This Town Just Wasn't Made for Two (Part nine)

[pinkichan]

Things aren’t exactly back to normal that morning. They’re good; the three of them and it feels like they can put the incident behind them and move on. It’s good, but it’s nothing like what it was before; how easily Tom was offering smiles to Ryan and how Ryan could touch Jon without anyone thinking anything of it. It’s not perfect but it’s good enough for now.

Jon doesn’t bother bringing up last night; the lie Tom created or the actual truth. But he smiles at Ryan over breakfast that morning and holds Tom’s hand under the table. Tom seems distracted or distant, lost in thoughts, Jon figures he’s regretting he didn’t take his chance to let Ryan leave.

Spencer is back that morning and though Jon never directly asked if Spencer ever solved his problems with what’s expected from his family and his newfound attraction to Brendon, things seem to be fine between the two of them. Jon spots them milling around the farm together, dipping in hidden places their hands linked. He sometimes just sees them holding each other like a hug that’s edging on far too long. Now seeing Spencer holding Brendon tight only makes Jon remember; the two different sets of arms that hold on to him, how badly he wants to be surrounded on all sides.

Today his ankle feels better and Jon is forgoing his crutches and taking test steps around the farm. Tom still won’t let him water, but he does dip into the field to help Ryan weed the plants, and chop some wood into logs because they’re running out of the thick logs upstairs. Jon and Brendon teach Ryan to can the fruits and vegetables they have left over from the harvest, their own personal supply.

The new season isn’t too far off and soon a few of the plants they have will die off with the first chill and it’ll be time to start thinking of winter, of how much they need to preserve and can to last them the season. Jon works mindlessly, his body used to the routine and actions. His mind is elsewhere conjuring up memories of his kiss with Ryan and how he had been hard during it. His dick stirs at the thought and Jon flushes and forces himself to think of Tom, of who he should always be thinking of. Did the last few days teach him nothing?

By that night Jon has worked himself up into a near constant state of arousal. His thoughts have evolved beyond either Ryan or Tom and he’s to the point where his mind is entertaining anonymous lovers just to be safe and when the hands that are holding his thighs apart start looking too long or the mouth that’s kissing a line down his back suddenly becomes rough with stubble he has to stop and he has to breathe and he has to make himself stop wishing for something that’ll never happen.

Tom takes him to bed that night and Jon carefully crawls atop his lover, his hands spread along the tanned skin of Tom’s shoulders and chest. When Jon kisses Tom its Tom that stays in his mind and its Tom’s hands sliding up the expanse of his bare back, scratching lightly. Jon gasps against Tom’s mouth and his hips grind down of their own accord. But then Tom’s hand is finding Jon’s hip, grasping and he’s pulling away.

“Wait, wait,” Tom pants, his mouth already reddening.

“Wait? Why?” Jon’s still rocking small and slow in Tom’s lap, his hard cock still trapped in the confines of his slacks. Tom scoots out from under Jon’s body, rolling off the bed. Tom is matching Jon with his bare chest and the almost obvious bulge in his pants.

“There’s something I gotta do first,” Tom tells him. He’s picking up his abandoned dress shirt from the floor, the one Jon just got off of him and sliding it back on leaving it to hang open revealing the hard line of his chest between the unbuttoned sections.

“I... okay?” Jon doesn’t really get it. They finished their work and they had their dinner. What else could Tom want to do? Jon nods though and he sits in the center of the bed and watches Tom scratch a hand through his hair before he leaves their bedroom. Tom had made sure to close the door behind him so Jon can’t even see what it is he’s doing out there, a part of him wonders if it’s a secret or a surprise, but he’s talking about Tom here so the latter option seems like the most likely choice.

Tom is gone for close to ten minutes and Jon is about to go and find him when there are footsteps and the door opens once again. Jon is about to complain about how long Tom’s been gone and hadn’t he understood that Jon was eager for tonight? But then Jon notices that Ryan’s following Tom into the room, his eyes glued to the floor and his jaw tight.

“Tom what-“ Jon tries to start. Jon scoots to the edge of the bed facing them, watching Tom and then Ryan, his gaze flickering between the two of them. “What’s going on?”

Tom lifts his head and looks right at Jon. He’s determined, but there’s a hint of fear worming its way across Tom’s face, Jon is suddenly scared. “The night we fought I went to the woods. I went there and I just sat in the clearing and I did a lot of thinking,” Tom is saying. “I thought about what happened and what to do when I came home and I know Jon, I know that you feel something for Ryan and I don’t think it’ll just go away on its own. I also know that Ryan feels something for you too.”

Ryan is watching Tom talk like he had no idea that this is what the conversation was going to be about. Jon wonders what Tom told Ryan to get him to come back to their room.

“We’ve discussed this and I told you that I-“Jon tries to argue an obviously true point. He doesn’t want to fight anymore, not when he thought things were fine between the three of them, fine enough for the lot of them to move on.

“He loves you,” Tom says, he waves a hand in Ryan’s direction. “He told us so and you love me but I’m sure you’re in love with Ryan too.” Tom’s voice is stony, but controlled; he’s controlling the situation and bringing to light all of the things Jon’s been keeping tucked away for so long.

“Tom.” Jon doesn’t know what to say. If he’s being honest then he does love Ryan, he loves Ryan and he loves Tom and isn’t there just some way that the world can be okay with that?

“It’s okay Jon. I’ve accepted this and I just, I want things to be better and I want you to be happy.” Tom takes a deep breath that comes out shaky on the exhale. “I want you to have what you want.” Tom turns and he looks at Ryan who meets his gaze with firm confusion and fear.

Jon is watching the both of them standing before him. “I don’t understand,” He confesses.

Tom moves a bit until he’s closer to Ryan and his hand curls over Ryan’s shoulder, pushing lightly, urging Ryan forward in the direction of the bed. Ryan moves at Tom’s will and to Jon’s surprise Ryan sits down on the bed next to him, their knees bumping. Jon isn’t looking at Ryan though or the obvious flush staining his cheeks, no, Jon is locked on Tom.

“What are you doing, Tom?” Jon questions.

“You two can... you can do what you want to do. It’s okay, I’ll be okay as long as you still stay with me afterwards,” Tom whispers, he sounds desperate and broken and that’s not, Jon doesn’t want that at all. Jon feels Ryan’s hand slip to his knee, it’s just resting there but Ryan’s palm is hot and a surge of sparks flare across Jon’s skin. Tom smiles sadly and nods like it’s right, like it’s what he wants. “I’m giving you each other,” Tom says. “I’m stepping back.” He takes a step backwards towards the door.

Jon finally understands. Tom is offering up Ryan. He’s letting Jon have what he knows Jon wants what he’s been wanting and he’ll just bow out while it happens. It’s so unlike Tom. Jon can see that it hurts, behind the words and the calm bravado he can see how the thought of backing out of this room and letting Jon and Ryan have each other is hurting him.

Tom is trying to leave and Jon opens his mouth to stop him, but before he can Ryan is reaching out and his long slender fingers wrap around Tom’s wrist, keeping him from moving away. Tom’s eyes are wide and clear and Ryan is staring him down more determined than Jon’s ever seen him.

“No,” Ryan starts. “No, I want... both of you. I want both of you to be here,” Ryan tells him without a trace of fear. Ryan’s hand is still burning against Jon’s knee, but Jon covers the hand on his knee with his own and looks to Tom, looks for a sign of acceptance. Tom is watching Ryan, surveying him as if he’s trying desperately to see inside Ryan’s head, to see if it’s really true.

“Stay,” Ryan says again. “Stay here.” He tugs Tom closer, brings Tom to them and Jon’s not so surprised anymore when Tom listens and Tom drops down on Jon’s left. Jon can barely breathe. This, this moment has been the source of every lustful thought that he forced out of his head these last few days and now, can he really have it now?

“Jon?” Tom leans in and breathes against Jon’s ear. Jon shivers and tilts his head so his nose brushes Tom’s cheek.

“Stay,” Jon agrees. “Stay with us.”

Tom nods and leans in and then he’s kissing Jon slow and heated, just like they were before Ryan was in the room, but now that Ryan’s here, watching them it’s better, hotter somehow. Tom and Jon break their kiss and then Jon turns to the right and Ryan is there with heated eyes, he licks his lips and Jon doesn’t hesitate to lean in the rest of way and kiss him too.

It’s like their kiss on the porch except more. Ryan’s hands clutch at Jon’s thighs as their mouths slide together slick and hot, Jon leading the kiss this time. Jon brings his hand up and cups the back of Ryan’s skull, pulls his fingers through soft locks as their tongues glide. Jon moans quietly into Ryan’s mouth and Ryan presses closer, kisses harder. Tom’s hand skims up Jon’s bare arms, touching at his neck.

Jon is already feeling overwhelmed, feeling surrounded and drowning in heated skin and firm hands, wet mouths. Jon and Ryan break apart and without missing a beat Tom is leaning into Jon’s space, Ryan meeting him the rest of the way and they’re kissing too. Jon loves them separately, thinks them beautiful when they’re alone, but this; together with Tom’s hand fisted in Ryan’s hair, alternating between petting and fisting the soft curls. The way Ryan opens up for Tom just as easily as he had for Jon. The two of them are stunning this way.

Jon is hard again, even harder than he had been before. Tom and Ryan part and Ryan’s mouth is red, wet, Jon wants to see him like that, he wants more than that. Tom stands and Ryan does too. Ryan pushes his hands under Tom’s shirt that’s already just barely clinging to Tom’s shoulders, he pushes the fabric away from Tom’s skin. The shirt falls to the floor, discarded. Jon is content to watch them for the moment, to see how Tom lets himself curl a hand around Ryan’s sharp bony hip, the same move he’s done to Jon time and time again.

“What do you want us to do?” Tom asks Jon; his hand is still resting on Ryan’s hip, petting the skin just under the hem of his dress shirt. Jon’s tongue feels heavy in his mouth at the thought that he gets to orchestrate this in whatever way he’d like to see it, just the way his mind’s been imagining it.

“Well, Ryan should be wearing less I think,” Jon says from his position on the bed. Tom smirks and steps closer to Ryan, pets down Ryan’s neck before he begins to pop the buttons on Ryan’s dress shirt.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Tom says darkly and Ryan shivers on the spot. Tom gets Ryan out of his shirt and takes a moment to drink in Ryan’s small chest, his lean expanses of pale skin. Tom traces his fingers across the small of Ryan’s taut stomach, just above his waistband. They’ve barely done anything at all and already Jon feels more turned on than he ever has before.

Jon undoes the button and fly of his pants, slides a hand inside, cupping his own hardness through the thin fabric of his underwear. Jon groans and then all eyes are on him. “What else?” Tom prompts. “What else do you want?”

“I want,” A shudder wracks through Jon’s body. “I want to fuck Ryan.”

With the hand on Ryan’s hip Tom turns Ryan around so that his back is facing Tom’s front and Tom’s hands slide to the front of Ryan’s pants, Tom’s deft fingers working the button open and the zipper down. “What do you think, Ryan?”

Ryan rests his head back against Tom’s shoulder, cups Tom’s cheek. “Fuck. Please, yes,” Ryan groans. Jon’s never heard the other boy sound this way, so open and eager, and fuck, Jon wants so damn bad. Tom smiles slyly and slowly pulls Ryan’s pants down, Ryan shimmying out of them the rest of the way. Ryan takes down his own underwear, his cock already heavy and hard, tenting against the fabric.

Ryan’s cock is only the third dick Jon’s ever seen in his life along with Tom’s and his own. Ryan is also the biggest Jon’s ever seen; he’s long, Tom’s thicker but Ryan is long. Tom seems to notice Ryan’s body as well and his eyes heat as his hands brush over Ryan’s thighs, tracking pale perfect skin.

Jon shifts on the bed, motions for Ryan to join him which Ryan does without hesitation. Tom shucks off his own pants before he’s coming around the other side of the bed, lying on Jon’s other side. It’s what Jon wanted, warm bodies caging him in, two sets of hands skimming down his body. Jon feels the brush of Tom’s cock against the small of his back and fuck, he’s glad Tom’s enjoying this as much as Jon and Ryan clearly are.

“Your turn,” Ryan whispers in Jon’s ear as he gets a hand on Jon’s hip and rolls him on to his back. Jon raises his hips obediently and Tom and Ryan undress him as well. Ryan rests a hand on Jon’s stomach and kisses him again, quickly so Tom can dip in and steal his own kiss from Jon.

It surprises Jon how apt they are for this, how easily they adjust from a duo to a trio, it makes Jon feel as though maybe he’s not the only one whose been considering, wanting this to happen. Jon wraps his hands around Ryan’s thin arms and he rolls them so Ryan is underneath him now. Tom clambers from the bed and he finds the oil, hands it over to Jon with a chaste kiss to his lips.

Tom settles down near Ryan’s face, kisses him chastely as well. “Have you ever been fucked?” Tom asks him as he brushes his fingers through Ryan’s hair. Jon thinks about Nicholas in New York. Ryan flushes and shakes his head. “No,” he breathes. Tom nuzzles his cheek, presses a kiss there. “Jon will be careful with you.”

Jon swears under his breath. He gets his hands on Ryan’s soft thighs pushing Ryan’s legs apart. Jon strokes blunt fingers against Ryan’s heavy cock, the first touch and Ryan gasps his hips jumping under Jon’s hands. Jon’s hand is dry but Ryan doesn’t seem to mind as he wraps his fingers around Ryan’s cock and strokes him a few times.

The tip of Ryan’s dick is already leaking, pearling and Jon uses his thumb to rub over the slit, spreading it around. Ryan hisses desperately. Jon takes his hand away and spreads some slick oil over his fingers. He gives himself a moment to really take in what the three of them are doing. Jon memorizes the expanse of Ryan’s body. This is the way he’s always wanted to see Ryan and now, it’s even better than anything Jon had ever dreamt up.

Tom leans over Ryan, his pink tongue coming out to tease against the head of Ryan’s cock, lapping up Ryan’s precome. Ryan cries out and Jon falters at the way Tom looks when he closes his mouth around the head of Ryan’s cock. Ryan’s fingers bite at the sheets and his head falls back, neck a taut line.

Finally though Jon poises a slicked finger at Ryan’s entrance; he rubs over the hole getting Ryan ready to start taking his fingers. Ryan’s hips roll upwards with the way Jon’s touching him, the way Tom is sucking him down.

“I’m going to start now,” Jon says as a warning and Ryan nods sharply, encouraging. Jon lifts Ryan’s left leg and sets it up on his shoulder; he bends forward slightly and presses his finger against Ryan, pushing inside. Ryan is a tight encasing heat and Jon groans just from that. Ryan is biting his lip and Tom is bobbing steadily on Ryan’s cock, his hand threaded in Tom’s blonde locks.

Ryan is tight but he doesn’t complain as Jon adds a second finger, stretching him open. Tom pulls off Ryan’s dick but he strokes him slow, squeezing at the base. Jon presses deep, searching for the sweet spot that Ryan’s never had the pleasure of knowing before. Ryan breathes sharply, panting and writhing just a little. It’s beautiful, Jon almost wants Tom to do this so he can just watch, can just memorize Ryan in this new way.

Jon works quickly, quicker than he should but, he’s still being careful and he presses deep, the pads of his fingers rubbing against the spot inside Ryan finally. Ryan arches and cries out louder than he had any time previously. Tom stares down at him with a look of something both fond and mesmerized. It’s been so long, seven years with just each other that it’s new, shocking almost to see another man in the same way. It almost feels like a first for all of them, in many ways it is.

“Jon. I think- I think I can, please I just-“ Ryan is babbling into the pillow and Jon keeps going, just a little more, a little longer and then they can both have what they want. Tom releases Ryan, picks up the oil and drizzles some on to his palm. He knee-walks over to Jon, kisses him sweetly as his hand falls between them and wraps around Jon’s cock preparing him.

Jon kisses Tom hard and fierce and he’s pushing all of his ‘thank you’s’ into the kiss, all the silent gratitude for him having the courage to start what neither Jon nor Ryan could not. Tom pulls back and returns to Ryan’s side, leans down to kiss Ryan and for a second Jon feels like he can see it, see Tom giving a thanks of his own, a thanks for staying or for asking him to stay.

Ryan brings the leg that had been perched on Jon’s shoulder down and Jon settles between Ryan’s spread thighs. Ryan’s cock is wet and trapped between them as Jon lines himself up. Jon is hovering above Ryan just like he wanted. Ryan looks up at him and smiles, the same smile Jon has seen a hundred times before in situations drastically less normal than this. Ryan asks Jon to continue.

The first push inside is the hardest and Ryan can’t seem to relax himself. Jon waits and Tom is there, carding his fingers in Ryan’s hair, petting down his narrow sides and letting his fingers dance over Ryan’s nipples. Ryan does finally relax under Tom’s touch and Jon manages to work his way inside.

Ryan is tight and it reminds Jon of the first time Tom let him fuck him, how Jon had come too soon, but Tom didn’t say anything, how Tom had been sore for days afterwards and had to tell anyone who asked that it was due to too much horse riding.

Ryan wraps his spindly legs around Jon’s waist and his arms around Jon’s back and he holds on as Jon starts to thrust. They keep a steady rhythm, Jon goes slowly because he has to, but he doesn’t mind because each time he bottoms out Ryan makes these gorgeous noises, beautiful sounds of pure pleasure pulled out of him. Tom is there, kissing and stroking, and sometimes just watching with his hand curled around his own cock, stroking in time to Jon fucking Ryan.

Jon fucks him slow and nips at Ryan’s jaw, his neck, because he can, because he’s finally allowed to. If he had enough time he’d trace every inch of skin again and again until he knew Ryan’s body just as much as he knows Tom’s. Ryan’s fingers are biting into the skin of Jon’s back, leaving crescent shapes and long scratches behind.

The three of them are quiet for the most part; save for Ryan’s moans and the sharp hit of Jon’s hips against Ryan’s ass. As Ryan opens, as he adjusts Jon can go faster and he does. He goes faster and he tilts his hips, hitting that spot inside Ryan again and again.

Jon’s never felt more on edge or closer to coming than he does right now. It’s all too much; Ryan tight around him, clenching his ass around Jon’s cock and Tom, Tom’s heated eyes and his touches. Jon’s already close, but when he feels Tom shuffle around behind him and he hears a wet pop seconds before he feels a finger pressing at his entrance, rubbing damp and rough, it’s too much.

“Shit, Ryan, shit, I’m-“ Jon hadn’t exactly discussed whether or not Ryan would want him to come inside so to play it safe Jon had intended to pull out, but then Tom had surprised him and his body was stretched to the max, nerves jangled and his hips pressing forward, burying himself in Ryan.

Jon feels his cock jerk and he’s coming. He swears and pulls back, pulls out and he comes over Ryan’s ass and thigh and even a little inside of him. Ryan though doesn’t mind, doesn’t say anything, but moan and fist his own cock, stroking in frenzy. Tom pulls away from Jon and he’s there, covering Ryan’s hand with his own and squeezing.

“Don’t come. Not yet. I want you to fuck me first,” Tom whispers darkly to Ryan. Jon sees Ryan whimper, but he squeezes harder and breathes until he backs down from the edge.

Jon can barely move after he’s come, can barely think because he can still see his come wet and shiny against Ryan’s fair skin. Jon lies on his back on the left side of the bed and he pets at Ryan as Ryan gets up, his dick throbbing and erect between his thighs.

“You don’t have to be gentle with him. He can handle it, hell, he likes it a bit more even,” Jon supplies lazily from his side of the bed. Tom strokes at his own dick and bites his lip. He picks up the oil and wets his fingers, moves up on his knees on the bed with his ass facing Ryan. Tom reaches under himself, reaches back and he’s pushing two slicked into himself with no preamble. Ryan is watching, his eyes intense and dark with lust, with the need to get off.

Tom works himself fast and maybe he’s just as desperate as Ryan, and he is only so far from being able to hold off on his orgasm.

“What are you thinking?” Jon asks from his back, his fingers tapping against Ryan’s thigh. Ryan smiles down at him and then turns his attention back to Tom.

“How beautiful he is. How you both are. How much I… love this.” Ryan flushes at his own word. Jon pushes himself up and catches Ryan in a kiss. Jon turns to look at Tom as well, he moves and lets his hands trail up the back of Tom’s thighs, over Tom’s ass holding his cheeks apart, making the slide easier.

Jon plants a kiss just above the swell of Tom’s ass. “Are you ready, Tommy?” Jon asks against Tom’s skin and Tom pushes his fingers in as deep as he can before he’s nodding and removing them.

“I’m ready, Ryan, Jon, I’m ready.”

Tom sounds desperate and Jon shivers just from hearing how wrecked he sounds when he says Ryan’s name. He wants to hear more, he wants to hear Tom coming apart under Ryan. Jon gathers the oil for Ryan and as Tom did to him, Jon slicks up Ryan’s cock, a few quick strokes because Ryan can’t handle much and Jon’s hands are warm and damp and it could quickly become too much.

Ryan has fucked a man before and he lines up with Tom’s entrance, pushing inside. Tom isn’t as tight as Ryan so it’s easier, but Ryan is bigger than what Tom’s used to and he has to breathe through the first few thrusts.

At first Jon settles back and he watches what he’s wanted to see, what he’s imagined. Ryan is gorgeous when he’s fucking Tom, his hips are sharp and his hands are long and wrapped around Tom’s side, nimble digits digging in. Ryan’s hips snap harsh against Tom’s ass and Tom digs into the sheets, bears down and presses back, taking whatever Ryan is willing to give him.

“Tom, oh, Tom,” Ryan pants; he curls his body over Tom’s and kisses Tom’s shoulder. As Jon watches he thinks of the camera on the dresser and how he’d love to capture the two men this way, Tom’s arms straight and strong buried in the bed sheets and the way Ryan is inside all of the way, his ass flexing as he fucks Tom.

Jon scoots forward and he’s in front of Tom. He kisses Tom before he looks up at Ryan.

“Bring him up, Ryan,” Jon tells him and Ryan gets it, Ryan wraps his arms around Tom’s middle and he’s pulling Tom up so that Tom’s back is pressed all along Ryan’s front, his hands anchoring around Tom’s hips so he can fuck up into Tom even closer. Jon sinks down to his elbows in front of Tom and he takes Tom in his mouth.

Tom’s cock is leaking and Tom swears as Jon’s mouth wraps around the head. Tom’s fingers pet through Jon’s hair once, twice, before they fist in Jon’s hair, holding him there as Jon takes Tom deeper.

The three of them make this steady rhythm Ryan fucking Tom and Tom bucking into Jon’s mouth. It’s amazing this way, the three of them touching, sharing, and kissing, sweating and falling apart doing it all together two bodies to support you instead of just one.

Jon wants this to last forever beyond just this night. He loves Tom and he loves Ryan and now it feels like he can’t choose, he can’t, not after having them both. He needs them this way, the both of them. Jon hopes that Tom and Ryan feel it too, the thread that’s connecting, weaving them together.

“Jon. Jon, I’m close,” Tom moans and he lets go of Jon’s head to give him the opportunity to pull off, but Jon doesn’t, he stays on Tom’s cock and he sucks even harder. Tom comes in Jon’s mouth, salty and hot. Jon pulls off, swallowing and then Tom is tugging him up and Ryan is leaning over Tom’s shoulder to get at Jon’s mouth, licking inside fiercely. Ryan and Jon have Tom trapped between them as Ryan laps up the taste of Tom from Jon’s mouth.

Tom is pliant and Ryan is close and it only takes a few more thrusts for Ryan to tumble over the edge, his mouth biting down into Tom’s shoulder, his hips jerking against Tom’s ass as Ryan fills him.

Ryan slips out from Tom and the three of them collapse to the bed, sweaty and sticky with come. Jon’s in the middle of the bed with Ryan on his left and Tom on his right. Their legs are tangled together and their hands lace and twine. They share kisses and Jon wants to ask about what happens come morning but he’s warm and he’s tired, and he’s asleep before he can say anything.

***

Jon wakes up that next morning under a pile of arms and legs, loose and happy. Ryan is sleeping peacefully facing Jon and Tom’s head is pillowed on Jon’s naked back. He’s more than sure he could wake up this way for the rest of his life with Tom on one side and Ryan on the other. He wants it, but he knows that it’s easier to say it than it is to put it into action.

Jon’s never even heard of people being in a relationship of three save for the few tales he’s heard of foreign countries and princes with many wives. Jon doesn’t think that’s the same thing. It’d be unusual, sure, but his life already is. Tom could be his lover and Ryan could be his lover and they could all just be without worry of the public condemning them. He knows it’s a fantasy, but it’s what he wants.

Tom wakes up before Ryan and he kisses Jon’s shoulder. Ryan wakes up moments after. The three of them exchange smiles and Jon rolls on to his back, props himself up against the headboard with Tom and Ryan mirroring the action.

“What happens…what happens now?” Ryan asks the two of them. He’s obviously just as curious about it as Jon is; he’s just braver in going about it.

“Now we decide where to go from here,” Tom says calmly.

“Where do we go from here?” Jon asks helplessly.

“Last night was good wasn’t it?” Tom asks the room at large. Ryan and Jon nod along in agreement.

“More than good,” Jon murmurs.

“So we’ll keep doing that if it’s okay with the majority?” Tom questions. “And if we happen to all just sleep here or kiss each other goodnight or go on dates then it happens.”

Jon’s heart jumps in his chest, Tom is smiling small and simple, like it’s really all that easy.

“You mean that?” Jon asks and Tom nods.

“I suppose it’s all really up to Ryan though. So, Ryan, do you want us? Do you want to be with us?” Tom turns to Ryan. Jon does too and Ryan is looking down at his hands and then he’s looking up.

“Jon, do you remember when I asked you if you had someone worth staying here for?” Ryan asks as he looks up to meet both Jon and Tom’s inquiring gaze.

“Yeah, I do,” Jon says softly. He’s afraid. He’s afraid that it’s too much for Ryan being a three, being in a relationship. He’s terrified Ryan will walk away from them after all.

“I understand it now. How once you find something like that there’s just no way you can imagine being anywhere else in the world or with anyone else. I’ll be here, I’ll be here for as long as you’ll have me,” Ryan says. He’s being more open and honest than Jon’s ever heard in his life and he smiles, leans forward and kisses Ryan and then Tom then the two of them exchanging kisses of their own.

“Then you’re ours, Ryan Ross,” Jon whispers and Ryan laughs. Tom moves and pulls the two other boys down into a pile. Jon is surrounded and loved and he’s never been so happy in his entire life.

***

Ryan doesn’t leave them. The three of them are together, irrevocably so. They all sleep in the same room, the same bed. Ryan moves his things into the room, his jacket hanging behind the door and his art supplies tucked away in corners and drawers.

Life goes on and the season changes and that fall Spencer’s father gives his son a hefty amount of cash as a gift; that winter Spencer decides that he wants to move to the city, more specifically, New York City. Spencer asks Brendon to come along and though it’s a hard decision, and Brendon says he’ll miss the others and his hometown, Brendon still says yes.

The last time Brendon wrote to Jon he said how he and Spencer live in these tall apartment buildings just outside the heart of the city. Brendon had picked up instruments in New York and he’s a performer at the same night clubs Ryan once frequented; Spencer acting as his manager.Tom and Ryan and Jon have plans to visit Brendon and Spencer in the spring, to see Brendon perform in one of the clubs downtown, doing what he does the best; singing.

That fall Greta and William had begun courting and by the winter the two of them got married and according to William are trying to start a family very soon.

There are still people who sneer at Tom, Jon, and Ryan. People who still stare and judge, but Jon cares little about these people. He retains his hope that one day it’ll be better for people like them. He holds on to the dream that society will accept, forgive, and support those whose lovers happen to be of the same sex. Jon knows that one day it’ll be like this and even though he knows it probably won’t be in his lifetime that he probably won’t live to see that day of acceptance, he still smiles, because he knows it’ll come.