The whole thing began with an exchange of I'm hungry text messages. 

Daisy picked him up because she said she didn't feel like risking her life that evening, and they wound up at a restaurant fancier that they were dressed for because the quality of the food was high enough to make up for their embarrassment. "People know me here," Michael said as they pulled into the parking lot, thinking of all the dinners his family had there over the years.

"People know you everywhere around here," Daisy pointed out, seeming unconcerned. "Are you worried that the wait staff is gonna learn you know how to dress yourself in something other than a suit more expensive than their cars?"

"Why would I be worried about that?" Micahel inquired, but still, he glanced down at his sweatpants and worn t-shirt and sighed. "My father would be disappointed if he knew I went out dressed like this".

"Well it's a good thing we're not meeting your father," Daisy pointed out, pulling into the closet spot to the door, her beat up car looking out of place. She turned in her chair then to look at him, eyebrows raised. "Are you really worried about this?"

He took a minute to study her. She was also wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, her hair pulled up in a ponytail. "No," Michael answered. "I'm just programmed to be anxious about these kinds of things. I don't really care if people see me like this. I actually kind of want them to so they realize that I'm not a complete douche bag".

"That's the spirit!" Daisy punched him in the arm, hard, before climbing out of the car. With a sigh, Michael joined her. "By the way, you're also programed to be straight, and to not be friends with people like me. Look what good things come from going against your programming! You have an amazing friend- me, and amazing boyfriend- Ian, and in about an hour you're going to be filled with the best steak and potatoes in the whole state".

"First off, Ian is not my boyfriend," Michael clairfied, taking a step ahead of her to pull open the door to the restaurant. "Secondly, I'm not feeling steak and potatoes. I might do the sea food platter. I haven't had lobster in a really long time".

He was expecting Daisy to have some comment about this, because honestly, she had some comment about everything, so he was surprised when she didn't respond. Curious, he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and then paused at the startled expression on her face. "Uh, Daisy?"

When she didn't react, Michael lifted his head to look in the direction she was staring, his eyes widening at the sight of Daniel and his girlfriend standing a little ways away waiting to be seated, both of them looking back at them. How Michael hadn't noticed them right away, he wasn't sure, but he desperately wished he had before they went inside.

"Um," Michael mumbled under his breath, watching as Mary pushed herself up onto her toes to whisper something to Daniel, who finally broke eye contact with his ex-girlfriend to look at his current one. It seemed to break Daisy from whatever spell she had fallen under because she let out a loud sigh and relaxed, closing her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she answered, sending Michael a smile that was probably supposed to be reassuring but actually made him more concerned. "I was just surprised is all- Are they coming over here?"

"I don't think-" Michael cut off when he looked forward again and noticed Mary leading his brother over by the hand, a smile on her face. She was very pretty, wearing a knee length red dress with a high neckline, and Michael suddenly felt stupid for dissmissing the fact that he was under dressed. One glance at Daisy told him she was thinking the same, her hands grasping and lightly pulling at the bottom of her black t-shirt.

Just before Mary and Daniel stopped in front of them, Michael took Daisy's hand within his own, squeezing her fingers. "Hi!" Mary greeted. "Sorry to disturb you guys, but I've been wanting to meet Michael for weeks now so I couldn't resist".

"Oh," Michael voiced surprised, eyes momentarily shifting to Daniel only to find his brother still looking at Daisy. "I've heard a lot about you".

"Is this your girlfriend?" Mary asked, directing her attention at Daisy. "I'm Mary". She held her hand out, and Daisy released Michael to shake it, seeming unsure of what to say.

"Um... I'm Daisy". No look of recolection shown on Mary's face at the name, and Michael gave his brother a what the fuck face that Daniel just blinked at. "And I'm not Michael's girlfriend, no. We're just friends".

"I'm gay," Michael chimed in, suprising the couple standing across from them.

"Oh. Okay," Mary responded, not seeming disturbed in any way. "Do you have a boyfriend then?"

"I do not..." Michael trailed off, looking between Daisy and his brother again before sighing. "Look, why don't Daisy and I find somewhere else to eat. We wouldn't want to ruin your date-"

"No!" Daniel cut in quickly. "No need. It's fine. Right?"

The question was directed at Daisy, who seemed surprised he was talking to her, but Mary clearly didn't understand what was happing and enthusiastically answered Daniel with an, "of course it's all right!"

The Bradford's weren't looking at her though, both of them staring at Daisy, awaiting an answer. "Um... I guess it's alright. I don't mind," she answered after a pause, smiling a little uneasily at Michael when he raised his eyebrows at her. If Daniel hadn't been standing right here he would have pried, but he was, so all Michael could do was nod and worry his lip.

The seater came them, holding four menus tightly. "A table for four?" she asked, and Michael opened his mouth to protest, but Daniel's voice cut in first.

"Yes, that's fine!" he answered quickly.

Daisy looked as if she was going to pass out, and Mary seemed to have no clue what was going on.

"Daniel-" Michael began, but the seater began to lead them away and Daniel followed.

"Um". Mary turned and looked at them, her eyebrows raised. "I suppose we should follow him?" She asked, and Michael felt bad for her.

"Yeah," Daisy agreed, surprising Michael. "We should". With her hands clenched into fists at her sides, Daisy followed after Daniel, leaving Mary and Michael to trail after her awkwardly.

"Um..." Michael began, stopping when Mary turned her face towards him. "I'm sorry about this. We never meant to ruin your date. I don't know why Daniel said we were sitting together but-"

"It's alright!" Mary assured happily, looking forward again. "I don't mind. It's just an opportunity for us to get to know each other better, right?"

"Yeah, I guess". Ahead of them, Daisy took a seat diagonal from Daniel, staring straight ahead at Michael as Daniel openly stared at her, being obvious enough that Mary had to notice, but when Michael glanced at her, she seemed blissfully unaware. Briefly, he wondered if she was slightly dim, but then felt bad about it right away.

Before Michael took a seat to Daisy's left, he stopped beside Daniel's chair and ducked to address his brother quietly. "Dude, what the hell are you doing?"

Daniel's shoulders shrugged enough that the fabric of his suit jacket glaced over the skin of Michael's chin. "It's gonna be fine, right? We're over it. Why can't we all have dinner together?"

Even though Michael greatly doubted his brother was so stupid he really didn't see the fault in this, Michael just showed his distaste with a huff before taking the seat next to Daisy. So much for a relaxing dinner just the two of them. "I'm really sorry," he whispered into Daisy's ear, pulling back to watch her shake her head and grab one of the menus from the center of the table.

"I'm not going to let this ruin my night," she responded, looking up when a waiter came to their table with glasses of iced water.

"Is there anything else I can get you guys to drink?" the boy asked, and Michael finally got a good look at him as he answered.

"Wine".

"So so much wine," Daisy agreed, but the boy was no longer listening, his wide eyes fixed on Michael's face.

"Michael," the boy said and Micahel desperately tried to remember his name and came up empty. "Um-"

"Oh," Daisy breathed, catching onto the situation that still seemed to be going over Daniel and Mary's heads. "Do you two know each other by chance? I wonder how... hmmmm". She sounded smug, clearly amused by the glare their waiter was now fixating them with.

With a clenched jaw he said, "I'll bring you some wine," without asking exactly what kind they wanted or checking ID's, which was to Daisy's benefit since she was still only 20.

Immediately, Daisy turned to Michael and began to punch his biceps. With each hit came a word. "You. Totally. Fucked. Him".

"What?" Daniel inquired, looking shocked, while Mary's cheeks flushed a deep pink. "You did?"

"Maybe," Michael answered, turning his head in the direction that the boy had just gone in. It was slightly concerning to him to have run into someone he had hooked up with before at a place his family frequented quite often, but Micahel was sure it had to be a somewhat new position. When he was picking his partners, he was always very careful to assure they had no similar ties to avoid these types of things.

"So, what's his name then?" Daisy inquired, eyes bright as she smiled. There was no sign of the Daisy she had been minutes ago, Michael noticed, and one glance across the table revealed that Daniel had noticed as well, a small smile tugging at his lips as he looked at his ex-girlfriend.

Fondness, Micahel realized a little worriedly. The look on his face was one of fondness.

"Michael," Daisy said, her voice incredibly sing song. One of her fingers stuck in his ear and he jerked away with a scoff, "What's his name?"

"I don't fucking remember," Michael groaned, rubbing at his ear. "It was a while ago. You think I remember the names of everyone I've had sex with?"

"You don't?" Daniel asked, sounding completely horrified by the idea. Beside him, Mary was staring hard at her menu, her cheeks a red color Michael knew couldn't be explained by her makeup. "Jesus, Michael, how many people have you had sex with?"

"I haven't really been keeping count," Michael answered, slightly ashamed. 

"So you don't know his name, but he knows yours?" Daisy teased. "How's that?"

And because he was a twenty one year old boy and all twenty one year old boys were idiots, he got some satisfaction from thinking people tend to scream it quite loudly during our time together. Then, because Michael at least had enough sense to immediately feel guilty, he closed his eyes. At some point over the past few weeks Daisy had apparently gained the ability to read him like a book because she cackled at his reaction.

"You totally just thought about him screaming your name, didn't you?"

"Not specifically him," Michael grumbled, but he was aware that both Daniel and Daisy noticed the fact that he didn't completely deny the accusation. "I am so going to hell".

"Probably," Daisy agreed easily and Michael turned his face towards her quickly. "You don't even remember him, do you? I mean, you don't remember which one he was, right? You just recognize his face".

"I don't remember but I could if I thought about it," Michael defended.

"Sure-"

The boy returned to their table with four glasses and a bottle of wine and Michael examined him, trying to recall a memory. His name tag read Zach and he looked as if he was a year or so younger than him, but the thing that caught Michael's attention the most was the fact that Zach wouldn't meet his eyes.

That narrowed it down some for him. Over the year, there were only a handful of people who had done things embarrassing enough with him that they would feel uneasy meeting his eyes.

It came to him then, and the "oh," sound left him before he could stop it. Zach paused then and finally lifted his gaze to meet Michael's eyes.

"Umm... I think I'm going to need to trade tables," he said after a long moment, squeezing his eyes shut. "I'm sorry".

He placed the bottle of wine on the center of the table, only having filled Daniel and Mary's glasses, before retreating quickly. "What on earth did you do to him?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Michael grumbled, staring down at his plate. To his right, Daisy whined like a child and wrapped her hands around his arm, hugging tightly.

"Michael, I wanna hear sex stories," she said, pressing her forehead into his shoulder. "Please?"

"Why? Why do you always want to hear about my sex life?" Michael demanded, looking down at her. When he met her eyes, it occurred to him that he had also apparently learned how to read her, because he somehow just knew from her expression that she wanted to get back at Daniel for putting them into this situation. She didn't say that though.

"Because, you've met the love of your life, and once you figure everything out you're going to be screwing the same person for the rest of your life, but all of those slutty boys you've hooked up up with over the past couple of years have made you who you are, and you deserve to reflect, damn it".

"What the fuck?" Michael breathed. "I don't know if he's-"

"You've met the love of your life?" Daniel asked, his foot knocking out under the table to connect with Michael's shin. "The love of your life? That's not something you should just say lightly". Daniel knew this, because he had referred to Daisy as that plenty of times before. He actually still did on occasion when he wasn't paying attention and slipped up. "Is this this guy you wouldn't tell me about? Daisy, you know who it is?"

"How nice," Mary said softly with a smile.

"You don't know who it is? What are you blind," Daisy responded with a chuckle. The look Daniel gave her was, once again, fond, and she didn't seem to like it, turning back to Michael with a dimmed expression. "So come on then. Tell me about your boy toys".

No, Michael thought. I'm not going to give in to her. I refuse. But he looked at Daisy's face again, focusing on the sadness in her eyes, and knew that he would do anything for her right then. She was the love of Daniel's life, sitting across the table from him and his girlfriend.

"I apologize in advance for whatever is going to be said beyond this point," Michael said to the two across the table from them, and Daisy raised her hands in triumph. "Daniel, this is kind of your fault so I don't feel too bad, but Mary I am very sorry and know that I will be just as embarrassed as you are".

"Yes," Daisy said in triumph, picking up the bottle of wine from the table's center and pouring herself a large glass. "Who are we gonna start with? Our waiter-"

"No," Michel interrupted, filling his own glass, though not with nearly as much since he was probably going to be driving for the remainder of the night. "You are putting me in a situation in which I will be talking about my gay sex life in front of my brother, so I'm going to talk to you about how your cousin is in bed".

"Noooooo-"

***

"He's such a fucking idiot," Daisy grumbled, just staring as a drip of melted ice cream ran down the side of her cone onto her fingers. "Why did he say yes to a table of four? What's wrong with him? I get we're going to be civil and everything but that doesn't mean I want to go on his dates and hang out with him and his girlfriend".

"Yeah," Michael agreed, licking his own cone. They had finished their meals quickly in order to leave Daniel and Mary at the restaurant, and Michael had suggested they get ice cream, sensing Daisy needed someone to talk to. He didn't want her to go home like this, didn't want her to cry once she was alone, so he was hoping he'd be able to cheer her up before sending her back to the apartment. For a moment he had even considered texting Josh to make sure he would be there when she got back, but he ruled that out quickly. "I'm sorry. I can't even imagine how weird it is for you to see him with someone else. I shouldn't have mentioned it so casually to you when it came up. I just... It's been so long since you guys were together, I forgot what you guys were like".

Daisy didn't respond, just licked her fingers clean before going back to her ice cream.

"You don't have to talk to me about it if you don't want to," Michael assured quickly, and she turned her head to look at him, her brown eyes shiny in the light of the street lamp they were parked beneath.

"It's not that I don't want to talk about it, it's just that I don't even fucking know how I feel about all of it". She let out a shaky breath and looked forward out of the windshield. "I can't forget what it was like, no matter how hard I try. I loved him, you know. Like, I really really loved him, and nieve highschool me was under the impression that we wee going to be together forever. Even when we broke up I told myself to give it a few years for him to grown up and then things could work out, but I never even considered the fact that he could date someone else. It's selfish and stupid of me, I realize now, but I just thought that because I was the one to dump him that I was going to be the one to move on first, if either of us ever did".

The car was quiet then as Micahel fought to find something to make her stop looking so sad, but nothing came to him, so he instead reached over and knocked her ice cream into her chin.

Her mouth dropped open, offended, and then she was leaning over the center consul in an attempt to do the same to him, laughing as she instead caused his cone to drop on his shirt. She grabbed a handful of the cold substance and smashed it into his face.

When they were done, both of them effectively covered in ice cream and breathless from laughing, Daisy took his hand. It was sticky and gross, but he held it back. "You know what?" She asked. "Screw your brother. I don't care that I had to see him again, because it is totally worth it if we can be friends again".

"Yeah," Michael agreed simply, closing his eyes and dropping his head back against his head rest. Their hands met in the middle. "I'm glad we're friends too".