They were just a few days into their summer vacation and already Michael felt like a different person. While he kept trying to convince himself that it was only the absence of school that had made the difference, he knew that there were two people who deserved the same amount– if not more – credit than that.

The first was actually Daisy. They had only begun talking again two days ago, but she had filled those two days with constant texts and calls when they both had time. He wasn't sure if this thing was going to stick or not, but he was happy with it for the time being. It was nice having someone he could talk to about absolutely everything.

He couldn't even do that with James, since he had always felt bad discussing things that had to do with his sexuality with him because a) he had once had a crush on James, and while they had practically forgotten about that, it was hard not to remember that's where Michael's conformation of his sexuality came from, and b) it was still a secret from Kalen and he didn't like telling James he had to keep things from his boyfriend. This wasn't a concern with Daisy. The only thing that had the potential to make some of their conversations unconfortable was the fact that Michael had sex with her cousin or Daniel, and neither of those things really came up.

The second person who had helped with the improving of his mood lately was unsurprisingly Ian. After his talk with Daisy on Saturday he determined that it would be stupid to pretend what she had said was wrong, and he didn't stop hismelf from spending much of his time in Ian's company. He wasn't sure what that meant for him quite yet– did spending time with him while he knew his feelings would only grow mean that he was far more interested in having a relationship than he originally thought?– but he wasn't going to let himself dwell on it. For once, he was just going to have a good time without over thinking it.

"Hey," Ian said from his spot in front of the stove, drawing Michael's attention away from his thoughts and back into the present. Slowly, he blinked, realizing he was just staring at the black screen of his cellphone. He raised his gaze, eyes narrowed as he tried to think about what they had just been talking about. Ian seemed amused. "You totally just zoned out after looking at your cellphone. Is every thing okay?"

"Ah, yeah," Michael confirmed, putting his phone face down on the counter and smiling sheepishly as he recalled why he had drifted off. "Someone just texted me asking how break was going so far and I was thinking about how nice it's been being off school". The message had come from Tyler, and Michael had neglected to respond in all the time it had taken him to think of his answer. Still, he didn't pick his phone up to do so, knowing Tyler was probably just texting him because James had encouraged him to.

Michael liked Tyler a lot, and they got along quite well, but they had never really been friends outside of James, and he didn't see that changing any time soon, no matter how hard James pressed the issue. To Tyler, Michael would always be one of the Bradford triplets he had feared throughout highschool.

"Oh, good," Ian said, turning back to the pan on the stove. Michael had requested something french for lunch, and he wasn't quite sure what Ian had decided to make but it smelled delicious. "I thought you were worrying about your grades again or something equally stupid".

In response to this, Michael rolled his eyes but smiled a little. His final grades should be released at some point within the next week, and each day he worried more and more about the possibility that he had made tons of mistakes on his exams and would have to have a conversation with his father about not securing all A's. This was something he worried about at the end of every semester, and he usually discussed the concerns with his brothers, but since he was spending the majority of his time talking to Ian and Daisy, they were the two who ended up hearing about it most often.

Daisy always just told him to shut up about it and stop worrying, but Ian always worked silently as he listened to Michael talk through his anxiety before calmly telling him that he would be okay and making him eat something sweet to calm his nerves. This had happened multiple times over the past two days and Michael was actually getting slightly concerned about his adjusted intake of sugar. "No more anxiety over school," Michael declared. "I think I'm gonna try to not over think things too much".

"That sounds like a great idea," Ian supplied, not turning to face him, but something about his voice told Michael he was smiling.

He wished he could see it. He loved Ian's smile.

As Daisy had predicted, the more time he spent with Ian, the more he found himself thinking about the man when they weren't together. He had known there was truth in her words, and that his feelings would eventually progress, but he was slightly surprised by the rate at which it was happening.

Only slightly though, because liking Ian got easier and easier with each minute spent in the other man's presence.

There were just so many great things about him. Physically, he was absolutely perfect, but he didn't even seem to realize it, which made the appeal even greater. Michael just desperately wanted to show him exactly how beautiful he was, but he refrained for the time being, vowing to do so if they ever managed to get to the point where they could discuss such things– without the influence of alcohol –without feeling as though they had crossed a line.

Besides, looks were just a small part of Ian's appeal, and Michael didn't want the chef to believe that all Michael desired about him was his appearance. It was so much more than that.

Michael loved how Ian talked, loved how passionate he would get one minute and then embarrassed or sheepish the next when he caught Michael just enjoying listening to him. He liked the way that Ian always seemed so interested in what he was saying, brown eyes watching him carefully as he spoke with long lingering gazes or little glances if he was doing something else, always making sure Michael knew he was paying attention. And then there were the incredibly insightful or entering things he was say during those conversations, provoking additional ways of thinking or drawing laughter for him.

Laughing was Michael's favorite part of their relationship actually; it didn't even matter who was doing it. When Ian laughed at something Michael said, he was filled with a proud, warm feeling that started in his chest and spread down to his toes, and when Ian made him laugh, Michael found himself fascinated with how easily he had achieved it. Laughing wasn't something that he had done often throughout the last couple of months, but Ian was able to pull the sound from him effortlessly with a single expression or well placed joke.

He managed to do it again, about twenty minutes later, after he had placed a bowl of soup and a plate of bread in front of Micahel's seat asked, "have I told you the story of me moving into my apartment yet?" with a glint in his eyes that told Michael he was about to be entertained.

The story did not disappoint, and when Ian got to the part about his female neighbor accidently slipping while opening a box and cutting his arm open, Michael began to laugh. It wasn't what Ian was saying that was funny– of course he didn't enjoy the fact that the man had gotten hurt– but the way he said it and the face he was making managed to draw the sound out from Michael.

"No!" Ian said loudly, a wide smile on his face. "That's not supposed to be the funny part, you sadist! It gets worse!"

"What? How can that-"

"I had to go to the hospital," Ian interrupted, still grinning. "So this lady, who I met like an hour before this, cut my arm open and then is like, I think you're gonna need to get stitches, so I try to call a cab and she insists on driving me there, and at this point I'm loosing a lot of blood and I'm not about to argue with this woman so I agree. She takes me to the hospital and then follows me inside and sits with me through the paperwork like she's my wife or some shit, and they finally take me into the room to get my stitches and she, I shit you not, asks me if I have dinner plans the next friday".

Michael laughed loudly enough that he felt the need to raise his hand to muffle the sound until he had it under control. "Oh my god, no. What did you say?"

"Well I didn't say yes," Ian answered with a laugh. "I told her I couldn't because I was super gay, but in all honestly the fact that she was a woman wasn't even my main concern". At this Michael chuckled again, shaking his head and Ian smiled fondly at him. "I'm glad I'm able to find humor in it at this point, but at the time I was pissed". He reached up to pull up the sleeve of his shirt, displaying a nasty cut just below his shoulder, about four inches long. "This is gonna scar. Damn hetrosexuals".

Surprised by this last bit, Michael laughed again, this time not even bothering to muffle the sound because Ian joined him with a chuckle of his own. "Oh god, that's awful," Michael sympathised once he had been able to stop. "I'd say you were making it up if you hadn't shown me the cut".

"I wish I was making this shit up. Never let someone you don't know help you move. It's not worth it," Ian said, eyes darting off to the side briefly. Whatever he saw there made him straighten so he was no longer bent over the counter across from Michael.

Curious, Michael turned to see Daniel in the doorway, looking at him with raised eyebrows. Three days ago, Michael maybe would have been nervous that one of his brothers had caught him talking so openly with Ian, but he wasn't going to overthink it. Besides, when he had expressed to Daisy that he was worried his brothers would be able to tell he had feelings for Ian based on how he interacted with him, she had laughed loudly on the other line of the phone and then assured him that neither of his brothers were that good at noticing things. "Besides, the possibility that you could be gay probably won't even occur to them. They've always seen you as straight. They're probably just going to think that you and Ian are friends".

Something about this bothered Michael. Maybe it was because they were just friends, or maybe because it was just a reminder of how little his brothers understood him.

"Hey," Michael greated, pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind as he smiled at Daniel. "You coming to eat?" Desperately, he hoped the answer would be yes.

The last couple of days had been weird regarding Daniel. While he was in a noticeably better mood than he had been on Thursday, something still seemed a little off. He had been quieter, if that was even possible, and spent less time with both him and Joe and more time in his room. When Michael had brought it up to Joe again, he had just dismissed it with a hesitant sounding, "I bet he's not feeling well," but Michael knew him well enough to pick up the concern in his voice.

It made him uneasy that neither of them knew what was wrong, and he hoped he'd be able to change that.

"Yeah," his brother answered, finally taking the last few steps into the room. Ian moved away from the counter, back towards the stove to fix Daniel a bowl of his own. "Why were you laughing?"

"Huh?"

"You were laughing". Daniel said it was like an accusation, and Michael raised his eyebrows at him as his brother sat on the stool beside him. "You don't really laugh a lot anymore. You always seem to worn down to find things funny". Two things about this stood out to Michael. The first was the fact that Daniel had even noticed this about him, and the second was how ironic it was, since Daneil practically never laughed at this point in his life.

"I don't think that's what it is," Micahel said with a shake of his head. "I think it's because most of the time I'm surrounded by people who aren't that funny". Immediately, Daniel looked deeply offended, his lips pulling into something like a sneer.

"You're surrounded by me and Joe most of the time," he pointed out. Michael must have made a stupid face in response to that, because Ian let out a little laugh as he set Daniel's bowl on the counter.

"Daniel, you rarely make jokes, and Joe is obnoxious. That's not exactly my type of humor".

As Daniel considered this, Ian went to get him a glass of water to have with his meal. "You used to find us funny, and nothing has really changed," he pointed out, and Michael found himself unsure of how to respond to that. Thankfully, Daniel had more to say so his dilemma wasn't so obvious. "What is your type of humor now? You seem to find James funny for some reason". The way Daniel said this indicated that it greatly offended him and Michael rolled his eyes and turned his face away, picking up a pierce of bread and dipping it into his soup.

"James is kind of funny some times," Michael defended, taking a bite off the bread and humming thoughtfully. The sound must have motivated Daniel to eat as well because he picked up his spoon. When Ian returned with the glass of water, Michael swallowed quickly so he could explain, "James is our younger brother's boyfriend".

Ian's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "His boyfriend?" he echoed, and Michael nodded in conformation, taking another bite, incredibly aware of the way those brown eyes lingered on him. Michael didn't have to look at him to know what he was thinking, since there seemed to be an obvious question to ask him.

Why are you still in the closet if you have an out younger brother?

"I don't think that he's very funny," Daniel grumbled, bringing the first spoonful of soup to his lips and looking pleasantly surprised for half a second. The expression didn't match his grim tone when he began speaking a moment later. "I refuse to like anyone who is having sex with our little brother".

Startled by the words, Michael choked on his bite of bread and Ian pushed his glass of water closer to him, eyes wide.

"Ugh!" he groaned loudly in disgust once he was able to breathe properly again. The sound seemed to amuse Ian because he shot Michael a smile before leaving the counter to wash his hands in the sink. When it was only Michael in the room, Ian didn't seem to mind standing across from him for extended periods of time listening to him talk, but whenever someone else joined them he always made himself busy. "Dan, we've talked about this. We're pretending that they don't have sex".

"We can't just ignore it," Daniel argued. "Kalen's going to be home soon, and then it's gonna be happening just down the hall".

"Oh my god, Dan. Stop. We're supposed to ignore it. We're certainly not supposed to be thinking about it".

A low noise left the back of Daniel's throat and he completely turned his face down to his bowl, apparently done speaking to him. With a shake of his head at his brother's ridiculousness, Michael raised his gaze to Ian, who had moved on to wiping the counters clean. "You'll get to meet James soon, I'm sure. Him and Kalen are basically a package deal at this point".

"Oh. How long have they been together?" Ian inquired, not looking up from his task.

"Since they were juniors in highschool".

That made him pause, his head raising so he could stare at the cupboard in front of him. "Highschool sweethearts, huh?" he asked, though not in the sweet way people usually did. Instead, he said it in a way that made Michael wonder if he found the prospect dreadful.

"Uh, yeah," he confirmed, and Ian turned his head just enough to meet his eyes before looking away quickly, lips pressed together tightly.

"So what's he like then?"

Still distracted from the strange tension in the conversation, Michael could only manage a weak, "what?" in response. When Ian looked up at him to smile he looked so normal that Michael wondered if he had just been imagining things in the first place.

"What's this James like?"

"Oh! He's great, really," Michael answered, pausing to take a sip of his water as he thought of all the support he had received from his brother's boyfriend over the last couple of years. "He's a really nice guy and he cares about Kalen enough that us all threatening him didn't make him back down. You'll probably like him. Super easy to get along with. I'd actually say that he's probably actually my closest friend-" The loud sound of Daniel dropping his spoon into his soup interrupted him and he looked down to see the soup splattered on the counter. "What the hell man, you made a mess. You're lucky that you didn't break something". He looked at Daniel then and paused at the expression of anger on his brother's face as he stared down at his bowl, glaring forcefully at his barley eaten food. "Um, what is your problem right now?"

While unpleasant expressions were quite common on Daniel's face when he wasn't actually bothered, Michael knew his brother well enough to tell which ones were real and which ones weren't. At the moment, for some reason that was completely perplexing to Michael, Daniel was actually pissed off.

"Nothing," Daniel spat, getting up from his stool and leaving the room without any further explanation. For a long minute, Michael stared after him, and then he slowly dragged his gaze back down to Daniel's bowl of soup.

"What the hell?" he asked. Ian came to stand across from him once more, and Michael looked to him for answers. "What just happened".

As he gathered Daniel's bowl, he smiled at Michael. "I think you need to start considering the fact that you're not the only Bradford who gets frustrated with your brothers".

Michael knew that, because Joe was often frustrated with him these days, but Daniel? Being angry enough to blatantly show his dissatisfaction in such a way...

"But I didn't do anything," Michael defended, confused.

"Yeah, well, he probably thinks that too sometimes".

As Ian moved away to wash Daniel's bowl, Michael thought about that, and felt increasingly worse as he did.

Do my brothers know that the distance between us wasn't their fault? That it wasn't caused by anything they had done? Or are they just constantly confused as to what they had done wrong to make me take a step back from our friendship?

Michael hoped not. He didn't like the feeling.

A/N I didn't know how to end this chapter so enjoy that awkward attempt.