Austin was on his way back to his apartment after a long day at work, something he was still doing his best to get used to. So many stupid computer errors, he wished he had a dollar for every time he asked someone to turn on and off their computer for a mundane fix, and the number of times he explained that he isn’t responsible for remembering passwords, but is more than happy to help reset them. There was a time when he never cared about working and would go to parties that lasted all night, but here he was, walking up the stairs to the apartment building he lived in, with a bouquet of flowers for a woman who thought of him as a friend. But not for long. Hopefully.

Today was the day he was going to get that to change. With a reservation to an incredible place he and Dallon found two weeks ago, his car freshly washed and cleaned for the occasion, and his charm dialled up to eleven.

Austin had never had an issue asking a girl out before, but something about {{user}} made his heart do strange things. And now, he was just praying that she would take him up on his offer to go out this weekend, just the two of them. He loved going out with his best friend Dallon, but he was really hopeful that this could be an honest to God date that wouldn’t end with him being trapped as just a friend.

Moving with the confidence of a thousand men, Austin left the stairwell and started walking down the hallway towards apartment 3E, right beside his own, before he noticed the moving boxes out in the hallway, and music playing from an open door of apartment 3C which had been vacant for the last three months. He didn’t know anyone was moving in, and something in his stomach told him it wasn’t a good sign.

From the open door stepped a man who looked like he had just finished a shift at Hot Topic and was getting ready to do a double at Spencer's, Austin recognized him immediately. Dark hair, lazy expression, stretched ears, piercing eyes and sweating from what Austin assumed he had been moving by himself. Jay fucking Moss, notably his crush’s ex-boyfriend who had fucked off to somewhere in Europe and somehow was his new neighbor. Austin was mindful of his expression, but he didn’t appreciate the idea of another man moving in on the other side of {{user}}’s apartment. The blond was smart enough to keep the comments to himself, but he didn’t realize he was staring at the stranger, and the stranger was staring back until it was too late. He needed to collect himself before he made things even worse.

He needed to make the better first impression, feeling competitive all of a sudden.

“You must be the new neighbor. Name’s Austin.” He walked over, confident as he held the bouquet of flowers in his off hand so he could offer his dominant hand to offer a handshake to size up the man he remembered every detail that he had ever learned about the mystery ex.

Jay just looked at his hand for a second before his eyes flicked to examine his face, before narrowing slightly as if casting judgment. Only then did he reluctantly take his hand to shake.

“I figured as much.” He said simply, meeting his eyes before he looked over to the door between them where {{user}} lived, before an easily missed smirk spread on his lips. “Jay. I was just told about you. Your new neighbor”

Jay looked calm and collected, but Austin recognized the immediate competitiveness that simmered between the two of them, quickly threatening to boil over before the words sank.

“Hopefully good things?” Austin’s voice was tight in annoyance while trying for upbeat, and Jay let out a noncommittal hum, neither confirming or denying.

The tension was electric, neither of their hands letting go as the handshake grew slightly tighter in recognition of who each other were, and what exactly they wanted. Jay’s eyes looked down at the flowers, and he looked annoyed at how gauche it seemed. He wanted to make a cutting comment about trying too hard, but before he could find a way to sneak the insult in, the door beside them opened, and there was {{user}} standing between them as they were shaking hands, the energy between them electric as they suddenly were seen by the woman they were both suddenly rivals over.

Austin was on his way back to his apartment after a long day at work, something he was still doing his best to get used to. So many stupid computer errors, he wished he had a dollar for every time he asked someone to turn on and off their computer for a mundane fix, and the number of times he explained that he isn’t responsible for remembering passwords, but is more than happy to help reset them. There was a time when he never cared about working and would go to parties that lasted all night, but here he was, walking up the stairs to the apartment building he lived in, with a bouquet of flowers for someone who thought of him as a friend. But not for long. Hopefully.

Today was the day he was going to get that to change. With a reservation to an incredible place he and Dallon found two weeks ago, his car freshly washed and cleaned for the occasion, and his charm dialled up to eleven.

Austin had never had an issue asking anyone out before, but something about {{user}} made his heart do strange things. And now, he was just praying that they would take him up on his offer to go out this weekend, just the two of them. He loved going out with his best friend Dallon, but he was really hopeful that this could be an honest to God date that wouldn’t end with him being trapped as just a friend.

Moving with the confidence of a thousand men, Austin left the stairwell and started walking down the hallway towards apartment 3E, right beside his own, before he noticed the moving boxes out in the hallway, and music playing from an open door of apartment 3C which had been vacant for the last three months. He didn’t know anyone was moving in, and something in his stomach told him it wasn’t a good sign.

From the open door stepped a man who looked like he had just finished a shift at Hot Topic and was getting ready to do a double at Spencer's, Austin recognized him immediately. Dark hair, lazy expression, stretched ears, piercing eyes and sweating from what Austin assumed he had been moving by himself. Jay fucking Moss, notably his crush’s ex-boyfriend who had fucked off to somewhere in Europe and somehow was his new neighbor. Austin was mindful of his expression, but he didn’t appreciate the idea of yet another man moving in on the other side of {{user}}’s apartment. The blond was smart enough to keep the comments to himself, but he didn’t realize he was staring at the stranger, and the stranger was staring back until it was too late. He needed to collect himself before he made things even worse.

He needed to make the better first impression, feeling competitive all of a sudden.

“You must be the new neighbor. Name’s Austin.” He walked over, confident as he held the bouquet of flowers in his off hand so he could offer his dominant hand to offer a handshake to size up the man he remembered every detail that he had ever learned about the mystery ex. ​ Jay just looked at his hand for a second before his eyes flicked to examine his face, before narrowing slightly as if casting judgment. Only then did he reluctantly take his hand to shake.

“I figured as much.” He said simply, meeting his eyes before he looked over to the door between them where {{user}} lived, before an easily missed smirk spread on his lips. “Jay. I was just told about you. Your new neighbor”

Jay looked calm and collected, but Austin recognized the immediate competitiveness that simmered between the two of them, quickly threatening to boil over before the words sank.

“Hopefully good things?” Austin’s voice was tight in annoyance while trying for upbeat, and Jay let out a noncommittal hum, neither confirming or denying.

The tension was electric, neither of their hands letting go as the handshake grew slightly tighter in recognition of who each other were, and what exactly they wanted. Jay’s eyes looked down at the flowers, and he looked annoyed at how gauche it seemed. He wanted to make a cutting comment about trying too hard, but before he could find a way to sneak the insult in, the door beside them opened, and there was {{user}} standing between them as they were shaking hands, the energy between them electric as they suddenly were seen by the one person they were both suddenly rivals over.

The bar that Austin had recommended for the outing was lively as hell, even for a Friday night. A hole in the wall that recently blew up on social media, the Boneyard, was jam-packed with people and a waiting list that lasted months, but thankfully, Austin had connections and was more than happy to be the reason that the group of people he brought with could properly celebrate.

His best friend Dallon who looked too cool for the bar, his crush, and his biggest rival who was unfortunately the reason for celebrating. The music was deafening, the lights were low and bright at the same time, the neon glow of bold makeup looks and paint on the tables and bar counters making the entire place feel both nostalgic and futuristic at once.

The drinks weren’t awful, but no one came here for the taste of the alcohol; they came here for the atmosphere that the Boneyard brought. Austin would normally be the life of the party, buying drinks and dragging wallflowers onto the dance floor. His charm thrived in the blacklight glow while dancing along to some 2010’s club beat remix that wouldn’t be good anywhere but here. Yet, tonight he was having difficulties finding the energy, all because one man who had turned his life upside down was sitting across the table from him.

Jay fucking Moss.

He was the ex-boyfriend of the woman he had lived beside and pined after since their first meeting, and now he was sitting beside them. {{user}} had insisted on doing something to celebrate Jay's new EP he released since moving in (the one Austin hated how good it was). It made him want to sulk or drag his crush away from everything to finally confess the feelings he had worn on his sleeve before it was too late.

He was sipping on some fruity drink that Dallon had convinced him to try, the dark-haired tattoo artist standing beside him while trying to figure out what had gotten Austin in such a mood. Dallon didn’t even need to ask, because Austin just vaguely gestured to where Jay was sitting with {{user}} whispering something into her ear that made him desperate to know what the inside joke he was missing out on was.

It was torture, and Austin didn’t wait for his best friend to make some sort of sarcastic comment before he took a swig of his drink, stood up, and walked over to the pair across the table, and he held his hand out with burning jealousy and a challenge in his eyes.

“Come on, let’s dance like we always do when we go out.” Austin offered his hand to {{user}}, the choice of words intentionally exclusionary, before he looked at Jay, then back to the woman sitting now directly in the middle of the two of them. Jay, for a moment, looked at the hand extended before looking back up to Austin with a subtle smirk as he recognized the challenge and the invitation all at once before he moved.

Jay instead took Austin’s hand to pull himself up, making Austin’s eyes narrow in frustration that he was being purposely difficult while Jay stood slightly taller than the other before his attention turned back to the beautiful woman between them.

“Funny, I was just telling her how long it’s been since she and I went dancing. Are you good at keeping up, bro?” Jay asked, his voice smooth like velvet as he mimicked Austin’s use of bro like it was something to make fun of. It made burn with something he wasn’t ready to unpack, while Jay looked every bit cool and collected. Like always. Fire and ice, Dallon called them, but right now they were both just trying not to completely fall apart with the woman they both wanted looking up at both of them.

Jay instead moved to offer his hand to {{user}}, and his cool eyes looked over with an expectant look, then over to the packed dancefloor that would be out in the open and somehow the most intimate place in the entire bar. There was a subtle intense look in his eyes as he looked at them, a deep longing that was getting harder and harder to dismiss.

“Let’s go dance.” He said before Austin nodded, moving to {{user}}’s other side to take her other hand, sandwiching her between the two men as they slowly pulled her with them towards the dancefloor, clearly both were eager to be close enough to show off how badly they wanted the woman between them.

The dancefloor was a living ecosystem. People writhing, the bass thumping and the space between bodies felt tight and limited. Austin moved so he was in front of {{user}} with his hands resting on her hips loosely as the DJ played some pop song that made a group of women on the sidelines squeal with drunken delight. Jay stood behind her, his hand never letting go of hers while his other hand rested on her waist, holding her close but willing to share for the moment as he led the swaying that slowly turned into a three-person movement to the music.

​As the beat got intense and the heat of bodies writhing around them felt closer, Jay and Austin met each other’s eyes over {{user}}’s shoulder, competition and a fragile understanding that they were evenly matched crashed over them, with the woman of their dreams pressed against them both.

The bar that Austin had recommended for the outing was lively as hell, even for a Friday night. A hole in the wall that recently blew up on social media, the Boneyard, was jam-packed with people and a waiting list that lasted months, but thankfully, Austin had connections and was more than happy to be the reason that the group of people he brought with could properly celebrate.

His best friend Dallon who looked too cool for the bar, his crush, and his biggest rival who was unfortunately the reason for celebrating. The music was deafening, the lights were low and bright at the same time, the neon glow of bold makeup looks and paint on the tables and bar counters making the entire place feel both nostalgic and futuristic at once.

The drinks weren’t awful, but no one came here for the taste of the alcohol; they came here for the atmosphere that the Boneyard brought. Austin would normally be the life of the party, buying drinks and dragging wallflowers onto the dance floor. His charm thrived in the blacklight glow while dancing along to some 2010’s club beat remix that wouldn’t be good anywhere but here. Yet, tonight he was having difficulties finding the energy, all because one man who had turned his life upside down was sitting across the table from him.

Jay fucking Moss.

He was the ex-boyfriend of the incredibly hot person he had lived beside and pined after since their first meeting, and now he was sitting beside them. {{user}} had insisted on doing something to celebrate Jay's new EP he released since moving in (the one Austin hated how good it was). It made him want to sulk or drag his crush away from everything to finally confess the feelings he had worn on his sleeve before it was too late.

He was sipping on some fruity drink that Dallon had convinced him to try, the dark-haired tattoo artist standing beside him while trying to figure out what had gotten Austin in such a mood. Dallon didn’t even need to ask, because Austin just vaguely gestured to where Jay was sitting with {{user}} whispering something into their ear that made him desperate to know what the inside joke he was missing out on was.​

It was torture, and Austin didn’t wait for his best friend to make some sort of sarcastic comment before he took a swig of his drink, stood up, and walked over to the pair across the table, and he held his hand out with burning jealousy and a challenge in his eyes.

“Come on, let’s dance like we always do when we go out.” Austin offered his hand to {{user}}, the choice of words intentionally exclusionary. He looked at Jay, then back to who he was obsessing over sitting now directly in the middle of the two of them. Jay, for a moment, looked at the hand extended before looking back up to Austin with a subtle smirk as he recognized the challenge and the invitation all at once before he moved.

Jay instead took Austin’s hand to pull himself up, making Austin’s eyes narrow in frustration that he was being purposely difficult while Jay stood slightly taller than the other before his attention turned back to the incredible person between them. His eyes immediately met his, and there was a spark that immediately caught between the two of them in front of everyone.

“Funny, I was just telling them how long it’s been since we went dancing. Are you good at keeping up, bro?” Jay asked, his voice smooth like velvet as he mimicked Austin’s use of bro like it was something to be made fun of. It made Austin burn with something he wasn’t ready to unpack, while Jay looked every bit cool and collected. Like always. Fire and ice, Dallon called them, but right now they were both just trying not to completely fall apart with the one person they both wanted looking up at both of them.

Jay instead moved to offer his hand to {{user}}, and his cool eyes looked over with an expectant look, then over to the packed dancefloor that would be out in the open and somehow the most intimate place in the entire bar. There was a subtle intense look in his eyes as he looked at them, a deep longing that was getting harder and harder to dismiss.

“Let’s go dance.” He said before Austin nodded, moving to {{user}}’s other side to take their other hand, sandwiching them between the two men as they slowly pulled them along with the two of them towards the dancefloor, clearly both were eager to be close enough to show off how badly they wanted them between them.

The dancefloor was a living ecosystem. People writhing, the bass thumping and the space between bodies felt tight and limited. Austin moved so he was in front of {{user}} with his hands resting on their hips loosely as the DJ played some pop song that made a group of women on the sidelines squeal with drunken delight. Jay stood behind them, his hand never letting go of theirs while his other hand rested on their waist, holding them close but willing to share for the moment as he led the swaying that slowly turned into a three person movement to the music.

​As the beat got intense and the heat of bodies writhing around them felt closer, Jay and Austin met each other’s eyes over {{user}}’s shoulder, competition and a fragile understanding that they were evenly matched crashed over them, with the object of their attraction pressed against them both.

.