Ari had never felt this feeling before. Or rather, feelings. Or was there a specific emotion for running into your ex? Humiliation, regret, anger, sadness, longing, all squished into his small frame that was growing smaller by the second.
"Oh, hey, Ari," Alfred had said. It was probably out of some strange sense of politeness rather than any genuine friendliness, but that had led to a "Hi, Al" on his part, then a "how have you been?" from his ex-boyfriend. Damnit, whoever had invented small talk should be forced to engage in it with all of their exes at once. While having their fingernails plucked out one at a time. That was how Ari was feeling at that moment.
"Fine," he said. "Great, actually." It was a lie, and an obvious one at that.
"Oh, that's great" Alfred replied, buying into it wholeheartedly. Well of course he would. He wanted to ease his own guilt. "Are you...seeing anyone?"
Well of course he would ask a question like that. If Ari said yes, Alfred could feel better about having dumped him, and maybe even a little indignant that he had moved on so quickly. If Ari said no, well that would be complete humiliation. There was no good answer here, so he lied again.
"Oh, yeah, well kind of."
"Oh? Anyone I know?"
"Um, uh, no, I don't think you know them." That was neutral enough, surely.
"I see..." Shit, he didn't buy that, and nothing could possibly be worse than to be caught in a lie. He wanted nothing more than for the ground to open up and swallow him. Anything to get out of this awkward situation.
"Hey there, babe," said a voice from behind him. An arm slipped around his waist. No, wait, two arms.
"There you are," said another voice. "We've been looking for you."
Ari looked from side to side, registering what was occurring. To his right was a tall blond man with light blue eyes and a cheerful grin. To his left was another blond man, about his own height, with deep blue eyes and a smirk on his face. And in front of him was his ex-boyfriend with a shocked expression on his face.
"You're...with them?" Alfred asked incredulously.
"Yes, he is," said the man to his left, and the man to his right squeezed him tighter. "And who are you?"
"Oh, this is Alfred, the one I've told you about," Ari felt himself saying. He wasn't sure what exactly he was playing at, but the two men on either side of him seemed willing to play along.
"Oh right, him..." said the man to his right. "Huh, you're not at all what I expected."
"Well, I can't say I expected this either," Alfred replied, dumbfounded.
"We've got to get going," said the man to Ari's left. "Our reservation..."
"Yes, of course," said the man to his right. "It was nice to meet you, Alfred."
"Uh, right," replied Ari's ex-boyfriend as the two men turned him around and walked away.
Ari realized that these men could very well be kidnapping him, but in that moment, he was just glad to be leaving the situation. He let them guide him down the street, around a corner, and into a cafe, never taking their arms from his waist until they sat down at a table.
"What do you want?" asked the shorter man.
"What do I want?" Ari asked incredulously. He was about to ask "what do you want?" when the taller man cut him off.
"You look like you could use a drink, so what'll you have?"
"Oh," he deflated. What if they spiked it? Could he possibly get drugged and kidnapped in the middle of the day in a public cafe?
"Relax," said the shorter man. "We just saw you were in an uncomfortable situation, and we thought we could get you out."
"Thank you for that."
"And you still look shaken," added the taller man. "So how about a beer?"
"It's the middle of the day…"
"Well, you know what they say, it's five o'clock somewhere." The man flashed a grin again. "I'm having one, anyway. So what would you like?"
"Um, just a coffee, thanks," Ari replied.
The two men walked up to the counter to order, the taller one gently placing his hand on the shorter one's lower back. Ari wrung his hands nervously. Maybe he should just leave? Why were these men buying him a drink anyway? He peeked out the window and didn't see Alfred. At this point, he could make a run for it and probably make a clean getaway. Go home, collapse into bed, and start this whole day over again. Maybe move to a new city. Maybe a new country. His legs were tensing in preparation to run, but the two men made it back first.
"Here you go," said the shorter man, placing a cup of coffee and a plate of cake in front of him. Ari looked down at the cake then back up at the man. "Well, if you don't want it, I'll eat it," the man said, grabbing a fork and taking a large bite as he sat down next to Ari.
The taller man sat down across from him with a big glass of beer and grabbed another fork. The shorter man blocked his attempt to stab up a piece of the cake. "You said you didn't want any."
"I said I didn't want my own, that doesn't mean I don't want some of yours." The taller man flashed a brilliant grin, and the shorter man gave him a small smile in return, granting him access to the cake.
Ari looked down into his coffee, slowly stirring sugar into it. "So, um, who are you guys anyway?" he asked quietly.
"Oh, sorry! Here we are taking you on a date without even introducing ourselves!"
"A date?!" Ari tensed up even more, ready to run at any second, but the taller man winked at him.
"I'm Mikkel, and this is Niklas."
"I'm Ari." He poured more sugar into the black liquid and twirled the spoon around the cup.
"So, Ari, do you want to talk about that guy?" Mikkel asked. Ari sighed and grabbed a fork.
"He's my ex-boyfriend, Alfred," he replied, stabbing a piece of the cake. "He dumped me three months ago." He stuffed the bite into his mouth. Hazelnut. Nils and Mikkel watched him intently, and he felt his face heat up. He took a sip of his coffee and made a face. Too much sugar. "That was the first time I've seen him since then." He reached for the shaker of creamer, and Nils slapped his hand away lightly.
"Please, for the love of God," the man moaned, "don't ruin that coffee any more." He poured some of his own coffee into Ari's cup, stirred the contents, and sipped it lightly. He made a disgusted face and handed it back to Ari. "That should be better." Ari glared at him, but he just smirked back.
"Let him do what he wants to his own drink, babe," Mikkel chided genially. "Although he's pretty cute when he makes that face."
Nils hummed in agreement, and Ari glared at them both harder. But taking a sip of his coffee, he had to admit that it was a lot better now.
"So why did you guys decide to butt into my business?" he asked grumpily, taking another spiteful stab at the cake.
"Well, you looked like you wanted to be anywhere but there," Mikkel explained. "And then we heard you lying about seeing someone."
"How did you know I was lying? I mean, what makes you think I was lying?"
"It's all over your face," Nils said, poking Ari's cheek lightly.
"What, so are you guys some kind of broken relationship vigilantes?" Ari batted Nils's hand away. "Going around saving people from talking to their exes?"
"No, we just wanted to save you." They both grinned at him, so Ari stuffed another bite of cake into his mouth. He was starting to wish he had taken up Mikkel's offer of beer.
"And what do you guys do when you're not pretending to date a stranger on the street?"
Once the three of them started talking, they didn't stop for a good two hours. They went through another drink each and split another piece of cake between the three of them. Ari was surprised to discover he genuinely enjoyed spending time with the two men. Too much, in fact. And, of course, they were both immensely attractive. He couldn't help but wish he could fit himself into their little world somehow. He longed more and more to share in every look, every teasing jab. And the way they both smiled and winked at him didn't help either. It got to the point where he had had enough and decided to leave before he did something really stupid.
"I guess we should probably be getting home, too," Mikkel sighed.
"Give me your phone," Nils said, holding out a demanding hand. Ari handed it over, and he deftly entered his and Mikkel's numbers. "Give us a call if you…want to chat again."
"At any time," Mikkel added, winking again.
Ari's heart skipped a beat then thundered against his rib cage, threatening to jump right out of his chest. "I, um, right, okay," he stuttered, nodding like an idiot. "Thanks for the coffee and cake."
"Of course, it was our pleasure." Was that supposed to sound so obscene? Maybe he was just reading too much into all of this. Better to leave now, before he really embarrassed himself.
He stood up too fast and knocked his chair over backwards. He quickly righted it, his face burning, and headed for the door. Once outside the cafe, he heaved a sigh of relief before realizing that Nils and Mikkel were watching him from the window. He gave them a forced smile and a half wave, and they grinned back at him.
Ari got home and threw himself onto his bed, burying his face in his pillow, and groaned. The whole situation didn't make any sense. It seemed like Mikkel and Nils had been flirting with him, but they were obviously together. They had called it a date, but obviously that was just a joke about the lie they had told Alfred. Right? They were obviously happy together, so what, were they like luring him into a threesome?
Wait a minute…
No way.
Or maybe?
No, probably not.
He groaned again and started dinner. Frozen pizza again. What else was he supposed to make for himself? It wasn't worth the effort to cook a whole meal for one person, and his fridge didn't have enough room to store leftovers. He wondered if Nils and Mikkel cooked together. He thought they probably lived together. He groaned again and grabbed a beer from the fridge. Unlike some men who had decided to randomly butt into his life, he waited until the evening to start drinking. Most of the time, anyway.
He took his beer and food and plopped himself in front of the tv, but he couldn't find anything to watch. He finally settled on a home renovation show. Mouth full of molten cheese and pepperoni, he scoffed at the inexplicably rich young couple who couldn't agree on a shade of paint for their house. He wished he had someone to argue with over the difference between taupe and greige. That brought his mind back to the light-hearted bickering between Mikkel and Nils. The way they had teamed up on him a few times, much to his annoyance. Although, secretly, he had also enjoyed it. But in an annoyed way.
Annoyed again, he cracked open another beer and changed the channel. He clicked past reality shows, dating shows, game shows, celebrity news, and landed on a ghost hunting show. He sipped his drink, barely paying attention to the overly excited hunters trying to entice a ghost into moving a chair.
He would do laundry tomorrow, he decided. Maybe clean the apartment, too. He had nothing better to do, anyway. His days off never lined up with his friends', and he had no hobbies to speak of. He had already gotten most of his errands done before he ran into Al earlier that day…
Oh, god, he still shared some mutual friends with his ex-boyfriend. If Al didn't already know from them that Ari had been lying about dating, he would soon find out. Or worse, he would tell them about the two men that he had seen him with. How was he supposed to explain any of that to them? Maybe he could get Nils and Mikkel to keep pretending. No, wait, that was a stupid idea. Who in their right mind would suggest that? He probably wouldn't even see them again.
Although, they had given him their numbers…
The beer was going to his head, and he was starting to think about calling them. For what, he didn't know. They said if he wanted to chat at any time…
He pulled up Nils's contact info. Nils Thomassen, it read. He stared at the numbers until his vision went blurry. Screw it, he downed the rest of his drink and punched the call button.
The phone rang once. He should hang up, before anyone answered. Another ring. But what if Nils tried to call back? A third ring. Wouldn't it be worse if he found out Ari had called and hung up?
"Hello?" came Nils's quiet voice. Ari nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Um, hi," he mumbled. "It's me, Ari."
"Ari," Nils said slowly, as if savoring the name. "What's up?"
"Oh, nothing, I'm just sitting at home watching tv."
"Anything good on?"
"No, not at all."
The man on the other end laughed lightly, and Ari felt a sort of proud pleasure rise in him.
"Do you want to come over?"
Ari's breath caught in his throat. On the other end, he heard a muffled voice ask, "Who is it, babe?"
"Ari," Nils whispered in response, and a shiver went down Ari's spine. There was a shuffling sound, and then he heard Mikkel's voice come through clearly.
"Come over, Ari. We'd love to see you again."
"Okay," Ari replied, his voice jumping an octave. He couldn't be imagining the way he emphasized "love", could he? He cleared his throat and repeated himself in what he hoped was a more confident tone, but he heard both men snicker. Damnit.
After they hung up and Nils texted their address, Ari giddily ordered an Uber, knowing he was too tipsy and too nervous to drive himself. He ran to the bathroom to reapply deodorant and check his reflection. He had pizza sauce on the corner of his mouth, and his hair was all tangled. He quickly washed his face, brushed his teeth, and dragged a comb through his hair as his ride pulled up outside his building.
He barely said a thing to the drive the whole ride, instead wringing his hands and fiddling with his phone. What were they going to do? Well, he could probably guess what they were going to do, but he wasn't as clear on the how. It wasn't something he had tried before. And they both seemed so confident, what if he ended up looking like a naïve idiot? Maybe he should have taken another drink before leaving his apartment, although it wouldn't be smart to get drunk before going to a stranger's place. Two strangers' place. He gulped as the car pulled up to the building. He rang their number and was greeted by Mikkel's voice.
"Hey! We're on the fifth floor!"
He heard a buzz and pushed open the front door. The elevator down the hallway took him slowly up to the right floor. When its doors slid open, he saw Nils and Mikkel peeking out of their doorway, each with an arm wrapped around the other. As Ari walked up to them, they pulled him into a hug.
"Good to see you again!" Mikkel greeted him happily.
"Good to see you guys, too," Ari answered sheepishly as they guided him into the apartment.
"Do you want something to drink?" Nils asked.
"Yeah, we have a lot of alcohol, probably anything you'd want."
"Um, just water, thanks."
Nils went to the kitchen to get him water while Mikkel guided him to sit down on their couch. Their apartment was cozy, decorated with well-worn furniture and a large area rug. On the walls hung several pictures and other memorabilia of a life built together. Ari imagined what it would feel like to be in those pictures, to have helped pick out the coffee table…
Mikkel sat close to him. "Can I kiss you?" he asked, his light blue eyes dancing in the light from the lamp in the corner. Ari nodded wordlessly, and the man leaned in to cover his lips with his own. He smelled good, and his messy, blond hair was wet, which Ari discovered when he reached up to run his fingers through it. Mikkel cupped the back of his neck gently as he slipped his tongue into Ari's mouth, causing him to give a quiet moan of appreciation.
"Starting without me?" asked Nils in an amused voice.
"I got a little excited," Mikkel admitted, grinning.
Nils ran a finger down Ari's cheek to his chin, tilting his face up, so he had to look into the man's dark blue eyes. "Mind if I join?" he breathed, and Ari shook his head slightly. Nils leaned down and kissed Ari hungrily, and he returned the gesture with just as much excitement. Mikkel wrapped his arms around Ari's waist and pressed his lips to his neck.
"I, um," Ari stuttered as he reluctantly pulled away from Nils. He took a deep breath, trying to gather his thoughts. "I haven't really done this before."
"We can go slow," Nils assured him.
"Or would you rather do something else?" Mikkel asked.
"What?"
"We can watch a movie or play a game or something."
Ari pulled away from them. "But…"
"It's up to you," Nils said. "We like you, but if you're not comfortable…"
"No, no, I want to!" Ari took another calming breath. "I want to, I just don't really know how…"
"Then we'll take things at your pace, is that okay?"
"Yeah, that's…that's perfect."
Ari struggled to suppress a grin as Nils kissed him again. They liked him. They were happy enough to just watch a movie with him, if he wanted, but they liked him. Maybe he could find a way to fit in here after all.