When Michael woke up he was slightly disoriented. He was in a bed that didn't feel like his own, with something heavy pinning his right arm down onto the mattress. Someone was breathing hot breaths against his neck as their fingers flexed against the skin of his stomach, absently, movements driven by the dream inside their head. Outside of the room, someone was moving around, probably in a kitchen based on the beep from the microwave buttons.

It came back to him then. Josh. Josh's apartment. Accidentally falling asleep in Josh's bed after they had finished. "Shit," he breathed, pulling his arm out from under the surprisingly heavy boy and wiggling his fingers until they didn't feel so numb. Beside him, Josh groaned and rolled over, facing away from him. Michael blinked the sleep out of his eyes before climbing out of bed to try to find were his sweatpants had been discarded on the floor.

He couldn't believe that he had fallen asleep, especially after his absurdly long nap that afternoon. It was something he tried to avoid doing for multiple reasons. To start, sleeping next to someone was far more intimate to him than having sex with them. Sex was simple; cuddling was not. Then, there was the fact that Micahel wasn't able to disappear for long periods of time, especially during the night, without his brothers realizing. He could only hope that Joe wasn't in the mood to pester.

Lastly, Michael felt bad about leaving without saying goodbye. They both knew that he was only there to have sex, but it still felt tacky to just disappear without a word. He really didn't want to be that person.

He found his sweatpants under the bed and freed his cellphone from the pocket, squinting his eyes against the bright light as he checked the time. It was ten thirty four. There was no way that his absence hadn't been noted by now. "Shit," he hissed again, this time loud enough that Josh groaned loudly. "Sorry".

Josh didn't respond, apparently still sleeping. Not wanting to disturb him further, Michael clicked off his screen, immersing the room in complete darkness. This made it incredibly difficult to find his boxers among the mess of cloths in the room, so he decided just to leave them behind as he pulled on his sweatpants. He was thankfully able to locate his shirt among the items and pulled it quickly over his head. Before he left the room, he mumbled a quiet goodbye to Josh, which he was almost positive went unnoticed.

It was when he was was closing the door to Josh's room softly behind him that he remembered what had awoken him in the first place, and he slowly turned in the direction of the kitchen, where Daisy was leaning against the counter, staring down at the the microwave. "Did I wake you?" she asked softly. "You usually sleep through the buttons".

She turned with a smile on her face, but it faded when she noticed it wasn't her cousin. They looked at one another, Michael taking in Daisy's work uniform and the tired bags under her eyes as Daisy noticed his disheveled state. "Hi," he greeted.

"Michael," she acknowledged, her voice taking on a sad edge. He looked past the clear exhaustion on her face to the expression beneath it all. It kind of reminded him of how Pierce had looked at him in the diner that afternoon. Concerned. Disappointed. Like the person standing in front of her wasn't one she recognized.

It made him feel worse. Sleeping with Josh had made him feel worse. Everything did.

"I'm sorry," he managed, his voice coming out rough. He was surprised he had even been able to manage words given the tightness of his throat. It felt like he could barley breathe.

"Why are you apologizing?" she asked. Behind her, the microwave beeped loudly, but she ignored it, her dark gaze steady on him. Slowly, he moved towards her, his eyes downcast.

"I don't know what other words you want," he admitted, walking until her shoes came into his line of vision. When she didn't respond, he spoke again. "I honestly didn't know what else to do". The sigh that left her told him this was a disappointment. "Why do you expect so much from me?"

He forced himself to look up at her, only to find that she wasn't looking at him any longer, her gaze slightly off to the side. "I shouldn't," she admitted, and Michael's eyebrows raised. "I haven't seen you for nearly four years. I have no reason or right to expect anything from you, but I just... I keep thinking about how much Daniel had looked up to you back then". This was a surprise to Michael, because he hadn't been expecting her to bring up Daniel, and he couldn't ever recall a time when Daniel had looked up to him. The thought must have translated over to his face, because she laughed. "You two should really talk more".

At this, Michael shook his head. "He wouldn't understand".

"Do you know that, or are you just assuming that?" she asked. It isn't that simple, he wanted to say, but even he couldn't explain all the reasons why it was so hard, so he didn't respond, only turned his face away. "Will you please just let me put my cell number in your phone?"

"Daisy". It hadn't been a good idea on friday, and it still wasn't a good idea. "I don't think-"

"You don't have to use it," she interrupted quickly, before he was able to remind her of why they shouldn't have contact with one another. She took a few steps forwards, closing the distance between the two of them. "I will do absolutely nothing to enforce you to call me, but I think you should probably start talking to someone instead of continuing to have sex with random people, because some day you're going to get some kind of disease, or you're going to meet the wrong type of person, and you'll really wish that you had stopped earlier". He had heard all these warnings before, from both James and Tyler on multiple occasions, but something about her saying them while visibly being afraid for him made the words reach him on a different level. "You don't have to talk to me, but I want you to know that I'm here, and I am an option that is completely separate from the other parts of your life".

Michael studied her with slightly narrowed eyes as she just looked back at him, determined with her hand stretched out towards him. He could say no, he knew, and then that would be that, and she would leave him alone and they'd never see one another again, but he didn't say no. Instead, he pressed his cell phone into her palm, face up. "The password is 456456".

She punched it in, her eyebrows furrowing. "I thought it was going to be your birthday," she said. "I thought Joe made you and Daniel sat your password as your birthday".

"Yeah," Michael confirmed with a sigh. Joe had made them do that. For years. Push over, he accused of himself. "Well, once I starter becoming more adventurous it occurred to me that I couldn't have Joe reading my text messages any more so I changed it".

As she typed her number in, she hummed to convey that she was listening to him. "Why 456456 then? What's the significance in that?"

Michael shrugged his shoulders as he took his phone back from her. She had saved her number under the contact name Daze, probably so his brothers wouldn't be alarmed if they ever saw it. This was probably a good thing, he thought as he tucked his phone back into his pocket, thinking about Daniel trying to punch Joe in the face two years ago when Daisy had texted the middle twin about a scholarship Joe had received the year before– Michael was still to this day confused as to how Joe had gotten it, or why he even applied– that she had been hoping to put her name in for. "Four five six," Michael. "I'm the forth, Joe is the fifth, and Daniel is the sixth. It's funny, see, because he was annoyed with me for changing it from something that didn't include all of us without knowing that it still did".

She smiled at him, her eyes shining. "Be safe, Michael," she instructed.

He left then, feeling guilty about the boy in bed who he hadn't said goodbye to, and the number in his phone that his brothers could never know about.

***

When Michael turned onto his street he immediately noticed the car parked outside of his house and frowned at the strangeness of the situation. It wasn't that he didn't recognize the vehicle, since he had probably spent more time in the sleek black cadillac than he had in his own car, but seeing that the car was sill parked on the street at a time nearing eleven on a week night was somewhat alarming since it usually would be parked in the garage by then.

He only had to think on it for a second longer, because then he was driving past Daniel's car, headlights briefly lighting up the inside to reveal that it was not empty. It was only a brief moment, just long enough for a glimpse, but it was long enough for Michael to easily make out the two people beyond the window, interlocked by the mouth over the gear shift.

Daniel had apparently had a date that night, and by the looks of it, it had gone– or was going, Michael supposed– very well. As Michael pulled into the driveway, he thought of Daisy and Daniel and how weird it was that Daniel had a different girlfriend who he clearly liked. Maybe if Daniel was also single Michael could have brought them together again, could maybe help them be happy, but Daisy hadn't even asked about him. She was probably over him after all this time too.

Sighing, Michael climbed out of his car, locking it behind himself before heading to the front door. It wasn't really his place to think about these things. They didn't matter, were just hypothetical. He still wasn't going to let Daniel know he had been in contact with her.

In the living room, Michael found Joe sprawled across the couch. He could only see his head from where he was standing in the foyer, resting back against the arm of the couch, face towards the television. It would have been easy to leave without being noticed, to go up to shower and lay back down in bed– though he doubted he'd be able to sleep at after taking two long naps– but he thought of Joe's displeasure with him that afternoon and decided to join him on the couch. "Hey," he greeted, rounding the side of the couch where Joe's feet were resting and pushing his legs down onto the floor so he could sit.

Joe blinked at him, blue eyes wide, before sitting up so his back was against the arm rest, his legs folding in front of him. He was holding a bag of chips and Michael recognized them as the ones they had stopped to buy on their way home from the grocery store on friday. "Hi," Joe responded. "I almost didn't expect you to come home tonight".

"Well here I am". Michael turned his head to peer into the the dining room, and beyond that, the kitchen. All the lights were out.

"Donnelly just left a couple of minutes go," Joe explained. "He made some really good chocolate mousse earlier that in the fridge, though I already ate a lot of it".

Nodding, Michael turned back to look at the television, dropping his head against the couch so he didn't have to hold it up himself. It was quiet, and Michael figured they were both probably thinking about their conversation in the dining room earlier, wondering if apologies were necessary to make things go back to normal.

There was a crinkling to his right, and Michael turned his head to see that Joe had turned the bag of chips in his direction. With a small smile, he reached into it. "Thanks".

They were were going to be fine.

"Are you waiting for Daniel?" Michael inquired, shoving the handful of chips into his mouth as he watched the television screen. The volume was down so low that he couldn't make out any of the words being spoken, but the show Joe was watching was familiar enough to him that he already knew the episode just from from sight.

Joe hummed in conformation, and then explained, "he want on another date tonight".

"I know," Michael answered, and his brother's eyes focused on the side of his face as he waited for an explanation. "They're kissing in his car on the street.''

"You for real?" Joe asked, eyes wide again. Michael nodded, and the next thing he knew the bag of chips was being dropped into his lap as Joe got up and rushed to the window to peer out past the blinds. With an eye roll, Michael shoved his hand back into the bag of chips, watching Joe snoop through the window. It took a few seconds, but then he laughed loudly and looked over his shoulder at Michael. "We should do something to mess with them".

Eyebrows raised, Michael asked, "like?"

"Shit man, I don't know. Go jump out and scare them. Hide in Daniel's closet and jump out if they take it inside. Poke holes in his condoms- no no no, not that. That's a bad idea". It was a relief that Joe had been able to realize that himself, since he often took pranks a step too far. "We have to do something".

Once upon a time, back when Michael had been happier– and maybe more of a shit, he realized now– he wouldn't have even thought about this, would have agreed with a very enthusiastic yes before rushing to find that blowhorn they had bought in middle school for the exact purpose of pissing one another off, but he paused now and considered everything. When he said no, it wasn't because he didn't think it would be funny, or because he didn't want to spend time with Joe planning this kind of thing. "I think we should wait a couple weeks into their relationship to do shit like that. It's... been quite a while since Daniel has been able to enjoy himself on a date. Maybe we should let the first handfull pass peacefully before we begin to terrorize them".

Joe sighed, dropping his hand so the curtain fell closed. "Yeah," he agreed, sounding crestfallen as he moved back to the couch. "You're right". This wasn't something Michael got to hear often, and he was just about to begin teasing him about it when he noticed the troubled look on Joe's face.

"Hey". Michael punched him in the arm after Joe sat beside him. "What are you thinking about?"

"Just... him and Daisy, I guess," Joe admitted. "Well, I guess I'm thinking about him after Daisy. Remember how ruined he was? I never want to see him like that again. Him having a new girlfriend makes me nervous".

"Yeah". Michael didn't think he would ever forget how the end of Daniel and Daisy's relationship had destroyed his younger third. For weeks, Daneil had been miserable, only getting out of bed when Joe and him physically forced him to. "I ran into Daisy". It was out of his mouth before he could stop it, but he didn't regret it. No. Instead, he felt immense relief from telling someone.

"Oh," Joe said softly. Neither of them looked at one another. "Are you gonna tell Dan?"

"No," Michael answered, voice strong with confidence. That got Joe to look at him. He could feel the gaze on the side of his face, reading him. "What good could that do? I think he'd just be angry at me".

"It's not your fault that you just happened to meet," Joe offered, and Michael turned his head to study his brother. Out of the three of them, Joe was the only one who disliked Daisy with a passion. It was guilt, Michael assumed, because it had been Joe's influence over Daniel that make him harass those kids, and those actions had ultimately led to the end of Daniel's relationship. Joe couldn't stand to blame himself, so instead he blamed Daisy. "Where were you when you ran into her?"

The question was one Michael couldn't possibly answer, so he took a moment to compose himself, fighting to keep his expression neutral under his brother's eyes, before answering instead, "I ran into her a few days ago".

"Oh". If he caught the change of subject– it wasn't very subtle, even Michael could admit– he didn't comment on it. "Why did you wait to mention it?"

"Daniel was always around".

"Ahh. Right. That's true". Joe looked away, and Michael closed his eyes, shifting uncomfortably on the couch before forcing himself to relax back into it. "Where were you tonight, by the way?"

He took a deep breath before answering. "I went out".

There was a pause, and then, "have sex?"

"Yeah".

"Nice man".

They didn't speak again until Daniel joined them inside. When they greeted him simultaneously a surprised look crossed over his face before it dissolves into its typical neutral expression. He came into the living room and dropped into the space on the couch between them.

His mouth was red.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked, reaching into the bag on Joe's lap and removing a single chip.

"How was your date?" Michael questioned, ignoring the previous question. Daniel wouldn't be pleased to hear that they had been waiting for him.

"It was okay," Dan answered with a shrug.

Okay, Michael thought. When he had been dating Daisy he would always come home excited.

On the other end of the couch, Joe snorted, probably thinking about what would need to happen for one of Daniel's dates to qualify as good if okay involved kissing deeply in the car for well over fifteen minutes.

They were quiet.