Chapter Text
After an exhausting week, Saturday finally rolled around. Michael was dashing around your shared apartment, making sure everything was perfect. It was honestly cute seeing him so nervous, the kind of nervous that hadn't been present since you started dating, but it felt almost dystopian to see your home so neat .
You decided to put a stop to the carnage after Michael’s fifth time adjusting the couch cushions.
“Michael, don’t you think you’re… overreacting a bit?” You put your hands on his shoulders to stop his fidgeting.
Michael looked at you confused, brows furrowed.
Had he really not noticed all… that …?
He looked around, evidently noticing how different your apartment looked. A sheepish smile played on his lips as he looked back at you.
Michaels lets out a small laugh, “...sorry”
You smile and start rubbing his shoulders, “it’s okay, you’re just nervous.” Michael looks away at that, embarrassed to be called out. “However, I’d like our apartment to not look sterilized.”
Michael actually laughs at that, “yeah… I may have gone a bit overboard..”
The two of you spend a few minutes making things look neatly disorganized. You shove the pillows around, switch the places of your nicknacks, place some random shit on the coffee table, etc. You move things around just enough to make the place look lived in. You didn’t want Jeremy to see your apartment for the first time when it looked like an unbearable family lived there. One which can’t let a speck of dirt come into contact with their carpets.
Clearly, the re-disorganizing helped calm Michael’s nerves. His shoulders relaxed while he messed around with all the little nicknacks on your shelves.
However, the doorbell rang as soon as the two of you finished.
Michael tensed up once again, looking at you with wide eyes.
You roll your own eyes, motioning for him to open the door.
Michael softly walks up to the door, taking a deep breath and pausing. After collecting himself, he grabbed the nob and opened it.
Jeremy stood there, a bright smile on his face. He hugged Michael first, gripping him tight. Jeremy pulls away, looking into Michael’s eyes, “Jesus, I feel like I haven’t seen you in years!”
Michael laughed, face only slightly red, “As if we didn’t see each other, like, a week ago.”
“Whatever, Afton, just admit you missed me,” Jeremy’s voice lowered just a bit, sounding smoother than it had before. He leaned in, a teasing smirk on his face.
It was like you could see the exact moment Michael’s brain stopped working, his eyes went wide and all that came out of his mouth was stuttering.
Michael quickly turned to you, gesturing wordlessly to try to shift Jeremy’s attention elsewhere. Luckily it worked, when Jeremy finally noticed he smiled once again. Jeremy made his way over to you, laying a hand on your shoulder.
“And it is quite wonderful to see you again as well,” Jeremy exaggerated his words, voice taking on a snobbish tone with a playful grin taking over his face.
You shook your head, laughing softly, “yeah yeah, it’s good to see you too, Jeremy.”
Admittedly, it was a bit awkward at first. Nobody was quite sure what to do. Despite it being Jeremy’s idea to hang out, he hadn’t actually thought about what to do while at your apartment.
The three of you milled about in the kitchen. Jeremy and you taking a seat at the table while Michael leaned on the counter. He had crossed his arms along his chest. You managed to pull your eyes away in order to see Jeremy staring quite… intently … at Michael’s arms.
In your head you were freaking out, but on the outside you feigned ignorance. This really could work… You were honestly surprised neither of them had realized their feelings were mutual. It wasn’t like either of them were being subtle, what with Michael’s face going bright red every time Jeremy looked at him and Jeremy himself looking like he was seconds away from jumping Michael’s bones. At. All. Times.
Michael had started to talk about an interaction he had at work that week. Some woman came in demanding to see the manager because apparently her pizza looked weird. She had been going on and on about them reusing pizza slices or something? It was weird.
You had already heard this story but Jeremy seemed pretty interested. As it turned out, Jeremy was very expressive. He made a face at almost every part. It was… kind of cute. You could admit that Michael had good taste (of course, he was dating you after all). Jeremy was clearly an attractive guy, there was no doubting that. Not only that but he had personality . That was always a plus.
Hold on… Maybe you were thinking about Jeremy too much. You hardly knew the guy! But there was nothing wrong with just… reviewing… who he was… as a person..? That sounded weird.
The thing was, Jeremy was a good guy. Of course, that wasn’t rare but he was a guy you could see yourself getting close with. In the past, there had been a disconnect between you and your partners’ friends. But you couldn’t sense anything like that with Jeremy. He was approachable, kind. He seemed to actually want to get to know you, instead of putting up with you in order to hang out with Michael.
It was… a nice change of pace.
At some point, the three of you ended up in the living room. You were all on the couch, Michael in the middle with you and Jeremy on either side of him.
It was getting late, the world becoming quiet. You laid your head on Michael’s shoulder, suddenly feeling too tired to keep yourself up.
The conversation had slowly come to a stop. No matter how talkative Jeremy was, there was a point in time when even he fell silent.
Michael had closed his eyes, long lashes fanning out over his cheeks. You could feel his heart, it was beating hard. From your position you could see Michael and Jeremy’s hands, they were so close. One move and they’d be touching, and you knew Michael wanted it to happen. His fingers were tapping, he was restless and restraining himself from moving.
You (innocently, of course), moved to get more comfortable. However , it seemed that you moved too suddenly. You shoved Michael to the side, causing him and Jeremy to touch (Oh no! How unfortunate ).
Out of shock, Michael grabbed onto Jeremy’s hand.
There was a moment, one moment where everything just paused. Michael was slightly shaking, fingers twitching around Jeremy’s. Jeremy stilled completely.
It all ended far too quickly. Jeremy jerked away, hesitantly. He continued moving, shuffling a small distance away and looking anxiously at the clock.
“Damn, uhm, it’s.. uh.. it’s getting kinda late..” Jeremy chuckled awkwardly, rubbing his hands together. He was red in the face and looked uncomfortable.
You moved off of Michael’s shoulder, grabbing his hand in the process. Michael didn’t meet your eye, staring ahead with a regretful look.
You decided to speak up, “You can stay for the night… We won’t mind,” Jeremy looked at you, surprised. He hesitated, confused.
“Oh… No that’s okay, I’ll be fine,” Jeremy gave you a small smile, “I’ll just get going.”
He made his way to the door, grabbing the handle and looking back. Michael had turned to watch him go, the two of them meeting eyes.
Jeremy quickly averted his gaze, looking down. He uttered a soft goodbye and left.
The mood he left behind was despondent. Michael looked close to tears.
“Hey… he probably just got the wrong idea, Michael. I mean, what is he supposed to think? We’re already a couple, y’know…?”
He nodded, shutting his tight. You sighed and stood up, pulling Michael along with you.
He went willingly, still refusing to look at you.
Once you laid down in your bed, Michael was right at your side. He got as close as possible, even then it seemed as though he couldn’t get close enough.
It was quiet for a while, the silence only broke by Michael’s occasional sniffling.
You had almost fallen asleep when Michael spoke up, quietly, “do you think…”
You opened your eyes, angling your head the best you could to look down at Michael, “do i think what..?”
Michael moved away an inch, glancing at you.
“Do you think… he hates me..?”
Oh fuck “Michael, why would he hate you?”
He shrugged, hiding his face between you and the pillow.
This wasn’t what you wanted, you could admit it was your fault. You hadn’t thought about what Jeremy might think of the situation.
“Hey,” you waited until Michael lifted his face to look at you, “I’m sure we just spooked him.. too much too soon, y’know?”
Michael nodded slightly, looking a bit skeptical.
“I’m sorry I pushed you into him.” You looked away, ashamed, “I got excited and I just… wanted you to be happy..”
Michael started shaking his head slightly, “no, it’s okay. It’s not your fault,”
You smiled warmly at him, you didn’t believe him but didn’t refute.
“He doesn’t hate you, okay? You can call him tomorrow and sort everything out.”
Michael sighed, laying on you once more.
“…okay..”