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They had spoken about it before. Not properly mind you but it had come up. There always seemed to be some reason against it. It would pop up in random conversations, they would give a little thought at the time but never came up with anything conclusive until Jack and Gavin had forced it upon them.
It was a normal Saturday morning about 11am. Gavin and Jack had gone out for a brunch, just the two of them. Jack had promised it to him in the week when Gavin had one of his rare bouts of missing home, knowing it would cheer him up. The rest of the boys were at home. Geoff was playing some games with Ray, Ryan and Michael just sitting in the kitchen talking as they drank their coffees. Jack came through the door first looking around the open space at each of his boyfriends.
"Guys. Look, don't be mad." Ryan and Michael looked up at him quizzically as Geoff paused the game.
"Mad? About what?
"Well-" Before Jack had a chance to explain Gavin burst pass him with a small bundle in his hands. "Well this."
Everyone gathered around the Brit staring at the bundle when a small furry head poke out of the blanket.
"A cat? A fucking cat."
"Micoo! It's a kitty."
"Kitty. Cat. Same fucking difference. Why is there a cat?" Michael crossed his arms stepping back from the group.
"Did you steal a cat Gavin? Because that more Ryan's thing."
"Hey! I wouldn't do that." Ryan defended. Geoff shrugged.
"Yeah, it's not in a hole." Ray chuckled at Geoff's answer. Ryan glared at them both before turning back to Gavin and Jack. Gavin was cooing at the cat while Jack looked a bit guilty behind them.
"Where'd you get the cat? You know because people normally talk about getting pets and prepare for it first."
Gavin seemed to wrapped up in the cat so Jack answered.
"Me and Gav were walking back from brunch when he heard a meow. We looked around for it, Gavin just wanted to try and stroke it but we found it chained to a post in an alley. It wouldn't stop meowing and whining. There was no food or water. I'm no vet but it looks to skinny even for a kitten and well." He looked sheepish at the others. "I couldn't just leave it there! It had obviously been abandoned and even if it wasn't it was still cruel! So we took it. Wrapped it in a hoodie and brought it back with us."
"It looked so sad guys. Look at it's cute little face." The kitten was grey with some black markings. It had bright blue eyes and Geoff had to admit it didn't look to healthy. His heart practically melted, he had always been a sucker for animals in need. Gavin moved into the kitchen, placing the kitten down gently onto the counter. He got a bowl from the cupboard and put a little water in it and put it down next to the cat who immediately started drinking from it.
"We couldn't just leave it." Jack repeated to the silence that had filled the room as everyone watched the cat.
"No, you were right to do that Jack but now what do we do?" Geoff said openly to the group. Ray and Jack both shrugged. Michael was just staring at the cat with a strange look. It was no secret he wasn't really an animal person, he had nothing against them. They just seemed like a lot of effort. Gavin was busy watching the cat. Ryan sighed.
"Well we should really take it to a vet. It probably has some health problems if it has been treated badly." Geoff nodded at Ryan's smart answer.
"But then what?" Ryan looked back at the kitten. He had no idea.
"Well we look after it of course!" All eyes turned to Gavin.
"Gav. We can't just take on a pet, just like that. There's stuff we need to consider, bills, foods plus having a pet is a lot of work." Gavin looked at Ryan as if he had just suggested they snap its neck and leave it.
"No we found it. It trusts us now, we can't let it down. It's been through so much already and it's only little."
"It's a kitten Gav, you've only know it for a fucking hour, tops!" Michael pointed out. He looked towards the others for support. Gavin was being ridiculous. But the others looked like they were already planning names and picking out collars. "Ryan?" He turned to the logically one hoping for some sense.
"I have nothing against having a cat." He shrugged. Ryan hated the idea that something so young and vulnerable had just been left like that. It wasn't right.
"Yeah, cats are cool!" Ray grinned. He was totally on board with it. Cats were better than dogs, less effort so why not?
"He does seem to be attached to Gavin already." Geoff said as he watch the kitten rub up against Gavin who scratched behind it's ears.
"I agree with Gavin." Michael waved Jack off.
"Of course you do, fucking softie." He turned back to the cat who looked directly at him and meowed softly. He sighed, he was obviously defeated here. "Fine! But I ain't doing shit."
The rest of the day was spent at the vets to get the kitten, who they found out was female, checked out and the pet store. The vet told them that from the state of her she must have been left for at least 2 days. She was malnourished and weak but with the right care she could make a full recovery. The vet gave them a couple of booklets and advice for looking after her and how to nurse her back to health. At the pet store they got food suitable for a kitten, a bed and a few other supplies. Gavin could help but pick up a toy for her. They set up the stuff at home, putting her bed in their room for now so they could keep an eye on her in the night.
That evening she barely left Gavin's side, she really had grown attached. She seemed wary of the rest of them apart from Jack at first but after a little coaxing and as long as she was still near Gavin she wouldn't flinched or hiss at them. Michael stayed away, just watching her and the others. They were currently trying to decided on a name.
"We're not naming her Princess McSparkle Gavin!"
"Why not! It's cute." Ryan shooked his head.
"No it's not, it's stupid." Gavin looked deep in thought again before he seemed to settle on something. Before he had the chance to tell them Geoff stopped him.
"Nope."
"I didn't even say anything!"
"Yeah well I know that it's going to be stupid. Why can't you ever think of normal names?"
"What like Fluffy? That's so boring!"
"Well we have to pick something." Ray pointed out. They turned to look at the kitten, who was snoozing lightly on Gavin's lap now.
"How about Lola?" Jack suggested but he was answered with shaking heads.
"Princess Peach?" A pillow to the head was Ray's answer to that name. The group sat around thinking. Surely it couldn't be this hard to think of a name for one cat.
"What about Smudge." All heads turned to Michael who up until now had not contributed to the conversation.
"Smudge?"
"Yeah. Well she's grey and the black parts are like little smudges." He shrugged. The other men look at each other and then the kitten.
"I like it. It's cute." Jack nodded in agreement with Ray.
"It is cute and kind of accurate." Ryan added.
"Gavin any objections to Smudge?" Geoff asked the Brit.
"Well it's not as boring but-"
"Let me stop you there. You'll end up calling it something else anyway so just agree so she finally has a name."
"Fine. Smudge."
Smudge settled in fine after a few days, she was just getting a feel for the house and its occupants. She would sit on Ryan's laptop, effectively halting any work he was trying to do. She would rub against Ray's legs while he was gaming until he picked her up and let her curl up on his lap. She figured out how to jump onto the counter while Geoff was cooking, playing with scraps of food. She loved playing with Gavin who would dangle her toys above her head. She would follow Jack around the house meowing at him when he got home.
Michael, well he tried to stay away from her in general. He would give her a stroke every now and then. Smile when she did something stupid but apart from that he didn't really get involved. Everyone knew Michael just wasn't an animal person and with five other people in the house it wasn't like she wasn't going missing out on attention. As the weeks went by the guys however started to notice something. Smudge would come to Michael more often and Michael wouldn't just shoo her away like he used. They would sneak smiles at each other any time they heard Michael talking to the kitten.
A few weeks later and Michael was home alone for a bit. Ray, Ryan and Jack were still at the office, working late to get some content ready. Gavin and Geoff had taken that opportunity to go to the bar but Michael was tired so he stayed behind. He was just catching up on some anime when Smudge jumped up onto the sofa where he was laying and just stared at him.
"What do you want cat?" Michael paused the show to turn to the kitten. She just looked at him with her bright blue eyes.
Meow.
"What?" She moved a bit closer to him, Michael eyed her warily. He had to admit she had grown on him a little but he still stayed his distance. He really wasn't a cat person.
Meow.
"What the hell do you want? Food. Water. Give me a fucking sign Smudge!" She meowed again but climbed up onto his stomach and just sat there, staring at him still.
"No. We don't do this. You and me, we are not friends. You just happen to live in my house." He glared at her but she just continued to stare at him. "Smudge. Get down." He sighed when she didn't move. He grabbed her gently and sat up to put her down. As he tried to get comfortable again she jumped back up.
"No Smudge. Get down." She moved to get on his lap. "No. I do not like you. You don't like me . Let's just keep our distance, it's been working so far." He was fully aware that he sounded crazy right now, trying to reason with a fucking cat. She curled up in his lap and meow softly. Michael just sat staring down at the audacious kitten who obviously had no concept of personal space. He sighed loudly.
"Fine, you can stay there but don't expect me to stroke you or any of that bullshit." Smudge's response was another soft meow. He unpaused the show and continue to watch it. Or tried to. Smudge would meow every now and again.
"Smudge, shut up. I am trying to watch this." Meow. Without thinking he started to stroke her which effectively stopped her meowing. Soon a soft purring filled the room and Michael couldn't help the small smile on his face. It was kind of cute. He shook his head as if trying to get rid of the thoughts. No. She was not cute, she was an annoying ball of fluff that had invaded his home.
Smudge shift in his lap slightly and Michael realised that she was asleep. Great. Now what was he going to do. He didn't want to wake her, that would be mean. He sat there, just stroking her lightly, trying his best not to disturb her.
He heard the front door unlock and grimaced. He was never going to live this down. Not with these assholes.
"Michael! We're home" Jack rounded to corner first. Shock was the first emotion that he displayed and then a fond smile graced his face.
"Don't. Say. Anything." Michael said through gritted teeth.
"I wasn't going to." Jack laughed. Ray and Ryan came into the room in the middle of some conversation which stopped as they both noticed Smudge on Michael's lap and the red face of their boyfriend who was obviously embarrassed to be caught giving the kitten some love for once.
"Oh my god."
"Ray shut up."
"I thought you didn't like Smudge."
"I don't."
"It kind of looks like you do."
"Nope."
"You love Smudge, you love Smudge." Ray practically sang as Ryan got his phone out.
"I have to take a picture of this."
"Ryan. I swear to God."
"What are you going to do? You'll wake her up." Michael looked torn between wanting to smash Ryan's phone as he took a picture and wanting to stay as still as possible."I'm sending this to Lindsay."
"Don't you dare. I'll never hear the end of it!"
"Too late!"
"Damn it Ryan!" The shout made Smudge poke her head up, now awake from all the noise, she looked at Jack and meowed. Jumping down from the sofa she made her way over to wind herself through the bearded man's legs.
"Hello to you to Smudge, been having fun with Michael?" Now that Smudge was gone, Michael was free to stomp over to Ryan, doing his best to intimidate him. Which didn't work, the only person it actually worked on was Gavin. Ryan just stared back at him, smirking.
And that's the sight that Gavin and Geoff returned home to. Ray laughing loudly and Michael stared at Ryan and Ryan stared back. Jack had Smudge in his arms who Gavin immediately went over to, giving her a stroke to say hello.
"What's going on here?" Geoff asked, looking towards Team Crazy Mad.
"Just wait until Ryan shows you the photo. Michael and Smudge were having a cuddle." Jack answered.
"Really?" Geoff had a smile on his face. Michael looked at him and glared.
"She fell asleep on my lap, what was I supposed to do?" He argued but it was mediocre at best.
"I knew you liked her!" Gavin shouted.
"I don't!" He crossed his arms. Geoff laughed at the childishness.
"Awww It's okay Michael." He wrapped his arms around the younger man. Michael fought against it but Geoff had essentially smothered him. The rest of the boys all laughed at him and he felt his face heat up but the more they laughed the more his has to smile.
He may not have asked for a cat, he may not have wanted a cat but if having Smudge meant his boyfriends were happy and laughing then she wasn't all that bad. Besides maybe he did like her. Just a little.