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july 15, ray's birthday. this would be the third birthday you two had spent together as a couple, and the first birthday mikey had spent with you guys as your boyfriend. in fact, it was also his and ray's first anniversary today as well, as ray had only gathered the guts to ask mikey out on his birthday after a few drinks and some encouraging kisses from you. mikey had asked you to be his partner a few weeks later, surprising you and ray slightly, as neither of you had considered that he might be attracted to the both of you.
this year, mikey and ray went out on their own to celebrate the birthday boy's day (and their anniversary) while you stayed at home to clean up and get ready to give ray his gifts once they got home, having shooed them both out the door and made them promise not to return until they felt like they'd had enough fun for one night. you had bought a gift for mikey as well, just so he wouldn't feel completely left out of the gift-giving; it was a promise ring, one that matched the ones you and ray wore as a promise to love each other forever. you had seen mikey fiddling with ray's a few times before, as well as caught him staring at your own, so you knew it only made sense to buy one for him as well for this anniversary.
speak of the devil, you think as your phone begins to ring from its place on the coffee table, mikey's name flashing up at you in bright, bold letters as you pick the device up and answer his call. "heya baby, what's up?" you chirp excitedly, wedging your phone between your ear and shoulder so you can continue wrapping up a present.
"uhm, so, uh.. mikey, uh- y'know what, i think it's best you just come see for yourself hun, it's really funny," ray's staticky voice is almost drowned out by loud music and other voices in the background of.. wherever they were, a small frown shaping your lips as worry grows in your mind. ray was using mikey's phone? "ray? is he alright? what happened, why're you using his phone?" you try to pry an answer from him, but you're only rewarded with glitchy giggles and the sound of someone— mikey, you realize moments later— sniffling sadly beside him. "jus' drive down here hun, we're at the bar close to gee's comic store," is all you get out of him before he hangs up, making you sigh in exasperation.
"the things i do for love sometimes," you sigh out dramatically to nobody in particular, standing up with the crackling of bones and a mild grunt protesting their protests. sometimes you wondered how gerard managed to be so active when all they did was sit hunched over at a desk all day, only to remember that they had to bug frank near constantly for remedies and medicinal tips and tricks for creaky joints and sore limbs. you missed being on tour, everyone had the chance to dance around and stretch and actually move without an excuse to sit around and do jack all day.
the sun had already set beyond the horizon by the time you arrived at the seedy bar that you assumed your boys had found a haven in, secretly glad that it was getting later in the night on the off-chance it was one of those nights everyone went home early. there were still quite a few couples partying around the rundown stage close to the bar, the high-pitched sounds of girls fake moaning and the low, drunken slurs of boys trying to bust a fat one against a girl's ass sending creepy crawlies down your spine as you tried to push through the crowd to find your partners. you love ray and mikey, you really do, but there were reasons as to why they were the only ones who ever went on bar dates. in fact, you were the one who always hung back with gerard on tour once he'd decided sobriety was what they wanted, happy to skip out on booze and sex and instead enjoy gross pizza nobody was allowed to have when everyone ate with frank, while rocky horror and star wars played on repeat until you guys passed out.
"babe! we're over here!" ray's giggling voice was a godsend amongst the non-arousing moans of the people surrounding you as you pushed closer to the bar, blindly finding your way out of the crowd and instead into the strong arms of your boyfriend. you were met with a face full of boystink, booze, and a wet patch staining ray's shoulder and collarbone that made it look like he was sweating very strangely through his faded grey shirt. "ew, what is that? did you fuckin' get booze spilled on you or something?" you complained lightheartedly and pushed yourself slightly away from your stinky boyfriend, looking up to find his gentle hazel eyes glinting with something playfully evil, mischief dancing in his eyes. he shook his head with a devilish grin curling on his lips and turned you around gently to face the bar, where you were met with the sight of mikey slouched over with his arms crossed on the bar top, chin resting on the back of one hand and downright pitiful sniffles escaping him. he looked distraught, the poor babe, occasionally lifting his head so he could wipe away a tear from under his glasses that tried to run a track down his pale cheek.
"raymond toro, what in the world did you do to our poor boy?!" ray just laughed endlessly as you hit his shoulder lightly and took a seat next to mikey, cooing and running a finger down his upper arm so he knew you were there. "pupito? you with me, sweetheart?" you try and grab his attention with just these little things at first, glaring at the cackling ray beside you silently out of the corner of your eye. much sooner than you had originally thought he would react, mikey's head turned slightly in your direct, just enough you could see his eyes squinting in your direction and knew he was listening to what you were saying. "hiya there baby, you feelin' okay?" you kept your voice light and gentle upon noticing the confusion that danced in his teary, red-rimmed eyes, just loud enough to be heard over the music but not loud enough to be considered mean.
you felt ray come up beside you and place a hand loosely on your shoulder while you got mikey to sit up finally, your hands cradling his damp cheeks carefully and making sure he couldn't turn away again. he tried to slur something out to you but it was lost in the thrum of the music, his dark brows furrowing as if he was upset at something. "hmm?" you lean up to press a light kiss on mikey's chapped lips in an attempt to calm him down and fix whatever was upsetting him, only to have him whine and push you away weakly, a guilty look hazing his eyes. you look up at ray now, the curly-haired man still giggling at mikey's reaction, grinning down at you teasingly.
"he keeps tellin' me you're gonna get upset if i keep kissin' him, so i thought maybe if you were actually here, he'd be happy kissin' you, but it seems that ain't workin' too well either," ray tangles a hand with one of yours as he informs you of what's going on with your boyfriend, a rosy tint lighting his cheeks up and bringing attention to the smile lines faintly marking the corners of his eyes. you sigh softly and give his hand a little squeeze, looking up at him with a playfully stern expression, though it's a bit harder to hide the amusement tainting your voice. "you shouldn't be encouraging this dork, he's gonna feel bad in the morning," you scold him gently and stand up again, letting go of ray's hand to manhandle mikey into standing as well, looping an arm around his middle and letting his head rest on your shoulder. you carefully pluck his fogged up glasses off his face and hand them off to ray, who puts them in the front pocket of his jeans.
"m' partn'rs aren't gon' b' happy with y'kidnappin' me," mikey's voice is slurred and quiet close to your ear now, whatever chance of arousal it brought effectively squashed down by how strongly he stunk of booze. "yeah, well, i'm sure they'll appreciate you not smelling like pit stains and vomit later on when we get you in bed," you grumble mostly to yourself, backtracking almost immediately when you hear ray giggle beside you, pausing in your steps towards the door and turning your head to scowl at him lovingly. "for sleep toro, get your head outta the gutter. if you wanted to have a go tonight, you shouldn't have let him get this drunk."
ray's tasked with the job of carrying mikey inside and upstairs once you arrive back home from the bar. poor guy had absolutely conked out laying against ray in the backseat halfway through the drive home, muttering something to the effect of 'wish you guys were m' partners' against ray's chest before he fell asleep, giving you the chance to laugh at ray struggling not to giggle and wake mikey up. as concerned as you were behaving right now, you and ray both knew it'd be you who was going to tease mikey the most about it in the morning; good way to distract from a hangover, and just to have a little fun.
downstairs, you had busied yourself with the task of fixing something light for ray to munch on and putting two water bottles close to the stairwell, a reminder to grab them and painkillers on the way upstairs and put on the nightstand for when your boyfriends both woke up with splitting headaches and dry throats. you were busy with making a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich when ray made his way downstairs and into the kitchen, bare feet padding quietly on the tile, not quite loud enough to alert you of his presence. he stood silently in the entryway for a long moment with a lovesick smile on his face, simply admiring you in a moment where you thought nobody was watching. sure, you were just making him a snack so he didn't get an upset stomach, but there was something so loving about it all that made his heart swell and speed up in his chest.
"hey," ray's arms wrap around your waist loosely as he comes to stand behind you and watch what you're doing, leaning his chin on your shoulder and slouching against your back. the action made you smile and blush the tiniest bit, feeling so protected by such a normal thing. "hi," you whisper back at him, cutting the sandwich in half and offering one piece to him over your shoulder. he places a thankful kiss against your neck before taking it, moving to stand beside you now so he wouldn't get crumbs in your hair. you stick one end of the sandwich in your mouth for safekeeping and start cleaning up the stuff you had gotten out, rolling your eyes when you hear ray snort out a laugh at your silly actions.
it doesn't take long, and soon enough you're leading ray upstairs by the hand, monching on your sandwich still and letting him carry the water bottles instead. "go get changed and make sure mikes isn't awake yet, i needa go get painkillers from the bathroom so you don't have to get up too early in the morning," you shoo him towards the bedroom as you give him instructions, receiving a salute and a joking 'yes mx!', which earns ray a little slap on the ass. he jumps and stares at you with wide eyes, opening his mouth to protest. you shush him before he has the chance to, forcefully shoving him into the bedroom and skittering away before he could grab you.
as mentioned, you return with a bottle of painkillers and a bucket for throw up (just in case) and place each on your shared nightstand, sighing softly in delight at the sight of your boys cuddled up in bed. mikey is definitely still passed out from when you got home, but you can tell ray's getting close to falling asleep as well by the way he just reaches a hand out towards you from his place in bed, blinking sluggishly up at you with exhaustion lining his face. you ruck off your shirt and pants before you crawl into bed with them, getting pulled into the middle by ray's outstretched hand; they always left a little spot for you to lay in between them both, enjoying the way you curled up and fit so snugly in their arms that way. you wiggle your way beneath the blanket with little difficulty, only having to pause when mikey grumbles in his sleep and shifts around. you end up with ray pressed securely against your back and your legs tangled up with mikey's, ray's arm draped over your hip so he could hold mikey's hand while they slept.
sleep is easy coming for you tonight, feeling ray's warm breath against the back of your neck whispering a slurred 'goodnight' before you both drift off. 'i forgot to give them their presents,' is the last thing you think before your mind fades into sleep. it's something you do remember to do in the morning, getting a ferocious kiss from ray and a tear-stained one from mikey when they open their presents at breakfast. their smiles don't go away the rest of the day, which is spent watching horror movies and eating popcorn curled up on the couch, with you nodding off every now and then in their arms.