Michael didn't like presenting in front of his peers, so when his five minutes of teaching were up, he happily returned to his seat beside Lillian at the back of the room. She gave him a reassuring smile and a thumbs up when he sat down, only to be called up for her own turn a minute later. It had been expected, since she was the only one left to go, but she still looked surprised by the sound of her name and had to take a minute to gather her materials to teach.

She was elementary education, so whatever she had planned involved many multicolored pipe cleaners. Before she went to the front of the room, she handed him a green one with a small smile.

As she stood in front of the class and spoke, Michael allowed his eyes to hall halfway shut and his head to rest against the wall behind him. He was tired in the way that sitting in the same classroom for two full hours made one tired, not from lack of sleep. He had actually gotten enough of that the night before, since his exam had started at two in the afternoon and he had been able to sleep in until ten before Joe had barged into his room and climbed into bed with him claiming he wanted to talk about their feelings.

It turned out that Joe didn't have any feelings he wanted to discuss, but he was expecting Michael to share something about himself that Joe didn't know. The conversation had ended with Michael joking, "I masturbated last night and wiped my hand off right where you're laying," and Joe angrily leaving his room.

Admittedly, it had been a lot less funny when he asked joined Daniel and Joe in the dining room and his brother pointed at him accusingly and explained, "Michael made me lay in his cum!" loud enough that Ian, who was in the kitchen, paused and looked at him with raised eyebrows.

Lillian finished her brief period of teaching by thanking them with a smile. Their professor clapped her hands happily, and then announced that they were all free to leave. As Michael packed his materials into his backpack, Professor Dae went on to say it had been a pleasure to teach them and she hoped they all enjoyed student teaching next semester.

"I hate that speech," Lilian said as she packed the remaining pipe cleaners into her backpack. Michael held up the one she had given to him, unsure if he was supposed to have used it during her five minutes. "Keep it". She smiled warmly at him. "How did I do?"

"Really good," he answered, as if he had been paying attention. "The second graders are going to love you".

He had finished packing up his bag, but he still waited for her. They had class together since they were freshman, and they always walked out together. It felt wrong to leave without her on the last day of class when they wouldn't see one another for an entire semester. "Ugh," she groaned. "I hope they put me with second graders, or at least something in that age group. Meredith Trotter was an elementary education major who graduated last year, and she got placed in a middle school for student teaching. She had to help with math". The disgust in her voice made Michael chuckle, and in return she beamed and pulled her backpack straps over her shoulders. "Ready to go?"

"Sure". He followed her out of the classroom, smiling at their professor as Lillian waved.

"So, are you excited for student teaching next semester? Is there anywhere you're hoping to be placed?"

Not Edgewood, he thought, but answered, "ah, no where particular. I would be happy helping out in a middle school or high school but I'm not sure how many options there are going to be for the two of us students looking to teach french". The other French education student their year was a girl named Winona. She had gotten on Michael's nerves more than once, enough times that he made a point of avoiding her. "I'm not gonna be too picky". He thought about her other question then. Am I excited? "Uh... I guess I'm looking forward to it".

"You guess?" she teased, walking a little closer to him to bump her shoulder into his arm "We've been working towards this for three years".

"Yeah," Michael agreed, sinking his teeth into his lower lip. At the same time, he quickened his pace in order to be able to hold the door to the building open for her to pass through. It was so hard to explain his situation to people outside of his family, so hard to sum up the unease that he felt around his father that had been building up for years in a few short sentences. "No, I mean, I am excited. It's just gonna be weird not coming to class every day, you know? Well, class here".

"Ahh, yeah," she voiced. "Well, your brothers are here-"

"We are indeed," Joe chimed in from somewhere behind them. Both of them paused, turning to look back as both Joe and Daniel left the building they had just been in.

"You don't have any classes in there," Michael accused, frowning at his brothers. "Didn't you have your Business management final? Why are you over here?"

"Because we finished it very quickly, and we car pooled so we had to wait for you," Joe answered, wedging his way between Michael and Lillian with a smile in her direction. "Hello there".

"Why couldn't you wait in the coffee shop or something?" Michael asked, scowling as Joe threw an arm around his shoulders and squeezed before attempting to hit on his classmate. On Michael's left, Daniel nudged him to get him moving again. "So how'd the test go then?"

"It was fine," Daniel answered, shrugging. "Joe finished first, but that's because it was multiple choice and he filled in C for every answer without reading the questions".

"Of course," Michael grumbled, shooting a look at Joe out of the corner of his eye. His brother was still hanging off him, but his face was turned towards Lilian. The girl looked slightly frightened by the attention, and her eyes kept flicking back over to Michael nervously. When they made eye contact, Michael sighed and shrugged his shoulders a little bit.

"So how did your presentation go?" Daniel asked.

"Fine," Michael grumbled. "Bien" (Good).

"Well, if you feel like celebrating, Joe and I were planning on going out for a drink tonight if you're interested," Dan offered, shooting Michael a quick look from the corner of his eye.

"Oh yes!" Joe exclaimed happily, squeezing at his shoulders tightly enough that it hurt. "You should totally come along!" For a moment, Michael thought Joe was talking to him, but when he turned his head to demand he get off of him he noticed that his brother was addressing Lillian, whose cheeks were flushed an impressive shade of red.

"Umm," she said, seeming uncertain. She didn't seem like the type of girl who got asked out often, not that she wasn't amazing, she was just quirky in a way that Michael feared most people wouldn't understand. "Michael, are you going to go?"

He thought about it for a long minute before sighing and shaking his head no. "I don't think so. I should really stay in and study. The three of us have Business ethics tomorrow morning and then I have French on Friday and I really want to do well". He had slacked off enough over the last couple of days and was lucky that his last two exams had gone so well.

"Wow Michael. You're taking a lot of hard classes," Lillian said, leaning around Joe to address him. This seemed to annoy his brother, because he huffed out an exasperated sigh.

"Uh... yeah," Michael agreed.

"So are you gonna come?" Joe cut in, a large smile on his face that seemed to make Lillian more nervous. This was why Joe was bad at talking to girls; he was horrible at reading their emotions and couldn't tell when to ease off his efforts to prevent them from getting uncomfortable around him.

"Oh... well, I think I'm going to pass actually," she paused, looking around. "Also, I'm not parked over here so I'm gonna go. Have a good summer Michael. Let me know when you get you student teaching assignments".

"Student teaching?" Joe asked, no longer interested in Lilian. "You're student teaching?"

"Yeah," Michael confirmed, finally shrugging Joe's arm off of him. "Next semester". They walked silently for a moment, giving Joe time to process this information.

When his brother spoke again, Michael was completely prepared for a fight, so he was surprised to hear him say, "Dude, that girl is like, in love with you. You should totally go for it". Sighing, Michael shook his head, declining the suggestion for reasons that apparently weren't obvious to his bothers– how could they be?– because immediately Joe continued, "I don't get you. Why do you refuse to sleep with the people I pick out for you".

Because they're all girls.

"You just have bad taste," he said instead, immediately cringing because Lillian was a very nice girl and any straight guy would be lucky to be with her. "I'm just not interested. I'm not looking for a relationship right now". This wasn't a lie, so it was easy for him to say while looking into Joe's narrowed eyes. His expression didn't change, and Michael sighed. "You were flirting with her right now, yeah? You should go for it... if you're not already going for it with either of those two girls from the grocery store, that is".

Joe broke eye contact and shook his head, quickened his pace to walk ahead of them. Confused, Michael shot Daniel a look, his eyebrows raised. "The girls from the grocery store are kind of a sore subject. Neither of them will answer his calls".

Unable to help himself, Michael snorted out a laugh. "I hate you guys," Joe grumbled.

***

"When's the last time you got drunk?" Joe asked. Michael ignored him, trying to focus on his notes for Business ethics. "Hey! I'm talking to you". Beneath the table, Joe's foot kicked into his shin and Michael hissed through his teeth, raising his eyes to glare at his brother.

"What?"

"You gotta come out with us man! It's gonna be crazy. I might even get to have sex! When's the last time-"

"That you had sex?" Michael interrupted and Daniel chuckled when Joe deadpanned.

"No. When is the last time that you've gotten drunk. When's the last time that you went out and just let loose?" Joe asked.

"It's been awhile," Michael admitted after a moment of pause. "But I'm not going to go get trashed when we have an exam in the morning".

"I'm not getting trashed," Daniel denied, and a high pitched whine left Joe in protest. "I'm just planning on getting a drink or two and heading back".

"What?" Joe snapped, mouth hanging open in shock. "Nooooo! We're going to party. We're going to pick up girls and have a great time and make Michael regret not coming with us".

With a hum of acknowledgment, Michael dropped his eyes again, clicking his pen to underline something important.

"I am not picking up girls," Dan protested.

"What? Why not?"

"I have a girlfriend".

This got Michael's attention again, and he raised his head just in time to see Joe scowl. With an eye roll, Michael directed his attention to the youngest of them. "So it's official then?" Michael asked.

"Yeah," Dan confirmed, not seeming too excited about it. "We talked about it on our date and it just seemed like a good idea".

"Well," Joe began. "That doesn't mean that you can't-"

"No," Daniel interrupted without pause, not even bothering to look at Joe as he addressed him. Michael gave him credit for his loyalty. Even though Daniel didn't seem very interested in this relationship, he was still unwilling to be unfaithful.

They continued to bicker, and Michael once again successfully tuned them out, managing to read to the end of his notes uninterrupted before their mother joined them in the dining room, wearing a tight black cocktail dress and a string of pearls. "Are you boys going out?" She asked, smiling at them with very white teeth.

"Dan and I are," Joe answered. "Mike's staying in to study some more". Her golden eyes slid to look at him then, and he lowered his gaze slightly.

"Ah, well, don't work too hard, dear. You're only young once," she reminded, voice soft.

"Very true, mom. Very true. What were you doing at the age of twenty one?" Joe asked, turning in his chair to fully regard her.

For a moment, she was silent as she considered it. Their mother hasn't attended college after highschool. Instead, she had married their father, who was on the road to success and promised to provide for her and give her everything she could ever want. It was kind of a romantic story, Michael thought, but it was strange to hear since his father always acted kind of cold toward their mother. "I was pregnant, actually. Expanding our family".

"Ahh," Michael said with a smile, meeting her eyes again. "Well, that is kind of an unattainable goal for me". The joke made his brothers chuckle and Ian to snort a small laugh in surprise.

Sighing heavily, his mother shook her head and walked over to the counter, her high heels clicking against the hardwood flooring. "Ian, could you please pour me a glass of wine?"

"Of course," Ian answered immediately, turning away to go find a wine glass. Michael watched him, eyes half lidded. "Any particular kind?"

"Something red," she instructed. Ian nodded and went into the back room. The wine was kept back there, under lock and key to keep the sons away from it. It's too expensive for them to throw up, their father had always said. If you're going to get drunk drink wine that didn't cost me a fortune.

"You're having a drink?" Daniel asked, speaking up for the first time since she had entered the room. "I thought you were meeting dad out for dinner".

"Oh," she began, smiling as Ian came back into the kitchen with a green tinted bottle in his hand. "It's not for me". The three of them were silent and confused as they watched Ian pour a glass of wine before handing it to their mother. She brought it over to the table and set it alongside of Michael's notebook. Curiously, he peered up at her. Without saying anything, she brushed a hand fondly over the top of his head, smoothing down his hair. Then, she looked to his brothers. "Have a nice night, boys. Be safe, please".

She left and Michael glared at the glass for a long moment before sighing and taking a sip of his wine. It was good, tart on his tongue, and he licked his lips after he returned the glass to the table, thinking about the taste. "I don't know how you drink that stuff," Joe voiced, also eyeing the dark liquid in the glass.

Not wanting to begin a conversation, because it was Joe and that meant it would possibly never end, Michael just shrugged his shoulders and flipped open the second notebook he had on the table, prepared to begin studying for French. There was a groan, and then the sound of a chair scrapping against the floor as Joe stood.

"Whatever. Come on Dan. We should head out".

To his left, Daniel made a noise that sounded tired, but also got up. "One drink".

"Five," Joe countered.

"No".

"Four and a half".

"No".

"Well how about-" this continued all the way down the hallway, their voices being cut off only by the front door closing.

It didn't take Ian long to come and join him, just long enough for Michael to finish his glass of wine and read over his speech for French two and a half times. He wasn't worried too worried about his speech, since he had studied the topic well and could just rant if he lost his place, but he still wanted to be as prepared as possible for Friday.

"What are you working on?" Ian inquired, twirling spaghetti onto his fork as he peered at Michael's notebook. "French?"

"Yeah," Michael confirmed, standing with his wine glass and taking it over to the counter. Instead of filling it right away he rounded the counter and grabbed another wine glass from where they hung under the cupboard and filled both of them.

He brought them both back to the table and set one next to Ian's plate before taking his seat again. "Oh... no. Thank you, but I shouldn't. I have to drive home tonight".

"Will one small glass even make you feel anything?" Michael asked, and Ian's teeth snuck into his lower lip as he eyed the wine glass. "It's probably the most expensive wine that you've ever tasted before. Not saying that you couldn't have tasted it before if you wanted to, you just seem a little too practical to spend the fortune in wine that my father has".

"Are you sure it's okay for me to drink?" Ian asked nervously.

"I'm positive," Michael assured, starting on his second glass. He really enjoyed wine, liked the warmth that spread from his throat down to his toes the more he drank.

He liked it a lot, actually, and his mother was well aware of this, given it was one of the few things they had in common. It was no wonder she had allowed him to drink from one of the bottles, knowing that he'd end up relaxing and deviating from his school work, preventing him from overdoing it.

When he went to fill up his glass a third time– before Ian was even closed to finished with his first glass– he paused in front of the counter and glared at the bottle for a long moment before groaning, "fuck it," and taking the entire bottle back to his seat. With raised eyebrows and a small smile, Ian watched Michael refill his own glass before placing the bottle in the center of the table.

By the time that Ian was done eating, Michael realized he had too much to drink too much too quickly and had given up on studying as it all went to his head, choosing instead to relax his upper body down against the table to rest. "Do you know what I hate?" He asked, loudly enough that Ian, who was finishing up the dishes in the kitchen could hear him.

The faucet shut off, and then he heard the sound of Ian's soft footsteps on the hardwood, approaching. "What?" He asked as he sat down, and Michael raised his head to set his chin on his crossed arms and stared across the table at the older man.

"Business," Michael answered, and Ian's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I hate business. I don't want to be a Business major, I never wanted to be a business major. I have literally no interest in working for my father when I graduate".

"You're a Business major?" Ian asked. He looked so confused and so pretty. Michael just wanted to jump across the table and kiss him.

No, he reminded himself. You can look but you can't touch.

"I thought you said that you were-"

"I'm both," Michael groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. "I haven't been able to tell my dad that I don't want to go to follow in his footsteps, because I'm pathetic and a pushover, but all I want to do is teach".

"Oh".

"And it's not just dad, either. My brothers don't give a fuck about what I want to do either. They don't understand it, and that makes sense because they've always enjoyed the work our father expects from us, but it's like they don't even try to get it. I can't even talk about it without Joe flipping out and Daniel going mute. How am I supposed to tell my father when I don't even have the support of my brothers? Literally my other two thirds-"

"You know that's not actually how triplets work, right?" Ian chimed in and Michael huffed out a small laugh and sat up to lean back in the chair. He took another drink from his wine glass.

"I know it's not, but it's how we worked. The three of us were always a package deal. We spent all our time together and did everything together, but now... I've been stressed lately, because... well you know, but on top of that I've been working my ass off in school so I'm prepared for my future, and I have less time for them, and I think they see that as a betrayal rather than a necessity. They don't understand how important it is to me," Michael accused, tipping his head back then to finish his fourth glass of wine.

There was a look of surprise in Ian's face. Whether it was from Michael's honesty, or the fact that he was pouring the remainder of the bottle into his empty glass, Michael didn't know. "You sure you want to drink that?" Ian asked, and Michael look at it for a moment before placing it on the table and groaning.

"I have an exam tomorrow morning," he groaned, eyeing his notebooks and then the empty bottle of wine. "Fuck. What time even is it?"

"Not too late. Around ten thirty. You just drank that really fast," Ian answered.

"You're still here," Michael said, pointing out the obvious. Now Ian actually looked a bit concerned.

"Um, yeah," he agreed.

"No, I mean. Why are you still here? Not that you haven't been good company, and I don't necessarily want you to leave, but it's really late for you to still be here, and you have to be back early tomorrow morning". At Michael's concern, Ian smiled.

"Well, I was too busy listening to you talk to think about leaving," Ian answered, voice slightly teasing.

Michael squeezed his eyes shut, his slightly blurry vision making him more annoyed with himself. "Sorry. I didn't mean to make you listen to me vent".

"It's alright," Ian assured with a chuckle.

"It's not," Michael protested, cracking open his eyes to look at the wine bottle. "God. This was such a bad choice on my part. I just... I've been stressed about student teaching coming up and my placement and there's no one I can talk to because they don't care". He paused for a moment, thinking about everything that was wrong. "They don't understand even a little bit why I decided to stay home instead of going out with them".

"Ahh," Ian voiced, reaching across the table to gather the empty bottle and Michael's wine glass. "Well, you really showed them, didn't you?"

"Fuck," Michael groaned, standing up from the table. "I need to go to bed". Ian who was in the process of bringing the bottle and glass to the kitchen, laughed when Michael wobbled on his feet and returned to him, abandoning the items on the end of the peninsula for the time being. "I'm okay".

When he tried to take another step, Ian reached out his hands to steady him, fingers warm against the skin of us arm. "Light weight," he accused, and Michael made a face at the nickname.

"That shit is like 20% alcohol," Michael defended, taking another step. This one went better than the last, but he still reached out a hand to grab Ian's arm, not wanting the man to move too far from him. "I also never drink".

When he swayed once more Ian laughed and gently guided him backwards until he could feel the chair he had been sitting in against the back of his legs. "Alright, sit back down," he instructed, putting his hands on his shoulders and pushing him down until Michael obeyed. "I'm going to get you a glass of water, and you're going to drink it".

"I have to go to bed," Michael protested, but he sat where he was told and waited for Ian to bring him back a glass of water from the kitchen.

"You can go to bed after you drink this. I'm hoping that it'll make you feel less horrible in the morning," Ian explained, holding the glass out in front of his face, waiting for Michael to take it.

Michael looked at the water, and then up at Ian's face, before sighing and accepting it. "Don't feel obligated to take care of me because my father pays you. This is not part of your job description".

"That's not why I'm doing this," Ian responded quickly, and Michael's eyebrows shot up in question as he began to drink, suddenly aware of how good water tasted after drinking something so tart. Ian stood before him with his hands on his hips. "What time is your exam?"

"It's at ten".

"At least you're can sleep in a little bit," Ian offered, and Michael shook his head. "Hey, slow down. You'll get sick".

"Can't sleep in," Michael responded, ignoring the warning as he quickly downed the remainder of the liquid. "I'll need to get up to study in the morning".

"Michael, you've been studying for the past four hours. You know everything you need to know. Take a break," Ian instructed, and Michael shook his head in denial. Sighing, Ian reached down and grabbed ahold of Michael's upper arm. "Come on. Let's get you up to bed".

Even though it was slightly embarrassing, Michael allowed Ian to lead him up the stairs, pointing to his bedroom when he was asked which one it was. They didn't speak again until they were in Michael's room, the door closed behind them to block sound in case Michael's father was in his office down the hall.

Huffing, Michael collapsed back on his bed and looked down at Ian, who was simply standing in front of the door looking around. His hair was slightly mussed from a long day at work, but his eyes were bright, as if he wasn't even tired.

Beautiful, Michael thought for what must have ben the hundredth time. He's so beautiful. As if Ian could hear his thoughts, his eyes moved to look at Michael.

"What?" he asked softly, moving a few steps into the room. "You're staring again. You haven't done that a lot lately".

"That's not true," Michael protested. "I just look when you don't notice me". Surprise came over Ian's face then, parting his lips and making his cheeks flush pink. It made Michael both happy and sad- happy that he had managed to make Ian blush, and sad that he was shocked to learn that Michael found him worth watching. "Don't look like that. Don't look like you don't know how beautiful you are. It makes me sad".

A short laugh left Ian, and he shook his head. "I'm plain".

"No you're not," Michael immediately protested. "You're unlike anyone I've ever seen before. The first time I saw you smile I thought you were the most beautiful person I had ever seen in my entire life and all I wanted to do was look at you".

It was quiet as Ian processed this, just looking down at him with wide brown eyes. "Um... well, you can look at me whenever you want. I'm here all the time-"

"No," Michael interrupted. "I can't look at you how I want to look at you. What if someone notices?"

"Michael," Ian breathed, voice filled with uncertainty. "I-"

"Just to clarify, I'm not trying to confess my feelings for you or anything. I don't do feelings". That seemed to make Ian relax slightly. "I'm just saying that I think you're hot as fuck".

Laughing, Ian moved closer to the side of the bed. "That's good. I don't do feelings either". For a moment, it seemed as if he was about to join him, which Michael certainly wouldn't complain about, but instead the man wrestled Michael's cellphone out of his pocket. "I'm setting an alarm so you remember to get up tomorrow".

"Ahhh," Michael voiced, sitting up to pull off his shirt before struggling to get under the covers. When he managed, after what felt like a very long time, Michael threw an arm over his eyes. "Thank you".

"You're welcome," Ian responded softly. He heard his phone being placed on the night stand next to his bed. "Try to get some sleep. I'll turn out the light for you on my way out".

"Drive safe," Michael mumbled in response. Less than a minute later, the room went dark and the sound of his door opening and closing reached his ear. With a huff, he dropped his arm heavily down beside his body and stared up at the ceiling as he thought about his exam in less than twelve hours, and if he would regret telling Ian that he thought he was beautiful in the morning.

Vaguely, he could hear Daniel on the other side of the wall, moving around in his room. Right before he fell asleep, Michael wondered when he had gotten home.