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Stiles has been feeling especially good lately. He’s got a new, better job which allowed him to move into a new, better apartment in a nice building where they have a pool, and a private gym. As if that wasn’t enough, his neighbors are hot. Like, sinfully hot.
To his right, in 301, lives Peter Hale, an older werewolf who’s the picture of sophistication. Stiles has had the pleasure of seeing him walk out in the morning, wearing a steel gray, perfectly tailored suit. His slick back hair and charming smile almost made Stiles walk into a glass door. Thankfully, Peter stopped him before he made a complete fool of himself.
To his left, in 303, lives Chris Argent, a divorced dad who always looks like he just rolled out of bed and is ready to throw you back into it. He’s got perpetual stubble and hair just long enough to look tousled. He works from home, always wearing jeans and loose shirts that show a bit of chest hair. When Stiles comes home, he often gets to share an elevator ride up with Chris, who’s either sweaty from hitting the gym or wet from swimming.
Both of them are awesome. Peter doesn’t talk down to Stiles, in fact he often just asks for Stiles’ opinion on something and just listens. Chris has great taste in books, and they often exchange books to then talk about. All in all, everything would be perfect except for one small detail: Peter and Chris hate each other.
Peter thinks Chris is an immature divorcee that acts like a teenager and Chris thinks Peter has a holier-than-thou attitude. Stiles knows this because both of them often complain to him about the other one.
In fact, Chris is in the middle of complaining to Stiles about Peter when Peter walks into the elevator himself. On one hand, Stiles wants to thank his lucky stars for having a shirtless, still wet from the pool Chris to his right and Peter, sweaty from an apparently intense gym session wearing a tight tank top and workout shorts, to his left. On the other, the tension in the elevator shoots up to eleven immediately.
“Argent,” Peter says.
“Hale,” Argent answers, just as cold.
Stiles wants to roll his eyes, but he controls himself. It’s a short ride to their floor anyway.
“Want to come over for dinner tomorrow?” Peter asks Stiles. “I’ll get some pizza for us. After you try this one you’ll never want to order Domino’s again.”
Chris scoffs. “Not everything has to be fancy, Hale. Also, I was just about to ask Stiles if he wanted to come have dinner at my place.”
“Why not both?” Stiles asks, grinning like a fox. “You can get pizza and Chris said he’d make some roasted chicken. I’ll whip up a salad.”
The elevator stops at their floor and Stiles steps out followed by the two older men, both of them looking at Stiles with a mixture of surprise and annoyance.
“I don’t think Chris would appreciate-”
“Listen, I’m cool with anything but Peter-”
Stiles cuts them off both. “You’re obviously both free and I would very much like to spend time with the two of you. Is that cool?”
Stiles stops at his door, which is the closest to the elevator, and turns to look at them. Both men look at each other uncomfortably, obviously wanting to complain but not wanting to be the first to complain. Stiles uses their silence in his favor.
“Awesome, see you guys tomorrow.”
Stiles walks into his apartment, leaving the two men to uncomfortably glare at each other.
“Fine, but I’m hosting,” Chris says. “My place actually looks like a home, not some stuck up art gallery.”
“I’ll bring the wine, then,” Peter answers. “Won’t you be surprised when you see that mine doesn’t come in a box.”
—
Dinner’s actually nice. Peter compliments Chris’ lemon and rosemary roasted chicken and Chris admits Peter’s fancy pizza is actually the best he’s ever had. Stiles complains about his boss’ tendency to micromanage, which makes Peter admit he’s bad at delegating duties at work and Chris admits he now works from home precisely because he doesn’t do well in an office. Their plates empty, Stiles rests his head on his hand as he enjoys hearing the two older men talk until he nods off, almost falling on his plate and making the other two look at him.
“Sorry,” he says, sheepish. “Long week.”
Both of them grin. Chris says they should call it a night.
This begins a Thursday night tradition of getting together to have dinner. They change apartments each time, and the menu is varied. Sometimes they get food from some new, trendy place Peter suggests and others Chris cooks. Stiles either helps Chris cook or gets picked up from work by Peter so he can help carry the food.
Stiles is a little jealous at how well Peter and Chris are getting along, even if he knew they’d hit it off if they gave each other a chance.
Part of Thursday night, too, are the moments when Stiles just completely dozes off mid conversation. After that first time, they usually move to the living room to either watch a sports game (at Peter’s insistence) or a movie (that Chris recommends). Stiles will almost always fall asleep in the middle of it, waking up and blushing as he realizes the two men are looking at him. Then there’s the times when he wakes up and realizes he’s fallen asleep on one of them.
The first time, he fell asleep on Peter’s shoulder, waking up when the werewolf shouted at someone on the screen to stop hogging the ball. The next time he woke up when he heard Chris sob quietly, and was confused until he realized they were getting to the end of the period drama they had been watching.
It’s just hard for him to stay awake. By Thursday night, he’s usually tired from work, and the food Chris and Peter make or bring is always delicious. Also, his unofficial spot on whatever couch they’re on this week is in the middle, and it’s hard to not feel cozy and safe sandwiched between Peter’s sugar daddy vibes and Chris’ DILF energy. Stiles just really likes hanging out with them, even if it’s obvious that the two of them are becoming closer and Stiles knows at some point he’s no longer going to have to be around for Chris and Peter to want to be together.
That becomes painfully obvious when one Thursday night, Stiles wakes up from his spot on Chris’ couch. Chris and Peter are washing dishes, and Stiles can clearly hear them talk.
“You’re sure it’s a good idea to tell him?” Chris asks.
“For the millionth time, yes.”
“I just worry what he’ll think of it. We used to hate each other, remember?”
“So maybe I held on to a grudge a smidge longer than I should and you reacted in kind. We’ve moved past that.”
“Right. Well, we can tell him next week.”
“Great idea. Now let’s go wake him. He’s going to have terrible neck pain if he doesn’t go to bed.”
There’s the unmistakable sound of a kiss then, and Stiles’ heart feels like it’s being squeezed by a fist because, yeah, as dumb as it sounds now, for a second he thought he had a chance with one of the two older guys living next to him and now they’re together thanks to him.
—
At first, Stiles promises himself he’ll be cool about it all. They’ll have dinner, as usual, and when they finally tell him they’re together he’ll hug them both and say how happy he is for them and even offer a toast or something. He’s not going to be sad or mad that two great guys he met are together. He’s not.
The moment he walks into Peter’s apartment, however, his nerves get the better of him and he starts just ranting. It’s like he thinks that as long as he’s talking they can’t tell him what’s going on and he doesn’t have to ask what now? Do they even want to keep this whole Thursday thing going on when they can just have it by themselves?
So he rants about work and about how his dad isn’t eating as healthy as he should and about how his best friend is trying to get him a cat or puppy but Stiles is afraid a cat or puppy would be lonely all day in his apartment and whenever Chris or Peter start talking Stiles finds himself panicking a little and drinking wine until he can start talking again.
After dinner, as Peter clears up the table and Chris tells Stiles to get comfortable on the couch, Stiles realizes this is it. This is the moment. Everything’s about to change. So he sits down, grabs the remote, and finds the longest movie he can (Justice League, Zack Snyder’s cut) and takes his spot on the couch for what he knows will be the last time. Why would he sit there ever again when Chris and Peter are together?
“Oh,” Chris says as he walks back and finds the movie already starting. “We’re watching a movie?”
“Haven’t seen this one,” Stiles says, smiling at Chris in a way he knows he’s never smiled at Chris before. “Heard it’s good.”
Peter appears, looking confused. “Isn’t this four hours long?” he asks. “Stiles, you can barely stay awake for an episode of Succession.”
“We can finish it next week,” Stiles answers, turning to the screen. “Come on, guys, movie’s starting.”
It’s not thirty minutes later when Stiles feels himself jolt awake. The movie’s paused and both Peter and Chris are looking at him with serious expressions.
“Are you ok, Stiles?” Chris asks.
“You seem especially tired tonight.” Peter says. “We can postpone this if you like.”
“I’m not tired at all,” Stiles says, immediately contradicting himself by yawning.
“Right,” Chris deadpans, then looks at Peter. “We should definitely postpone this.”
It’s obvious what Chris means by “this” and Stiles no longer wants to kid himself into believing he gets to keep holding on to the fantasy of being comfortably nestled between the two of them so he closes his eyes and gives himself the bad news before they can do it.
“I know you’re together,” Stiles says. “I know you don’t need me here anymore.”
There’s a long silence then. Peter and Chris are stunned, and they look at each other, frown, and then turn back to Stiles.
“Yeah, we’re together.” It’s Peter who talks first. “But that’s not the whole story.”
“I know the story Peter,” Stiles says.
“You don’t,” Chris states. “Because if you knew the whole story, you’d know we want to be together with you.”
Stiles’ argument that he shouldn’t be in the way of the two of them dies on his tongue as his brain processes what Chris just said. He looks from his earnest eyes to Peter’s, who’s looking at him, hopeful.
“Like, together, with me?”
Chris nods. Peter says “yes.”
“So I get to keep my spot on the couch?”
Both Peter and Chris laugh and nod.
“Thank God because I’m exhausted and I need to go to bed-WOAH!”
Stiles suddenly finds himself being lifted by Peter, while Chris places a hand on Stiles’ shoulder.
“Bed does sound like a good idea,” Peter says, grinning smugly.
“I think he meant he needed some sleep,” Chris says, but whatever Peter is thinking Chris doesn’t seem to be against.
“I mean, we were going to watch a four hour long movie anyway, right?” Stiles says.
Chris and Peter grin at Stiles in a way that makes Stiles feel like he may have agreed to something he’s not quite ready for.
“Four hours does sound like barely enough time,” Peter starts.
“For all that we want to do with you tonight,” Chris finishes.