The trio meandered slowly through the aisles, taking their time to make sure they got everything they needed.

    Since Michael was the one who cooked, he was in charge of making the grocery list, but often he made one or both of his boyfriends accompany him on the trip. This time, both Luke and Ashton had wanted to go and spend time together. Ashton said they could pick up take out on their way home and have that for dinner since they came from work.

    "Can you grab me that bag of rice on the bottom shelf? The orange one." Michael directed Ashton, turning to look at some of the sauces nearby. Ashton did as asked, getting the giant bag and dumping it in the cart.

    "So I don't understand," Luke shook his head. "I thought the package was definitely going to be delivered, we've never had an issue before."

    Ashton sighed. It was not a fun day, having to deal with the failure being thrown back in his face, all the stupid sympathetic looks, and all the people telling him it wasn't his fault because apparenltly Calum had decided he was upset over not being there when shit went down and told everyone.

    He supposed it only reflected well on him, but faking the emotions was terribly annoying.

    "It was, but fucking...UPS got in the way." Ashton had to be careful not to explode and remember there were people around.

    Luke raised an eyebrow. He was still wearing his work scrubs, and Michael too was in his clothes. After work, the two had waited for Ashton to come out to the car. Michael had decided they were going shopping, so Ashton rinsed off quickly in the bathroom, using the soap and wipes they gave patients to disinfect themselves with before they go to surgery. He'd packed an extra outfit that morning and changed before meeting his boyfriends. That meant Luke was able to hug him, and was happily holding his hand as they meandered through the store.

    "What do you mean, UPS?" They hadn't gotten to talk much since  the drive to the store wasn't far, and talking like this was difficult.

    Ashton leaned in close, halting both of the boys. They gathered around him like they were having a private meeting in the middle of the pasta aisle.

    "I mean, Calum fucking saw him seizing and called a rapid and fucking saved him. The whole unit is pitying me now because that fucking twat told them I was upset."

    "He knew you were upset he didn't die?" Michael whispered, eyes wide.

    "No, no, he thinks I'm upset because I wasn't there. I went on break, giving Doug the chance to...make his way to the final destination," Ashton noticed a person reaching for a box of rigatoni next to him and changed his tone. Michael saw her and straightened up, continuing to look at his list as they waited for her to leave. She gave them all a funny look, but that's nothing they weren't used to. Being gay, espeically in a poly relationship got them some looks. "So they all comforted me because I wasn't there."

    "Fuck, Ash, I'm so sorry," Michael shook his head.

    "My poor baby," Luke wrapped his arms around Ashton's waist, rubbing his nose into the taller mans chest. "I can't believe they did that."

    "And Calum cornered me in the utility room and told me if I 'ever need to talk' or some shit like that, he's here for me." The brunette rolled his eyes and scoffed, hands clenched into fists.

    Luke pulled back, brow furrowed.

    "You seem like you hate this guy a lot,"

    "Lu, he ruined my plans!" Ashton exclaimed, wincing at the glare Michael gave him for being too loud. Luke pulled away, reclaiming his hand, and they started walking to the next aisle. "Sorry. But he did. I hate him and his positive attitude and how he's trying so hard to be my friend. I think..." Ashton took a breath. "I think he should get the next package."

    Michael stopped short, causing Luke to crash into him and bounce backwards.

    "You what?! Sorry baby, you okay? Ashton, you said what?" Michael hissed, softly caressing Luke's hair as he checked to make sure he wasn't hurt.

    "Babe, do you know how risky that is?" Luke was concerned at his partners line of thinking. Not because he cared about the murder, no, he didn't mind that. They helped people, they were doing true, good work. He was a little concerned that this Cleveland guy was becoming too big of an issue and was going to expose Ashton's work. They couldn't kill him though, there's no way to do that without questions being raised.

            "He's a nuisance. I can't have him poking around my work."

    "We're not talking about this here." Michael said, dark look falling across his features.

    "I just—"

    "Not now, Ash." he snapped, taking Luke's hand and dragging him to the next aisle. There was tense silence as the 3 finished shopping, no more dawdling.

    Michael was quick to put the items up on the belt, harshly slamming the cans down, making Luke wince. As the softer one, Luke was often left to damage control after the two others fought. He hated when they argued, but he did like how many cuddles and warm smiles he received when he was helping them.

    Luke slipped his hand into Michael's after he'd tapped his card on the payment machine, glowing at the happy look he received from his partner. Ashton loaded up the bags and they left.

    Michael tossed the groceries in the trunk, slamming his door shut and shoving the grocery cart onto the grass barrier in front of the car. Ashton and Luke shared a look, almost nervous for the bleached blonde to drive, but they knew he'd be taking some deep breaths before they left. He'd never put them in danger.

    Ashton went to the back, opening Luke's door for him before climbing inside.

    It was quiet, just the soft chatter of the radio that Luke was too anxious to turn down. Michael was focused on driving, hands gripping the wheel so tight his knuckles were turning white, and Ashton was glaring out the window. Luke sighed, knowing neither of them would speak first.

    "So, can we talk about this now so we can go back to being happy?" Luke asked in a small voice.

    Michael's shoulders dropped. He hated disappointing Luke. He knew the gentle boy was uncomfortable, but he wasn't thinking about him. He should have been.

    "I'm sorry, sweetheart," Michael reached out for his hand, pressing sweet kisses to his knuckles. "Ashton, I'm sorry I was being rude. I should have reacted better."

    The man in the back nodded.

    "Thank you. I'm sorry too, for dropping that on you in a place where we couldn't deal with it. I should have realised where we were and waited. Sorry Lukey, baby."

    Luke nodded satisfied. He turned around, slipping his hand from Michael's but placing the hand on his own leg. He still wanted Michael touching him.

    "Ash, you know we can't kill your coworker." Luke couldn't remember his name, it was something weird, Clive, Colon...Calcium? That wasn't a name.

    Ashton sighed.

    "I don't think that's true. Accidents happen all the time."

    Michael tsked, turning onto a side road.

    "Babe, you know that's not what we're about." Ashton groaned, but he continued. "We're not senseless murderers. We do this to Help people, not just because they're annoying or inconvenient. That's not right."

    They might kill people, but they still had morals. They weren't bad people.

    "It would be helping me," Luke scoffed, glaring slightly. Ashton sighed, biting his lip, not able to meet Luke's eyes. Luke thought he saw tears welling up in his hazel depths, but that couldn't be right. Ashton never cried. "But...what if he keeps coming around, and, and something bad happens?"

    Luke's eyes widened. It was unusual to see Ashton falling apart in front of them. The man showered him in love and praises and kindness—he was one of the nicest people if he got to know you—but he never showed weakness. He was strong, hard, impenetrable. He didn't break down.

    Luke supposed his only true weaknesses were sitting in the front of the car.

    "Baby," Luke's voice broke, and when Michael stopped at a stop sign, he unbuckled his seat belt, ignoring Michael's cries of outrage as a foot kicked him in the shoulder and slipped clumsily into the backseat. He pressed himself right against Ashton and held him. Ashton let him put his arms around him and rested his cheek on the top of Luke's head, pressing little kisses to his curls.

    "I couldn't live if someone found out and something bad happened to either of you. If he keeps poking around, he's bound to find something. We're good, but we're not perfect. We're going to make a few mistakes here and there. If he's looking for something, he will find it eventually."

    "Ash, that doesn't mean we can kill him. Just because something might happen, we can't just end him. It would be too much, people would care if he died." Michael insisted. It made sense why he would want to do that, and it would be much simpler, but it just wasn't practical.

    "What if you just scare him off? Be mean to him, ignore him, and eventually he'll back off. That might be better than permanently killing him."

    "That's a good suggestion, Cupcake!" Michael praised, the blonde boy hiding his face in Ashton's shirt at the affection. The brunette chuckled.

    "I guess I could try that first. But we do need to come up with something more permanent to do if it doesn't work. You guys don't know him, he's persistent, that little fucker." Ashton spat, remembering how many times Calum had smiled at him in the hall, just waiting for a little something in return.

    "Maybe it would be a good idea for us to meet him," Luke mused. Ashton raised his eyebrows. "If we got close to him, befriended him, then maybe he'd trust you and wouldn't look too closely into your stuff. If you're friends with someone, unless they do something blatant, you're going to just trust them."

    "Good point, Lu." Michael considered, honking at the guy in front of them who cut him off. "Yeah, that could work. If Ashton starts being nice to him, we can befriend him, get him to trust us, and then he won't be suspicious."

    "There's just one problem," Ashton drawled, looking at Michael through the rearview mirror.

    "What's that, Ashy?"

    "I can't be nice to him."

    Both of his lovers scoffed.

    "Ash,"

    "What? It's true. I fucking hate him, he's the actual worst human I've ever encountered. I would be so incredibly happy to never have to see his stupid smile or his dumb fucking curly mullet, and if I never looked down the hallway and saw him practically bouncing around to get his shit done. He's a fucking ray of sunshine and it's so annoying!" he seethed, getting more upset at the obvious amusement on Michael's face and the fact that Luke was trying and failing to hide it.

"What?

"He seems like a good guy who's just gotten under your skin. There's no reason you can't be nice to him," Michael said, parking the car in the driveway.

    "Yeah, there is. It's called I can't stand him."

    "Ash, that's our new plan, okay?" Michael got out, shutting the door. Ashton growled, but remembered Luke was next to him. He pressed a delicate kiss to his forehead, taking his seatbelt off before helping Luke out. "You're going to have to find a way to manage, because that's that."

    Ashton tried to challengingly stare at the man, but Michael was serious. Ashton grunted.

    "Lu, baby, you're on my side, yeah? You think it's impossible for me to do this, and you want to do something else?"

    "It was Lukey's idea, don't try to trick him into changing his mind." Michael rolled his eyes, amusedly. Luke pressed himself closer into Michael's side, not wanting Ashton to get him. If he did, Luke wasn't sure he could resist the brunette's puppy dog eyes.

    "Look at me, lovely, please Luke?" Ashton pleaded. Michael tsked, wrapping one arm around Luke, whose eyes were downcast, and lead him inside.

    "Get the rest of the bags, Ash. You're banned from talking to him for the next hour. Use that time to get on board with the plan!" Michael called, leaving Ash alone to fume in the driveway. He knew Luke would be easily persuaded if Ashton got him in his clutches. "We're calling for delivery for dinner, and you're paying!"

***

Twisted as it is, I love their relationship 🥺 they're so cutie

Anywayyyyy I woke up super early (time change) the last couple mornings and wrote a chapter so here you go!!

I've been having a blast on vacation, and im already pre-sad that it's almost over
:( but we still have adventure left!! Here's a few pics of some views I've seen so far.

Venice beach, California

Random roadside in NM

Grand Canyon, Arizona

Reunion tower Dallas, Texas

Mammoth cave national park, KY

And a bonus picture from the GC, probably the most controversial of all of my trip shots. This one got aaaallllllll the comments on fb from every mother in existence. (It's also my proudest pic)

Legit went to the cliffs edge. My sister took a video of her freaking out the entire time and yelling at me for stepping out there. Lol.

Anyway, hope you're enjoying the story and my pics :) tell me what you did this week! Or about a vacation you went on/your favorite memory!! I wanna hear from y'all ❤️🥰

~ashtonfortherwin