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Dennis had good intentions. He woke up warm and happily squished between two men. Jack, who had only slid into bed a couple hours ago after getting back from work, and Robby, who was actually letting himself sleep in on his day off. Dennis had ended up sleeping over so Jack and Robby could ‘make the most’ of Robby’s day off with him. Dennis didn’t hesitate to shift his plans with Trinity around when they asked. It had been too long since Dennis had got to spend time with both of them together.
So, when he woke up between them he wanted to do something nice. Wanted to do something to show them that he is boyfriend material, not just some guy that keeps slinking into their marital bed. He thought breakfast would be a good start, so he had carefully extracted himself from the between them, smiling when the men shuffled into the gap he left and held onto each other. When he left the room he was so optimistic, already daydreaming about the men coming down and seeing what he’d done. Praising him, and telling him how happy they are that he’s in their lives. It should have been a lovely morning.
Except it has all gone horribly wrong. His lovely breakfast has become bacon burning on the stove, a plate and a glass smashed on the floor, and an open wound on Dennis’s hand. Well, that’s dramatic, he doesn't need stitches, but there's enough blood trickling down his arm to make him feel a bit woozy. He can deal with other people’s bodily fluids easily, but it’s different when it’s his own blood.
Dennis is bandaging his hand when there’s noise in the doorway. He looks up to see Jack assessing the room, slowly waking up further as he processes the state of his kitchen. The stove is off, but the bacon is still smoking. The floor is covered in glass and ceramic, the piece Dennis had cut himself on in a haste to clean up now covered in a thin layer of blood. At least the scrambled eggs are safe in their pan on the top, but they didn’t even look that great. Definitely not Dennis’s best work. Finally Jack’s gaze lands on Dennis, pathetically curled around his hand with their first aid kit upended on the kitchen island.
“What the fuck happened Dennis?” It comes out rough, the man blinking slowly as he looks across the mess again and again. Dennis has to remind himself that Jack just got home a couple of hours ago. Dennis isn’t sure when, barely waking up enough to press himself into Jack’s chest when he crawled under the covers. It was only eleven when Dennis last checked his phone, so he can’t be running on more than four hours sleep. Dennis really shouldn't take Jack’s irritation personally.
“I was trying to make breakfast.”
Jack takes one step into the kitchen, hands on his hip as he continues to blink in disbelief. “Why?”
“I wanted to do something nice.” Dennis replies, meagre. “Start the day well. For you and Robby.”
“Well, that went well.” Jack scoffs, not even looking at Dennis.
Dennis curls into himself even more. “I’m sorry.”
“Whatever, just leave it to us next time kid.”
Dennis frowns at the nickname. He doesn’t say anything, and Jack continues to ignore him, turning into the hallway and returning with a dustpan and brush. As he crouches in front of the mess he seems to finally notice, or just now processes, the blood on one of the bigger pieces. His head snaps back to Dennis, eyes zeroing in on his bandaged hand.
“You hurt yourself.” He stands and carefully steps over the mess towards Dennis.
Dennis clutches his hands closer to his chest. “Yeah, but I’m fine. I dealt with it. Let me clean up, it’s my mess.”
Jack reaches for his wrist, his grip too firm for Dennis to shake off. That’s normally one of Jack’s traits that really gets Dennis going, but now it’s bordering on infuriating. “Let me look.”
“I said I dealt with it. It was just a scratch, I'm fine.” Dennis reaches for the dustpan. “Let me clean up, you can go back to bed.”
Jack dumps the dustpan on the island, glaring at Dennis and squeezing his wrist when Dennis curls his hand into a fist. “I’m a doctor, let me look.”
“I’m a doctor too.”
Jack scoffs. “Barely, just let me look at it Dennis.”
Dennis stares at him, hurt. His graduation may have been recent, but Jack and Robby were there. They were in the crowd with Trinity to watch him walk. They told him they were so proud of their Doctor.
Before Dennis can form any sort of response Robby appears in the doorway, still pulling on a t-shirt. “What’s going on?”
Jack finally lets go of his wrist, turning to Robby. “He fucked up breakfast and hurt himself and won’t let me check it out.”
Robby blinks, then turns to Dennis. “Are you ok, sweetheart?”
“Yeah.” Dennis whispers, then clears his throat. “I’m fine. Sorry about the mess.”
Robby smiles softly. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll clean it up.”
Jack sighs, reaching for the dustpan again and starting on the mess. “Michael, check out his hand please.”
Dennis is starting to get as irritated as Jack. “I said I’ve dealt with it. You don’t trust my judgement?”
Jack doesn’t look up from the floor. “I just want to know you are ok Dennis.”
“And I say I am.”
Jack turns to him then, mouth open to say something, but Robby speaks up first. “Why don’t we all calm down, it’s first thing in the morning, we can clean this up then talk.”
Jack scoffs, muttering under his breath as he gets back to sweeping. “He’s being childish. He fucked up breakfast, then is being too stubborn to let me look after him.”
“I’m not some stupid kid.” Dennis practically yells.
“Ok.” Robby finally steps into the kitchen properly, straightening to his full height to get some sort of authority. “Dennis, maybe you should go home, and let Jack calm down.”
The whole world stops. Dennis blinks, brain suddenly going fuzzy. Jack is muttering something else, but Dennis is still only facing the back of his head. Robby has moved to loom over Jack, arms crossed as they keep talking but all Dennis can hear is a ringing in his ears. He doesn’t respond to Robby, but he heads out the kitchen. Hands pull him out of the way of the bits of glass and ceramic on the floor, but Dennis shrugs them off and books it to the bedroom. No one follows, so he just changes as quickly as he can. He has a few pieces of clothing here that he rarely even wears, normally dressed in something of Jack and Robby’s cause he knows it gets them going, but now he slips into some jeans and a t-shirt he hasn’t even seen in months before making sure he has his phone and keys.
When he sweeps past the kitchen door he glances in long enough to see the floor is clear and Jack and Robby have moved stare at his pathetic excuse for bacon. He quickly looks away, heading straight for the front door. While he’s shoving his shoes on Robby catches up to him, holding out his jacket so Dennis can slip into it. Dennis hesitates, feeling like a kid being sent away by daddy, but ultimately he just wants to go home so he lets Robby dress him. Dennis is ready to leave as soon as he picks up his backpack, but he’s stopped by a hand on his arm.
“We’ll text you later. When he’s got some more sleep. Ok?”
Dennis nods, but still doesn’t say anything.
Robby sighs. “Text me when you get home.”
He leans in then to kiss Dennis goodbye. Dennis will never lean away from either of them, but he also can’t find it in himself to lean into Robby right now. Robby notices, leaning back with a crease between his brows without actually kissing Dennis. “Are you ok?”
Dennis just nods, waving awkwardly before getting the door unlocked and darting out as quickly as possible.
-
When Dennis gets home Trinity is sprawled on the couch.
She doesn’t look up from her phone when he opens the door. “Thought you were going to Paris for the day.” Dennis can’t even be bothered responding, which must be enough to clue Trinity in that something is actually wrong because she puts her phone down and looks up at him. “Oh shit. What’s wrong with you?”
Dennis shakes his head, dropping his bag and collapsing on the couch next to her. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Ok.” She notices his hand. “What happened?”
“Cut myself.”
“No shit.” Trinity sits up straighter. “Let me look?”
Dennis rolls his eyes. “I looked at it, it’s fine.”
“It’s already bleeding through the bandage.” She grabs his arm and puts his hand in Dennis’s eyeline to prove her point. “At least let me redress it.”
Dennis blinks at his hand and shrugs. “Fine, whatever.”
She gets their own first aid kit and efficiently changes the bandage. “I don’t have to be worried right? Like I don’t have to call the cops and kick some old man ass?”
It takes a moment for Dennis to process what she means. “Shit, no nothing like that. Just a normal argument that happened after I cut my hand all by myself.”
Trinity nods. “Well, I can still kick some old guy ass. If they’re being dicks.”
Dennis shakes his head. “I still don’t want to talk about it.”
Trinity sighs. “If you mope about this for more than twenty four hours then I’m making you talk.”
“I’m on shift with Robby tomorrow anyway. I doubt he’ll let me go home before we talk.”
“You can tell him to fuck off if you don’t want to.”
Dennis smiles, nodding. “I will if I need to.”
He feels his phone buzz in his pocket, but feels nauseous just thinking about Robby. “Want to spend our day off binging and complaining about House?”
Trinity smiles, laughing lightly. “Sure, if that’s what you need right now.”
Dennis nods. “Yeah, I think I do.”
-
Dennis tries to avoid Robby on his next shift. He runs everything by different residents before even thinking about his attending. He joins Mel in the lounge when she goes for lunch and gets her talking about the last movie she watched with her sister when Robby follows them in. He doesn’t even cherry pick any patients, just keeps moving onto the next, especially when he hears Robby marching towards him. When he can’t avoid Robby he gets lucky, an ambulance showing up or a patient starts crashing before Robby can get a word in.
Mainly, Dennis is avoiding him because he has no idea what to say to him, rather than being pissed off or anything. What are you supposed to say? ‘Sorry I destroyed your kitchen, and I’m sorry I pissed off your husband. Please don’t stop fucking me because our threesomes are the most meaningful relationship I’ve ever had’. The other option is that he just starts crying and begging for forgiveness. The worst case scenario is that he doesn’t even get a chance to say anything before Robby tells him it’s over. That can’t happen. At least not until the end of their shift.
Eventually, he finally gets to his last hour. He’s just discharged a guy who’d come from some frat dare gone wrong, and now he’s trying to hunt down some labs for a kid who’s been stuck in the ER since this morning.
“Dennis!” He turns at his name, still taking small steps backwards. Trinity is at the hub with the girls, all of them watching him. “Drinks after work. And you can’t back out, we’ve agreed to pitch in for your drinks.”
Dennis just throws them a thumbs up and continues his mission. Except, as soon as he turns he walks straight into what feels like a brick wall.
Dennis stumbles back, hands coming up to steady him by the biceps. Jack stands in front of him, grinning with his usual confidence. Dennis blinks at him.
Dennis goes to step away from him. “Sorry, not looking where I was going. I’ve got something-”
Jack’s grip on him tightens. “Are you going to a dying patient?”
“No.”
“Then can we talk?”
Dennis stares at him. “Uh- I-”
“Whitaker!” Dennis jumps, turning to where Robby is rushing a patient into trauma 1. “You’re with me, come on.”
He barely glances at Jack before darting off.
After the patient is stable Dennis goes to see if his labs finally came in when he gets stopped by a hand on his wrist. He knows who it is before Robby even speaks.
“Sorry I interrupted you and Jack.”
Dennis turns to him, crossing his arms. “It’s fine. I was busy anyway.”
“Look, come over on Thursday? Jack’s got the night off. I’ll cook.”
Dennis bites his lip, but he knows he’ll never say no to these guys. “Sure.” It’s only three days to completely spiral about what they’ll talk about.
Robby smiles. “Good.” They stand in silence for a moment. Dennis is surprised no one has come to collect either of them already. Robby sways on the balls of his feet, itching his neck awkwardly. “You didn’t message yesterday. When you got home. Or at all.”
“Oh.” Dennis sighs. “Yeah, I forgot. Sorry.”
Robby looks unimpressed. “It’s whatever, just… we care about you. You ignored my texts all day, I was worried.”
“I was with Trin.”
“Ok.”
Robby sighs, fingers twitching like he wants to reach out. “Are you going to ignore us until Thursday?”
Dennis starts fiddling with the strings of his scrub pants. “Maybe.”
Robby shoves his hands in his pockets. “Fuck, ok. Well, if you change your mind text. Or call. Or anything.”
“Yeah, sure.” Dennis breathes, surprising himself by hoping he burdens Robby with guilt.
“I wish we could talk about it sooner, but you know how our shifts line up and-”
“I know.”
“Dennis.” He meets Robby’s eyes. “Look, we’re sorry. We’ll talk about it properly, but for now. Sorry.”
Dennis nods. “Yeah, me too.”
Robby looks almost offended. “Dennis you have nothing-”
That’s when someone finally interrupts them, Dana barely stepping into the room before instructing Robby where he’s needed.
“Thursday.” Robby confirms, patting Dennis’s shoulder as he sweeps past.
Jack tries to catch him again when Dennis is getting ready to leave. Dennis sees him heading over to the lockers out of the corner of his eye, but Trinity beats him to Dennis. Then he’s dragged out of the hospital to the closest bar before anyone else can even look at him.
-
Dennis doesn’t spiral for the whole three days, but he spirals enough that Trinity calls him by his name over Huckleberry more times than not. Maybe he should be concerned about how quickly his mind can switch. One minute he knows, logically, that the men want to apologise to him, and work this out. Robby genuinely seemed apologetic at work, and every time he catched either of the men’s eyes across the hospital they sent him reassuring smiles.
But then the next minute he’ll convince himself they want to dump him. That they’ve realised he’s not a good enough fuck for how much work they have to put in. Obviously, he blames himself. He keeps trying to show them that their relationship could be more than sex, and that’s probably just pissing them off. Robby and Jack are happily married, and he’s insane to think that they want some twenty six year old shoving himself into their loving relationship.
-
When Trinity and Dennis get home on Thursday night he tells her that he’s going to Jack and Robby’s for Dinner.
“Ok.” She shrugs, heading towards her room. She stops before turning the corner though, sighs, then turns to Dennis with her arms crossed. “Are you going to change or are you standing there completely still because you’re about to use some hidden superpower to teleport over there?”
Dennis can’t even bring himself to roll his eyes at her stupid jokes. “I’m scared.”
Trinity softens, walking back towards him and dropping grounding hands on his shoulders. “You don’t have to go.”
Dennis drops his head into his hands, groaning. “They want to talk about the thing I was hung up on the other day. It’s an adult conversation we should have, but… I’m scared.”
“Dennis.” Dennis lets his hands fall to his sides. Trinity looks him in the eyes and smiles gently. “You don’t have to go, but maybe it’s a good time to talk to them.”
“I know.” Dennis replies softly, shoulder’s dropping. “I’m going to get dressed and head over. They are expecting me soon.”
-
He gets dressed, but doesn’t head over. He is sitting on the couch, staring at a blank TV screen, when Trinity sees him again. She is towel drying her hair, but freezes when she spots Dennis.
“I thought you were leaving.”
Dennis opens his mouth, blinks, then buries his face in his hands and digs his finger in his scalp with a loud groan. “I’m pathetic.”
He hears a long sigh. “Yes, you are. Seriously though Dennis if you can’t do this I’m prepared to-”
She’s cut off by a beep on their intercom. It gives Trinity pause, and startles Dennis enough that he sits up again. Trinity raises a finger, even though Dennis was not going to say anything anyway, and heads to the door.
“Hello?”
The speaker crackles. “Hey, it’s Jack. Is Denny there?”
Trinity lets go of the button. “Denny?” Dennis just glares at her and she doesn’t prod further, just asks “Are you here?”
Dennis squints at her because: obviously he is. When Trinity gives him an exasperated look he realises. He’s being given an out. The intercom cracks again as Jack pipes up. “Are you still there Santos?”
Trinity gives him a pointed look and Dennis just nods. She lets out an exasperated breath. “Denny is here.” Dennis is going to strangle her if this becomes a thing.
“I came to pick him up. If he still wants to come over.” Jack asks, voice lacking its usual easy confidence.
Trinity looks to Dennis again, and he takes a deep breath and nods. “Yeah, he’s coming. Give us a sec?”
“Take your time.”
As soon as Trinity steps away from the door Dennis forces himself to his feet and meets her in the entry way. She puts a hand on his arm before he can get out. “Call me if you need a lift home or anything.”
Dennis nods. “Thanks Trin.”
-
When Dennis makes it downstairs Jack is leaning back against his and Robby’s car, not quite casual. He straightens when Dennis steps out the door. “Hey baby.”
Dennis stops about a metre in front of him. Jack looks tense, shoulders raised slightly with his hands shoved in his pockets. “I didn’t know you were going to pick me up.”
Jack lets out a breath. “You were supposed to be at ours half an hour ago. Robby wanted to leave you be, but I… I really want to talk tonight.”
The street is way too quiet. Jack is watching him, no expectation in his eyes, but the attention alone is enough to have Dennis’s hair standing on end. He wants to walk forward until he can collapse into Jack’s sturdy chest. Wants to be wrapped in his firm embrace. He can’t yet though, not until they’ve talked, because he might not be allowed to do that after tonight.
Instead, he just nods, rounding the car to slide into the passenger seat. “Let's go.”
The car ride is pretty quiet. Jack puts on the radio, but it’s nothing either of them are particularly into.
“How’s your hand?”
Dennis blinks, turning from where he’d been staring out the window. “It’s fine now. Healed. I don’t think it’s even going to scar.”
Jack relaxes a little more. “That’s good.”
“You don’t want to check it out yourself?” The snark comes out before Dennis can check himself. Maybe he should have tried to text the men like normal the past couple days, because now it’s awkward and tense. A feeling he’s never had around Jack or Robby.
Jack’s hands tighten around the steering wheel. Dennis is almost surprised it doesn’t creek under the pressure. “No, I trust you Den.”
Dennis also can’t hold back a scoff. Sarcasm drips from his response “Oh, thank you.”
Jack sighs, focusing on the road but reaches out to squeeze Dennis’s knee. “I’m sorry baby. We are going to talk about it, but we should wait till we are back with Robby.”
“Yeah.” Dennis breaths, dropping his head until his temple meets the cool glass of the window. “Yeah, I know. Sorry.”
Jack squeezes his knee again, and leaves his hand there. It’s a surprisingly comfortable weight despite Dennis’s trepidation about the night.
-
They don’t speak again for the rest of the drive. When Jack gets the door open he calls for Robby as they both toe their shoes off. Robby appears from the kitchen, towel over his shoulder and hair sticking up in different directions, like he’s been running his hands through it.
Once Jack has his shoes off he heads straight into the house, going for the kitchen. He presses a chaste kiss to Robby’s cheek before muttering “I’ll finish off the food. Go get settled.”
He whips the towel off Robby’s shoulder, the man turning to watch his husband walk off. After he disappears into the kitchen, Robby turns to Dennis with a soft smile. “Hey sweetheart.” Robby walks towards him, until he is close enough to press a kiss to Dennis’s temple. “Are you ok?”
There’s already a hand on his shoulder, guiding him towards the dining room. Dennis shrugs, not hard enough to disturb Robby’s hand and he’s relieved that Robby just presses down firmer instead of taking it as a hint. “Sorry for being late. I didn’t mean to make Jack have to come to collect me.”
Robby shakes his head. “We’ll always come get you. Although I was worried Jack was overstepping. I thought maybe you just didn’t want to come anymore.”
“If I didn’t want to come, I would have got Trinity to tell him to fuck of.”
Robby laughs, squeezing Dennis’s shoulder and setting him in his usual seat at the table. “I’m sure you would.” He pauses running a hand carefully through Dennis’s hair before leaning down to kiss his curls. “I’m really glad you came. I’m going to go help Jack, but food will be out any minute.”
Dennis nods, watching Robby dart off to the kitchen.
-
Dennis can hear them muttering in the kitchen. While he’s not above eavesdropping, his own heart beat is drowning out their hushed conversation. He can barely bring himself to look Jack in the eyes as the men bring in their meals. Dennis’s plate is stacked high with meat, veg and some delicious smelling sauce.
Jack and Robby have always made a point of feeding Dennis well. Ever since Robby noticed his habit of stealing sandwiches, which he struggled to shake even after he started making him and Trinity packed lunches for every shift.
Normally, Dennis would dig in immediately, complementing the cooking profusely as the other men observed him with a content smile. Right now the plate full of food makes him feel slightly nauseous, and all he can do is stare at it while Robby and Jack sit in front and beside him respectively.
Dennis can feel two pairs of eyes on him as he sits with his hands in his lap.
Jack sighs, arm reaching out to rest across the back of Dennis’s chair. He almost leans into it on impulse, but his nerves keep him frozen. “Not hungry babe?”
“Jack,” Robby starts, picking up his own cutlery to start eating. “Leave him alone.”
Jack glares at Robby then turns back to Dennis, rubbing his shoulder gently. “I can make you something else.”
“Oh, no this looks lovely.” Dennis insists, finally looking Jack in the eye. “I just… I’m feeling a bit nervous. Worried I guess.”
“You have nothing to be worried about.” Jack responds softly.
Robby hums in agreement. “Just eat what you can sweetheart, we’ll talk after dinner.”
Dennis sighs, but does decide to try and eat something. The food goes down slower than normal, but he can at least appreciate the taste despite his lack of appetite. Robby and Jack make idle conversation, eating their own food slowly to keep pace with Dennis. Jack starts telling them about gym gossip, some asshole who got banned for not even trying to hide that he was creeping on one of the girls.
When Robby is shaking his head at the end of the tale Jack turns to Dennis, reaching out to squeeze his thigh. “You should really come to the gym with me Denny, you’d love the people watching.”
“You just want to watch Dennis.” Robby mutters, finishing the last of his food. “I’ve seen those tiny little shorts you’ve bought in his size.”
Jack makes an affronted noise. “Those were supposed to be a surprise. Besides, you’d love it if we both came home hot and sweaty in some short shorts.”
The casual way the men are speaking about some simple hypothetical future soothes some of Dennis’s impending dread. However, it also stokes Dennis’s frustration again. Agitated at the fact that the men are acting like this is a normal dinner. Not at all acknowledging the fact that Dennis hasn’t spoken to them in days.
When Dennis zones back into the present Robby is up, gathering their plates. He’s looking down at Dennis, hand half way across the table. “Are you done Den?”
“Yeah.” His tone is sharp enough that both men tilt their head at him.
“Ok.” Robby says slowly, taking his plate and heading to the kitchen, but not before giving Jack a pointed look over Dennis’s head.
Jack sighs. His hand is still on Dennis’s thigh, so he crosses his legs to brush it off. The man frowns, hands clenching into fists that he places on his knees. “Do you want to move to the living room? Robby can get us some drinks.”
Dennis huffs. “Can we just talk? Please?”
Robby walks back in then. “You should really stop pushing it, Jack.”
“It’s not like you’re initiating anything.” Jack mutters. Robby just raises an eyebrow at him and Jack huffs something, probably childish, under his breath. Dennis can’t help being endeared by them, even while his patience is wearing thin.
Jack takes a deep breath, turning to Dennis with complete sincerity in his eyes. He also looks sort of scared. It surprised Dennis. Despite spending a substantial amount of time in the couple's bed, this is the first time Dennis has felt he is important in their lives. That he’s something they are serious about. Or worried about losing.
“I’m really sorry Denny.” Jack starts, reaching out to unnecessarily tuck Dennis’s hair behind his ear. As if he can’t keep his hands off him. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. I was tired, and I was concerned. That doesn’t excuse what I said, but it does mean I didn’t mean it. Ok. You’re an incredible doctor and an incredible man, and I’m an idiot for suggesting otherwise.”
Dennis is looking into Jack’s eyes the whole time, so he can tell that everything he’s saying is true. He finally relaxes into his chair, leaning into Jack’s hand a bit more. It makes the other man smile and start running his fingers through Dennis’s hair with less hesitation.
“Its-” Dennis doesn’t want to say it's ok. Trinity wouldn’t think it’s ok, and she’ll probably make that clear when he eventually explains all this. She’s going to probably be a bit of a bitch to them for a week, and Dennis is quite excited about it. He settles on a soft “Thank you” instead.
His attention is diverted when Robby clears his throat from across the table. “And I’m sorry for kicking you out.” He shifts slightly in his seat, only able to keep eye contact with Dennis fleetingly. That’s how he knows Robby is serious about this. He’s unable to be clinical, not like he is when he has to talk to families at work. This is him showing weakness and the last of Dennis’s anger dissipates easily.
“I thought I was protecting you from Jack and his shitty mood, but after he had settled all I wanted to do was comfort you and you weren’t there. I should have kicked Jack out for being an ass.”
“He should have.” Jack pipes up, scratching at Dennis’s scalp. “So, if you can forgive us we’d love to spend a quiet night with our boyfriend and make this all up to him.”
Jack winks at him, which Robby rolls his eyes at, but Dennis doesn’t really process anything after the word ‘boyfriend’. “Boyfriend?”
That has both men tilting their head at him again, this time thoroughly confused. Jack runs his hand down to squeeze Dennis’s neck. “Yeah, you are aware you’re our boyfriend, baby.”
“We have been dating for months, Dennis.” Robby says, leaning forward across the table, looking very serious.
Dennis gapes at them for a moment, trying to find any words. “I- well- we’ve never talked about that. I mean- fuck- the whole reason I fucked up the kitchen the other day was because I was trying to prove I could be something more than some guy you two fuck.”
The responding silence makes Dennis feel nauseous all over again. He feels frozen between their intense stares. That is only relieved a little when the men turn to each other. Robby looks genuinely heartbroken when he finally speaks again. “We fucked up.”
Jack nods, slowly, like he’s still processing what’s happening. “How- but” He takes a deep breath, turning to Dennis and shuffling his chair closer. “We don’t… we don’t just fuck though.”
He’s clearly upset, but it’s coming out as irritation, which Robby picks up on immediately. “Jack.” His tone is stern enough that Jack forces himself to take a deep breath.
He resumes running his fingers through Dennis's hair, tone coming out much softer when he speaks again. “I just mean we cook for you, we have movie nights, we are basically constantly in contact and you sleep over all the time.”
It’s not like Dennis hasn’t thought about all of that. He’s had plenty of internal debates about whether the men have shown that he means more to them than a warm body. Sure they treat him like he’s important, while they're in the house. Then Dennis leaves and he never feels quite as warm as he does when he’s with them.
“You’ve never taken me out or anything.” Dennis mutters.
“Sweetheart.” Robby sighs, getting up from his seat to get closer to Dennis and Jack. He stops behind Dennis’s chair, putting his hands on his shoulders and leaning down to press a kiss to Dennis’s temple. “That’s because we’re old men and a good idea of a date night for us is staying in, ignoring work, and having a few beers.”
Jack nods along with him, dropping his hand to start rubbing up and down Dennis’s thigh in an attempt to comfort him. “I guess we thought letting you into our home and life like that was us being obvious, but clearly we should have been trying harder.”
Dennis sighs, leaning his head back into Robby’s chest. He looks up to the ceiling and feels a bit too vulnerable when he admits “You never asked me to be your boyfriend and I never want to assume my place in anyone's life. Especially not a married couple.”
Jack lets out a heartbroken sigh and Robby’s grip on his shoulder’s tenses so much he might bruise. His gaze is redirected from the ceiling to Jack with a careful hand on his chin. “You’ve meant everything to us. Since the start of this. We’ve been besotted since the moment we met you ok.”
Robby lets go of him, moving to stand next to Jack’s chair so he’s in Dennis’s sight. He’s quick to touch Dennis again, resting his hand across Dennis’s shoulder so he can thumb at his collar bone. “He’s right, and we should have been telling you that from the beginning. When me and Jack got together, we kind of just fell into it, never really had to have a conversation about it, but not everyone’s like that. Even if you were, you deserve to be asked properly. Deserve to know how much we need you.”
Dennis blinks, all too aware of the tears forming in his eyes. He wants to curl in on himself, but he also wants to throw himself at the men in front of him. Before he can do either, Jack is leaning forward to look him in the eyes as he speaks.
“Dennis Whitaker, would you do us the honour of being our boyfriend.”
Dennis, for once, feels nothing but pure joy. The closest he’s ever got recently is waking up between these two men, but even then there was the anxiety of what he even meant to them. Now he knows. He’s important and they care about him and he’s not hopelessly falling for a married couple who don’t want him back. “Yes. Yes of course you fucking idiots.”
He springs up, kissing them both quickly before dragging Jack up to hug them both. Jack chuckles into his ear, but Robby immediately starts pressing kisses up and down Dennis's neck. Dennis giggles, letting Robby grab his face and pull him into a proper kiss. He feels Jack’s arms wrap around him from behind as the man’s chin settles on his shoulder.
“Christ Mikey, you just ate, no need to swallow the boy whole.”
When Robby pulls back they are both panting in each other's faces. “I missed him.”
Dennis frowns. “It’s only been a couple days.”
“And it’s been awful.”
Jack hums in agreement, now pressing attentive kisses up Dennis’s shoulder to his neck. “If we ever upset you like that again, get Santos to do awful things to us.”
Dennis laughs. He can only imagine the creative threats Trinity will be able to think up. “She still might for this. I haven’t told her why I’ve been so down yet.”
Both men freeze, Jack straightening so they can make eye contact over Dennis’s head. “This might be the end for us Michael.”
Robby looks genuinely worried, and Dennis can’t help but lean forward and kiss his frowning lips. “She might hold off when she realises how happy I am. Now I’m actually dating the men I’ve been pining over for months.”
Robby smiles softly, leaning forward for a chaste kiss. “Well, we are just as happy to have you.”
“I’m starting to feel a little left out here guys.” Jack grumbles, hands smoothly slipping under Dennis’s shirt, scratching lightly as Dennis’s stomach. “Maybe we should move this to the bedroom. We have a lot of apologising to do after all.”
“Yeah.” Robby lifts his hand and twirls one of Dennis’s curls around his finger. “Tonight's about you sweetheart. Whatever you want, we’ll do it.”
Dennis’s brain immediately goes a mile a minute with all the fantasy’s he’s ever had about these men. It must show on his face, because Jack is laughing before swatting him lightly on the ass. “Careful there, don’t short-circuit on us babe. Why don’t you head to bed and we’ll just do exactly what you say all night.”
Dennis nods , turning to give Jack one deep kiss before slipping out from between them to head up to their bedroom. When they don’t immediately follow, Dennis turns around to see Jack and Robby sharing their own soft kiss. They whisper to each other when they pull back, but Dennis is still close enough to make it out.
“We can not fuck this up again.”
Robby nods. “He’s too special.”
Dennis barely suppresses a humiliating whine. “I need you guys to fuck me right now. Please.”
The men laugh, kissing quickly once more before herding Dennis upstairs.
“Yes sir.” Jack mumbles, squeezes Dennis’s ass as he skirts past, going to take his prosthetic off as Dennis and Robby make their way up.
Robby and Dennis give him time to get comfortable, sharing soft kisses as they stumble upstairs. Robby tugs on his belt loop as they get to the bedroom door. “Thanks for hearing us out.”
Dennis smiles, backing up into the bedroom, where Jack’s clothes already litter the floor. “No problem.”