Colin woke up cold. Dirty snow chilling his skin as he gasped out and sat bolt upright. His teeth started chattering, his shorts and t-shirt doing nothing to keep out the winter chill as his hands shook and he could feel his bare toes going numb. He looked around, seeing rows of houses lining each side of the street behind and in front of him. Christmas decorations were littered here and there, big blow-up snowmen and penguins with a few Santa Claus’ and other wintery animals stuck in here and there.

He was sitting and shivering directly in front of house 2640, and he rubbed his chest with a numb hand as he felt compelled to go up and knock at the door. He didn’t have to, because the door swung open and two men stepped out, laughing and chatting with each other as they carefully walked down the icy steps. As they walked closer to Collin he felt his heart beat faster, feeling like he belonged with them but that couldn’t be it. He hadn’t even met them yet.

He had a feeling he was about to though.

“Oh Ty, look.” The slightly shorter man swung the low gate guarding the entrance of their walkway open, running over to him and leaning down so he could examine Collin. Collin himself was speechless, his teeth chattering away as he shivered; motionless and unable to move in the wet, freezing snow.

“What are you doing here all by yourself, sweetheart? It’s 20 degrees out here!” Collin felt arms wrap around him, sliding under his arms and pulling him up against a warmer chest. He felt dizzy, or maybe he was just cold. He didn’t know but before he knew it his vision turned white and his eyes rolled into the back of his head, body going limp in the man’s arms. The last thing he heard was the man making a distressed noise and calling out ‘Ty, help me!’ before he blacked out.

He came to on a couch, mounds of blankets on top of him and a warm cloth sitting on his forehead as his eye fluttered open. He could hear Christmas music playing softly in the background and his chest warmed from the familiar sound, but then he frowned at the fond feeling. Why did the music make him happy? He couldn’t remember any fond memory related to Christmas music.

He was shaken out of his musing when the cloth was lifted from his forehead, a hotter one being put in his place before he turned his head to look up at the man exchanging the towels

“Oh! You’re awake!” The man smiled widely and looked up past the couch, raising his hand and flapping the wet cloth around as he motioned for someone to come over. “Ty! He’s awake get over here!”

‘Ty’ was a taller man, with broad shoulders and a gentle dusting of scruff lingering around his jaw and cheeks, eyes soft and deep as they looked down at Collin. “Hey there, honey. I’m glad you’re awake. How are you feeling? Warm enough?” The other man cooed at him, petting Collin’s hair and smiling warmly at him as he fussed at the blankets to make sure they covered and warmed sufficiently. He took the likeness of a mother hen, clucking and fussing around her nest as he rearranged the blankets again and retucked them under Collin so he was nice and warm.

Collin looked at Ty, the bigger man just watching the other fuss with a fond look in his eyes and a gentle smile on his lips. Collin’s heart ached a little, wishing that he had someone who would look at him like that. He felt spoiled, the man -who he now knew to be named Spencer- hand-feeding him chicken soup and giving him hot tea and he kept petting his head; Collin fought the urge to just sit there and purr from the attention. They were both so lovely, taking care of him as he warmed under the heap of blankets as his head was propped up by two fluffy pillows.

What he loved the most though was watching the two interact, watching them give each other those endearingly fond looks before they would laugh and lean in for a kiss simultaneously, hands lingering on each other’s chests or hips before they would realise they had company and would pull away, leaving Collin blushing as he pointedly looked the other way to give them privacy.

This had been going on for about three weeks now, and it seemed like Collin had been adopted as the family pet, Spencer cooing at him whenever he would do anything that would help out like washing the dishes or cleaning the living room; earning him and tight tug and fond hair ruffle. He loved when they would praise him, his cheeks warming with color with Ty would look at him and smile, giving him a pat on the head before he would move on. He had suggested he should move out after a few days, not wanting to intrude on what seemed like their perfect life but they had insisted he stay, Spencer giving him puppy dog eyes and Ty frowning like Collin had taken away his favorite stuffed animal.

After that Collin had only mentioned it a couple more times, each time getting shot down before he had even been able to propose it as a feasible suggestion and then getting silenced with a cup of cocoa and a few cookies. He took them with a bashful thank you every time and curled up on the couch, nibbling at his cookies and sipping the rich cocoa. He didn’t want to leave, but he didn’t want to be a burden. He then decided that he would help out as much as he could, taking out the trash and cleaning up when he could. He would dust the house and vacuum, greeting them like a true pet when they would come home from work, smiling widely and fighting the urge to hug them tightly and bury his face in their comforting smell. They were all adult men, that wouldn’t be proper.

Collin knew they were a couple, could hear the proof sometimes at night. He was happy for them, truly he was but at the same time, his heart ached. He found himself wanting. He felt so terribly guilty, guilty for wanting something that was already taken and he had cried himself to sleep more than a few nights. Another two weeks passed and he almost couldn’t take it any longer. He found himself envious of them every time he saw them -which was a lot- and he felt even more guilty every time he caught himself feeling this way. He shouldn’t want them both, shouldn’t want to ruin the beautiful relationship they had with each other when they had been nothing but kind to him.

They had both noticed his odd mood, been concerned about him and had hugged him more often when they saw the bags under his eyes from lack of sleep.

“What’s wrong, darling?” Spencer asked, voice filled with worry as he pulled Collin across the couch so he could hug him. Collin hated that he loved this, wishing Spencer would stop so he could get a handle on the feelings blooming in his chest. “Nothing,” he whispered, savoring the embrace for another second before he pulled away and ran to his room.

There was a knock on his door, Collin wiping at his watery eyes as he blew his nose quickly and shoved the tissues under his pillow before he called a shaky ‘come in’ and rubbed the dried tear tracks off his cheeks the best he could. “It’s me, Collin,” came Ty’s deep voice, his broad shoulders taking up most of the doorway as he walked into what had become Collin’s bedroom and closed the door behind him. He walked into the dark room and sat down beside Collin on the bed, reaching to open the shades and letting the moonlight stream in through the windows, its pale light filtering in through the snow silently falling to the ground outside.

Ty frowned, hand lifting to cup at Collin’s cheek as his thumb traced lightly over the dried tears that stained his cheeks.

“You’ve been crying, sweetheart. Tell me why?” He asked softly, pulling Collin into his arms and rubbing soothingly at his back, shoulders relaxing when Collin melted against him. He couldn’t help himself, being wrapped in Ty’s strong arms made all the stress just melt away. “Nothing,” he repeated, hoping that Ty would just let it go. He couldn’t tell them. He wouldn't let his stupid feelings ruin the perfect life he had. Not yet anyway. He couldn’t let himself.

He felt Ty sigh against him, looking up to see disappointment swimming in those beautiful eyes and Collin felt a pang of sadness shoot through him as he saw Ty’s face. He had done that. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, tears filling and overflowing again as he wrapped his arms helplessly tighter around Ty’s strong chest. The bigger man comforted him as much as he could, running his hand through Collin’s hair and holding him tight as he hiccuped pathetically. Collin felt the arms tighten around him slightly, a hand coming up to lift his head so he was looking at Ty and before he knew it a soft pair of lips was descending on his, his eyes going wide as his heart almost exploded out of his chest. Collin made a noise in the back of his throat, distress rising up inside him as he pushed Ty away and fell backward onto the bed. Ty looked hurt, pain flashing across his face as Collin pushed him away. He then looked resigned, face turning a light shade of pink before he looked away and stared rather hard at the edge of Collin’s desk, fingers entwined with themselves as silence stretched between them.

Collin couldn’t stop himself from brushing his fingers over his lips, parting his lips slightly and shuddering out a breath when he thought of what had just happened. Oh gosh this makes things so much more complicated. He had just made Ty cheat on Spencer. Sweet, innocent Spencer who was clueless to Collin’s affections to both of them. He couldn’t have felt worse, maybe he hadn’t kept it as hidden as he thought because Ty adored Spencer. He would never betray Spencer if he hadn’t thought that Collin… Collin felt like crying again.

“I-I’ll leave,” Collin whispered, making to stand up so he could pack his bags right then. Ty stopped him and made a terrified face, grabbing his arm and pulling him back with a sharp ‘wait!’ before he started babbling.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart-Collin, I meant Collin! I shouldn’t have done that without asking first it’s just that I see the way you look at Spencer and me and I just thought that… I just thought- I shouldn’t have assumed. I’m so sorry sweet- ah, I mean Collin. Please don’t go.”

Ty begged. Collin felt his resolve weakening by the second and he sat dejectedly back onto the bed, wiping at his nose and eyes before he placed his hand over Tys, making him stop his apologies and look desperately up at Collin. “We should talk,” Collin said softly, rubbing his fingers gingerly over the top of Ty’s hand and making the other man shiver before he stood and headed for the door, making sure Ty was behind him before he walked out to the living room and ignored Spencer’s greeting as he plopped down onto the couch.

Spencer watched with a confused expression as Ty walked out solemnly behind Collin, sitting behind Spencer as he looked over at the younger man fidgeting on the couch.

“What’s going on?” Spencer asked, worry seeping into his words as he looked between the two other men on either side of him. “I kissed him,” Ty whispered, making Spencer’s mouth open in an ‘o’ as a small ‘oh’ slipped past his lips. He looked expectantly over at Collin, blinking at him hopefully and smiling slightly. “And? What did you think?”

Collin didn’t know how to answer that. What did he think? No ‘how could you!’ or accusations of him trying to steal Ty away from him? “I-I…” He blushed, chastising himself mentally as he scrambled to think of what to say. What, “I liked it?” He couldn’t say that.

“It’s okay, Collin, you can say.” Spencer scooted closer and took Collin’s hand in his, smiling at him encouragingly as he squeezed his hand. “I-I… I liked it.” He said in the lowest voice he could, bright red covering his cheeks as he admitted it and he figured he might as well go the whole way if he had already gotten himself this far.

“I-I… I like you both. I’m s-so grateful to you both for taking me in a-and… showing me love that I-I couldn’t help falling for… both of you.” He couldn’t meet their eyes as he confessed his feelings for them, his hand growing sweaty against Spencer’s palm and he couldn’t help the way his heart fluttered when a pair of lips pressed against his cheek.

“We can’t tell you how happy that makes us, Collin.”

Collin looked up, watery eyes meeting two pairs of fond, watery eyes of their own. They were looking with him with so much compassion and another emotion that Collin didn’t dare label what he wanted and yearned for it to be. “We’ve fallen for you too, Collin. You can’t believe what an impact you’ve made on our lives. Spence and I were just talking about somehow telling you when I… acted rashly.” Ty looked away but Collin could see the tips of his ears turning red, making a smile tug at his lips.

“Collin,” Spencer called, making the younger man brimming with excitement and hope turn to him questioningly. “We asked for someone for Christmas, we’ve been feeling like we could start looking for a third and we wished that for Christmas that someone would come to us. Then… you came to us, Collin, like an angel-” Ty chipped in here with “or a lost puppy” before Spencer smacked him and continued: “And we were so taken by you. Would you consider joining us and… letting us take care of you indefinitely?”

Collin was frozen because gosh that sounded like a wedding proposal and he fought back the urge to just jump up and scream “YES” at the top of his lungs. Instead, he nodded, head rapidly bobbing up and down as he threw his arms around the both of them and whispered ‘thank you’ over and over again as his tears wet their shoulders. They all embraced, Collin thinking for a moment that this was just a dream and he pleaded that he didn’t ever wake up. He pushed that away, his insecurities and self doubt being pushed away for the moment as a hand slipped up the front of his shirt, feeling their way up his stomach and making him shiver as Spencer sealed his lips over his.

He could feel Ty’s lips on his neck behind him, his big hands working their way up his back as they just skimmed over his heated skin and made shivers run up and down his spine. “Is this okay?” Spencer asked against his parted lips, his tongue coming out to shyly lick at Spencer’s plump bottom one as he nodded and leaned into them. He wanted this.