Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

  “This is so unauthentic to the real game,” Michael grumbles.

  “Micah, it’s okay,” Jeremy laughs, elbowing him gently.

  “Ugh, no it’s not! I need my Crystal Pepsi,” Michael says, walking away from their streaming set-up in their bedroom and into the kitchen.

  The two of them are streaming a computer version of Pac-Man, and Michael, being the retro game aficionado he is, is not a fan.

  “I’m back,” Michael says when he returns. He plops down in his seat with a glass of Crystal Pepsi. He glances at the Twitch chat as Jeremy plays a round of Pac-Man.

what’s crystal pepsi is it the same as regular pepsi???

  “Is it the same as- fuck no! It’s clear!” Michael says, gesturing at his glass of — notably clear — Pepsi.

well no shit but like is it the same????? /lh

  “It’s clear ,” Michael repeats.

but like taste-wise?

  “Well-” Michael falters, then sighs, a small smile on his face. “You got me there.” Jeremy snorts. “Shut it, Heere.”

  “No you, Mell,” Jeremy mutters, grinning. He turns to look behind him when he hears the front door of their apartment open and close. “Oh, Rich must be home.”

rich??

who’s rich?

omg do u guys have a secret third bf /j

  Jeremy laughs a bit at that. “Rich is our other roommate.”

  “Our third-wheel,” Michael says fondly.

  Their bedroom door creaks open and Rich pokes his head in. He’d been getting his hair dyed, and came back with it bleached rather than with his normal red streak. “Are you two streaming?”

OH NO HE’S HOOOOOOT /q

 Michael laughs, then slaps a hand over his mouth so as not to scare Rich. “Yes.”

  “What’s so funny?” Rich asks, walking in and bending down to read the comments. “Aw, they think I’m hot.”

  Jeremy shrugs. “I mean, you arguably are.”

  Rich laughs and tousles Jeremy’s hair. “Thanks, Mikey and Jer’s subscribers. And thanks Jer, I guess,” he says teasingly, making kissy noises at Jeremy.

  “Stop, they’re gonna ship us,” Jeremy says sarcastically, smiling and rolling his eyes.

r y’all like,,, 💅 /hj

SEEMS KINDA SUS GUYS…

not to ship real ppl but-

  “Oh fuck, I didn’t think it’d actually happen,” Jeremy says, giggling and pointing at the screen.

  Rich and Michael exchange a glance and burst out laughing. “Ugh, they wish,” Rich says jokingly. “Anyways, I’m gonna start dinner.”

  “And by that, he means he’s gonna cook us some delicious and nutritious burnt ramen,” Michael says in a stage whisper.

  “Oh, fuck off,” Rich says, poking Michael. He finger guns his way outta the room and closes the door behind him.

can rich be on stream sometime plsssss

  “Why, ‘cause he’s hot?” Michael asks teasingly.

  “Are we not hot enough for you?” Jeremy asks, mock hurt. He strikes that classic fuckboi lip-bite pose.

  Michael snorts. “I mean, we can ask him if Jer’s chill with it,” he says, glancing at Jeremy and shrugging.

  Jeremy shrugs as well. “Could be fun. He’s pretty decent at Apocalypse of the Damned, so we could stream that, maybe. But no promises.”

Chapter Text

  After the stream and dinner, Rich, Jeremy, and Michael sit on the couch and turn on Glee , because who doesn’t like to watch shitty tv after dinner?

  “Hey, Rich, you wanna be on a stream sometime?” Michael asks, his head on Jeremy’s shoulder.

  Rich gasps in mock flattery. “ Me? On a stream with Twitch partners Jeremy Heere and Michael Mell of twoplayergame? Oh, I couldn’t…” they say dramatically, Debby Ryan-ing.

  Michael sighs and shakes his head, smiling a bit. “Richieeeee, do you wanna or not?”

  “Of course I do! I thought you’d never fuckin’ ask,” Rich teases. “But like, genuine question… you want me to tone down on the flirting? ‘Cause I can if that’s gonna make your viewers be weird.”

  Michael and Jeremy exchange a glance, then shrug simultaneously. “They need to learn that it can just be a friend thing,” Jeremy mumbles into Michael’s hair. “Just ‘cause I’m bi and Michael’s gay, they don’t need to ship us with every guy friend we have, y’know?”

  “Mhm,” Rich hums. Is it selfish that he’s a little disappointed? He’s had a crush on Michael since junior year, and a crush on Jeremy since the year after. Jeremy and Michael are both in their fourth and final year of college now; Rich is in their third, as they took a gap year.

  Rich tilts his head and watches as Kitty and Marley march Tina back to prom. He remembers asking Michael to junior prom after play rehearsal one day. He was so apologetic when he declined.

   “Oh god, uh, this is awkward. I’m so sorry, Rich, but I, um… I’m going with Jeremy. We started dating, like, a week ago. Shit. I’m sorry, really I am.”

  “It’s okay. I’m too late. It’s fine.”

  “No- th-that’s not- I didn’t mean- Rich, wait!”

  He hadn’t stayed to hear what Michael had to say. He’d gone to Jake’s, sobbing. They watched trash tv and ate ice cream all night. Rich’s father was pissed when he came home the next day. But it was all worth it.

  “Rich? Rich!”

  “H-huh?” Rich blinks a few times, having heard Michael calling their name. “Sorry. Sorry sorry, I zoned out.”

  “It’s all good, man. I was just asking, we’re streaming again on Wednesday. You wanna join in then?” Michael asks.

  “It’s gonna be, like, a ‘Just Chatting’ stream,” Jeremy chimes in. “We do those on Wednesdays.”

  “Mmm. I know. I watch on occasion,” Rich says, running his fingers through his freshly bleached hair.

  Michael sputters. “Wh- I- you do???”

  Rich smirks. “Mhmmm. Half the time you end up talking about how you’d bone Pac-Man.”

  Michael groans. “Y’know that’s a joke, right?” Jeremy laughs and mutters something along the lines of is it though?

  “Uh-huh, sure it is,” Rich teases.

  “I’m asexual, bitchboy,” Michael grumbles.

  “So’m I, but Pac-Man’s pre-tty sexy,” Rich says, fanning themself.

  Jeremy tries and fails to stifle his laughter, causing Michael to sit up straight and shove him into the couch armrest. “Fuck both of you, honestly.”

———

  On Wednesday, the three of them are seated on the couch yet again, this time with the streaming set-up on the coffee table in front of them.

  “We got Rich,” Michael says simply after he begins streaming.

  “How eloquent of you, Mikey,” Rich mutters, grinning. Michael sticks out his tongue as Rich waves. “Hi guys. I’m Rich. He/they.” Eh, why not?

r u gay askinf for a friend

  “Okay, let’s not bombard him with personal ques-” Jeremy starts.

  “Nope, not gay, but I’m totally bi!” Rich says proudly, puffing out his chest.

  Michael giggles. “Bold of you to assume Rich wouldn’t out themself immediately after starting the stream,” he says, leaning backward to look around Rich at his boyfriend.

waiwaiwaiwaiwait a sec are y’all dating cuz like 👀

  “Why does everyone think that?” Jeremy mumbles.

  “‘Cause I’m just so fuckin’ irresistible,” Rich says, batting their eyelashes at Jeremy.

  “I hate you,” Jeremy says, grinning. “But no, no we’re not. Just me and Michael.”

  Michael scoffs and rolls his eyes. “It’s two playergame dot Twitch dot tv, not three playergame dot Twitch dot tv. Get it right.”

  Rich snorts and leans forward, his elbows on his knees and his chin resting in his hands.

why does their weird ass friend look like that lmfao

yeah are those like burn marks???

  He flinches and leans back. Michael looks at them and Rich jerks their head toward the computer. Michael scans the chat for a few seconds, his cheery disposition all but disappearing when he sees the comments about Rich’s burn marks.

  “Fuck off. It’s none of your business,” Michael says quietly. His voice sounds almost… menacing. Rich didn’t know he was even capable of sounding menacing.

yeah guys leave rich alone. the obvious answer is that they’re an arsonist lmao /j

  Rich’s eyes widen. He feels sick.

  “What did Michael say about it being none of your business? Butt out, okay?” Jeremy says, careful to keep his volume at a normal level. Rich appreciates that, bumping his shoulder against Jeremy’s to show it.

  “I think we’re gonna have to cut this stream short-” Michael says.

  “Michael, you don’t have to do that for me,” Rich whispers. “I can just go-”

  “Richie.” Michael looks at Rich with wide, sympathetic eyes. Sighing, Rich nods. “Sorry about that. We’ll be streaming Apocalypse of the Damned on Saturday.”

  Jeremy leans forward and ends the stream, then turns to look at Rich.

   Don’t cry, pussy , Rich thinks, tightly gripping fistfuls of the bottom of the AotD t-shirt they stole from Michael two years ago and not making eye contact.

   Jeremy nudges Rich with his shoulder. “Hey. You alright? We can talk to them about it more if it’d hel-”

  That’s all it takes to push Rich over the edge. Tears roll silently down his face, prompting an immediate reaction from Michael. The Mom Friend in him kicks in, and he takes Rich in his arms.

  Jeremy, being the awkward moron [affectionate] he is, takes a bit longer to catch on, but eventually he leans on Michael’s shoulder and takes Rich’s hand in one of his, facing their palm up. He traces the lines in it with his other hand.

  Rich sniffles. “I’m sorry, I r-ruined your str-str-stream-”

  Michael shushes him gently, putting a finger on his lips. “None of that, Richard Charles Goranski.”

  “That’s not my mi-”

  “Shhhh. I’ll figure it out one of these days.”

  Jeremy snorts, but doesn’t say anything. He’s more the strong and silent type in this sort of situation.

  Rich smiles and buries his face in Michael’s chest. “You always say that,” he mumbles.

  “And I always mean it. One of these days, I swear!”

  “Yeah, right…”

Chapter Text

  Jeremy taps his fingers on his and Michael’s desk, where they’re about to start streaming AotD. “You think we should talk to them about Wednesday’s stream?” he asks Michael softly.

  Michael glances at him from where he’s standing in the doorway of their room, then sighs and sits beside him. “I dunno. I feel like we should talk to Rich before doing anything like that, y’know?”

  “Yeah, probably…” Jeremy falls silent, caught up in his thoughts. Rich had looked so small, so hurt, so vulnerable. Jeremy stayed silent as he and Michael comforted him, but as soon as he was alone with his boyfriend, he let out all the shit he wished he could’ve said on stream.

  “It’s so invasive! It’s so fucking hurtful! Like, what the hell goes through someone’s mind that makes them think, ‘oh, I’ll comment on something about this person’s appearance that’s probably left over from a source of fucking trauma!’? What the FUCK , Micah?”

  “I know, fuck, Jer, I know. I just- I care so much about Rich- he looked so hurt.” Michael had gripped the bottom of his hoodie, tugging on it. “I didn’t know what the fuck to do! It’s so- they didn’t look like themself…”

  “We should probably start streaming soon. We’re a few minutes late,” Michael says quietly.

  “Yeah. Yeah, probably,” Jeremy mutters. He starts the stream and tweets the link. “Hey guys!” He hopes the fake enthusiasm is working.

lol jeremy still looks so pissed

i mean as he should ppl were being dicks

i feel like they were just asking questions though… /nm

  “They weren’t ‘just asking questions’. They were being invasive and rude,” Jeremy says flatly.

  Michael looks at Jeremy with panic in his eyes and Jeremy mouths a ‘sorry’. “Uh, let’s start playing, shall we?”

oooooooh, lovers’ quarrel lmaooo

  “What did Jeremy say about being invasive and rude again?” Michael asks, raising his eyebrows.

  “Hot,” Jeremy mutters. Michael rolls his eyes and smacks his shoulder lightly with the back of his hand.

  “What I’m trying to say is, despite the fact that we put our life and relationship online, you don’t get to comment on them like that. It’s a huge invasion of privacy,” Michael says. He clears his throat. “Alright. Don’t really know how to segue into this, but we’re gonna play some Apocalypse of the Damned today.”

———

  “That stream was a disaster,” Rich says, scrolling through Twitter. It’s been a day since the stream, and Michael is on the phone with one of his mothers in his and Jeremy’s room as Jeremy cooks dinner.

  “Oh… you watched it?”

  “Mhm. I like your AotD streams… most of the time,” Rich replies, shrugging. “But that one was… well… there was significantly less gameplay than there was scolding.”

  Jeremy sighs. “Yeah… I just… we were both so pissed off .”

  “I could tell. But it’s fine, y’know? I’m used to it,” Rich mumbles, stopping his scrolling to retweet some stupid inside joke from high school that Christine had tweeted.

  “Tha- That’s… not good, Rich,” Jeremy says, draining whatever it is he’s cooking.

  “C’est comme ça.” Rich shrugs.

  “I don’t know what that means,” Jeremy replies. “I took Spanish, not French.”

  Rich half-smiles. “That’s part of my charm. My ‘je ne sais quoi’ factor.”

  “I don’t know what that means, either.”

Chapter Text

  “It was infuriating , Nanay!” Michael tells one of his moms over the phone.

  Even without seeing her face, he can tell she’s seething. “I wish I could slap those kids across the face.”

  “Me too, but that’s illegal,” Michael mutters.

  “You seem to really care about Rich. That’s admirable,” she says softly.

  “I do! He’s awesome. He’s funny, he’s caring, he’s a good listener, he’s…” Michael hesitates. Why is the next adjective coming to mind ‘cute’? Rich is his friend. He doesn’t… “Oh shit.”

  “Michael?”

  “I think I- fuck. Shit. I need to talk to Jeremy. Bye, Nanay. I’ll talk to you later, okay? Mahal kita.”

  “Mahal din kita, sweetie.”

  Michael quickly hangs up and runs out of his room, into the kitchen, where Jeremy is cooking and Rich is sitting at the table. “Jer? Jer, we need to talk. Please. It’s important.”

  “Can it wait till I’m done cooking, babe?” Contrary to how the words Jeremy says could be taken, he doesn’t sound annoyed. Michael knows that if something were really burning a hole in his pocket, Jeremy would abandon everything and talk to him.

  “Um… well, I mean, technically? But…”

  That’s all Michael needs to say. “Rich, can you just put the cheese in this for me?” Jeremy asks, pointing to the bowl of pasta in front of him. Rich nods and Jeremy follows Michael back to their room.

  “What’s up, Micah?” he asks, sitting on the edge of their bed. His eyes are so earnest, so unknowing.

  “God. Okay. I don’t- I don’t know how to say this,” Michael mutters, wringing his hands.

  Jeremy takes Michael’s hands and makes eye contact with him. “Hey. Just say what’s on your mind.”

  “I think I might like Rich.” Michael slaps a hand over his mouth.

  “Oh. Oh. Oh. Okay. Wow. Not what I expected, but, um… okay. W-wow.” Jeremy’s rambling. He does that when he’s on the verge of tears.

  Michael sits next to him. “No. Fuck. No. I meant- No. I’m in love with you, Jer. I just- also… have feelings for Rich. I think. And I don’t- I just wanted to- to tell you…?” He grimaces and shakes his head. “The more I try to explain myself, the less good of an idea this seems to be.”

  “No- I-I mean- I appreciate it- but- um.” Jeremy sniffles and clears his throat. “Wow. Um. It’s just- It’s a lot.”

  “I know,” Michael replies in a small voice.

  “I- I love you, Micah. But that’s- w-wow. Okay.” Jeremy clears his throat again. “I j-just- um-”

  Michael kisses Jeremy’s cheek. “Hey. Hey. I love you, okay?”

  “I love you too,” Jeremy says softly, leaning on Michael’s shoulder.

———

  Jeremy doesn’t stop thinking about what Michael told him for the rest of the night. He tries to. He tries to focus on Mr. Schue refusing to give Unique access to a gender neutral bathroom - which Jeremy would have killed for earlier in his transition - so the New Directions can continue twerking, but he can’t.

  His mind keeps going back to Michael’s face as he confessed to Jeremy, how he looked like he was delivering the news that someone died. “I’m in love with you, Jer. I just- also… have feelings for Rich.”

  A punch in the gut.

  He looks at Michael, down at their loosely interlaced fingers, up at Michael’s other arm which is slung carelessly around Rich’s shoulder. That’s not an uncommon occurrence, so why is it pissing off Jeremy now?

  How long did Michael know? It seems to Jeremy like it was a sort of epiphany. And besides, Michael’s shit at keeping things from him. He relaxes a bit at that.

  Michael catches Jeremy’s eye and smiles gently. Jeremy smiles back, hoping his worry doesn’t show on his face too much.

  “You okay, mahal?” Michael whispers, leaning over to Jeremy.

  “Mmm. Fine. A little tired, maybe,” Jeremy replies quietly, shrugging.

  Michael nods. “You wanna go to bed?”

  “Yeah. You should stay out here with Rich though. Wouldn’t wanna third-wheel,” Jeremy mumbles, standing up. He doesn’t know where it comes from. Is he really that bitter about this? He was the one who called Rich “arguably hot” on Monday, after all.

  ………

  Oh.

   Oh.

  ………

  Oh fuck.

  “Jeremy? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Michael asks, his voice breaking as he finishes his sentence. He looks close to tears.

  “Nothing. Whatever. I’m going to bed. You can come or not,” Jeremy snaps.

  Michael takes a shaky breath and retracts his arm from around Rich’s shoulder. “I think I’ll sleep on the couch tonight,” he says with a quivering voice.

  Rich looks from Jeremy to Michael and back again. “What’s going on? Are you two alright?”

  “I dunno, Rich. Are we?” Jeremy spits, tears threatening to spill out of his narrowed eyes.

  “I- I don’t know! I’m not part of your relationship!” Rich replies, confused.

  Jeremy barks a laugh. “Well. Michael wishes you fucking were.” With that, he strides to his and Michael’s room and slams the door shut.

Chapter Text

  Rich and Michael stay silent for a few minutes, then Rich leans forward and grabs the remote. They turn Glee down.

  “Uh- wh-what did Jeremy mean by that?” he asks softly.

  “Mean by what? I didn’t hear Jeremy say anything. What do you mean? What? I think you’re hearing things. Let’s keep watching Glee!” Michael says quickly, reaching for the remote.

  Rich grabs his wrist and he stiffens. “Mikey.”

  “Look- I just- I like you. Kinda. And- And I just- I told Jer. And he… yeah. He didn’t react too well.” Michael sighs and looks up at Rich.

  Their eyes are wide. “Oh. Oh wow. Oh.” Rich hesitates, dropping Michael’s wrist. “Should I, like… not tell you that I still like you? Would that complicate things?”

  Michael laughs humorlessly. “Man, I don’t even know. I guess- I guess I just hoped that… well, Jeremy was talking about your arguable hotness on Monday. I thought maybe he… I dunno.”

  Rich sighs. “Does it make things better or worse if I say I also like Jer?”

  “C’mon, Jeremy, complete the triangle,” Michael says sarcastically. Rich laughs the smallest bit, and Michael smiles. They have a really cute laugh. “I, um… I’m kinda tired. Today was… weird.”

  “Yeah. I’ll, uh, go to my room. G’night, Mikey,” Rich says gently, ruffling Michael’s hair as he stands and leaves.

  It’s… a gesture. Could be platonic, could be romantic. Michael wonders if Rich intended for the ambiguity of it. Knowing him, probably.

  Michael sighs and lays down on the couch, turning off Glee just as Tina comes out of that stupid fucking porta potty. The writers really hated her character, huh?

———

  Jeremy walks through the living room in the middle of the night, going to the kitchen for a glass of water. He notices Michael on the couch and stops to look at him.

  His hands are inside his hoodie sleeves, and he’s laying on one of those god-awful scratchy throw pillows Brooke had given them as a house-warming present (No offense, Brooke). His hood is up, and his glasses are on the floor, unfolded, like  he’d carelessly tossed them on the floor.

  Jeremy crosses the room and picks them up, folding them and placing them on the coffee table. He doesn’t want Michael stepping on them in the morning.

  A door creaks behind him. He turns around to see Rich. “Oh. You.”

  Rich snorts. “Yeah. Me. Your roommate. Did you fucking forget?”

  “Fuck off, Rich. You don’t understand,” Jeremy mutters. He walks into the kitchen.

  Rich follows him, rubbing sleep from their distracting hazel eyes. (God. Don’t think like that, Jeremiah.) “Michael told me everything, man.” Rich’s voice is gruff from grogginess. “I know what happened. And someone overreacted.”

  Jeremy glares at Rich for a moment before turning and getting a glass from the cupboard. He shoves it against the water thing embedded in the fridge.

  “Like, humans aren’t built for monogamy,” Rich mutters.

  Jeremy whirls around, half of the water in his glass spilling on the floor. Right now, he couldn’t care less. “I have the fucking right to be jealous , asshole!”

  “Yeah. But you should tell him that you’re jealous instead of being a dick to him,” Rich snaps. “Whatever, okay? Like you said, not part of your relationship. So fuck me for trying to understand my friends’ problems, right?”

  Shit.

   Fuck.

  Jeremy drinks what water remains in his glass, not breaking eye contact with Rich. He slams it into the sink. “Fuck you, Rich.” He walks past Rich, purposefully checking his shoulder. “Asshole.”

Chapter Text

  Needless to say, breakfast that morning is… awkward, to say the least. No one makes any sound other than occasional clearing of throats or spoons clanking against bowls.

  Rich is the first to finish, standing up and putting their bowl in the sink. “I’ve got work today,” they mutter. “Then I have two classes this afternoon. If either of you care.”

  “I bet Michael does,” Jeremy says, a bit too loudly. Jesus, he’s being such an ass about this.

  “Yeah. I do. ‘Cause I care about my loved ones,” Michael replies. That takes Jeremy by surprise. Michael’s usually not much of an instigator.

  Rich takes a deep breath. “Ooookay. You two clearly need to work some shit out, so I’ll take my leave.” He opens the closet by the front door and puts on a denim jacket — which he looks adorable in, by the way — from inside. He slams it shut, grabs his keys from where they’re hanging next to the door, and leaves.

  Michael glances at Jeremy. Jeremy glances at Michael. They both hastily look away, clearing their throats. “So… you’re still pissed at me, I’m guessing?” Michael asks quietly.

  Jeremy sighs, and, to his surprise, says, “I’m not pissed, Micah.” He’s nervous to use the nickname, but Michael looks up at him. That eases his anxiety a bit. “I just- I’m… jealous? I guess? ‘Cause…” He takes a shaky breath. “Rich is like… perfect. He’s… hot. And he’s nice. And he’s funny. They’re so… unapologetically themself.

  “And I’m just… me. Plain ol’ Jeremy Heere. With my average looks, and my social awkwardness, and my nerdy humor, and my insecurities, an-”

  Michael leans over and kisses Jeremy. “Hey. Mahal kita, gago.”

  Jeremy looks at Michael with a straight face. “Did you just tell me you love me and call me an idiot in the same sentence?”

  Cracking a grin, Michael says, “Yeh.”

  “I hate you,” Jeremy says, giggling. He leans in to kiss Michael again, but Michael puts his hands on Jeremy’s shoulders. (Jeremy notes how careful Michael is to avoid touching his chest. He remembered that Jeremy doesn’t put his binder on until later. That’s oddly sweet.)

  “Babe. You were saying some pretty flattering things about Rich back there,” Michael says, waggling his eyebrows.

  Jeremy’s eyes widen and he feels his face heating up. “Was n-not.”

  “Were too! ‘Oh, Rich is so perfect, and he’s so funny and cool and hot and sexy,’” Michael moans in a simply terrible impression of Jeremy.

  “Ew, dude!” Jeremy grumbles, standing up. Michael dissolves into a fit of giggles. “Fuck off.” But he’s smiling.

  “We have a stream to do in three hours,” Michael reminds him, standing as well.

  “Ugh, can we cancel it? I wanna spend time with you,” Jeremy complains.

  Michael sighs with a smile on his face, leaning down to kiss him. “Spend time with me on stream, Player Two.”

  “Fuck you.” [affectionate.]

———

  “Hi guys!” Michael says as viewers start joining the stream. “How are you guys?”

good!

pretty good

tireddd

how r YOU besties

  “I’m alright. Jeremy?”

  “Hmm? Oh, I’m pretty good. Sorry, I zoned out for a second.” Jeremy blinks a few times and shakes his head. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” Michael says, nudging him. “We didn’t really plan out the stream for today. What do you guys want us to play?” Way to gloss over the fight. Jeremy admires Michael’s talent for making up excuses for missing streams or forgetting things or whatever other little things. Little white lies, he supposes. “Ooh, yeah, we can do Grand Theft Auto. That okay with you, Jer?”

  “Mmm. Yeah.” Jeremy’s having a lot of trouble staying focused on the stream and very little trouble thinking about Rich, and what Michael said, and how he called them arguably hot, and what that could mean.

  He watches as Michael plays, not paying much attention. He reads off comments and donations and subscriptions sometimes, smiling when people get excited in the chat. Damn, when did that start happening?

  “I’m gonna grab some water,” Jeremy says softly about twenty minutes into streaming.

  Michael smiles at him fondly. “Okay, babe. Love you.”

  “I’ll be right back,” Jeremy reminds him, smiling. “But I love you too.”

  As he fills his glass, he thinks back to the precious night. Back to being distracted by Rich’s pretty eyes. Back to being reduced to a puddle by his husky sleep voice.

  He thinks back to his conversation with Michael again. Back to calling Rich hot a week ago.

  Shit.

Chapter Text

  Rich watches as his phone rings during his shift at Pottery Barn. “Please pick up,” they mutter. And they do, on the fifth ring.

  “Richie?” Brooke’s voice sounds canned and tinny through the phone. “It’s been forever! What’s up?”

  “I called you a week and a half ago,” Rich says, a small smile on his face.

  “That’s forever,” Brooke replies matter-of-factly. “ Anyway .”

  “Yeah, so, I guess Michael fuckin’ likes me, which is pissing Jeremy off, and you know I like both of them, right, so I’m conflicted and this is weird and confusing and-”

  “Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Brooke says, cutting Rich off. “Michael? He likes you? Oh my god. See, see, I called it. I did.”

  Rich groans. “Did you miss the part where his boyfriend’s mad at both of us?” Their phone buzzes and they see a text from Michael. ‘things r all good w jer!! 😊’ “Okay, nevermind, just me. I guess he and Michael made up.”

  “Well, that’s good, right?” Brooke asks. “Not the point. He likes you! You could figure something out, right?” They sound hopeful. Probably too hopeful.

  “Thanks, Brooke, but I’m more concerned about how to mend my friendship with Jeremy,” Rich mumbles.

  “I have experience with that!” Brooke says. Rich knows they’re referencing their friendship with Chloe, whom they are obviously definitely totally not gay for, and why would you even ask that Rich, hahahaha, I have to go byeeee!!!!

  “It wasn’t like this, though,” Rich points out. He checks the clock on the wall. “I gotta go. My shift’s over soon.”

  “Okay, luv. Call me later, okay?” Brooke asks.

  “I will. Love you, Brookie,” Rich says.

  “Love you too.” Brooke hangs up.

  Rich sighs and leans on the counter. He sees his coworker who he can never remember the name of wringing his hands by a shelf. “You okay, man?”

  He looks around panickedly, then points to himself as if to say ‘me?’ Rich nods. “O-oh. I’m- I’m- I’m alright. I- I- well- I just- I have a- well, a… crush… on this… guy.”

  Rich’s eyes widen. “Yo, are you gay?”

  The guy shakes his head, tugging on his blue polo shirt a bit. Rich notices an intricate tattoo of a tree on his left wrist. “Bi.”

  This earns a grin from Rich. “Me too!”

  Tree Guy half-smiles. Rich can tell the information had a positive effect. “U-uh- well…” He takes a step closer to the counter. “He- he’s, um, he’s coming here to pick me up. To, uh, y’know, to hang out. I was planning on, like… confessing. Maybe.”

  “Does he like dudes?” Rich asks.

  “Uh- yeah.” Tree Guy replies.

  “You should do it. Easy for me to say, I guess. But like, you should,” Rich says, hoping they sound encouraging.

  “I… I think I will.”

  Rich smiles at Tree Guy. About ten minutes later, just before their shift ends, a guy with brown hair and stereotypical nerd glasses walks in. “Ev? You ready, loser?” He looks a little like Jeremy. Huh, weird.

  Rich walks over to Tree Guy. “This him?” He nods. “He’s cute,” Rich whispers. “Good luck, dude.”

  “Good luck with, uh, Jeremy and Michael,” Tree Guy replies, smiling.

  “Ewww, you heard that? Embarrassing,” Rich grumbles. Tree Guy laughs and does a sort of two finger salute as he leaves with Nerd Glasses. Tree Guy and Nerd Glasses stop walking a few feet away from Pottery Barn. Tree Guy says something, then Nerd Glasses says something, and Tree Guy says something else, and then they’re kissing.

  Rich smiles wistfully. “If only I could figure out my boy problems that easily,” he mutters.

———

  Michael hears the front door open and shut that evening from where he’s sitting on his and Jeremy’s bed writing an essay. “Rich or Jer?” he calls.

  “Rich! Where’s Jeremy?” Rich appears in the doorway a few seconds later.

  Michael uses that as an excuse to shut his laptop and take a break. “He ran to the store. Something about cranberry juice.”

  “I- okay,” Rich replies, shrugging.

  “Anywayyyy… how was your day?” There’s no denying how awkward things are between them now.

  “It was cool. My coworker kissed his crush after our shift. He looked so happy.” Rich grins and looks at the ground.

  “Aww,” Michael says, smiling. “Fruity?”

  “Yeah, bi, actually! The crush was a dude. Cute as hell, both of ‘em.”

  “Oh, awesome! What’s his name?”

  They grimace. “Mikey… you know I’m shit with names…”

  Michael giggles. “You don’t know your coworker’s name? Is this that same dude who fell out of a tree?” Rich nods. “C’monnn, you have shifts together all the time!”

  “Heyyyy!” Rich puts his hands up. “Shit with names. Why d’you think I called you Headphones all that time?”

  “You seriously didn’t know my name?” Michael asks, trying not to burst out laughing.

  “No- I mean- Well, not at first- wait. I knew it in freshman year. I guess I forgot it, like, as soon as I got my… oh.” Rich laughs softly. “Oh.”

  “Takin’ that optic nerve blocking shit to another level,” Michael says under his breath.

  “Hah. Yeah. Seriously.” Rich shifts his weight a few times. “Is this weird? Should I not be here? What are the boundaries?”

  Michael arches an eyebrow. “This isn’t weird. This won’t be weird unless you make it weird.”

  “I’m not trying to- make it… anything! I just li-” Rich sighs and runs their fingers through their hair. “Nevermind.”

  “Me too, Rich. You know that,” Michael says softly.

  “Mhm. Yeah.” Rich sighs again and shakes his head. “I’m gonna go. Brooke wants me to call them.” Before Michael can get in another word, Rich is in his room.

Chapter Text

  “So… wait. Wait. Wait. Let me get this straight. You like Rich? And your boyfriend does?”

  Jeremy sighs. “… Yeah.”

  “Oh. My. God. Jer. Tell Michael, and then tell Rich,” Brooke says. “Sorry. That was demanding. Pleeeaaase???”

  “Brooke. Oh my god. No!” Jeremy groans. “I’m not telling Rich. Michael, duh, but… not Rich!”

  “TELL RICH!” Brooke shouts. “Wait sorry. That was demanding again. PLEASE tell Rich. Please.”

  He sighs again. “Brooke. I love you, okay? But abso-fucking-lutely not.”

  “You won’t regret it, I swear!” they reply quickly.

  “No offense, but I totally will.”

  “Grrrr. What if we make a deal? I tell Chloe I like her, and you tell Rich you like them.” Jeremy and Jenna are the only ones who know about Brooke’s feelings for Chloe.

  “You drive a hard bargain… Fine, but only because I know you never will,” Jeremy says teasingly.

  “Hmmm.” Jeremy hears Brooke walking. “Chlo?” They and Chloe started renting an apartment together a few weeks before Jeremy, Michael, and Rich did.

  “What’s up?”

  Jeremy’s eyes widen as he realizes what Brooke is doing.

  “I’m madly in love with you,” Brooke announces.

  “I- wh- what?” Chloe sounds shell-shocked, understandably.

  “I gotta make sure Jer holds up his end of the bargain. I’ll talk to you in a sec, mmkay?”

  “Uh- y-yeah. Okay.” Jeremy can hear the smile in Chloe’s voice, and smiles despite himself.

  “Your turn,” Brooke says in a sing-song voice.

  “God. Fuck. Okay. I’ll do it… at some point, okay?” Jeremy says, his voice quiet.

  Brooke hums. “Okay. Love you, Jerry.”

  “Love you too, Brooke.”

———

  “Yeah. Yep. Knew it!” Michael asks, jumping up off their bed.

  “Ughhhh, shut up.”

  Michael grins. “So… what now?”

  Jeremy winces. “Well, I promised Brooke I’d tell them.”

  “YES!” Michael shouts. He claps a hand over his mouth.

  “YOU SAY SOMETHING, MIKEY?” Rich yells from the kitchen.

  “I’M PLAYING A GAME, SORRY! Sorry, Jer,” he whispers.

  Jeremy laughs a bit and wraps his arms around Michael’s neck, leaning on his shoulder. “Mmm, it’s okay, babe.”

  Michael puts his arms around Jeremy’s waist and pulls him closer. “We can tell them together, okay?”

  “I like the sound of that.”

———

  Rich is fully immersed in Blaine’s obsession with cronuts. He hears Jeremy and Michael murmuring beside him, but he doesn’t pay it any mind.

  At least, not until Jeremy clears his throat and says, “Hey, uh, Rich? I need to tell you something.”

  Now he’s paying it plenty of mind.

  “What’s up, Jeremy?” they ask, turning Glee down. Shame. This is his favorite episode.

  “I-I- um- w-well- y-you see. Well- th- I mean, I- well- the- the thing is-” Jeremy stammers, blushing and avoiding eye contact.

  Michael places a hand over Jeremy’s.

  “I- I like you,” Jeremy finally says.

  “Whoa. Whoaaa. What the fuck,” Rich says softly. At the sight of Jeremy’s falling face, he panics and says, “N-no, uh- slash positive connotation?”

  Michael laughs. “Did you just-”

  “YES, shut the fuck up, Mikey, I’m processing,” Rich says, standing up and shaking their hands a bit, a dorky grin on their face.

  “Okay, okay,” Michael says softly, smiling.

  “Uh- okay.” Rich sits down. “What now?”

  He and Jeremy look at Michael expectantly. He laughs. “The fuck? Why me?”

  “You’re the smart one,” Jeremy says, shrugging.

  Michael rolls his eyes and leans over to kiss Rich, who freezes up for a moment before kissing back. When they separate, he nods a bit. “Okay. Okay. W-wow. Okay. Wow. Um. Holy shit. Wow.”

  “Wow, Michael, that was low,” Jeremy grumbles, half-smiling.

  Rich climbs onto Michael’s lap, 1) because MICHAEL’S LAP HHHHH 2) because this way he can reach Jeremy. He leans in a bit, waiting for some sort of confirmation. Jeremy closes the remaining space between them.

  Michael snorts. “I feel like I’m intruding on a private moment.”

  Jeremy and Rich pull apart, laughing. Rich leans on Michael’s chest, and Jeremy leans into his side.

  “What now?” Rich asks again.

  “I dunno,” Michael says softly. “Guess we’ll figure it out.”

Chapter Text

  Rich enters Pottery Barn with a pep in his step on Wednesday, as does his coworker Tree Guy a few minutes later.

  “I saw you and that dude kiss yesterday. Good for you,” Rich says.

  “Huh? Oh! Uh, thanks. Thanks. Thank you. Did your- your- your stuff work out at, uh, at all?” Tree Guy asks.

  “Yeah. It did.”

———

  Michael leans forward on the couch and looks at the messages in the chat whizzing by. Several of them are about Rich, which both pisses him off and worries him.

where’s rich been?

will rich come back?

did we scare rich away lol pussy

  “Rich isn’t a pussy. Let’s not say shitty things about him, thanks,” Michael says flatly.

  He notes Jeremy’s fists opening and closing, so he takes one of his hands, rubbing his thumb over his knuckles. Jeremy squeezes, not making eye contact.

———

  “I think we should take a hiatus from streaming,” Michael says shortly after ending the stream.

  “Like a real hiatus, or a ‘Dan and Phil Games’ hiatus?” Jeremy asks, making air-quotes.

  “I dunno.” Michael sighs and scoots closer to Jeremy, leaning on his shoulder.

  Jeremy puts an arm around Michael’s shoulder. “Either way, I think that… might be a good idea. This is just… getting to be too much.”

  “I don’t want the stuff with Rich to be online. I think even putting our relationship online was a mistake. Maybe this’ll be our chance to fix that.”

  “Cute.” Jeremy and Michael turn to see Rich in the doorway, smirking.

  Michael waves them over and they sit next to him. “So… you heard that?”

  “Mhm. You really don’t need to stop streaming for me,” Rich says softly. “Or take a break, or whatever.”

  “I think it’d be a good idea anyway,” Jeremy replies, reaching over Michael to take Rich’s hand.

  “Yeah. It’s not just ‘cause of you, Richie,” Michael murmurs, nudging Rich with his shoulder.

  Rich nods slowly. “Alright… I mean, I can live with that,” he teases. Michael smiles and puts his arm around Rich. “And Mikey, I spied on my fruity coworker for you today. His name’s Evan.”

  “I did not ask you to spy on him, but okay, okay,” Michael laughs.

  “You totally did,” Rich says teasingly, “but whatever.” He leans on Michael’s shoulder.

  Michael looks at Jeremy. “I swear I didn’t.”

  Jeremy snorts. “Sure you didn’t.”

  “Ugh, now I’m dating two smartasses,” Michael mutters, rolling his eyes.

  “ Are we…?” Rich asks softly.

  “Well, I just accidentally said we were, so I guess we are!” Michael smiles and kisses the top of Rich’s head. “As long as you two are okay with that.”

  “Cool with me if it’s cool with Jeremy,” Rich mumbles into Michael’s shoulder.

  Jeremy bites his lip to keep from smiling. “Sounds good to me.”

  “Dope.” Rich squeezes Jeremy’s hand.

  Michael giggles. “Hey, hey guys… you remember when I said it was ‘two-player game’, not ‘three-player game’?”

  Jeremy hesitates, nodding slowly. “Yes…?”

  “I guess I was wrong.”

  Rich groans. “Ew, fuck youuuuu, cringe.”