Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Your Ego is Showing

Your bed is empty. Again. For 654 days, your bed has been empty.

Every morning you are painfully reminded that you haven’t been touched intimately by another human being for almost two years. Not that the silence bothered you. You preferred being alone. What made you particularly pissed off was the constant reminder you were incapable of being loved.

Being roommates with Lance “the fucker” Tucker didn’t help soften the blow of existing as a one-man pity party. Hearing other women’s moans between the hours of 1-4AM was your average Tuesday morning.

Your other roommate, Charles Blackwood, however remained unbothered by Lance’s early morning performances (sometimes you even believed he enjoyed it).

Although you were grateful for having both of these men in your life, their inflated egos almost made it unbearable to be near them- especially on days like this. Thankfully, both Lance and Charles were away; Lance’s girls made it to the Olympics this year in Tokyo and Charles was visiting his cousins in Vermont.

You roll out of bed and look at the time on your IPhone 6S:

12:56 PM

“Shit.”

A low growl escapes your mouth as you force yourself out of bed and head for the shower.

You throw back the curtain and start the water, pulling the handle towards you until it finally stops just before the red sticker.

Between you, Lance, and Charles, the tub was filled with personal items. Endless amounts of hair product, shaving cream out the ass, three different bars of soap (because you KNOW the boys didn’t use washcloths), and le pièce de résistance- a little rubber duck named Jeff.

You climb in, mentally preparing yourself for the day ahead.

You didn’t have a normal job. You were a wedding photographer.

Did the job reinforce your crippling fear of being alone forever? Of course, but it paid your share of the bills.
As you run your hands through your hair, you hear footsteps throughout the apartment.

“Of fucking course.”

You hear a faint knock on the bathroom door.

“Nice to see you too, sugar tits.”

You roll your eyes. The battle begins.

“Not now Lance I have to be to this venue in an hour and a half!”

“Ohhhhh nooo, what’s wrong? Does kitten not wanna play today?” He smirks, knowing you’re not in the mood. You never are anymore.

“If one more word escapes that black hole you call a mouth your medals will be taking a trip down to the Sal Val!”

That’s it. Now you made it personal.

“How about you jump out of that shower and do it, huh? Actually put some meaning behind your words. Oh wait, I forgot, Chase took that and your dignity when he moved out.”

And just like that, you ripped open the curtain, threw on a towel and opened the bathroom door. Your eyes burned with rage as your stare bore into Lance’s steel blue eyes. It was both exhilarating and depressing at the same time, considering you haven’t felt such passion in a long time. Almost two years to be exact.

You point your finger at his chest and damn near stab him with it.

“Don’t you fucking dare say that name to me ever again, you insufferable asshole.”

He knew he had taken it too far as soon as the words left his mouth. As smooth as he was with the ladies, he never knew how to act around you. You weren’t afraid to bite back. He admired that about you.

Just as he began contemplating whether or not he should apologize to you, keys began to jingle as the apartment door swung open.

Both you and Lance looked at Charles, silence permeating the atmosphere.

You look back to Lance one more time before finally turning around to walk to your room. You slam the door, falling back on it, letting tears escape your red eyes. You didn’t have time for this. But just like every other day for the past two years, you didn’t give a shit.
__________________________________________________________________________

You kept checking your makeup in the rearview mirror. Although you put on your makeup after your mental breakdown, a few stray tears made their way down your face.

You left the apartment in a hurry, completely avoiding eye contact with Beavis and Butthead. You would deal with Lance later.

“Fucking idiots. I don’t deserve this shit. They don’t deserve me.”

You begin to pull into the venue, a barn that was remodeled to host wedding events, parties, and other celebrations. It really was beautiful.

You felt out of place, as you always did upon arrival to these events.

The truth was, you saw yourself as average in every way imaginable. Average hair. Average height. Average personality.

At least that’s what he told you.

The only thing you knew wasn’t average was your weight. That most certainly was NOT average.

You stepped out of the car and inhaled deeply.

“You can do this. Just another day on the job.”

As you walk around the venue, you notice you are surrounded by beauty. Men dressed in suits, women in beautiful gowns, hell even the trees had a certain elegance to them. Perhaps this is why you chose this as a career; You belonged behind the camera.

Hours had gone by until the bride pulled you aside personally to take “a quick peek” at some of the pictures. This act wasn’t uncommon, most brides wanted their pictures the day after their wedding.

As she places her hand on your shoulder, your eyes travel up her slender arm. Your eyes continue to meet the glow of her hazel eyes, her soft features encompassed by a thin white wedding veil hanging behind her. She was wearing a mermaid style wedding dress, accentuating her curves in all the right places. She looked stunning.
A pit in your stomach formed.

“I hate you!” you screamed as you threw the engagement ring at him.

You felt the tears well up in your eyes and politely excuse yourself to the bathroom.

You were sick of feeling this way. Defeated. Weak. Incapable of even doing your job.

Wiping the tears from your eyes you look in the mirror.

“Not anymore.”
__________________________________________________________________________

You walk in the apartment, slamming the door behind you, mentally apologising to your neighbors. A statement needed to be made. The boys were sitting on the couch when you came barreling through the door.

Lance starts to get up as you hurry to your bedroom. Without even looking at him, you reprimand his actions.

“Don’t”

“Y/N..”

“I SAID JUST DON’T!” turning around to give him the same look you gave him earlier.

He hops over the couch and runs to embrace you. Uhhh, this was… different?

Lance was never affectionate, even with his own parents. To say you were shocked was an understatement.

“I’m sorry babydoll. I was being a major fuckwad to you. You don’t deserve to be treated like that.” He caressed your hair gently.

“Yeah…. Ya fuckwad” you smirked and looked up at him.

Charles sat there staring at you both, his knuckles white from balling his fingers into a fist. Neither of you noticed.

You couldn’t help but feel butterflies fluttering in your stomach. Lance let go of you abruptly.

He smirked. “Don’t be expecting that shit every time you cry, princess.”

You smirked back. “Like I would want your scummy hands on me again. You wish, Tucker.”

You look to Charles and wave. “What’s goin’ on Charlie? I thought you weren’t supposed to be back from Vermont for another two weeks.”

He hated when you called him that. He let it slide, not wanting to start anything.

“The girls seemed fine when I went up to visit. I’m sure I’ll be heading back up again in another six months. Besides, how could I leave my princess alone for so long?”

Now it was Lance’s turn to clench his fists, accompanied by his jaw.

Okay, now this was REALLY bizarre. Princess? You knew Charles was a possessive man, but only with serious girlfriends.

You decided it was high time to call it a night.

“Well boys I think it’s time I go get my sleep-deprived ass some rest. Night, fuckers.”

You give Lance a peck on the cheek, and quickly run over to Charles to give him one too. You walk back to your room and quietly shut the door.

“What am I gonna do with those boys.”

Chapter Text

You awoke to your alarm clock singing “You Are My Sunshine” by Johnny Cash. Gentle and depressing. Just how you liked it. 

It took you forever to fall asleep. Over-analyzing every situation was your speciality- especially when it came to the boys. Babydoll? Princess? Hugging? These weren’t your boys. Your boys never used nicknames, never apologized, and always stroked each others’ egos. 

Charles was unusually silent. Maybe something happened in Vermont? You needed to know what was up. You decided you would ask him when you woke up. You also decided you were going to tell the boys about your plan. 

It was 9:46AM by the time you decided to roll out of bed. You didn’t have an event today, allowing time for a quiet Sunday at home to edit wedding photos. You pull on one of Lance’s clean gym shirts and a pair of shorts just laying on a chair next to your bed. Stealing the boy’s clothes while they were away always comforted you. Peeking into Lance’s closet occurred more often however. Charles’ attire consisted of polos and khakis- not exactly perfect for a cozy Sunday in. 

Normally you would prefer sweatpants to shorts, but today you were feeling particularly confident. It’s not like you cared what the boys’ thought of you anyway. You were definitely not Lance or Charles’ type. 

You walk out into the kitchen and see Lance sprawled out on the couch. Typical. Charles was sitting at the kitchen counter reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of black coffee. Disgusting. You liked coffee, but you liked having more coffee with your cream than the other way around. Besides, you were more of a tea person anyways. 

“Good morning, fuckheads” you chimed, definitely in a better mood than yesterday. 

“Glad you could join us, Mary Poppins.” Lance retorts, checking his watch. “Only 5 hours later.” 

Lance gets up every morning at 5 o’clock to run 4 and a half miles to the nearest park- mostly to hit on other women. 

“Nice to see you made it out of your room today, piccolina ” Charles exclaims without taking his eyes off of the newspaper. Piccolina means “little munchkin” in Italian, so naturally when Charles came back from his trip to Italy two years ago, he made it his mission to piss you off in two languages.

 Both Charles and Lance picked on you for your small size. Well, you weren't small . You were 5’6”, an average height, but Charles and Lance towered over you easily, both men coming in at about 6’0” tall. This height difference subjugated you to many games of “Hey! let’s throw y/n’s shit over her head and make her jump for it!”

Charles always made it a point to be dominant in every situation he asserted himself into, usually resulting in a good ol’ fashioned dick measuring contest with Lance. 

“If you two are done being cynical assholes for the morning, I’d actually like to have a serious discussion with you both” you say with a smile still lingering on your lips.

This got their attention. 

“And what would that discussion be about sugar tits?” Lance smirked while throwing his arm over the couch to look back at you.

“I have a plan” you blurt out while firmly planting both of your hands on the kitchen counter.

They both look at each other in confusion. 

“Like, Plan Z?” Charles jokes. 

“No, you potato salad, a plan to start dating again. But I need your guys’ help.” 

They both look to each other again in confusion, but also another emotion you can’t quite pick up on. 

“And what exactly do you need our help with, Y/N?” Lance says with a bit of hostility. 

Ouch, that was harsh. Not even a nickname to soften the blow of his assholishness. 

“Listen Fabio, you both have amazing confidence, you’re both attractive, and you both know exactly what you want in a woman.” 

Of course Lance “the fucker” Tucker was big on one night stands with blonde, thin, and bubbly women, but Charles was different. Charles wanted a doting house-wife that would cater to his every whim and demand at the drop of a hat. If he asked her to jump, he expected her to know how high. You, of course, would never, ever be either of those women. You weren’t going to be a “hit it and quit it”, and you sure as hell weren't going to take shit from any man- especially one with an ego the size of an elephant's left ass-cheek. This is why you both loved and tolerated living with these pricks. You proved your worth and independence on many occassions, but, fuck if they didn’t annoy the shit out of you sometimes.

“So, you’re both gonna coach me” you say with a smug expression.

“And, what exactly is in it for us?” Charles asks. 

“Clearly I’m amazing to be around, that should be reward enough.”

They were not enthused.

 Plus, if you don’t help, I’m moving out.” That’ll give them a shove.

“WHOA!” they both shout in disbelief. “Alright, alright, we’ll help” Charles states, noticeably annoyed. 

You triumphantly smile. “Great. Well, now that that’s out of the way, Charles, why don’t you tell me what you did in Vermont?”

Charles’ face immediately heats up from embarrassment. He looks petrified, like he was just dared to jump into a pool of sharks head first. 

He swallowed the watermelon-sized lump in his throat. 

“Nothin’ special, the girls just needed some help fixin’ up the house. Figured they needed a man for a few weeks.”

The truth was, Charles always left for Vermont every time he broke up with one of his serious girlfriends. In the time you knew him, there had been three. You called them the unholy trinity, but just like how you didn’t like to talk about He Who Shall Not Be Named, he didn’t like to talk about them. Jennifer, Jocelynn, and Cassandra were their names. Although they were all different, they all left for the same reason: Charles was an emotionally abusive asshole. Lashing out on women was his specialty, so when he was denied anything , hurtful words were said, an object would be thrown, and an angry woman would storm from the house screaming something along the lines of “ Rot in hell, you cockbiting piece of shit!”

At least that’s what Cassandra said two months ago. 

Charles never took the break-ups easily. Like clockwork, Charles would become insufferable to live with, you and Lance would get tired of his bullshit and call him out, and Charles would run to his cousin Constance in Vermont. 

Constance was the only woman who would tolerate Charles’ abusive behavior. You always knew Charles and Constance had an unconventional relationship, borderline uncomfortable at times, but you let it slide because it was a sensitive subject

“Oh, well that was nice of you, how come you don’t do that shit around here then?” you say playfully while punching his arm. He looks up at you and smiles “Because you people are ungrateful when it comes to my services.”

“Oh is that so Prince Charles?” Lance retorts in a terrible British accent, acting like he’s holding a pipe.

You giggled lightly. These were the boys you knew. You were sure all of the weird behavior from yesterday was behind you.

__________________________________________________________________________

*Later that evening*

Charles sat in his room, staring at the ceiling. He replayed your words from earlier over and over again in his head. 

“you’re both attractive”

“Clearly I’m amazing to be around”

Yes, you were, and that was exactly the problem.

Charles was secretly ecstatic the day Chase broke up with you years ago. He never understood why. He still doesn’t know why. There was just something about him he didn’t like. Maybe it was because of his smug attitude, or the way he wore his hair. 

“Fuckin’ prick.” Charles mumbled under his breath.

He didn’t like the way he felt after you told him about Plan Z. It made him feel like how he felt when you were with him . He didn’t like you, though. You weren’t his “type” he kept telling himself. You were crude, independent, stubborn, and most-importantly you didn’t take any of his shit. 

What he didn’t know is that he has been feeding himself these lies ever since the day he met you.

__________________________________________________________________________

Lance was pacing in his room like a psychopath plotting his next kill. He only paced when he was nervous, but fuck, why was he this nervous? He wasn’t even this nervous when he was competing in the Olympics.

You asked him to help you with your dating life. No, he asked you to coach your dating life. Even better! Two things he was absolutely amazing at- coaching and fucking.

But something was off, and he knew it. He could feel it in his perfectly sculpted stomach. 

“Jesus Christ Y/N. You’re gonna be the death of me.”

Chapter Text

You awake from your slumber suddenly. A gasp escapes your mouth as you open your eyes to see… Lance?

“Lance what the actual fuck” you whisper.

You look over to your alarm clock

4:36AM

“LANCE WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKING FUCK” you yell.

Lance’s hand comes up to cover your mouth. “Shhhhhhhh, you’re gonna wake the baby” referring to Charles.

“Lance, what are you doing waking me up this early. You know I have an event today at 11.”

He stands up tall, confidence radiating off of him “We are gonna exercise.”

“Uhhhhh, come again?”

Lance smirks. “You told me you wanted my help in assisting you with your dating life, is this not what you had in mind?” he says while looking up and down your body. You assume he’s hinting at something you really weren’t in the mood for hearing at five o’clock in the morning.

“Lance, if you say one more fucking word, you’re gonna regret ever coming out of your mother’s uterus in about three seconds.”

“Alright, alright. Fuck, I just thought, well y’kno… early bird catches the worm” he winks. 

“Lance that’s utterly disgusting. Now if you don’t have any more ludicrous ideas I would like to go back to sleep” you say with a snarl.

“Can I join you?” he says without even thinking.

“Uhm, excuse me?”

He immediately blushes and rubs the back of his head “Well I uhh, y’kno if you don’t wanna get out of bed, maybe I could join you and we could start making you a tinder profile.”

You give Lance a look of confusion and amusement. Why did Lance Tucker wanna cuddle with you? Come to think of it, his nightly conquests have also been slim to none recently. 

“Uhh sure, hop in, but if you take all the blankets, prepare for a roundhouse kick straight to the face” you smirk gently with your eyes narrowed. 

He chuckles and looks down “Deal.”

He climbed up on the other side of the bed, lifting your purple quilt so he could fit all of his body under the covers. 

This is nice  

You also couldn't help but notice things about Lance you’ve never noticed before. His hair hadn’t been doused in product yet, allowing his unruly gorgeous brunette hair to lay on his head like a cloud in the sky. He was wearing a white t shirt and black sweatpants, a nice change up from his usual patriotic bullshit he called outfits. His gentle sapphire eyes meet yours as he finally settles in. 

You have never known a gentle Lance Tucker.

This is lovely 

You shake your head a bit to wake yourself up from his trance. 

What are you thinking? This is Lance “the fucker” Tucker we are talking about here. You can’t fall for this fuckhead!

“Uhh right,” you say interrupting your train of thought, “let’s do this.”

“Right” he clears his throat sternly. “Now, I assume you have already downloaded the app with your age and gender, correct sugar tits?”

You roll your eyes “Yes Lance, I’m not a complete asshat, I just need help picking out pictures and what I should say in my bio.” “Let’s start with the pictures. What do you got, maneater?”

“Well, not much, that’s for fucking sure. I don’t take a lot of selfies, and I absolutely hate when other people take pictures of me. I’m just so-” you stopped immediately.

Tears started to well up in your eyes. Goddamnit not right now.  

You sighed deeply and planted a big smile on your face. 

“Will you choose the best ones for me? If I had to pick this would never get done.”

Lance felt wounded. 

How could she ever think so low of herself? She’s downright gorgeous. 

No. Breathtaking. Sure she would maybe look nicer if she lost a few, but hell she wasn’t-

He didn’t even want to think about the word. He knew this had something to do with what he said to her. 

That piece of shit, if I ever see him again I’m gonna-

“Lance?” you say softly.

He looks up at you in a daze. After staring into your soft features for a couple seconds he began to reply. 

“Yeah no, of course, just hand me the stupid phone” he says while grabbing it from your hands.

You roll over out of embarrassment.

This was a bad idea. You bite your lip, waiting for Lance to pick the first few selfies he finds on your phone. Lance didn’t have a lot of patience, especially when he was doing something he thought wasn’t worth his time. 

You stare at your alarm clock as the minutes passed by.

4:47AM

4:48AM

4:49AM

You closed your eyes for five minutes without even realizing. Your body woke up with a sudden jolt. You looked up at the alarm clock again to see what time it was. 

4:54AM

4:55AM

What the hell was taking so long?

“Uhhh, Lance? Are you dead?”

He chuckled “No, Ms. Snorcat, I’m almost done.”

“It’s Snorlax you absolute ass, and okay but hurry the fuck up.”

After a few more groggy minutes of waiting you finally hear “Done.”

You roll back over and immediately grab your phone from Lance’s hands.

You glossed over the pictures he chose and they were surprisingly… good.

You looked up at him with a massive smile and immediately wrapped your arms around his toned arms and back.

You whisper “Thank you so much Lance. I really appreciate you walking me through this.”

He smiles and nuzzles his head into your neck.  

Anything for you, babydoll

“Of course, it’s no big deal, unless you wanna make it one” he leans back raising his eyebrows up and down vigorously.

You let go of him and smack his arm.

“Always gotta ruin a good moment huh?”

“Isn’t that why they call me ‘the fucker’?”

“You’re such a smug asshole” you smile and roll back over. “I’m going back to bed, stay if you would like but if I wake up and the cover is gone, there will be hell to pay.”

He snuggles against your other pillow and pulls the blanket up over his shoulders “Roger that commander.”

__________________________________________________________________________

You wake up again to a faint knock on your bedroom door.

Uggghhhh whaaaattt nowwww 

You hear a voice calling out to you.

“Piccolina? Piccolina it’s time to get up.”

Charles, of course. 

You open your eyes again and find yourself laying on Lance’s stomach. You immediately get up, waking up Lance in the process. 

“God damn sugar tits what’s your issue?” he says groggily.

“Piccolina I’m coming in.”

Charles bursts through the door to find you in bed with… Lance?

Un-fucking-believable 

Charles’ fist clenches along with his jaw. He begins to speak through gritted teeth. “What exactly is going on here?”

“Absolutely nothing Charles. You know I would never sleep with Lance, right buddy?” you say as you punch his side lightly.

Ouch  

Both literally and figuratively.

Lance puts on a fake smile and laughs “Yeah, right, plus she isn’t my type anyways Charles you know that. I was helping lazy ass over here make her tinder profile. She wouldn’t get the fuck out of bed, and we both just fell asleep.”

Charles’ fist still remained closed as he just nodded and left the room.

“And that is my cue to start getting ready for work,” you say as you hop out of bed.

You walk out to the hallway and feel a hand grab your arm harshly. However, a soft voice escapes Charles’ lips. “Hey uhh, I was wondering if I could take you out shopping after your event today, to y’kno, help with this date coaching thing.”

You pull your arm away abruptly but smile and nod, agreeing to the offer. “Sure, how does six sound?” 

He hated when you took control of the situation, but it’d have to do for now. 

“Sounds perfect to me,” he whispers, “ principessa. ”

__________________________________________________________________________

Lance remained in your bed until 8:45AM. He loved smelling your scent on your sheets in your bed, loving every second of laying on your pillows and blankets.

What you didn’t know, however, was that Lance was secretly scrolling through all the new selfies he had sent to himself earlier this morning. He sat there smiling like an idiot until his cheeks hurt. He heard the shower turn off and he put his phone away.

You’re in it deep now, Tucker.

Chapter Text

You were absolutely exhausted. No, exhausted  was an understatement. You couldn’t believe Lance woke you up to work on your tinder profile- he knew damn well you weren’t going to exercise that early in the morning. 

Or at all

You were almost done with attending your venue for that day. 

Thank God

It was only a graduation party, so you weren’t busy all day like you would be for a wedding.

You got in your car around 5 o’clock to start heading home. You turned the key in the ignition and-

Rrrrrrrr

Oh no

Rrrrrrrr

Oh no no no no this couldn’t be happening. Fuck, fuck, FUCK.

You quick pull out your phone to call Lance, but immediately hang up. He was still at the gym training with the girls- monday’s were one of his late days. 

Scrolling through your contacts you look for absolutely anyone to come pick you up. Anyone but Charles. 

Of course this would happen on the day he was supposed to take you shopping. He was always on your case about getting a new car, and if you called him, you knew he wouldn’t shut up about how right he was the entire way to the mall. 

Chris? No, he’s probably training.

James? Ugh, NO, he’s in Washington, DC with Sam at a work conference. 

Okay, Y/N, just fucking do it. 

You click the dial button over Charles’ name. 

ring 

ring 

ring 

“Piccolina, my sweet, where are you? Did you forget about our date?”

Date?

“Uhh no, not exactly. Listen, I uh, I’m stuck at the venue cause my car won’t start, and I was wondering if you could-“

Charles cuts you off, “Already on my way. Send me your location and I’ll see you in a little bit.”

_________________________________________________

Charles arrived 20 minutes later in his brand new 2019 red Jaguar F-TYPE convertible. 

Charles’ family wasn’t exactly poor. Why he chose to live with you and Lance in a shabby Pittsburgh apartment you never knew. 

“Your prince has arrived, and your chariot awaits, babydoll” he says as he shoots a disgustingly sweet smile your away.

“Yeah, yeah whatever, just take me to the mall” you say as you open the door and plop yourself in the passenger seat. 

The ride to the mall was short and sweet, Charles’ arm around your seat the entire way with his other hand on the wheel. Surprisingly, it was also a quiet ride. 

You arrived and Charles got out and ran to open your door. You let him do some things to make his ego feel better, but not much. On your way in the mall, you noticed Charles was acting strange.

He wasn’t looking at other women, as he usually did in your excursions. Hell you even believed he brought you places just so he could look at other women. 

“Alright pumpkin, where do you wanna shop? And please don’t say Hot Topic, you already have enough band t shirts and black hoodies.”

You rolled your eyes “Fine. American Eagle then.”

“Now we’re talking, it’s over here Piccolina” he says as he takes your hand in his, practically dragging you towards the trendy store. 

You felt out of place. You were a bigger girl, and you knew it. Coming into stores like this were unusual for you, afraid you wouldn’t fit into any of the clothes. You were surprised to find your size in every piece of clothing you picked up. 

“Sweet thing, you can’t pick everything in black.”

“What? It’s my favorite color. Can I at least have this dress?” you asked with puppy dog eyes. 

Charles brought his hand up to your face, but before he could touch you, he pulled his hand away and coughed “Uh yeah, uh sure whatever.”

You stuck your tongue out at him playfully.

“I’m gonna go try these on, be right back.”

Charles waited in the dressing room. 

Jesus Christ what’s taking her so long?

What he didn’t know was that you hated trying clothes on. It made you feel weak and disgusting. You knew your body type wasn’t ideal. After trying everything on twice, tears started to well up in your eyes. 

Knock knock 

“Princess? What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m okay.” You lied. 

Charles could hear you were upset. 

“Can I come in? Please?”

You were dressed, so you quickly wiped the tears off of your face and opened the door for him. 

Charles looked at you in utter disbelief. 

Why is he staring at me like that?

“Doll, you look stunning .”

You were wearing the plain black dress you picked out on the floor.

“No I don’t, shut up and stop lying” you smack his arm playfully with a little giggle and a certain softness in your voice.

“Doll, stop being so hard on yourself. Men like confidence, not girls who mope about what they look like.”

There’s the Charles you knew.

You sniffled “I guess you’re right, and I do like the dress itself.” 

You lunged at Charles to give him a hug. You nuzzled your face into his neck as he nuzzled his face into you hair. “Thank you Charles. I don’t know what I would do without you.” 

He smiled softly.

You walked out of the mall carrying one bag while Charles carried seven. Again, ya gotta let the man have his moments. Not to mention  he paid for all of your clothes. 

“Thank you again Charles” you smile softly at him. 

“Don’t mention it, princess, but don’t make a habit of asking me for everything, got that?” he said sternly. 

On your ride back to the apartment, Charles became more reclusive than he had been all day. He was staring straight forward, not saying anything to you. Suddenly, the silence was broken when he asked an unexpected question. 

“Why were you cuddling with Lance this morning?” he asks. The air immediately turned hostile. 

“I wasn’t cuddling with Lance. He was helping me set up my tinder profile and we just both fell asleep out of exhaustion. It wasn’t really a big deal.”

You could see his fists clench against the steering wheel, his jaw tightening at the same time. 

“So you wouldn’t mind if I just woke up early, snuck into your bedroom, and you woke up on my chest? That’s real rich Y/N, real fucking rich.

“Charles it’s not like you fucking own me. Lay off.”

“You know maybe Chase left because he thought you were fucking Lance. You do come off kind of whorish, don’t you think? Your behavior with him is out of control and I’m tired of it.”

That was the last straw.

“Pull the car over.”

He glanced at you. “What?”

“I SAID PULL THE GODDAMN CAR OVER”

You had never spoken to him like this before. He quickly pulled over on the side of the highway as you tried to calm yourself down. Of course, that didn’t work, and you were about to explode.

“You think you’re such a know it all huh? You wanna call me a whore but maybe you’re the one with the insecurity Charles. You can’t hold down a girl for shit, and we all know what goes on behind closed doors so don’t even fucking lie to me. I’m tired of you always acting like you’re better than me and Lance. Why do you even care that much Charles? Is it because you want me? Huh? Is it because you think about fucking me all night long but you can’t have me? Is that it? Are you just being a jealous fuck?”

You watched him swallow the enormous lump in his throat. “I’m sorry Y/N, I didn’t mean any of what I said, you know I just get-“

“Yeah I know, you just get angry, but that doesn’t give you the right to be a dickhead whenever you feel like it.” 

And just as soon as you finish your sentence, Charles planted a chaste peck on your cheek and as he caressed the other one. He stayed close to you for about a minute until he finally spoke.

“I know babydoll, I know, please forgive me?”

You could tell he was being genuine, and if he wasn’t wearing the damn sunglasses you could’ve sworn he was getting choked up.

“It’s fine, but don’t make a habit of it” you say, trying to be a smart ass. 

“I won’t. I promise. Thank you, doll.”

He turns the key in the ignition, but before he puts his turn signal on to get back on to the highway, you grab his arm.

“And Charles, if you ever say that name to me again, you will be a fucking dead man.”

Chapter Text

The ride back to the apartment remained silent besides Charles’ Frank Sinatra CD playing in the background. Your hair blew around in his convertible, something you absolutely loathed , but after your little spat with Charles you didn’t want to do anything else to start something. At around 8:00PM, He pulled into the parking garage putting the car in park. You grabbed one bag, while he grabbed the other seven and made your way up to the apartment in the elevator. 

Charles finally broke the silence, “ ‘oh Charles! Thank you so much for today! I don’t know what I would EVER do without your wardrobe help’” he stated in a mocking tone. 

“Oh get over yourself Blackwood, I already said thank you” you retort while rolling your eyes. “But in all honesty, thank you for this. Lance is too cheap to do anything besides pay the rent, and lord knows I get fuck all for my events.” 

Charles smiled. He hated how sassy you were, but he and everyone else knew you were the only one allowed to talk back to him. He didn’t know why. Or so he told himself that.

You fuck around with the keys for a minute and finally get the door open to hear the sound of moaning coming from Lance’s bedroom. 

Ugh for fucks sake hasn’t the man buried himself between every woman’s legs in the tri-state area by now?

But then you listen closely to hear that it’s not a woman in person.

“Hey Charles, do you mind heating me up some pizza rolls? I’m hungry and SOMEBODY wouldn’t stop for McDonalds” you say with a glare.

“Piccolina, Lance and I have both told you we are never getting fast food, just accept it at this point” Charles states back. What he wouldn’t tell you, however, was because they both thought, well... you weren’t exactly skinny. You weren’t exactly average sized either. 

“Whatever, pizza rolls or I call the police and say an intruder has entered my building and we all know I’m not talking about Lance” you yell as you walk towards the hallway with your bags. 

More morning ensues as you get closer to the bedrooms. You finally reach Lance’s door and stick your ear to it. Speakers are blaring moaning. Was Lance watching porn? 

You figured it was loud enough that Lance wouldn’t hear if you opened the door. You slowly cracked the door open to find something you would have never expected. Lance, naked on his bed, writhing while he stroked his length hard and fast. With every pump he made soft noises, unlike him in nature since he loved to make a spectacle of himself. Why was he trying to hide what he was doing? Poorly too, Jesus Lance if you’re trying to be sneaky turn down the goddamn speakers . Then you noticed what kind of porn he was watching. The woman in the video had a similar hair color and body type to yours. 

What the hell?  

Lance liked blondes, thin ones for that matter. Why was he watching this? 

Then suddenly you hear Charles. 

“Pizza rolls are done Principessa! Ugh god these things are fucking disgusting. I’m making you an Italian omelette to counterbalance the chemicals in these things.”

Jesus Christ why does everything have to be Italian? 

You slowly shut the door without a sound. Thank god for that. You drop your bags off in your room and take a minute to change into your black comfy clothes after a long day. 

“Hey fuckhead! Can you make me some hot tea as well? I wanna read a book when I’m done eating” you turn around mid sentence to watch Lance come out of his room all sweaty. You make eye contact and he looks slightly embarrassed. 

“Hey sleeping beauty, what were you doing in there?” you ask slyly, hopefully distracting him from thinking you heard anything.

He looks at you, and states “Nothin special, just havin’ a wet dream about my hot new assistant. God you should see her Y/N, she’s got an ass as tight as my abs.” 

Sigh. 

“ Oh yeah? Well maybe tomorrow you can help channel that energy into helping me find a man I can have those wet dreams about” you smirk as you walk past him and hit his arm to go get your food, and hopefully, hot tea. 

Lance stands there for a moment, sulking in his own thoughts. 

Why has she never thought about me that way? I’m hot, I’ve got abs, great hair, an ass that won’t quit. Why am I not good enough?

He slowly comes back to life and thinks.

Jesus Lance pull yourself together, you don’t care. You can have any girl on the planet. Y/N is just your chubby roommate. 

Lance, however, although a good liar, knows himself better than anyone.

Chapter Text

After eating your pizza rolls and Italian omelette prepared by Gordon Ramsay himself according to Charles, you head in for the night and decide to actually look at Tinder. You open the app to find a picture of a handsome man. You’ve always liked older men. You didn’t know if it was because they were (usually) more mature, or if it was because of your half-absent (and abusive) father. You decided it was the former, a psychologist would probably decide the latter. 

You aren’t the picky type when it comes to men. Overall, as long as they seem nice and aren’t a Trump supporter, you would give them a shot. Although it’s nice to be physically attracted to someone, you didn’t value looks as much as Charles and Lance. Scratch that, no one is as interested in looks as Charles and Lance. 

After what seemed like endless hours of swiping, you stumble upon one of the most attractive human beings the world has come to produce.

Chris Beck, 34, Oakmont, PA

Hello! I work as an astronaut for NASA. Looking for a good time. I love curvy women and I’m not afraid to show it. I like superhero films (Team Cap), ice cream, and video games. I’m also a big space nerd if you couldn’t tell. 

Huh. Maybe this dating situation isn’t so bad after all.

You happily swipe right on this gorgeous man and in big letters it states: 

MATCH

You feel a hitch in your breath and feel an overwhelming sensation of nerves overcome your entire body. You can not contain yourself knowing you matched with the gorgeous NASA employee who is interested in all of the things you love as well. A fire like this hasn’t existed in you for almost 2 and a half years and you’re finally getting a second chance you tell yourself. 

You jump out of bed and start squealing. “Yes yes yes yes yes!!!! I got a good match I got a good match!!” you yell being downright obnoxious, especially regarding the time.

Lance awakes, the only thing he can hear is you yelling at the top of his lungs. Assuming the worst, he jumps out of bed and grabs a baseball bat hidden in his closet. He escapes the room mumbling to himself “if that fucking asshole still has a key to this apartment I’m gonna rip his throat out with my bare hands.”

Lance is met by Charles opening his door with a.... lamp?

“What the hell are you doing Nancy Drew?” Lance retorts looking at Charles pathetically.

“Oh it’s great to see the GYMNAST carry a baseball bat. I’m shaking in my Versace boots.” Charles scowls.

They both drop the matter and hurry to your room, entering with a burst. You nearly jump into the ceiling “Whoa whoa guys what the fuck???” You say holding your chest. The boys both look around and then to you. You were in tight booty shorts that showed your voluptuous thighs lined with stretch marks from over the years. Although you were wearing skimpy bottoms, your top was loosely enclosed by one of Lances’ old plain white training t-shirts and Charles’ tan Gucci cardigans. The boys had taken notice to the way you looked, a little more than usual. You instinctively covered your body with your arms and crossed your legs to match. 

“We uh, ahem. We uh... thought we heard something sugar tits.” Lance scratches the back of his head and looks to your purple walls to detract from his staring. 

Charles does the same but with the wooden flooring “We heard you scream principessa. We just wanted to check on you. Even though we know you can handle yourself” he can’t help but smirk at that remark. 

What was he getting at? They’ve both been awkwardly nice this past week and you don’t know whether to thank the world or call a doctor. 

“Oh, I uh, just. I found a guy I really liked on Tinder. We matched and we like the same stuff. Now, we don’t have a date established yet, let alone have we started talking at all, but I was excited.”

They both half-heartedly smiled with an eye roll. 

“Oh. great.” they said in unison and sarcastically. You should know. Sarcasm was your favorite past time. 

“Come on I have been DYING for any intimate touch for over two and half years. You know I need this.”

Lance retorts half jokingly and half honestly Well if you just wanted some tender lovin’ all you had to do was ask the sex God himself.”

He bit his lip and gives you that famous Lance “the fucker” Tucker stare.

Charles scoffs and clenches his fist around the lamp “Has anyone told you you have no class what so ever Tucker.”

“Says the woman beater” Lance attacks. 

“You wanna be next Babe Ruth? I can make that happen. One trip to the hospital and that “pretty face” won’t be competing in the next Olympics” Charles states closing in.

“Boys! For the love of all that is UNHOLY could you PLEASE take this fight somewhere else. These sheets are brand new.” you say coyly, hoping they’ll stop and laugh. 

They both back off but don’t laugh. Finally, Charles states “Tomorrow Piccolina, we are all going to talk about this guy. No ifs, ands, or buts. I will look at his profile and decide if he is good enough for you, got that?” 

You didn’t feel like fighting. You knew Charles was tired, angry, and unfortunately, possessive. Instead of arguing, you nod with a smile. It wouldn’t hurt anyways every since Ch-, him , the boys promised to always protect you. 

Lance agrees. “Now that Sleeping Beauty here has decided to wake us up in the worst possible form, I would like to get back to bed. Goodnight sugar tits.” Lance goes in to kiss your forehead but stops dead in his tracks. Instead, he goes for an awkward side hug and a cheeky smirk that you know means he’s hiding something. He walks away to his room, leaving you and Charles alone.

Charles comes over by your side “Come on Piccolina, I’ll tuck you in.”

You smile and slowly climb in to the left side of the bed. Charles puts the lamp down and brings your covers and eight other blankets you sleep with to tuck you in. He places a firm kiss on your cheek, lingering longer than you both know he’s supposed to, but you both just smile in return. Charles stands up and goes to turn off your light. 

“Goodnight bellissimo bambino”

You blush, although you have no idea what he just said. 

“Goodnight Charlie” you smile. God he hates that name, but he just smiles and turns off the light and shuts your door. 

________________________________________________

“Chase I said don’t touch me like that”

“I’ll touch you however and wherever I want to touch you” he whispered in your ear with a hiss.

“I said don’t touch me!” You finally shout with a push. A flash of wickedness appeared in his eyes. He was furious and you knew how this would end up. 

You begin to run down the hallway and hear his heavy footsteps come after you as you race to the bedroom.

He yells “come here, you bitch!” You run and shut the door behind you to your bedroom. Thank god Lance and Charles weren’t home to see this. It’s the last thing you needed. You could fight your own battles. 

As you try and slam the door shut his body slams against the other side, knocking you down. You’re half-blinded by the tears streaming down your face. 

“You worthless whore. You know better than to run from me! Why won’t you let me touch you, huh? Is it because you’re self conscious about your fat stomach, or is it the cellulite on your ass that keeps you from being intimate? You know I’m the only one who could ever love you and your disgusting traits, but that’s okay, baby. We’re gonna work on getting you thin. We’re gonna get you surgery to make those stretch marks and cellulite disappear. It’s all okay baby, let Chase take care of you.”

Chapter Text

You awoke with a sudden jolt, hearing your alarm beep at... 6:45AM? You didn’t remember setting an alarm for that time. If you had the choice you wouldn’t wake up until 10 o’clock in the morning. That’s when you also felt something sharp against your back.

What the hell? I don’t remember falling asleep wit-

You state as you turn around and find Lance laying in your bed behind you, knee now in your stomach which had been the culprit of the sharp sensation in your back.

When the hell did he get in here? How did I not know? He didn’t ask, goddamnit, and he knows how I feel about that shit. Dear god and what would CHARLES think finding Lance in my room a second time in the past week. 

That’s when Lance’s “snooze” on his alarm went off a second time, effectively waking him up.

You casually whisper to him “Lance what the FUCK are you doing in my bed again?? It was a one time deal and I TOLD YOU that” you stress without trying to get angry.

“Well good morning to you too, sugar tits” he says while placing an arm around you and pulling you into his bare chest.

You roll your eyes, carefully pushing him off of you. You know if you rejected him too much he will go on a tirade explaining how he “didn’t want you anyways” and that I’m “not his type and just needed someone else in his bed because he hasn’t been getting laid lately.”

“Lance, you can’t be hugging me like this. What if Charles walks in? He’ll think there’s something going on between the two of us and flip the fuck out. Or worse, leave for Connecticut again and go see his weird ass family.” 

You notice the sudden jealousy in your voice bringing up Charles’ family. The truth was, you hated his relationship with Constance. You knew they were just family... did you?

Lance pulls you out of your trance by stating “Fucking let him, he’s not gonna get jealous or anything. Besides, you’re more my girl than you are his” he pulls you in for another cuddle session snug against his broad and muscular shoulders, forcing your right hand to lay on his side and your left hand to lay on his 6-pack.

You sigh. 

I’m not gonna win this battle.

You snuggle into his broad chest and lie there awake for a few minutes. You absolutely refuse to let Charles see you like this again. Your thoughts get interrupted again by Lance speaking 

“You’re my girl, you know that right? No matter what kind of kiss ass decides to come into your life, I’ll always be there to protect you. Besides, no one gets to treat you the way I do” he says with a smirk. Out of the blue you also feel him press a long kiss to your forehead.

This man when he’s tired, I swear he’s not even the same person.

You rarely ever got to experience the sweet dude of Lance before this whole dating fiasco started. There were only a handful of times he has given you the courtesy of being nice for more than ten minutes at a time. Sure, he wasn’t a dick ALL the time but he would always pick on you for your weight, the guys you brought home (before him ), and your job. When he upset you he owned up to it and apologized but he was never nicer longer than he physically had to be. You figured he came with a specific set of rules like a Gremlin. 

1. Make sure he has sex at least once a day
2. Make sure he gets exercise in the form of sit-ups and pull-ups every 72 hours 
3. NEVER let him be nice to another human being for over ten minutes

Otherwise, he will die. 

You could feel Lance’s arms around you, slowly tracing his fingers along your lower back to your shoulders over and over again for seconds at a time, stopping to trace circles every so often on your soft, delicate skin.

That’s when he did something he has never attempted to do in his life. 

He reached down with one hand and subtlety grabbed your ass. His eyes instantly opened as he realized what he had done, looking down to view your reaction.

You look up to meet his eyes, “Tucker, I know we’ve never had this conversation before, but I’m not another one of your ‘conquests’ in the game that it sexual ‘LIFE’.”

He sternly looks at you and gets out of the bed, looking offended. He pulls on a pair of his sweatpants that he had taken off in the middle of the night. 

“Y/N, honey, not to be a dick, but you aren’t really my type anyway. You’re too, how shall I put this, oh I know. F A T” 

You had hit your breaking point. You had decided to go off on him quietly, hopeful not to wake Charles. You began to point at him and back him into the door.

“How DARE you come into MY room in the middle of the night, cuddle me without my consent and tell me you’ll protect me at all costs and have the AUDACITY to call me that word. You, Lance Tucker, are nothing but a has-been gymnast turned disgusting sex addict who lives vicariously through his own athletes to relive your own glory days. Don’t talk to me about being your “type” when you haven’t even the slightest idea on how to handle a woman like me. You’re just a sad boy in a man's clothes. The only person who I need protected from is you. Now get the fuck out of my room” you state with a snarl and determined look on your face.

Lance begins to speak with only what you could imagine is an apology, but you have no interest in hearing it.

“I said get the fuck out of my room or I will move out and never look back.”

That was his cue to leave. He just nodded once and turned and stepped out of your room, taking slow steps down the hallway to his own. 

You collapsed to the floor, wrapping your arms around your body in a desperate effort to soothe yourself after Lance’s words had attacked you so deep. You slowly fall to the ground, clinging to yourself as you begin to weep hard, letting all the pain wash away with every tear you shed.

Chapter Text

You decided to sleep for another two hours after your whispering match with Lance. 9 o’clock was early for you when you didn’t have an event. God he was so insufferable. How dare he call you fat. Of course he’s said it before as a “friendly reminder to go to the gym” but his words were malicious. They were meant to hurt. 

Suddenly, you get a text from one Christopher Beck.

Chris: good morning :) I hope your day is going well beautiful. I cannot wait for our date tomorrow night. Until then.

Your heart fluttered in your chest. Maybe this was it for you. No more asshole, no more feeling unloved by everyone and anyone. Just you and Doctor Beck. How could someone’s name be so dreamy? 

Not long after Chris’ text you receive another from Charles. Surprisingly, it seemed innocent enough. 

Charles: wanna get ice cream later? I’ll buy. Wanna spend more time with you before your date. 

Your heart fluttered again. 

Wait a minute. No no no no stop stop.  

You promised  yourself there would be none of this falling for your roommate shit.  They were both complete and utter egotistical dicks. 

With great smiles, eyes, charisma... and-

Y/N you better knock this shit off right now.

After shaking your thoughts for a couple of minutes thinking about anything and everything but Charles, you decided it was time to leave your room for the day. 

Fuck, you really did not want to leave. After having your.... whispering match with Lance, you did not have the urge to run into him by chance. 

You decided to tough it out for Charles, but mainly, for ice cream. You dress in a black skater skirt with black nylons underneath, a queen t-shirt, a jean jacket, and to top it off,  a mustard colored beanie. 

You slowly opened your door as you glanced at your phone for the time.

12:09PM

Hopefully Lance would be at the gym by now with the girls.

You quietly sneak down the hallway to find Lance’s room empty. 

Phew.

You casually walk to Charles’ door and knock. 

“Uhhh, hey you ready to leave? I’m gettin’ kinda hungry” you state loudly enough. 

He opens the door, not wearing anything but a towel. 

You thought your heart fluttered before but now you were afraid you were going into cardiac arrest. 

You stare a bit longer than you’d like as he exclaims “Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” 

You look back up to him, your thoughts coming back to reality “In your dreams, Blackwood. Come on, I want peanut butter ripple in a cone.” you say with a smirk. 

After he overdresses himself in a yellow button up top and khakis, you begin walking to your favorite ice cream shop, the purple cow. Your fingers laced in between his was a regular occurrence when you lived in the city. Although you weren’t exactly a looker by your own standards, men were desperate and wanted your attention. This way, you didn’t have to deal with it. Well, not as much at least. Plus, it felt nice to hold his hand.

No it does not. STOP IT. 

You walk into the store holding his hand still, silently enjoying each others’ company and start looking over the ice cream.

“What’s the problem?” you ask nonchalantly.

Charles looks at you confused “Uhm, what?”

You know his antics. Every time he has something big to reveal or talk about he always takes you to a favorite spot in the city to deliver the news. 

“You know what I mean Charles, what’s the problem this time.”

He doesn’t say anything for a while. You both order your ice cream, and take seat near the window.

“I don’t want to lose you again.” he states bluntly. 

Now you look at him confused, “What do you mean?”

He sighs deeply. “Last time we thought we lost you. We had to take you to the hospital. I don’t want a man hurting you like that again. I don’t want to lose you.”

You take his hand in yours again. 

“You won’t.”

Chapter Text

Lance got to the gym earlier than usual. He left the apartment immediately after your argument. He knew he had been less than kind, but he didn’t care. 

Why should I be nice to her? She doesn’t do anything for me. All I ever do is try and love her and what do I get? Yelled at. 

He entered the dark training room, flipping on the lights so when the girls came he would not have to worry about them injuring themselves by tripping over a mat. 

He sat down in his office and played with his styled hair for over fifteen minutes, just thinking about you. Why had you gotten to him so much? You were friends and roommates for years and fought constantly. Why did this bother him so much? 

He decided to let off some steam by going to the pommel horse and doing a couple tricks. He did handstand after handstand but you were still all he could think about, making his body weak and fragile. He decided to get off before he seriously injured himself. 

Was I overstepping when I called her fat? Of course she’s overweight but she’s so beau- no, Lance. No she is not. She’s not your type, she’s too abrasive and stubborn. Besides, she wouldn’t want to date you. 

Lance, YOU GENIUS! I know exactly what I’m going to do.

He immediately picked up his phone.

“Hey, uhhh Jodie? Sorry, Julie, come over tonight, 7PM sharp, and bring me a salad would ya?” He hung up. 

“All you need is another woman.”

Lance, however, knew he was lying to himself. Every morning and night he wanted someone to be there, next to him. He sneaks into your room for cuddling rendezvous because you felt like home. That’s not even counting how many times he’s thought about you on top, riding him, screaming his name, maybe even calling him sir. You were made for both, loving and fucking, but Lance ‘the fucker’ Tucker was not about to admit some woman had him wrapped around her finger. 

________________________________________________

By the time you got back from ice cream with Charles, it was 2PM. Only three more hours left until you had your big night. 

You were extremely excited for your date that night with Doctor Chris Beck. A Doctor. A HANDSOME, Doctor, who you were going on a date with. A date. You hate to be repetitive but God you felt so ALIVE. For almost 2 years you have been alone, dealing with the many egotistical bouts of both Charles and Lance. You suffered so many nights of hearing both of them with their nightly escapades, and now it was YOUR turn to go out. It was YOUR turn to have fun. You wouldn’t have to babysit tweedle asshole and tweedle “I fuck everything with a pulse” for a whole night. 

Charles has been sweet lately though, you wondered what has gotten into him. Usually he only acts this way when he’s met... a girl? Of course he was never nice to that girl, treating her like a piece of meat that was to be owned, but with you he would offer to do more around the house, take you and Lance out for a nice meal.

Holy shit! Charles has been seeing someone! How could you have been so BLIND. 

An unfamiliar and unique pit formed in your stomach at the realization. Brushing it aside as pre-period cramps, you begin getting ready for your date. Confronting Charles would just have to wait until you were dolled up for your date with the Docto r . God you loved saying that.

You begin by choosing your outfit. Should you wear a skirt or a dress? 

Maybe I could ask Charles? He is seeing someone…

Well, you think he is.

You decided to yell down the hall to Charles, “Hey Versace! Come help me pick an outfit for my date.”

Charles picked his head up from the Italian novel he was reading and rolled his eyes, simultaneously loving and hating that you needed his attention at the exact moment he got to the climax of the book.

You put on a tight pencil skirt to show off your thick thighs, going a little bold since you don’t normally show off your body due to body rolls. 

Paired with the pencil skirt was a white blouse, the top two buttons unbuttoned and a loose gold locket hanging from your neck. 

You had your hair straightened and behind your head as he walked in. 

You make immediate eye contact with him “Well, what do you think?”

The truth was, Charles wasn’t thinking, he was stunned. 

You had never looked so subtle and sexy since the beginning of your friendship. You never tried this hard. His emotions started getting the better of him, his body filling of rage, jealousy, and lust. 

“Piccolina, you look absolutely delicious” he said whilst licking his lips. 

He took you all in with his eyes. 

“Come here, principessa, I wanna show you something.”

You smiled and hesitantly walked over to him. He casually took out his phone and started playing “My Way” by Frank Sinatra. 

“Dance with me, before I lose you again” he stated sternly but with a certain gentleness behind it as well. 

You wrapped your arms around his neck and you nuzzle your face into the side of it as well. His hands slowly met your hips as you both breathed slowly and swayed to the light music. 

You smiled against his chest, hoping he wouldn’t feel your face muscles move. This was so nice, you were glad he was seeing someone. 

You continued on for a few minutes, playing various slow songs to calm you down before your date. Hell, you didn’t even have your makeup on yet, but you didn’t care. This was right. This was-

“What the fuck is going on here?” Lance states loudly.

You slowly pull off Charles, confused. “We’re dancing, yknow, before my date tonight. He was just helping me pract-“

Lance cuts you off abruptly, going into a full on scream “You have a date tonight?”

You stand there stunned, not able to respond. You are filled with instantaneous rage and angst. 

You quietly say “Charles, if you don’t mind, would you please leave the apartment and do a lap around the block?” 

Although reluctant, Charles agrees. He whispers in your ear “If he gets hostile, please call me.” You nodded, he nodded, and he exited the apartment as quickly and swiftly as he could.

As soon as you heard the door shut, you went off “What the FUCK is your problem Lance? You cuddle me for what, fun? To make me even more lonely than I actually am? You have a nightly escapade every night with anything who obeys your every whim, is our friendship just some toy to you?”

He gets up close and personal, directly in your face. You can feel his chest up against yours. You stand your ground as you look up at him. Your nostrils are both flaring angrily. Lance opens his mouth. 

Here it comes. He’s going to insult you. 

You watch him closely, as he quickly grabs your face, placing a hand around the back of your neck, and kisses you deeply. You stand like that for a full minute, not quite leaning in, but definitely not pulling away. 

He pulls away just as quickly as he pulled you into his embrace. He stands there, just as shocked as you are. Before either one of you had a chance to say a word, he had left your room and went into his, slamming the door.

Holy. Fuck. 

Chapter Text

You left the apartment as fast as you could. You texted Charles, letting him know it was safe to go back into the apartment. 

Dear god I hope Lance doesn’t say a fucking word until I get back. The last thing I need is for Charles to take another trip back to Vermont.

The date with Chris was lovely. He was a true gentleman the whole evening. Thankfully, it went so well you completely forgot about Lance’s advances. As the night drew to a close, you both decided a hug was best for now. He even asked you on a second date! 

Score! One for the home team!

As Chris drove away, you finally remembered what had happened earlier in the night. 

Fuck.

You took a deep breath and headed up the stairs into your apartment. 

As soon as you reached your door, you took another deep breath before searching for your keys in your bag. You know the boys listen for your keys every time you go out.

You found your apartment key and slid it in the doorknob. 

You slowly open the door and find only one of them sitting on the couch. Since it’s dark and they both style their hair the exact same way, you can’t tell who it is from afar.

That’s when you hear moaning coming from the back hallway. 

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. 

Now knowing who is sitting on the couch and who is fucking their night away, you more confidently approach Charles.

He looks up at you with a defeated smirk. 

“Hey Piccolina, how’d your date go?”

You turn your head at Charles, recognizing he looks upset.

“It went great. Why do you look upset?” 

He looks at you with sad eyes and then down at his hands.

“Oh nothing principessa, don’t worry your pretty little head about it.”

He looks back and smiles at you again with the same defeated smirk.

You think about the look he’s giving you. You know this look.

Then it comes to you. 

“Charles, I know that look. Don’t you dare leave me here with Lance alone,” you state sternly. 

He looks at you again, knowing you figured him out. “I won’t.”

You scoot over to him and give him a hug. 

“I can’t do this without you Charles.”

You pull back and look him in the eyes. Your face is inches from his.

You take your hand and rest it on his face as you stare longingly into each other’s eyes.

You smile. He smiles back. 

You both begin to lean in a bit, but we’re interrupted by a scream coming from the hallway. 

“I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU!”

The skinny blonde that Lance was probably going down on five minutes earlier storms out of his room. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you? You invite me over to have sex and you scream another woman’s name during? I have never been so embarrassed in my entire life Lance Tucker. Don’t EVER think about calling me again!” 

She pulls on her shirt before walking out the door, slamming it behind her.

Both you and Charles make eye contact with Lance, who is currently holding a towel over his lower half. 

His tattoo leaves little to the imagination. 

You quickly pull off of Charles.

No one has a word to say. 

Finally, after minutes of standing and staring at each other, Charles breaks the silence.

“So, who’s name did you scream, Betty White?” He asked jokingly. 

Lance comes over to Charles and grabs him by the shirt color “It’s none of your fucking business what I do.”

Charles pushes Lance off of him “Get the fuck off of me man! It’s not my fault you can’t keep your women satisfied.”

Lance goes to throw a punch before you pull him back. “Knock it off you egotistical fuckheads!”

Lance turns his anger on you and scoffs “Glad to see you’re home. Guessing your date didn’t go well seeing as you aren’t naked in his bed.” 

You feel the tears welling up in your eyes and whisper in his ear so Charles can’t hear

“Well at least I don’t kiss my roommate, invite another girl over for sex, and scream my roommates name during sex.”

You storm off to your room, but quickly turn around “And another thing! Put some fucking clothes on!”

You slam your door. 

___________________________________________________________________________

What have I gotten myself into. 

You quickly pick up your phone and call your best friend, panicking.

She picks up, “Hello?”

“HI, JESS! Please come over RIGHT NOW, I have a major dilemma.”

Jess pulls the phone away from her face “Jesus Christ, okay. I’m on my way”

___________________________________________________________________________

As Jess climbed the fire escape, noisily, you shoved your face into your hand and rolled your fingers over your eyes.

She climbed through the window as you whispered “Could you be any more fucking loud? It’s 2 o’clock in the morning.

“I’m sorry, but who called me at midnight freaking the fuck out about some “dilemma”? Yeah, shut up,” She said with a smile.

God, this is why you loved her. 

You sat on the floor and held your face in your hands.

“What the hell have I done Jess?”

“Well, since you have your dress on still, I’m hoping Dr. Beck?” She says again with a smile.

You roll your eyes. 

“Yeah right, that’s the LEAST of my problems.”

“Just tell me what’s going on already, put up or shut up!”

“Okay! Damn. I’m gonna text it to you.”

She looks at you with a raised eyebrow “Seriously? You made me drive all the way over here so you could text me what you wanted to tell me?”

“Shut the fuck up and read what I sent you.”

She scoffs and rolls her eyes. She picks up her phone and instantly covers her mouth in shock.

“YOU ARE FUCKING KIDDING ME!” She exclaimed through a small whisper.

You shook your head with a weird smile on your face.

“I literally have no idea what to do.”

Jess finally replies to your text.

“Having feelings, both romantic and sexual, for three boys is not an ideal situation for anyone, that’s for sure.”

This is going to be a long night.

Chapter Text

You fell asleep after your long talk with Jess. The day was tiring and you certainly did not want to be around anyone but her. 

As you dreamt, several things crossed your mind. Your date with Chris was a little distorted, but did not last long in your head. The image that was brought to the forefront of your mind was you and Charles, kissing deeply. You opened and closed your eyes several times as you flirted, kissed, and touched each other all over. You opened your eyes again and suddenly Lance was on top of you, admiring your not so impressive body. Although you loathed how you looked, Lance looked at you like you were the frosting on top of the cake he’s not allowed to eat. He was devouring your neck with his lips. Finally, you opened your eyes for the final time. Your eyes laid upon the blob laying next to you, also known as Jess.

I guess we fell asleep after talking all night.

You felt off as soon as you arose from the bed. You knew you didn’t have feelings for Lance or Charles. At least you told yourself you didn’t. Chris is the clear choice for you. Your body and subconscious mind, however, do not lie. From the butterflies in your stomach to the most recent issue of having sexual dreams about the two most important men in your life, you had feelings for them whether you liked it or not. That wouldn’t stop you from trying to deny your feelings as long as you possibly could. 

Lance is an asshole. He sleeps with women and discards them the next day. He treats relationships like a game, and once he gets tired of it, he quits. 

Charles is a manipulator. He needs to be in control at all times, including when he dates women. 

Both of their egos are the size of the moon. Neither of them are ever wrong, they’re stubborn, and they can’t stand women who defy their wishes. 

All of these statements are true, but at the end of the day, they will always be your boys, and you will always be their girl. They have helped you in the worst of times and will until the end of time. 

That’s when it dawned on you. It’s time for you to have a little fun. You could give them a taste of their own medicine while also learning more about their true feelings for you. Although Chris is your main priority, it doesn’t mean you can’t get a little flirty with the boys. They are always so quick to flirt with you, but never truly mean it. It’s time for you to push the limits. 

As your friend stirred in her sleep, you chose to face the music and leave your room. You didn’t know how this was going to go. How soon do you start? Do you start subtle and work your way up? Are you going to act timid and shy because that's how they like their women, or are you assertive? 

You open your door loudly and strut out into the kitchen. To your surprise, no one is there. 

Shit . Lance is probably at the gym. Maybe Charles is reading in his room.

You stroll back towards the hallway and knock on Charles’ door. 

No answer. 

You knock again, loudly. 

You hear footsteps come to the door and the door swings open with force. Charles looks beyond pissed. 

“Piccolina, now is not the time to be bothering me. I have very important family matters to take care of right now.” He’s really trying not to lash out on you.

“I’m sorry. Could I just spend some time with you? Maybe I could help you,” you say timidly and smile up at him.

You could see that caught his attention. He sighed before speaking.

“Okay sweetie. Come on in. I know last night was rough.”

You walked in slowly and sat down on his bed. You feel stiff and nervous, even though you’ve been in his room a hundred times before.

He follows you and gives you a suspicious look.  

“You can relax y’know. I know I’m not in the best mood but that doesn’t mean I’m going to lash out on you.” He says with a smirk that could make a hundred women swoon.

You smile back and just study what he’s wearing. It’s one of your favorite things that he wears. A black button up shirt with tiny white X’s, coupled with black slacks and white suspenders to top it off. His hair is perfectly fluffy as usual. 

Stop it. You look ridiculous.

You finally speak up.

“I know. Also, I know this is kind of off topic, but uhm, I uhm, I think you look really nice today.” You say while looking at the ground and biting your lip.

That really catches his attention. 

“Alright, who are you and what have you done with my Y/N?” he kneels down in front of you and puts his hands on your thighs. Of course, a smile adorns his face like his family troubles did not even exist. 

“Oh shut up! What, I can’t say that one of my closest friends looks nice?” You smile back.

“There she is!” he states yelling loudly and tackling you into the bed. He begins to tickle your sides, as he knows this is your one true weakness. 

“Charles stop! You’re gonna make me scream at the top of my lungs!” 

“Promise?” he retorts back as he continues to tickle your sides. 

You finally manage to get him off of you, pushing him to your side, causing you two to lay face to face next to one another. As you both calm down and your giggling fits dwindle, you just lay there and smile at each other. That’s when you make the bold move to snuggle your face into his neck. 

He definitely did not expect that .

At first Charles remained stiff, wondering if you were under the influence, hesitant as to not overstep boundaries if that was the case. After snuggling your body a little closer, and Charles realizing it was 10 o’clock in the morning, he accepted the affection, and even reciprocated. 

He slowly wrapped his arms around you and swallowed loudly. The silence was deafening. You looked up to him.

“Do you want me to stop?” you ask innocently.

He shook his head and boldly planted a kiss on your forehead. Your body shivered. You both began to lean closer right as a knock landed on Charles’ door. You both breathed a sigh of relief and disappointment at the same time. 

You sat up on the bed as Jess stood in his doorway.

“I was looking for Y/N. Is she in there?” 

He reluctantly nodded, at a loss for words in general. 

He quickly stammered and stated “Yeah, uh, uhm, she’s uh, on my bed.”

She peeked her head in the door and asked, “Wanna join me for coffee?”

You nodded quickly and jumped up from his bed. 

“Yeah, lemme just get changed. I’ll meet you in the car.”

She smiled and waved goodbye to Charles. 

As soon as you heard the front door close, you looked to Charles and stated “We can talk about your family problems when I’m back.”

Charles nodded again with his hands in his pockets. 

You decided to be even bolder. You leaned in and gave Charles a kiss on the cheek while placing your left hand on his neck.

You quickly turn and walk to your room to get changed, closing the door behind you calmly.

As soon as the door is shut, you close your eyes and your heart begins to pound. 

How am I going to do this?

__________________________________________________________________________

Charles was shocked. He has never, in all of your years of friendship, seen you be so affectionate. Sure, you guys would be affectionate, hug, cuddle, all that jazz, but THAT was different. That was sensual . He has never felt that way holding a woman before, let alone you. 

It took all of his strength to stifle the boner in his slacks. 

However, as soon as you shut your door, that idea went to shit.

A bulge formed in his pants the second you were out of his sight. Of course he’s thought of you in a sexual way before, every guy-best friend has, but this was overwhelming. He wanted you. He needed you. He couldn’t show that though. Not with you dating Chris and certainly not with Lance’s confusing antics. If Lance knew Charles had a thing for you, not only would living with him be uncomfortable, but he was pretty sure Lance would beat the shit out of him. Charles could fight, but would prefer not to ruin life as he knew it.

What he couldn;t figure out was, what game were you playing?

Are you genuinely into him? Is the thought of Chris not enough? Do you want to be friends with benefits? Jesus he didn’t know. 

What he did know, however, was that he needed to fix the situation in his pants immediately.

Chapter Text

As you drove to get coffee with Jess your thoughts were whirling. 

What are you thinking trying to do this? 

You can’t possibly try and be involved with three men at once. Even though two of them you were only involved with for experimental purposes. 

“What’s going on in that big brain of yours huh?”

“Trying to figure out why I’m such a fucking idiot I guess” you say with a chuckle. Your head was leaning against the cold car window. You could feel a headache coming on. 

“What is your overall plan here? End up with all three in some full house situation but and end up taking turns fucking every week?”

“I don’t want to fuck them, Jess, I just wanna mess around with Charles and Lance. Besides, I haven’t even seen Lance to begin my playful taunts. Charles, however, I could feel his boner through his pants. It felt really good to be desired like that I must say.”

Ever since Chase, you haven’t felt desired at all. You felt worthless to be quite honest.

Flashbacks hit you like a truck.

“Why would anyone want to be with someone who looks like you?”

You hated when he got mad. He always said things he didn’t mean. At least you thought he didn’t mean it. You didn’t really know.

“Just get the fuck out Y/N.”

“Y/N, I said get out!”

“Y/N! We’re getting out of the car! We’re here.”

You snapped out of your haze. You hated letting your mind wander like that, especially when your mind wandered to your past.

“You need to do less thinking and have fun with me” Jess retorted with a smile.

You smiled back.

“Let’s just get our coffee. I need your help with something.”

______________________________________

You arrived back home at around 4PM. You turned off your phone to just spend time with Jess, but you also turned it off to keep from being distracted making the ultimate game plan.

Jess, although hesitant, helped you decide on how you would handle the situation with the boys.

Now it was time to execute it. 

You brought the boys back cake pops. You weren’t sure if Lance would eat his, but you knew Charles would appreciate your efforts. You noticed Lance was still out of the apartment, so you decided to go back to Charles’ room. 

You knocked on his door, happy to give him his tiny surprise. 

He opened the door, looking absolutely destroyed. Your face immediately dropped. 

“Hey, hey, hey, what’s wrong?” You embraced him in a hug as fast as you could. 

He wrapped his arms around your waist, pressing you flush against his body. 

“My Uncle Julian is in the hospital.”

You pulled your head back from his neck to look him in the face. 

“How serious is it?”

“It’s pretty serious Y/N. If it doesn’t get better, I’m gonna have to take a trip to Connecticut.”

You couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth. You didn’t really want him to leave, but you understood what needed to happen due to the circumstances. 

“What can I do to help?” You asked, staring deeply into his eyes.

“Spend some time with me?”

You nodded with a smile. “Of course, Charlie. Of course.”

You stepped into the room. 

You laid down on the bed as you did earlier, unsure if Charles would lay beside you or sit in his reading chair. He chose to lay next to you. To your surprise, you got excited.

“Do you wanna watch a movie? We can watch anything you want. This is about you Charles.”

He smiles up to you. “Can we watch horrible bosses? That always makes me laugh.”

“You got it.” You got up and went to your room to grab your horrible bosses dvd. You didn’t know why you liked collection my DVD’s. You and the boys owned all of the streaming platforms, but something about owning the movies felt different to you. They comforted you on your sick days, always falling asleep and waking up to the main screen music replaying in the background. They were good for movie nights with the boys, instead of scrolling for hours you just looked at your cabinet and chose immediately. It felt homey.

You returned with the DVD and popped in his DVD player. Lance owned all the consoles, you owned some of them, but Charles wasn’t one to play video games. He preferred to read, do sudokus, word searches, and other things. 

You laid down next to him again, getting comfortable on your side of the bed. 

You and Charles were leaning into one another as the movie played, slowly morphing into one giant cuddle ball before you knew it. Your head was on his chest as he was breathing. You were paying attention to the soothing sound of his body rather than the movie. 

Although you cuddled with the boys before, the last week has been different. You noticed a shift in the air with both of them. 

As you lay on Charles’ chest with your eyes closed he swirled his fingers over your arms delicately, soothing you even further into a slumber. He placed a soft kiss to your forehead to make the moment even more sentimental. You smiled, hoping he didn’t feel the shift coming from your mouth as it turned upwards. 

He did. 

“Thanks for doing this for me Y/N. I really appreciate it.”

You whispered back to him as you looked up to meet his gaze “Anything for you, Charlie.”

He smiled hearing that nickname. He hated when other people used it, but when it came from your lips it sounded as smooth as honey. 

“You’re one of the few girls who I’ve been willing to keep around all these years. You’re a lucky shit, ya know that?”

“You know you love me Charles. I keep you sane in all the chaos that is you and Lance’s life.”

Charles didn’t know why, but he grew slightly jealous at the mention of Lance. What was happening to him? 

“You do keep me sane. I don’t even know why you put up with our shit Y/N. You deserve so much more than what we give you and how we treat you sometimes. We’re real fuckin’ douchebags.”

You smiled. “I know. But what would I be without my boys? And who would you be without your girl?”

His girl. 

His girl .

That would stick with Charles more than he’d like to admit, but for now all he could focus on was your beautiful lips pouting up at him.

The tension in the air was growing. You both slightly leaned closer to one another, completely flush against each other’s bodies. You could feel his breath on your lips, both of your noses brushing up against the other’s. 

You were scared of what would happen if you kissed.

Would your attraction to him feel more real?

There was no turning back now. The game plan was in motion. 

Before you knew it, Charles kissed your lips lightly, slowly taking your bottom lip into his mouth and sucking on it. You kissed him back just as delicately. Before either of you could deepen the kiss, you heard the door slam. 

Lance was home.

Chapter Text

You both jumped away from each other in an instant. You were acting like teenagers who had just been caught fucking by one of their parents. Your labored breathing, sweaty palms, and reddened lips said it all. Lance could read body language like it was his native tongue, so you prayed that he wouldn’t walk into Charles’ room. If he did, he would know something is up. 

You got up off of Charles’ bed, combing your hair with your fingers, your nerves still through the roof after the kiss you shared with your friend/roommate/huge gigantic crush. 

No, no, no. There is no crush here. He is just my friend. My wonderful friend. My wonderful friend who has amazing lips, soft caramel hair…

You shook your head. 

Stick to the plan. 

“Uh, I’m going to uh, give Lance his cake pop now” you quickly exclaimed before rushing out of his bedroom door.

“Piccolina, wait please don’t-” You were already out the door. 

Goddamnit Charles thought.

He ran his hands over his face as he flung himself back on the bed.

What had he done?

__________________________________________________________________________

As soon as you closed the door behind you another, large, toned figure was before you. You thought you jumped so high your head would touch the ceiling.

“Why the perturbed face, buttercup?” Lance spoke loudly and with much curiosity. 

You smiled, not knowing exactly how to respond. So you answered with the one thing you knew you could do with ease.

“I’m baffled you even know what the word ‘perturbed’ means, Tucker.” Your quick wit has saved you countless times. Hopefully this was enough to let you off the hook.

Lance’s head was swirling with questions.

Why was she in Charles’ room? Why does she have that stupid look on her face like she had just been caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to?

However, Lance’s critical thinking skills would catch up with him at an unknown later date. For now he’d let it go, but he won’t forget what he saw.

“Oh feisty today aren’t we babygirl? That’s alright. A quick fuck can fix that y’know.”

Suddenly your body tightened and your fists bunched at your sides. Images of him masturbating to the thought of you flooded your mind, alongside the kiss you had just shared with your other flatmate just moments ago. Vivid images of Lance’s dick in his hand as he stroked himself crazily crossed paths with the feeling of Charles’ soft lips on yours. It was almost too much to bear. 

Lance looked at you with even more curiosity at this point.

Say something you idiot. Relax your damned body and say something.

You inhaled deeply as you let your body come back into a normal standing position.

“The womanizer of the house would say that” you said as you rolled your eyes.

“I’ll say it once, I’ll say it twice, don’t hate the player angel, hate the game.”

You pushed his shoulder lightly as you walked into the kitchen.

“And just when I was about to be nice to you and give you your gift Lancey.”

You knew he hated that stupid nickname, but that’s exactly why you loved it so much. 

Lance wriggled his body in pain at the name leaving your lips. However, he knew just how to get back at you.

“Oh, sugar tits you didn’t have to! Just for me? Oh baby do you have a little crush?” He said as he followed you into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around your waist.

The jarring feeling that came with his nickname for you was wrestling with the butterflies in your stomach at his soft touches around your waist. You soon forgot about everything when you smelled his intoxicating cologne on him. 

You were slow to react, something that Lance picked up on immediately, but just before he could say something you interjected.

“Don’t flatter yourself ‘baby,’” you said in a mocking tone, “I got one for Charles too.”

Lance felt a sharp pang in his heart at the mention of Charles’ name, let alone the thought of you buying him something on top of remembering the guilty look you wore when exiting his room earlier. However, Lance quickly shook the thought from his head. 

I’m not jealous. How could I be jealous? It wasn’t like I’ve had a giant thing for you ever since you moved in. Absolute nonsense. You were just his silly little nerdy girlfriend. No, not his girlfriend, but a friend who was a girl. Being a nerd wasn’t bad either, just a trait he picked up on. And you weren’t little either. Your curves were noticeable in every outfit you wore, every dress hugging the right places… 

Lance squinted and shook his head again, more violently this time. 

Neither one of you moved from the embrace, just spinning around with the cake pop in hand to look Lance in the eyes. 

“Ta-da!” you said while holding up one hand and giving jazz fingers to emphasize its importance.

Lance smiled.

“A cake pop? And here I thought you went and got me a “World’s Best Friend” trophy.”

You rolled your eyes. It was almost ritual at this point living in the same space with two egotistical men. 

“You wish, Tucker. Now, let go of me before you lose a hand.”

Lance smirked in response, pulling you closer to his face. “Is that a threat or a promise, princess?”

You couldn’t help but to stare in his eyes. When did they get so blue? Was he always this pretty?

That’s when you both were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Not just someone, but Charles.

You both looked over to him. His jaw was clenched like his patience was wearing thin, arms tight to his body as he tapped his foot quietly.

You pushed yourself away from Lance. Surely Charles would know Lance was just being himself, right? This wasn’t the first time he had caught you two in a “compromising” position, but this was also the first time he caught you in that position after sharing a kiss with him that same day.

Shit. 

You kissed him. And you wanted to kiss Lance too. But that was a part of the plan, right?

Right. Give them a taste of their own medicine.

“So,” Charles said, breaking the silence, “Pizza for dinner?”