie for years. Because of it's large size, he was able to wear it even after having finally hitting his last growth spurt which he had been ecstatic about.

It would be the same hoodie he wore when pulling all nighters looking after a baby Neo; a hoodie that would survive said baby's spit up, fat toddler hands and numerous incidents with paint after Neo was old enough to understand to not eat it.

It would be the same hoodie he wore while reading Neo's parentage report...