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Joe was fine. Really, he was. He wasn’t upset, or anxious at all.
Except he totally was. For some reason his OCD had spiked up again, worse than usual, and his back ached. It didn’t help that they had done yet another interview where he and Andy were ignored.
He knew that Pete and Patrick didn’t mean to take the attention, but, well. It still hurt, even if he was used to it.
When he got on the bus, Andy close behind on his heels, he just wanted to sleep, for weeks, hopefully. But as soon as he tried to go back to the bunks, Andy grabbed his wrist, and turned him around.
“Hey,” he said softly. “You okay? You seem stressed.”
Joe rolled his shoulders back, and shrugged. “Guess I am. I dunno. I was planning on sleeping it off.”
Andy nodded, but didn’t let go of his wrist, looking hesitant, if not a bit thoughtful. “Well, you can, if you want. I just figured that maybe you’d want to scene.”
Joe grimaced, and shook his head. “Sorry, dude, I’m really not feeling it right now. My back aches like a bitch, and I’m not feeling up to anything.”
Andy blinked, and shook his head as well. “No, no, nothing sexual. I just meant--the collar usually helps, right? And then we could lay on the couch, or bed, and I could pet your hair, if that’s what you want. We don’t have to though, obviously.”
Joe hesitated for one, long moment. “I--I’d like that, yeah. As long as I don’t have to get on my knees, I mean. Like I said, my back hurts.”
Andy nodded, and finally released Joe’s wrist. “Right. You go get into something more comfortable, and I’ll grab the collar.”
Joe stretched and nodded, turning back around to go into the bunks, where he undressed quickly and changed into a pair of sweatpants and a long, baggy shirt. When he gets back out to the front lounge Andy’s waiting for him on the couch, on his phone.
“Hey,” Joe said quietly, padding out to sit down gingerly next to Andy.
Andy smiled at him, finished his text, and turned his phone off, setting it aside. “Hey,” he echoed back. “Where do you want to do this?”
Joe squirmed, to get comfortable, and laid out on the couch, head in Andy’s lap. “Here is good.”
Andy laughed quietly and moved to give Joe more room to spread out, before he grabbed the collar off the coffee table, and, when Joe tilted his head to expose his neck, Andy wrapped it carefully around his neck and clicked it shut.
Just the sound made Joe sigh, and he closed his eyes, as Andy smiled down at him and sat back, petting Joe’s hair gently. After a moment Andy tugged softly on his hair. “Hey,” he said quietly. “Do you care if Pete and Patrick come over? They heard you weren’t feeling well.”
Joe hummed, and finally shook his head. “Don’t care if they do. They better not expect me to entertain them though, I’m tired.”
Andy nodded, and using his free hand he grabbed his phone and typed in a message to Pete, and when he received a reply he set his phone down again. “They’ll be over soon.”
Joe didn’t reply, just squirmed a little more, until Andy resumed petting his hair. It was silent for some time, until the bus’ door opened and Pete and Patrick came in, shutting and locking it behind them.
Patrick, who was wearing his Batman pajama pants and what appeared to be one of Pete’s old shirts, immediately took the floor next to Joe, as Pete rolled his eyes and grabbed Joe’s legs, so he could set down and situate them in his lap.
In response, Joe kicked out at him, and mumbled something indistinct. It made Pete laugh quietly, even as he started rubbing Joe’s calves under his sweatpants.
“Hey,” Patrick whispered to Joe. “You okay? I’m sorry you had such a bad day.”
Joe dropped his hand off the couch blindly, and touched Patrick’s cheek. “S’okay. You didn’t know it would happen, and I didn’t either.”
“Yeah, but--”
Joe squirmed so he could look down at Patrick, and put his hand over his mouth. “Shh. Quiet time. No apologies necessary. Quiet time cuddles now.”
Pete snickered, before quieting. “We really should do this, next hotel night. The couch and bunks are way too small for this--even if we are all tiny.”
Joe flipped him off lazily. “Fuck you, ‘m not tiny. I’m taller than all of you.”
“Still younger though, junior. And you seem to be forgetting that you slept in a dog cage once; you’re totally small enough to fit in the bunks.”
“Now boys,” Andy said, rolling his eyes. “What did Joe just say about quiet time?”
They both quieted, and there was silence for a few long minutes. It was a comfortable one though, with Patrick leaning against Andy’s legs so he could reach up and pet Joe’s hair as well.
“I don’t understand why you had to cut your hair,” Patrick said after a moment. “I mean, sure, it’s still soft, but it’s harder to pet your hair this way.”
Joe didn’t bother to open his eyes, just yawned and dropped his head back in Andy’s lap, leaning into both of their hands. “I did it just to spite you. Plus my hair was getting unruly again, and I wasn’t feeling the purple anymore.”
Pete wrapped his hand around Joe’s ankle, and squeezed. “You’re forgetting the worst part of it though ‘Trick-- we can’t tug on his hair when it’s that short.”
“Oh, damn,” Joe said around a yawn, and he leaned further into Patrick and Andy’s hands. “Guess that means you can’t haul me around by it anymore.”
“Or fuck your mouth,” Pete muttered under his breath, and without looking Patrick smacked his thigh.
“Shut up Pete, or you’re getting kicked out,” Patrick warned, and Pete obediently went quiet, rubbing Joe’s foot absently.
It felt nice, and Joe went lax in their touches, eyes closed and breath evening out, and when he finally appeared to be asleep, Andy nudged Patrick with his foot.
“Alright,” he whispered, “get up, let’s take this party back to the bunks.”
Patrick mumbled something, too quiet to hear, and Pete carefully removed Joe’s legs from his lap and stood with a groan. “I’ll pick Patrick up if you pick up Joe?”
Andy nodded, and carefully slid out from under Joe, and let Pete pick Patrick up, before he picked Joe up as well.
“Thank god for the big bed in the back, even if we don’t use it,” Andy said, and Pete nodded in agreement, motioning for Andy to enter first, which he did, and he set Joe down carefully, as Pete came in and set Patrick down.
Andy made sure to use the pillows to cushion Joe's back properly, as Pete shrugged off his shirt, and when he had finished Andy did the same, even as Joe and Patrick curled up together subconsciously on the bed and without even thinking about it Andy took Joe's side, and Pete took Patrick's, laying his hand across Patrick's chest so he could touch Joe as Andy did the same across Joe.
It was admittedly a tight squeeze on the bed, but neither Andy nor Pete minded, and they doubted the two sleeping minded either.
"'Least this way Patrick can't hog the blankets," Andy whispered, and Pete snorted, nodding in agreement.
They got quiet, closing their eyes as they reached out and held each other's hands over Joe and Patrick, and after that it was easy to drift off, with the younger two squished between them, Joe looking much better than before--younger than his years, and relaxed in sleep, as Patrick--what they could see of him that wasn't curled into Joe, anyways--looked the same.