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One.
Alex knows he probably isn’t supposed to be thinking about someone else when he’s on a date with his boyfriend, but he just can’t help it.
Maybe the museum date was a bad idea. Reggie had suggested it, since they had a brand new exhibit opening on modern photography, but now they’re here and all Alex can think is that Willie would probably love it.
Every piece that they pass, Alex can’t help but wonder what Willie would say, if he would like it, if he would think it was dumb or pretty or brilliant. It didn’t help that they were currently going through the modern art section, and a lot of the abstract, geometric art reminds Alex a lot of what Willie makes. He’s never actually seen them paint, but he follows their Instagram, and he’s wowed by their compositions every time.
“This one’s cool,” Reggie says, breaking him out of his thoughts. Alex hums in agreement and stares at the large painting in front of them. It’s abstract, made up of brightly colored lines and shapes, and if not for the plaque on the wall, Alex would’ve absolutely thought it was Willie’s. “It reminds me of something Willie would make.”
Alex turns to his boyfriend in surprise. “I was just thinking that!” He dithers for a moment on whether or not to say more, but Reggie’s the one who brought it up, so it must be okay, right? “This whole exhibit feels like something he’d like, honestly.”
“Yes!” Reggie agrees, eyes bright. “I bet he knows about all the artists here. He’d tell us way more than what’s on these little plaques.”
“And make it interesting,” Alex sighs. His grip tightens on Reggie’s hand when he realizes what he accidentally implied. “Not that this isn’t interesting! I’m having a good time, it’s just…” He shrugs, a little embarrassed. “Willie always makes things more fun.”
“He does,” Reggie agrees. They linger in silence for a moment, staring at the painting, Alex unsure of what to say. He doesn’t want to show his hand, doesn’t know how his boyfriend will react. Reggie’s an exceedingly kind person, but even he couldn’t possibly be happy about the prospect of his boyfriend liking someone else, could he?
No, Alex will just keep it under wraps and never act on it. He’s perfectly fine being friends with Willie, and eventually the thoughts about wanting to kiss him or hold him or touch him will go away, and that will be that. Reggie never has to know that Alex ever thought about being unfaithful — and he didn’t! Reggie is his boyfriend and his first priority, and the thought of hurting him makes Alex want to curl up and die.
“It’s… it’s okay if you like him, you know,” Reggie says into the quiet museum air, and Alex turns to his head so fast he almost gets whiplash.
“What? I don’t — I don’t like him, I like you,” he sputters, and takes Reggie’s other hand, clutching his hands tight as he turns to face him. “I love you.”
Reggie smiles, but there’s a bittersweet tinge to it that Alex can’t quite place. “I love you too,” he says, easy as breathing. “But I — it’s okay if you like him because I —” He swallows. “I like him too.”
Oh.
The idea doesn’t inspire the jealousy that Alex would have expected. Instead, it’s just an overwhelming feeling of relief that Reggie gets it, that he’s not going to be mad, that he doesn’t have to feel guilty… that he might get to have it all.
“You do?” Alex whispers. “I thought… I don’t know.” He doesn’t even want to say that he thought so little of Reggie just because he was scared of his own feelings, but like he always does, Reggie picks up on what he left unsaid.
“I could never be mad at you, Lex,” Reggie breathes, cupping Alex’s cheek. “Not when I fell for the same person.”
Alex sighs. “He’s just so…” There’s no adequate adjective, because Willie is so everything. How could Alex (and Reggie, apparently) not fall for them?
“I know.” Reggie’s smile shows that he really does get it. “Trust me, I know.”
Alex laughs, the relief so strong it’s dizzying. “Thank god, I’ve been dying with no one to talk to about it.”
“Oh my god, same,” Reggie groans. “What is it for you? For me it’s his smile. And his laugh. And his —” He breaks off in an embarrassed laugh. “Um, I mean, you go.”
“His hair,” Alex says. “And also his smile and his laugh and everything about him, but, um. Yeah.”
“They’re just so pretty,” Reggie sighs. Alex has to wonder if he’d talked about him that way before they got together. Did their friends get rambling treatises on Alex’s hair and his eyes and his dimples? He doesn’t take long to wonder about it, though, before he’s thinking about Willie again.
“He is,” Alex agrees. “But, um, before we get distracted by… all that —” Reggie blushes and looks away. “— what are we gonna… do about it? I mean, we both wanna date him, right? So are we gonna tell him? We don’t know if he likes us back, and he might not — what am I talking about, he probably doesn’t — but that’s what you’re supposed to do, isn’t it?”
“Alex.” Reggie takes both his hands, halting their anxious gesturing. “Take a deep breath.” Alex nods and copies the slow rise and fall of Reggie’s chest, his spiraling stopped for now. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, okay? We don’t have to ask them out, we don’t have to say anything if it makes you uncomfortable.”
Alex nods, a seed of uncertainty still lingering. “What about what you want?”
“What I want?” Reggie looks far too confused at that.
“We’re a team, remember?” Alex brushes a strand of hair out of his boyfriend’s face. “It’s not all about me just because I’m the one with an anxiety disorder.”
“Right.” Reggie smiles bashfully. “I mean, I would love to date him. I’d love to date both of you. But I have no idea how that would really work, or how we would tell him, or how any of that would go.”
“Me too,” Alex says. “I think we need to have a talk about it first — a long talk — and then we can maybe ask them.”
“Yeah,” Reggie agrees. “Maybe, um, after this, though? I think we’ve still got a few exhibits to get through.”
“Oh!” Alex almost forgot that they’re still fully in a museum. He looks around, hoping nobody had been around to hear their extremely personal and out loud conversation. Thankfully, nobody is in sight. This part of the museum must not be very popular on weekday afternoons. “Yeah, we can talk after this.”
“Great!” Reggie sticks out his hand and wiggles his fingers. Alex giggles at it before taking his hand. “Where to next, babe?”
Alex points through one of the doorways. “I don’t think we’ve been that way yet?”
Without further ado, Reggie takes off, Alex right beside him. They continue through the rest of their museum date with a weight off their shoulders and a new name in their mouths — once the floodgates have been unlocked, it’s like they just can’t stop talking about him. Alex doesn’t mind it, though. He’s finally safe to explore his attraction to Willie, and he’s fortunate to explore it together with his boyfriend. Sure, maybe their date would have been better if Willie was there, but they have time. Alex has never loved Reggie more.
Two.
For someone who’s usually pretty coordinated, Alex is absolutely terrible at roller skating. Reggie had chosen a roller rink for their date, and he’s by no means an expert skater (unlike some people they know), but he can at least confidently get around, unlike his boyfriend. Reggie ends up having to lead Alex around the rink by hand, keeping on the edges and going slowly so that neither of them falls over. It’s a little embarrassing, but also kind of romantic, and Alex is enjoying himself until something slams into them and brings them toppling down in a pile of knees and elbows.
“Oh god, I’m so sorry, I — Alex? Reggie?”
Alex looks up to find Willie peering down at them, surprise on their face and roller blades on their feet. “Willie?”
“Willie!” Reggie exclaims, jumping up in excitement and almost falling over when he remembers he has wheels strapped to his feet. Willie grabs his elbow and helps him stabilize himself. “I didn’t know you rollerskated!”
“Occasionally,” Willie replies. “I’m better at skateboarding, but it’s always fun to be on wheels.” He winks at them, and Alex blushes despite that not even making sense as an innuendo. Is he just weak to everything Willie does? At least he isn’t alone, judging by the look on Reggie’s face.
“Yeah,” Alex replies faintly. “Wheels are great.”
Willie cocks an eyebrow at him, still on the floor. “You need help?” He holds out a hand. Alex takes it, bracing himself to faceplant and make a fool of himself in front of both the guys he likes. Luckily, with Willie’s strong arms and Reggie darting in to steady him, he manages to get upright without falling down again. “Man, you’re new at this, aren't ya?”
“Maybe a little,” Alex sheepishly admits. “This was Reggie’s idea.”
“Good taste, Sparky,” Willie says, and Reggie’s face gets a few shades redder.
“Thanks, Willie,” he squeaks out. “Um, do you wanna — I mean, since you’re here, and we’re also here, maybe we could, uh, take a few laps? I’m sure you could show us a thing or two.”
Willie grins. “I would love to.”
And that’s how Alex ends up sandwiched between his crushes, (“For stability,” Willie had said, “Since you’re the weakest skater here.”) holding each of their hands, for at least half an hour while they skate around the rink. And when they get tired, they take Willie with them to get dinner, pulling up an extra chair to a two-person table and spending more time there than the waitstaff probably wanted them to.
Alex can’t help it, though. He wants to spend as much time possible with Willie and Reggie, so much that it’s physically painful to go their separate ways at the end of the night. They say their goodbyes out front, lit by the neon signs advertising the roller rink, and Alex discovers that Willie looks especially breathtaking when backlit by pink and teal.
It’s only when they reach the bus stop that Alex lets his guard down and lets his head thunk down on Reggie’s shoulder.
“They’re so perfect,” he groans. Reggie’s hands come up to rub his back.
“I know.”
“I wanna kiss them so bad,” he confesses. Reggie snorts a laugh, his shoulder shaking under Alex’s forehead.
“I know. Me too.” He gently takes Alex’s chin and lifts his head so they can make eye contact. “How do you feel about telling him?”
“What, soon?” Alex asks.
“Depends on what your answer is,” Reggie replies.
Alex huffs and thinks about it. He’s had more time to get used to the idea, and he really wants to know what it’s like to kiss Willie, but he can’t pretend he’s not nervous. More than nervous — he’s fucking terrified. So many things could go wrong… but then again, a little voice in his head that sounds like Reggie says, so many things could go right.
“I think…” He swallows. “I think I wanna tell him.”
Reggie grins from ear to ear, alight with happiness. “Really?”
“Really,” Alex confirms, and Reggie leans forward and kisses him. Alex doesn’t blame him. He was about to do the same thing.
“How do you wanna do it?” Reggie asks, bouncy with excitement now. “We’ll see him in a couple days at rehearsal, or we could just text him, or ask him out, like, tomorrow so we don’t have to wait? Or —”
“Slow down,” Alex says, laughing. “I don’t want to ask him at practice. Maybe before it? Or maybe after so if it goes bad we won’t ruin practice.”
“It won’t go bad,” Reggie reassures him. “Plus, if we do it after practice, I won’t be able to focus at all, and Luke will still be mad about that.”
“True,” Alex concedes. “Let’s ask him to meet us early, then.”
Reggie nods and takes out his phone, sending off a text to Willie. He gets an answer quickly, like Willie was just waiting for them to text, and a thrill goes through Alex when he realizes they might really have a chance.
“They’ll be there,” Reggie reports, the light from his phone illuminating his face. Alex can’t do anything but lean forward and kiss him for it, and Reggie reciprocates happily.
“I love you,” Alex says, resting his forehead against his boyfriend’s. “Thank you for doing this.”
“Are you kidding me?” Reggie responds. “I should be thanking you.”
“We can agree to disagree,” Alex says, and Reggie concedes with a grin.
“I can’t wait to tell him,” Reggie says.
“Me too,” Alex says. “But until then—” He kisses Reggie again. “I’ve got you to kiss.”
Reggie smiles and leans in. When the bus gets there, they have to honk the horn to break them apart. Alex has no regrets.
Three.
When Alex decided to bring his boyfriends ice skating, he thought it would be a cute, fun, easy date.
Since both of them were good at roller skating, he figured it would be a fun change of pace to bring them on the ice. Plus, it was a cute seasonal date idea. They could go to the place in the park and get hot chocolate for each other and kiss the tips of each other’s noses when they got red from the cold.
What Alex hadn’t anticipated was being the only one who could ice skate.
“Seriously?” He asked with a raised eyebrow. “You guys can skate circles around me on wheels, but now you’re falling over whenever you move?”
“We just can’t help falling for you, babe,” Willie says with a wink, and Alex, still unused to Willie blatantly flirting after a week of dating, blushes hard. “But yeah, blades are way different than wheels, Lex!”
Reggie nods vigorously. “And the ice is way more slippery.”
“Didn’t I take you ice skating a few times when we were kids?” Alex asked.
“Yeah, and I was bad at it then, too,” Reggie responds. Alex sighs.
“Well, just hold onto me, then. We can stick to the wall until you guys get the hang of it.”
Willie eagerly grabs his hand, while Reggie takes his elbow like a Victorian woman going on a walk. “Lead the way, hotdog.”
Alex leads them onto the ice with no small difficulty. There’s a few near falls, but they manage to stabilize themselves and complete a (very slow) lap around the rink with no casualties. And then, of course, as soon as they complete a full lap, one of them trips on nothing and brings all three of them tumbling down. Alex catches himself on Reggie’s knee, and begins the challenging process of helping them both up.
They manage to get back to how they were, and once Alex makes sure that no one’s injured beyond a few bruises, they set off again.
“How’d you get so good at ice skating?” Willie asks once he’s dusted the ice off his pants. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk about it before.”
“Yeah, I don’t really do it a lot anymore,” Alex explains. “My parents signed me up for lessons when I was younger, but then I had to choose between this and dance and drumming, so…”
“He still kept skating after quitting lessons, though,” Reggie adds.
Alex shrugs under their questioning gazes. “It’s nice.”
“Got any cool tricks?” Willie asks.
“Um… I’m a little rusty,” Alex starts.
“He’s definitely got some tricks,” Reggie asserts. He lets go of Alex’s hand, shoving him to the center of the rink, where the ice is clear of hapless skaters. “Come on. Show off a little.”
Alex really wasn’t lying about being rusty, but he figures that even the most basic spins will impress his boyfriends, considering they couldn’t even skate in a straight line ten minutes ago. “Alright.” He gives them a shy smile, then skates into the center, moving more confidently now that he’s not trying to manage two other people’s balance.
He skates aimlessly for a moment, thinking about what to do, then decides on a short section from a routine that he had done years ago. He’d only performed it once, but he spent so long practicing it as a kid that the motions are burned into his mind even all these years later. Plus, when he was bored, he would try to convert his figure skating routines into dance routines, which made it a lot easier to remember and practice.
He takes a deep breath, then begins the routine. It starts with some basic skating around with elegant arm motions, which he has to modify a little since he doesn’t have free reign of the rink. The first real “trick” is a spin, pulling his leg in over a few revolutions. He’s a little wobbly, but powers through it, stealing a glance at his boyfriends across the rink. Their eyes are wide as they watch him, and he sees Willie tilt their head to whisper something in Reggie’s ear that makes him blush. He makes eye contact with Reggie, and the look in his eyes spurs him on to give him a confident grin and attempt a jump.
It’s the easiest type of jump — he hadn’t been able to progress much further in his lessons before his parents took him out — and he prays he remembers enough about the proper form to land it.
He skates faster, gathering momentum, then jumps, turning as he does. He nearly doesn’t land it, but by some miracle, he manages to stabilize himself quick enough to not fall over. When he look over at Willie and Reggie, their mouths are hanging open.
He can’t lie — it’s a huge ego boost.
“Holy shit, I didn’t know you could do that,” Reggie exclaims, still awestruck.
“That was hot as hell,” Willie adds, staring at Alex with a look in their eyes that he hasn’t seen before. Alex blushes, pleased that his efforts paid off.
“Thanks.”
“I would kiss you right now, but I think I’d fall over,” Reggie confesses with an embarrassed laugh. Willie looks between Reggie and Alex.
“Fuck it,” he decides, and surges up to Alex, bringing their lips together in a passionate kiss. They get a moment of peace before gravity takes its toll on them and tips them over, Willie toppling over on top of Alex. They don’t let it stop them from kissing their boyfriend, bracing themself on Alex’s shoulders as he laughs into their mouth.
“Wills — Willie,” Alex says, pulling away from his eager lips.
“What, you got a problem with kissing me, hotdog?” Willie cocks an eyebrow like a challenge.
“No,” Alex says emphatically. “But we’re kind of making a scene.” People aren’t outright staring at them, but they are getting a few dirty looks for blocking the way.
Willie shrugs. “Who cares? Besides, it’s not a scene until Reg joins in.”
On cue, Reggie skates over. Willie holds out a hand and pulls him down with them, so they’re both on top of Alex and each other. Reggie leans in for a giggling kiss with Alex, then with Willie, barely managing to kiss properly through his giddy laughter.
“I’m so glad you said yes,” he tells Willie, painfully earnest. Willie smiles and kisses him again.
“There’s no way I could say anything else,” he responds.
“I’m also really happy you wanted to date us,” Alex adds with a wheeze. “But you guys are kind of crushing me right now.”
“Oh!” As one, his boyfriends scramble off of him, narrowly avoiding scraping someone with their skates. Alex gets up, then helps them get up. They’re getting better at that, he notices. Practice makes perfect.
“I think I’ve had enough falling over for now,” Alex says wryly. “How about we get some hot chocolate?”
Reggie’s eyes light up, like he was just waiting for Alex to suggest it. “Ooh, yes! I hope they have those little marshmallows.”
“I hope they have the big marshmallows,” Willie counters as they make their way off the ice to the concessions stand.
“What? But with the little marshmallows you get more marshmallows!”
Alex listens fondly as they devolve into an argument on the merits of marshmallows in hot chocolate — he’s a whipped cream guy himself, which they can all agree is pretty good.
As they squeeze onto one bench and sip their hot chocolates, Alex takes a moment to appreciate where they are. He’s on a date with his boyfriends — his first date with both of them — and it’s gone just about as well as he’d hoped. The fairy lights strung through the trees shed a soft light on all three of them, and Reggie’s hot chocolate mustache is cuter than it has any right being, especially when Willie tries to kiss it off. It fills him with a feeling of contentment, of yes, he chose right.
He can only hope that their dates will keep being this perfect.
Four.
“Run!”
Willie’s voice echoes through the alleyway, Alex and Reggie close on his tail. When Willie had said they were going on a graffiti tour of the city, Alex had kind of thought they were going to be viewing graffiti, not making it, but one thing led to another, and now they were being chased through the streets of LA because someone had called the cops on them.
“Where are we going?” Alex pants. He’s really not in shape enough for this much running, and from how hard he’s breathing, neither is Reggie.
“Over here!” Willie turns down a side street, darting into the covered entryway of a rundown building. “Come on,” he mutters to himself, jiggling the door handle until it gives way. He ushers his boyfriends in, then quickly closes the door. They listen with bated breaths for the heavy footsteps to pass by the building. Looks like they hid just in time. “We’re safe,” Willie whispers once a few minutes have gone by.
Alex sags in relief, leaning against the wall as all the energy leaves his body. “Oh my god,” he sighs. “I love you, but can we not get chased by the cops next time we go on a date?”
Willie laughs a little hysterically. “Just think of it as practice for paintball next weekend!”
“Isn’t it laser tag?” Reggie asks.
Willie shrugs. “We can make it a double feature.”
Alex takes the opportunity to examine the room they’re in now. It’s clearly in disuse, the paint on the walls peeling and some cobwebs in the corners of the room. “Where are we?”
“Oh,” Willie says. “I’m not actually sure? I discovered this building a few years ago, I think maybe it used to be an office? But no one’s used it for a while, which means that I get to see the best part. And now you do, too.”
“What’s the best part?” Reggie asks.
Willie grins. “Follow me.” He leads them up the stairs, and up another flight of stairs, and then jiggles — or picks? — the lock to a door at the top. “Behold…” He swings the door open. “The best view this side of LA.”
Through the door is the rooftop, flat and typical of a boring office building, except for one thing: it’s covered in graffiti. Almost every available surface has been painted and repainted with colorful, abstract designs — a style that Alex recognizes.
“You… you painted all of this?” He asks Willie, who looks almost bashful now.
“Yep,” they confirm. “It’s a pretty good place to practice.”
Reggie tentatively leads the way outside, examining the artwork beneath his feet. “This is amazing, Willie,” he breathes. “Thank you for showing us.”
“Of course, Sparky,” Willie says. “Anytime.”
He lets Reggie and Alex roam the rooftop for a little while more, answering any questions they have about his art, until the sky starts to turn orange. “It’s time!”
“Time for what?” Alex asks, bemused, but Willie doesn’t answer, just waves them over to the edge. There, they have a perfect view of the sun setting over the city, the clouds turning pink over the horizon.
“Woah,” Reggie breathes.
“Right?” Willie answers. “It’s beautiful.”
They sit down, Alex and Reggie on either side of Willie, legs hanging over the edge of the building. If there wasn’t a railing, Alex would be demanding that they get back immediately, but like this, they can rest their arms on the railing and not have to worry about it.
Alex curls an arm around Willie’s waist, looking over to find Reggie’s head on their shoulder and their dark hair mixing together. He smiles to himself, placing a kiss on Willie’s cheek, then settles in to watch the sunset with his boyfriends.
Maybe the night started with a lot more chaos than he’s comfortable with, but when it ends with peace like this… What’s there to complain about?
+ One.
“Alright. Okay. Yeah, I — I’ll see you later, then.” Alex sighs as he hangs up the phone.
“What was that about?” Reggie asks, tie hanging loose around his neck. He’s all dressed up for their planned group date night with their friends: dinner at a fancy restaurant, then a night of dancing.
“That was Julie calling to cancel on us,” Alex tells him. Willie pokes their head out of their room, shirt half-buttoned.
“Julie cancelled on us?”
“Yeah, apparently Luke is coming down with something, and she thinks she and Bobby might be infected, so she doesn’t want to spread it. She offered to take care of pushing back the reservation and everything, though.”
“That was nice of her,” Willie says.
“I hope they’re all feeling okay,” Reggie says, a worried look on his face. “Do you think we should bring them soup or medicine or something?”
“She said they’re just gonna have a quiet night in,” Alex reports. “And bringing them supplies would probably defeat the point of not infecting us.”
Reggie’s face falls. “Oh, right.”
“Well, since our plans are suddenly cancelled, why don’t we do the same?” Willie suggests, coming out into the hallway for the conversation. “A quiet night in sounds nice.”
“We have been busy recently,” Alex concedes.
“We could watch something?” Reggie proposes hopefully.
“Star Wars?” Willie guesses wryly.
“Actually, I was gonna say the new Star Wars show, but hey, if you want to watch the movies, I’m not gonna stop you,” Reggie says, the picture of innocence shattered when Willie lunges forward to tickle him. “Hey!”
“Alright, alright, no horseplay in fancy clothes,” Alex reminds them, putting their roughhousing to a stop.
“I guess we should change out of them anyway if we’re staying home,” Willie sighs, looking down at himself. Honestly, Alex is kind of bummed about that, because he’d been enjoying the eye candy — after all, it’s not like he gets to see them all dressed up that often — but the sight of his boyfriends all comfy-cozy in their pajamas is a worthy replacement.
“I call dibs on the hoodie!” Reggie shouts, making a beeline to their bedroom.
“Hey, not fair! You got it last night too!” Willie yells, barreling down after him. Alex just chuckles, following at a leisurely pace. The way his boyfriends fight over custody of his hoodie is endearing, especially considering it always ends with one of them bundled up in it, which is a win either way. Sure, he doesn’t really get to wear it that much anymore, but that’s the price you pay when you acquire two clothes-stealing boyfriends. Alex doesn’t mind it.
Reggie ends up winning the hoodie for the night, Willie placated with Reggie’s comfiest red flannel pants, and Alex takes one of Willie’s sweaters. It’s only once they’re all changed and ready to watch their show when they realize that oh yeah, dinner was a part of their cancelled plans too.
Reggie, the de facto cook, volunteers to make an impromptu soup for them, just combining the ingredients they have in the house, since he was planning on making soup later in the week anyway. He starts boiling the water and putting ingredients in while Alex and Willie goof around and watch.
“You guys mind if I put on some music?” Reggie asks.
“Go for it,” Alex says. Reggie grins and connects his phone to the Bluetooth speaker, some soft acoustic tune beginning to play.
Alex nods his head along, familiar at this point with Reggie’s seemingly endless library of acoustic folk pop, and content to listen to it as the kitchen fills up with the savory smell of ingredients.
They sit there in a comfortable silence, just listening to the music, until the song changes to a faster one with more of a beat. Willie hops up from where he was leaning against the counter and holds a hand out to Alex.
“C’mon, hotdog.” His eyes sparkle in the fluorescent light, and Alex takes his hand. Willie immediately swings him into his arms, their feet in perfect time together. Alex hasn’t had much chance to dance with his boyfriend, but he really should make more time for it. It’s refreshing to dance with someone who knows what they’re doing, someone who makes Alex feel like he’s the one trying to keep up. Willie has always been exhilarating in everything they do.
The song changes to one even more danceable, and Alex lets Willie tango him across their tiny kitchen, nearly bumping into Reggie a few times. The song ends slow, and they end up right behind their boyfriend. He leans back into them, craning his neck for a kiss, and they land a peck on each of his cheeks.
“Come dance with us,” Willie says, cheeks flushed with exertion. Reggie looks back at the stove.
“I’ve still gotta cook this for a bit,” Reggie says regretfully. “Gimme one more song, and then I’ll join you.”
Willie pouts, but lets Reggie go. “Fine.”
The song passes quickly, another mid-tempo pop tune, and it feels like no time at all when Reggie drapes himself over Alex’s back. “Hey,” he says into Alex’s ear.
Alex leans their heads together briefly before turning around to face him. “Hey, Reg.”
“Glad you could join us,” Willie adds, now practically giving Alex a bear hug from behind.
“Who am I to pass up on dancing with my lovely boyfriends?” Reggie says with a twinkle in his eye. His hands slip around Alex’s waist, meeting Willie’s hands halfway, while Alex rests his arms on Reggie’s shoulders.
Alex just hums in response, closing his eyes and letting his body fill with music as they sway to the gentle rhythm. They slow dance in their cramped kitchen, barely moving but content.
By all accounts, Alex, being the tallest, is the most impractical one to be in the middle when slow dancing. But Willie and Reggie are the perfect heights to kiss over his shoulder, so no one’s complaining about it.
Once his boyfriends separate, Alex rests his forehead against Reggie’s, a smile gracing his lips at the intimacy of the simple action.
They let the song pass, the quiet guitar fading out, only for another similar guitar to fade in.
“I might have put on this whole album,” Reggie confesses.
“It’s good,” Alex says.
“Just right,” Willie confirms, and yes, that’s it. It’s just right for them right now, feeling slow and languid and comfortable.
He basks in the moment — the lights dim, the air fragrant, the mood warm. He feels happy. He feels content. He feels at home.
Maybe Julie cancelling on them was a blessing in disguise. After all, going out can be fun, but nothing beats a quiet night in.