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Arin loved Starbomb with all his heart, but holy shit were the concerts exhausting. It settled deep in his bones, hitting him full force when the adrenaline rush of being on stage wore off. He barely had enough energy to change out of his costume. Dan and Brian practically dragged him to the car and shoved him in the back seat before he had the opportunity to just pass out.
The gentle motions of the ride to the hotel lulled him into a half-sleep. He was vaguely aware of a gentle stop and the murmurs of a hushed conversation, but he kept his eyes stubbornly closed to milk out as much rest as he could. One door opened and shut, punctuating the silence that followed.
“Hey, Arin?” Dan softly called out. “Brian’s going to get the keys for our rooms, so you gotta get up, okay?”
“Fuck,” Arin groaned, because he just wanted to stay in the blissful half-sleepiness that allowed him just enough control over his mind to dream about whatever he wanted. Dan’s smile when he talks about his favorite bands and their influences on him. Brian’s eyes and how they lit up when he rambled on about physics stuff that Arin had to hope of understanding. The possibility, the idea that maybe Arin himself could one day incite such joy from them.
Yeah, his mind seemed like a happier place to be at the moment.
“Seriously, dude.” A hand on Arin’s shoulder gently shook him. “The sooner we get inside, the sooner you can get back to sleep.”
“Fine, I’m up,” he grumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he got out of the car. The bitter, cold air shocked him into full awareness and forced him to zip his hoodie. “Jesus, man, it’s fucking freezing.”
Dan rolled down the window to let Arin hear him say, “Why do you think I stayed in the car?”
“I dunno, I figured Brian told you to get me up while he took care of business.”
“No, he was perfectly willing to leave your stank ass behind while we snuggled up under the covers,” Dan joked, eyebrows waggling suggestively.
That wasn’t a mental image Arin needed at the moment. He rolled his eyes and ignored the heat rushing to his face in favor of hurrying into the hotel lobby. His eyes immediately locked onto Brian standing at the counter, back tense, voice particularly low as he spoke with the receptionist.
Arin sauntered up behind him and placed his hands on Brian’s shoulders. Without further thought he began to massage the muscle- another attempt to see how far he could take his ever going game of Gay Chicken- and asked, “Did you get the keys yet, babe?”
Much to his delight, Brian instantly melted under his touch. “No, they accidentally booked us only one room.”
“That’s fine,” Arin said a bit too quickly. He wasn’t jumping on the chance to share a room with Dan and Brian, not at all. He just didn’t want to deal with any extra hassle.
“You sure?” Brian’s voice sounded like it wavered, but it could easily just have been Arin’s overactive imagination.
“Arin!” Dan cut in as he finally joined them, pouting, “You’re giving Brian a massage without me? I thought we talked about this!” Lately Dan had been a little more willing to humor Arin’s flirtatious nature. Maybe he thought it was just a joke? Ouch, right in Arin’s poor heart.
“Don’t worry,” Arin assured, reaching around Brian to grab the single keycard off the counter. “We’ll have plenty of opportunities for massages.” For good measure, he winked at the disturbed receptionist, then headed off for the room. However once he reached it, he realized the deep shit he was in.
There was only one bed. Either they’d all have to share it, or someone would have to take the floor.
“Fucking hell, man,” Arin said to no one in particular, then let himself fall face-first onto the mattress. Fate was laughing at him, pushing him closer and closer to the edge of insanity with this bullshit. The bed dipped on both sides, causing his heart to jump into his throat. He remained perfectly still, not wanting to acknowledge in the elephant in the room quite yet.
“So…” Dan started awkwardly. Arin could imagine him having a fake smile on his face, highly uncomfortable with the whole situation. Joking about sleeping with another man he could do, but actually sharing a bed with one? Too far out of his comfort zone. “Sleeping arrangements?”
“I’ll take the floor,” Arin said, voice muffled by the mattress. “Just give me a minute.”
“Arin, that’s not happening.” Leave it to Brian to take complete control of the situation. “The bed’s big enough for all three of us to fit. You can even take the middle, if you want.”
Oh, boy. There was nothing Arin wanted more than to spend a night sandwiched between his two crushes. Still, he knew for a fact that he wouldn’t be able to handle it. Somehow he’d either pop a boner, or try spooning with someone, and then shit would hit the fan.
Nevermind, fuck the consequences. When would he get another opportunity like this?
“Okay,” he conceded, both to Brian and himself. “But no hogging the blankets.” He turned his head to give Dan a pointed look, who only smiled innocently in return.
With that business all taken care of, the three of them got changed into their pajamas- or just pajama pants, in Dan’s case- then settled into bed without further hassle. It took a couple minutes to get used to being surrounded by warm bodies, but as soon as he did, Arin fell deep into sleep.
If you asked him what he dreamt about, he wouldn’t be able to tell you. Not because he forgot, but because he couldn’t really grasp it on a conscious level. Just warmth and safety and the feeling of being loved.
A loud rumble woke him.
He blinked several times seeing only vast darkness all around. Where was he? What time was it? And what the hell was that horrible noise?
From his right he heard a whisper, “Goddamnit, not tonight.”
“Dan?” he asked as quietly as he could while his mind tried piecing everything together. “Is Brian snoring?”
“Mmhm.” Dan sat up and ran his hand through his mess of curls. “I say we kick him off the bed.”
“No, just- fuck…” Arin was too fucking exhausted to think clearly. “I got this. Hold on.” Carefully he turned on his side toward Brian and scootched closer, pressing himself against the other man’s body. After propping himself up on his elbow, he shook Brian’s shoulder and called his name. When that didn’t work he tried poking, prodding, light slapping- none of it did a damn thing.
“God, this fucking sucks,” Arin whined, sitting up and burying his face in his hands. “We gotta do another show tomorrow and fucking meet with fans and then we gotta pack our shit so we can leave, and it’s like, I’m gonna drop dead if I don’t get any goddamn sleep.”
Dan fell into a fit of stifled giggling, but somehow managed to get out, “Maybe true love’s kiss will awaken our sleeping beauty and fix this terrible snoring curse?”
Well, that certainly was an idea. A bad one, but Arin’s frazzled mind didn’t register that quite yet. Besides, bad ideas were just good ideas with arguably lower success rates. So why not? Before he knew what he was doing, he leaned over and planted his lips right on Brian’s. Wow, his lips were softer than he expected. Just as wonderful as he’d always imagined, though.
Surprisingly, that little stunt worked. Brian’s snoring stopped and Arin could finally get some sleep. He snuggled back into his spot, ready to do just that, but met eyes with a decidedly shocked Dan.
“Did you really just kiss him?”
“Uh…” Arin was jolted by just how much he fucked up. “No?”
“You totally did,” Dan said. His expression was completely unreadable, and that was what terrified Arin the most. “You just kissed Brian in a completely serious, not-a-joke way.”
“Who did what?” Brian asked groggily, sitting up and stretching like a cat. Fucking great.
Arin threw an arm over his eyes. If he couldn’t see the problem, then it’d go away. “Nothing. Go back to sleep.”
“Arin kissed you,” Dan insisted desperately. “Like, mouth on mouth.”
There was a moment where there wasn’t a single noise. Not a breath, not a whisper, not a word. It was too loud of a silence for Arin to ignore, too solid for him to break. Thankfully, he didn’t have to put up with it for long.
“Really?” Brian said, and boy did that single word send shivers down Arin’s spine. “And he didn’t have the decency to take me out to dinner first? The scandal.”
“Brian,” Dan was flustered, Arin could tell by the hitch in his voice, “This isn’t a joke, man.”
Before anyone could say anything else, Arin decided to grow a pair and do something brash. He sat up, looked Dan deep into those warm hazel eyes of his, and kissed him. His lips were rougher, chapped with worry and panic, yet just as warm and pliant as Brian’s. Not wanting to give any special treatment, Arin ended the kiss after just a brief second, then said, “Happy now? You two are even.”
Dan only stared at him with a wide-eyed look that screamed mind shutting down. Not how Arin wanted it to go, but it was too late to have regrets.
“Arin…” Brian, for once, showed a bit of hesitance. “Did you just-”
“Yeah.” If he was going to effectively admit his feelings, then he was going to do it with a bang. “I kissed you, and I kissed Dan. Know why? Because I like you guys.”
In all honesty, he felt incredibly relieved. For months he’d been hiding his feelings, ignoring the butterflies in his stomach in favor of maintaining the stable relationships that he had. Now that it was all off his chest, he felt glad. Even if he was rejected, he at least knew that the worst thing to happen would be several months of awkwardness.
“Wow,” Brian breathed out, and Arin couldn’t tell of it was a good sign or a bad one. The moonlight filtered into the room to give Arin a stunning view of his thoughtful face. “Both of us?”
“Yup,” Arin popped the “p” in the hopes that acting nonchalant would make this go by smoothly. In an instant, Brian’s hands were on his face, keeping him still for a breath-taking kiss that made Arin see stars.
“All this time,” Brian muttered against his lips, “you liked us. Liked me. Can’t you let a guy know sooner, Arin?”
“Um…” Now he knew how Dan must’ve felt: completely overwhelmed, almost as if he was drowning.
Speaking of Dan, he seemed to have found the brain power to function again, because he came up behind Arin and wrapped his arms around him. “This totally isn’t fair. I’ve only gotten one kiss from you, big cat, and none from Brian!”
Brian looked as surprised as Arin felt, with his eyes wide and mouth agape. The air changed, morphing into something so familiar to Arin that he knew what would happen next.
Sure enough, Brian’s eyes sparkled, and he turned his attention toward Dan, capturing his lips with his own. Dan groaned, the rumble being felt by Arin who enjoyed the scene way too much. It felt so natural to be there, watching them, because he knew that he wasn’t an outsider. If he wanted he could dive right in too, pressing kisses to Dan’s neck or Brian’s jawline, letting his hands roam across their bodies.
As much as he was glad this whole thing worked out, he was still really exhausted. “Okay, you’ve had your kiss,” he said, wiggling his way out from between them. “It’s like, three in the morning. We can continue this some other time.”
When he laid back, Dan and Brian quickly joined him, taking their places on either side of him. Only this time, they pressed up against him, arms thrown across his body and heads nestled close. Silent breathing, warmth, and sheer happiness sang a lullaby for Arin, buzzing around his mind and perfectly replicating his dreams. This was the best place to be.