Chapter Text
epilogue
dennis and dee finally graduated college, and dee kept her promise to charlie – it wasn’t forever. they came back. of course they came back – that string of fate that charlie didn’t like thinking about wouldn’t let it happen any other way.
in fact, it was even better than charlie imagined. he and mac and dennis went in on a bar together, and dee was basically just as big a part of it even if not legally, and they would all see each other every day forever and it was all charlie could ask for.
mac and dennis even moved in together, and charlie can tell, can see the shift between them, however small it is. something’s different in their eyes when they look at each other now, and it has been for years now, mostly since dennis went to college. he called them gay a lot in high school just because they annoyed him, but he supposes it wasn’t too far off. even if they won’t say that out loud.
and neither he or dee’s apartments are very far off from mac and dennis’ place, and none of their apartments are far at all from the bar they’ve decided to make their home, together.
to celebrate, they congregate at mac and dennis’ place, because it’s the biggest of their apartments, and two of the four of them are already there, so, like, it’s a no-brainer. he and dee meet outside and exchange grins before trudging up the stairs.
“mac, we’ve watched that a thousand times. please, something new, for a special occasion?” dennis is pleading, his giant puppy-dog eyes definitely having some kind of effect on mac, from where charlie is standing. dennis is holding mac’s wrist with one hand and a dvd case containing some movie called speed, which charlie can see has that keanu reeves guy on the cover.
mac’s voice takes on a particularly whiny tone. “but, dennis-”
dennis pulls mac’s pliant hand under his chin, using it to prop his face up and make a proper pathetically pleading face up at mac.
he gives in, popping speed into the dvd player. dennis smirks, satisfied, while mac is turned away, and high-fives charlie for good measure.
mac nestles himself against dennis’ side on the couch, somehow getting more physically close than charlie even thought possible. at the same time, dee walks in with the bowl of popcorn she was sent to pop and scowls at them. “gross, guys,” she says, and punctuates it by throwing a piece of popcorn at their faces. they middle-finger her in perfect synchrony. charlie thinks this is something like what peace must be like.
avoiding their cooties, probably, dee opts to sit on the floor, making herself comfortable between mac’s legs. not wanting her to be alone, charlie slides down to the floor next to her, and dennis takes the opportunity to splay further out on the couch, his head resting on mac’s chest and feet hanging off the edge. with a snort, dennis reaches his hand out to smooth the frizz in dee’s hair, but charlie sees the softness with which he touches her, while mac kicks teasingly at charlie propped up next to his leg. the back of charlie’s head rests against dennis’ side and he feels around until his hand gently clutches dee’s. she laces their fingers together, wordlessly, without so much as a glance.
interconnected and tied together in infinite combinations and knots, they hold tight to this, this once-in-a-billion special thing that they have together, the four of them. here, splayed together in a tiny living room and invading each other’s spaces, the pieces fit together just right and everything is as it should be.