Archive of Our Own ^beta

Sin had thought they were only joking when they mentioned it. Well, when Thea mentioned it. Roy had been sitting stock still on his side of the sofa from the get-go, blushing like a little schoolboy. Like he ever went to school. And seriously, Sin should be the one blushing here. Okay, she was, but only because she didn't expect this to happen. Surely Thea had given Roy a heads-up about the whole deal, right?

"Umm... would anyone care to tell me what the hell's going on here?"

Thea was entirely too close; if Sin turned her head just slightly, their noses would bump against each other. There was no denying the intoxication in the other girl's eyes, a gleam that wasn't just the result of the zombie Thea must have exed to steady her nerves. At least, Sin thought it was a zombie she tasted on Thea's lips. Which wasn't even the point here. The point was that Thea had kissed her full on the lips without being the least bit embarrassed about it.

Roy, at least, seemed to have the decency to feel embarrassed for the both of them. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"I told you," Thea confided in a conspiratorial whisper, as if they were the only two people in the world. If Sin hadn't been sitting down, she would have melted right into the floor, because right now, her knees were pudding.

"Yeah, but see, that's what I don't get."

"What's there not to get?" Thea shifted closer. She was having entirely too much fun with this. Probably thinks she can get away with everything just 'cause she's rich. "You want me. And I'm here offering myself to you."

Before Sin allowed herself to be lulled even further by Thea's words and her proximity and – oh God – the invitation in her eyes, Sin shifted her attention to Roy, who was still just sitting there, staring at them with bug-eyed disbelief.

"Have anything to add to that, Abercrombie?"

Roy's gaze flitted from Sin to Thea and back again, before he shook his head. And swallowed audibly. Great. He was just waiting for it happen, wasn't he? Sin let her head fall back against the sofa. Figures. This was probably some lesbian fantasy for him.

They must have noticed Sin's not-so-subtle crush on Thea, or how she'd look away whenever they were touching or worse, when she caught them making out like nobody else existed but the two of them. That was, until they noticed that Sin was nearby and started putting on a show, before acknowledging her presence and acting all decent again. They were trying to put her into an early grave, Sin was sure of it.

But when Thea kissed her again, Sin decided to hell with it. This might be too good to be true, but Sin wouldn't pass it up for the world. She slid one hand into Thea's hair and the other around her waist. God, but she felt perfect. A few kisses that the both of them had authorized shouldn't be a bad thing. And if she could get away with a bit of groping, well, all the better.

That was pretty much how it started, no prelude, no easing into it, no Dating a Couple 101. And certainly no negotiating of boundaries – Thea said it was All Fine, that they could talk everything over and didn't have to rush things. Never mind that they rushed things quite a bit when they sprung the whole deal on Sin. But she was reticent on the matter, more curious to see where it'd all lead than to talk about her own awkwardness in the matter. Talking about feelings never did come easy. But Sin could have done with a few more guidelines, because suddenly being alone with Roy on their vigilante business became increasingly difficult to handle.

"You okay with this?" she asked when she could no longer keep it to herself. So yeah, her crush on Thea had grown exponentially since they started this... whatever this was, but she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that she was essentially cheating Roy out of his girlfriend.

"Are you?" Roy asked in return.

"I, uh..."

"Look, Thea and I talked about this. We both don't want you to think you don't belong with us. She noticed how hard you were trying to act like my relationship with her doesn't affect you at all."

"Goddamn it, I'm not your freakin' charity case."

"That's not what this is about, Sin. We want you with us. And we thought it'd be the same for you."

"Well, yeah sure, but—"

Here, Roy did the unthinkable: he shut her up. Grabbing her shoulders and pulling her close, he kissed her. The way Thea did that first time. And Sin let him.

After the night Sara saved her, Sin wouldn't have dreamed of ever letting a guy this close again. And yet, here she was, and it was fine. Because she trusted Roy.

"It's not just Thea, you know," Roy said and pressed their foreheads together.

Sin was known to have a smart mouth and a quip for everything. But for once, she was at a loss for words. What the hell was happening? Were those two really this determined to destroy her? Roy's confession actually made something inside her twinge. It was painful. But for some reason it was exactly what she needed to hear. She threw her arms around him and squeezed him tight.

"You're all just crazy," she murmured.

Although Sin was initially a bit wary about this whole relationship business, she soon began to enjoy the perks of this relationship: stealing kisses from Thea while Roy was out picking up dinner, or simply watching them make out without pretending to be looking elsewhere. But the best thing was that she no longer had to feel quite so guilty about keeping Roy's secret from Thea. In the beginning, Sin had imagined her to be the jealous type who might suspect Sin of trying to get between her and Roy. Now that Sin no longer needed to worry about skirting around the reasons why she was on nightly excursions with Roy, she felt a lot better in Thea's presence.

One day, she hoped to get Roy to open up to Thea about his secret identity, but until then, she was glad they no longer had to avoid being seen together.