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It’s nearly a week before Christmas when Mack realizes he’s fucked up. He’d only moved in with Aaron and Robert at the end of November and already things were starting to change. Not in obvious ways but they didn’t exactly feel subtle either.
Arms brushing against one anothers, shy glances that snap away a second after they’re caught, and a comforting hand placed on the small of his back to help lead him through a crowd of holiday shoppers. It shouldn’t mean anything. It should mean absolutely nothing to him. To all of them. But—
“Bit overdressed, aren’t ya?” Aaron asks, snapping Mack’s focus back to the present.
Aaron’s standing in front of him in jeans and a henley, boots already laced, while Robert is perched on the bottom of the staircase lacing his own boots. He glances between the two of them, both dressed casual, and then down at his own attire. Jeans, a button up, and a blazer he’d stolen from Ross’s wardrobe when he’d gone over to chat. He’d even pulled out his nice dress shoes that he only ever wears when he’s being forced.
He raises his eyes slowly to meet Aaron and Robert’s curious looks and it all comes crashing down on him in an instant. How could he have been so stupid? They had no idea. They actually had no idea.
“We’re uh…we’re going to dinner,” he says slowly, his stomach churning.
Aaron nods. “Yeah. Just down to the pub. Nothing fancy, eh?”
Mack feels like he’s gonna be sick. They both seem so sure of it and it’s like a dagger to the heart. He thought he’d been so obvious when he’d asked them and they’d seemed so thrilled at the idea of dinner that well…he hadn’t thought much on it after that.
“Mackenzie?” Aaron’s smile slips and his brows knit together. “What’s wrong? You’ve gone all pale.”
He swallows past the lump in his throat and fights back the tears he can feel stinging his eyes, shaking his head and holding his hands together in front of him. There’s a sharp intake of breath from in front of him and when he raises his head, Robert’s looking at him with wide eyes and parted lips.
“Oh, Mack,” Robert says with a sad sigh, taking a step forward.
Mack takes a quick step back and shakes his head even harder. “No, don’t. It’s fine. Everything’s fine, alright? Just uh…I’m actually not feeling all that well so why don’t you two just go on without me. I’ll be—I’ll be alright.”
He pushes past them, ignoring Robert’s protests and Aaron’s concerned frown, to hurry up the stairs where he ducks into his bedroom and slams the door shut behind him.
He doesn’t see them again until the next evening, expertly avoiding them all day until he isn’t even given an option in the end. They corner him just as he’s trying to make an escape up the stairs, Aaron stopping him with a hand on his wrist.
“Wait, Mackenzie, please,” Aaron says. “Please just let us apologize.”
Mack shakes his head but doesn’t pull his wrist free. “Got nothin’ to apologize for. It’s fine. Just leave it, Aaron.”
“It’s not fine, Mack.” Robert appears on his other side, one of his hands brushing against Mack’s other hand. “We just—we didn’t want to assume, alright? It’s a bit scary, ya know? All of this.”
Mack turns finally, his wrist slipping free from Aaron’s grip, and he’s able to face the both of them now.
“Scary? Really?” He laughs a bit incrediously. “Ya wanna know what’s really scary? You two. You two and this epic love story of yours. It’s intimidating, ya know that? It is properly intimidating because it makes me realize that I’ve just been kiddin’ myself. I can’t compete with what the two of you have and I was an idiot to think otherwise.”
Aaron sucks in a sharp breath and Robert holds Mack’s gaze.
“It is well and truly scary how I feel about you two,” Mack admits quietly. “It is bloody terrifying. But I can’t help it. I barely managed to work up the courage to ask you both to dinner and it turns out that I was just way off the mark. That’s my bad. That’s on me. You don’t—you don’t have to apologize or say anything else or—”
“Mackenzie!” Aaron shouts and Mack snaps his mouth shut. “Shut it for a second would ya? And let us say somethin’ for a change.”
Aaron looks over at Robert and smiles. Robert nods, takes a deep breath, and looks to Mack with a smile of his own.
“Mackenzie Boyd, would you like to come to dinner with us? Be our…date?”
Mack swears that time itself must have stopped or maybe he’s having a stroke and this is all some sort of twisted fantasy that his subconscious has conjured up to keep him from panicking. That has to be it. Because this can’t be real. It just can’t be.
“You’re not the only one who’s been scared, mate,” Aaron explains softly, a light flush coloring his cheeks. “Trust me when I tell ya we’ve been talking ‘bout this for…weeks.”
Mack squeaks. “Weeks?”
They both laugh and smile even wider and Mack is sure now more than ever that he must be dreaming.
“But what if it doesn’t work?” he asks, heart beating wildly in his chest as he takes a step down until he’s just out of their reach. “What if this was the wrong move? What if Charity sees? Or Moira and Chas? What about—”
“We’ll deal with all that when we get to it, alright?” Robert cuts him off with a low chuckle and all Mack can do is nod. “Can’t we just…see what happens first? It is Christmas after all. Tis the season for miracles.”
Both Aaron and Mack roll their eyes at Robert but when Robert offers Mack his free hand, Mack is quick to slip his hand in place.
By the end of the night, with the movie credits rolling quietly in the background, Mack finds himself tucked between his two very wonderful best mates. They’re curled up together on the sofa, Mack content with them on either side of him. He leans his head back onto the top of the couch when he spots the single piece of mistletoe strung up above their exact spot. He’s not sure which of them must’ve put it there but he doesn’t dwell on it too much as he smiles and bends to kiss each of them on the top of the head.
“Tis the season,” Mack chuckles to himself before sinking down into the cushions, closing his eyes, and letting sleep finally win out.