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There was no way Dan would be able to pull himself out of bed. He could feel the contrast between the cool air on his face and the warmth surrounding his body. That was one of the blessings of being with two people. When he was the middle spoon, he was guaranteed to be protected from nighttime chills. But it also had its issues.
Like how the hell was he going to get up without waking anyone?
He wiggled just a bit, hoping that there was enough room for him to slip out. This action prompted Arin to stir from behind him. The bed shifted, and Dan felt a chapped kiss being pressed to his shoulder.
“Can’t you call in sick today?” Arin mumbled, voice heavy with sleep. He tightened his hold around Dan’s waist and buried his face into the crook of his neck.
Dan ignored the tickling of Arin’s hair against his skin. “No, dude, I’m already treading thin ice with my boss.”
“But Dan,” Arin whined. “You always say that.”
“‘Cuz it’s always true!”
“Guys,” a third voice cut in. “Stop arguing.”
Dan looked down at Suzy, who had turned around to meet eyes with him. “Sorry, Suz. Did we wake you?”
“Yeah, but it’s whatever,” Suzy answered, a small smile on her face. “Totally worth it to see my handsome boys.”
Arin reached his arm further to encompass Suzy. “That’s so sweet.”
Now that Dan was locked in, he almost gave up and just went back to sleep, consequences be damned. But he liked being able to keep up with his share of the rent, even if some nights he didn’t sleep at his apartment. “Arin, I really have to go.”
Suzy, bless her heart, gingerly pushed Arin’s arm off herself and Dan. “We can’t do this every time, babe.”
Dan took the opportunity to get out of bed while Arin groaned at his defeat. In no time at all he located his clothes and changed into them, putting the pair of Arin’s pajama pants he had on in the hamper. His phone then went off, right on cue.
Barry: I’m right outside, get your butt in gear. Don’t make me come in there and drag you out.
With a roll of his eyes Dan quickly sent out a reply.
Dan: Okay, mom, I’ll be right out.
“Have a good day at work, Danny.” Suzy said, snuggling closer to Arin to fill the space Dan left.
“Yeah, man. And tell Barry thanks for me, okay?”
“Got it, big cat.” Dan leaned over and gave them both quick kisses. Boy, did Arin have a case of morning breath. “Make sure you brush your teeth before you kiss Suzy,” he added teasingly. “I don’t want her to go through what I just did.”
Suzy snickered from behind her hand while Arin flipped him off. He laughed. “Love you, boo. Love you, Suz.”
He barely heard their replies as he dashed out the door. As soon as he hopped into the passenger seat of Barry’s car, he began to rake his fingers through his hair. The least he could do was try to be presentable.
“If you’d gotten up earlier, you would’ve had time to brush your hair,” Barry chided.
“I didn’t mean for you to take that mom comment seriously.” Dan checked himself out in the rearview mirror. His hair looked less wild, at least.
“Well, if you keep up this reckless behavior, young man,” Barry said, half-heartedly making his tone strict, “then you’ll be grounded! No seeing your boyfriend or your girlfriend for two weeks!”
Dan rolled his eyes. “I’m not gonna listen to your rules. I’m a teenage rebel.”
“Oldest teenager I’ve ever seen…”
The rest of the short ride was filled with playful banter. Sadly it didn’t last long, because they soon pulled into the barren parking lot of Dan’s workplace. Dan idly thought about taking off while he still could.
“Hey,” he said, suddenly remembering what Arin had told him earlier, “Arin says thanks. You know, for editing that video for him. He was talking about what a good job you did last night.”
A pleased flush and smile took over Barry’s face. “Ah, it’s no problem. Tell him I’m happy to do it any time.”
“You got it.” Dan hopped out of the car and sent Barry off with a wave. A quick glance at his phone told him he had a few extra minutes, so he took the time to see what changes, if any, had been made overnight. He wasn’t expecting anything, but it was tradition from his days of being a wide-eyed optimist with complete faith in the retail industry.
SuperMart was still a shithole, but at least they finally had it in their budget to spruce things up a bit. Well, if you could call adding a coat of toilet white to the front of the building sprucing up. Considering that he hadn’t gotten a raise in the years he’s worked there, he wasn’t all too surprised by the lack of effort.
Cheap bastards.
When he actually went inside he got a “good morning, Avidan” from his boss- a miracle, for sure. Nowadays a stick always seemed to be stuck up his ass. On more than one occasion Dan almost offered to pull it out for him, but he really wasn’t in the mood to look for a new job. So he settled on muttering curses under his breath.
Before going on cashier duty he was assigned to stock some promotional displays for the latest grotesquely cute cash-grab that was all the rage. Ross, his coworker, passed by him on his way to clock in, then turned on his heel to approach Dan.
“Need help?”
“No, dude, you need to check in,” Dan said, avoiding eye-contact with the soulless husks on the merchandise. “I don’t want to get yelled at for the fifth time this week.”
“Maybe if you didn’t spend a good chunk of time dicking around with Brian, Karl would like you more,” Ross teased with a smug smile, the exact one he used to let Dan know that he was in good favor with their boss.
Dan huffed. “If you’re really just gonna stand there and talk shit,” he waved a hand to the box of merchandise left, “then you can help, I guess. But you owe me if we get in trouble.”
Together they set up the rest of the display, greatly cutting the time it would’ve taken Dan to finish it. And Ross wasn’t late, which was a plus. Apparently Holly dropped him off early because she wouldn’t have been able to do it any other time. Something about pigeon checkups. Dan honestly didn’t listen all that attentively- Ross wasn’t the best storyteller.
They parted ways with a promise to meet up for lunch, and Dan dutifully took his position at checkout aisle number five. Customers came and went, none being remarkable but all being pleasant enough to keep Dan in high spirits.
Several minutes before lunch, he realized that he was having a perfect day so far. That set him into panic mode. What sort of bullshit was going to ruin it? A really bad customer? Being fired? Losing the apartment? The apocalypse?
It was one of the few times he wished Brian was there to bother him. But no, he had a job at some hoity-toity university that called for him a couple times a week. Not like Dan would ever ask him to give that up, but it was a major inconvenience for his rattled nerves. Was Brian okay? He wasn’t in any trouble, was he?
Deep breaths. In, out. He needed to talk to someone. With shaking hands he pulled out his phone and shot off a quick text to his group chat with Arin and Suzy.
Dan: Hey, you guys busy?
Loud drumming against the counter brought his attention away from his phone. Ross stood before him, an impatient frown on his face. “C’mon, Dan. I’m fucking starving.”
Dan focused on the color of Ross’s eyes. Blue. Like the ocean. Calm. “Yeah, sorry. Let’s go.”
He didn’t miss the way Ross eyed him. It was only when he got a small drink. no actual food, that Ross decided to voice his concern.
“You alright, man? You seem kinda out of it.”
God, was it really that obvious? His fingers tapped against his leg. One, two, three, four-five. He hadn’t felt this off since the day he met Arin and Suzy. Speaking of, did they text him back yet?
“I’m fine,” Dan said, pulling out his phone. No notifications. Were they okay? “Uh, I’m just… Not feeling well, I guess.”
Ross nodded in understanding. “You gonna leave early?”
“I would, but you know…” Dan shook his drink and listened to the rattle of ice. “Don’t wanna push my luck.”
“Look, I’ll take care of Karl for you,” Ross said with that smile. “Just get your own ride outta this dump.”
Dan checked his phone again as he thought about the proposition.
Suzy: What’s up? Everything okay, Danny?
“Okay, deal.” Dan sent a quick text to Suzy asking her to pick him up, then cast a suspicious glance at Ross. “What do I owe you for this favor?”
“It’s on the house.” The way his eyes sparkled with mischief reminded Dan too much of Brian and all the grief he’s caused over the course of their friendship. Great. Another tally under Number of Things to Worry About.
Like a bat out of hell he clocked out, narrowly avoiding running into his boss on the way out the door. His eyes scanned the lot until he found Suzy’s car. Arin wasn’t in the passenger seat, oddly enough.
“Thanks, Suz,” he said once he got in the car. Already he could feel his mind easing just a bit in its assault against him. “I really needed to get out of there, you know?”
“Mmhm.” Suzy gave him a warm smile. “Arin’s busy with work right now, but he’s gonna get to the house as soon as he can. Don’t worry, though, ‘cause I have the perfect thing to do while we wait for him.”
“And what’s that?” he asked. A bubble bath was on top of his to-do list, but he would’ve been happy with anything.
“I’m gonna do your makeup! Arin says it helps him relax because someone else is kinda in control, you know?” She worried her lip with her teeth. “Is that okay?”
“Of course.” That actually did sound nice. Everytime she did Arin’s makeup he came out looking fantastic. Still, that didn’t mean Dan himself had the face for it. If it made Suzy happy, though, he’d give it a shot.
As soon as they stepped into the house Suzy was in control, leading him from room to room as she gathered supplies. Once she had a sizable number, she sat Dan down on the couch. “Okay, you ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
She took a seat on the coffee table and cupped his face in her hands, turning his head every which way as she mapped out what she wanted to do. Her hands were nice and cool against his warm face. Dan closed his eyes and let out a contented sigh.
The sound of the front door opening didn’t disturb his laid-back state. All he cared about was Suzy’s touch. The way her fingers lightly brushed over his cheekbones, the slight dig of her long nails.
“Arin’s here, Danny,” Suzy whispered to him.
Dan said nothing, just opened his eyes and gave Arin a smile in greeting.
“You doing okay?” Arin asked softly, sitting next to him. “None of those thoughts bothering you anymore?”
“Mmhm.” Honestly, he always felt the best when he was with Arin and Suzy. For that moment he could easily pretend that he had no worries. Everything was far away, like a childhood nightmare lain to rest.
Suzy presented an assortment of different eyeshadows for Arin’s judgement. “Babe, what color do you think would go with his eyes?”
Arin hummed, then pointed to a soft pink directly in the center. “That one.”
Dan almost commented about how pink wasn’t a very manly color, but he wisely decided to hold his tongue. Not only was Arin’s favorite color pink, but Dan came to realize that it didn’t even matter whether or not it was manly. Why the fuck should he care? It was pleasant to look at, and that was enough.
Suzy immediately went to work, giving Dan instructions as she worked her magic on him. Arin gave them both encouragement and told stories about all the times Suzy had done his makeup. One of them had Dan almost laughing and getting his eye poked out. It was totally worth it, really.
“Okay…” Suzy mumbled, adding the last finishing touches. Then she moved over to sit on Dan’s free side with a radiant grin. “All done! Ready to see how you look?” She didn’t wait for an answer before positioning her blush mirror in front of Dan’s face.
Oh, wow. Dan never knew the color of his eyes could pop in such a way. Or that his lips could look so soft and kissable. If he had to be completely honest, he felt like he wasn’t even looking at himself. More like the confident, happy person he always strived to be but never felt like he was.
He didn’t even realize his reflection’s smile was also his own until he heard Arin say, “He likes it, Suz.”
Suzy let out a little “yes” in victory.
“Let’s get a picture,” Dan said, pulling out his phone. “All three of us.”
They took a little bit settling on poses, which were ruined last second when both Arin and Suzy decided that kissing Dan would be a lot more fun. He still managed to get a picture, and it came out looking decent, so he decided to keep it.
The rest of the day was spent watching movies and just relaxing in general. In the middle of a commercial, while they were all snuggled up on the couch, a sudden thought hit him.
He wanted Arin and Suzy to be a part of his life for as long as they were willing. He wanted to propose. Butterflies in his stomach hit him with full force, but it didn’t set him into a bad state of mind. They eased with a promise of someday soon, and let him just get back into simply being in the moment.