dallon and his two littles are back at josh's house for another play date. tyler and the two just can't seem to stay away from each other for more than a few days, which is totally fine with josh. he gets to hang out with dallon and take a break for a while, aside from the occasional fit one of the littles would throw. he doesn't drink, really, but dallon offered him a beer so he took one. it's a bit disgusting, but dallon drinks it like it's water so josh just tries to do the same.

"so you know how tyler and i met, but what's your guys' story?" josh asks, finishing the plate of chicken nuggets tyler had before running upstairs to go play.

dallon smiles, raising his arm to rest on the back of the couch. "it's a long one."

josh pretends to look at a watch. "well, we have all day."

"so," dallon starts, "it all started back when i was a senior and those two were juniors..."

dallon grins at his friend, holding his calculus book at his side. "bullshit, frank. you and i both know you don't have the balls to tell your mom that you don't want to be a fucking doctor."

"whatever, dude. i'm going to do it after school today."

they turn into the stairwell, but are instantly stopped in their tracks. two boys sit on the floor... well, one sits while the other slumps against the wall. dallon and frank exchange looks before dallon asks, "are you guys okay?"

the smaller of the two looks up, eyes wide with fear. he's clearly crying, while the other keeps his head turned away.

"dude, we have to get to calc," frank urges.

"yeah, go. tell her i'm in the nurse or something," dallon waves his hand, watching his friend walk away. the taller one turns his head ever-so-slightly, eyeing dallon out of the corner of his very swollen eye.

"holy shit, are you okay?" he asks again, dropping his book to kneel beside the two.

"fine," the kid mumbles, eyes nearly rolling into the back of his head before he snaps out of it and focuses on the boy in front of him. the smaller boy just keeps crying, not saying anything, staring at dallon helplessly.

the oldest of the three sighs. "no you're not. come on."

carefully, and ever so slowly, he inches an arm around the hurt one's waist and helps him to his feet. the smallest stands silently, his hand intertwining with the others instantaneously. dallon doesn't comment on it; they begin the trek to the nurse's office.

"what happened?"

"ry..." the boy sniffles, giving who dallon assumes to be his boyfriend the biggest of puppy dog eyes. "tell 'em..."

he sniffles again, wiping at his wet cheeks. "i-it was andy and–and pete! they're so–so mean to us, a-and... bren'n got an-angry and stuck up for us a-an' they did this!" he hiccups, trying his hardest to help "bren'n" walk but really just hugging his side.

"fucking andy and pete? are you serious?" dallon clamps his mouth shut, jaw clenched tightly. who do they think they are to do something like this? and why does he feel so much hatred towards them when he doesn't even know these two kids? he shouldn't be so pissed right now. but goddamn, they did all of this for what? because they're just asses?

"m just glad... they didn't hurt... ryan," brendon says, struggling to talk without sounding like he's running out of breath.

dallon glances at the boy, ryan, who's gazing at him with the biggest puppy-dog eyes ever and looking so adorable... god, dallon. you're helping his boyfriend who just got the shit beat out of him. don't think like that. he turns his eyes back to the other boy. "but they hurt you, brennan."

the boy laughs, then winces right after. "it's brendon. ryan has a... hard time pronouncing stuff... sometimes."

god, well dallon just feels like an idiot now.

"oh, my bad."

"so you know the next day i went and beat the shit out of andy and pete. i was just friends with brendon and ryan for a few months before i realized i had feelings for them–both of them–and when i finally got the balls to tell them it turned out they felt the same way," dallon finishes, setting his empty beer bottle on the coffee table.

josh glances at his half-full one, then takes another sip. "damn. a true love story."

"i guess so," dallon chuckles. "poor ryan, though. he was so damn small in that moment and i intimidated him so much. it took a while for brendon to come out of his shell; like a good six months of us being together before he mentioned he had a littlespace too. and then it was just ultimate daddy heaven for me. you gonna finish that?"

he takes one look at his beer then hands it over. "nah, it's nasty. well, i'm glad it all worked out for you guys. and you having to take care of tyler too? that must've been rough."

"it was at first, but we got the hang of things eventually. i'm glad he gets to have an actual daddy to himself now, one that actually gives a shit about him."

"right... he told me about all of that a few days ago. i hate thinking about it, god, it makes me so upset," josh frowns.

"but look now, it all worked out for you guys too."

the three littles come trotting downstairs, each with a stuffy in hand. well, tyler has three while the others have one. they all have little smiles planted on their faces, and josh just knows they're up to no good.

"hi honey," he greets tyler as the blonde plops on his lap.

"hi daddy," the boy giggles, turning to look at his friends. they just giggle and nod. josh looks to dallon in confusion, who just shrugs. suddenly, tyler sticks his index finger up josh's nostril then immediately pulls it out. he shoots off josh's lap and the three run back upstairs laughing their butts off, tyler yelling, "i did it! i did it! another dare, another!"

josh just sits there in shock, his mouth hanging open, while dallon bursts out laughing. "what just happened?"

"i don't know, but that was hilarious!" dallon snickers, holding his hand over his mouth.

"yeah, don't look so pleased. it only means that you're next..."

__a/n__

thank you so much for over 100k reads! it makes my heart happy :)