Dennis could feel a simmering fury comparable to that of the Golden God. It threatened to boil, still he took a deep breath, hoping to regain control of the situation. The entire gang was pestering him with irrelevant questions as he laid out their new scheme… well, almost the entire gang.

Mac appeared to be too preoccupied with his phone to pay attention to anything Dennis was saying. It deeply irked him in a way that rattled his nerves and fractured his focus. "So, Mac, you're clear on your job, right?" Dennis tried to keep the tone of his voice from fully falling into accusation.

"Uh-huh." He nodded distractedly, his brown eyes barely catching Dennis before returning to his phone.

"Well, I didn't send it to you in a text message, so," He pushed when Mac's phone dinged.

It was Dee who chided playfully. "He's too busy texting his boyfriend."

"Shut up, Dee." Dennis spoke at the same time as Mac.

The latter was flustered as he huffed, "Silence, Bird!"

The defensive tone of his voice captured Dennis's full attention.

Mac's expression was ruffled. "He's not my boyfriend, just some guy I'm talking to." He returned his focus back to his phone where he began typing a reply.

"What are you doing?" Dennis tried to keep his voice level, even though it felt like his throat was constricting. He blatantly lectured to conceal his confusing discomfort. "You can't reply immediately."

"Says who?" Mac's inflection lifted defensively.

"The entire world." Dee agreed.

"Exactly." Dennis steered the conversation again. "That's a surefire way to get ghosted or be left on read."

"What the hell does any of that mean?" Frank interjection gruffly. "Is it another gay thing, like the bears, twinks and otters?"

Charlie shook his head. "No, it's not a gay thing. They're-"

"Universal dating terms" Dennis popped off the top of a beer. "That are essentially interchangeable; you see, when sending electronic correspondence to a potential hookup via text message or dating apps, if one is perceived as undesirable or clingy," He emphasized the word, lifting his brows to the group. He couldn't help but chance a glance at Mac. Immediately, he regretted his choice, as his best friend's soft brown puppy eyes revealed embarrassment and wounded offense.

Dennis ignored the clench in his gut for hurting Mac and continued. "The other person will disappear and cease contact. If they ghost you, they merely vanish. If they left you on read, it means they saw what you had to say, but no longer wanted to continue the exchange."

"So, they leave you hanging." Frank surmised. "I'm sorry, buddy."

"He did not ghost me!" Mac barked in irritation.

"Well, have you been left on read?" Dennis condescended, hoping he was right.

Mac looked at his phone to verify that his message had, in fact, been read and his face faltered.

Dennis tried to feel disappointed for his friend and some part of him truly did, but another large, often neglected part of him, experienced relief; that is until Mac's phone dinged again and an offensively big and bright smile erupted throughout his features.

"Hmm." Dee sipped on her beer, uncertainty filling her voice as she spoke. "Could it be possible that someone actually likes Mac?"

"Are we talking about Mac's love life or the plan?" Dennis aggravatedly asked.

Every face contorted with disinterest, bordering on disgust, not because he was gay, but because no one wanted to imagine Mac being romantic. "The plan!" They all shouted in perfect unison.

Mac's eyes stayed on his phone as he read the message, not realizing his soft smile began blooming arrogantly. Reluctantly, he pulled his attention back to the group. "I never volunteered my love life as a topic, so can we change it?" He looked back at his phone.

Dennis wanted to complain that even if they did change the subject, Mac would be the last to notice. Another sound erupted from the infernal device and Dennis felt his jaw nearly drop as it quickly became evident that the phone was ringing.

Mac jumped up excitedly to his feet. He briefly looked at the gang before acknowledging Dennis. "We don't need the full gang for this one, do we?"

Everyone else answered in the negative, excusing him to take the call, but Dennis was still trying to comprehend why the joy in Mac's demeanor made him feel queasy. He refused to believe himself suddenly homophobic and found his inner turmoil to be unnoticed and his permission to be utterly unwarranted as Mac went into the office to accept the call.

"Why did you guys do that?" Dennis spit out, turning on the gang.

"Well, you said we only needed four people." Charlie pointed out.

"Yes, and Mac is one of the four." He argued back.

"So, we'll sub in Frank." Dee nonchalantly solved.

"Frank, be the muscle?!" Dennis loudly mocked, ignoring the grimace that contorted his would-be father's face.

"Well, then why don't you take on Mac's part?" Dennis internally clenched as his sister continued. "And finally put those measly vanity muscles to some actual use?"

Dennis knew he had to let it go and just swallow his bitter irritation, but he couldn't make it disappear. Instead, it just hardened into a boulder that was now lodged in the pit of his stomach.

"Kind of clingy," Charlie remarked before gulping his beer.

"What?" Dennis asked defensively.

He gestured towards the office. "The guy. He immediately replies and then he calls." He shrugged.

Dennis laughed out his own sigh. "Yeah, right. What a loser."

"That's so gay!" Frank chimed in.

"Woah," Charlie exhaled.

"Frank." Dee whined.

"Frank, man." Dennis voiced the shared thought. "You can't use gay as a derogatory term to mean lame or dumb."

The older man exhaled irritably. "I wasn't, well, not really."

The group began to interject, but he continued. "No, I'm not letting you insensitive shitheads cancel me over this. I said that's so gay, it's what I meant. No straight guy would try that, ever." The gang thought for a moment and reluctantly nodded in agreement. "It's gay behavior between two gay men, so I'm calling it gay." No one argued. "I just happen to also think it's lame and dumb."

They groaned.

"No," Frank shook his head. "It's painfully desperate."

"Painfully desperate?" Dee laughed. "Frank, you've got a dozen hookers on retainer."

"Sex workers." Dennis chided, to irritate her and smirked to see that it worked as she glared at him.

"Actually, it's a baker's dozen now." Frank laughed crudely. "An old squeeze of mine switched pimps again. See, me and Big Johnny, we weren't so simpatico. Larry, though, he's a longtime pal."

"Heartwarming." Dee scoffed. "I don't know if you're qualified to judge Mac's relationships."

"He said it wasn't a relationship." Dennis defensively reminded.

Dee doubled an accusatory glance at her brother. "Fine. Potential relationship. This whole dating scene is fairly new to him. He's got to get his sea-legs." She finished her beer.

"So, he can come into contact with a bunch of different seamen?" Frank wiggled his eyebrows as he nudged Charlie.

"God, you're crass, Frank." Dee leaned over the counter and grabbed another beer, quickly popping off the top as she spoke. "My point is that he's going through gay puberty."

"Oh, God." Charlie shivered. "I don't want to see that. Mac all guy-crazy."

Dennis nodded, his stomach dropping to his feet at the thought.

"Or his first love." Charlie shook his head. "The guy will be insufferable."

"It would definitely be insufferable alright." Dennis acknowledged. "What if he tries to bring some annoying new guy into the gang?"

"I doubt he would do that."

"It could happen, Dee." Charlie insisted.

"This group is such a sausage fest." Frank muttered under his breath.

"Then call one of your lucky 13." Dee jeered.

"The issue is how this will affect our chemistry." Dennis commanded their attention. "Our gang has operated a very specific way for a long time." They all nodded. "Someone new could throw a wrench in our gears."

"But he would tell us, right?" Charlie asked hopefully. "He wouldn't just dump some new weird normie on us, without talking to us first?"

Dee nodded. "Trust me, when he finds someone special, we'll know, and then we just have to say our piece, you know; establish boundaries."

Dennis soured, knowing it was so easy for her to say. Dee didn't live with Mac. He wouldn't be able to escape it once it happened. "We don't need to make a big deal about this."

"Well, yeah." Charlie added. "I mean, this is Mac. Do we really need to worry about that?" His face puckered for a brief second. "Nobody's breaking their back to get a date with him. He's my friend and even I can't stand him most of the time."

"Eh," Frank chimed in. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. You guys should've seen been there. When he came out to his dad at the prison, tons of dudes started hitting on him. He got a few cell numbers, but I'm not sure he wanted them."

"However, did he manage that?" Dennis balked back in confusion.

"Not cell phone numbers, mind you. A lot of them wanted him to come and visit. They kept calling him handsome and shit." He shook his head. "Granted, none of them knew the sad-sack, but that didn't stop him from being popular. I was afraid he'd have a swollen head after that, but so far so good."

Dennis turned and almost glared at his oblivious pseudo-father. "Well, he was probably a little bit too preoccupied over his father disowning him. I doubt he was looking for a date in the next 5-10."

"Well, yeah." Frank shrugged. "That makes sense and all, but my point still stands. For some reason, dudes find Mac attractive."

Dennis couldn't believe they were that confused by it. Sure, he teased and taunted Mac, but that didn't mean he was ugly, a fact of which Dennis was annoyingly aware of. His stomach tightened and he looked down at the plan in front of him. "You know what, guys? I say we call it on this one."

Charlie began to protest, but Dennis shrugged off the sudden interest in his plan. "We don't have time to go over this one effectively with the new changes, I don't want to go in half-cocked and I have important plans tonight, so…"

All interest evaporated as the group continued to drink their beers. Dennis eyed his own and though he didn't like how he was feeling, he somehow knew drinking would make it that much worse.

He grabbed his keys, ready to go back to the apartment and clear his head, when Mac finally emerged from the office. "Hey, are you headed home?"

Dennis' seemingly sunken stomach clenched tightly, now safely nestled back in his gut. "Yeah," He cleared his throat. "I'm going home. You ready?" He inquired.

Mac sighed, the slightest relief filling his eyes. "Perfect. I actually needed to talk to you about something." He opened the door and they both left.

"Okay," Dennis got in the driver's seat. "What's up?" He couldn't stop thinking about everything they had said in the bar, causing him to dwell on the unpleasant image of men flocking all around the man beside him.

Mac inhaled with a strained expression "I know we were going to reprise our Monthly Dinners tonight, but do you care if I cancel?"

Dennis felt trapped by his guileless friend's reckless phrasing. He couldn't admit that he did care. "You got better plans?" He tried to maintain a teasing tone to hide his disappointment.

Mac's eyes were the most honest thing Dennis had ever known, but it didn't mean he was always capable of reading them and he felt puzzled now to see a melancholy shyness.

Mac turned his expression ahead and Dennis realized he still hadn't started the car, so he proceeded to do so.

It wasn't until they started driving that Mac continued. "Um, it's that guy I'm dating."

"I thought you guys were just talking?" Dennis tried to grasp the steppingstones to a relationship, not that he had even the slightest frame of reference.

"Well, yeah." Mac shrugged. "We've met up a couple of times casually and have texted a bit, but we haven't had a chance to really go out.

"Like on a legitimate date? Why not until tonight?" Dennis gripped the wheel tighter, annoyed that he had to keep his eyes on the road. He wanted to see just how far-gone Mac was, but then, he suddenly didn't.

"He's been really busy the past couple of weeks with work."

"That sounds like an excuse. If he always makes excuses, that could be a sign that he's a bit of a player and doesn't really care." He stopped at a red light.

"Doesn't really care?" Mac asked in offended outrage. He continued, softly defending. "He called me."

Dennis scoffed and looked at him. "Big deal. I call you several times a day."

Something in Mac's expression briefly flinched. "It's not the same."

A sour taste filled Dennis' mouth, so he turned his attention back to the road frozen ahead. "I know." He sighed. "I'm just saying, it's not a huge ask." The light finally turned green. "How could he possibly be that busy? What, does he work 3 jobs to make ends meet?"

"No," Mac sighed. "He's a lawyer."

"Oh, God, not that one guy-" Dennis whipped his head towards Mac.

"No." He shook his head. "He has a restraining order against us. Besides, there's not only one lawyer in Philadelphia, Dennis; also, that guy is super straight."

"Really?" Dennis briefly looked back to the road. "I always thought he kind of gave off some vibes." He looked to Mac's reaction

His considerate face quickly turned away from Dennis, as he steadily replied. "Sometimes you can't trust a vibe." He sat taller, causing Dennis to return his attention to the task at hand. "Not everybody is clockable." Mac continued. "See, Terrence is very subtle. He doesn't play into effeminate or flamboyant stereotypes."

Dennis nodded; entirely certain this guy was an absolute douche. "So, Terrence, the very busy, subtle lawyer." Mac groaned in a way that made Dennis sure he was rolling his eyes and he could see it. "Does he give off a vibe?" Mac took a moment to really think about it and Dennis hated himself for being unable to stifle his provocation.

"When we're together." He nodded. "Yeah, all the vibes are there." He shrugged. "We're just trying to get to know each other better first. It's fun and exciting."

"Still new." Dennis chimed in before he could wonder why he thought to speak at all.

"Yeah." Mac sighed contentedly. "That's part of the appeal."

Dennis nodded. "So, is he picking you up from our place, or-?"

"Yeah, if you don't mind." Mac shrunk a little. "He can just text me when he pulls up?"

"No," Dennis shook his head, hating to see the discomfort contort Mac's posture. "It's a date; make him knock on your door." He pulled into his parking spot.

Mac turned his full focus on him. "I feel like you're just trying to meet him so you can tease me with the guys."

Dennis shook his head. He merely wanted to size up the man. Mac was his best friend, after all. "I won't."

"I don't trust you." Mac sighed. "But luckily, I don't care."

As they got out of the car, Mac huffed. "Oh, man. I have to get ready."

"Stay light on the makeup." Dennis joked.

"You're the one to talk." Mac fired back as he unlocked the door. "Hey, do you mind if I use your shower? The head on mine is busted."

"Sure." He shrugged it off, not looking at him. "No problem." Dennis headed inside to the fridge, grabbing a beer, looking to shoot the shit with Mac, but quickly felt his roommate's absence, as he vanished into his room.

The apartment felt eerily quiet, but Dennis decided to alter his plans, sitting on the couch, and drowning out the silence with the T.V. Not 10 minutes later, Mac's door opened, and Dennis sighed, but was quickly passed by as Mac headed into the bathroom without a word.

Once the shower started, Dennis felt restless, as if the walls were closing in on him and he needed to run, but he sat in the stillness.

Somehow it got worse when the shower turned off. A minute or two later, Mac emerged from the steam, a white towel wrapped around his waist.

Dennis ignored his dry mouth, as well as the abandoned beer in front of him, as he envied Mac's disciplined physique. Briefly, he wondered if it would be possible for him to ever look like that. He quickly decided that though he couldn't embody such a form, he could admire it.

Seeing Mac this way still shocked him. It wasn't just his chiseled body, but his clothes and demeanor, the way he talked and moved. Mac was so settled in his skin that he exuded an impenetrable confidence. Dennis knew better, but that made him all the more impressed; since coming out, Mac had finally come into himself. Dennis envied that liberating freedom. He wondered what that could be like for him, to just be.

"What are you watching?" Mac asked, briefly standing beside Dennis on the couch.

It felt difficult to answer with a glistening, half-naked Mac hovering over him. "Nothing much," He finally forced out. "Just channel surfing, since somebody cancelled on me."

"Ha, ha. Actually," Mac's tone became weighed down with the pause. "Do you mind if we talk for a bit?"

Dennis tried not to squirm under the imposing, yet harmless figure Mac embodied. "Uh, sure, I guess." He turned off the T.V.

"Cool." Mac quickly stepped back. "I'm going to get dressed really quick. I'll be back in a minute."

It was closer to four when he returned, but Dennis definitely wasn't counting. Mac stepped out and his jaw nearly dropped in utter surprise to see him dressed nicely, in a full shirt.

The long-sleeved dark blue dress shirt hung on Mac in the most complimentary way that Dennis could've ever imagined. He reasoned that he only noticed the singular unfastened button that exposed Mac's clavicle, because he happened to be clasping a simple gold cross around his neck.

"Isn't that sending a mixed signal?"

"I don't think so." Mac stood taller, smoothing out his dark slacks. "We met in a Queer Christian Chat Room. Terrence knows that my faith is important to me just as his is to him."

"Oh," Dennis replied dumbly trying to keep himself from inhaling his subtly musky scent. It wasn't Mac's usual, the very obnoxious Draakar Noir. "Well, that's good."

"Yeah." Mac nodded quietly as he entered the living room. "So," He awkwardly began.

Dennis felt the annoying pit in his stomach clench. The sensation worsened when he noticed Mac purposefully sit on the chair, instead of beside him on the couch. Perched at the edge of his seat, Mac's hands fidgeted, and he avoided looking at Dennis.

"Dude, what is it?" Dennis prodded, not wanting to admit how anxious the silence made him.

Mac nodded and met his gaze. The sincerity in his warm eyes relieved some of the tension Dennis was feeling, but not entirely.

He exhaled, his eyes desperately straying from the object of his attention. "I wanted to say I'm sorry."

Dennis sighed humoredly. "For what?"

Mac briefly looked up at him but seemed unable to speak and watch Dennis at the same time, so he looked back down.

"For carrying on like nothing has changed." He shook his head and Dennis could see just how difficult this was for him, whatever this was. "When you orchestrated that seminar about sexual harassment," His eyes were firmly drawn to his wringing hands. "I realized that I seriously needed to reevaluate the way I expressed our friendship."

Dennis noted their distance and froze with foreboding as Mac cleared his throat, still averting his gaze. "I did a lot of thinking about what you said, about how I made you feel. I fell down this horrible rabbit hole about 'gay panic' and it just made me feel sick."

Dennis swallowed his offense, or at least most of it. "What, you think I would try to attack you after coming out?"

Mac sighed and finally met his gaze. "That's not what I meant. It's just-" He huffed. "Once I acknowledged how close we used to be, I understood that although I wasn't honest with myself, you must've been completely blindsided by the truth."

Dennis quieted his internal argument that it wasn't true. He had always known about Mac, had recognized something in him, like the charged atmosphere when they were alone together. During all that time, Mac hadn't lied about who he was, he just hadn't been ready to face it.

"And after I came out, I wanted to cling to the comfort of our normal, but it wasn't." Finally, he sat up straight, looking at him. "I need you to know that I really heard you that day. You were completely honest with me."

'Not entirely.' Dennis thought to interject but feared his own impulse far too much to indulge in it.

"And I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable; that's the last thing I ever want to do." He sighed. "I don't want to risk our friendship; I can't lose it."

"You're not going to lose me, Mac." Dennis pressed, sick at the thought.

"I know." He nodded. "But it's not so simple." Mac paused briefly. "I have to make sure that nothing ruins this," He gestured between the two of them, inhaling deeply in a way that made Dennis realize he was stalling. "So, I think we need to spend less time together."

It like his whole world went gray, but Dennis fought to seem unmoved, as if the words didn't feel like they were punching a hole through his chest, or rather, a second hole. "How do you suggest we do that?" He pushed out a strained laugh. "We live together, we work together, hell, we even scheme together."

"I know." His inflection lifted in a way that made him seem harmless, which wounded Dennis, all the more. "And I'm not suggesting that any of that change."

"Then what exactly are you suggesting?"

Mac ventured at a nonchalant shrug, but his avoidant gaze made Dennis wary. "Well, our monthly dinner for instance." He looked back at him again. "There's no reason to reprise it." He continued confidently to prove his point. "I mean, if we want to talk shit about the gang, we can do it before work or once we get home. We don't have to make big occasion of it."

"Are you trying to break up with me, Mac?" Dennis risked a joke and quickly realized it was a poor choice.

Mac sighed irritably and rolled his eyes. It nearly threw Dennis by surprise to see the aggravation his close friend was aiming at him. "That's my whole point; there is nothing to break up. We're friends who see each other all day, every day. We don't need to keep creating activities just for the two of us."

Dennis couldn't help himself from feeling like he was being punished. "Why are you doing this, Mac?"

"I don't want to be some predatory gay built from the worst stereotypes." He reasoned.

"Did I say you were?"

"Not willingly." Mac bit back before pushing out an anguished exhale as he looked down again. "After all this time hating myself, I don't want to spend another day feeling wrong and unsettled."

"I don't understand."

Mac scoffed. "No, you wouldn't. Look, Dennis," He scooted forward, and Dennis could smell his spiced scent pleasantly wafting towards him. "For the past 20 years, I have used you as a crutch. What we have together, this friendship,"

Somehow the word felt like a demotion coming from Mac. "It made me emotionally fulfilled, so I held on to it, instead of looking for something more," Dennis lightly scoffed, still Mac continued. "But I'm not afraid anymore; I'm excited, I'm hopeful for the future, but so much of me is still rooted in the past and I have this whole new world to navigate. I can't," He cut himself off and tried again. "I won't continue to confuse these lines, but the only way to do that, is to set boundaries."

"What are you doing, Mac?" His offense reluctantly peeked through his voice.

"Dennis!" His tone was lined with impatient severity. "I'm trying to make sure that we both get what we want."

"And what is that, exactly?" Dennis retorted.

"To protect this friendship." Mac's guileless brown eyes grew sad. "I should think that was obvious. We don't need monthly dinners or weekly movie nights. We don't need to run every errand together. You do realize that, right?"

Dennis did; in fact, everything Mace said had made perfect sense, but logic wasn't enough to sway his feelings; and he felt like he was being robbed of the best part of his day.

"I know how you're feeling."

Dennis doubted he could, because if he did, then he wouldn't being doing it.

"But for once, I'm going to ask you to respect that I'm right about this."

"And if I don't?" Dennis didn't want to be doing this, he didn't want to fight with Mac, but he also couldn't stand to lose him.

Mac exhaled sharply through his nose. "You can't force me to spend time with you."

His barbed words actually pierced Dennis, leaving him too pained to hide it. "That's all it would be, huh? Me forcing you to spend time with me, like it's some awful obligation. Some friendship."

Mac stood up, aggravation seeping through his movements. "We live together, Dennis and we work together, but you are not my entire life. You can't be entitled to all my time."

"No, just a background presence when it's absolutely unavoidable."

"Don't be an ass!" Mac huffed.

"Oh, I'm an ass?"

"An incredibly selfish one, but no surprise there."

"Tell me how you really feel about me, Mac."

"I think you're controlling, unappreciative and demanding. I think you throw a fit when things don't go your way, but I know this about you, so I've never let it bother me, but not about this!" He paced quickly. "I've wasted so much of my life being afraid to live the way I wanted to. I won't waste all my time dedicating myself to your need for attention."

"That's not what I'm asking for." Dennis lamely tried to argue, grasping at the weight behind Mac's words and just what he was saying.

"But that's what will happen." Mac stopped pacing. "I'll devote all that I have, but I'm never going to feel anything but empty."

It made Dennis think of the unfillable hole inside him; he did his best to ignore it, but it remained, taunting him with the reminders of his own emptiness. He didn't feel that lacking ache with Mac everything was fun and warm when he was around. Dennis couldn't lose that, not Mac. "Is that really all our friendship amounts to after over 25 years?"

"Why are being such a jerk about this?" Mac huffed in exasperation.

"A jerk? What are you, 7?" Dennis mocked.

"You're the one who's acting like it, by being a jerk!" Mac bellowed.

Though he sounded like his old tempered self, Dennis couldn't feel relieved, not as they both descended into flustered fury. "What do you want from me, Mac?"

"Nothing, Dennis." His voice bitterly spewed his name in a way it never had before. "If there is one thing that should be transparently clear from this conversation, it's that I want absolutely nothing from you."

It was easily the harshest thing Dennis could ever remember Mac saying to him, not in playful jest, but in cruel sincerity. Mac genuinely meant what he was saying. He turned his full attention on Dennis. "God, all you care about is yourself!"

It was a knee-jerk reaction that propelled Dennis forward to stand. "That's not true!"

"Prove it." Mac challenged and Dennis felt his stomach clench as his eyes grazed over Mac's lips; almost a hard line compared to the usual forgiving grin he often wore for him. "Contradict me with the smallest shred of anecdotal proof." He prodded. "When have you ever done anything for someone else? Not to weasel something out of them, but just because you cared." He threw his hands out. "I feel like an idiot for asking you, of all people, when the answer is so painfully obvious. It's all about you. It's always been about you."

"That's not true." He argued somewhat defeatedly. He cared about Mac, about whether he was happy or sad; it all mattered to him. "It's not that I don't care." He tried awkwardly. "It's that I don't know how to show it."

"This is how you show it." Mac stepped closer; no fragment of softness remained in his frustrated dark eyes. "For once, put somebody else's needs before your own."

"This isn't a need!" He asserted desperately.

"How would you know? How could you have any idea what I need?" He shook his head. "How could you even begin to comprehend somebody else's feelings when you don't have any of your own?"

"Wow." Dennis froze, unsure of everything beyond his own hurt. "That's what you think?"

"What else am I supposed to think, Dennis?" Mac's voice sounded completely defeated and tore at him even more than his words. "For years, I have done everything I can to make you happy, but I'll never be done, because you never are. It's too much, working so hard, just to make you feel a little, all so I can hurt a lot. I can't keep doing this."

The anger in his voice started to fade and it made Dennis' stomach sink and his own perception feel false. "This is how you feel about our friendship?"

"What you expect," He stood taller. "What you're demanding of me, isn't friendship, it's ownership."

"That's ridiculous!" Dennis argued pointlessly; they both knew it was the truth. He seemed to always want Mac's entirety.

"No," Mac pointed at him. "You're ridiculous and I'm getting sick of it." He shook his head with manic humor. "This is exactly what I'm talking about; only you get make the rules and set boundaries, but you don't give a damn about anybody else's." Mac shook his head. "This wasn't supposed to turn into a fight." When he sighed, all the aggravation spilled from his molten brown eyes. For a moment, there was a brief and wistful consideration shining in them, as if their entire relationship played in his thoughts.

Dennis felt like Mac was looking through him and he flinched under his own palpable exposure. He was unwillingly vulnerable for his oldest and closest friend, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't hide from Mac. Before he could find the words, Mac's eyes became pained as he uttered a sardonic laugh.

"I can't believe I've been so stupid to ever think that you actually respected me."

Dennis finally came to grasp regret. He didn't want to hurt Mac, but his own anger had made it impossible not to lash out. "Mac, I-" A knock at the door interrupted him.

"He's here." Mac gasped excitedly and for a moment, every shred of distress vanished from his eyes and was replaced with cheerful anticipation.

It made Dennis feel entirely alone and not simply in his present sensation of anguish, but for the foreseeable future. He was losing Mac and even worse, he couldn't swallow his need to push him away with anger.

Mac shook off the eagerness in his expression and his eyes sharpened as he focused on Dennis once more. "We're done having this conversation." He commanded quietly.

Though Dennis couldn't help but respect and admire the authority that filled his voice and emboldened his posture, he refused to concede. "For now." He pressed in a whisper.

"Wow," Mac shook his head as he grumbled irritably under his breath. "You are un-fucking-believable."

Dennis shrugged as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "That's why we're friend."

Mac looked at him tersely without saying anything. Dennis roiled under the tense silence until Mac opened the door. "Hey. Terrence."

"Hey, handsome." A deep and rich voice replied. "Are you ready to go?"

"Absolutely." He sighed and though his back was turned, Dennis knew the exact smile he was wearing, merely from the sound of his voice.

Taking a step back, Mac gestured to Dennis. "Terrence, this is my roommate, Dennis."

Dennis soured at the continuous demotion and thought to correct him, but found his words frozen when he glanced at the man stepping in. He felt worse than he could've imagined. Terrence looked the lovechild of Taye Diggs and Tyson Beckford; tall, dark, and unjustly handsome, dressed in a form-fitting dark navy suit. He extended his hand politely, his other pressed to his chest. "Sorry, if I'm overdressed," He smirked playfully at Mac, and Dennis felt himself sour further. "I just came straight from the office."

"You look great." Mac sighed appreciatively.

Quickly enough to hide his wonder, but not fast enough to seem eager, Dennis returned the gesture and shook Terrence's outstretched hand. "Nice to meet you, Terrence." Dennis pushed out, after releasing his grip.

"And you, Dennis." He stepped back, his eyes roaming over Mac with an obnoxiously bright glint of affection. "Mac has told me a lot about you."

"All good, I hope?" Dennis squirmed slightly under the tension of Mac's brief and sharp glance at him

Mac laughed curtly. "If that were the case, I would've quickly run out of things to say."

There was a brief, uncomfortable quiet and though Dennis' eyes were focused completely on Mac, he could see the hesitance in Terrence's posture. "Can't argue with that." Dennis forced out with a laugh.

The edge in the atmosphere still clung tightly as Mac feigned a congenial smirk. "We should get going." He nodded at his date, eagerness returning full force. Reluctantly, he acknowledged Dennis once more. "Don't wait up."

The door was swiftly shut and Dennis, left all alone in the apartment before he could even open his mouth to reply, insulted by the notion of just waiting around for Mac.


*A/N - Hello, boys, girls and everyone in between. I would like to preface by saying that I am a trash person going to Super Hell for writing this fic, but I still couldn't stop myself. Every character in IASIP is a terrible person, like on a chemical leve, so I never thought I would ever write a fic for this fandom, ever. However, by complete accident I had stumbled onto a few lengthy MacDennis videos expecting to laugh along with the clips, but it just pulled me in.

Honestly, rediscovering Mac's coming out story and character arc is what propelled me to write this. His struggle over religion, faith and internalized homophobia really resonated with me after coming out as a lesbian earlier this year.

In a completely foreign daze, I just started jotting this story down. My typical structure abandoned me, or possibly, the other way around, as planning, outlining and specific research all went out the window. Before Season 15's release date (today) was announce, I fell into this story, writing for the past 3 weeks straight. I didn't plan to post this and only wrote it for myself, but after seeing promotion pictures for the upcoming season, I started to stress out over the very likely possibility that Mac's character will regress yet again.

Seeing him return to old styles choices (copying his dad's slicked back hair and the same oversized Hawaiian shirts that he wore pretty consistently while closeted and hearing talk about him wanting to join the priesthood, have made me so damn sad. Season 14 Mac was just so damn soft and comfortable in his own skin. I want him back. (Yes, I am aware that I am reading way too much into a trash sitcom with the spottiest character development in history, but I really can't help it.)

The only thing that has stopped me from fully panicking is the knowledge that IASIP has been renewed for 3 additional seasons. So, like the clown that I am, I've decided to remain open, bordering on optimistic that this regression is necessary to serve as narrative behind important long-term character arcs.

Despite being the fastest and easiest fic I've ever written, I won't deny that I continuously grappled with discovering the right tone, not wanting these characters to lose their voices, but also, not willing to write them completely unfiltered. Still, I feel that I've definitely pushed myself out of my comfort zone with this story, especially with how I went about writing it.

I ship these two together, and not just because I think they're equally terrible (and could save two innocent people by settling down with each other), but because of the depth of their bond and their mutual inability to function properly without one another. Hope you enjoy this crack fic. Feel free to R&R Thanks so much -Nikki