Perhaps You Should Stay Undercover, Part 2

[forevernew]

( Part 1)

Joe, who had been about to text Nick to see if he had taken the shades, dropped his cell phone. The clatter startled Mike and Kevin into looking up, at which point they each stepped back as far as the narrow aisle allowed. Joe just looked at them, not willing to admit what he’d just seen but equally unwilling to leave the matter alone. Luckily, after about ten seconds of increasingly awkward silence Mike cleared his throat and spoke.

“OK, so that probably looked weird, but we weren’t doing what… it looked like we were doing.” He glanced at Kevin, who was still staring at Joe in terror, before continuing. “We were just talking, but you know how narrow these aisles are, and this one’s a lot narrower than I’m used to-” He faltered, sighing “You’re not buying any of this, are you?”

Joe shook his head, glaring.

“It’d probably help if I wasn’t holding his hand, huh?”

Joe nodded.

“Yeah, I thought so.” He nodded, resigned. “Damage control mode works better when your label encourages stuff like this.”

Joe’s glare did not lessen in the least. Mike’s jokes were not appreciated. Kevin, sensing this, snapped out of his daze and laid a hand on Mike’s shoulder. “Mike, I think you should go. Just… I’ll call you or something, OK? Don’t go far.”

Mike left, brushing past Joe. Joe didn’t quite growl at him, but it was a close thing, and would have been closer were Mike not quite so terrifying. Once the bus door slammed however, he turned back to his brother with rage in his eyes.

“What the Hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Joe, I promise it’s not what you think, I’m not even gay, it’s just that he-”

Joe laughed scornfully. “Right, it’s just that he attacked you with his lips.”

“What? No, of course not. I’m serious, Joe, you-”

“Are you kidding? I don’t care that you’re gay or bi or whatever, I care that you’re cheating on Danielle!”

Kevin was taken aback. “Cheating? I’m not cheating, how could I cheat on her?”

Now it was Joe’s turn to be confused. “What, so she’s OK with you just making out with your friends whenever you feel like it?”

Kevin frowned. “Of course not. That’d be weird.” He shook his head, as if to clear it. “No, it’s just Mike.”

Joe stared.

“What?”

“You’re kidding, right? I mean, you don’t really expect me to believe this, do you?”

Kevin blinked. “Why wouldn’t you? I don’t lie, Joe. You know that.”

Joe rolled his eyes. “Right, so you just happened to be keeping this a secret?”

“Well, yeah! I mean, look how you’re reacting! And you’re a lot more understanding than Mom and Dad; I mean, they wouldn’t even have gotten past the ‘Oh my God our son’s gay’ thing.”

“But… you’re not, right? I mean, bi, whatever, but you still like Dani too.”

Kevin simply nodded, happy at least that his brother was beginning to calm down and ease away from the accusations.

“So, how- how did it happen?” Joe waved his hand. “Well, not ‘it’, I don’t need that, but… seriously, what the heck?”

Kevin took a deep breath. “So you know we met at Pete’s party, right?” Joe nodded irritably, so Kevin rushed on. “Well, I didn’t think we had much in common, but then he called me and asked if I wanted to hang out, so we did. And then we started hanging out more, and we got to be pretty good friends, and that was great, because, you know, he’s awesome, plus he’s nothing like Mom and Dad, which made for a nice change of pace. And then Dani and I got married, which, y’know, you already know that.”

Joe rolled his eyes, supremely unamused by Kevin’s diversions.

“And it took a while, but I realised I felt pretty much the same way about Mike that I did about Danielle, only he’s a guy so I figured it was just… I don’t know, a man-crush or whatever they’re called. But… it wasn’t. I’m pretty sure you don’t want the details of how I figured that out, but as soon as I did, I told Dani.” Kevin fell silent, remembering that day.

~~~

“I’m so sorry, I wish I didn’t have to tell you this, but you deserve to know. I haven’t been a Christian husband to you. I’ve… I’ve committed adultery in my heart. I’m so sorry, I never meant to look at anyone else, but he’s-” He froze, aware that he’d said even more than he’d intended, but continued. “He’s just there, oh God, Dani, I’m so sorry.”

He closed his eyes, bracing himself for what he was sure was her inevitable rage, but found himself startled by the touch of her lips to his forehead. He looked up, meeting her sad gaze. At least… he’d expected it to be sad, and he knew he would have only himself to blame in that case, but… her expression wasn’t particularly sad. Had he been in a mood to analyze it, he would have categorized it as “thoughtful”.

“Thank you for telling me, Kevin. This is a lot to take in, but honesty is so important in a marriage - just like in any relationship! - and I’m glad you respect me enough to tell me things like this.” She smiled. “It’s always nice for a woman to know she can trust her husband.”

Kevin bowed his head. “Sarcasm. I deserve that. I’m so sorry, Dani, I really am.”

Danielle tilted her head. “I’m not being sarcastic! I can trust you to tell me about feelings like these before you act on them, and that’s incredibly reassuring. Now we can work together to figure out what to do.” She thought for a moment, then laughed. “One thing, though. While I always appreciate Biblical phrasing, I’m not sure this counts as committing adultery in your heart. Isn’t it something other than adultery if it’s sanctioned?”

Kevin looked up, confused but nonetheless panicked. “What?”

“Do you love me, Kevin?”

“Of course! God, I don’t know what I’d do without you, I-”

She cut him off with a finger to his mouth. “And I love you. So much. Now, do you love him?”

Kevin deflated. “I… I don’t know. I swear, Dani, I don’t know. I don’t want to, but…” He hung his head again.

Danielle knelt in front of him, tilting his head up so that he could no longer avoid her gaze. “It’s OK, Kevin. I’m just glad you were honest with me, so we can work something out with Mike.”

Kevin’s head shot up. “Mike? What- I didn’t-”

Danielle laughed, softly. “I know you, Kevin. He’s all you talk about lately. I told you, I don’t mind. If I did, I would have said something! But now that we both know that we both know, like I said, we can work something out.”

“Anything, I promise. I’ll stop hanging out with him, I’ll… whatever you want, honestly.”

“Kevin!” Danielle stood up, annoyed. “Are you even listening to me? Stand up, come on.” She tugged at his shoulders until he stood. “What part of ‘it’s OK’ are you just not getting? I don’t mind, Kevin. How could I claim to be a Christian and not nurture love? You love me, right?” She stared at Kevin until he nodded fearfully, then continued. “And you love him. Don’t deny it, for goodness’ sake! I’m not trying to trap you! You love him, and you love me. Those things aren’t actually in conflict.” She rolled her eyes fondly, shaking her head at her husband’s innocence. “You can have us both, is what I’m saying.”

Kevin stared at her, more baffled than before. “I can… what? How does… what?”

Dani’s smile was a full-on smirk by this time, but she kept her voice gentle. “You. Can be. With both of us. I know this isn’t what you expected when you told me, but I’d think at least you’d be happy about it?”

“No, I… I mean, I will be… I might be, once I understand what’s going on! Are you actually saying you don’t mind if I lo- like Mike?”

“Now you’ve got it!” She leaned in quickly, catching him off-guard with a kiss. “As long as you keep being honest with me, and as long as you can keep the two relationships equal, you have my blessing.”

Kevin, still by default suspecting a trick somewhere, was cautious. “You wouldn’t get jealous? Seriously?”

Danielle laughed brightly. “Not so much, no.” She sat back down on the couch, pulling him down to sit next to her “It’s not like love is a limited resource, Kevin. You’re clearly capable of loving us both, and I know you: you’re one of the most selfless people I’ve ever met, and I trust you to continue being honest with both of us. It’s OK. I promise.”

Kevin leaned against her, amazed. “I love you so much, Dani. Not just because of this - I love you more than anyone I’ve ever known. I have no idea what I did to deserve you.”

Danielle smiled, brushing a lock of hair from his forehead. “You were yourself. That’s amazing enough.”

They sat there together, silently, for a few minutes, until Kevin made a noise of discontent. “So now I just have to trick him into liking me.”

Danielle rolled her eyes and tapped him on the head. “You don’t need to trick him, honey. If he has brains at all, he already knows how wonderful you are. If he doesn’t like you, he’s not worthy of you.”

“You have to say that, you’re biased.” Kevin frowned, pulling away to look at her. “Besides how do you know he’s even… gay or bi or whatever?”

“You’re kidding, right?” Danielle laughed. “Were you on the same bus I was? He and Mister Call-Me-Whatever-You-Want were clearly together at some point. You don’t get that kind of clingy co-dependency without something to back it up.” She thought for a moment, “Well, not in people who aren’t related, at least.”

Kevin, whose own mind had jumped to Nick and Joe, was grateful for this clarification. Still… “But even if you’re right, which I’m not saying you are, it’s not like I’m gonna just ask him if he likes me. I mean, his friendship matters to me, you know? And if he doesn’t like me like that things’ll be ruined for nothing.”

“Oh, honey.” Danielle stood up, pulling him with her, and hugged him close. “Leave that to me.”

~~~

Kevin cleared his throat, looking nervously at Joe. “So… that’s how that worked out. And then-”

Joe held up a hand. “Wait a minute. You really expect me to believe that?”

“Well, yeah. Haven’t we been over the not-lying thing?” Kevin dug his phone out of his pocket and offered it to Joe. “Here, call her. Ask her if I’m telling the truth, she’ll tell you.”

Joe raised a skeptical eyebrow, but took the phone and dialed Danielle’s number. “Hey, Dani? It’s Joe. Yeah, so I’m not really sure how to say this, but Kevin told me to call you and make sure you’re really OK with him making out with Mike Carden. … What, seriously? … You’re sure? … No, OK, I’m sorry. So do you, like, have another boyfriend too? … Right, not my business, you’re right, sorry. Huh, well, OK. I guess that’s all I wanted to know, d’you wanna talk to Kevin?”

He handed the phone to Kevin, who took it gladly, though not before sticking his tongue out at his brother. What, he’d just had his fidelity confirmed, he was allowed a childish gesture.

“Hey, baby, thanks for that.”

“No problem, hon. How’d he find out?”

“Mike and I were… kinda kissing on the bus.”

“What!?”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want. At least we weren’t doing anything worse.” At this, Kevin shot a glance at Joe, who commenced pointedly ignoring the rest of the conversation.

“This is true, but you know you’ve gotta be grateful it was Joe and not one of your parents.”

“Ugh, I know, right?” Kevin shook his head in exasperation at himself. “I’m gonna have to be a lot more careful.”

Dani made a smug noise that Kevin interpreted as confirmation, before giggling. “Oh, sorry, hon, Riley’s dancing around, I’d better let her out. You call me later, all right?”

“I will. I love you, Dani.”

“I love you too, Kevin. Don’t ever forget that.”

After an extended exchange of goodbyes, during which Kevin could hear Riley barking, they hung up their respective phones. Kevin crossed his arms and looked at Joe, who stared back with an inscrutable expression on his face.

“This is weird.” Kevin made as if to speak, but Joe held up a hand - “No, I mean, whatever works for you, and at least you’re not cheating. It’s just weird.”

Kevin sighed and nodded, grateful that Joe at least believed him. It sucked that Joe wasn’t more OK with their situation, but he could hardly blame him.

Joe turned to leave, then turned back. “Mike Carden? Seriously?” He grinned. “You couldn’t find someone who doesn’t want to eat your soul?”

Kevin adopted a defensive posture, before laughing. “You know what? I don’t think I’m gonna answer that. I’m pretty sure you don’t want to hear it.”

Joe burst out with a shocked laugh before grabbing his sunglasses from his bunk and turning out again. “Come on, Dad’s probably freaking about the schedule.”

Kevin’s eyes went wide and panicked for a moment, and he laid a hand on Joe’s arm. “Can I just confirm that you’re not gonna tell him and Mom?”

“Oh gosh, of course I won’t!” Joe shook his head. “Can you imagine? No, man, your secret’s safe with me.” He paused. “And maybe Nick.”

Kevin choked, suddenly. “Um, about that. Could you maybe… not? Or at least let me tell him?”

Joe nodded, considering. “That’s probably a good idea. I’d probably get stuff wrong, you know how I am.”

“Yes, I do. Which is why it’d probably help if you were there anyway, honestly. You’re pretty much the only person who can make Nick calm down if he gets upset.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it! I mean, I’ll be there, sure, but he won’t get upset.” Joe, by this time halfway down the bus’s steps, turned and shot a grin up at Kevin. “It’s not that weird, you know?”

They ran into Dad on the way back into the venue, but Kevin assured him that they had just been looking for his sunglasses and the delay was in no way Joe’s fault. Joe shot him a grateful glance as they passed, but it was the least Kevin could do for him in return for keeping his secret.

Mike stayed carefully out of the way until just before the show, when he found Kevin alone in the dressing room. Closing the door behind him, he nevertheless stood several feet away from Kevin just in case.

“So… is he pissed?” Kevin started to speak, but Mike barreled on. “‘Cause I gotta tell you, I’d be pissed if I saw Bill going at it with someone who wasn’t Christine, and he’s not even my brother.” He thought for a moment. “I mean, I guess like Gabe or something would be OK, that’s just them, but that’s not the point.”

Kevin couldn’t help but laugh. “No, it’s really not, is it? And don’t worry, he’s fine. I explained about Dani and the whole deal. He thinks it’s weird, but apparently it’s ‘not that weird’, whatever that’s supposed to mean.” As Kevin indicated the air-quotes around Joe’s words, Mike stepped closer and took his hands.

“So he’s OK with it? I mean, enough that he’s not gonna tell anyone?”

Kevin nodded frantically, aware that that would have been Mike’s greatest concern, especially when “anyone” could include Kevin’s parents. “Oh yeah, definitely, he promised not to tell anyone. Although he did ask if I could tell Nick while he was there.” Kevin rushed ahead, anticipating an objection. “He says Nick’ll be fine with it too, and Joe’s generally the best judge of what Nick thinks, but it’s up to you if you want him to know. He won’t tell anyone either. He’s kinda creepily good at keeping secrets.”

Mike raised an eyebrow. “Why am I not surprised?” He sighed, relived. “So we’re good for now. You can tell him, as long as he doesn’t tell his little girlfriend or whatever.”

“Wait, what?”

Mike waved a hand distractedly. “You know, that girl he’s always talking about. Denny or something.”

Kevin stared. “Demi?”

“Demi, yeah, that’s it. I knew it sounded too much like Dani. As long as he doesn’t tell her, it’s fine.”

Kevin laughed incredulously. “But Nick and Demi aren’t dating. They’re just friends, them and Joe.”

Mike shook his head, unconvinced. “If you say so.”

“I do, yes.”

At this point they were interrupted by the flashing lights that signaled five minutes to show time. Mike glanced at the door, affirming that it was still tightly closed, before leaning in to plant a kiss on Kevin’s lips. He pulled back before Kevin had a chance to respond, pushing him towards the door. “Go knock ‘em dead or whatever you call it when your audience is pre-teens. I’ll be here.”

Kevin rolled his eyes fondly, heading out the door and to the stage.

~~~

The next day was an off day, which Kevin had informed Mike meant that he was going to tell Nick. He suggested that Mike be elsewhere for the duration of the conversation, just in case. Mike nodded, wished him luck, kissed him goodbye, and went off to find a bar. Kevin had long ago resigned himself to Mike’s drinking habits, a resignation made easier by Mike’s promise never to be drunk while Kevin was in the room. It wasn’t like Kevin thought Mike was a bad person for drinking, but he couldn’t get past his conviction that alcohol was not for him, and that he had no desire to be around people whose judgments were impaired.

Kevin eventually managed, with Joe’s help, to get Nick into a study room at a nearby library branch - a study room with a door that locked. Joe had apparently kept his promise not to tell Nick anything until Kevin was there, because Nick was predictably disgruntled at having been dragged away from whatever he had planned to do that day. Joe held his wrist to keep him from leaving in exasperation.

“Calm down, will you? Kevin has something to tell you.”

Nick sighed, exasperated. “Fine. OK? Fine.” He turned to Kevin. “What do you have to say that’s secret we can’t even be on the bus?”

Kevin took a deep breath, closing his eyes and psyching himself up. “OK, so Joe already knows about this, because he kinda… shocked it out of me, but I made him promise not to tell you, so don’t be mad at him.”

“O… K?” Nick furrowed his brow, visibly confused and not happy about it.

“Also, I just want to make sure you know that what I’m about to tell you is completely fine with Dani. Joe can tell you that too, he talked to her, but I want you to hear this from me.”

Nick leaned back, frowning slightly. “Are you about to tell me that you and Mike are together? Because if you’re not, this is a waste of a set-up.”

Joe and Kevin both stared at him, open-mouthed. “You-” Kevin stammered, “You already knew?”

Now it was Nick’s turn to be shocked. “What, you’re serious?” He threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, that’s great!” Looking at Joe and Kevin’s faces, he calmed himself. “What? I’m serious, good for you. He’s not exactly my favourite person, but I guess you like him for some reason, so I’m not sure why I shouldn’t be happy you’re together. I mean, you said Dani’s fine with it, right?” He shot a narrow-eyed glance at Kevin, who nodded. “Good.” He grinned at Joe. “I mean, not like I have any room to judge weirdness, right?”

Kevin frowned at Joe’s panicked face, but decided to put it aside. “ I gotta say, you’re taking this a lot better than Joe did.”

“Hey now,” Joe protested, “you didn’t warn me first! You try walking in on me making out with someone who’s not my girlfriend and see how you handle it!” He paused, thinking. “Actually, don’t try that. It’d be weird for everyone, especially since I don’t do that.”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Just stop talking, Joe.” He turned back to Kevin. “Yeah, I mean, it’s not exactly usual, but who cares, right? As long as you’re all happy, and the general public never finds out, good for y’all.”

Joe leaned back, smirking. “OK, so explain to me how the two of you actually got together, will you? Because I’m trying to imagine you seducing someone and it’s too hilarious for words.”

Kevin laughed abruptly, not sure whether he could really be angry when he knew what Joe said was true. “Seriously? That’s your opening gambit?”

Nick hit Joe on the arm, rolling his eyes.

“Ow! Gah, Nicky, what was that for?”

“Be nice to him if you want him to tell us anything, that’s what it was for. Besides, you know what I could say about you.”

Joe held up his hands in mock-panic. “OK, jeez! Sorry, Kev, I didn’t meant it.” He leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands. “Tell us? Please?”

Kevin rolled his eyes, but began.

~~~

A few days after his confession, Danielle surprised Kevin with the news that Mike would be having dinner at their house that night. Apparently she had checked to make sure he wasn’t on tour before offering to fly him down. The excuse she had given Mike was that she had only met him once and wanted to get to know him better, but Kevin was fairly convinced of her true motives.

“What were you thinking, Dani? Are you seriously trying to set us up? I mean, you know this is crazy, right? What, I’m just gonna sit across from him and he’s gonna fall for me. I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works!”

Dani pulled him down to sit next to her on their bed. “Relax, Kevin. It’ll be fine! We can talk like reasonable people, and just see what happens.” Before Kevin had time to react, she’d climbed onto the bed behind him and begun working the tension out of his shoulders. He relaxed against her, sighing.

“I hope you’re right, Dani.”

“Don’t worry, I am.” She laid a trail of kisses down his neck, but stopped when the doorbell rang. “Oh! That must be him!” She jumped off the bed, scrambling for her shoes. “Come on, come downstairs! You want to make a good impression, right?”

Kevin stood up, sighing. “He already knows me, honey. It’s not like anything I do today is gonna skew him one way or the other.”

Danielle paused at the door, looking back. “You never know until you try, do you?” With that, she headed down the stairs.

Kevin shook his head. There was no way this was going to go well. Mustering his resolve, he headed downstairs too, reaching the bottom just as Danielle opened the front door.

“Mike! How are you doing?”

Mike pulled her into a hug, chuckling. “I’m pretty sure my ears are still ringing from Bill’s mockery, but it’s good to see you anyway.”

Danielle laughed, waving him inside and closing the door behind him. “Don’t worry, we’ll make it up to you.”

Later, while Kevin was in the kitchen chopping the celery for the Waldorf salad, Danielle pulled Mike into the backyard and shut the sliding door behind them. He glanced around, ready to compliment the landscaping if she asked, when she turned to face him, arms folded.

“I guess I might as well just come right out and ask you this. Mike, do you have feelings for my husband?”

Needless to say, that was not at all what Mike had been expecting. “W- what? No, why do you ask?”

Danielle rolled her eyes. “Don’t play with me, Mike. I’m his wife, it’s my business to know if anyone else like him too.”

Mike sighed. “You’re serious about this?”

“As a heart attack.” Danielle nodded firmly.

Mike’s eyes were now fixed on the ground, as if the answer to her question could be found there. “I hope you know I was never gonna act on it. I’m not that kind of guy.” He sighed again. “I’m really sorry, but I swear I wasn’t gonna do anything about it.” He looked up, expecting to see judgment in her eyes - as would of course have been her right - but found instead that she was smiling.

“I’m glad you said that, Mike.” She drew closer. He flinched as she extended a hand, but she only laid it on his arm. “I really am glad, because I wouldn’t want Kevin’s feelings for you to be unrequited.”

Mike’s eyes widened. “Are you shitting me? Sorry, gah, but- Jesus Christ, are you serious?”

Danielle smiled, but there was an edge to it. “I told you that you could swear in front of me. Taking the Lord’s name in vain is quite a different matter.”

Mike continued to be taken aback. “Sorry, but-“ He paused. “OK, seriously? You’re the type of lady who gets mad about that, but you’re totally fine with me liking your husband? Who are you?”

This time, her smile was real. “I’m a woman who knows that love isn’t a limited resource, that’s who I am. My relationship with Kevin isn’t threatened by your feelings for each other.”

“OK, so… just to be clear. You were serious about Kevin liking me? Really?”

“Absolutely! I wouldn’t lie about something like that, Mike. In fact, if I’m honest, most of the reason I invited you here tonight was to see if there was a chance that you and Kevin could make it work. That is, if you’re OK with sharing him with me.”

“What, are you kidding? Of course I’m OK with that! So does he-”

“He doesn’t know we’re having this talk, no. He does know I’m fine with the idea, but he’s convinced you don’t like him back, for some reason. Luckily, I have a plan for that.” She looked around, making sure that Kevin hadn’t come outside while they’d been talking, and whispered her plan in his ear just to be safe. She had high hopes for the remainder of this evening.

When Danielle and Mike reentered the kitchen, Kevin was still nervously chopping away. He’d moved on from the celery and was now working on the apples, but Danielle suspected his nervous energy had led him to prepare far more than they would need. She couldn’t help but smile at how predictably adorable her husband could be. Mike, also smiling, glanced at her. She made a shooing motion, indicating that he should proceed, so he approached Kevin slowly and grabbed his shoulder. Kevin, startled, spun around, at which point Mike cupped his face in his hands and kissed him.

Kevin, whose first reaction was to freeze, quickly relaxed and returned the kiss. After a few seconds, however, he tensed up again and broke away. “What- You- What!” He looked frantically from Dani to Mike and back, and saw that his wife was smiling happily. “Did you put him up to this? Did she put you up to this?”

Mike nodded, pulling Kevin back to him. “A little.” He grinned. “It didn’t take much convincing, though. I mean, look at you.” He made a show of pulling back and checking Kevin out, at which point Kevin blushed and stepped to the side so he could see them both.

“What- why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because you’re married, doofus! Why didn’t you say anything?”

Kevin grinned, embarrassed. “Pretty much the same reason, yeah.”

Danielle didn’t say anything, just crossed her arms and leaned against the doorjamb. She couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome.

~~~

“I’m just gonna cut this short now, since I’m pretty sure you don’t want to hear the rest.” Kevin chuckled at the expressions on his brothers’ faces. In point of fact, they hadn’t progressed beyond kissing that night, but he was equally sure no one but himself, Dani, and Mike cared about the conversations they’d had in which they’d worked out the details of their relationship. He and his brothers sat silently for a while, before Nick spoke. “So I’m glad you’re happy and everything, but… Mike Carden? Couldn’t you have found someone who doesn’t want to eat your soul?” Joe, laughing hysterically, held up his hand to Nick for a high five, while Kevin reached across the table to slug him in the shoulder. In the ensuing moment of silence, Nick’s smug expression turned thoughtful. “Hey, uh, Joe, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure, what about?”

“I mean, like, away from Kevin? Just for a little?” Nick glanced back at Kevin. “It’s not about you, I promise.”

Kevin shrugged, and Nick and Joe left the room. The study rooms were soundproof, so he couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they also had glass walls, which did nothing to hide the fact that they were having a fairly heated discussion about something. Considering the veiled hints they’d been throwing at each other earlier, he had to try very hard not to wonder what they were talking about. Instead, he averted his gaze and thought back to the night everything had changed.

Mike and Danielle had agreed, almost independently, that no one else should know about Mike and Kevin. The default assumption would be that Kevin was cheating on Danielle, and none of them wanted that. Far better to present a friendship to the world, a relationship easily explained by Pete Wentz’s omnipresence, and keep the non-platonic aspects strictly private. This had the added effect of not making Kevin explain his sexuality to the press, which was a definite plus to his mind, as he hadn’t really figured that out for himself yet.

He’d been so certain he only liked women, but his feelings for Mike were almost exactly what he’d felt for Danielle when he’d first realised he was in love with her. His feelings for her had deepened over the course of their relationship, but he still remembered that rush of emotion when he looked at her and suddenly decided that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Those feelings surfaced again when he looked at Mike, and he was still having trouble reconciling that fact with his long-standing idea of himself. He’d long ago stopped thinking of homosexuality as an evil, but he couldn’t understand why these desires had suddenly surfaced, or why they only seemed to apply to one man.

Mike had reassured him, with Danielle’s help, that there was nothing particularly unusual about his situation. “I mean, with Bill it’s different, ‘cause he’ll pretty much make out with anyone, but he’s only really been attracted to like two guys, as far as I know. And he’s married too, so it’s not like he’s all free-wheeling or something. He’s actually pretty conservative, which is a little weird.”

“Hey!” Kevin frowned. “There’s nothing wrong with being conservative.”

“I’m… gonna leave that conversation for another day, ‘cause it wasn’t my point, but sure.” Mike shrugged. “Point is, he’s happy with Christine, as long as he doesn’t go past making out anymore, or at least tells her if he wants to. It’s what works for them.”

“That’s what I’m saying, Kevin,” Danielle broke in. “If we can arrange something like that, where I know about your relationship with Mike and I’m fine with it, you won’t feel like a bad husband for liking someone else! And as long as you,” she pointed at Mike, “don’t try to steal him away from me or something, we’ll all be fine.”

“Oh, God, no!” Danielle frowned at him, and Mike sheepishly backtracked his language. “No, I wouldn’t do that, I promise. Trust me, my label’s weird enough that I know how these things work.” He turned to Kevin. “I’m not trying to get you to leave your wife or something.” He rolled his eyes. “Hell, I wasn’t even gonna say anything until she asked me, so you know I’m serious.”

Danielle laid a hand on Mike’s arm. “I know.” She turned back to Kevin. “Don’t panic, OK? We’ll be fine.”

Kevin’s train of memory was interrupted by Joe and Nick, who had locked themselves out of the study room somehow, knocked on the door. Not entirely sure he wanted to know what his brothers had been so earnestly discussing out of earshot, Kevin nevertheless opened the door for them. They sat down again, still across from him, but this time trading their own shifty looks. Kevin waited, confused, until finally Joe spoke.

“So… as long as we’re doing this, Nick and I have something to tell you, too.” He shot an uncertain glance at Nick, who nodded. “We’re both dating Demi.”

Kevin tilted his head. “You’re both…”

“Dating her, yeah.” Nick ducked his head, grinning. “Which is one reason your story isn’t that big a deal.”

Kevin stared. Blinked. And stared some more “But how- so- wait a minute, Mike was right?”

Nick raised an eyebrow. “How does Mike even know who Demi is?”

Kevin stifled a laugh. “You’re kidding, right? Y’all talk about her enough, I’m surprised he only thought she was your girlfriend.” Nick grimaced, but nodded as Kevin thought for a moment. “So, what, how long has that been going on? I mean, as long as we’re sharing ridiculously involved relationship origin stories, here.”

Joe giggled, at which Nick rolled his eyes and began.

~~~

Joe and Nick had been friends with Demi since filming the first Camp Rock movie, of course, though Joe got to see her more often and, of course, played her eventual love interest, meaning that he was the one the magazines and gossip sites were convinced was her boyfriend. At that point, however, neither of them was dating her: they had, in Nick’s words, been “idiots” and only seen her as a friend for quite a long time.

In fact, it wasn’t until filming began for Camp Rock 2 that they both, seemingly simultaneously, developed crushes on her. One night, after the day’s filming had been completed, Nick turned to Joe.

“So apparently I have a crush on Demi now.”

Joe laughed. “Join the club, dude.”

Nick nodded pensively, thinking over their options. “So what are we gonna do about this?”

Joe sighed. “I don’t know, nothing? It’s up to her, right?” He didn’t wait for a response from Nick before continuing. “I mean, if she only likes one of us, there’s nothing we can do about it. Heck, if she doesn’t like either of us, there’s still nothing we can do about it. ”

Nick groaned. “I hate it when you’re right.” Suddenly, he sat up. “Wait, so what do we do if she only likes one of us? I mean, I don’t want to hurt anyone, you know? You’re more important to me than most other people, anyway.”

Joe leaned back, frustrated. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes. Suddenly, Joe sat up again. “How about if… OK, so if she decides she wants to go out with you, I promise not to be jealous. Could you do that if she wants to date me?”

Nick thought. “Yeah, most likely. I mean I pretty much just want good things for both of you, so if you make her happy, that works out.”

Joe nodded. “That's pretty much what I was thinking. I mean, if she wants to be with you instead of me, sure, I’ll be a little sad that she’s not with me too, but not sad enough to stop being happy for the two of you!”

“Good, I’m glad we’re in agreement.” Nick nodded solemnly. “We should probably shake on it, though.”

Joe grinned. “While we’re on this train of thought, what if she likes both of us?”

“Ugh, don’t even get my hopes up like that, Joseph.”

“Yeah, but what if? I mean, we’re already fine with her dating whichever of us she wants, so what if she wants to date both of us?”

Nick rolled his eyes. “In that extremely unlikely situation, yeah. I’d be fine with that.”

“Cool!” Joe stood up, dragging Nick up with him, and held out his hand. “OK, so you swear?”

“Yes, Joe, I swear.” Rolling his eyes only slightly, Nick grasped Joe’s hand and shook it. “You know, I’m pretty sure most brothers are more competitive than this.”

“Yeah, well, most brothers aren’t us.”

The matter settled, they set about falling asleep.

The next day, in an astounding display of convenient timing, Demi approached Joe as he attempted to skip rocks off the lake during a break in filming. Joe, his mind on what he and Nick had discussed last night, didn’t notice her approach until she tapped him on the shoulder.

“Oh! Hi, Demi. Sorry, I was… thinking.”

“Oh? About what?”

Joe smiled. “Just stuff, nothing interesting.”

Demi raised her eyebrows, but smiled back. “Joe, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, sure!” Joe turned away from the lake to find Demi standing as close to him as she could possibly get. Remembering last night’s conversation, he stepped away quickly, earning a frown.

“Are you OK?”

“I’m fine! Just, uh, feeling a little crowded today.” He made a show of stretching his arms, but Demi was unimpressed.

“Joe, seriously, what’s the deal? We're perfect for each other. What are you doing?”

Joe’s eyes widened. “This is… really awkward. I have to go.” He rushed off before Demi could respond, leaving her standing on the dock, alone and confused. Great, she thought. I just ruined that friendship. She sat down on one of the chairs. It’s a good thing we’re actors, or the rest of filming would be awful.

She sat, staring out at the lake, for longer than she could keep track of. Just when she was about to get up and check the shooting schedule again, Joe appeared again - with Nick beside him.

Joe smiled nervously. “Um… sorry about that. Is there any way we can go to a cabin or something?”

Demi nodded skeptically. She wasn’t at all sure she wanted to make this any more awkward than it already was, nor did she have any idea why Nick was there, but she followed them to the nearest cabin anyway. Once there, Nick and Joe settled next to each other on one of the beds, as she cautiously sat on the bed next to that one. All three pairs of knees were touching.

Joe cleared his throat. “So, um, that was… kind of insanely rude of me earlier. I’m really sorry about that. I… needed to think about things.”

“Uh-huh.” Demi just hoped her expression was as skeptical as she felt.

“I really like you, Demi. And I’m really glad you like me back.” He fidgeted, clearing his throat again. “But the thing is, Nick likes you too. And I… you know, I don’t want to hurt him. Which’d be why he’s here for this.” Nick, who had so far been silent, gave a little wave at this. Joe grinned at him before turning back to Demi. “We promised we’d be open about it.”

“Huh.” Demi looked down for a moment. “That does make things complicated.” She looked up to meet Joe’s eyes. “You’re still a jerk, but I guess I understand.” He grinned nervously as she thought for a bit. “Yeah, that does make it weird. I mean, I wasn’t gonna say this, because… no offense, Nick, but you’re really good at hiding your feelings.”

Nick shrugged modestly, seeming to indicate that he had deliberately honed this skill to perfection. Demi shook her head, amused, and moved on.

“The point, you weirdo, is that if you’d given me even a hint that you were interested I would have told you that I like you too.”

Joe and Nick just stared at her.

“So, y’know, I guess in that case it’d be better if I didn’t date either of you. I don’t want to hurt you, you know? I mean, unless you want to deal with both of you dating me, which would be…” She trailed off as she noticed the looks Nick and Joe were directing at each other.

“What?”

“I mean… would you be OK with that?” Nick’s expression was far too calculating for someone his age, her age, but she’d long given up on expecting him to act anything like a child. “If we were both OK with, you know, both of us dating you, would you be OK with that?”

Joe jumped in. “It’s probably really creepy that we’re even asking this, and you can, like, shun us forever once filming’s done, but… I mean, you like both of us, so… why not, right?”

Demi stared at them. “Well… would you both be OK with that? ‘Cause I don’t want to start some sort of competition, you know? If we do this, it’d have to be even, and I need to make sure you guys aren’t messing with me.”

“No!” Joe was wide-eyed. “No, seriously, we’ve even talked about this and everything. About asking you, I mean.”

Nick nodded earnestly. “We’re definitely both OK with it, as long as you are. So… are you?”

Demi laughed, delighted. “Are you kidding? Of course I am!” She stood up, grabbing their hands and pulling them up with her. Before either Nick or Joe knew what was happening, she threw her arms around Nick and kissed him. Joe watched, smirking, until suddenly Demi pulled away from Nick. She took a breath, then turned to Joe and kissed him with equal fervour. Now it was Nick’s turn to grin.

Eventually Demi pulled back, beaming. She looked nervously from one to the other. “OK?”

Nick and Joe could only stare at her, then at each other. Finally, Nick gave her a shaky thumbs up, at which Joe laughed. “Yeah, definitely OK.”

~~~

Kevin leaned back, impressed. “Well! Good for you, then. But you know this means you’re never allowed to make fun of me, right?”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever. Dude, you’re a married man with a boyfriend. That’s a little weirder than one girl going out with two guys.”

“I don’t think so, little brother.” Kevin shook his head, eyes sparkling. “Not when the two guys are brothers and everyone involved is on Disney’s payroll.”

Nick laughed. “That’s… a really good point, actually. Fair enough.” He leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms over his head until a thought struck him and he sat forward once more. “So does this sort of thing, like, run in families, you think?”

Joe choked on what sounded suspiciously like laughter, and Kevin could have sworn he heard a “That’s what she said” somewhere in there. Nick glared at his brother, who beamed at him. “What?”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Ignore him. But it’s gotta be a little weird, right? I mean, all three of us being in that kind of relationship?”

Kevin shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe? I wouldn’t even know where to start looking up stats on this kind of thing; maybe it’s more common than we think.”

“I’m just saying,” Joe interjected, “I’m not sure I’d be OK with Frank having two girlfriends or something.”

Nick and Kevin paused, then simultaneously rejected the image. “Let’s, uh… let’s not think about that, shall we?” Kevin wrinkled his nose. “It’s weird enough talking about my personal life with y’all, I really don’t want to think about that.”

Joe nodded. “That’s pretty much it, yeah.”

Kevin checked his watch. “Oh, crap! Guys, we’d better get back before Dad sends someone after us.”

They all stood up, but Joe held up a hand. “So can we just confirm that we’re not gonna talk to anyone else about what we said in here? I mean, it’d be cool if I could take that sort of thing for granted, but then Taylor happened.”

Kevin and Nick winced before promising their silence, and they left the library.

( Part 3)