Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jeremy opened the front door, humming softly. He shouted that he was home to whoever was home, which, judging by the cars, was just Jake. Maybe one of his other two boyfriends, but the silence told Jeremy otherwise.

Speaking of which, this level of quiet was odd, even for Jake. Jake usually blasted music or watched really old romcoms. Dead silence was worrying.

"Jake?" Jeremy called. "You home?" He was answered by a small "thunk" from the bathroom, as if something had been knocked over.

Fuck.

Jeremy yanked off his shoes, sprinting to the bathroom. The door was closed, but he could hear ragged breaths from inside. Jeremy took a calming breath. If he went in there panicking, Jake would freak out too. Jeremy opened the door slowly.

The sight before Jeremy broke his heart. His tallest boyfriend was hunched over the toilet, taking ragged breaths. The smell of puke hit Jeremy like a train, and it took all his might not to gag. He dropped to his knees next to Jake, noticing upon closer inspection that he'd been crying.

Jake looked up at Jeremy weakly, breaking Jeremy's heart all over again. Jake drew a deep, shaky breath. "I'm sorry-"

"No," Jeremy cut him off, cupping the taller's face in his hands. "Don't apologize. You did nothing wrong." Jake nodded, fresh tears falling from his eyes. Jeremy wiped them away with his thumb. "You wanna tell me what happened?" Jeremy asked softly, moving a hand to rub Jake's shoulder gently.

Jake shook his head quickly and leaned into Jeremy's chest. The shorter opened his arms and pulled the taller closer, rocking back and forth slowly. Jeremy ran one of his hands through Jake's mussed-up hair and used the other to pull out his phone. He opened their group chat.

HeereAndQueer: Babes I just got home
HeereAndQueer: Jake's super upset
BiAndRichIsBitch: Does he need anything
I'llSeeYouInMell: yea I have like 10 more minutes on my shift
I'llSeeYouInMell: I can grab him something from the store
HeereAndQueer: I'll ask

Jeremy nudged Jake softly. "You want anything from the store? Pizza? Ice cream?"

Jake pushed himself off of Jeremy's chest and took Jeremy's phone.

HeereAndQueer: ice cream plz
HeereAndQueer: cookie dough
HeereAndQueer: this is Jake btw
I'llSeeYouInMell: Ok baby I'll get you your ice cream
I'llSeeYouInMell: Love you ❤️❤️
BiAndRichIsBitch: I love you too baby ❣❣ I hope you feel better!!

Jake handed the phone back to Jeremy and slumped back against the shorter. Jeremy hugged him again.

After a few minutes, Jeremy nudged Jake again. "You wanna take a bath?" He asked, and Jake nodded slowly. Jeremy peeled himself away from Jake to flush the toilet and turn on the water.

Jeremy glanced back at Jake after checking the water. Jake was still curled up on the ground, but he was now struggling to unzip his sweater. Jeremy dried off his hand and helped Jake strip slowly. Jeremy then helped Jake into the tub.

Jake scooted to one end of the tub and opened his arms for Jeremy to climb in with him. Jeremy nodded and stripped, climbing into the tub with Jake. He helped Jake wash his hair, taking care to be gentle.

After Jake was done, Jeremy climbed out and unstopped the tub. The water drained as Jake climbed out and was handed a towel. Jake wrapped it around himself like a blanket and smiled. Jeremy took a similar towel and started drying his hair.

After both boys had been dried and dressed, Jeremy led Jake to the couch. Jake flopped down, dragging Jeremy on top of him. The two laid there, content.

A minute later, the front door opened, revealing Michael. The dark boy shed his coat and shoes before walking over to two of his boyfriends.

"Hello, you dorks," he greeted the two, kissing them both on the forehead. "I got your ice cream, Jakey." Michael gestured to a plastic bag on his arm. Jake perked up and smiled. Michael handed him the small carton and turned to the kitchen. "I'll get you a spoon."

Michael came back a moment later with a spoon, as promised. Jake immediately started eating the ice cream. Jeremy slid off the couch to grab the remote. He turned on the tv, flicking to The Simpsons for white noise.

After another 10 minutes, the door slammed open, startled all three boys. Rich flew into the room, not bothering to take off his shoes or jacket. He ran up to Jake, cupping the taller's face.

"You ok?" Rich asked, worried. Jake nodded.

"I'm fine, Richie. Micha got me ice cream," Jake informed him, smiling.

"What was wrong?" Rich asked. Jake's expression dropped. Rich knew he fucked up, even without looking at Jeremy and Michael, who were giving him "What the fuck, Richard?" looks. Rich immediately backpedaled. "You don't have to tell me if you don't wanna-"

Jake cut him off. "No, no, I gotta tell you guys eventually." Everyone else went silent as Jake took a trembling breath. "I just... Overworked myself. Again. It's stupid, but I just had so much on my schedule and I panicked and just..." He sighed sadly.

Michael was the first one to speak up. "Well, I'm sure you'll be fine. Whatever's on your schedule. You've survived worse, man."

Rich nodded. "You're Jake fucking Dillinger. You can handle this. We believe in you."

Jeremy chimed in. "Yeah. And if it's too much, you can always cancel and we can watch movies at home or something. I'm sure everyone else will understand."

By now, Jake was tearing up again. He smiled and pulled his three boyfriends into his arms. "I have the best boyfriends," he sighed as the other three hugged him back.

They cuddled in comfortable silence for a few minutes, before Rich yawned loudly. The others glanced over at him. "What?" He shot back. "I just finished an 18-hour shift. Gimme a break."

The others chuckled and Michael suggested they go to bed, seeing as they'd end up falling asleep on the couch otherwise. They agreed tiredly and went to the actual bed. They fell asleep in one of their weird cuddle piles, happy and warm in each other's arms.

Chapter Text

Jake woke up to an empty bed and his phone trying to vibrate itself off the side table. The tall boy squinted at the bright screen as the phone adjusted its brightness.
Once it was dim enough, Jake glanced over the texts he'd been receiving.

HeereAndQueer (6:57 am)
Hey!! Micha and I are at his parents house cause they invited him and his Boyf over. Your weren't up and Rich was showering so I went with him this time. We'll be home at like noon.

BiAndRichIsBitch (8:02 am)
Shark week

BiAndRichIsBitch (8:03 am)
We've run out of harpoons

BiAndRichIsBitch (8:05 am)
Baby please

BiAndRichIsBitch (8:05 am)
I'm literally bleeding

Jake winced as he read the texts. All four boys had begun using the term "Shark Week" instead of period. (Rich just thought it sounded cooler.) Harpoons were tampons, which meant Rich was out.

Jake rolled out of bed, using the side table as support. Thank god today was one of his better days when his legs decided to not completely give out. No way he'd be able to get to the CVS in his wheelchair a 8 am.

He shimmied on a pair of jeans and an old shirt that probably was one of his boyfriends'. Jake took his wallet from his nightstand, grabbed his crutches to hoist himself up, and started to leave.

He stopped at the bathroom door and knocked softly.

"What kind do you want?" He asked.

Rich cleared his throat before replying softly, "The medium ones."

"Great white?"

"Great white."

Jake sighed. Great white pretty much translated to "I feel like I'm being stabbed." He nodded and gave a quick "I'll be back in a minute" before leaving.

The boys lived close enough to town to walk pretty much anywhere they needed to. Thank god, because Jake didn't want to spend 20 minutes in traffic for a box of tampons.

The tall boy speed-walked as best he could to the CVS in town, going right to the "feminine hygiene" section. Not one of the boys liked the name, but what was to be done?

Jake grabbed what he needed and bought it. The cashier gave him a sort of "Sorry, man" look.

On the walk home, Jake kept his head down, trying to pay attention and not doze off or something. Unfortunately, this meant Jake couldn't see anyone else walking. He bumped into someone, and immediately woke up. He let out half of an "I'm sorry" before inwardly groaning.

Of all the people to run into, Jake ran into Dustin Kropp.

"Hey, Jake!" Dustin smiled, far too peppy for someone who was walking around town at 8 in the morning on a Sunday.

"Hey," Jake forced a smile, trying to hide the small box in his hand. If Dustin saw it, this could get very awkward.

But of course, Dustin saw.

"Aw man, that time of the month? That must suck. I know how Chloe can get sometimes," Dustin started.

Jake shook his head. "I'm not dating Chloe."

"Then who are those for?"

Fuck.

"Um, her name is..." Jake paused, taking a deep breath. "It's... Cecelia. She doesn't go to our school."

Jake felt bad about deadnaming his boyfriend. He knew Rich and Michael were ok with it as to not out them, but it still made Jake feel bad. But that guilt turned to slight panic as Dustin asked "Wait, that blonde girl from, like, 7th grade? She was pretty hot."

Jake shook his head. "Different person. But I gotta go," he rushed, limping past Dustin swiftly.

Jake heard Dustin mutter something under his breath, but he honestly couldn't care. He'd almost outed Rich to Dustin. And if Dustin knew somebody's secret, Jenna would know, then EVERYBODY would know.

Jake soon arrived back home and headed straight for Rich, who, he assumed, was still in the bathroom. Jake knocked on the door lightly and opened it a crack. He placed the tampons on the counter near the door and closed it again. He heard a muffled "Thanks babe." and some shuffling.

Jake shuffled back to their bedroom and flopped down on the bed. He tossed his crutches next to the bed, letting them clatter to the ground. He spread out, taking up the entire bed.

A minute or so later, Rich entered as well, a pillow hugged tightly to his abdomen. Jake sat up and pulled Rich over to him, hugging the smaller boy to his chest tightly. Rich let out a small, contented sigh and cuddled deeper into Jake's chest.

"Thanks for the stuff, Jakey," Rich whispered.

"It's no issue," Jake replied, kissing Rich's forehead gently. "Now sleep. From what I've heard you've been up way too long."

"Shark week is unpredictable, babe. It likes to mess with me."

"Whatever. I'll fight it."

"You can't fight my uterus, Jake."

"Says who?"

"Says me," Rich stated curtly. "But I'm tired as heck. Gnight babe."

"Night, Richie."

Chapter Text

Jake woke up Monday morning with a dull prickling feeling in his legs and groaned softly. It was going to be one of THOSE days.

Jake didn't always need his wheelchair. He had days when his legs were totally fine, or, at least, as fine as two shattered legs could be. Walking on them during the play had pretty much screwed them up beyond repair. So, most days, he needed his wheelchair because it would hurt like hell to put pressure on his legs, or his legs would just straight-up give out (crutches or not).

Jake glanced at his boyfriends. Jeremy was wrapped around Rich like an octopus, and Michael was on Rich's other side, half-hugging the smallest.

Jake nudged Michael, and got a tired mutter in response.

"Babe, please, I need my wheelchair," Jake whispered, poking Michael in the small of his back. Michael jolted at Jake poking him. He nodded and carefully stepped over Jake to get out of bed.

Jake listened to Michael's heavy, tired steps. He heard Michael struggle briefly to unfold it from the other room. Michael walked in a minute later, pushing Jake's wheelchair.

"Thanks, baby," Jake smiled, reaching up to kiss Michael gently. Michael smiled and crawled back into bed.

"I'm going back to sleep. There's at least 15 more minutes before the alarm goes off," Michael muttered. "Unless you need help?" Michael was referring the actually getting into the wheelchair. Jake shook his head and maneuvered himself into it. Michael nodded and cuddled back into Rich's side.

-----------------------------------

The four boys walked- well, three of them walked- into school. A few kids glanced over at them, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. What was out of the ordinary, though, was the suddenly hushed whispers and pointing.

Jeremy and Michael were more than used to it. Pointing? Whispers? They'd dealt with it all through Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior year of high school. Why would Senior year be any different?

Rich was more used to it, having dealt with it Freshman year. Jake, however, was the exact opposite of used to this. Jake had always been at least semi-popular. Teasing of any kind that wasn't friendly teasing was alien to him.

Jake nudged Jeremy. "The fuck is going on?"

Jeremy shrugged. Jake brushed it off.

The four split up to go to their separate lockers- damn the school for placing them so far apart- to get their belongings.

-----------------------------------

Jeremy was lucky- or unlucky, depending on who you asked- to have a locker next to an obnoxious amount of girls. He was the only boy with a locker there for at least 5 lockers.

"So I heard that Jake- y'know, the hot guy with crutches?- yeah, I heard he was a tranny."

Jeremy stiffened as he heard a girl, Anne, gossip to her friend.

"What? Like, he thinks he's a girl? What a creep."

"No, Nancy. Like, he WAS a girl. I heard he only does it 'cause it lets him get nailed by gay dudes. Like Rich."

Jeremy took a deep breath and glared at the girls from behind his locker door. He then snatched up what he'd need for his first few classes and stormed down the hall to History.

-----------------------------------

Later that day, at lunch, Jeremy slammed down his lunch tray loudly enough to make Michael jump.

"Damn, what'd that tuna salad ever do to you?" Michael asked jokingly, adjusting his headphones on his head. Jeremy gave no response.

Rich glanced over at him. "What's wrong, Jere?"

Jeremy sighed and stared down at his tray. He glanced around quickly to make sure Jake was still off at choir or whatever class he had before lunch. After confirming Jake wouldn't be there to hear, Jeremy leaned in closer to Michael and Rich.

"I heard some girls call Jake a... Uh... Tranny," he whispered. Michael's hand flew to his mouth and Rich's expression darkened. "I know it's not true, but I'm scared Jake's gonna get beat up or something."

"I'm gonna what?"

Jeremy fell back into his seat and whipped around at the sound of Jake's voice. He looked confused. Jeremy waved it off. "N-nothing!"

Jake scooted closer, setting his tray on the table. "Y'all were talking about me," he stated firmly. "What was it about?"

His boyfriends all glanced at each other nervously. Jake lowered his voice. "Is it about the pointing and laughing?"

Michael eventually nodded slowly. He got up and whispered to Jake what had happened.

Jake was silent, then burst out laughing.

The other three were stunned.

"Jake, this is serious!" Jeremy insisted.

"No, it's not that, I just-" he chuckled. "They got the wrong guy. Me? Trans? Most of the guys on the football team have seen me naked anyways," he stated, starting to eat.

The other three let out relieved sighs and began eating as well.

Michael and Rich damn near choked though, as a jock yelled "Hey, DYKE!"

Jake turned to face who had been yelling. Mark Jackson. Quarterback.

"What do you want, Mark?" Jake asked flatly. Mark took a step closer.

"I think you know what I want. I wanna know why you're lyin' bout bein' a dude," he stated. "Y'see, my buddies and I don't take too kindly to you tranny bitches in our locker room."

Jake frowned. "I am a dude, Mark," he spat, glaring at him. "What makes you think I'm not?"

That caused a few of Mark's friends to laugh. "You really don't know?" Mark snorted. "Dustin said he caught you buyin' tampons for some fake girl. It's pretty obvious what actually happened."

Rich paled. Oh fuck.

Jake rolled his eyes. "They WERE for a girl. A friend of mine."

"Oh really?" Mark sneered. "Where's she go?"

"The Royal Academy of Fuck Off."

Mark snarled and grabbed Jake's hood, hauling him up. Jeremy jumped up to help, but Michael yanked him back down, shaking his head vigorously.

"You wanna repeat that, fag?" Mark snarled, shaking him.

Jake glanced down at his legs. 'Here goes nothing.' He thought.

"I said, fuck off!" Jake yelled, swinging at Mark's jaw. Mark yelped as Jake hit him square in the cheek and dropped Jake.

Jake stumbled back before falling to the ground. He tried to lift himself up, only to be met with stabbing pain. "Fuck- not today," he muttered as he attempted to get his legs to work.

His three boyfriends had already jumped up to help Jake. Unfortunately, one of Mark's lackeys blocked their way to him. Rich immediately took to fighting the guy.

Mark towered over Jake, blood dripping from his mouth. He smirked.

"Well well well, look who we have here. A tranny bitch who can't even stand the fuck up." He paused. "Pathetic."

Jake was about to make a snide comment as he was cut off by Mark's boot coming into contact with his ribs. Jake let out a choked noise and immediately covered his chest with his arms, ready to be hit again.

Suddenly, Jeremy was behind Mark, holding a tray. Jeremy swung as hard as he could at Mark, hitting him directly in the back of the head.

Mark yelped and stumbled forward. He whipped around a glared at Jeremy, who also looked shocked that he'd done that.

Mark was about to yell something as Rich walked over to Jeremy. He was soon followed by Michael.

"You hurt my baby one more time-" Rich snarled, storming over to Mark and yanking him down to be eye-to-eye with Rich. "I'm gonna kick your ass into next month. Got it?"

Mark nodded, eyes wide. Rich threw him aside, causing him to stumble and almost fall. He nodded to his friends and they stormed off, flipping off the four.

Michael was instantly at Jake's side, helping him sit up. Jake winced at the pain in his ribs. He could tell they weren't broken, but they were definitely bruised.

Michael moved Jake's arms away from his chest gently and pulled up his shirt a bit to look at the marks. He winced. Light, brown bruises had already formed and would undoubtedly become dark purple and blue.

Jeremy and Michael helped Jake back up and into his wheelchair, not saying anything. They ate in tense silence.

-----------------------------------

"Okay, we need to talk about what happened," Jeremy huffed, crossing his arms.

It had been hours, and nothing was said about the issue. Jeremy wasn't trying to start anything, they just needed to talk, goddammit.

"Or we could ignore the problem til it goes away," Rich suggested, shrugging. He shifted on the couch to look at Jeremy. "It always works for me."

"No," Michael sighed, pausing his game and stretching. "Jeremy's right. Remember the last time we ignored an issue?"

Rich hung his head in shame. "Yes."

"Remember how bad everyone felt?"

"Yes."

"Remember-"

Rich flapped his hands, exasperated. "YES, I REMEMBER, YOU'VE MADE YOUR POINT."

Michael chuckled. "Alright." He turned to face Jeremy. "The floor is yours."

Jeremy rolled his eyes. "I just wanna know that everyone's ok," he said gently, making Jake shift uncomfortably on the couch across from Rich. "Especially you, Jake."

"I told you, I'm fine!" Jake huffed, crossing his arms. "Nothing's broken. At least, nothing is broken any worse than it was."

Jeremy nodded and turned to face his other two boyfriends. "Micha? Rich?"

Michael shrugged. "I'm fine. I've been dealing with this since freshman year."

Rich smiled, but it was slightly forced. "I'm pretty much okay, too."

Jeremy squinted at him. "Pretty much okay isn't okay. What's wrong?"

"It's just..." Rich sighed and hugged his knees to his chest. "The D-word really got me."

Michael climbed up onto the couch next to Rich and wrapped his arms around the smaller. Rich smiled at the affection. "But really, I'm fine. A little rattled, is all."

Jeremy smiled and wiggled in between Michael and Jake. "That's good."

Jake put one arm around Jeremy's shoulders. "Feels session over?" He asked.

Jeremy nodded. "Feels session over."