the love triangle trope, but it's actually a triangle

haha, what kiss?

andrew stared at zubin's sleeping face, unsure why he was looking at him so early in the morning. in his bed. holding onto him.

calmly and ignoring the pain in his head, he peeled himself away from zubin and quietly tiptoed to his own room, slithering into his own bed. he layed there for a few moments, staring at the ceiling.

he couldn't remember fully what had happened last night, and he wasn't going to assume what had happened until he could remember what had happened. andrew groaned, his head pounding. he looked over at his alarm clock and saw that it was 6 in the morning.

he moved to lay on his stomach until his mind remembered what occured.

it all finally came back to him, and he buried his face in his pillow as it burned in what he assumed was embarrassment.

until he felt that feeling he had started to associate with rob.

he rolled onto his back and kept thinking about what happened. he worried the most about whether or not anyone saw them. he couldn't remember, but he'd be lucky if nobody did. it's not like they hid it until they got to zubin's room.

andrew thought about zubin holding him again, and let his mind wander. his face was hot as he let himself indulge in romantic ideas with zubin, his tired mind unable to reprimand himself for it.

and then he thought about rob.

he assumed that he would feel some sort of guilt for, in what his mind was, cheating on rob when he wasn't even in a relationship with him. or zubin.

instead, he found himself thinking about the both of them. and that only confused him more. everything was so confusing. he tried not to think about them, but it was overwhelming.

he really did try, too. but his thoughts were hard to control and andrew soon found himself asleep, thoughts about rob and zubin lulling him to bed.

zubin woke up to strange, empty feeling, and a severe lack of understanding what happened.

he wasn't very concerned about it either. he rolled over and went back to sleep, not ready to face the day yet.

rob was up bright and early, eating cereal on the kitchen table. he ignored the pain in his head, hoping for the medicine he took earlier to start working. his body felt weak and tired like it always tended to after a night like that. his mind rolled over memories he wished he could've ended up forgetting, and the last thing he wanted to see was ross walking into the kitchen from his bed.

rob averted his gaze, staring directly into his bowl of soggy cereal. hoping that ross wouldn't strike up a conversation. he was embarrassed.

unfortunately, ross was very willing to talk. "good morning, rob. did you sleep well?"

he took a bite of cereal. "i slept fine."

ross nodded, reaching around in the medicine cabinet. "joe was groaning about feeling bad, so i think i'll end up being with him for a lot of the day. did you want to talk about anything?"

the clinking of rob's spoon against the bowl was the only thing that soothed him right now. "not really."

"how do you feel? any pain or anything?" ross asked, trying to will the conversation into something special. rob seemed uninterested. he shook his head.

"well... i'll see you later, then." ross said. he started to walk out, but suddenly turned and faced rob again. "you don't have to feel embarrassed, you know. i didn't mind what happened, last night."

his face burned in embarrassment. "...thanks, ross."

he really wanted to conversation to be over with, but ross didn't seem to feel the same. "i really want to help you guys figure this out, honestly. because i do think we can figure this out."

rob nodded, waiting for him to leave. ross just kept talking. and rob started to tune him out, unable to bring himself to move on with the day. eventually ross did end his speech and went back to tend to joe, and rob finally felt at peace with his cereal.

until, several minutes later, when rob had poured himself some more cereal, zubin finally decided to wake up. he went about mornings like this with a strong air of confidence and enthusiasm. he says it helps him ignore the pain in his head.

"goooooood morning, bobby." he chimed, strutting into the kitchen. rob acknowledged him with a hum, not looking up. "what a beautiful day! cereal does sound pretty good, i think i'll have some myself."

he listened to zubin whistling as he prepared the cereal. the sharp sound hurt his ears, and he could only think about how he wished this day was over, even if it just begun.

zubin started rambling to rob, and rob only ever responded with nods or one word responses. he would glance over at occasion and meet his eyes, then immediately look away. he hated how weird he felt about him right now. he had no right to feel upset over what he saw happen. it's not like they were together.

but it still hurt him that the same man he had a crush on was kissing on their mutual friend, and is now excitedly talking to him about something rob couldn't comprehend. he wished he had a right to feel jealous, or upset, or anything. rob wasn't even supposed to know.

zubin yawned. "god, maybe i was drugged or some shit. i can't remember a thing from last night."

rob's head suddenly perked up, now paying full attention. "you can't?"

he shook his head, leaning back in his chair. "nope. i remember some of the party itself, but otherwise... nothing."

"i think we'd have more problems to deal with than your memory if you were drugged," rob said.

zubin laughed, sitting straight again. "that was a joke. probably better i can't remember. you'd tell me if i got any hot chicks last night, right?" he raised his eyebrows and hit rob's shoulder playfully. they both laughed, zubin more than rob.

"yea, i would. nothing to tell, though. you almost work like a repellent," he said, fully aware that zubin was anything but a repellent. he was able to pull rob in, but that's not something he'll ever admit.

he acted hurt. "aw man..."

rob was a lot more responsive after that. maybe it was the the medicine finally working, or maybe it was knowing that zubin had no recollection of his time with andrew. to him, he thought it gave him a chance. a potential do-over, and that it erased any feelings that zubin could have for andrew.

zubin still had feelings for andrew, undoubtably. he just would never know how his dreams came true, if for only those few hours last night.

a part of zubin wondered if it was normal for him to feel so bothered by rob's lack of response. so upset that he didn't have rob's attention on him... he wondered if it was normal to feel jealous over a bowl of cereal.