Wednesday night, Michael was in his bedroom alone watching television when his phone began to ring. Not too concerned about who was calling him– there were very few people who did such a thing– he answered without checking the screen, eyes fixated ahead on the show he was watching. "Hello-"

"Are your brothers home?" Daisy asked, cutting off the end of his greeting. Her urgency managed to intrigue him more than the television and he blinked himself out of his daze.

"Uh, what?"

"Michael," she groaned, exacerbation present in his voice. "Are your brothers home right now?"

"Oh, um....." he trailed off to think about it. He had been in his room for about an hour now, uninterrupted, which led him to believe that Joe was gone, but he couldn't remember if- Oh. He recalled his conversation with Joe over dinner, the one that had been mostly one sided since he hadn't really been paying close attention to him. Both him and Daniel would be gone on dates for the evening– Daniel with his girlfriend and Joe with one of the girls from the grocery store he had convinced to give him a second chance. "No. They're out".

"Okay, good". Before he could ask why, the line dropped. Confused, he held the phone in front of his face and squinted at the screen to make sure he had a strong connection. It was only when he was dialing her number and the doorbell rang that it occurred to him that maybe she had hung up on him.

With a sigh he climbed out of bed, taking his time since their maid Shelly had left before dinner and he didn't think it would be a bad idea to make Daisy wait as punishment. They had talked about her coming over and Michael had made himself very clear when he said it wasn't a good idea, even while Daniel was away. "Because he's going to come back," he had explained when she had asked why, and she had just pouted and failed to respond. Really, thinking back, this outcome wasn't a huge surprise.

By the time he got down the stairs, Daisy's voice reached him from inside the kitchen. Since there was only one person she could be talking to in there, Michael felt his stomach muscles tighten with nerves, and he hurried into the room to do whatever damage control was necessary. While he loved having her in his life again, she most definitely wasn't the person he would want Ian to be alone with. She was far too manipulative and mischevious for him to feel comfortable with it.

He stopped in the doorway, his eyes immediately finding her sitting at the counter across from where Ian was standing. "What are you doing here?" he asked, not kindly, and she turned in her seat to beam at him, seeming very proud of herself.

"Ian let me in," she explained, and Michael held her gaze for a moment longer before sighing and moving towards the counter to sit by her. There was no point in telling her to leave. She wouldn't listen.

As he crossed the room he met Ian's eyes. "Um... is that okay?" the chef asked after a pause, seeming unsure of himself. With a sigh, Michael sat in the seat beside Daisy. Immediately, she threw an arm around his neck, tightening it to pull him against her.

"Of course it's okay, right Mike?"

"You still haven't said why you're here," he grumbled, rasing his hand to push her arm off of him. She didn't seem at all phased by his attitude.

"I just wanted to keep you company," she claimed. "Is that really so bad?" He was going to glare at her some more– because he knew her and there was no way that was her motive– but he got distracted by the sight of the small frown on Ian's face as he looked across the counter at her. "And! I wanted to eat the amazing food I hear all about all the time. You know Ian, Michael kind of talks about you a lot..." At this, Michael felt his eyes grown incredibly wide at the betrayal, and Ian looked unsure of how he should respond. "I mean, about your food, of course. I figured you must be very talented".

"Oh, ah, thank you," Ian responded, his cheeks flushing pink. "Would you like something to eat? Michael said he wasn't hungry when I offered earlier-"

"Michael not hungry?" she gasped, punching Michael in the arm. "Who are you? Who have you become? I once watched you ear an entire pizza by yourself, granted, you were pretty stoned at the time". Slightly horrified that she had revealed such a thing about him, Michael shot Ian a nervous look, just in time to watch Ian chuckle. "I would love something to eat, if you don't mind. I mean, it's pretty late... I wasn't even sure that you would still be here".

"Um, yeah". Ian's blush got a little darker. "I don't mind. What would you like?"

Daisy thought about it for a minute, and then smiled in a way that made Michael wish he was still in his bedroom. "Actually, can I make a nonfood related request? I would absolutely love to watch you instruct Michael on how to make something so I can laugh at all of the dumb questions he asks you. I will ask the first one for him to get it out of the way. What is a wok?"

"It's not Ian's cooking if you make me do it," Michael protested. "It won't taste good then".

"I refuse to take no for an answer. If you follow his instruction then it should taste the same, right?" Daisy asked, looking to Ian for an answer. The man looked back and forth between the two of them with very wide eyes. Eventually, he settled on Michael, lips curling up a bit, unsure.

"I think you'll be better at it than you think you will," he offered, and Daisy let out a cheer in triumph. "I wouldn't mind an extra set of hands... could you grab me the wok?"

The lack of response Michael gave confirmed that he had no idea what he was talking about, though his embarrassment was forgotten at the sound of Ian's soft laugh.

***

Surprisingly, it didn't take them long to make the simple pasta dish Ian had chosen, even with the plethora of questions Michael asked throughout. When they finished, Michael looked to Ian expectantly and the man laughed at his expression. "You did great, Michael. Don't look so scared."

"I can't help it," Michael admitted, watching as Ian brought the plate to Daisy, who took her time in picking up the fork and twirling pasta through the prongs. Slowly, she raised the fork to her mouth and closed her lips around it.

"Oh," she said once she swallowed. "It's really good. Kinda spicy. I like it".

Relieved, Michael allowed himself a heavy sigh, which Ian easily picked up on. "Why do you feel the need to put so much pressure on yourself all the time?" he asked, and Michael shrugged his shoulders.

"I've been expected to do well my entire life," he explained. "Also... I didn't want to reflect badly on you, you know?" Embarrassed by this, he dropped his eyes, but not before he caught the look of surprise that came over Ian's face.

"MIchael is what you call a perfectionist," Daisy chimed in. "He applies his all to everything– cooking, school, sex, you name it– and then he feels incredibly guility if he fails".

It was quiet for a moment as her words settled in, and then Michael asked, "what the hell are you talking about?" in a way that came out much calmer than he actually felt. Nervously, he shot a look out of the correr of his eye at Ian, who was just staring ahead at Daisy with wide brown eyes, cheeks growing darker each second he had to think about it any longer.

It took her a long momentet to respond, having to chew and swallow first. "You think I'm going to find out that you're fucking my cousin and not get details? Josh has a big mouth, and he uses it to share... among other things that you know of".

"Oh god," Michael groaned, putting his hands over his face in embarrassment. Why is she doing this right now? Does she hate me? "Daisy, please-"

"Oh!" she interrupted. "An interesting tad-bit for you: apparently triplets do have the same size dick!" Michael was moving before she even finished the sentence, rounding the counter and grabbing her arm to pull her out of her chair. His arms wrapped around her waist then and he lifted her off her feet and began to carry her in the direction of the door. "What?! Michael. Noooooo".

"What the fuck are you doing?" He grumbled, just low enough for her to hear, setting her down but keeping his hands on her arms. "You're ruining every possible chance-"

"Michael, I know what I'm doing-"

"Well stop it," he instructed, and she looked very put out for a moment before sighing and nodding her head.

"Yeah, okay. I'm sorry. I'll stop". She seemed to understand how serious he was, so he nodded and dropped his hands. Immediately, she moved around him to go back to her seat. "Sorry about that Ian. He doesn't like it very much when I bring up the fact that I've seen his brother's penis".

Yeah, Michael thought, if only that was the only thing she had said. Sighing, he turned around to join them at the counter again, cautious of Ian's eyes on him the entire way. "Um..." the older man said, eyebrows drawing together. His face was still flushed red. "I'm missing something, aren't I?"

"Daisy is Daniel's ex-girlfriend," Michael explained, sitting on the stool beside her.

"Ohhh," Ian said, looking to Daisy. "Not anymore though?"

Daisy shook her head. "No. We broke up... about four years ago now. Michael and I were actually reunited recently due to his tryst with my cousin which..." Michael caught her shooting him a look from the corner of his eye, but by the time he turned to look back at her in question, her gaze was on Ian again. "I believe has ended now".

"Ahh, yeah," he confirmed at Ian's curious look. Beside him, Daisy began to eat her pasta again, and Michael relaxed some, taking this to mean that she wasn't planning on talking for a little bit.

"Oh. Well, it sucks that it didn't work out," Ian offered. "When did you guys break up? Was it recent?" There was a gross choking noise as Daisy laughed at this and Micahel shook his head quickly.

"Oh, no no no. We weren't... together. We just... sometimes we would..." Michael trailed off, unsure how to tell the guy he currently liked that he had basically just been using Josh as someone to get off with every week.

"I get it," Ian offered with a smile, clearly understanding that he was flailing. "You don't do feelings. I remember".

This had seemed true a week ago, but recent events had Michael pausing at the words, his mouth parting slightly as he thought of something to stay in response. Thankfully, Daisy seemed to have decided to be helpful, because she happily chimed in, "you know, he wasn't always like this. Once upon a time I think he actually wanted a relationship".

"Once upon a time was my junior year when I was still hoping there was a chance that I was straight," Michael added for clarification. "And it's not that I don't want a relationship, it's that I don't feel ready for one at this point in my life".

"That's just because you've never been in one before," Daisy claimed, gathering the last of her spaghetti onto the prongs of her fork. "If you knew how good sex feels when you actually care about the person you're having it with, you'd reconsider. Don't you think, Ian?"

The man looked caught off guard, eyes going wide at the sound of his name. "Uh, maybe? I think it probably depends on the person. I mean, you can care about someone even if they're really terrible in bed".

"Do you say this from experience?" Daisy inquired before shoving the fork full of spaghetti past her lips and then smiling at the flush that crept over Ian's cheeks. The conversation intrigued Michael and he had to bite his lip to keep from asking for more details.

"It wasn't awful," Ian defended weakly, his hands gripping the edge of the counter so tightly that his fingers turned white. "I just... he didn't really understand how the male body worked ummm, internally".

Too many things were going through Michael's head right then.

So he's a bottom then. That's good.

Who was he having sex with? Someone he cared about, apparently, based on the conversation.

Was he still in this relationship? He said he didn't do feelings but maybe he meant he didn't do feelings for other people... no, that's probably not likely. That'd be a weird thing to say.

Has he ever had good sex? Because I'd be willing to-

"Tragic," Daisy sympathised, licking her fork clean and then pushing the plate across the counter towards Ian. In the brief moment that the mans eye's dropped, Daisy shot Michael a smirk that told him she knew exactly what he had been thinking about. "Well Ian, what Michael tells me is true. You seem spectacular. I'm sorry for making you stay so late... It's already almost ten thirty".

"Oh, recently Ian's still been here at this time," Michael assured, watching the man in question as he brought the plate over to the sink. At Michael's words he paused, plate clutched tightly in his fingers, and then he slowly lowered it into the sink.

"Oh?" Daisy asked, and Ian looked back at them quickly, eyes wide. Michael followed his gaze back to Daisy, who was just smiling a little bit. "Every night?"

When it became clear Ian wasn't going to answer– he had turned the sink on and was quite incessantly scrubbing the plate– Michael responded for him. "Mostly. I usually keep him company. Last week I would hang out in here and study".

"Oh really?" Daisy inquired, something in her voice indicating to Michael that he wasn't fully aware of the situation. Across the room, Ian turned off the sink, but didn't turn back to them, only braced his hands on the counter and looked down at the stainless steel. From how he was standing, Michael could see that his cheeks were pink. "You stay this late even on friday nights?"

There was a pause before Ian responded, slowly turning back towards them as he did. "Ah, well, I usually like to prepare the dough for breakfast pastries before I leave so it's ready when I get here in the morning," he explained silently, crossing his arms over his chest and staring intently at the floor.

There was a long pause in which Daisy watched Ian very carefully and Ian very clearly avoided her gaze, uncomfortable. Quickly, Michael cut into the silence, not liking the growing tension, especially since he didn't understand it. "Ahh, well... you haven't been here in a couple of years, Daisy. Do you want a tour or something? Refresh your memory?"

"No," she responded, dragging out the word. "I think I'm going to go actually". Surprised, because what was the point of her coming anyways, Michael's eyebrows raised. Ian's gaze finally lifted from the floor to look at her, his expression conflicted. With a small chuckle, Daisy cracked a smile, only then meeting Michael's eyes.

"Oh? You came here to bother me for-" he checked the watch on his wrist. "Forty five minutes?"

"Yep!" She slid off of her stool. "Thanks for letting me watch Michael flail around for twenty minutes, Ian. In the end, the food was great and I totally give you full credit. It was nice meeting you".

"Ahh, yeah. You too," Ian responded, though he didn't sound like he really meant it.

"Michael, walk me out," she instructed, and Micahel's eyebrows raised in question. Across the room, Ian breathed out a shaky breath and turned away from them again. "Come on".

Obeying, Michael followed her out of the room, into the foyer, where she immediately turned to him and took his face between her hands, pulling him down so she could easily look into his eyes. "Please don't kiss me right now-"

"Shut up, idiot. You've had my cousin's dick in your mouth. Theres no fucking way that I'm kissing you. Now listen up. You need to go for it with that man because he is super cool and super in to you," Daisy insisted, and Michael frowned, wondering how she had drawn that conclusion from the night they had just had.

"Huh?"

"Go. For. It". And with that, she pulled away from him and slipped out of the door, leaving him to blink after her and wonder what the hell had just happened.

When he made his way back into the kitchen, after about a minute of just standing there thinking, what the hell, Ian had moved back to stand at the counter, his shoulders relaxing slightly when just Michael returned. "Hey," he greeted softly with a little smile.

"Hi," Michael responded, moving further into the dining room but not taking a seat when he got to the counter. Can you please explain to me what just happened? He was going to ask, but Ian was speaking before any of the words left his mouth.

"Well, she was really something else, huh?"

"Oh. Uh, yeah, I guess. She can be pretty strange sometimes, and I know she likes to pick on me and get me all worked up, but she's actually a really great friend. It's just, kind of hard because Daniel can't know that we talk because of how weird he gets about their breakup," Michael explained. "Though, if I remember correctly Daniel was taking his girlfriend to a late movie, and Joe kept talking about how he was going to get laid, so they shouldn't be back for a while. I wonder why she left so soon".

"Ahh," Ian said, smiling. "It's because she's ridiculously perceptive".

Michael knew this already of course, and he could tell Daisy had clearly picked up on something from how carefully she had been watching him the whole time, but he wanted Ian to provide him with some insight so he asked, "what do you mean?"

"She could tell that I wasn't exactly thrilled when she showed up".

"Oh," Michael voiced, eyebrows drawing together. This was something he hadn't picked up on himself. Ian had seemed unsure– this made sense, since a random girl had just shown up at the house– but not displeased in any way to Michael. "You weren't?"

"No," Ian admitted without pause, brown eyes roaming Michael's face, so focused that Michael felt his throat go dry. "I guess I just like having you to myself sometimes". The honestly in his voice made Michael freeze, his lips slightly parted and eyes wide as he stared at the beautiful man in front of him. I should tell him how I feel, he thought. I'm going to tell him- His thoughts were abruptly cut off with a little laugh. "Don't look so shocked, Michael. There's nothing to worry about. I still don't do feelings either".

Oh god. Embarrassed, Michael averted his eyes and swallowed heavily, clearing his throat before he spoke. "Oh... yeah. Right". It came out unconvincing and wrong, and Michael looked back at Ian to see if he had noticed. He had, judging on the surprised look on his face.

There was a long silence, and then Ian broke it with a little sigh. "Besides, that just sounds really complicated doesn't it?" He asked, voice very soft. As Michael nodded, Ian reached across the counter to lightly brush his fingers over the hand Michael had resting there, touch warm across the top of his knuckles.

"Yeah," Michael agreed, voice scratching his throat on the way out. Slowly, Ian withdrew his hand.

"I think I'm gonna head home," he claimed, smiling at him reassuringly as if he could hear Michael's pounding heartbeat and wanted him to calm. "I actually had a really good time cooking with you. Made my job even more fun".

With that, Ian left him, going into the back room to grab his keys before slipping from the room into the hall so he didn't have to pass Michael on his way out. Michael didn't move, only stood there worrying his lip as he listened to the sounds of the man leaving.

That was how Joe found him, however many minutes later, when he arrived home from his date. "Hey," he greeted, throwing his keys on the counter as he moved into the dining room from the side hall. In any other situation, Michael would have scolded him for bringing his keys this far inside when they had a place for each of them to hang them by the garage door, but he didn't say anything, only looked at them on the counter."Are you alright?"

Slowly, he swallowed, raising his eyes to finally look at his brother. The look of genuine concern on Joe's face surprised him. "Uh... yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just look kinda sad right now".

Michael wondered if he had been that transparent in front of Ian, and managed a weak, "oh".

Taking a cautious step towards him, Joe's eyes looked him up and down. "Do you think shooting zombies could maybe make it better?"

For a moment, Michael thought about it, and determined that doing anything with his brother right then would probably make him feel better. "Yeah, actually. I think it might".

Looking absolutely delighted, Joe said, "let's do that then," before leaving the room, clearly expecting Michael to follow him. Desperately, Michael wished he could tell Joe everything he was thinking, to talk through all his problems with him and get his opinion, because Joe's opinion was one of the few he actually cared about. Instead, he followed him to the theater room and didn't say anything.

A/N I swear, Daisy has Michael's best interest in mind