Routes to Romance Read online

  "Maybe I do, not your place to say anything."

  "When it ends in a hospital visit, I disagree..." He trailed off as he opened cabinet after cabinet in confusion. "Aisha where the hell is your coffee this time?"

  She walked over, kneeling in front of the sink and pulling out a small container. "Here you go."

  "Why are you keeping it under the sink? Where the chemicals are?"

  She shrugged. "I was running out of new places to put it."

  "So just pick one..." He looked around at all the cabinets he'd opened, each one having previously housed the coffee. "Why even move it at all?"

  "Moving it around keeps it fresh, otherwise it stagnates." Aisha shoved him out of the way as she started to prepare her own cup. He simply stood and looked at her in confusion.

  "That... makes no sense at all Aisha, why would you think that?"

  Dave leaned on the counter, still inspecting the damage to the jacket. "It hasn't failed so far, her coffee's great."

  "Now you're buying into this?" He screwed up his brow, running a hand down his face. "Am I actually just crazy? Is that why I'm the only one not doing this?"

  "Maybe, your coffee's pretty shit so you might have to start." She waved the container pointedly. "My beans are free, that's why my coffee's so good."

  Chris sighed, walking back into the lounge and letting her make the coffee to her specifications. "Fine, I'll do your dumb coffee thing so that mine doesn't taste like sludge."

  "Toxic sludge."

  "Yes, thank you for that." He shivered, looking out the window. "It's been freezing lately, don't know how you could take not wearing a jacket last night."

  "Well, I'd just been slashed with a bottle Chris" she pouted. "That kind of overruled everything else I was feeling."

  "That's fair." He tilted his head as Dave walked over and opened the window. "Dave? what are you doing?"

  Dave turned back with a look of almost childlike glee. "You guys... It's snowing!"

  The two of them shot up, joining him at the window and looking over a veritable blanket of white. Their eyes widened as they took in the sight, grateful that they were already with the people they would like to see it with.

  "Wait..." Chris said, "This must have been going since last night, how did we not notice this?"

  "I don't know about you..." Aisha smirked at her friends. "But I was pretty warm last night."

  They both coughed, looking away from her. "That's... a pretty good point."

  "Well what do you guys want to do today?" Aisha walked over to her closet, rifling through her coats for something warm. "Not every day that we get snow, we should make the most of it right?"

  They moved over to her, going through the closet for their own coats. "We store our clothes at each other's places, we have keys, we spend all our time with each other..." Chris thought, before shaking his head. "Alright, even I'm not this stupid, clearly this is starting to mean something."

  "Snow angels?" Dave suggested, blushing while he said it, "I've never made one before, I think it'd be nice to do with you guys."

  Aisha clapped him on the back, a wide grin on her face. "I'm in dude, what about you Chris?" She pulled out what happened to be the exact coat he was looking for. "You wanna help Dave's childhood dream come true?"

  He grabbed the coat from her, scoffing as he pulled it on. "As if I could say no and still be liked by you two."

  She was about to lead the way out of the apartment, before Dave grabbed her by the collar and dragged her to the kitchen, pouring out a glass of juice and placing her antibiotics in front of her.

  She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Really dad?"

  "Don't call me that." He blushed. "It's confusing after everything else now."

  "Alright, alright. I'm sorry." She smirked as she lifted the glass to her mouth. "Dad..."

  Dave threw his arms up, blushing furiously while the most embarrassed noise he had ever made emerged from his throat. He stepped out the door and made his way down the stairs, Chris watching him leave and barely containing his own laughter. He shook his head at Aisha as she sauntered over to him, though he couldn't keep the smile from his face.

  "What? Do you think that was maybe a little too much?"

  Chris shrugged. "He's probably having a tough time dealing with everything, I know I am." He tapped her shoulder. "So maybe take it a little easier on the two of us? We're just starting to work out... Exactly what this might be. Shit, we didn't even know this was a thing until we woke up this morning."

  "I didn't realize until last night either, but it's obvious isn't it?" She closed the door behind them as they stepped out of the apartment. "I don't see what should make things awkward, things shouldn't really change that much, should they?"

  "They shouldn't it's just..." He sighed, "It's a lot to take in you know?"

  "I guess I can understand that..." Aisha shrugged, taking his hand and dragging him faster down the stairs. "Whatever, this isn't really a conversation we should have without Dave anyway."

  "What conversation?" Dave jerked his head up as he lay down on the hood of the car, twirling his keys lazily on his finger.

  "'Bout everything that's going on with us." Chris snatched his keys as he passed by. "I'm driving today. We just figured it should be a group discussion."

  "More answers is something I won't complain about." He glanced over at Aisha as he jumped off the hood, opening the passenger door and sliding in. "Shotgun."

  She scoffed as she slipped into the backseat, lazily clipping herself in as she threw her feet up underneath her. "Why do I have to ride in the back? I'm the injured one!"

  "You already sat up here last night, that card only works once." Dave put his feet up on the dashboard. "Besides, it's my car. When either of you two get one you can sit wherever you want."

  "Fiiiiine. So, Chris," Aisha leaned forward, purring into both their ears, "Where are you taking us today? Somewhere good I hope."

  Chris tried and failed to suppress the shudder that ran through his body at the feel of her breath against his ear and the back of his neck, tightening his grip on the wheel as he pulled out of their parking space. "I was thinking the park, there should be some good snow there. Unless you two have any better ideas?"

  "Park seems fine to me." Aisha threw her arm over Dave's shoulder, leaning her head against his. "That alright with you Dave?"

  "No problems here." To her surprise he leaned toward her, their heads resting against each other for a second before he pulled away, sitting back and closing his eyes. "Wake me up when we get there, the cold makes me sleepy."

  She looked back over at Chris, who looked just as surprised as she did, neither expecting Dave the chronic worrier to be the one to adapt the fastest. Even Aisha wasn't as completely certain as she was making it appear. It was something she was rapidly coming around to but still, the thought that Dave reached that point before her was... confusing, to say the least.

  "Well, you heard him." She poked Chris in the shoulder, pointing ahead of them through the windshield. "Full speed ahead driver, gotta get there fast, can't disappoint our friend now can we?"

  He looked over at Dave, at his chest rising and falling and his mouth open, occasionally emitting soft snores. It struck him just how much he valued being there with him, not just together with Aisha but with him; they'd known each other before they knew her and that was a bond that meant something. The surge of affection that shot through his chest looking at him wasn't anything new either, he just realized exactly what it meant now. "Fuck nerves." He thought, "Life's too short for that shit."

  He grinned. "Full speed ahead."

  • • •

  As cold as it was, and as confused as Chris and Aisha still were, they couldn't contain their excitement as they piled out of the car and stepped into the fresh snow. They ran up the hill, giggling like a couple of school children as they fought to get in front, shoving each other to the side once they got to the top of the hill.

  "I totall
y won that by the way." Chris panted as he put his hands on his knees, breathing heavily, "You two just didn't see it."

  "Uh-huh, sure." Dave walked up behind him, getting down on his hands and knees. "Oh no, I think there's something in the snow here."

  "Really?" Chris looked over his shoulder. "What is it?"

  Looking behind him, he completely missed Aisha slinking in front of him, smirk on her face as she shoved her arms out, pushing him backwards and tripping over Dave into the snow. She looked down at him, tears of laughter seconds from bursting out. "It's you, you're in the snow."

  He rolled his eyes, scoffing to himself. "Very funny you two, now can you help me up?"

  Giggling to themselves Aisha and Dave held out their hands, each taking one of his in their grip. When they saw his expression shift to a smirk of obviously evil intent, they knew they'd made a mistake, suddenly being pulled with all Chris' might towards him and landing in a heap of bodies. He howled with laughter underneath them, breath coming short as the two of them compressed his chest, Aisha and Dave merely groaning in response. "Ok, I guess we deserved that..."

  Suddenly Aisha shrieked as she felt something freezing fall down the back of her coat, Dave following not long after as they sprung off Chris and began to roll around on the ground, desperately trying to fish out the handfuls of snow he'd dropped down their backs.

  "Oh my god Chris, you suck so bad!" Dave panted as he brushed the last of the snow away, looking over at him with a reddened face as he tried to catch his breath. "Why are we even friends with you dude?"

  "Because you love me." The answer came easily, and though they had often said it before anyway, now it had a completely different meaning. One that all of them were certain was true, but acknowledging it was... Intimidating to say the least.

  "Fuck it." Aisha thought, "I'm not gonna let this go any further."

  She shoved Dave back over next to Chris, the two men looking up at her in bewilderment as she put her hands on her hips. Her voice commanded their attention as she said - rather demanded - "I love the two of you idiots, alright? That's it, that's all that needs to be said, because you two mean the world to me!"

  She grabbed the both of them by their collars, dragging them up towards her as she continued, "You put up with my shit, you support whatever I do, you drag me out of my comfort zone and you stay with me there. You spend all night with my dumb ass after I get injured doing something stupid, when you could have just gone home."

  Aisha wrapped her arms around their necks, squeezing as tightly as she could. They held her just as tightly, none of them feeling the cold as they basked in each other's warmth. Pulling back slightly, she touched both their cheeks, the two men leaning into her touch as she brushed a thumb over their lips.

  Dave looked over at Chris, nodding slightly before they looked back at her, lips parted and breathing hard, her nerves starting to get to her. Chris stretched his hand out, slowly stroking along her cheek like she was made of glass, her eyes closing as his hand rested on the back of her neck.

  She leaned in, lips brushing against his as they moved towards each other, neither able to suppress their nervousness as they began to kiss gently. Aisha threaded her hand through his hair, the kiss becoming more intense as she let herself fall on top of him, his hands wrapping around her hips as they started to roll in the snow together. They turned to the side, rolling right into Dave who was watching them with wide eyes and a smile on his face.

  "No, please. Don't stop for me." He grabbed both of their shoulders, squeezing reassuringly. "This is beautiful."

  Chris didn't reply, simply grabbing him by the scruff of his collar and dragging him down, their lips meeting in a clash of teeth and tongue as Dave yelped in surprise, both of them suppressing chuckles as they pushed back in.

  Aisha sat back, watching with a grin as her two best friends explored each other, each halfheartedly pushing at the other to try and get on top. Chris groaned as Dave nipped at his lower lip, then released as they regarded each other with adoration .

  "Jesus," Chris panted, "I've been wanting to do that for so long and I never even realized."

  "You and me both." Dave laughed, pulling him in again and moaning against his lips. "God. How did we not realize this before?"

  "Because you two are idiots. That's why." Aisha leaned down, pecking Dave quickly on the lips before pulling back. "We'll be here all day if I let myself keep kissing you."

  "We're idiots?" Chris raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "What are you then?"

  "Also an idiot." She laughed, pulling up her sleeve. "I have twelve stitches in my arm that prove that."

  "You know what? I'm not gonna disagree there." Chris laughed, pulling her over him and into Dave's arms, the three of them laughing all the while. Dave kissed her longingly, like he'd spent centuries thinking about it and only had a chance to do it once, the two of them molding together perfectly. They kept a firm hold on each other's hands, all touching even if they weren't currently kissing, not for a second letting anyone think that they were less important than the others.

  By the time they came up for air, they were sweaty and panting happily, faces red from lack of breath. What little embarrassment remained had long since been kissed away. They lay there in the snow, tired, hungry, more than a little cold, but none of them had ever felt warmer inside than they did at that moment, arms gathered tightly around the two people they loved more than anything else in the world.

  "We're all a bunch of idiots." Aisha said with a laugh, snuggling her head into their necks as she sighed happily, "But we're each other's idiots, and that's what matters."

  • • •

  It was a few days before they got it into their heads that people should probably know about them; they weren't exactly looking to advertise to the entire world, but they figured that if anyone deserved to know it was their friends. They stepped through the door into Anna's coffee house, the 'closed' sign on the door as it was her day off, but she had graciously agreed to let them come in to deliver their news to everyone.

  The three of them looked around at the crowd gathered inside, happy to see that everyone was there: Sarah and Keith in the corner booth with their arms around each other; Gareth and Maggie once more all over each other, but curiously enough still occasionally glancing over at their best friends. They were delighted to see Skylar sitting near the counter, legs in Anna's lap as she sung softly to her while Anna massaged her calf muscles.

  The sight warmed their hearts so much they almost forgot why they were there, and remembering caused another surge of heat, this time to their faces.

  "Hey everyone..." Aisha began, voice shaking with nervousness for the first time in a long time. "We called you here because you're all very important to us, and we have some news that we want to share with all of you." She stepped back, letting Dave take his place in front of her, his throat clearing as he thought over what he had prepared.

  "You're all good people, we wouldn't be friends with each other if we didn't think that." He smirked, pointing over at Keith. "Even you, you giant dick."

  "What?" Keith looked affronted as everyone laughed, asking, "Seriously, what did I do?"

  "You've stuck by us, even with all the shit we put you through." He turned, looking over each of them. "All of you have, and we really do appreciate that. It means more than you can imagine, you know?"

  "This sounds really serious, are you guys ok?" Gareth asked, genuinely concerned, yet his eyes were alight with something almost resembling... Hope? Maggie had the exact same expression, her hand clenched tightly around Gareth's as they leaned in together.

  Chris smiled as he took Aisha and Dave's hands, the three of them stepping forward and grinning widely. "We're more than ok actually. We've decided... Well, we're in love with each other, all of us. And we couldn't be happier."

  There was a moment of silence, a beat long enough that they felt momentarily dismayed, when suddenly Gareth leapt up, screaming in triumph louder than any of tho
se present had ever heard him yell. "Yes! In your fuckin' face Keith!" He leapt over the table, Maggie looking on mortified as he trotted up to the three of them.

  Gareth swept them into his arms, squeezing tightly as he grinned. Aisha rolled her eyes as she laughed, "I'm guessing you won the bet?"

  He nodded eagerly. "You have no idea how much, I'm glad I backed the right horse." He smiled, gently this time, his tone soft, "Seriously though, I'm so, so happy for you guys. I'm glad that the three of you have found happiness in each other, happier than you could ever know."

  Maggie walked up to his side, Keith and Sarah not far behind. "We all are. To be honest, we all suspected something..."

  Keith nodded in agreement. "But we didn't want to bring it up you know? What if we just made a really good friendship awkward?"

  "Maggie and I haven't known you as long as the others," Sarah squeezed each of their hands. "But we're so happy that we got to know you, you really are special people."

  "I knew this was inevitable when you started hanging out with the two of them all the time." Aisha looked over at Skylar who was walking over with a wide grin. "Well done girl, you didn't just snag one hot boy, you got two of them." She slipped her arm around Anna's waist. "If I wasn't such a ladies' woman I might be jealous."

  "But you are, so you're not." Anna kissed her cheek, leaning into the three of them and whispering just loud enough for everyone to hear. "You three don't have to pay for your next few coffees, consider it my celebration gift."

  The three of them were speechless, they hadn't expected a disaster but nor did they expect an outpouring of love and support like this. They were sniffling as they allowed everyone to surround them, arms around them as they finally felt secure that yes, they had friends that would support them no matter what, and that was a feeling that was indescribable.

  To all of them.