by Aidan Wayne
Brent immediately pulled the desk chair over and sat down next to him, still obviously shaken. Skye took it upon himself to order dinner and then coax Brent to leave Russell’s side to eat it. He also made a quick run down to the Eugene’s indoor all-night convenience store to buy several bottles of Gatorade.
“She said to check him about every two hours, so we can set alarms,” Skye said an hour later. “I’ll sleep on the couch in the living room so the alarm doesn’t wake you up.”
“No, no, I–I can–I don’t mind.”
Skye smiled gently. “Brent, it doesn't make sense for both of us to lose sleep over this, and you get up way earlier than I do.”
“I’m not going into work,” Brent said. “I’m staying here with you two to make sure he’ll be okay.”
“Brent–”
“Please,” Brent whispered, looking at the floor. “Please, he’s my best friend.”
Skye swallowed. Of course. Of course Brent was so broken up. Russell was just as important to him as he was to Skye, just in a slightly different way. “Alright,” he said, coming up to pull Brent into another hug. Brent held on tightly, shaking against Skye. “It’ll be okay,” Skye murmured. “It’ll be okay.”
“I don’t want you to sleep on the couch,” Brent said, voice small. “Please don’t leave me alone.”
“Sure, of course.” Skye pulled away just enough to start tugging Brent toward his bedroom. “Let’s get ready for bed and set that alarm.”
***
They checked on Russell throughout the night and, when he was awake, tried to get him to drink. Skye was weary-tired by the time the sun started to rise, but he didn’t mind. He divided his time between Russell and Brent, the latter of whom, while not sick, seemed to be in just as much pain. Skye wondered if there wasn’t a story there; if someone Brent knew had gotten sick like this before.
“My cousin,” Brent said quietly, while Skye was trying to get him to eat breakfast. “It happened suddenly, like this. Fever out of the blue. She…” he looked down at the table. “She never got better.”
“Russell will get better,” Skye told him. “He’ll be fine.”
He would be.
Chapter 17
Skye ended up calling Jan to update her on what was going on, and to tell her that he’d need an understudy for that night. “I can’t leave him.” Or Brent. “Not today.”
She was very understanding, and told him to keep her in the loop. Skye promised, and also updated the Child’s Play groupchat to let everyone know what was happening.
And you? You’re okay? Linda texted him.
Worried, Skye replied. But yeah, I’m okay. The anxiety is taking a backseat to needing to take care of the people I love.
Good. Tell Russell I love him and that I’ll see him soon. And keep hugging Brent. It sounds like he needs it.
Promise.
Around five o’clock, Brent’s phone buzzed with an open-the-door request. Puzzled, he checked who it was, and was told it was a delivery for Russell Turner.
When Skye went to open the door, it was to a giant vase of flowers and a bunch of balloons, all emblazoned with GET WELL SOON. “What’s this?” he said dumbly, taking it all.
The delivery guy shrugged. “Sign here please.” Skye managed to juggle everything to sign, and then closed the door with his foot, heading back to the guest bedroom.
Brent looked up in surprise as Skye came in with the bundle, and helped take everything to set it down on one of the nightstands. “Who is this all from?”
“Not sure yet,” Skye said, plucking out the giant card from where it was stuck on the vase. “But I have an idea.”
The card was all signed by cast and crew members of Child’s Play. Skye grinned down at it, and even Brent had to smile. “He’ll get a kick out of that when he wakes up again.”
“Yeah, I’m sure.” Skye set the card down on the nightstand, moved to stroke Russell’s cheek. He was still hot, feverish, but not nearly as bad as yesterday. “Think the fever’s coming down.”
“Thank god.”
“Here,” Skye said, tugging on Brent’s hand. “Let’s go watch something in the living room. We can check on him in a little bit.”
“Okay.”
***
Russell’s fever finally broke around one the next morning, and Brent nearly cried with relief. Russell, obviously still a little out of it, patted Brent on the back during the hug, smiled at them both, and then promptly passed out again. Skye was able to coax Brent back to bed without too much trouble and once under the covers, Brent reached for him, kissed him, stroked his hands over Skye’s skin.
It was a much brighter morning, when they woke up the next day.
Russell was awake again, when they both went to check on him. “I feel like death warmed over,” he groaned, in between chugging Gatorade. “And I absolutely need to brush my teeth and take a shower right this minute.”
Brent laughed and went for another hug, before kissing Skye goodbye. With Russell doing better, he really needed to go into work, especially since he planned to leave at a reasonable hour that evening. Skye would be able to stay with Russell and then go to the theatre that afternoon, only leaving Russell alone for a few hours until Brent got home.
“I seriously don’t need you guys to do that,” Russell said, once he was out of the shower, wearing Brent’s robe, both of them sitting together on the guest bed. “I’ll be fine on my own.”
“You weren’t for like three days,” Skye pointed out. “Let us fuss.”
Russell sighed, but his lips quirked. “You realize I’ll just be taking advantage of Brent’s giant TV, right?”
“So I’ll take advantage of it with you, until I have to leave.” Skye laced his fingers with Russell’s. “You really scared us.”
“How… how are you doing?” Russell asked.
“Better now,” Skye told him. “But I wasn’t–I wasn’t panicking. I couldn’t. Brent was already. I needed to take care of him, and of you. There wasn’t room for anxiety.”
Russell brought Skye’s hand to his lips, kissed his knuckles. “I’m glad you’re okay. And I’ll have to do something for Brent.”
“I think you being better was all he needed.”
***
Brent asked Skye and Russell out to dinner about a week later and then back to his place after. Dinner started fine, but Brent seemed oddly nervous, which sort of made Skye nervous, which meant that Russell was trying to do double-duty calming them both down.
They ended up getting their food boxed up, Brent apologizing the whole time.
“It’s cool,” Russell said, as they left the restaurant. “No big deal. Your place is fancier and more comfortable. I like eating dinner there with you guys.”
And that, out of everything, seemed to put Brent at ease. “Oh good,” he managed. “I’m… that’s good.”
“So what’s up?” Russell asked, leading them both to the couch. “I think food might have to wait until you get whatever you want to say off your chest.”
“That might be best,” Brent admitted.
Skye wrung his hands together. “Brent, what’s the matter? Is something wrong?”
“I hope not,” Brent said, before immediately adding, “I mean no, nothing’s wrong. At all. Things are really good, actually. With you. And with Russell. With all three of us, and–how we are.”
“Okay,” Skye said looking to Russell, confused. “So what did you want to tell us?”
Brent raked a hand through his hair. “I know your lease is up in a couple of months, Skye. Same for you, Russell. And I–I was wondering if maybe you’d both like to move in. With me. Here. Or not even here, if there’s another place you can think of that you’d maybe like to move to. I’m completely fine with paying rent and everything, that’s not a big deal at all, and I just–it, you know, it doesn’t make sense that we’re all at separate places when we spend so much time together at mine or Skye’s, and mine obviously has a little more room so
I thought Russell could be comfortable getting his own space since the guest room could easily be turned into a room-room and–and I’m still talking and neither of you are saying anything. Please say something.”
“Breathe, Brent,” Russell said, holding up a hand. “What brought this on?”
Brent cleared his throat, eyes on the floor. “I… I just think we’re working. I think we’re working really well. Skye, I want to be around you pretty much all the time, and that gets a lot easier if we live together. Even if I work late or get up early, I’d still get to see you every day. And Russell, you’re a part of Skye’s life, it’s only fair that you get that option too. Besides, you’re just as much a part of my life also, just in a different way.” He looked up at them. “It’s not like the money matters to me, and I’ve all this empty space that wasn’t being filled and now it is, both ah, literally and figuratively.” A pause. “And that’s it. Those are my cards.”
Skye blinked, speechless. Russell looked from Brent to Skye and then said, “Well, I’m not about to be a freeloader. You can at least get what I was paying on my place, to help out. And Aditya’s been cautiously mentioning that he and his girlfriend want to live together. If I move out, that means he doesn’t have to worry about me. They might even decide to keep the place together, who knows.”
They both turned to Skye then, who opened his mouth, then closed it. Opened it again to squeak, “Really?”
“Seems like the next logical step to me,” Russell said. “I’m in this. Obviously Brent is too.”
“Me too,” Skye said dumbly.
“Alright,” Brent smiled, looking a lot more sure. “Skye, would you like to move in?”
“I–Yes.” A short pause. “Also, I’d really like to kiss you.”
Brent chuckled and tugged Skye forward. “I’m not going to say no to that.”
***
Even though Skye and Russell’s respective leases weren’t up for a few months, Brent extended an invitation for them to move in immediately. That way, he said, there was no rush, and the both of them could take their time getting things the way they wanted. Having that much time also made it easier to work around all their schedules in order to move things.
And to figure out a few details.
Russell ended up being pretty easy. Aditya would be taking over the lease with his girlfriend, so there was no stress on him to move or find a new roommate. All Russell had to do was pack up his things and make Brent’s guest bedroom his own. He didn’t even end up taking any furniture besides his work table and chair –he had laughed and said Brent’s guest bed was nicer than his own– and those fit into the bedroom with a little moving around. Brent was happy to have Russell’s art on the walls, adding to his own, now-partially-displayed collection. The only real issue came to his various costuming supplies. The sewing machine obviously fit on his work table, but Russell had a full-on collection of fabrics, appliques, and wefts from and for the commission work he did. Brent relocated the artwork he kept in the guest bed drawers, but it still wasn’t enough space
In the end, Skye solved the storage problem by suggesting that they put the bed on risers. He even did some searching and found fancy-looking ones, instead of the plastic kind normally bought by college students. It was only a week or two before Russell was completely moved in, and happy with his space.
Skye was harder. Not because he more stuff–living in a studio apartment he mostly used to dance and sleep in, Skye was a fair minimalist besides his graphic t-shirt collection. And that easily fit into any of Brent’s sizable closets.
The problem was which closet.
Brent had a room. Russell had a room. And Skye…
“So what did you do when you weren’t all living together?” Linda asked, leaning back in her cafe chair. “How’d you decide who to stay with when?”
Skye rubbed at the back of his neck. “A lot of that depended on our schedules. Russell and I ended up at my place a lot because we just went home together after the show. With Brent, I went over when he wasn’t too tired, or working ridiculously late.”
“But you three hang out all together too,” Linda pointed out.
“Well, yeah. They’re best friends.” Sometimes, not very often, one of them asked to get Skye to themselves for a little bit. For the most part though, Brent and Russell had decided they liked being together with Skye. They just weren’t romantic or sexual with each other. And that worked for them all.
“Okay, but I know that Russell joins you at Brent’s for overnights all the time. What happens then?”
They ganged up on him, was what. Skye’s ears pinked. “I… yeah, uh. We do sometimes all end up sleeping in the same bed.” That honestly happened more often than not, truth be told, when the three of them spent time together.
“Okay so… it kind of sounds like that’s probably going to keep happening?”
“Yeah, but Russell has his own room now.”
Linda rolled her eyes. “Yeah, so he can have his own space in the apartment. He’s got stuff and he works on projects at home. Of course he needs a room. It’s basically his office. And, you know, he’s not dating Brent, it makes sense to give him a little more room to be away from him once in a while. Not to mention that also gives you and Brent the option for privacy when you need it. Same thing when you and Russell need some time alone with each other. Russell having a room gives you a place for that.”
“I guess.” Skye stared down at the table. “I just. I don’t know.”
Linda pursed her lips. “Russell’s been all moved in for like two weeks. When was the last time he slept in the bed in his room?”
“Oh, uh…” Skye thought back. “He took a nap there on Tuesday?” And apparently that had been an accident. Russell’d been up late working on a commission, had decided to close his eyes for a few minutes, and Skye had found him asleep like an hour later.
“Spent the night, Skye.”
Skye blinked as he realized… “He hasn’t. Since uh, since he moved in. I’ve been over every night too, and we all just sort of have ended up in the master bedroom.”
“Well, there you go,” Linda said easily. “Think you just answered your own question. It’s not Brent’s room anymore. It’s the master bedroom. Russell has an office and yeah, it has a bed in it, but I’m pretty sure you’re all sleeping in the master bedroom. It’d probably be more convenient if that’s where you kept your clothes.”
“I, yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“Honestly,” Linda said, sounding impressed, “I can’t say I get how it works, but it works. That you three are together. Even if Brent and Russell aren’t, you know, dating.”
“Brent said that he likes it,” Skye said. “Living with his boyfriend and his best friend. That it means not being lonely.”
She huffed a laugh. “Going from lonely to sharing a bed with two people. I hope it’s a big bed.”
Skye grinned. With a decision made, he felt a lot lighter. “It’s a very nice bed.”
Linda’s expression turned mischievous. “Oh yeah? Sturdy enough to handle all three of you?”
“You know,” Skye said. “You don’t have to make good on your promise to tease me forever.”
“What’s the fun in that?”
***
Since it was a dark day and Skye and Russell had off, they used the time to finish moving Skye in. Now that he knew what he was doing, it didn’t take long at all to transport and put away his things. Soon enough his old studio was bare. Except for one last thing.
“Truck’s all set,” Russell said, coming back in through the front door. He went over to one end of Skye’s couch. “Ready?”
“Ready,” Skye said, going over to the other side. Together the two of them managed to get it out of the apartment, down to the street, and into the truck that had been rented for just that occasion. When Skye had mentioned that he was going to miss his couch, Brent had suggested that they just keep it.
“Are you kidding? Where? I mean,
the Eugene is big, but there’s no place to keep an extra couch.”
“Skye, my living room couch is a thing my designer bought. Yours is better. We all like it, it’s a good color, and it’s way more comfortable anyway.”
“But it doesn’t match.”
“Gives us a good reason to redecorate and make the place more suited to the three of us.”
“You mean instead of a designer showroom?”
“Yes. Yes, exactly.”
So Brent had gotten his old couch picked up by Viyet, a fancy-furniture consignment company Skye had never heard of, the day before, and now Skye and Russell drove to the Eugene, couch in tow, and got it all arranged.
They went to return the truck, then headed back home (home) to take full advantage of the fact that Skye’s couch was indeed much more comfortable by flopping down on it. Then they proceeded to not move for quite a while.
The sound of the front door opening startled Skye out of a doze, and he opened his eyes to see Brent walking into the living room.
“Hey,” Brent said with a smile. “I brought dinner. Put it in the kitchen.”
“Welcome home,” Skye said, standing up to greet him with a kiss.
Brent stroked a hand down the side of Skye’s face. “I like the couch. Think it fits.”
Skye grinned, the approval shooting down into his toes. “Good.”
“Is that it then? Are you all moved in?”
“Yup. Couch was the last thing we did.”
“Good,” Brent breathed against Skye’s lips, before kissing him again. “Welcome home.”
Skye closed his eyes and kissed back, the full meaning of the day finally hitting him. He was moved in. He was moved in with Brent and Russell, the two people he loved so much, and they really were doing this, they really were working, and… this was what his future looked liked. It was a future with them.
A loud knock on the door startled him, and he jumped slightly, Brent pulling back and frowning, clearly confused. “Who could that be?”