Chapter 7 – The Boyfriend Acquisition

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"You think what?" Bobby said, because of course Luke hadn't gotten a bloody nose either, which meant there was nothing to pull focus when Luke remembered the epiphany he finally wanted to share, the lot of them huddled around the kitchen table, Alex holding an ice pack to the back of his head.

"Alex likes Reggie, obviously," Luke declared, the side of his face marred by a red imprint from where he'd smooshed it against the floor. "And since Reggie likes Alex, I think they should date. In addition to Reggie dating us." He waited a moment for this to sink in. "It's called an open relationship, I googled it. Except it'd only be open between us."

"Right," Bobby said, his voice painfully neutral.

"I told him it was a bad idea," Alex defended, not wanting them to think he hadn't done his part. "Reggie already gets picked on as it is-"

"Reggie gets picked on?" Luke asked like this was news to him, which meant that maybe Reggie hadn't been as forthright with his relationship as he should have been.

Alex had just assumed the bassist had, though he'd been avoiding or been avoided by Luke and the others so much that he hadn't been able to confirm it. Still, even with that distance he knew Reggie was having a bit of a hard time, likely because he was the easiest target of the three of them – Luke too much of a hothead to take anyone's shit and Bobby too cool a character to even pretend to care.

But Reggie was Reggie – a people pleaser at heart, and not one to stand up for himself. Such things hadn't gotten him far with his own parents, so he'd never bothered with them at school. It was what made him prime pickings for bullies, and why the three of them had made such a dedicated effort to be proactive when it came to looking after him. That had changed when the other three had started dating because of all the issues, but Alex had thought that Bobby and Luke, surely, would keep an eye on Reggie.

Apparently he had thought wrong.

"It's fine," Reggie rushed to say, his smile strained. "It only happened the one time."

Alex gave him an incredulous look. "Dude."

Even with their distance, he knew Reggie was still getting picked on. It was likely why Reggie had been upset with him in the first place, the brunette thinking that Alex considered him a slut, the very thing all the bullies accused him of being.

Reggie shrank a little in his chair.

"Reg," Bobby said, his voice soft and little bit wounded, though none of this was aimed at Reggie. The ache seemed to be entirely on the bassist's behalf, and Bobby wasted no time wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him close. "I'm sorry we didn't notice this happening."

"We'll be more proactive," Luke pledged, scooting his chair closer to Reggie's and giving the other teen an imploring look, shamelessly leaning into his personal space. "If I hear anyone say shit-"

"No one's been saying shit," Reggie sputtered, stumbling over the last word because at his core, Reggie really wasn't one for cursing.

"I'll get Carrie on it," Bobby pledged, this aimed at Luke. "If we get names-"

"Guys," Reggie groaned, trying to sink in his chair, but neither one of them allowed it, Luke coaxing him into a soft kiss that left Reggie flushing, Bobby nuzzling his shoulder until he could get his own turn.

"We love you," Bobby reminded him, and Alex couldn't even find it in himself to be jealous because it was them, because he loved these guys and wanted them to have the moon, wanted them to have the best. "You getting targeted by random jackasses isn't going to change that. It's a reflection of their character, not yours."

"You're perfect just the way you are," Luke said, murmuring the words against the skin just under Reggie's ear before he went back to kissing, trailing down Reggie's neck while the bassist's eyes fluttered shut, Reggie trembling in his chair.

Alright, that had gotten very heated very quickly, and Alex knew when he was beginning to be a third wheel so he tried to make a quiet escape, pushing his chair back as stealthily as possible.

Unfortunately, Bobby had never been as oblivious as Luke or Reggie, so he halted his progress with a hand around Alex's wrist roughly two seconds into this endeavor.

"Stay," he said, just one word, and Alex knew he would go nowhere else. Anything they asked of him he'd do, even if it would lead to his destruction. Alex wasn't the strongest of people.

"Right. Shit," Luke cursed, pulling back from a flushed Reggie. "If anyone should be comforting Reggie, it's you," he declared, and before any of them could react to this, he was dragging Reggie out of his chair, pulling the bassist around the table before he unceremoniously shoved Reggie into Alex's lap.

The blond helped him settle mostly out of an effort to keep Reggie from sprawling on the floor, and just like that he found himself in possession of a very flushed and lovely bassist.

"Um," Reggie said, staring at him with wide eyes. "You don't um- actually have to…"

He shifted his gaze elsewhere, and Alex knew then and there that he actually didn't expect anything from the blond. That maybe he thought Luke was as full of it. Alex could feel his heart pounding in his chest, Reggie's lithe frame so very tense and warm, and maybe Luke was wrong, maybe they were all wrong, but in that moment, Alex found that he couldn't allow Reggie's unease to continue.

So he shoved caution to the wind and used the arm he had around Reggie's waist to drag Reggie close to him, knowing more from videos than the feel of it that this was dreadfully similar to the position they'd been in at the party.

Alex swallowed hard, then ducked his head, pressing a kiss to Reggie's shoulder. "You're great, Reg," he said, his voice a bare whisper. "Just as you are. Just as you are."

He wished he had more words, better ones, but he could offer nothing else when Reggie was so close. Part of Alex was terrified that Reggie would rip himself from his grip again, disgusted by Alex's bold nature, but something in Reggie seemed to ease, and in the next moment his hand lifted to Alex's cheek, his fingers shaking a little, but still very much present.

When Alex could avert his gaze no more, he turned to look Reggie in the eye, startling when he realized how close the bassist was. He looked as flushed as Alex felt, his expression carefully hopeful, and then he was leaning forward, his lips fumbling against Alex's.

The blond couldn't help his sharp inhale, hating the tension in Reggie's frame and seeking to eliminate it. With a confidence that was entirely faked, he cupped Reggie's jaw and shifted him to a more suitable angle, something that Reggie gladly melted into while Alex deepened the kiss.

Holy shit, he was kissing Reggie. Like, actually kissing Reggie, and Reggie was letting him. The bassist released a small, needy sound against his mouth and Alex thought he was going to explode, he was so overwhelmed, convinced that such things could only be possible in his dreams. It compelled him, emboldened him enough to swipe his tongue against Reggie's lips, and when the bassist gasped, he took it as permission to deepen the kiss, something Reggie immediately keened into.

"Perfect," Alex gasped when he pulled back, peppering Reggie's jaw with kisses before he moved towards that one sensitive spot again, nipping at the bruise that was just beginning to fade until Reggie shuddered. "You're so fucking good, Reg."

"Alex," Reggie panted, his hand trembling against Alex's shoulder. "I- you-"

"Me," Alex hummed, using his free hand to pet up Reggie's torso, savoring the way he shuddered until Alex dipped his hand low, toying with the hem of his shirt. "May I?"

"Fuck yes, please," Reggie groaned, a thrill of pleasure shooting through Alex while he got his hand on bare skin, sliding his hand under Reggie's shirt and savoring the feel of his trembling abdomen. "God, 'Lex."

"I'm sure he's got something to do with it," Alex chuckled before biting down harder on that certain spot, soothing the sting with an immediate swirl of his tongue that had Reggie moaning brokenly, his chest trembling beneath Alex's hand.

"Fuck," Reggie gasped when Alex's hand found his nipples again, teasing and prodding at them relentlessly. Each flick seemed to make him writhe, enough that Alex gave up and unceremoniously shoved his shirt up his chest, gathering it under his armpits and bending down so he could start licking and sucking at pale skin. "'Lex!"

"That's me," Alex hummed, feeling invigorated in a way he never was. He happily nipped at those flushed, pert nubs, taking his time to lick and suck at them, flicking his tongue over them in a rapid tease while Reggie's chest shuddered beneath his attentions.

"Oh god," Reggie moaned when Alex used his free hand to attend to the neglected nub Alex wasn't currently doting on with his mouth. "I'm gonna- fuck, Alex, I- can you-"

"Sure," Alex said, somehow perfectly understanding Reggie despite the fractured sentences. With that, he reached his hand between Reggie legs palmed his groin – which was delightfully hard – with a firm but horrifically dirty grind.

Reggie's head fell back in the next instant, a rough cry spilling from his mouth as he spasmed in Alex's hold, his hips weakly following Alex's attempts to guide him through the aftershocks until he seemed entirely satisfied, the bassist collapsing against his shoulder with a ragged exhale.

Alex, who hadn't been paying too terribly much attention to himself during the exchange in favor of focusing on Reggie, realized he was still terribly hard, but that was fine with him. He was more focused on the positively spent expression on Reggie's face, his lips flushed and breaths coming in rough pants.

"Holy shit," Luke said, reminding Alex that they were not, in fact, alone.

In all honesty, Alex had managed to forget about the other two. He was spent enough that he managed to contain his flinch though, somehow managing a cool neutrality.

"So," Bobby spoke up, clearing his throat. "Maybe you could date in private?" he offered. "Just to test the waters, if that will make you feel more comfortable."

"Yes, please," Reggie murmured, his fingers curling into Alex's sweater, and just like that, Alex knew he was done.

Like he'd said, he'd never be able to deny them much of anything, and he wanted this. It was probably a bad idea, but now that Alex had gotten a taste, he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to go back.

"Alright," Alex said, pressing another kiss to his shoulder. "Let's go get you cleaned up."

Reggie just whimpered, but he held onto Alex tighter, which was probably a good sign. Probably.

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"So you're secretly dating Reggie?" Willie asked when Alex finished explaining things to him, and on one hand, the blond knew they were supposed to be keeping things to themselves, but on the other, Willie was the height of discretion and Reggie literally had two other people who were let in on the secret, Alex was allowed to have one to keep his brain from exploding.

"Yep," Alex sighed, flopping dejectedly against his pillows. In the heat of the moment, it had seemed like a magnificent idea, but now that he had a bit more distance he was beginning to recognize the many flaws in this plan. Most of them centering around the fact that relaxing himself like this around Reggie, allowing himself to actually act on his feelings, might lead to him doing the same thing towards Luke and Bobby, who'd already made it pretty clear they weren't interested. Then again, maybe Alex should be happy with what he could get while he could get it, because it wasn't like there was a guarantee that Reggie wanted to secretly date him full time. He already had two boyfriends he could happily claim in public, there was a chance that Alex was just a passing fancy.

"And you're okay with that?" Willie asked, staring at Alex with a considering gaze. Out of everyone, he seemed to get that there was a good chance this could lead to Alex spiraling into a glorious mess.

"I um- you know," Alex said, finishing it off with a vague gesture. "There's a chance that I- there are feelings." He tried not to wince at the weak explanation. "For all of them, I mean."

He could feel Willie's incredulity intensify. "But you're only dating Reggie?"

"The rest of them don't want to date me."

They would have said so. They would have mentioned it, but they hadn't.

Alex took another large sip of his venti Frappuccino, because apparently Carrie felt that reparations were due on her part as well, so she'd been keeping him and Willie fixed with a steady supply of Starbucks ever since Alex had come out to his parents. It was like some kind of belated positive reinforcement, but Alex was definitely okay with it.

Willie, who forever enjoyed the cake pops offered by the chain coffee shop but would never procure them for himself, certainly wasn't complaining.

The skater was biting into one of said cake pops at that exact moment, foregoing his hot chocolate in favor of sweet birthday cake flavoring. "And you're sure-"

"Yes," Alex interrupted around the straw of his drink. "I'm very sure. I'm the most sure."

"Okay," Willie said, and that was that. He just let it go, because Willie was actually the best.

Willie and Kayla, surprisingly, outside of his band acquaintances. But Flynn and her two moms were making a bid to get in on the action with the constant deluge of dinners, clothes, and offers of support. They wanted to take him and Willie to Pride this summer. Alex was pretty excited about going. They were going to get a whole group together, assuming Alex didn't have another falling out with his friend group due to this secret dating thing.

"Can you handle that?" Willie continued, focusing on Alex. Really, it seemed like all they did nowadays was fixate on Alex's issues, but Willie waved him off any time Alex brought it up. Assured the blond that he'd likely have his own fair share of problems in the future, which seemed impossible because it was Willie, but Alex had also seen the way the skater acted around Nick, so… yeah, maybe not as farfetched as he thought.

Alex paused, really contemplating the question.

"And don't give some kind of bullshit like, 'I'm gonna have to' or whatever. We are not Luke Patterson in this house, we think things through."

Alex couldn't swallow his laugh, even if it felt like a bit of a betrayal to Luke. "I like Reggie a lot," he settled on. "I'm worried about how this will affect the other guys, obviously, but both of them were… strangely supportive? They said Reggie's had a crush on me for a while."

"Aw, that's sweet," Willie said without a hint of irony. "But look, just because you like the dude – just because he likes you – that doesn't mean you have to do this if it makes you uncomfortable."

"It doesn't, is the thing," Alex said. "If anything, I'm worried about getting too comfortable. What if I start – you know – going too far with the other guys?"

"An excellent question," Willie hummed, his eyes narrowed in thought. "Create firm boundaries. If you only do secret dating stuff when you and Reggie are alone, it should be easier to keep things compartmentalized. When it's all of you guys, you're just there as a friend, but otherwise-"

"Secret dating," Alex said, something in his shoulders starting to relax.

"Exactly," Willie chirped. "And if the balance doesn't feel manageable, just be upfront with Reggie about it. As long as you communicate, polycules like this can work."

"And you know about that, why?" Alex asked, following his own stir of intrigue.

"No reason," Willie muttered before promptly shoving the entirety of his cake pop into his mouth, making it look casual and not at all like an attempt to get around continuing the conversation.

Still, Alex could respect a boundary, even if it was something worth keeping an eye on.

He took another sip of his drink. It tasted like victory.

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Reggie didn't seem to understand the rules Alex proposed, but he did agree to them with a pale flush dusting his cheeks, which was especially distracting. For whatever reason, Luke seemed… something in regards to the idea of Alex and Reggie doing dating stuff out of his sight. A negative emotion, Alex suspected, but he wasn't sure which. Annoyed? Depressed? Disappointed?

Okay, the last possibility was only in his dreams, but that slight frown had been enough to set Alex panicking enough that he had to leave rehearsal early, a random excuse falling out of his mouth that Bobby obviously didn't buy because he followed Alex right out to his bike.

"He's not mad," Bobby offered, blessedly getting straight to the point. "He's just… Luke."

"Yeah," Alex sighed, because that pretty much explained everything, didn't it? Luke could be the one to suggest sharing his boyfriend with their bandmate without thinking through the repercussions of said act and how they'd make him feel, and the rest of them had to deal with the fallout.

Alex really wished Luke was better at processing his emotions. The blond wasn't exactly one to talk, though.

"Hug?" Bobby's voice was tentative, but Alex was able to safely classify the expression on his face as hope, which was something Alex was more than happy to take advantage of.

It was a nice hug. All of Bobby's hugs were.

"For the record," Bobby continued, the words murmured into the safety of Alex's shoulder. "You can still talk to us about stuff, you know. Reggie-stuff, I mean. We won't take it right back to him if you just want to have some friend talk."

"…maybe you," Alex settled on while his mind was reeling, because this was Bobby listening and offering a place of refuge. The connections in their band were becoming twisted, overlapped, and complicated, but now that Alex was attempting to provide himself some amount of protection via separation, Bobby was there to offer his own services, because he actually was the most mature one among them.

"Give him time," Bobby advised, running his hand down Alex's back. "Though yeah, if you just want to um- tell me- or not tell me- if you just want to chill- I'm here for you, is all." He hugged Alex tighter. "I hate how little we've seen you lately, though I acknowledge that's mostly our fault."

Aw, he always knew the right thing to say. The right thing to make Alex tear up and want to throw himself in a hole.

He settled for hiding his face against Bobby's shoulder. "Love you," he murmured, knowing that Bobby would never understand just how much Alex meant this.

A shiver worked through the other teen, because despite his maturity, expressing emotions was not always Bobby's strong suit.

But he still replied, "Love you too." And he still ran his hand through Alex's hair, let him stay close for as long as he wanted, and if that was a bit longer than propriety might encourage, no one stepped out of the woodwork to condemn them for it, not even Luke.

That was a win if Alex ever did see one.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Thankfully, Reggie had always been a somewhat known quantity for Alex – relationship drama aside.

Reggie was a creature of simple comforts. He had depressingly low standards, but because of this, the rest of them had always sought to go above and beyond to the best of their abilities. For Alex, that meant he could invite Reggie over to Willie's place and do things like help him through his homework (which he probably did with Bobby and felt guilty about for monopolizing Bobby's time, so now he could feel less bad by splitting the load between Bobby and Alex). It meant giving him shoulder rubs and unironically listening to country music and maybe slow dancing, Alex's heart beating so fast it threatened to pound out of his chest.

It meant making sure he was fed – and maybe including Reggie in the cooking process (Nai Nai let Alex and Willie take turns cooking dinner, sometimes teaching, sometimes supervising, and since Reggie loved being involved in what he considered 'normal family activities', it always made his day to help out, to watch them eat the product of his labor). It meant offering Reggie cuddles and a ride back to Bobby's place, but it also meant, when the time was right, that they could have vigorous, vigorous makeouts.

And boy, did Alex make the most of those.

"A-lex," Reggie whined, drawing out the syllables of his name like the sexy minx he was, flushed and bashfully slumped against the section of the wall Alex had him pinned to, the one the wardrobe kept safely hidden from sight of the doorway in case anyone decided to barge in.

They wouldn't, though, Alex was pretty sure. Nai Nai and Willie were in the middle of a cutthroat game of dominos, and there was little that could interrupt them when they got like that.

"Yeah, I know," Alex hummed, more like babbled because he didn't know shit, he was just faking it with the very best of them and Reggie seemed to be buying it which was kind of crazy but also good. "Can I just-?"

He slid to his knees with far more confidence than he ever felt inside, shifting forward to nuzzle Reggie's groin before he pointedly started messing with his belt buckle.

"I- I don't know what you're gonna do, but I'm a hundred percent onboard," Reggie babbled, his chest heaving from exertion.

It was a pretty picture, one that made Alex ache inside, though he ignored that in favor of Reggie. "Let me know if that changes," he said before diving into the thick of things.

He didn't really know what he was doing, but getting Reggie's pants open and out of the way seemed like a great idea. He paused long enough to watch Reggie like that, his pants bundled at his knees, his groin straining against his boxer briefs. He truly was the cutest patootie.

"Alex," Reggie whined again, wriggling uneasily.

"You're just really adorable," Alex said before he was leaning forward, nuzzling Reggie's groin which was probably weird but then the bassist released a truly sinful noise and Alex knew he was going to be doing that a lot more often. "Can I suck you?"

His face blazed at the audacity of even asking the question, which wasn't really helped by the delightfully confused look Reggie gave him. "Suck what?"

"Your um- dick," Alex murmured, his face so very hot. He hadn't thought this was a thing he might want to do, but once he got with Reggie he realized it was a distinct possibility. Like, maybe he wouldn't want it with everyone, but the idea of getting his mouth on Reggie was too tempting to pass on.

"You want what?" Reggie hissed, the last word coming out in a strained whisper.

"Your dick," Alex repeated before leaning forward, allowing himself to mouth at Reggie through the fabric of his underwear, give Reggie a taste of what he meant. He moaned at the taste of salt and musk, felt embarrassed for himself before shoving that away and fixating on the feel of Reggie, opening his mouth wider to give Reggie a proper idea of what he intended. "This okay?" he asked, his voice rough with anticipation, probably, the entirety of his focus fixated on Reggie's flushed features.

"Yes, yes, please," Reggie babbled, and that was enough for him, Alex pressing onwards because he may not know what he was doing, but he wanted Reggie to feel good.

He found the head of Reggie's length and fixated on that, swirling his tongue against it through the fabric of his underwear, and-

"Shit, Alex," Reggie gasped, his hips bucking into Alex's mouth. "I don't- It's so-"

Alex wasn't sure what he did, one hand trailing low to squeeze Reggie's inner thigh while the other braced against his hip. He was mostly fixated on getting the full flavor of Reggie, the heat and pulsing need, the blond offering a tentative suck while he swirled his tongue, and-

"Fuck." Reggie shuddered hard, hips stuttering as a distinct bitterness started to press against Alex's tongue.

It was only then that he realized Reggie had fallen apart, and that made him smile, had Alex pulling back so he could coax Reggie through his release properly with his hand.

"Good?" Alex asked, pressing a kiss to Reggie's hip. "Sorry about your clothes. You can borrow some of my underwear-"

"Oh my god," Reggie moaned, his face hidden in his hands.

Immediately, Alex's good mood was wiped away. "What's wrong?"

"I came in like, two seconds," Reggie groaned, still not looking at him. "That's- that's so uncool."

He was so dejected, and yet Alex had to swallow a laugh, had to swallow everything because that was such a Reggie response.

"Reg, my dude," Alex began, picking up the box of tissues he may or may not have placed strategically nearby not so long ago. "That was sexy as hell."

He tried to nudge Reggie to look at him, pressing a kiss to his side, his hip, doing his best to be reassuring, but Reggie only peeked through his fingers, tentative, like Alex might be tricking him.

"I'm serious," Alex said, pulling out a handful of tissues. "I think it's cool that you're so sensitive. And besides, this um- incentivizes us to practice. So…" He managed a wide smile. "Could I clean you off."

"Oh man," Reggie whimpered, but he let Alex help, flushing dark when Alex got to see his dick for the first time and that was- that was Reggie's dick, and it was both everything and nothing he'd ever imagined.

Reggie was sensitive after his release, releasing small coos from his position in Alex's lap as he allowed the blond to clean him off. He accepted Alex's offering of new underwear, then rocked his world by groping Alex through his pants – clumsy but earnest with kisses that were oh so eager, until Alex made a mess of himself as well, the blond smiling wide through happy, gasped breaths.

"See?" Alex said, cupping Reggie's face between his hands. "I couldn't help it either."

"Guess we've both got the magic touch," Reggie offered shyly.

He was insistent on cleaning Alex in return, which was mortifying and exhilarating because Reggie kept staring and was also directly touching his dick.

"I can't help it," Reggie defended in a quick babble. "This is my first up close dick, it's- it's really pretty."

"Aw, Reg," Alex said, because his brain had short circuited and he had nothing else to offer. "Yours is too."

Reggie just groaned in response, but Alex got to swallow that with kisses, so all and all this dating thing seemed to be going pretty well.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Endnotes:

Yes, yes, it is so very clear that Bobby and Luke are ENTIRELY uninterested and not just terrible at communicating, yes.

*Sigh*, these guys.

Until next time :)