Chapter 4 – Blond Breakthrough

-:-:-:-:-:-

They ended up staying at Willie's house after their Saturday night gig as well, thus introducing a new facet to their routine.

It was nice, mornings at Willie's place. Nice to wake up and maybe get in some sexy times before they cleaned up and worked together to make a lazy breakfast, streaming some cartoons for Reggie so he could get the full Saturday morning experience. It was something they usually did at their sleepovers because the bassist had let it slip once that he hadn't really gotten to do the same routine as them when they were kids, which was obviously unacceptable.

If Willie cared about this lack he didn't show it, and only seemed fond when they ate in front of the tv.

They parted ways after that – Willie going to the skatepark while Luke and Reggie went to rehearsal, the two of them detouring to Luke's house to get a quick change of clothes.

On Sunday, they had no gigs and Alex and Bobby were still being weird, so Luke and Reggie spent most of their time at Willie's place – fumbling through what homework they had before rewarding themselves with sexy times. They chilled in the pool and feasted on fajitas and virgin margaritas (it was lemonade, they were drinking lemonade, but they had it in very fancy cups) until the sun started to set, and Luke knew his time was dwindling.

Eventually, he'd have to return home. He was already sort of pushing his luck as it was.

Willie, because he was a smart dude, seemed to recognize the resignation in Luke's features. "Need a lift?"

"If you don't mind," Luke said, trying not to sigh. "I- Reg, I don't know if you can- I mean, will you be safe at home tonight?"

"I'm- I'm always safe," Reggie said, and Luke wasn't even sure why he asked because the bassist never owned up to the horrors that went on behind closed doors at the Peters' place. "I'll be okay, Luke."

"Alternatively," Willie spoke up, making the other two pause. "You could just stay here. It's not like I don't have the space."

Neither one of them had anticipated such an offer, and as such, fumbled into a startled silence, something Willie seemed to read as rejection.

"You don't have to stay in my room," the skater continued. "There's like, a dozen guest rooms you can pick from. Take one of those-"

"No, I- I was just surprised, Willie," Reggie said, making the other teen's shoulders slump with relief. "I mean- if you don't mind, and um, it's okay with you-" He addressed this last part to Luke. "Then…"

"It's okay with me," Luke rushed to say, happy for this inadvertent solution they'd stumbled into.

"And I definitely don't mind," Willie added, smiling bright. "We'll just pick up some of your stuff from Luke's place and we'll be good to go."

"Like a taco!" Reggie cheered, and that was that.

Maybe Luke should worry about his two casual boyfriends hanging out without him, but mostly he was glad that Reggie was being taken care of, that he got to avoid his family and Willie wasn't spending time alone like Bobby used to. Still, he made sure to give each of them extra deep kisses before they parted ways, murmuring a small string of support to Reggie to boost his confidence because Luke could tell he was feeling shy. Likely worried about hanging with Willie alone, but they would be fine.

"Text me if you need anything," Luke whispered, giving Reggie one last grope before repeating the action on Willie, who took it with significantly less squawks.

Suffice it to say, Reggie hadn't needed to text him anything other than goodnight, and he seemed perfectly chipper at school the next day, armed with a lunchbox that Luke had definitely never seen before.

"Aw," Luke said, throwing an arm around Reggie's shoulders and drawing him close. "Always knew the way to a guy's heart was through his stomach."

"Shut up," Reggie huffed, hiding behind his lunchbox. "Willie was just being nice. We made both our lunches together."

"So cute," Luke whispered into his ear, just to make him squirm.

Just- Reggie was really adorable when he was all flushed and stuff.

The only downside at school was that for whatever reason, Willie would not interact with them.

"Just trust me," the skater began when Luke tried to ask him about it. "It's for your benefit. It's definitely not because I don't want to spend time with you, because I always love spending time with you. It's just easier. Trust me."

At this point, Willie was easily the coolest, most accepting, kind, and generous person Luke knew, so yeah, he wasn't going to doubt him.

"We trust you," Luke had hummed, pressing a kiss to Willie's cheek. "But we'll also miss you too."

"The feeling is entirely reciprocated," Willie said, and what they didn't get in face-to-face interaction was made up for in texts and messages, so it wasn't like Luke or Reggie would have to be entirely deprived.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Willie picked them up after rehearsal Monday afternoon, and Luke chilled with his boyfriends for about an hour before resigning himself to an evening without them – knowing that while he was allowed the occasional sleepover at his place during the school week, Luke staying other places was a battle that just wasn't worth fighting on top of everything else.

"For the record, I'd rather be here," Luke hummed against their mouths, Reggie whimpering when Luke snuck a hand up under his shirt. "Rather be- you know-"

"Trust me, I know," Willie interrupted, smile stretched wide and looking on Luke with an expression of fondness so strong it reminded him of Bobby, which just- ouch. Just a little, though.

Mostly, he was happy. Lucky.

Luke made it home in time for dinner, then retreated to his room to address his homework, his phone buzzing with the occasional text. As much as he was enjoying his new arrangement, he couldn't help but be somewhat worried.

It was probably inevitable for him to abandon his desk in favor of splaying out on his bed, starting a call up to Julie – an actual call, which should speak to the severity of the situation, since Luke hardly ever did that. Or really, the rest of the guys rarely did that so Luke avoided it out of solidarity, but he was actually okay with phone calls. He liked hearing people's voices. Or maybe he just liked people.

Julie picked up after two rings, forever punctual. "You want to talk about your band problems?" she greeted, always one to cut to the point. Luke was pretty sure she'd gotten it from Flynn.

"Sort of," Luke allowed, because Bobby was part of the band. "Could you talk to Bobby?"

"Luke," Julie sighed, her voice full of exasperation. "You need to be the one to talk to him, not me."

"But he's avoiding me," Luke said. "And I don't want to make him feel bad. I just- I want to figure out when he's going to stop moping, because he's missing a prime opportunity here."

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "An opportunity with Reggie?"

"Exactly," Luke said, glad they were on the same page. "I get that he feels all weird or whatever-"

"I don't think you really do, Luke," Julie interrupted. "I think you have grossly underestimated the severity of the situation."

It was a fight not to laugh or give a sigh of his own, because Luke should have expected this when he called Julie. She was always prone to making things seem way more dramatic than they actually were, and that she must have gotten from Carrie.

"Okay, let's assume I did that," Luke said. "He can't hide away forever."

"I don't think you understand this, but I'll try to spell it out anyway. He feels bad, Luke. He is trying not to feel bad, but he does, and he's going to need some time before he can get back to anything close to normal. So try not to push this Reggie thing, okay? It's just going to end up hurting both of them. When Bobby wants to date again, he'll do it when he's ready."

"I… okay," Luke said, because Julie had made several good points. "Thanks, Jules. I really appreciate it."

Julie just gave another heavy sigh. "You're welcome," she murmured. "But please, don't fake date any more of your friends."

Luke's mind drifted to Reggie, but technically he wasn't fake dating him, he just- it wasn't serious dating. It was fun dating. Messy, rebound dating. If Willie got his business together and realized he was better off without them, Luke would still happily fun date Reggie for as long as the bassist wanted. Reggie was cool beans like that.

"You got it, boss," Luke hummed before giving his goodbyes, trying to settle himself into their new normal.

That hadn't gone quite the way he hoped it would, but he knew Julie was right in the end. If Bobby wanted space, he would get it.

Luke owed him that much.

-:-:-:-:-:-

The thing was, Luke did love Bobby.

He loved all of his bandmates. He loved most of his friends. He was pretty sure he loved Willie too, even though he was new.

Luke loved Bobby, and he'd never wanted to be the cause of his pain, but more than that, Luke missed Bobby.

It was a hard adjustment, going from spending every conceivable spare moment with the rhythm guitarist to suddenly not. Before, when they needed to keep Reggie out of his house, the bassist could simply chill with them at Bobby's place, and sure, Luke and Bobby would trade kisses and flirt with each other, but it wasn't much different from how they all usually hung out together. Now Bobby was just gone, and Luke realized he'd brought that upon himself for making assumptions, but he also wasn't entirely sure what to do about it aside from giving Bobby the space he needed.

Luke didn't want to force himself on the guy, but he did want to talk to him in some fashion, like Julie said. Luke was the one who had fucked things up, Luke should be the one doing the talking.

So he went ahead and settled himself, trying to go for a compromise.

He texted.

It wasn't anything huge, but at least with this, Bobby would have written evidence to refer to. That usually helped Alex with his anxiety, it would probably help Bobby too.

He kept it- maybe not short, but he tried to be sweet.

'Bobby,' he'd typed. 'I'm sorry. I never meant to make you feel this way. It's my fault, and I know you need space, but I want you to know I'm sorry, and I love you, and if/when you want to talk, I'm here for you'.

Luke wanted to write that he didn't like Bobby being hurt, that he didn't like being the reason for that hurt, but both of those things put stuff back on Bobby, and this wasn't Bobby's fault. It was just a miscommunication that had been perpetuated because Luke was kind of stupid.

Luke wanted to write 'I miss you' and ask how Gran and Pops were doing. He wanted to ask if Bobby had finished binging that show they'd started together, wanted to say that he hadn't touched it since then. Wanted to say that he missed Bobby's hugs and his laughs and his cuddles, missed sharing his bed, missed-

Maybe he missed being his boyfriend. To be fair to Luke, Bobby had been pretty great at it. A master, really. It was a shame that he'd wasted his skills on Luke when he could have had so much better, but now he could. Now Luke wasn't weighing him down, and he could spread his wings and fly accordingly. Eventually, Bobby would be in the right headspace for it. And when he did move on, Luke would support him.

Bobby didn't respond, but Luke hadn't expected him too. Bobby had always been a quiet sort of guy. He didn't speak much, but he always listened.

He didn't reply, but he'd read it.

That was enough for Luke.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Things seemed to be going well.

Like, not with Alex and Bobby – they were still acting skittish and stuff – but everything else seemed to be doing okay. They had more gigs lined up and Luke was actually doing halfway-decent in his classes to make up for the fact that he was barely ever home. It seemed to be a silent sort of compromise, and as long as Luke didn't push his luck too much, his mom wouldn't blow up at him.

And then of course there was Willie and Reggie, the best for-fun dates Luke could ever ask for. Between the rides and the food and the attention, Willie did a lot for them, so Luke did his damnedest to give just as much back. By either baking cookies with his mom (which made her happy and gave Luke a homemade treat to share with his boyfriend) or giving Willie and Reggie private serenading sessions over facetime (for whatever reason, Willie only ever let Luke do covers, never anything original, and he'd looked so panicked at the thought of it that Luke had never pushed him on the subject) or even just practicing his blowjob skills on the skater until he was a cooing, gasping mess.

"You d-don't have to do all this," Willie breathed when Luke was sucking him through the last of his release, swirling his tongue along the sensitive head of his dick.

"Want to," Luke hummed before considering a second round.

Reggie, who now didn't have to go home to his own strained household every night, seemed to be thriving at Willie's place.

"It's a lot quieter," Reggie admitted. "And it's not like we spend all our time together or anything. It's just- it's nice to be- to have quiet, and stuff. And I think he likes not being alone."

"You are pretty kickass company," Luke offered, earning a shy grin from the bassist.

While the addition of Reggie's new lunchbox and the steady income of homemade lunches seemed to catch everyone's attention, it was the new clothes he started to sport that made them actually address the issue. To be fair, Luke was pretty sure the rainbow flannel had to be special ordered, even though Reggie unquestionably rocked it.

"You go shopping, Reg?" Julie asked over lunch, Nick looking on with an expression of intense interest that indicated he was far more invested in this than he probably should be, likely because Julie herself was invested.

Reggie just sort of shrugged. "My dad got a bonus," he lied, taking a bite of his and Willie's latest sandwich creation. There were talks of experimenting with a panini press, and Luke wasn't even jealous because he knew they'd share their best discoveries with him after they had them perfected.

Later, Luke probed the bassist for actual details while they waited by Alex's car so they could all go to rehearsal.

"I told him he didn't have to," Reggie explained, fingering the collar of his colorful flannel. "But he suggested we go back to my place to get some more of my clothes, right? So I um- I told him that we already had most of my clothes and he just… sort of went on a very unnecessary shopping spree."

Luke could understand how something like that might come as a shock to Willie. They'd snooped inside the guys' closet once – it was a huge walk in mostly filled with designer clothes Luke was afraid to even consider touching. Willie usually selected his actual day-to-day wear from a rack of clothing he had thrifted – hoodies and sweaters and woven jewelry that seemed way more his speed. They'd never made fun of Willie for his choices, knowing the other clothes had likely been forced onto him whether he liked them or not, and Willie seemed to appreciate that.

Luke wasn't offended the skater was surprised by this basic decency, there were a lot of inherent niceties his friends should have that they didn't necessarily always receive. He was familiar with how unfair life could be.

"Are you okay with that?" Luke asked carefully, knowing Reggie was weird about people helping him sometimes. Willie seemed to have the magic touch, though. Then again, Willie was a natural people person. He just made things easier.

"I… yeah," Reggie said, nodding slowly. "I worried it was too much, that he would resent it, but he just sort of laughed?" Reggie tilted his head to the side, seeming confused by this. "He said it's his dad's money, not his, and if he wanted a say in how Willie spent it, he should be home from time to time. So like- ultimately, he was glad to get to use it for something good instead of something dumb and frivolous." He lowered his voice. "I think the fact that we try to protest so much makes him feel better. I um- get the feeling that maybe people have used him for his money in the past."

"Those fuckers," Luke said, fury building in his stomach at the thought of it.

He trusted Reggie's judgement when it came to such things, because once upon a time the bassist had gotten used a lot too, was taken advantage of due to his outsider status, something that left him desperate for any kind of friendship or positive attention. That was before most people realized he wasn't great at schoolwork, so it wasn't like they could offload their homework onto him, so then he'd just get setup for mean pranks for the entertainment of others. At least, before Luke had recruited him into the band.

Now if they wanted to get within ten feet of Reggie they had to go through Luke, and he would gladly extend that same protection to Willie as well.

"Yeah," Reggie sighed, seeming sad. "He seems happy now, though."

"Let's keep him that way," Luke said, sharing a companionable fist bump with Reggie.

Willie might only be a messy rebound date, but that didn't mean Luke was going to do wrong by him. He already fucked things up with Bobby spectacularly, he really didn't want to do that twice, so he'd just have to be careful. Luckily, he had Reggie by his side to make sure that didn't happen, which was a bit of a relief, but definitely not a surprise.

Luke always felt better when he had one of his bros backing him up.

-:-:-:-:-:-

The thing with Reggie being Luke's boyfriend was that- well… Reggie was his boyfriend.

And because Reggie was his boyfriend, the boundaries of friendly cuddling had been extended to include special-boyfriend cuddles, the likes of which he had only shared with Bobby before. He liked it though, which was a bit of a problem, because once he gave himself that mental go ahead, there was very little to hold Luke back from Reggie when they were in the company of their other friends.

They hadn't told them about their relationship. It seemed easier not to. They were only doing this for fun, and Luke didn't want to hamper Reggie's chances of getting an actual relationship. The bassist had agreed to keep things private, so it wasn't like they were all over each other or anything, but like… maybe Luke wrapped an arm around Reggie's shoulders more often than not. Or when they were working on lyrics together, he dragged Reggie into his lap – but that was just so they could have an easier time looking at Luke's songbook. There had been plenty of times where Luke had held himself back from kissing Reggie, because when the bassist was in the zone he was sexy, his eyes shining bright and cheeks flushed and seeming so full of musical joy it left Luke breathless.

He could only hope that he didn't appear as hopelessly smitten as he felt, because that seemed kind of shitty to do to Bobby even though Luke would gladly be smitten for him too. Hell, he'd be smitten for Alex if the guy wasn't so obviously uncomfortable with the idea of a relationship.

Luke settled for being emotionally/platonically smitten with all of them and tried to resist the utter temptation that was Reggie.

It helped that Luke had their music to focus on, which would always be the priority because that was what was going to guarantee their futures. It was what would get Reggie into a home that was stable and quiet where he had plenty of food and clothes. It was what could get Alex away from his hyper critical parents, what could ensure Bobby could look after Gran and Pops until the end of time, what would allow them to cut off all contact with any toxic family members. They needed music, and Luke loved it so he tried to be a professional, it was just- Reggie. He was so cute, bouncing around with a butt that was oh-so squeezable.

Luke was only human at the end of the day; they could excuse his weaknesses.

He was unfortunately also a human that was not the most subtle, so after a few weeks of dating, it was Alex that pulled Luke to the side, expertly cornering him when it was their turn for snack duty – acquiring whatever lovely treats Gran had made for them from the kitchen.

"Luke," Alex began just before they got to the house, Bobby and Reggie safely distracted in the studio behind them. "I thought you were trying to set up Reggie with Bobby."

Luke paused, not entirely expecting the line of conversation, then recovered as best he could. "I was," he admitted. "But Julie said I had to give Bobby space, so I um- stopped doing that."

"So… what, you're going to date Reggie yourself?" Alex asked, his brows all pinched. "Aren't you still dating that other guy?"

"I am," Luke said, feeling his face get hot. "And what makes you think I want to date Reggie?"

Aside from the fact that he was totally dating Reggie.

"Dude," Alex said, giving him an unimpressed look so close to the old sarcasm he used to aim their way that Luke sort of wanted to cry, because there was the Alex he knew. "You've been way more touchy with him recently."

"We're just cuddling," Luke said, feeling defensive. "We'd cuddle with you, if you wanted."

Alex paused for a moment, seeming to consider this. "Really?"

What, had he- had he actually doubted that?

Wow, Luke felt like a mega-shitty friend right now. Just, the king of awful.

"Of course, dude," Luke said, abandoning his concern in favor of focusing on Alex. He took a tentative step forward, crossing the boundary they'd been respecting while Alex figured out his business. Maybe he hadn't wanted that distance at all. "You're our bro."

Alex shifted his weight uneasily, his gaze drifting towards the ground in a show of bashfulness. "I've been kind of a dick, though."

"Dude, we love you," Luke said, cutting straight to the point. "We know you're figuring some stuff out right now, and we'll never be mad at you for that. Just like, know that we're here for you for whatever you need, and we're always happy to have you around."

To hell with it, he gave up on being proper and threw himself into a hug, something that took Alex by surprise with a startled grunt.

"Thanks, Luke," Alex said, his voice really soft. "I've just… it's hard."

"Yeah, life sometimes is," Luke agreed. "But we're here for you and we love you."

Alex shuddered, making Luke wonder if the blond had doubted that. He made a resolution to tell him that like, twenty times a day, until he was sick of it, just to make sure he knew he was wanted.

"I love you too," Alex murmured, and if they were a little late in bringing the snacks back, that was their business and no one else's.

They had cuddling to make up for.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Reggie, as always, was a great partner in cuddling crime, and once Luke informed him of Alex's renewed desire for affection, the bassist was a thousand percent onboard.

"Love you!" he would chirp, swamping the blond with a hug the moment he caught Alex after school.

"Love you," he would declare when he clambered into Alex's lap, curling himself up like a king on his throne and sharing some of the cookies Luke had made him.

"Love you," he would whisper at lunch, wrapping himself around Alex's back and giving him a firm squeeze before taking what had become his new position between Luke and Bobby.

Luke, not to be outdone, made sure to match Reggie for every interaction – swarming Alex with his own hugs and draping across him during rehearsal, ruffling his hair and leaning into his side and squeezing his shoulder.

"And we love you very much," he would remind Alex, emphasizing this with a kiss to the cheek.

"Okay," Carrie said one day, the diva finally returning to their lunch table after abandoning them in favor of Dirty Candy for the past two weeks. "What the hell's going on?"

"Alex said we could cuddle him again," Luke informed her brightly, something that made a terrible blush blossom across the bridge of Alex's nose. "So we're making up for lost time."

"And reminding him how much we love him," Reggie informed them with a grin.

"They're right, you know," Bobby said, his tone gentle, low. "We do love you a lot."

"T-Thanks, Bobbin," Alex said, his flush somehow managing to darken.

Luke was pretty sure they had briefly held hands underneath the table, and he wasn't even upset by it. Alex should be getting the attention he deserves. When he was happy, Luke was happy, and Luke hadn't realized how big a weight off him this was until Willie commented on it later.

And like, to be fair to Willie, Luke had been more or less dancing around his kitchen while they made dinner.

"Okay," Willie said halfway through his and Reggie's impromptu jam session. "I know you guys aren't that excited about fancy grilled cheese. Did something happen?"

"First of all, don't besmirch the wonder of fancy grilled cheese," Luke informed him, leveraging his spatula in Willie's direction. "And second of all, Alex got out of his funk!"

"He did?" Willie said, blinking as he processed this. "Do you know what the problem was?"

"Not at all!" Reggie cheered. "So maybe he's not entirely out of his funk, but he's letting us cuddle him again, and that's nice."

"He doesn't seem as tense either," Luke said. "Or like, maybe he does sometimes, but I don't think he's mad at us anymore."

"Was he mad at us before?" Reggie asked, coming to a sudden halt as he was slammed with the possibility. Obviously, it had never occurred to him.

"It um- sort of felt like he was maybe a little," Luke admitted with a shrug. "But maybe he was just like- mad at the world, and we just happen to be part of the world, and- please don't get sad, Reg, I didn't mean to make you sad."

"He wasn't mad at you," Willie said, joining Luke on his impromptu hug until they were all cuddled together. "From what you've described, he had some heavy stuff going on, and I'm glad things are easier for him now." He nuzzled Reggie's shoulder. "I know my life's a lot better with your cuddles – just try not to overwhelm him, okay?" He shot Luke a wink. "You guys don't know how deadly a duo you can be."

"I don't think we have to worry that much," Luke murmured, feeling his cheeks heat with a flush.

He'd thought that maybe Willie had been exaggerating, but it turned out, they probably should have just listened to him. He was, after all, the one that had the most intimate understanding of what it was like to handle the combined attentions of Luke and Reggie.

It wasn't like they'd intended it, but just- Alex. It was so nice having him back, and getting in proper cuddle time, to the point where they cut practice a little bit early for the express purpose of snuggling with Alex. It was just the three of them curled up on the couch – Alex in the middle, as had become their new normal. Bobby had ducked inside the house to help Gran with something so they were discussing lyrics, Luke's songbook balanced in Alex's lap.

"Just take the solo, Reg," Luke huffed, his cheek plastered against Alex's firm shoulder. He was more or less glued to the blond's side, his arm curled low around Alex's waist, just barely brushing against Reggie, who was happily draped against Alex's other side. "You have the best voice for it. And frankly, you should have more solos anyway."

"You're just saying that," Reggie gushed, a familiar objection. He had one hand absently carding through Alex's hair, his fingers scraping against the blond's scalp while his other hand lazily traced the designs on the front of Alex's shirt, trailing random patterns against the blond's pectorals.

"I literally am not," Luke huffed, turning to nibble on the collar of Alex's shirt in frustration. It was something he used to do with Bobby, and maybe he'd gotten a bit used to doing it with Willie when he was lost in thought. Alex was the right size for it, and he hadn't complained yet aside from the odd inhale when Luke accidentally scraped against his skin.

"Don't pout," Reggie huffed, splaying his hand out flat on Alex's chest. He shifted closer to Alex's ear, like he was afraid the blond wouldn't be able to hear him otherwise. "Alex, tell him not to pout."

"Don't um- pout," Alex mumbled, his eyes shut for some reason.

His cheeks were all flushed too, so he'd probably been going at his drums too hard again. It was a good thing they'd called practice early.

"I'm not pouting." Luke shifted so he could grumble the words against Alex's neck, because he had a cool necklace on today and maybe Luke wanted to suck on it a little bit. Alex was pretty much putty between them; Luke was sure he wouldn't mind.

"You're the epitome of a pouter," Reggie informed him with a sniff, pressing his cheek against Alex's like they were some kind of united force. His finger started circling a particular pattern settled on Alex's pectoral almost absently, like this proved his point.

"And you're the epitome of wrong," Luke decided, leaning so he could lick the side of Alex's necklace into his mouth and getting a bit of warm flesh along the way. "You have a killer voice and you're taking the solo," he informed Reggie around his mouthful of necklace. "Practice what you preach and embrace your own awesomeness."

"That's not fair," Reggie grumbled, resting his chin on Alex's shoulder and eyeing the necklace with a look of interest. "Using my words against me."

"I'm very mean like that," Luke informed him with a grin, nuzzling Alex's shoulder.

He felt Alex tense a little bit when Reggie licked at his necklace too, the bassist letting out a pleased sound as he smiled at Luke around it, which was enough to have Luke absently pet at Alex's stomach. Just something to calm down.

It seemed to have the opposite effect though, making Alex twitch almost violently. Enough to startle Luke and Reggie into dropping his necklace.

"Um- sorry," the blond said, the one hand he had against the songbook clutching onto it hard. "I um- I think I have to use the bathroom."

"Oh, okay," Luke said, making him relax as they pulled back.

Aw, he must have been holding it and they hadn't even noticed. They could be really oblivious sometimes.

Luke tried not to dwell on the mistake and deftly relieved Alex of the songbook, something the blond apparently hadn't been expecting because he let go of it with a squawk.

"Drama queen," Luke said with a fond roll of his eyes, looking back over the lyrics since they were supposed to be trying to do something productive.

There was a tense moment of silence, and then Reggie cleared his throat.

"Um… did we-?"

"It's just hormones," Alex said, his voice all strangled.

And since that exchange seemed substantially more interesting than what Luke was doing, he went ahead and abandoned his book on the coffee table, turning to see Reggie and Alex having an intense stare down.

Sort of. It probably would be more effective if Reggie stopped looking at Alex's crotch, though once Luke glanced down, he didn't blame him because uh- yeah, that was- that was aroused Alex, right there.

It was at that point that Alex's anxiety seemed to kick into overtime, freezing him in place when he realized he had Luke's attention too.

And, well, Luke hated it when his friends felt bad, and seeing as this was sort of his and Reggie's fault in the first place-

"Do you want help with that?" he asked, making Alex flail a little bit.

"What?" Alex said, and were his voice any louder, it would definitely be a screech. Luke was pretty sure of it.

"Do you want help?" Luke repeated. "Or do you want to take care of that yourself?"

"You should probably call Willie," Reggie offered before Alex could reply. "In case he picks the first option."

"Good point," Luke said, pulling out his phone to do just that.

In the meantime, Alex just sort of gaped at him.

"Hey, cutie," Willie greeted, the height of smooth. "Practice end early?"

"No, different problem," Luke said. "You were right about our um- cuddling skills. Anyway, we accidentally turned Alex on and we were wondering if we could help him since we sort of caused the problem in the first place."

There was a beat, and then Willie was laughing. "Oh man, no one is prepared for you two," he chuckled. "Tell you what – if he says yes, you're free to go for it, but I want a full play-by-play demonstration when you get home."

Luke felt himself fill with a warmth that claimed the entirety of his chest, slowly spreading through the rest of his body. Willie had called it home, and in truth, maybe it felt like that. Luke's own house was a battleground, but the studio and Bobby's place had shifted into the closest thing he'd had to a home for a very long time.

But now Luke had Willie, he and Reggie had Willie, and even if his place was a little grand, it wasn't the location so much as the people in it that Luke liked so much.

"T-That can be arranged," Luke said, feeling breathless. "You really are a generous soul, my love."

"I learned it from you, my sweet."

Luke ended the call before his face could get any redder, turning back to face Alex and Reggie. It seemed that while he'd been talking, Reggie had gone back to petting Alex's chest, something that had the blond biting back whimpers.

"So?" Reggie asked. "Do you want help or not?"

"Aw fuck," Alex gasped, shuddering hard. "Y-Yes. Yes, I want- I-"

"Okay, baby," Luke hummed, pressing a kiss to Alex's neck. "Just let us know if we do something you don't like, okay?"

"Fuck," was Alex's articulate response, something that had Luke sharing a grin with Reggie because Alex was so easy to please.

Reggie ended up sliding a hand under the blond's shirt while Luke groped between his legs, something that earned a startled sound from Alex before it shifted into a loud moan, his hips rutting up eagerly.

"We've got you," Reggie soothed, kissing up Alex's neck. "You're doing so good."

Yeah, he was. Just the sight of it made Luke warm, but he pushed past that and undid Alex's pants, the blond whimpering when his boxer briefs came into view, his dick straining hard against the slowly dampening fabric.

"Oh, wow," Luke said, unable to help himself. He didn't even bother groping Alex before he pulled the waistband low to properly reveal his length, earning a surprised croak from the blond that both Luke and Reggie ignored, because-

"Holy shit," Reggie said, his eyes going wide. "He's huge."

"I know," Luke gasped, feeling out the entirety of Alex's large length, all flushed and twitchy and full.

Reggie scrambled to join him, until they were both exploring Alex's dick, coaxing strained gasps from the blond.

"Alex, man, you've been holding out on us," Reggie declared, playing with the tip.

"Guys," Alex moaned, cheeks claimed in a permanent flush. "Just-"

"Oh, right. Right," Luke said, realizing that this probably felt like a terrible tease.

"Can I-?" Reggie began, his tone all strained. "I just wanna-"

He leaned down, and Luke wasn't prepared for it, so there was no way Alex was prepared for it, the bassist taking the head of his length into his mouth and giving it a firm suck, because Reggie liked practicing his blowjobs too, only-

Only Alex hadn't braced himself for it at all, and he fell apart in the next moment, coming with a hoarse shout.

Reggie startled, pulling back with a slight gag and taking the majority of Alex's release square in the face – his hand kept pumping Alex though so Luke did too, trying to do his best to help the blond until he was totally spent.

Only then did he actually focus on Reggie, who was sort of a mess but like, a sexy one. Luke really looked forward to recreating it later, knowing Willie would make extra sure to reward Reggie for his efforts.

"S-Shit," Alex gasped, looking Reggie over with a whimper. "I'm so sorry."

"Hey, I'm the one that didn't warn you," Reggie said, gratefully accepting the bundle of tissues Luke offered him from the box on the table. "That was a lot of fun, though. If you ever need help again-"

He cut off at the sound of the door opening, all of them turning to see Bobby come to a halt at the studio entrance, his expression rife with shock.

"What. The fuck," he said, his tone entirely without inflection.

"We were just helping!" Reggie burst, hurriedly wiping at his face. "Since we got Alex worked up. I mean- Willie said it was okay."

There was a pause, and then Bobby's expression hardened. "Well, as long as Willie says it's okay."

"Aw, Bobs, don't be like that," Luke said, sliding to his feet to pull focus from the couch, allowing Alex the time he needed to freak out. "It's just friends helping each other out-"

"Stop doing casual shit with us!" Bobby snapped with such ferocity that Luke was pretty sure it'd been building for a long time. It was even worse than when Luke had ended their arrangement, when the rhythm guitarist had realized the extent of their misunderstanding. This seemed a lot more visceral than that. "It was bad enough when you did it with me, but now you have to drag Alex and Reggie into things?"

"He didn't- we weren't dragged," Alex said, tucking himself back into his clothes with a dark flush.

Bobby didn't seem to hear him. "You're unbelievable," he said, his eyes beginning to well with a moisture that hit right at Luke's core. "You don't- you have no sense of awareness. You say you never meant to make me feel bad and then you do shit like this. And it seems harmless, you think it's harmless, and you'll just keep doing it because you're incapable of managing an actual relationship!"

The words echoed through the studio with a ruthless sort of severity, leaving Luke floundering in the wake of them. His heart felt like it was trying to beat out of his chest, everything heavy and too much and too fast and it wasn't like he didn't know Bobby was annoyed with him, he just hadn't thought the other guitarist would think that little of Luke.

"I loved you!" Bobby shouted, tears beginning to leak from the corners of his eyes. "I told you that so many times, and the entire time, you thought it was a fucking joke. Like we were pulling the wool over everyone's eyes. Well, the joke's on fucking me."

"Bobby," Luke whispered, his throat feeling painfully tight. "I didn't-" Know, didn't understand, still didn't understand. "I love-"

"Save it," Bobby interrupted, deftly turning on his heel and marching away, back out of the studio.

It wasn't until he was gone that tears finally found Luke, making his shoulders shake with the weight of them, the entire force of his sorrow taking him by surprise.

"It's okay," Reggie soothed, moving to pull Luke into a hug while the brunette cried against his shoulder. "It's gonna be okay, alright? We always get through everything."

"N-Not this time," Luke gasped, because Bobby had been so mad. He was finally done with Luke the way Luke had been waiting for him to be for so very long. "Not this time."

"Yes, this time," Reggie said, sounding a bit frantic. "I- come on, we're gonna- let's get out of here."

Luke was distantly aware of Reggie throwing their stuff together, of Reggie texting Willie and dragging Luke from the studio.

He was distantly aware that Alex had stayed behind not uttering a single word, and maybe that was because he agreed with Bobby too.

Maybe he always had.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Endnotes:

Dun, dun, DUN. Of course nothing can be simple, happy good times forever. It's impossible. Gotta get in that sucker punch of angst while we still can. So it is declared, so it shall be done ;D

Story notes:

Seriously, though – poor Alex. He was entirely unprepared for the combined might of Luke and Reggie ;)

Until next time :)