Andrew’s POV

I was between needing to hold in a sigh, laughing, and being genuinely concerned as I looked around the table. 

Jem had suggested a date a few days after the last one and I had honestly been excited after I made him promise to keep it casual. As much as I loved the expensive restaurants, I didn’t want him blowing that much money at once over me. 

So we sat here now, in a little diner. I sat on one side of the table, Jem sat in front of me, Devon sat on his right, and Barrett sat on the left.

The three of them barely fit in the booth. Devon was built like a linebacker, Jem was tall with some muscle on him, and Barrett being 5’5 was the only saving grace for leg room under the table but with the muscles coming off of his short frame, the three men were all squished in which appeared to be a painful position. 

That had been the part to made me want to laugh and sigh, the concern hadn’t rolled in until I got seated and began watching. 

Barrett was glaring at me, which I guess was the new normal now. Dev looked like he was on guard, jumping and flinching at every loud noise, his hand hovering on the side I knew he kept his gun on. Jem wasn’t much better. He glared at everyone who wasn’t sitting at the table, his voice cold and distant with a bit of roughness I hadn’t expected. His hair was a mess and his eyes looked red and puffy as he looked at me with a tired smile. 

“Are you okay,” I asked after a while of pretending any of this was normal.

“Perfectly,” he dismissed with a wave of his hand. Dev glared at him and Barrett seemed too distracted with watching the door to pick up on the obvious lie. 

“Not that I don’t want them here, but is there a reason Dev and Barrett tagged along?” Dev shifted his glare to me as Barrett rolled his eyes. Jem simply looked around as if he had just noticed they were sitting beside him. 

Jem opened his mouth to say something but the words caught in his throat and he shook his head.

“Are you safe to be out here right now?”

“Yes,” he said a bit too quickly. “I would just prefer to have them here right now. If it’s ruining the experience we can leave. Try again another day.” I couldn’t help but frown at that.

“Did something happen?”

“Something always happens,” Jem said, his words coming out far harsher than anything I’ve heard from him in a while. 

“If now isn’t a good time for you we could have rescheduled.”

“I’m not your fucking client,” Jem said, his eyes full of fire as he looked at me. “We don’t need to reschedule unless you don’t want to be here. Dev and Barrett are staying regardless.” 

“James,” Dev whispered softly and Jem sighed before all but pushing Barrett out of the booth with a mumbled excuse of needing to use the bathroom. 

“Any chance I’m going to be allowed to get the insider perspective on this,” I asked, looking at Barrett but hoping Dev would take mercy on me.

“It was a rough night,” he said, his voice tired and now that I looked closer at him, his eyes were the same shade of red as Jem’s. 

I chance a glance at Barrett and see that his were the same. It was clear the three of them had been crying over something last night but even my dumbass knew better than to ask that question. 

“He’s safe though, right,” I asked instead because of all things, that was one of the few things I didn’t trust Jem telling me the truth about.

“Physically,” Barrett spat, to which Dev elbowed him in the side. Barrett’s glare shifted to his friend but Dev didn’t seem to care. 

“He’s having nightmares again?”

“You make it sound like they ever stopped,” Barrett scoffed. 

“Jem said to play nice,” Dev seethed. His comment went unnoticed. 

“How long has he been sleeping?”

“We’re lucky to get a few hours a night,” Dev shrugged. “Last night was maybe 2 hours in total. He’s…” He trailed off, trying to figure out how much he wanted to disclose. “We’re getting through it.” I opened my mouth to speak but when I saw Jem exit the bathroom I chocked the question back and plastered a smile on my face. 

Jem didn’t look any better but he smiled as he sat back down.

“Sorry,” he mumbled after a few minutes of us sitting in silence and Dev glaring at him to say something. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you. That was unfair.” I couldn’t help but just stare at him for a second.

Jem didn’t apologize. He played things off or pretended it didn’t happen. Yet here he was, sitting in front of me, saying he was sorry for upsetting me after taking a few minutes to calm down.

I forced myself to shake off the shock as I smiled at him.

“It’s okay. It seems like you’re stressed out so it happens sometimes.” He frowned and looked like he wanted to say something else but shook his head and looked down at the menu on the table.

“What looks good to you,” he asked, thumbing through the paper. “I want the biggest burger they have.”

“Something with chicken,” I said as Barrett reached over to steal the menu from Jem’s hand. Jem glared at him but said nothing as he looked back at me. 

“Are you sure you’re okay with them being here?”

“I promise,” I said, reaching across the table and grabbing his hand gently. He smiled as he brushed his fingers over my knuckles. 

Barrett faked a gag while Dev smiled as he watched, hearts all but clouded his eyes.

The rest of the date went well. Barrett was still glaring at me, it was clear that he was still upset with me for dropping him as a client and I didn’t know how to fix that if he wasn't willing to talk to me about it. Dev was quiet as he listened to the conversations we had, smiling and playing on his phone most of the time, not overly paying attention to what was happening around him. 

When dinner was wrapped up, we hovered around our cars, not sure where we wanted this to end. We could both go home and carry on our day however we wanted but I had a feeling neither of us were quiet ready to part ways for the day. 

“You wanna come over,” I asked as played with my keys. Jem smirked as he played with my fingers.

“Dev and Barrett would be coming. You want them to watch?” I scoffed as I slapped him on the shoulder. 

“No, you dick,” I scoffed. “Just wanted to spend more time with you but if you can’t pull your head out of the gutter then maybe you don’t deserve to come over.” I turned to get in my car but his hand tangled in mine kept me from moving far.

“No, I want to come over. We don’t have to do anything, I just wanted to make sure you were okay with them going into your home.” He smiled lightly as he avoided my eyes. 

“What happened,” I asked as I forced him to look at me. “Please don’t lie to me. Say you don’t want to talk about it but please don’t lie.” He sighed but to surprise he didn’t pull his hand away.

“Some assholes were playing with fireworks this morning at the house. We thought someone had broken in again. We’re all just a bit on edge now.” I remembered him mentioning the last time someone broke in, Barrett had almost died. My heart ached for them and the tear-stained cheeks suddenly made a lot more sense. I only nodded as I played with his fingers, trying to not make a big deal out of something he wouldn’t want me to.

“I don’t mind them coming over.”

“Would Patrick?”

“As long as Barrett plays nice. Patrick isn’t going to let him be an ass.”

“And he shouldn’t. I honestly don’t know why you let him be an ass. Tell him to shut the fuck up and slap him upside the head and I promise he’ll stop.”

“He’s upset,” I shrugged. “And it’s my fault he’s upset. If he needs to be a little mean to work through his feelings then I’ll let him.”

Jem frowned but didn’t comment as he let go of my hand and nodded to my car.

“We’ll meet you there then.” I smiled before reaching up to kiss him lightly on the cheek.

Patrick would be working until way later tonight and I was honestly happy to have company until he came home. The four of us scattered around the living room. 

Jem and I lay curled up on the couch, his hand in my hair as I used his chest as a pillow. Dev and Barrett sat on the other side, Barrett’s head in Dev’s lap as Dev played on his phone, his eyes flittering between the TV and us. It felt nice, wholesome, and familiar. It felt like a usual Sunday back when we lived at Jem’s house. 

“I missed this,” I said as I looked up at Jem. He smiled down at me, placing a gentle kiss on my forehead as he did.

Barrett rolled his eyes but Dev remained uncaring other than the small smile on his lips.

“I did too,” Jem admitted a bit sadly. “I hate the way things ended before. It was my fault and I’m sorry.” His words were said barely above a whisper but I could hear the sensarity in his voice.

“We all went about it wrong,” I sighed. “I shouldn’t have brought it up a literal funeral or after everything that happened. We were all stressed and it was less than fair to ask you to make that choice.”

“I still shouldn’t have kicked you out.”

“You set a boundary and we didn’t listen. That’s on us. I don’t want you to beat yourself up for that. We worked through it and that’s all that matters.” He frowned but nodded softly just as the front door opened.

Patrick froze in the doorway, looking between the four of us. Dev and Barrett still sitting at their end of the couch while Jem and I were on our end. He watched us for a moment, trying to figure out if he should comment on the extra people sitting in our living room.

“You guys hungry,” was all he asked as he placed his keys on the table and slipped out of his shoes as he walked into the room.

“I could eat,” Barrett said, not bothering to look up from his phone.

“We ate a few hours ago,” Jem scoffed but his eyes never left Patrick, all but undressing him with his eyes as he eyed the uniform covering my boyfriend.

“That does not change my answer,” Barrett shrugged on Dev’s lap. Jem rolled his eyes as he tore his gaze from Patrick.

“We have food at home.”

“Are we at home?”

“We probably should be heading that way,” Jem sighed as he moved me off his chest and stood up.

“Already,” I asked as Dev and Barrett followed his lead. “It feels like you just got here.”

“We need to get back to work,” Jem said as he pulled his shoes on and tossed the car keys to Dev. Barrett caught them mid-air and proceeded to run out of the house, laughing like a madman as Dev cursed and yelled after him, chasing him through the kitchen and out the door.

“You can’t take one night off?”

“Not with everything that’s happening,” he sighed. “We honestly shouldn’t have left at all today but I wanted to see you.” I frowned as I stood up and forced him to wrap his arms around me.

“Well, I’m glad you did,” I said as he played with my hair. “I wish you could come over more often.”

“I’ll work on that,” he promised, pulling away as Dev and Barrett’s cursing filled the air through the closed door. “I’m going to go deal with them before your neighbors make a noise complaint. I’ll see you later.”

“Why did Dev and Barrett come,” Patrick asked as he watched their tail lights fade down the road from the window.

“They had a rough week,” I shrugged. “Did you not want them here?” Patrick shrugged.

“I don’t really care, just wondering if something bad happened.” I hummed as I pulled him on the couch. “Can I at least change out of my uniform before you hold me captive?”

“No,” I huffed, forcing him to take Jem’s spot. “Jem took my warmth and I want it back.” Patrick hummed a laugh as he ran his hands through my hair gently.

It felt nice but I selfishly missed the way it used to be. Back when Jem and Patrick were flirting and cuddling with me. It felt nice being pressed between both of them but I didn’t see Patrick taking Jem back so until they at least become civil enough with each other again to sit on the same couch without glaring, this would be enough.