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It was crazy how one event could change your whole life.
Like Eurovision 2025. KAJ was absolutely adored during the whole span of the shows that the three boys still felt kinda high. All of the support they had received from fans, friends and the other contestants made them feel like they were in a different world, how cringe it may sound.
Now, after a few weeks of performance they finally returned home to their little apartment. Jakob strode ahead with a smile that had not left his face since the finale; which Axel and Kevin adored so much. Soon Jakob was out of sight, so Kevin moved to take care of their luggage, but Axel stopped him with a hand to his chest.
“Let me this time,” he mumbled, finally being able to speak their native tongue after only performing in it. He pulled the taller man into a quick kiss and picked up the first bag, which happened to be mostly his stuff.
“You shouldn’t, this is a whole lot to do,” Kevin replied and took Axel’s hand from his chest into his own hand.
“Who said I’d unpack your stuff too?,” Axel joked as he left his boyfriend standing in the hall.
“You’d do that without us asking, stop bluffing!”
Axel just blew him a kiss and disappeared into their bedroom with the first few bags in hand. Kevin smiled after him as he felt all cosy inside. Back in their country, in private, just the three of them made it home.
Home is where you’re safe and loved. So, to him his two boys were his home. They could turn the worst days good and the cold ones warm.
Talking about his boys, Kevin heard Jakob call out.
“Kevin,” he sang, dragging out the n. He was sat on the sofa, shoes abandoned under the table and with his legs up to his chest. Kevin smiled and walked up to him.
“What, min älskling?”
He loved how Jakob still got pink cheeks when he used the pet name and Jakob’s smile got even bigger. The two were silent and just looked at each other lovingly.
Kevin was now behind the smaller and leaned over him, planting his face with kisses, to which Jakob gave small giggles.
When he finally stopped, Jakob looked back down the hall, where Axel had stood a few minutes ago.
“Where’s Axel?”
“Unpacking”
Jakob’s smile dropped and he stood up.
“Alone? Without our help?”
Jakob was worried and grabbed Kevin’s hand to pull him to the bedroom where the last of their trio was.
The door was still open and the two could see a confused and frustrated Axel standing in between half empty bags and suitcases. He huffed and rubbed his eyes under his glasses before returning to his task at hand.
He didn’t notice his two lovers come in and look around the room. He only acknowledged them when he felt their arms around him and two pairs of lips kissed each cheek.
“Let’s do it together, yeah?,” Jakob whispered near Axel’s ear, which let the other visibly relax into him.
Slowly but surely the high from the ESC was wearing off, which was most noticeable in Axel. Still, he insisted he was fine and could do the rest without their help, that they could just relax as he finished his task.
Kevin raised his head and looked at Axel with disapproval. Axel looked down at his hands, guilty and tired.
“Oh Axel” Jakob breathed and kissed him.
Axel was the kind of guy to overwork himself just to make sure the people around him didn’t need to work. Sadly most of the time he noticed it too late when he woke up to a burnout. Kevin and Jakob knew this of course, being in his life for over 20 years now. And over Eurovision, Axel was most prominent in interviews and everything else going on around them.
And now, as they stood embracing the smaller, they had realised that Axel had started on a burnout already.
“Let us help, please," Kevin asked and Axel just nodded. He didn’t have the energy to argue.
Jakob let Axel go and tilted his face up to meet his eyes. His usual smile was replaced by genuine concern and Axel hated it. He closed his eyes and tried to breathe, but he felt like he was suffocating.
He didn’t notice that Kevin had left them to move their bags and suitcases off the bed, while Jakob just held Axel and kissed his face.
Jakob and Kevin exchanged a look and Jakob smiled down at Axel.
“Let’s get you to bed then, love,” he whispered in a low voice while taking his glasses off. And Axel let him. He was too exhausted and so at home that he didn’t need to do or say anything. His lovers knew what he needed.
Kevin crawled into bed first and patted the empty space to his left, and like it was a command, Axel waddled over and joined him. Jakob wasted no time and was right behind him.
They snuggled close together with Axel resting his head on Kevin’s chest and with Jakob’s arms around him. Not a minute later you could hear quiet snores coming from the man in the middle. Kevin and Jakob just exchanged a look that said everything.
“Here we go again,” Kevin sighed and Jakob grimaced at his words.
“Yeah, our poor boy,” he answered and gave him a sweet kiss on his temple. The sleeping man just buried his face further into Kevin’s shirt in response.
Silence fell over them. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but nice was something else. Like one of them wanted to say something but didn’t.
“I worry about him,” Jakob broke the silence with a whisper. Kevin propped his head up and looked over to him, where he had pushed himself up and looked down at Axel while gently brushing through his hair.
“Me too, but what can we do?”, Kevin answered just as gently. Jakob shook his head in response.
“All of us only notice when it’s too late.”
--
A few hours later, Axel stirred awake and made a noise close to a yawn but not quite. He turned around and cuddled from one boyfriend into the other, inhaling the scent of Jakob. Kevin moved his shoulder and it gave a crack from being in the same position for a few hours.
“How are you feeling?” Jakob asked as he stroked Axel’s back, who just huffed and raised his head to face him.
“Tired to be honest, I don’t know”, he mumbled in response and yawned ironically.
“Just take a quick shower and we can go to bed”, Jakob proposed and Kevin nodded, but Axel wasn’t keen on leaving the warm arms of his boyfriends just yet.
“You’ll feel better, trust me”, Kevin chimed in and Axel got up, grumpy and exhausted. He shot them a quick glare and picked some clothes out of a cabinet where he knew he had put them.
As soon as he left, Jakob and Kevin got to work on unpacking the rest. They were certain that Axel could have managed it himself, but they were glad to support him.
With combined powers and a bit of chaos, they finished and Jakob stole kiss from Kevin after closing the wardrobe, empty suitcases stored inside. They quickly changed the sheets and their clothes too and already got into bed to wait for Axel.
Kevin had put his head on Jakob’s lap and just looked up at his lover with eyes full of admiration while the latter brushed his hair with his fingers.
It took a while for Jakob to notice, but he returned the smile with pink painted on his face.
Bare-footed shuffles at the door made them look up at Axel.
There stood their boyfriend, in Jakob’s shorts and Kevin’s t-shirt, rubbing his eyes.
Jakob and Kevin let out a synced sigh of adoration, which made Axel blush so hard his ears turned red. He shuffled up to them and joined them on the bed, sitting beside Jakob with his head on his shoulder.
Neither of the three wanted to move from their position, so they simply didn’t. Axel’s hands searched for the hands of the others and squeezed them gently.
In public and in front of cameras they were already touchy, but behind closed doors one of them was always touch deprived. (It was mostly Jakob, but he would rather die than ever admit that.)
Jakob felt Axel’s head get heavier on his shoulder and he looked down at the man on his left, who raised his head to rest on his chin and looked at him with sleepy eyes. It took everything in Jakob not to audibly ‘aww’ at him so instead he gave him a kiss on the lips and a smile.
Finally they moved to lay down and Axel squeezed himself in between his lovers, who just held him in their arms. And again he was the first to fall asleep, but that wasn’t surprising.
Both others gave the sleeping man kisses and then snuggled in, exhaustion overcoming them now too. So they stayed snuggled together in their own home, finally fully relaxing without worrying about timelines or performances. Just them and the rest of time, together.