When Ian began to come, Michael fastened his lips over his cock and sucked him all the way down to the back of his throat, swallowing around him. Beneath his hands, Ian's thighs began to shiver uncontrollably, and Michael glanced up at him through his eye lashes to take in the erotic expression. He would have screamed, Michael was sure– he had learned over the last few days that Ian always screamed– but he thankfully had enough awareness to squeeze a hand over his own mouth.

"Oh god," Ian groaned when he was finished, dropping a hand to grip Michael's hair and pull his head away from his softening cock. "Michael Bradford, you are going to kill me. Or get me fired. Or both".

Michael just grinned and swiped his tongue over to the corner of his mouth were some of Ian's come had managed to escape. Huffing out a laugh, Ian dropped his hand down to Michael's shoulder and patted it. "Stand up so I can kiss that smug look off your face," he instructed. Gracelessly– since there wasn't enough room in the pantry for Michael to be anything but– Michael clambered to his feet and allowed Ian to pull him down by the collar of his shirt and kiss him. "Is it weird that I find it super hot that you taste like me?"

Groaning, Michael dropped his head down onto Ian's shoulder and hugged him tightly. "God, if you keep saying things like that I'm gonna have to fuck you in here and I know we don't have enough room for that".

"You're right," Ian confirmed. "We don't have enough room or time. Would you fix my pants please?" Nodding, Michael took a step back, his back knocking into the shelf behind him, and made quick work of tucking Ian back into his pants and boxers before pulling the zipper of his slacks back up and pushing the button through the hole. "You'll be okay?" In case Michael didn't know what Ian was referring to, he reached out his hand and pressed the heel of his palm into Michael's erection.

"Ah, yeah. I'm good. I'll have to be, won't I?"

Michael had been the one to drag them in there, promising Ian they would be quick and he would make it worth his while. While he had succeeded at both of those things, he was sure that staying in there even longer to get Michael off would surpass the amount of time Ian was willing to spend fooling around at work.

This was confirmed with a hum of agreement from the other man as he carefully pinned Michael's erection beneath his waistband, making it less noticable. With one last kiss, including a tease of tongue that made Michael want to get down on his knees again, Ian reached out a hand and pushed open the door to the pantry, leaving before him.

With a deep breath to gather himself, Michael followed him out, and then immediately paused at the sight of Daniel and Joe sitting at the counter. They looked nearly identical then, both sitting the same way with their elbows propped up and their chins in their hands, looks of judgment directed at him, but Michael could easily tell them apart by identifying the one with the more punchable face (Joe).

"What?" Michael asked, swinging the pantry door shut and glancing at Ian who didn't seem at all embarrassed by the situation. Sighing, Michael shook his head and went over to wash his mouth out in the sink.

"This is not subtle," Daniel claimed, while Joe just held his knuckles out for Ian to bump, which he did with a little chuckle.

"What?" Joe asked when Michael and Daniel both looked at him unimpressed. "Anyone who is able to receive head at two in the afternoon while working deserves praise. And Michael, I am happy to see that as a man, you still embrace the spitters are quitters rule".

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Michael inquired, going to stand beside his boyfriend across the counter from his brothers.

"Hey, if the men aren't doing it, how is it fair of us to ask the ladies to," Joe explained and Michael's eyebrows shot up.

"So you're like a femenist now?" Daniel inquired, and Joe raised his hands out in front of him in defence.

"Hey. You're the one with the girlfriend who yelled at me for being sexist," Joe accused and Daniel just rolled his eyes. "Anyways, Dan is right. You two are not subtle and you need to tell dad".

"What if he's angry and he fires Ian?" Michael asked and Ian scoffed.

"We have talked about this so many times," he told Joe and Daniel before looking up at Michael. "He's not going to fire me because we're dating".

"Really, he's not," Daniel agreed. "He talks about his damn crepes to his coworkers all time. Or, at least when Joe and I go to work with him he does". Michael didn't have to look at Ian to know his expression was pleased. "And, if, on the off chance that he does fire Ian, he has been talking him up to all of his coworkers so he wont have a problem getting a high paying job elsewhere".

"Look," Joe said. "You should tell him before he catches you guys having sex on the counter or something".

Scoffing, Michael rolled his eyes. "We're not going to-" he paused suddenly and turned his face down towards Ian. "It worked for Tyler and Pierce".

"No," the man said without looking at him and Michael offered his brothers a shrug of defeat.

"Michael," Daniel groaned, while Joe looked a little proud.

"I'll say this again, but I really don't mind you telling him about me, so you can't use that as an excuse not to anymore".

"Ian, te êtes censé être de mon côté (Ian, you're supposed to be on my side)," Michael whined and Ian chuckled, pressing against his side.

"Votre côté n'a aucun sens" (Your side doesn't make sense). Sighing, Ian brought his hand to his hair. It was something he liked doing, Michael had come to realize, and he had easily learned to take pleasure in the touch. "Michael, tu te caches derrière moi et je suis plus petit que toi" (Michael, you are hiding behind me and I am smaller than you).

"Way to call me out," Michael accused and Ian laughed gently, resting his head against Michael's arm. "Il ne va pas me détester?" (he's not going to hate me, right?) They both knew that Michael wasn't referring to his sexuality right then.

"No," Ian answered, turning his face up to look at him. "He wont".

"Okay," Micahel mumbled, looking away from him to his brothers. "I'll talk to him today. About everything".

"Everything?" Joe echoed, confused, and Michael just sighed. He had been hoping by now that Joe would understand, but he clearly did not.

"He means school as well," Daniel explained, looking between Michael and Ian and then at Joe out of the correr of his eye.

The middle triplet's eyes widened slightly in understanding, but other than that his face didn't change, giving him very little insight on how he felt of the matter.

***

Michael had spent a long time thinking about this moment, but he hadn't imagined it at all like it was going. He had been expecting his father to have that sern look on his face the entire time, the one he always had on when talking to Michael, but when the words left his lips, his father's face of indifference broke.

"What did you just say?" His eyes were wide with surprise and Michael took a deep breath before repeating the words.

"I'm gay, dad".

It was silent for a moment as his father just stared at him, and then the man pressed his lips together tightly. "Hmmm". He clicked his pen a few times and Michael watched the action carefully, wondering if he had ever seen his father fidget before. "I wonder if this is karma? Do you think it's karma for who I am as a person?"

Shock. That was what Michael felt right then. Never before had his father asked for his opinion on something to do with morality. "Um... it being karma would mean that me being gay was a bad thing, and I'm actually quite happy".

"Oh?"

"Um, yeah," Michael admitted, his face feeling warm. "I'm in a relationship, actually. It's kind of a recent thing but-"

"A relationship?" his father cut in. "Of course you are. That's how these things go, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?" Michael inquired, shifting uncomfortably in the chair his father had insisted he take a seat in.

"I mean that your brothers also only came to me with this information once there was someone in their life whom they did not wish to hide," his father explained, clasping his hands together on the desk in front of him. "Well. Kalen at least. I don't think Pierce was even planning on telling me... So? Do I know this man for yours?"

"You do, actually," Michael admitted, chewing his lower lip nervously. "It's Ian". To catch his father's reaction, he glanced up at the man's face, and then blinked in surprise at the little smile there. "What the fuck?"

"Excuse me?" The stern look was back and Michael shrunk back in his chair.

Did I just swear at my father?

"I'm sorry. It just... it looked like you were smiling and I was surprised because you... don't smile," Michael finished unsure. At the moment he no longer felt nervous, just a but uncomfortable with the unfamiliar atmosphere between him and his father.

"I was indeed smiling," his father confirmed, though the expression was far from his face as he stared down at all the papers on his desk top. "I am pleased with your decision in a partner. I am glad that at least one of my sons has good taste".

Where to begin with that, Michael wasn't sure, so he took a full minute just gaping at the older man. Typically, his father wouldn't approve of such behavior– they were constantly expected to be composed– but he seemed to realize then that the pause was necessary for Michael's well being because he didn't interrupt, just watched him with a level stare. "Thank you? But we haven't been together for a full week now so don't really think I have the right to refer to him as my partner yet, and I'm pretty sure you only approve of him because you like to eat his cooking".

"That is not the only reason why," his father protested, but when Micahel waited for him to explain why he liked Ian, the man just stayed silent.

"I am really unsure of what's happening right now," Michael admitted, looking at his father and then away again. "You're not angry or anything like you were with Kalen or Pierce?"

"No," he answered simply. "I'm not. Now, I am incredibly busy as I'm sure you know, so if that's all you had to discuss with me please take your leave". It would have been so easy to say that was it and leave, pushing off what Michael was truly concerned about until later, but Michael didn't think he'd be able to go down to the kitchen and look Ian in the eye if he did that.

His father picked up his reading glasses from where they had been earlier discarded and was about to return them to his face when Michael forced himself to speak. "It's not all," he cut in, voice wavering despite his how determined he was to get the words out. "There's just one more thing I wanted to talk about".

"Well get on with it then". His father dropped his glasses back onto the desk and looked at him with what Michael realized may have been distaste. The words wouldn't come out of his mouth.

How did Pierce do this again? Michael wondered. Oh yeah. He just dropped out and then told him about it.

"Michael, I have a conference call in about ten minutes and I would really like to go over the contracts we will discussing before hand, so please say what you need to say".

"I would like," he took a breath. "I would like to ask for your permission to cease my studies as a business major". This time he received the expression he had been expecting before; face stone, eyes dark with disappointment. "I understand your expectations of us, and I always have, but I have practically been a double major these last three years, and my path in the education department has been far more fulfilling to me than business ever has. This upcoming semester I will be student teaching and therefore am unable to continue my path in business. I... I'm sorry for disappointing you, but this is what I want to do".

There was a moment in which his father processed this, and then he pressed his lips together and hummed. "A french teacher, I presume?"

"That's correct".

"As at what level of schooling?"

"High school," Michael answered, and his father sighed, turning his face away. "I know that you weren't pleased when Pierce decided-"

"This is different," his father interrupted sterenly– it was apparently okay when he was the one interupting– and Michael froze with his lips open, terrified that his father was going to tell him no. "For multiple reasons. It's different because you are asking me and not telling me. It's also different because I can ask things from you in exchange and you will not flat out refuse as your brother had. Don't get me wrong. I don't like this decision but I have realized through dealing with your brothers that forcing you to do as I expect leads to a damaged relationship between us".

Does he think our relationship now is healthy? Michael wondered, but that wasn't the question he asked.

"Ask me things in exchange?"

His father nodded and leaned back in his leather chair. "Indeed," he confirmed, his haste to finish their meeting clearly gone since he didn't explain right away, only brushed his thumb over his lower lip as he thought. "I will let you finish your studies in education and get a job teaching after graduation, but I want you at Edgewood".

"You want me to teach there?" Michael asked, and his father nodded in agreement. "Alright. I don't have a problem with that". Not only was it the best paying highschool in the area, teachers got their summer vacation funded-

"You wont be receiving the summer pay that the other teachers do though," his father claimed. "Instead, I'll expect you to work for me full time over the summer. You'll make more money that way anyways".

Confused, Michael frowned. "But I wont have a degree in business".

"That's the last thing I'm going to ask of you," his father said. "I would like you to complete your major in business. I understand that you will be unable to take classes this upcoming semester, but I am willing to pay for you to take courses during January so you'll be able to graduate with a double major".

"Um-"

"I'm not stupid, Michael. I am aware that you feel as if you wouldn't be a good businessman, but you were incorrectly assuming that I would be putting you in a position of power just because that's what I did with Brad and Garett. You are far too passive to be anyone's boss and I have known this for years. You are, however, the smartest of all your brothers, and you try the hardest. I would be lucky to have you work for me under Garett in the financial department".

"Financials?"

"Yes," his father confirmed. "While you do well in all of your classes, your percentages are higher in your accounting and econ courses. Like Garett, it seems you excel in mathematics".

"Oh".

"If you have any questions we can meet later, but at the moment I really need to prepare for my call. Do you accept my terms?"

Briefly, Michael wondered what his father would say if he said no, but then it occurred to him that he didn't really want to. Sure, his last year of school was going to be difficult, but so had the first three years of college, and this way he would be able to have the job he had been dreaming about for years, as well as work along side his brothers. "I do," he answered. "Thank you, dad. Really".

"Yes yes," his father responded. "Close the door on your way out, please".

Michael left, and in the hallway he was surprised to find Joe and Daniel waiting for him, sitting with their backs against the wall and a Michael sized space between them. With out a word, Michael reached behind him to pull closed the door of the office and then took a seat between them, Daniel's right arm pressing into his left, and Joe's left pressing into his right. "Well?" Daniel asked.

"It's fine," Michael answered, allowing his eyes to slip closed. "It's all fine". Neither of them spoke, waiting for Michael to elaborate. "Dad is pleased with my choise in partners, apparently, and I'm also free to go into teaching as long as I work at Edgewood and complete my business degree so I can work for him over the summers. It's all fine". He laughed then. "I've been angsting over this for years and now it just all feels ridiculous".

"Are you okay?" Joe asked worriedly and Michael hummed.

"I'm more than okay. I have everything that I ever wanted. It's just... it's also kinda scary, right? What is my life going to be like without this holding me back?"

"Um, happy?" Joe suggested. "Now you can spend the rest of your life doing want you always wanted to, and you can do it with the person you love by your side. Doesn't that sound like a happy life?"

"I suppose so," Michael agreed, allowing himself to smile. "Ahh, fuck. You guys like him, right?"

"Yes," Daniel confirmed simply. "Though, to be honest, I am kind of concerned by how him and Daisy act while they're together. I feel they could quickly get out of hand with just a little bit of alcohol involved". This was something Michael had noticed as well over the last six days when Daisy visited. He wouldn't have guessed it the first time they had met– Michael was pretty sure Ian hadn't liked Daisy at all then– but they had a sort of chemistry in which they fed off of one anothers mischief. It was slightly terrifying.

"Shit man," Joe chimed in before Michael could share with Daniel his similar fear. "Ian's great. After getting to know him better of these last couple of weeks I feel really bad about originally being a dick to him. Even if I didn't really know him that well I'm pretty sure I would still like him thought. It'd be had not to like someone who appreciates how great you are".

"Ugh, Joe, shut the fuck up," Daniel groaned, disturbed as he often was by sentiment.

Snickering, Michael shook his head and bumped his shoulder into Daniel's, opening his eyes to look at his blushing brother. "So, are you guys okay with me just working with you over the summers then?"

"Are you kidding? That's perfect, Michael," Joe claimed, bracing his elbows on his knees and leaning forward. "I wanted to work with you and was worried about you disappointing dad by dropping business, but most of all I just thought it was a shame, because you're better at it than Daniel and I. It'll be nice to get you for at least those three months. And maybe some weekends too? Hmmmm?"

"Yeah, maybe," Michael agreed, smiling. "Thanks for the support though, guys. Not just now, but like, through the last two months".

"Just the last two months?" Joe asked, sounding amused.

"Well, I've especially appreciated the last few months, but I could also thank you for the last twenty one years. You have no idea how much-"

"Oh my god, Michael, please stop," Daniel begged, sounding on the verge of panicked. In response, Michael and Joe laughed at him together, and Daniel tisked, turning his face away.

"This is nice," Joe claimed when their laughed had died down.

"What is?" Michael asked, while Daniel scoffed softly as if to say, for you.

"This," Joe said with emphasis, gesturing his hand between the three of them vaguely. "Think about it. When is the last time we did something just the three of us? We haven't even been playing video games that much recently".

"We did stuff last week," Daniel pointed out.

"With Kalen".

"What's wrong with Kalen?" Michael asked, amused, and Joe made a frustrated noise.

"Nothing's wrong with Kalen, he's just not one of us," Joe pointed out. Neither Daniel or Michael protested this, because it was true. It was different when it was just the three of them. "It's nice, isn't it? I was getting really worried before Ian came around that we wouldn't be like this because Michael had become such a douche-"

"Hey".

"No, he's right. You were really terrible for a while there," Daniel agreed. "You were too, Joe. The more closed of Michael got, the more irritating you got".

"But I clearly had nothing to worry about," Joe finished, talking over the end of Daniel's sentence. "Do you think it's always gonna be like this?"

"With us? How could it not be?" Michael asked, and Joe sighed heavily, letting his head fall onto Michael's shoulder. Smiling, Michael glanced down at him before turning his head to look at Daniel with wide eyes.

"Don't," Daniel warned, but Michael wasn't at all deteried and chuckled before closing his eyes and dropping his head down onto Daniel's shoulder. In response, the youngest breathed out a heavy sigh, but didn't push him off. "You guys are ridiculous". With a hum of agreement, Michael allowed himself to relax.

For the first time in years, Michael thought that right then, there was nothing more he could ask for.

A/N I think Ian/Michael/Joe have similar energy to Tyler/Pierce/Garett