Ever heard of polyamorous relationships? Not my thing personally but for other people, you do you. Anyways, things get kinda...spicy in this chapter lol
Jake was left to rest for the remainder of Saturday, with Riley watching over him through the night. All throughout Sunday, Lucy was back and forth in their room, often returning with odd little machines and tools for 'tests' and sometimes with medication that she would administer through the IV. Riley had stopped bothering to ask what any of it was or did because her long-winded explanations made him feel a little dumb; mostly because he didn't understand half of what she was talking about.
Jake had not spoken the whole morning, only watching Lucy through tired eyes as she worked. Nothing the girl did was painful, and he dozed through most of it. It was only when Butters came to visit that Jake looked more attentive and spoke.
Lucy was studying the readings on an odd little machine she had placed on the bedside table. She only briefly glanced over her shoulder to see who had entered. "Oh, hello Leopold." She continued to write.
"Hello." He hesitated.
As if sensing his hesitation, she said without looking at him, "Don't be afraid. You can come in."
Butters greeted Riley then went over to where Jake was. "W-Well, hey there, Jake!"
Jake looked more awake now than he did all morning and smiled at him. "Hey, cutie."
He blushed a little and smiled. "Uh, how are you?"
"I've been better…"
Riley was noticeably surprised. He hadn't heard Jake utter a single word since yesterday, and this was the most awake and happy he looked in a while. Jake's eyes had immediately lit up with interest when he saw Butters and he was smiling even now.
"Well," Butters said. "You'll get better again. Lucy's a great doctor! And she's super smart, too!"
Lucy's face went pink at the praise.
"And you've got everyone here for you, too."
"Yeah," Jake smiled more. "Thanks."
While Riley was dumbfounded, Lucy was looking quite pleased with their interaction. She smiled at something on the little monitor. "You're fond of Leopold, hm?"
Jake blushed and grinned at her. "Look at him! He's so cute!"
Riley felt an instinctual tinge of jealousy, but it was quickly replaced with excitement over seeing Jake return to his usual flirty self. "Quit trying to flirt with my boyfriend," he smirked.
Jake coughed a little as he tried not to laugh. "I don't mind sharing."
"I do," Riley grunted. "I'm not polyamorous like you, Jake." For some reason, he suddenly wondered if he had felt jealous a few minutes ago because someone was flirting with Butters, or if it was because Jake had not spoken to him at all that day but was quick to perk up and speak to Butters. It couldn't be both, could it?
"Oh?" Lucy eyed Riley with suspicion mingled with curiosity. "What is that term?"
"Is that not a thing in the Nether?" Riley smiled. "Having more than one partner, with everyone being consensual about it?"
"Oh, so you literally mean to share? No, that is not something that monsters ever feel. Fascinating, though."
"Hear that?" Jake looked at Riley. "I'm fascinating."
"Yeah," he said. "A real wonder of the world."
"Are you jealous? You know I love you, too, Riley."
He hated that he blushed at that. "Shut up, Jake."
Butters shifted uncomfortably. "Wait…a-are we still joking or -?"
"Ugh," Riley threw himself backwards onto his bed. "Jake, look what you did!"
Jake only laughed until he had to stop due to a mild coughing fit. Lucy went over to him to adjust his oxygen mask and press her hand in a strange way on his chest. Whatever she had done seemed to work, because he was able to catch his breath and ease back into relaxed breathing.
"Thanks, doll."
"Of course." Unfazed by his flirting, she went back to the monitor. "Tomorrow, the rest of us have to attend school and the not-parents have work. I was going to have at least one of them stay to look after you, but Brooke insisted that Trent could do it. As worrisome as that makes me feel, he's actually probably a better choice considering how…scrambled the not-parents' brains have become. I feel just awful about that…"
"I like them," Jake remarked. "The mom keeps bringing me little cups of ice cream."
"You're eating again?" Butters asked.
"He can only manage to swallow liquids and soft foods as such," Lucy replied. "But it's progress."
"And the dad brings me soup," Jake continued.
"You really do like Butters, don't you?" Riley muttered from the other side of the room. "Because now that he's here, you just keep talking and talking."
"I love you, too, Riley!" Jake said loudly.
"I know."
Lucy ignored them. "I wonder if Brooke actually told Trent…" she mumbled to herself. "Excuse me, boys." She left the room to go downstairs and meet Brooke in the living room. She was sitting on the couch with her dog and watching cartoons. "Princess, have you actually informed Trent about tomorrow?"
Brooke bit her lip. "Oh… HEY TRENT!"
After a few moments, the door to the basement swung open and the muscular boy walked over to them. "What?"
"We need you to look after Jake tomorrow while we're at school."
He blinked. "Huh?"
"He can't come with us, and you don't go to school, so."
"Wha- But what the hell am I supposed to do!?"
"It's simple," Lucy told him. "I'll leave you a small list of the medications he'll need and the times to administer them, as well as how to administer them."
"Is that it?"
"Well, you'll also need to stay with him to monitor him. I'll also write down what to do if anything happens, but I believe it should be fine."
"I gotta STAY with him? Like, in the same room?"
"Yes."
"What am supposed to do with him?!"
"Uh, be NICE to him," Brooke said. "He needs some TLC."
"What is that?"
"Wha- TLC? It's tender love and care."
"…" He looked lost. "I don't DO tender, love, and the only thing I care about is the cereal in the pantry."
"MY cereal," Brooke snapped. She sighed. "Did your parents never show you ANY affection?"
"No."
She flinched, having meant it more as sarcasm. "Well, just be nice to him."
"Nice?"
"Yeah, like, be sweet."
"Sweet?"
"What are you, a parrot? Yes, nice and sweet. You know, like, what I do with you."
He made a face. "You want me to ask him to open stuff and kiss him on the cheek for it?"
"What? No! …I mean, if you want to kiss him, then go ahead. That's your business, but I meant the other stuff. Being nice and friendly to him."
"Uh…" He looked like his brain had stopped working. "O-kay?"
Later in the evening, Lucy had gone down into the basement to give Trent the list of information he would need to know. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and made a face. The room was messy, with laundry scattered about on the floor and a few magazines whose covers earned Lucy's glare of disapproval. There were a few different types of exercise equipment, most notably a bench and barbell and a very worn-looking punching bag off in the corner. Trent was laying in his bed, with his arms behind his head and propped up against the wall as he watched the wrestling show on the TV across from him.
"Honestly," Lucy stepped over a pair of boxers and some socks. "You live in the same room as the washer and dryer. It's not much effort to do your laundry."
"Those are clean," he said defensively.
She scoffed. "Then why are they on the floor?!"
He shrugged.
"Ugh. Here." She went over and handed him the paper. "This is everything you'll need to know to look after Jake tomorrow. I suggest you read it NOW, that way you know everything beforehand."
"Whatever, mom." He took the paper and started looking over it.
"The number at the bottom is my own. If there is an emergency, I must insist that you call me immediately." She turned to leave and stopped briefly at the base of the stairs. "Aren't you lonely down here?"
"Hm?" he looked over at her curiously. "Lonely? Pfft."
"You know, Trent… I understand that half of your life was stolen from you. You spent that time only living to get revenge, and now you don't know what to do with yourself, correct?"
He tensed, trying not to show any reaction. "So what?" he turned back to the TV.
"So," she said. "You have a family now. One that actually cares about you, despite your abrasiveness. Myself included. …You should spend more time with us."
He watched her through the corner of his eye as she ascended the stairs. There was a strange, warm feeling in his stomach that he couldn't understand what it was. "Whatever…" he muttered quietly to himself and turned over to go to sleep.
The next morning, as usual, Trent went upstairs to eat breakfast then upstairs again to go to the bathroom. He was right in the middle of peeing when Brooke flung the door open. "What the fuck?!"
She paused briefly to look at him then went over to the sink and grabbed her toothbrush. "You should have locked the door," she muttered emotionlessly.
"Jesus fuck, woman!" he finished and zipped his pants up.
"What? Did I scare you?"
"I ain't afraid of nothing!"
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Uh-huh." He was about to leave when she snapped at him. "Wash your hands, you oaf!"
"Ugh, fine!"
Lucy met them in the hall, giving them an incredulous look for having been in the bathroom together. "Jake is bedridden, for now," Lucy told Trent. "So, you'll have to stay upstairs with him. I've allowed him to remove the oxygen mask, but I wrote down what to do if he may need it."
"I remember."
She looked mildly surprised. "You actually read it all beforehand?"
"Yeah, believe it or not, I know how to read!"
"That's not what I was – never mind. Just be mindful with him."
"What if he has to pee or something?"
"Well, for now, he's still on a catheter. I'm hoping to get him up and off all of those machines by tomorrow. He's doing better since coming here, and it's only been two days. Please, for the love of all that exists in the universe, be NICE to him."
"Yeah," Brooke chimed in. "Or we'll stop buying your cereal."
He looked stunned.
"Yeah, I mean it!" she told him.
Lucy led him into Riley and Jake's room. Jake was propped up with pillows with Riley standing beside him and talking to him. Trent looked highly displeased about the lack of a television in the room.
"Jake," Lucy said. "Despite the two of you both living here now, I believe you have not actually met Trent?"
Trent grunted something like a 'hi'.
"Uh, hey." Jake looked worried but smiled anyway.
"How are you doing without the oxygen?" Lucy asked.
"I'm okay."
She nodded. "Good. We have to be going now, but I shall return as soon as school is over. Don't worry. Despite his rude, brutish personality, I believe Trent will be able to look after you just fine."
He chuckled but looked a bit sad. "Yeah. Okay."
"See you later, Jake," Riley smiled kindly before they left.
After everyone else had left, Trent sat on the floor beside the bed and double-checked the list. There were no medications due until ten, but he set an alarm on his phone for later. "So," Jake said after a while. "How'd you end up livin' here?"
"Brooke's weird-ass skeleton pets busted me and Riley outta juvie. Turns out my parents died in a car crash or something so she let me stay here."
Jake wasn't sure what surprised him more. The fact that Riley had managed to get into jail or the fact that Trent showed no emotion whatsoever about his parents' deaths.
"Where the hell are your parents?" Trent asked.
He gazed down at the IV in his arm. "Hell if I know. They left me a long time ago. Apparently I wasn't worth the trouble."
Trent huffed. "Yeah? Me neither. God, when's the last time you had a fucking bath? You stink."
"Me?! You're the one who stinks!"
"No I don't!" He sniffed himself to double-check. "Ugh. Well, I don't stink as bad as YOU."
"It's not like I've been able to do much…" Jake muttered. "Gimme a break."
"Yeah, well I'm not bathing you. Someone else can do that shit."
"I wonder if Riley would?" he said under his breath.
Trent shot him a questioning look.
After a while, Jake had slipped back into sleep, leaving Trent to sit in silence. He, too, had fallen asleep not long after Jake, slowly sliding sideways to the floor. He had almost completely fallen to the floor when the alarm on his phone went off for Jake's ten o'clock medication and startled him awake. Jake also woke with a start from the sudden loud noise.
"Mm, what is that?"
"Time for your drugs," Trent silenced the alarm and got up. He consulted the paper Lucy had given him so that he could grab the right thing.
Jake made a face at the feeling of the liquid being pumped into his veins.
"Are you hungry?" Trent rubbed his eye and tossed the empty vial into the trash.
Jake hummed and shook his head. He was looking around worriedly for some reason. Trent was about to say something about it but didn't have the chance as Jake suddenly panicked and broke down in tears.
"What the -?" Trent winced. Afraid he might have done something wrong, he looked at the paper again as well as the empty vial. It was the correct medication, dose, and time, and as far as he knew, he had done it correctly. So, what was going on? "Uh, what are you crying for?"
Jake didn't respond. He gasped, choking a bit, and clutched at his hair as he shook his head and whimpered, "no, no, no, no, no…please, don't go…I don't…I can't…"
Trent was absolutely dumbfounded. Lucy had not mentioned or wrote anything about this. What was he supposed to do? Should he call her? "Er…" He remembered them telling him to be 'sweet' and 'nice'. He awkwardly reached over and started to rub Jake's shoulder. "I-It's okay. No one's leaving. And the others will be back later. Just…uh, take it easy, okay?"
Jake slowly loosened his grip on his hair and started to steady his breathing. "I…" his voice cracked, "sorry…"
"Uh, what for?" Trent continued to soothe him.
Jake didn't say anything for about a minute or two as he tried to calm down. Finally, he sniffed a final time and wiped the tears from his face before stiffly laying back against the pillows.
Trent withdrew his hand and watched him for a while. Once he had determined that Jake was okay, he said, "What the fuck was that?!"
Jake was staring ahead at nothing. "Happens sometimes… Sorry."
"Well, don't fucking apologize for it! Shit! I thought I gave you the wrong medicine or some shit…"
For the rest of the time that he had to look after him, Trent kept a very close eye on Jake, afraid that he would have another weird breakdown or something. But the rest of the hours passed just fine without any occurrences. Trent was greatly relieved when the others had finally returned and he went downstairs to meet them.
"Ah," Lucy said. "How did things go?"
"You didn't tell me that he was gonna have some kinda weird freak out!"
"Pardon?"
"He just totally flipped out and started crying and rocking and muttering something about someone leaving. You didn't write about that!"
She looked surprised. "I was not aware…"
"Oh…" Riley said, looking sad. "I remember Jake used to have these random panic attacks and fits for seemingly no reason. It's been so long…I didn't think he still had them. I guess it's a result of trauma. He's…afraid of being abandoned."
"I see…" Lucy mused.
"But you calmed him down, right?" Brooke asked Trent.
"Well…yeah, but –"
"Then it's fine. I told you. TLC."
"I'll speak with him about it in a moment when I go to check on him," Lucy informed them.
Riley decided to wait a while before heading to his room. He didn't want to impose on Lucy and Jake's conversation. He joined Brooke in the kitchen for a snack and chatted with her and Trent for a little while before going upstairs. Lucy had opened the door just before he knocked.
"Oh, good, Riley," she said. "I was just going to fetch you. I removed the IV and catheter. I would like to get Jake a bath. He smells…foul. Could you help?"
"Oh, uh, yeah. Of course."
He followed her into the room. She brought over the wheelchair while Riley carefully assisted Jake to his feet. He noticed Jake was leaning very heavily on him. After settling him in the chair, Riley wheeled him out and into the bathroom where Lucy had already gone to start the water.
"You'll have to help him," she told Riley. "Be careful of the IV piece still in his arm." She turned the water off. "Hopefully we can get rid of that sometime tomorrow. I'm going to leave you to bathe him while I get his evening medications ready. If you need help, Brooke is just down the hall in her room." With that, she turned and left, closing the door behind her.
Riley carefully removed Jake's shirt, being very mindful of the IV, then helped him to stand up while he pulled down his pants and underwear.
"Wow," Jake said with a smirk. "Last time I was ever naked around you was when we –"
"Jake!" he scolded.
Jake only laughed and allowed Riley to help him into the tub and sit down.
Riley grabbed the soap and shampoo, placing them on the edge of the tub as he sat on his knees on the floor. Jake made a small, pleased sound almost like a moan as Riley began to scrub his head, which made Riley's face feel hot. Still weak, Jake ended up crossing his arms on the edge of the tub and resting his head on them once Riley had finished with his hair and moved on to washing his body. Riley clenched his jaw as he ran the wet cloth down Jake's back. For some reason, he wanted to use his bare hand to touch him. He quickly pushed the thought away, though.
"So," Jake muttered sleepily. "Butters is a real cutie, huh?"
He tensed. "Yeah," his voice cracked a tiny bit. "You, uh, really do have a thing for him, don't you?"
"Are you mad?" For once, Jake sounded a lot more sincere than usual.
This answered Riley's question. "Mm. I'm not mad."
"Really?" Jake lifted his head. Their faces were very close. "Because I really like you, too, Riles. I like you a lot…"
"I know…" Riley could feel himself blushing. He could see a tinge of pink on Jake's face, too. He had never seen Jake blush before. In fact, he had never seen Jake look like this at all before. He was looking at Riley with soft, half-closed eyes, his head tilted slightly to the side and extremely close to him. There was a longing in his eyes and made Riley's heart flutter. Riley moved a little closer.
"Riley…" Jake's voice had turned to a whisper.
He felt like he was going to lose his mind. He had never, ever, seen Jake like this or heard him sound so full of longing. He noticed Jake lean closer. He moved closer, too, tilting his head. Their lips were so close… Riley suddenly gasped and pulled away, looking quite startled.
Jake winced and shivered. "Ah…s-sorry."
"I-"
"It's fine," Jake said quickly. "Um, I-I know that you're in love with him, and you guys aren't…you know…how I am." His face was red now and he seemed anxious. "I just – I'm sorry."
"No, it's…it's okay." Riley inhaled deeply, shaking a little from the rush he had been feeling. "I'm sorry."
Jake suddenly looked immensely exhausted and his body shook. "Riley," he placed his head back down. "I don't feel good…I need to lay down."
"Okay," Riley pulled the stopper so that the water could drain. "Hang on." He grabbed a dry towel and used it to start drying him off. At first, he thought that maybe Jake was using it as an excuse to change the subject, but he actually seemed very weak again all of a sudden.
After drying him off, Riley gave him a few minutes to rest before helping him to stand so that he could dress him. Riley was glad that this was the point when Lucy had returned to check on them.
"Is everything all right?" She called from the other side of the door.
"Uh, yeah, but," Riley called back, "could you maybe help me get him dressed? He doesn't feel well, so he can't stand for long."
She entered and assisted them, carefully sitting Jake back in the wheelchair once he was dressed. "What's wrong?"
Jake leaned back in the chair. "Dizzy."
"He's just fatigued," she told Riley as she felt Jake's forehead. "Let's get him back into bed so he can rest and I can administer the last of today's medicine."
Dinner was ready just as the sun left the sky, leaving the outside in the darkness of a new moon. Riley barely ate much; he was too lost in his worried and confused thoughts. "I'm going to go to bed early," he said as he pushed his leftovers over to Trent.
"Goodnight," Brooke told him as he left the table.
"If he feels up to it," Lucy was telling Trent, "then you can take him out in the wheelchair. Just, please, be careful going up and down the stairs."
"I'm not gonna drop him," Trent grunted.
Riley smirked to himself then ascended the stairs, entered his room, and then quietly closed the door behind himself. He paused a moment, staring over at where Jake was laying and facing the other way. The lights were off, aside from a table lamp on the bedside table near Jake.
Jake turned over as Riley approached. He smiled sleepily up at him. "Heya Riles."
"Hey." He stopped with his body pressing against the side of the bed. He felt this strong desire to be close to Jake, and it bothered him. Riley didn't know what he was trying to do. He placed his hand on Jake's chest and slowly and firmly pushed it across his chest as he leaned over him. Jake responded with a quiet groan that made Riley swallow nervously. Riley leaned closer.
"Mm… What are you doin', Riles?" Jake smiled, speaking barely above a whisper.
"I…" he stopped. "I don't know.
Jake chuckled a little. "You look like you really wanna kiss me."
"…I do," he breathed.
Jake's eyes widened a little.
Riley slowly pulled away. "But I – Butters…"
"You're in love with Butters," Jake smiled. "You love him a lot. I can tell."
"…" Riley looked away. "Is it wrong that I love both of you?"
"Thought you said you weren't polyamorous?" Jake grinned then gazed at him with a soft expression. "I don't know. Maybe. But it's how I feel, too. About you and him. Ya know? I've loved you a long time, Riley."
"Why didn't you ever mention it? Like, seriously mention it."
"I didn't want to keep you in Locke. Besides, Butters is better for you anyways, ya know. And I know you really love him."
"But I love you, too…"
"Don't say that," Jake looked sad and turned away from him. "I can't handle that. I want you too much to hear that, but I'm not going to take you from him. I mean…I want him, too, but… Heh, I don't think he'd get it."
"Jake…"
He quickly looked back at Riley. "Don't you dare try to choose one or the other, Riley. You've never been so happy before. I won't let you lose it."
Riley almost sobbed at that but caught it in his throat and pushed it down. "I won't," his voice cracked with emotion.
"…Good. Can you turn the light out, please?"
Without a word, Riley clicked the lamp off and went over to his own bed. He climbed into it slowly, feeling shaky and stiff. He was racked with the same feelings he had for Butters with Jake and the fear and anxiety of confusion over it. How could he choose just one anyway? Even if he wanted to, he could never leave Butters. He didn't want to leave either of them. He wanted both of them. The idea of not having one of them made his stomach sick with anxiety, and the thought of laying with both of them at his side made his heart yearn. What was he supposed to do? He felt like he needed them both to love and hold, but was it a bad thing?
The next morning, Riley woke to find Lucy gently waking Jake up. She had brought a tray with a steaming bowl of soup and a juice box. "I'd like you to try to eat as much of this as you can," she was saying as she placed the tray on his lap. "If we can get you eating again then we can remove that thing from your arm. Just take it slowly."
"Thanks, doll."
"Trent will be looking after you again, of course. I have already informed him to assist you to the bathroom if you need, and, if you would like to at some point, he can take you downstairs in the wheelchair."
Riley left them to go downstairs, where he met Brooke and Trent at the kitchen table. He sat in the chair beside Brooke and remained silent for a while before suddenly blurting out, "Is it weird that I like both Butters AND Jake?"
Brooke and Trent both paused in the middle of eating and looked at him. A bit of scrabbled egg fell off Brooke's fork. "Um…what do you mean?"
He blushed furiously. "I-I mean, like, would it be weird, o-or bad, if all three of us were together?"
Brooke and Trent slowly exchanged glances. "Dude," Trent said. "That's like, double-gay." He shrugged and scooped up another spoonful of his cereal. "Whatever man, just leave me out of it."
"Er," Brooke pushed her scrambled eggs around with the fork. "I mean, it would be weird in the Nether. In fact, I don't even think it's possible for monsters… But if that's what you want and they want it too, then by all means Riley."
"That's the thing," he said, looking quite worried. "I know how Jake is, he would be fine with it. But Butters! I don't even think he'd understand. And if he did, or if I explained, and he didn't feel like…" he trailed off.
Brooke shrugged. "If you really do feel that strongly about both of them, then that's something you need to work out with them. You already know Jake wouldn't mind, so it's Butters that you need to talk to. And if he doesn't agree then, well, there's really nothing you can do, Riley."
"It'll probably be fine," Trent said around a mouthful of cereal. "Butters likes everybody."
"Just talk to him about it, Riley."
"Okay…"
.
All throughout the first half of school, Riley was feeling edgy and nervous. Brooke had mentioned to Lucy, and only Lucy, about what the boy had asked her during breakfast.
"Do you think he really feels that way about both of them?" Lucy asked during recess. "What if he's just confused?"
"I don't know," Brooke said. "True love causes the soul to react differently from any other kind of love or infatuation. He really seems to love them both in that way. Neither more than the other." She shrugged. "But it's new to me since monsters can only ever fall in love with one person."
"True."
"What are you girls talking about over here?" Kenny met up with them.
"Love," Brooke responded simply.
He shifted his feet. "Oh. O-Okay."
.
"Butters," Riley said. "I-I have to talk to you about something." He grabbed Butters' hand and led him over to the quiet spot in the shadow of the building. "Um, how do you feel about Jake?"
"Jake? I like him a lot," Butters smiled. "He's really nice to me and says stuff that makes me feel warm."
Riley blushed. "Yeah. He – He does that because he really likes you. Like, he's attracted to you."
"Oh!" his face went pink and he started twiddling his thumbs. "R-Really?"
Riley took notice of his reaction. "Yes. He likes you…and I like you…and…and he likes me."
Butters looked up at him curiously. "He likes both of us?"
"Yeah. And I – I like both of you."
He looked a little confused.
Riley shifted his feet. "Do you understand, Butters? I love you, but I love him, too. I want to…love both of you."
Butters still looked a bit lost, but he was blushing a lot now. "That's not like – like cheating?"
"Butters, I will NEVER do anything to hurt you. Look, I'm in love with both of you, and Jake…I know he loves me. But I also know that he really likes you, too. If you don't want – if you don't like this, then that's fine. I will never leave you and I will always love you. You mean the world to me, Butters."
His blush darkened.
"But if you want," Riley continued. "If you…maybe like Jake, too…then we could all be together in a relationship."
"Like, TWO boyfriends?"
"Well, y-yes. Me and Jake. And you would be both of our boyfriend…and me, you and his."
"We'd all love each other?"
"Er, well yeah."
Butters seemed to be thinking about it. "Well, I'm still a little confused, but…" he smiled at Riley. "I think I'm willing to try it."
Riley was stunned. "Y-You are?"
"Yeah. I mean, I love you, too Riley, a-and I really like Jake. If I can be with you guys, then I'm happy. A-And if it makes you happy to love both of us, then…well, that's okay, too! I want you to be happy. And Jake, too."
"But would YOU be happy, Butters?"
"Yeah!" he smiled then blushed again. "Um, it sounds kinda nice."
"Butters…" Riley breathed. "You're too perfect for this world."
"I am?"
He laughed and hugged him, kissing his forehead. "Yes. You are."
"Aw, shucks. Um, so we'd be doing this stuff with Jake, too?"
"Yeah…"
He smiled and cutely buried his face in Riley's chest. "Yeah, that sounds nice."
.
"It looks like it went over well," Lucy remarked. She and Brooke had been observing Riley and Butters from a distance.
Brooke smiled. "Yeah. Looks that way."
Kenny looked over at her curiously. "What?"
"Nothing." She shoved her hand into his hood and he tensed.
"Have you guys heard about all the weird crime that's been picking up in town?" Stan asked. "A bunch of cats have gone missing and some of the adults are starting to act weird. Or, well, weirder than usual."
"God, I hate this town," Darren sighed.
.
Jake was pleasantly surprised later that afternoon when Riley entered with Butters trailing behind him. He sat up a little then blushed and tried not to appear too excited. "Erm, hey cutie. How's it going?"
Butters smiled and looked at the floor, his face turning red. "Hi Jake!"
Riley smirked and went over to Jake's bedside. "Jake, I had a talk with Butters today."
"You mean like every day?" he joked.
"It was about you."
His smile faltered a little from worry. "Oh?"
"Well…us." He glanced at Butters as Butters came to join them. "Uh, Butters is…happy to try things with you. Um, with us."
Jake blinked at him and glanced between Riley and Butters. "You're not tryin' to pull somethin' on me, are you?"
"No. I talked to him about it today, because I really love both of you, and I know you love me and that you're very interested in Butters, too. He said he really likes you, so he's willing to at least try it out."
"What if it doesn't work?"
"Well, then…it doesn't work. If that happens, we'll figure it out. So, do you…"
"Are you seriously about to ask me?"
Riley laughed a little, exchanging a sweet look with Butters before climbing into the bed beside Jake. Butters hesitated for just a second before joining them, carefully climbing over to lay on Jake's other side.
"You're really okay with this?" Jake looked at Butters.
"Yeah. I-I'm kinda nervous, but…" He squeaked with surprise when Jake pressed their lips together softly.
"Then, did you like that?" Jake asked quietly after pulling back.
"Ah, I – I did, actually."
Jake turned to look at Riley, who was blushing and smiling at them. "Well," Jake said. "Who'd have thought cancer would be the best thing to happen to me? I got a family, a home, and now I've got you two to play with." He grinned at Riley. "Though, I'm guessing you're not gonna let me do anything too naughty with him, huh?"
"You guessed right," Riley grinned, too, and Butters hid his face against Jake's arm.
Jake laughed. "Yeah. I figured you'd wanna be his first."
Riley winced. "Shut up!"
"Haha!"
.
The three of them spent over an hour laying cuddled up close to each other. Jake tried a few more times to get Butters to kiss him, succeeding sometimes, while other times Butters would giggle too much and bury his face again. Jake ended up being content to have Butters snuggled up against his side while Riley slowly ran his fingers under Jake's shirt, along his stomach and close to his waistline. Every now and then, Riley would briefly run his hand lower to tease him, just barely slipping his fingers into Jake's underwear before retracting and giggling at his reaction.
As it got darker outside, Butters panicked a little, realizing that he had not asked permission to stay the night so he had better get home. Riley got up to walk him out. As Butters sat up to get out of the bed, he paused a moment then gave Jake a last kiss before giggling and hurrying after Riley.
"You're okay?" Riley asked once they had exited the house.
"Mm-hm!" he smiled and leaned against him as they walked.
"You look happy."
"You do, too!"
"I am." They stopped at Butters' front door. Riley cupped his hand on Butters' cheek and gave him a long, sweet kiss that the other boy melted into. He smiled as they pulled away. "Goodnight. I love you."
He looked overjoyed. "I love you, too. Uh, goodnight!"
After returning to his own house, Riley went straight back up to his room, locked the door, and then flicked off the light.
"Hey," Jake said. "It's dark!"
Riley made his way through the darkness and climbed onto the bed, straddling Jake. He pressed his hands against Jake's hips and slowly pushed his shirt up to expose his body.
"Riley…"
He silenced him with a firm kiss on the lips that quickly became very passionate and intense. He had never kissed Jake before… It was erotic. He ran his hands back down along Jake's sides, hooking his fingers around Jake's pants and steadily slipping them lower. He greatly enjoyed the moan Jake made in their kiss, then released his lips to kiss his neck and collarbone as he ran his hands back up Jake's body. He felt him shiver excitedly.
"Come on, Riles," Jake groaned. "You're just teasing…"
"Not for long."
To be continued…
Use your imagination. Riley and Jake certainly don't act their age. Uh, anyways I had originally paired Riley with Butters, then I came up with the character that is Jake and intended him to be a one or two time thing, but I liked him so much that I kept him lol. Then I started really digging the chemistry behind him and Riles so... At first, the idea of the three being all together was weird to me, but it quickly grew on me. Same for my friend. They'll figure it out. Gosh, I wonder if I should change one of the genres to romance lol, there sure is a lot of pairing going on in this story. And more to come, too!
