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“I know you’re my attendings, I know you’re older than me, I know you’re trying to look out for me, but I have wanted this, I have wanted you for so long so please can I just kiss you? Both of you?”
There’s a beat, and then Jack laughs, and reaches out for him.
“Oh come here.”
Dennis practically throws himself across the room, scrambling up onto the couch. He sort of situates himself between the two, and two strong pairs of arms pull him up.
He turns to Robby first, settling so he’s straddling one of each of their legs, and he takes his face in between his hands.
“You haven’t made me do anything I don’t want to,” he murmurs, his blue eyes fixed on Robby’s warm brown. “You tell me all the time at work to make my own decisions, and this is me, making my own decision. So please—“ he drops his voice to a whisper.
“Please can I kiss you?”
Robby’s eyes sparkle, and Dennis takes that as his answer.
Dennis dips his head, cradling Robby’s face as he tenderly brings their mouths together.
It’s so different from earlier, not impulsive and volatile, but soft, tender.
Robby’s beard tickles a bit, as it scrubs against Dennis’ chin and cheeks. He likes it, likes it a lot. He’s imagined this beard a lot, against his skin, his face, in his hands, between his legs, fuck.
He drags his thumbs through the hair there as Robby opens his mouth beneath Dennis. Robby’s lips are cracked, a little dry, a little chapped, and Dennis knows it’s because the man never drinks any fucking water, no matter how much he and Jack try and force it into him.
Still, it’s nice, it’s him, and Dennis is totally going to buy him a lip balm but right now he doesn’t care.
Because he’s kissing Robby.
There’s four hands on him, and he’s honestly not sure he can tell whose are whose, although there’s one ‘stabilising’ him by gripping at the meat of his thigh just under his ass, and he’s willing to put money on it being Jack’s.
The guilt of perversion that Robby seems to be feeling is obviously not affecting Jack in the slightest.
Or if it is, he’s coping a lot better.
Robby tilts his head back, and Dennis chases him, their mouths moving in sync as finally, finally, everything slots into place.
Robby and Jack want him.
They think he’s pretty and he’s kind and he’s smart and they want him romantically, they want him sexually, they want him.
He sighs contentedly into Robby’s mouth, and he feels Robby smile against him, before he gently breaks them apart.
“Mouse,” he whispers, and there’s such a genuine, fond warmth to his voice that Dennis grins, pulling back just enough that Robby’s face swims into focus.
“Hi.”
“I think it might be Jack’s turn now,” Robby murmurs, a hand coming up to splay gently across his chest. “He’s been so patient.”
Dennis turns, just a little, and sees the way Jack’s watching the two so intently, his freckled cheeks a little pink, lips parted.
He feels the hands below his ass and on his waist tighten a little, and he knows now that they’re Jack’s, so strong as he clings onto him.
“Mmhh — yeah,” he lets his hands slip from Robby’s face, stabilising his palm in the centre of his chest and using it to push himself upright again, before he shifts, steadying his weight over Jack who welcomes it eagerly.
Robby’s hands slide away, and Dennis mourns the loss, before he feels one settle on his calf and the other, he assumes, on Jack.
He can live with that.
He wraps his arms around Jack’s neck, feeling the way his stubble prickles at the soft insides of his arms.
“Hey hot stuff,” Jack drawls, and Dennis grins. His attraction to Robby was kind of the same as Dennis has always found comes with falling in love. He’s struggled to keep his eyes off of the man since his first day at the ER… in fact — no, longer. During his internal medicine rotation, he’d been sent down to the ER to consult about a patient with his attending at the time, and Robby had been the one to talk to them. Dennis isn’t even sure the man remembers, but he does, because as they’d taken the patient Robby had clapped a hand on Dennis’ shoulder and given him a grateful squeeze.
And that had very much kickstarted everything all at once.
And then he became Dennis’ attending, then he was suddenly everywhere all the time and he was gentle and he was kind and also insanely fucking smart, and he listened to what Dennis had to say and he was so supportive coaching him through new procedures and with managing cases. He made everyone laugh and he checked in with every single staff member throughout the day, just to make sure they were okay, and he cared more passionately and more deeply about the ER and the people running it than Dennis had ever seen anywhere.
So of course his feelings for Robby grew and grew, every touch, every praise, every quiet conversation in the lulls of the chaos and every guiding hand in the worst of the mess, it all just added to the overwhelming bundle of emotion growing day by day in his chest, until one day Trinity had sat him down, smacked him round the back of the head and pointed out that everything he was describing was being in love with Dr Robby.
And she was right.
Because he was, he is, and now that he’s been so well taken care of by him and seen the truth of how this genius giant of a man is so loving and doting at home, despite his best attempts to paint himself as a cranky old man, Dennis doesn’t feel like it would ever have been possible not to fall in love with him.
Of course he’d been sexually attracted to him too, that very much came with the experience of being in the proximity of Robby, but it’d taken a while for Dennis to come to terms with how desperately he mwanted to see what Robby looked like out of his scrubs and ideally, in his bed. It’d been almost shameful, the idea of lusting after a man whose sole purpose was to teach him and guide him, but… But Jack? It’d been instantaneous, all his shame completely thrown out of the window.
He’d seen him walk in the day of Pittfest with all his swagger, and his first thought had just been how much he needed to fuck him.
Jack was hot, effortlessly so, and he commanded an aura of respect that had made Dennis’ knees immediately weak. All he wanted to do was listen to him, do what he told him to, and yeah, of course when he’d lain in his new bed at Santos’ place after Pittfest and the initial overwhelming emotion of the adrenaline dump from finally stopping, he’d sort of had to shove his hands down his pants thinking about the Night Shift attending.
It’d only gotten worse as he’d started working nights.
Because where Robby was gentle, supportive, and stupidly hands on, Jack was… Jack was — for lack of a better word — military. He was still supportive, but his support wasn’t the same gentle coaching towards the right answer that Robby gave, no, he surrendered the reigns fully to Dennis and pushed him until he figured it out.
And his praise… Robby always threw out a ‘good job’ or a ‘nicely done’, but Jack’s praise was sincere, specific.
The first time Dennis had performed a full pericardiocentesis under Jack’s guidance, he’d pulled Dennis aside, a hand on his arm, and told him that “he clearly had the balls to work in the ER”, and that his cuts had been the “neatest he’d seen in a hell of a long time”.
Dennis had found himself half-hard and more than a little sweaty after that.
The romantic feelings had come later, once the blinding desire to get fucked by (or even fuck) Jack had faded enough for him to not be a fucking idiot, and he’d finally been able to see the man underneath.
And yeah, with his feelings for Robby already so intense, it’d been almost impossible not to fall head over heels for Jack too.
And now he’s here, and Jack’s kissing him.
The first bruising crush of their mouths makes Dennis’ skin tingle, as if some bolt of electricity has gone through them, and he shivers, Jack’s stubble scrubbing at his skin.
Jack’s filthy with it, which doesn’t surprise Dennis in the slightest. He’s seen the way the man kisses his husband, especially when he thinks no one’s watching. Jack’s always dirty with it, pushing Robby up against walls, doors, the edge of the bed, licking hungrily into his mouth, hands slipping up under the hems of his clothes just to touch him. Dennis has watched it, time and time again, and so when Jack reaches up and firmly grabs the back of his head, holding him in place as his tongue swipes against Dennis’ lower lip..? He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t thrilled.
Jack kisses like he’s trying to eat him, all passion and no restraint in the slightest, licking behind Dennis’ teeth as he explores every inch of his mouth. It’s so dizzyingly dominating that Dennis feels his hands go slack where he’s holding onto Jack, so overwhelmed by the intensity of his kiss.
He’s very, very glad he kissed Robby in the kitchen earlier.
It’d been a stupid impulse, but thank god for it, because otherwise he’d still be waiting to experience all of this, and he’s fairly sure that now he’s had it once he’s never going to be able to give it up.
Not when kissing Robby and Jack feels like this.
He’s lost in it, lost in the way Jack and Robby are both touching him, and all he can smell and taste and feel is them, and the lingering glee of the fact that they want him is still making his chest spark with excitement.
He kisses Jack until he’s forced to drag himself back, just enough to breathe, drawing a ragged breath into his aching lungs.
Jack just grins at him, clearly not as affected as Dennis, and he looks so smug that Dennis groans, dropping his forehead to Jack’s shoulder.
“You don’t understand —“ he gasps, fingers flexing against the fabric of Jack’s shirt. “How stupid long I’ve wanted to do that.”
Jack laughs, easy and bright, and suddenly he’s wrapping his arms around Dennis, pulling him fully into his lap.
“Mmm, I’ve got a fair idea. You are not subtle about when you’re staring, Mouse.”
Well that’s beyond humiliating.
Dennis is well aware he stares, because he’s been trying desperately to break the habit.
Trinity was the first to notice, the longing gazes he was giving both Robby and Jack, and Dennis had sort of hoped it’d just be her.
Of course it wasn’t.
Dana was next.
Then — because of Trinity, Garcia.
Then Mel.
And that had been an unpleasantly direct conversation.
“You stare at Dr Robby a lot.” She’d said one day, turning to look up at Dennis after a consult about one of their patients. “Why?”
He’d gone positively scarlet with humiliation, during to look at her, eyes wide. “What —? No — no I — I don’t.”
She’d just cocked her head. “Yes you do.”
Dennis had had to walk away before she’d been able to make any more astute comments.
She’d figured it out a couple of weeks later anyway, turning to him with eyes wide as she’d gasped “you’re in love with Dr Robby.”
That’d been a difficult one to explain.
Dana — like Trinity — was also evil about it. But in her own firmly maternal way.
She’d picked up on his feelings for both doctors shockingly quickly, and she’d summoned him over to the nursing station one day, face twisted into a wicked smile, and once he’d sat, she’d pounced.
“Last I checked, Robby doesn’t make much of a habit of dating students, but he might make an exception for you.”
The noise Dennis had made at that had been so undignified that half of the staff had turned around to look at him, before he’d buried his face in his hands.
“Abbot though…” she had leant in, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze. “He won’t appreciate me saying this, but he’s a lot more easy.”
Looking back at it, she’d obviously known the two were married, which meant that she’d obviously known that the two wanted something to do with him, but he’d been so mortified by the whole ideal that he’d avoided both doctors and Dana for almost a week.
“Yeah I uh…” he sighs, pushing back off of Jack’s chest to look between the two. “I couldn’t help myself.”
Robby smiles, and Dennis can see the same flicker of tension in his forehead as earlier. He’s almost definitely beating himself up about all of this again, and god does the thought of that make Dennis mad.
Jack was right when he said they’re going to have to do some work, they really are.
Robby reaches out though, the hand on his calf moving up to gently stroke the hair at the scruff of his neck, the curls there that have grown out since he first started.
“You’re trouble,” he says softly, but it’s so devastatingly fond that Dennis can’t help but melt a little, both at the touch and his tone.
“Mmm… maybe.”
“Definitely.” Jack pats his back. “Bed time, I think. Some of us have work tomorrow.”
Dennis turns to him, cocking an eyebrow. “Robby and I are off, and you’re on a night.”
Jack rolls his eyes. “Yeah, well some of us want to go to bed anyway.”
Dennis is fairly sure that means they’re not going to have sex tonight, which frankly he’s absolutely fine with. As much as he wants to have sex with them (and he wants, so bad), obviously a lot of things have been discussed today and he’d rather not rush too much into everything all at once.
He’s not even sure if they’re actually officially even dating yet.
So, he reluctantly clambers off of the two of them, standing and stretching as they heave themselves off of the couch.
Jack takes a minute to stretch, before he glances at Dennis. “Come on. Bed.”
It’s not actually even clear if they mean his bed or theirs, and so Dennis hesitates for half a heartbeat, but Robby’s gaze meets his, steady and inviting, and the knot in Dennis’ throat loosens.
They go up together.
The bedroom is dim, only the bedside lamp on, casting warm light across the covers. The three change quietly, although Jack drops any façade he’d been upholding before and whistles appreciatively at Dennis’ bare chest, and then again when Dennis drops the shirt he’s holding, and clambers into bed in just his boxers.
Fuck it.
If he’s dating them now, he can be as undressed as he wants. It’s not like Jack has had any qualms about sleeping basically naked this entire time himself.
Robby’s the last to settle into bed, but this time he doesn’t keep his distance.
When they lie down, Jack’s quick to pull Dennis back against his chest, just like they’ve been sleeping the past few nights, but then Robby shifts closer, finally closing the gap he’s been holding.
He slings an arm across Dennis’ middle, letting Dennis tuck himself up under his chin.
Dennis feels so securely surrounded, the warmth of two bodies so insane and unfamiliar that he giggles.
He can’t believe it.
He can’t believe it.
After all this wanting, all this waiting, he’s finally gotten what he’d convinced himself was impossible.
Robby clearly feels him laugh, because he tightens his grip just a little, and so does Jack, until Dennis feels like he couldn’t possibly ever move.
It’s incredible.
They just lie like that for a while, peaceful in the quiet, but Dennis is wide awake now, and despite his best efforts, his thoughts begin to spiral.
Jack and Robby said they wanted him, but when Dennis had asked why, Jack hadn’t really… said anything?
He’d promised there was a space for him, romantic, sexual, whatever, but suddenly doubt flares inside of him.
There was no way Jack had only added the bit about wanting him romantically after Dennis had confessed that he was in love with the two of them, was there?
There was no way he was just trying to appease him so he’d agree to something sexual… right?
A little part of him points out that that’s insane, and why would Jack ever behave like that? But the doubt has wriggled its way firmly into his brain, and he can’t let it go.
He inhales sharply.
“Can I ask something?” He asks, his voice scarcely more than a whisper.
Jack hums softly behind him. “Always.”
“Why… why me?”
Robby stills for half a second, then relaxes again, his chin pressing firmer against the top of Dennis’ head.
He doesn’t speak though, Jack’s the one who probes. “What do you mean, Mouse?” He asks gently, although Dennis is fairly sure he knows.
Dennis stares into the dark, his eyes half-focusing on the skin to Robby’s shoulder before him.
“I… you work with so many other —“ he stops himself from saying better, “people, and you’re married, and you could have your pick of anyone for a third, why… why me? I’m not sure I — I don’t understand why you’d have feelings for me.”
The silence stretches between them as Jack takes a deep breath, his fingers digging gently into Dennis’ hip.
“We don’t want anyone else.” Is what comes first, Jack shifting a little in the bed. “Robby and I… yeah, maybe we could have anyone we wanted, but we don’t. You… you stood out, from the moment we met you. After Pittfest, someone said they reckoned you’d quit, but Robby… he said he knew you’d be back. And I did too. We both saw you and just… there was something special about you, man.”
Robby nods. “You work harder than most of the interns, and you’re thoughtful and kind, far more so than any of us old bastards deserve. You let other people take the good patients without complaint, made coffee for me and for Dana and for anyone who looked like they needed one, you worked — you work — so well with everyone else in the Pitt… you’ve always been special, and we’ve always noticed that.”
“But — but why now? I’m sick, and I’m a mess half the time, and I…” Dennis trails off.
“Why would that change anything?” Robby asks softly. “Dennis, you care so much for other people, for me, for Jack, the fact that it’s your turn for a little TLC is hardly a turn off.”
“Mmm, look at you Mouse. You get diagnosed with a life-changing chronic condition, and you still go to work to care for other people. The rest of us don’t have to worry about keeping ourselves alive when we’re trying to save everyone else, but you do, and you’ve done so without complaint, because that’s the kind of person you are. You’re so fucking good, it’s hard not to see that.” Jack shrugs, and Dennis’ breath catches.
Robby continues, voice low and steady. “You trusted us when you were at your worst. You let yourself be vulnerable in a way most people never do. And yet you don’t ever take us for granted, even when you deserve to.”
“And, you’re fuckin’ pretty, Mouse.” Dennis feels Jack shift, then suddenly sharp teeth nip at his ear and he squirms. “That country-boy build you got going on under those scrubs,” he rubs a hand across Dennis’ abdomen. “That’s hard to ignore. You should have seen what a mess Robby was when I first made him admit he found you hot. It was like watching him confess to me in college for the first time all over again.”
Robby groans at that, reaching over Dennis to swat at Jack’s stomach.
“You confessed to me, Yankl, and then avoided me until I had to hunt you down and kiss you myself ‘cause you were too chicken to do it. Don’t listen to a word he says.” He directs that last part to Dennis, tilting his head so his lips are pressed into his curls. “Actually, listen to him about what he’s saying about you, but don’t pay attention to anything else he’s on about.”
It’s sweet, and hilarious, and Dennis’ eyes burn.
“…Shut up.” He mumbles, and both of them squeeze him.
“We got a lotta reasons to like you,” Jack murmurs, pressing his cheek to Dennis’. “So don’t you go doubting that, okay?”
Dennis nods.
“Yeah… um… so… what — what is this? What are we?”
“Other than an HR violation?” Jack says lightly, and Dennis smiles, but he feels Robby stiffen just a little against him.
“But like — are we dating? Do you just want… to sleep together? What… what is this?”
The reassurance has soothed him, a lot more than he’s willing to admit. It wasn’t that he genuinely believed what he’d been telling himself, but given that he hadn’t heard it outright, it hadn’t been easy to convince himself otherwise.
“What do you want, Mouse?” Dennis can feel the rumbling of Robby speaking through where he’s pressed against his chest, but for as much as it’s nice to be asked, the question annoys him, just a little.
“I want what you want.” He says quietly. “I think… I think I’ve made it clear what I want, so what — what is this? Where — how do I fit?”
There’s a long pause as Robby takes a deep breath, then another, then falters. He’s made it clear he wants this, but it’s obvious (just like earlier) that now he has to actually think about it, that same moral guilt is choking him.
Jack senses it too, because the hand on Dennis’ waist escapes momentarily, and Dennis can feel the brush of his forearm as he strokes Robby’s side.
“I mean — we’ve talked about this, without you, and if you’re down to date us…” Jack shrugs. “I meant it when I said there’s a space for you, with us.”
“Say it then —“ Dennis falters. “Please.”
He feels a good-natured huff of breath at the back of his neck, and he doesn’t need to look to know Jack’s smiling.
“Fine. We two old perverts would very much like it if you’d be our pretty little boyfriend, if you’d so wish.” His voice is light, teasing, and it’s like someone’s burst the balloon of worry in Dennis’ chest because he laughs as he answers.
“Please.”
He gets kissed a fair few more times before they eventually settle back down, and he sleeps deeper than he has in years.
When Dennis wakes the next morning, it’s like he’s surfacing from underwater. He’s so comfortable, so slack and loose limbed that he’s not entirely convinced his body still exists. He’s turned over in his sleep, facing Jack’s now-vacant side of the bed (disappointing), but there’s a hairy pair of arms holding him very securely against a warm chest, and the rhythmic sound of someone else’s breathing reverberates in his chest.
He blinks, just a little disoriented for a second, and then remembers.
Robby.
They’re tangled together, sheets kicked into a loose mess around their legs. Dennis isn’t actually fully on his side, half on his stomach, clinging onto Jack’s pillow with Robby curved close behind him. Robby’s face is tucked into the space between Dennis’ neck and shoulder, his beard tickling his shoulder blade.
He can hear Jack bustling about downstairs, cooking them breakfast despite the fact he’s the one working tonight, and Dennis smiles to himself.
Yeah, this feels so much more right, now that he’s finally officially part of it all.
He tries to twist and dislodge himself carefully, because his bladder is reminding him of its existence, unwilling to wake Robby, but the slight movement is enough. Robby stirs, breath hitching slightly before he blinks awake. For a moment he just looks at Dennis, eyes still soft with sleep, unfocused and warm.
“Hey,” Robby murmurs, voice so deliciously deep and rough.
“Hey,” Dennis whispers back, suddenly shy in the morning light creeping through the curtains.
Robby’s arm tightens instinctively, keeping him close. There’s a quiet question in his gaze, and Dennis nods without thinking, his hand coming up to rest against Robby’s forearm.
They hover there for a beat, suspended in the gentleness of it.
But then Dennis leans in first, slow and tentative, giving Robby every chance to pull back.
He doesn’t.
He tilts forward instead, meeting Dennis halfway, their lips brushing, soft, unhurried, exploratory in a way they weren’t last night.
It’s nothing frantic. Nothing urgent.
Dennis pulls back, just enough to catch his breath, before Robby kisses him again. It’s a little deeper this time but still just as achingly tender, his hand sliding up to cradle the back of Dennis’ neck.
Dennis melts into it, turning more fully toward him, their foreheads resting together between kisses.
Downstairs, pans clink, and Jack laughs at something on the radio.
Eventually Robby presses one last gentle kiss to Dennis’ mouth, then, after a moment another to his temple, and he lingers there.
“We should probably get up,” he murmurs into his skin, though he makes no move to let go.
Dennis smiles, eyes closed. “Yeah,” he agrees, not moving either.
They stay like that for a while, until finally, finally, Dennis cannot ignore his body any longer, and with great remorse, he pulls himself away.
They go downstairs still half wrapped up in each other, and Dennis is so acutely aware of Robby’s hands on him.
God he’s missed it so fucking much, missed the constant of it, a palm warm at the small of Dennis’ back as they descend the stairs, finger briefly hooking into the hem of the shirt he dragged on before going down when Dennis pauses at the bottom step, a thumb brushing his hip as Robby moves past him into the kitchen.
Robby doesn’t seem to notice he’s doing it at all, which somehow makes it feel even more intimate.
He’s finally giving into his urges, the horrible, awful self-restraint gone, and Dennis is so aware of the fact he’s beaming, and he doesn’t care in the slightest.
Jack looks up from the stove when they enter, spatula in hand. He takes one look at the two of them and smiles, “Well, good morning.”
“Morning.”
Robby hums something noncommittal and reaches for the coffee pot, still close enough that his shoulder brushes Dennis’ every time he moves.
Jack steps in to fill the (very minimal) space left behind without hesitation, cupping Dennis’ face with one hand, and he kisses him. It’s a lot more tame than the night before, but it makes him just as giddy.
It feels so natural, like being kissed by them is just something he’s been doing this whole time.
Breakfast is easy, Dennis perches up on the countertop dosing his insulin as he waits, watching Jack finish cooking, and obstinately getting in his husband’s way every time Robby tries to do anything, until Robby very forcefully pushes him up against the fridge and kisses him until they’re both laughing.
It’s like all the walls have finally done down, and really giddy is the only way to describe how Dennis feels.
He’s just fucking ecstatic.
Robby sits close, knee pressed to Dennis’ under the table, one hand resting absently on Dennis’ thigh as they talk. Jack steals a sip from Dennis’ coffee while they eat just to be annoying, and when Robby swats at his husband and tells him off, Dennis does the same right back.
There’s no tension. No waiting for the other shoe to drop.
He’s their boyfriend, as of a whole twelve hours ago.
This, Dennis thinks.
This is what he wanted.
They don’t go anywhere. No plans, no errands that can’t wait. The day stretches out in front of them with no demands, and Dennis is quietly amazed by how natural it feels to just… exist in it with them. Not that it didn’t before, but now they’ve finally crossed the barriers of uncertainty, it feels like he’s just a part of their natural rhythm.
Jack disappears back upstairs late morning, rubbing at his eyes and yawning as the weight of his upcoming Night Shift. He presses a quick kiss to Dennis’ hair, another to Robby’s cheek, and promises he’ll be back in a few hours before retreating to the bedroom to sleep.
After he’s certain Jack’s asleep, Robby puts on music, something low and unobtrusive, and after reading for an hour, busies himself with odd jobs.
And Dennis helps.
For as much clarity as their conversation last night brought, the very real fact that Dennis has been staying in their home for free weighs on him. He hasn’t exactly earnt his keep, what with how much they’ve been looking after him, and like with Jack before, he feels an urge to make himself useful.
Robby doesn’t protest his presence, so they move through small things together.
Wiping down the kitchen counters. Watering the plants. Loading the washing machine with the various underwear and clothing bits the three have filled the laundry basket with over the past week.
There’s a broken hinge on one of the kitchen cabinets, and Dennis takes it upon himself to fetch the toolkit and sort it out, and when he’s finished, Robby kisses him against it.
At some point they end up on the living room floor, backs against the couch, flipping through an old photo album they keep tucked away under the coffee table.
This is something Dennis has never actually seen before, pictures of his gorgeous boyfriends (boyfriends!!!!) when they were younger.
Beyond, of course, the ones framed about the house.
But most of those are posed, deliberate, the ones in the album are far more personal.
And candid.
There’s a lot of pictures of Jack and Robby at med school, both young — younger than Dennis, grinning at the camera. There’s one of Jack that makes him hesitate, tracing a finger over the man’s curls as he looks at it.
Robby laughs at him, at the picture, and when he plucks it out of Dennis’ grasp, he holds it up next to him.
“Yeah, when you got your haircut it was like looking through a window to twenty years ago,” he says fondly, turning over the picture of Jack in his hands.
Jack’s hair is cut into a short sort of mullet, almost identical to Dennis’, his curls the same texture, falling in the same unruly way. The only difference is the colour, Jack’s a sandy sort of auburn compared to Dennis’ mousy blonde.
It’s uncanny, the similarity.
But Robby shakes his head fondly, “I should show this to Jack. Maybe he’ll grow his hair out again.”
They continue flicking through the pages, Robby growing a little quieter and a little more fond as he points things out — places he and Jack lived, trips they took, friends and colleagues they no longer see.
It feels a little surreal, looking into the life they had before him, because it drives home just how kind of insane this all is.
They’re twenty years his seniors, they’ve been together since before he was born, and here he is… part of it?
It’s weird.
Very weird.
“Do you think we would have been friends?” He asks suddenly, looking up at Robby. They’re currently poring over a photo of Jack and Robby just before Jack’s deployment, and according to the date on the back, they’re the same age there as Dennis is now.
Robby looks at him over his glasses, raising a brow. “What makes you think we wouldn’t be?”
Dennis shrugs, “aside from the fact I have no idea what you two were like?”
Robby leans back against the couch, slinging an arm over Dennis’ shoulders. “Mmmh, well, Jack was significantly more irritating, and a much bigger flirt. He’d flirt with literally anyone who’d look at him, and given the state of the world in the ‘80s, he got away with it far more than he should. I think you’d get on well, he’d have certainly liked you. I can’t speak for myself, beyond the fact that I had a lot more faith in the world than I do now…” he turns to look at Dennis again, and when he smiles, his face scrunches up in a way that makes it impossible for Dennis to refrain from kissing him. It’s just a chaste peck on the corner of his mouth, but Robby’s smile broadens. “I’d say we’d have been friends, if not more.”
He pinches Dennis’ shoulder.
They migrate to the couch not long after that, Dennis curling up against Robby as they watch something. He’s not sure what, but he enjoys it.
He enjoys the way Robby’s laughter rumbles right through him a lot more.
Jack reappears mid-afternoon, hair rumpled from sleep. He pauses in the doorway to the living room when he sees them there, leaning heavily on his crutches. “Well,” he says, voice rough with sleep, “looks cozy.”
The two shove up, and Jack sinks down onto the couch behind Dennis, stretching his legs out, one hand immediately finding Dennis’ shoulder. Dennis leans back into the touch and Jack lets him, fingers digging into the muscles of his shoulders as he absently rubs at a knot there.
They don’t talk much after that. The TV goes on, playing more for background noise than attention.
Dennis doesn’t remember deciding to sleep.
One moment he’s curled sideways on the couch, Jack’s hand still warm on his shoulder, Robby having moved nearby in the armchair with a book he hasn’t turned the page of in a while, and the next, his eyes are closing, his limbs leaden.
Jack and Robby watch Dennis sleep, because it’s almost impossible not to.
He’s splayed out across Jack, having twisted in his sleep until he was touching as much of him as possible, face tucked squarely into his shoulder. His face is slack, mouth open as he sleeps, and he looks so genuinely content, so genuinely peaceful and happy, that neither of them can bare to disturb it.
He also looks young, loose-limbed and soft, and from across the room, Robby heaves a deep sigh.
“God,” he murmurs, and Jack looks up at his husband. “He’s so fucking…”
He doesn’t finish his sentence, but Jack doesn’t probe, just quirks a brow at him.
“I’m a pervert.” Robby eventually declares, dropping his head back as he takes off his glasses. He stares at the ceiling for a moment, before he scrubs at his face.
Ah. The guilt’s back then.
“No brother, we’re perverts. And fucking — so what?” He looks across at Robby, waving the one hand not trapped by their boyfriend. “So fucking what? We’re all grown men.”
Robby sucks a breath in between his teeth. “Barely, barely, he’s only just a fucking resident.”
Jack groans, careful not to dislodge Dennis. “He’s a resident, and an adult, and a consenting member of this relationship. You gotta let go of this guilt, brother, it’s not helping anyone.”
Robby shakes his head slowly.
“Gloria is going to string me up by my fucking testicles.”
“So what? He’s not a fucking student, and questionable relationships between staff members is like — hospital policy.”
Robby lifts his head up, looking across at his husband.
“How are you so chill about this? I mean — I — we could lose our jobs over this.”
Jack rolls his eyes. “No we couldn’t. Because he’s not a student, he’s a resident. And besides, unlike you, I don’t have a fucking guilt complex about wanting things. I mean — how can you look at this and not be okay with it?” He waves a hand at the length of Dennis, still sprawled out in his sleep across him. “This feels right. Who gives a damn about hospital policy? It’s never stopped you before.”
Robby scrubs at his face again. “I don’t know. I don’t know Yankl. I just… it feels wrong.”
“No, you’ve convinced yourself it’s wrong. Look at him. Look at how much he wants us, I mean hell Mike, he told us both he was in love with us. So what if it all goes tits up? We should be able to just enjoy this while we have it.”
There’s a long pause, before eventually Robby sighs again, and he nods.
“Yeah… yeah you’re right Yankl. You’re always right.”