Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

ThoLeonNam

Leon surges up, panicked at the warmth around him, but then he looks and sees Tho and Nam. He takes a deep breath, a soft, fond smile curving his lips at the sight of them holding him. The TV is a low hum, but after rubbing his eyes, he finds the cable box clock that reads 3:27 a.m. Leon mentally berates himself for falling asleep as he nudges Tho and Nam until they groan, eyelids fluttering open.

“You two need to sleep in your bed, not crash down here like this.” says Leon softly as they sit up, holding back a whimper as the warmth of their arms around his shoulder and waist disappears before standing. “I’ll just crash down here since it’s late, and I don’t feel like driving home.” 

“Just come sleep with us tonight. I don’t want you to sleep on the couch. It's bad for your back.” says Nam around a yawn as he runs his fingers through his hair.

“I really don’t think that’s a good idea, besides it’s just for a few more hours. I have to work in about five hours, and I have to stop at home before I can go to the shoot.” explains Leon as he diverts his eyes from Tho curling around Nam’s shoulder sleepily, pressing kisses to his neck as this sudden jealousy curls darkly in his chest.

“Please come sleep with us, it’s safer and your back really will hurt if you spend any more time on this couch. Trust me, I know.” argues Tho as he pouts at Leon and gods, how is he supposed to ignore them when they look like this?

“Fine, but I have to get up when my alarm goes off.” relents Leon exasperatedly despite the way his body relaxes, jealousy dissipating some at the realization that they’re going to share a bed for the first time since that break back when they were still in high school.

“Alright, but I won’t apologize if I accidentally shut your alarm off in the morning.” says Tho with a soft chuckle as he turns from them to head towards the stairs.

“Tho! My mom will kill me if I miss this shoot! It’s for her collection!” calls Leon in a whine as he stands, he sees Tho shrugging, so he turns to Nam exasperatedly. “Nam, help me out here.”

“I won’t let you miss the shoot. Tho won’t either, he’s just worried about you doing so much with the runways, shoots, interviews, and helping at the orphanage. We’re all worried, honestly. Fiat even mentioned that Leo’s been really concerned because of how quiet you’ve been recently while taking on so much.” Nam’s voice is soft as he explains Tho’s intentions, and Leon has to look at the floor because his parents have been arguing with him about the same thing.

“This will be my last shoot for the month, and the orphanage is taken care of now. So, my plate’s going to be a lot clearer.” replies Leon softly as he runs a hand through his hair and looks up to meet Nam’s eyes again.

“Why is the orphanage good now? What changed?” asks Nam in surprise, curiously, but also like he didn’t mean to ask that question.

“P’Pob is back. The kids informed me today, well yesterday, and I managed to get into my email to see the emails he’d been sending after going down a three-hour rabbit hole.” replies Leon carefully because Tho and Nam haven’t held back their disdain for P’Pob, though they were careful to keep him from hearing to much of it.

“Oh,” starts Nam and he sounds a bit breathless to Leon, shifting his feet. “Well, have you talked to him yet? Maybe you can finally be together again.” 

Leon feels the breath leave him, the words like a punch to his gut. He really has gotten his hopes up for nothing, hasn’t he?

“I’ve emailed him, but I haven’t met him in person. I don’t plan to either as we’re both very busy. He knows where I stand, but unfortunately, time has decided that we stand separately now.” replies Leon a bit coldly, not telling him that P’Pob had found someone at the orphanage that he’d clicked with.

He and P’Pob had spent most of the day emailing back and forth, and P’Pob’s trying with this new guy that he’d met when he returned. As much as it hurts Leon, he understands that things have changed, and P’Pob wants something he doesn’t think he can give. P’Pob wants someone to travel with, moving around the world to help at orphanages everywhere, and Leon... Well, he’s finally settled in himself, in Thailand, he’s happy with his family, his friends, Tho and Nam… Well, maybe he’s not completely happy, but he’s trying.

“Leon, what aren’t you telling me? You’ve been lost for five minutes.” His words shake Leon out of his mind, but it doesn’t change his new plan.

“Nothing. Look, I’m going to head home. I’ve taken up enough of you and Tho’s time. I’ll talk to you sometime later probably. I need to go.” His words are choppy, but harsh, and he winces at the hurt look on Nam’s face.

Leon grabs his keys from the coffee table, then he heads to the door, slipping his shoes on as he opens the door.

“Leon, wait! I don’t want you driving! Please, Leon!” Nam’s voice calls after him, but he’s already reaching his car. 

Turning as he sets his hand on the handle, Leon sees the curtains to Nam’s bedroom flutter enough to show Tho looking at him, no doubt confused at what’s happening.

Leon slips into his car, starting it, then he carefully slips out of the spot between their cars seeing Nam standing in the grass, looking at him with wide eyes, arms waving, mouth moving but Leon just drove through the open gate. His emotions were wild as he drove the fifteen minutes to the main house, but five minutes away from his driveway, Leon started to freak out. He couldn’t go to the main house… He just couldn’t… So, he turned himself around to drive the thirty minutes to Leo and Fiat’s house. He doesn’t get out when he gets there, shutting the headlights off before turning into the driveway, he does shut the car off as soon as he’s parked on the other side of Fiat and Leo’s cars.

Staring at his steering wheel, he finally hears the muffled ringing of his phone in his pocket, so he pulls it out. But he just watches as Nam’s photo disappears, showing 30 missed calls and over 100 text messages, overkill much? They’re trying to figure out what happened, Tho goes from really confused to worried to just plain confused and worried while Nam is confused, angry, and worried. A voicemail appears as the message from Nam comes through.

   Nam: I’m calling Fiat! We have to know that you’re safe since you won’t answer your phone.

Leon opens the voicemail on his phone, pressing play, “Leon, I don’t know what I said that made you run, but we didn’t want you to leave… I didn’t want you to leave. Please answer us-”

Leon pulls up his messages, they’re texting in the groupchat for just the three of them, and he starts typing. He’s about to press send when a knock on his window startles him enough to hit his head on the roof of his car, phone falling onto the floorboards through the steering wheel. He looks over to see an amused Fiat trying to stifle his chuckles as his eyes betray his concern. Leon picks up his phone with a scowl at Fiat as he rubs his head before he erases the message he was going to send, typing a new one and pressing send,

   Leon: Why couldn’t you have called Leo?! Now my head hurts!

He then turns his focus back on the love of his brother’s life, and Fiat’s panic is covering his amusement. Leon slowly opens the car door so that Fiat knows to move because he really doesn’t want to piss off his brother any more than he probably already has. 

“Where’s Leo?” asks Leon hoping that Fiat will say he’s still sleeping, knowing that really isn’t going to happen.

Fiat nods towards the house, and Leon looks to see Leo standing by Fiat’s car, closest to the house, and Leon feels all the air leave his lungs because his brother looks exhausted, looks worried, looks uncertain. He can’t lay all of this on his brother, not when he’s so busy that he’s exhausted right now.

“You want to explain why Tho and Nam called me freaking out because you left? You always stay over when you three do movie nights.” says Fiat while questioning Leon because his friends called him at four something in the morning.

“It’s not important. I just didn’t want to stay over there anymore. Look, I’m sorry for showing up so late, but I really didn’t want to sneak in the house to keep mom from waking up.” says Leon softly as he pulls himself out of his car, leaning on the door.

“It’s very important because Tho and Nam are freaking out. I thought you three had worked this out already, seriously you three were supposed to be together by now, so what the heck happened? Mom would kill you if you snuck into the house at this hour, especially because you’d have to deal with the guards since Dad’s back.” rambles Fiat as he walks away from Leon, not going very far because he meets Leo in front of Leo’s car.

“What are you talking about?” asks Leon as he shuts the car door, confused by what just spewed from Fiat’s mouth.

“Mom and Dad would-” starts Fiat as he turns to look at Leon in confusion.

“Not that, the first part, about Tho and Nam.” says Leon as he interrupts Fiat before he can go off another rambling tangent.

“You, Tho, and Nam were supposed to have had a very serious conversation that would end up with-” starts Fiat before Leo’s hand clamps over his lips to stop him from talking.

“They clearly haven’t talked yet, and those two will kill you if you tell Leon before they have the chance to talk to him.” Leo whispers to Fiat, but Leon had gotten close enough that Leo wasn’t getting away with that.

“Considering Nam thought I was going to go back to P’Pob just because he was back home, I don’t think he’ll care. Besides, if Fiat’s right about us ending up together, they clearly didn’t mean it.” says Leon as he steps to them.

Fiat looks at Leon in shock, and Leo’s just got his suspicious look that says he doesn’t believe a word you said because your proof is nonexistent. 

“What do you mean P’Pob is back?” asks Fiat and Leon rolls his eyes, “He’s been back for a few weeks now apparently. It’s not important.”

“Not important?! The love of your life is back, and it’s not important?!” questions Fiat seriously and Leon can’t help the huff that leaves him at how matter-of-fact Fiat seems.

“Considering he’s moving on, and I realized some feelings didn’t stay in the past, I’d say love of your life should be in quotes.” snarks Leon as he crosses his arms over his chest.

“This is not a conversation to be had at almost 4:30 in the morning.” 

Leo’s statement is just a reminder that Leon really needs to get some sleep and not think about how he’s ended up outside his brother’s house rather than wrapped up with the two men that he’s fallen in love with again.

Chapter Text

His ringing alarm startles Leon out of sleep, jolting him into a sitting position, and he presses the palm of his hand over his chest as though to calm his suddenly racing heart. He’d fallen into a fitful sleep upon finally reaching the guest room, Leo reminding him that they would need to talk about this later, meanwhile Fiat seemed annoyed, mumbling about annoying friends and stupid younger brothers keeping secrets. Leon breathes deeply, calming himself as much as he can, then he reaches over to shut his alarm off. He slips off the bed, he didn’t bother changing yesterday, so his clothes are beyond rumpled. 

“Leon! Breakfast!” calls his older brother, and Leon freezes with his phone in hand, almost to the door.

“And here I thought I’d be able to sneak out.” mumbles Leon with an eye roll before he continues through the door and down the stairs.

“Ah, good, I thought I’d have to come up there and drag your ass down here.” says Fiat flippantly once Leon reaches the ground floor, stepping towards the dining table.

“Oh, shove it Fiat, it’s too early to be arguing with you.” grumbles Leon in annoyance as he slumps into one of the chairs, he’s exhausted but there’s no time to let that exhaustion overwhelm him. “I was going to try to sneak out… Why are you both up so soon?”

“We wanted to talk to you before you left.” replies Leo as though it’s that simple and Leon supposes it might be.

“We also have plans, so an early start was on our agenda.” adds Fiat with a smug smile that makes Leon’s eyes roll for the second time this morning.

“Ah, wonderful, an early morning interrogation before I deal with mom and photographers. What a way to start my Monday.” says Leon sarcastically, shaking his head before grabbing a muffin.

“Are you not going to eat the actual food?” asks Leo with an arched brow.

“There’s no point. You two are going to talk my ear off, get answers, and then I am going to have to leave because I have to change before I can go to my shoot.” replies Leon with a shrug as he finishes off the muffin, sipping the glass of orange juice sat in front of him by Leo. “Let’s get on with it.”

“The only question I have is what brought you to our home so late?” asks Leo curiously but softly, closely looking at Leon.

“I have far more questions than just that one, but that’s a good start. Leon, what happened?” asks Fiat and Leon’s a bit surprised at the soft tone because he hasn’t heard Fiat’s voice that soft since P’Pob left.

“Nothing really. I was at Nam’s; it was movie night. We all fell asleep on the couch, and I woke up for some reason.” Leon pauses on a soft breath, a smile curving his lips as he remembers the warmth and safety that blossomed in his chest upon waking to see himself held so closely by Nam and Tho. “Anyways, I woke them up so they could go upstairs, and I had every intention of sleeping on the couch rather than trying to go home. Tho and Nam had just convinced me to just go stay in their room, so I wasn’t hurt because of the couch, then Tho went upstairs, leaving just me and Nam in the living room.”

“And what did Nam say that brought you here, leaving them panicked?” asks Fiat.

Leon knows he wants to add more, something that Leon doesn’t know, but he’s glad that he doesn’t.

“One thing led to another, and we got onto the P’Pob topic. I got irritated and left.” replies Leon shortly because he really doesn’t want to delve further than he already has despite how much trust he has in Fiat and Leo.

“Leon, we know that’s not true. We want to know what happened from your tongue. Nam called after I told him you were here, he told us his side. Now, what’s your side?” asks Leo his tone even, but the arms crossing over his chest show that this isn’t something that Leon can escape,

 “Nam was telling me how everyone was worried because Tho threatened to shut my alarm off in the morning, well he was teasing, but still.” sighs Leon with an amused chuckle, shaking his head as he lets last night flow, talking it out. “I told him that this was my last shoot, and that P’Pob had returned. He decided to ask if I was going to talk to P’Pob because maybe we’d finally be able to be together, and I guess I lost my head a bit. I didn’t explain, just said that time had decided that P’Pob and I weren’t to be together. Then I took off.”

There. It’s all out there now. And Nam had no doubt said the same thing, though maybe there was more because Fiat seemed to be pondering while Leo looked eased, though he definitely had more questions than he’d let on. Leon sat back in the chair, allowing his back to press firmly against the spindles of the wooden furniture, allowing the pressure to be his anchor for the moment. He didn’t want to think about last night any more than he already had.

“Why are you and P’Pob not going to be together now that he has returned, and you know of his return?” asks Leo and Leon is shocked that Leo’s the one to voice the question rather than it being Fiat.

“Because he’s found someone that he really cares for, and I don’t love him like I did.” replies Leon tersely, voice straining a bit more than he’d expected but his emotions were a tidal wave right now with no destination in sight for the chaos.

“Because you love Tho and Nam now, and Nam even slightly suggesting that you and P’Pob should get back together was a reminder that you weren’t theirs.” says Fiat in such a matter-of-fact tone that he almost missed the wonder and uncertainty in his voice.

"Fiat!" admonishes Leo in a harsh tone but Leon is surprised at his interjection.

“I think that’s enough. I need to go and get ready for this shoot. Please, send my apologies to Nam and Tho for worrying them as I did. I know you all are going for lunch today.” says Leon with a colder tone than needed, but he’s really trying to not drown in this.

There’s too much to do today, drowning will have to wait until the shoot is done, until he can escape for a while.

“Tell me if I am right or not Leon. This is important.” says Fiat but Leon ignores him, standing and moving towards the door without even pushing his chair back in. “Leon! Leon, just tell me the truth!”

Leon freezes with his hand on the knob of the door, body trembling for release of the emotions holding him taut. 

“Yes.” The words are louder than he intended, and Fiat’s gasp shows that he was heard.

With that small release, Leon leaves the house calmly, not rushing as he had last night. They’d gotten their answers, so they wouldn’t rush after him. He’d be free to leave, and he was. Leon left, the drive like a blur as was the walk into the house. It wasn’t until he was under the warm blast of water from his shower that he felt himself come back to earth. This was not going to be easy; this was already much harder than he thought it would be. Though, in his defense, he thought that Tho and Nam were interested, thought that was why they constantly pulled him into their outings, dinners, movie nights that were started far before they’d gotten together, before he’d fully gotten with P’Pob. They’d been the ones to help him, so maybe that’s why Nam had asked. Maybe Leon was the one dreaming of something so outrageous this time, maybe it was all in his head. The tears fall before he even realizes what’s happening, and he’s quick to wash them away, frustrated that he’s let himself get this far without realizing he’s not wanted.

“Leon, do hurry! We need to leave in ten minutes!” calls his mother’s voice and he has a half a mind to wonder how she already knows he’s home, but he knows it’s either the guards or the workers.

He shuts the shower off, calling, “I’ll be down soon!” 

Leon’s quick to pull himself together, toweling off as he prepares himself for the day, dressing in the fall inspired outfit of his mother’s choosing as it is hung on the bathroom door as he pulls it open. Leon grabs his phone from where he’d haphazardly thrown it on his bed before his shower, and he heads downstairs to join his mother.

“Leon dear, do check your phone. Fiat said he’s tried calling you three times already.” says his mother offhandedly and Leon looks at her, head tilting curiously because Fiat really told his mom that he’s ignoring him?

Leon shakes his head before looking at his phone, and his jaw drops at the notifications lighting up his screen, and there are quite a lot of them. Fiat had called, but it was once, and Leo called once as well. The rest of the notifications are from Tho and Nam, though Leo and Fiat had sent a couple of texts as well. Tho and Nam had called dozens of times, voicemails were there, and they’d blown his phone up with at least a hundred messages from him leaving right now. 

“Fiat was exaggerating mom, and we need to go before we’re late.” says Leon with a shake of his head, eyes focused on the door as he leaves the house.

His mother follows him quickly, and the drive is quiet, but quick as they go to the studio that’s just ten minutes away. Leon’s grateful that his mother doesn’t push for more, despite asking if everything was okay once they/d gotten on the road. She’s letting him breathe, and he’s grateful for that.

“Leon,” starts his mom once they’ve parked and the car is off, and he groans because of course that wouldn’t last long. “Son, is there something you’d like to tell me about P’Pob?”

Leon shrinks back into his seat because P’Pob’s return was their secret, and theirs alone. His mom wanted P’Pob to be her son, but unfortunately, that was not happening anymore.

“Uh, well Mom... You see… P’Pob has returned, but he’s seeing someone at the orphanage, and I’m very happy for him. I’m sorry that I couldn’t make him your son.” The words leave him quickly, almost a slur, but he managed to control his tongue enough to let it be legible in the air.

“Ah, well, I guess you’ll just have to give me Nam and Tho then. Let’s go, you are close to your well-deserved break, and I plan to make this quick so I can meet your father for lunch.” says his mom happily, she shrugs this off as though it doesn’t matter anymore.

“You… You’re not mad?” asks Leon a bit surprised because his mom had once been very adamant about making P’Pob her son.

“Why would I be mad? You two have found others to love, and you are back. You’ve been very lively my son, and I know that is the doing of Nam and Tho. As long as you’re both happy, I have no anger to spread. Besides, Tho and Nam have been around us for far too long for me not to want them to be my sons as well. You’ll just have to make it official.” Her tone is flippant as they exit the car, a bright smile painting her lips, and Leon feels eased that his mother accepts everything.

“I don’t know that I can give you Tho and Nam, mom. They’re very happy together, and I don’t want to put myself where I don’t belong again.” says Leon as they head into the building and Leon is immediately swept away by the stylists.

“You will, my son, because they are where you belong.” says his mom but he’s far too gone to hear her.

It didn't take long for them to begin taking the photographs, and his mom was serious about getting done in time for a lunch date with his father. They’re done by noon, and he’s so grateful that he didn’t have to change as many times as his mom had warned that he would. 

“Do I need to find my own ride?” asks Leon teasingly as his mom walks towards him after saying goodbye to his dad over the phone.

“I can drop you at Leo and Fiat’s. They want to see you anyways, unless you’d like to find a ride.” says his mom with a wave of her hand.

“What do Fiat and Leo want with me?” asks Leon curiously, they were supposed to have plans and be doing lunch with their friends.

“Apparently, they want you to come to lunch.” says his mom flippantly but she’s watching him closely.

“Yeah, that’s not happening. I can’t face Nam and Tho after last night.” says Leon quietly as he takes the phone that she holds out to him.

“You should go through your messages. I’m going to check the photos. Who knows, maybe your mind will change by the time I’m ready to leave.” says his mom softly, knowingly in a way that Leon really doesn’t like right now.

He opens his mouth to respond only to watch her disappear over to where everyone’s surrounding the computer that the camera is now hooked up to. Leon sighs before going over and dropping onto the leather couch near the door. He takes a deep breath before going through the messages, listening to the voicemails. The panicked voices of Nam and Tho trying to convince him to respond to them, knowing he’s okay but wanting to understand why he’d left the way he did and why he’s not answering them. Fiat had left a voicemail this time, simply telling him that he was expected at the lunch since he was done early, and that if he didn’t show, he’d get Leo to send Nam and Tho after him.

Leon sighs, going to lunch would be nice but with this awkwardness, he doesn’t think he’d survive being near them and not knowing where they really stand. He knows he didn’t give them any time to react, Tho didn’t even know what was happening, and Nam tried to find out what was wrong. Tho and Nam despise P’Pob, that Leon knows, yet Nam suggested that Leon would get back with him. And Leon supposes that is his own fault because he didn’t tell them that he’d begun getting over P’Pob, didn’t tell them that he never expected P’Pob to return. He especially hadn’t explained that the reason for all of this is that they’d helped him get over P’Pob while making him fall in love with them.

Leon reads through the messages, it’s mainly Tho pleading for him to respond, snapping at Nam in the group chat, and getting frustrated at the lack of a response. He threatens to come and find him a few times, but Nam shuts him down with the reminder that Leon’s working, needs his sleep, and that he’s too upset for them to irrationally show up to confront him. It’s Nam’s last message that shatters his idea of ignoring them all. 

      Nam <3: Leon, we love you, please respond to us.

Leon freezes at the sight of that simple message, just asking Leon to respond, telling him that they love him. He can’t believe what he’s reading… It’s as a friend Leon, don’t go losing your head. Leon sighs as he remembers that Tho and Nam haven’t done anything to indicate potentially feeling any sort of way for him. But he does respond because he can’t ignore them, not when Nam’s throwing those three words around, so rejection will come sooner rather than later for Leon. Oh well, at least they’ll leave him alone afterwards.

      Leon: Let’s meet at yours, Nam. We need to talk, you, me, and Tho only. There’s no neutral ground, so yours will have to do. You two can go to lunch afterwards.

Leon doesn’t have to wait long for the responses to come through their group chat.

      Nam <3: Thank God you’ve finally responded. We do need to talk, so we’ll wait here.

      Tho <3: We’ll talk this out, then we can all go to lunch. See you soon.

      Leon: See you soon.

“Leon, have you made a decision yet?” asks His mom as she come to stand in front of the couch,

“Yeah, do you think you could drop me at Nam’s house? I’m going to go with them to lunch.” replies Leon with a soft smile despite the nerves fluttering in his veins at the conversation that is coming soon.

“Absolutely, let’s go then. Your father should be about done, so we’ll have to hurry.” says His Mom with an excited look that Leon shares because though he sees rejection coming, at least he’ll be able to clear the air in hopes of a friendship after he manages to move on.

They are quick to head out to the car, Leon’s leg bouncing nervously as his mother drives to Nam’s. This is going to be painful, but maybe Leon will stop feeling so lost, so alone.

Chapter Text

Leon’s trembling as his mom parks in Nam’s driveway. Tho and Nam are standing at the door, and he can see the way Tho is leaning on Nam, no doubt worrying about this whole situation.

“Leon, sweetie, just talk to them. It’s going to be okay; you’ll see.” says his mom, and Leon’s never been more grateful for her support as he turns to her.

“This is going to be a very, very chaotic conversation, mom… I don’t know how I’m going to make it through.” His concerns voiced with ease in the safety of the car, despite the hope that maybe his mom’s right.

“It’s going to be messy, you know that, especially after the way you left and ignored them, but Leon, you have to talk to them. No one can read your mind, my son, not even me. Just tell them what’s going on in that head of yours.” replies his mom softly, a reassuring hand resting on his cheek.

Leon takes a deep breath, leaning into the comfort that his mom’s giving. He leans closer to give her a hug before he pulls back and rests his hand on the door handle.

“I’d better go do this, huh? I’ll let you know how everything goes later. Enjoy your lunch with dad, okay?” says Leon as he looks at his mom with a lopsided grin, trepidation flowing through his words.

“I’ll be waiting for your call, and I will. Go, I’m sure they’re just as nervous as you are seeing as they were already out here when we got here, and they haven’t moved.” replies his mom again reassuring him as she nods towards where Tho and Nam are still waiting patiently.

Leon nods, breathing deeply again, determination forcing him to open the door and step out. He shuts the door softly, the click of the door shutting just another reminder that he’s really doing this, then he waves at his mom before heading to the door. 

“Have you been waiting out here very long?” asks Leon softly as he reaches them.

“No, just a few minutes before you got here.” says Nam as he smiles a bit shakily, and Tho nods his agreement.

Tho reaches out to hug Leon, and Leon lets himself relax in the hold, Nam taking Tho’s place as he pulls away.

“You made us very worried. Fiat said you were okay, but you weren’t responding. We freaked out a lot.” says Tho as Nam pulls away and they head into the house, Tho holding the door for Leon as Nam leads them.

“I know, Fiat and Leo told me. I’m sorry, I just… I needed to leave is all. But I should have responded to you. That wasn’t fair of me.” says Leon apologetically as they go over to the couch.

Leon sits further away, to face them easily, and he watches Tho and Nam sit shoulder to shoulder, hands intertwined. He has to look away for a minute, feeling overwhelmed again with that jealousy that’s been plaguing him for a while now.

“What uh… What did you want to talk about?” asks Nam and Leon feels this urge to reassure him, both of them.

“I wanted to explain why I left the way I did, I wanted to explain a few things actually… There’s a lot that I need to tell you both, and I’m not really sure how this is going to end when I get everything out in the open.” replies Leon quickly, wanting to let them know that he’s going to answer their questions and concerns.

“Okay, but before you do that, can you just… What did I say that made you run away from us?” asks Nam a bit brokenly and Leon feels his heart break just a bit more.

“I wasn’t running away from you two… I- You brought up P’Pob, and I didn’t really explain well. I just…” Looking at them, Leon hesitates because he doesn’t know how to explain where his head was.

“You just...?” Tho’s urging him to continue, wanting to understand what happened.

“I felt a bit overwhelmed with my own thoughts and there’s more to that situation than I let on. I’m not upset with either of you, that’s the last thing either of you need to be worried about. I could never really be upset with you two anyways, and that’s not what happened here either.” explains Leon carefully, trying to get everything together in his head so he doesn’t screw this up until he can’t save it.

“Okay, so I overstepped by mentioning him.” Leon barely hears the words leave Nam’s lips, but he can’t ignore them.

“You didn’t overstep.” says Leon seriously, needing Nam to hear him. “It wasn’t that at all. I hadn’t told anyone about P’Pob, so it was the first time anyone brought him up in a while. But it wasn’t you overstepping, it was just a reminder… I’m not explaining this well.”

He huffs a bit petulantly as he stares down at his hands. Leon knows that he’s skipping a lot, and he’s not making any sense. But his mind is too freaking messy to even... He covers his face with his hands, irritation burning through his veins like fire.

“Leon. Leon, just breathe. It’s okay, this is bound to be hard, but you have to breathe. It’s okay, we can wait.” says Tho and Leon feels hands on his shoulders, warmth pressing against his thighs.

He melts, just melts into the comfort they’re exuding into his skin. Leon feels a calm rush through him, thankful for their care, and he breathes deeply as he lets his hands fall against his legs. 

“Give yourself some time to figure out what you want to say, how you want to say it. We have all the time in the world to wait, Leon. It’s okay.” says Nam quietly and Leon’s grateful for the quietness that just enforces what they’re already conveying.

The silence helps him order his thoughts, and he stares at his hands as he takes a readying breath.

“Okay, let me try again. I am not, in any way, shape, or form upset with either of you at all. Nor did you overstep by mentioning P’Pob. That’s not what caused all of this at all, my reaction was my doing, not yours.” starts Leon slowly, making an effort to actually be honest and explain this the way he needs to.

“Okay, then what caused this?” asks Tho softly and Leon’s glad that he’s continuing where he stopped.

“Let me start with P’Pob, then we can get to that.” Leon takes a deep breath before he dives in here because he has no doubt that they’re not going to be happy with P’Pob after this. “P’Pob was emailing me while he was gone, but it was that one email that I forgot the password to. It took forever to get access to that email again, but I did. Anyways, we spoke a bit through email, and he’s found someone that he likes a lot. So, that’s the real reason for why we’re not getting back together… At least, on his side of things.”

“Okay, so P’Pob moved on despite the hope you had of potentially getting back with him.” says Nam in what is clearly carefully contained anger.

“After he hid that he was leaving, and then told you he loved you when breaking up with you.” Tho’s anger is not as contained, Leon can feel the way his fingers ball into a fist on his shoulder.

“Yes, I know, neither of you like P’Pob at all. I got that. Not the point at all here. I said on his side. I have a side in this too, ya know?” replies Leon with a chuckle despite the seriousness of the conversation because this was exactly what he was expecting. “And I’d realized that though it hurt, we wanted two different things. I’m settled here, comfortable in my place here, and I’ve spent so much of my life traveling only to find that home is here. P’Pob has all these plans to travel and do all of these amazing things for the orphanages, but I don’t want to travel. I have no desire to leave the life I’ve created here.”

It’s quiet, but Leon knows it’s because they’re processing, so he doesn’t continue. He lets it sink in, feels the way that Nam’s hand falls from his shoulder to rub his back, feels the way Tho’s fist unfurls until his fingers fall against his shoulder, carefully moving to his other shoulder to hug him. 

“Okay, so it wasn’t entirely one-sided then… I still don’t like how he handled it though.” grumbles Tho but Leon smiles anyway because Tho’s not so angry now.

“That’s right, besides, he’s not the only one who’s begun moving on. I’ve not got into a relationship, but my feelings have definitely changed. I- This would be why the P’Pob thing set me off. It was a reminder of what I couldn’t have, what I was fooling myself into hoping for.” Leon’s determined to explain, but he cuts himself off anyways.

His hands curl into fists against his thighs, determination faltering at the unmistakable knowledge that he’s going to be rejected, he’s going to lose them. After everything they’ve done, he’s going to lose them because he’s not meant to be theirs, nor P’Pob’s. He’s not someone to wait for, someone to love, he’s just not. P’Pob proved that when not even a week back in Thailand, he’d found someone to be with, that was everything Leon wasn’t.

“Leon, I don’t know where you just went. But I guarantee it wasn’t where you belong.” Nam’s words cut through his spiral, and though Leon’s grateful for it, he knows it’s not going to last. “You said it was a reminder, not a good one, but a reminder nonetheless…”

“Leon, what was it a reminder of exactly?” asks Tho carefully, as though he’s not sure he wants to know the answer as he picks up where his boyfriend left off.

“A reminder that I’m not…” His words are so strong until they’re not, until he just can’t gather enough air. “I’m not both of yours.”

It’s a whisper, and Leon’s shocked he managed to get it passed his own lips at all. Sitting there, he feels his entire world narrow into the way the hands leave him, the space of warmth and comfort suddenly eviscerated by his own words. Leon stands, forcing himself to move away from them because that’s what he needs to do. His own mind is a blur of words that make no sense in the panic, he sits across from them staring at his legs again. He suddenly realizes that he hasn’t looked at them this entire time. They’ve had easy access to the expressions on his face, the way he’s struggled, bitten his bottom lip, scrunched his brows while trying to figure out how to word something. They’ve been watching him react to his own words, to theirs, but he still hasn’t really looked at them.

He forces himself to look at them as he forces himself to acknowledge what must be their shocked, but silent rejection.

“I- I know you don’t feel that way about me. You’re happy together, and I would never, ever try to change that. I just- I had to explain why everything happened the way it did, and that’s what…” Leon takes a deep breath, watching their shared looks, the processing of his words. They’re looking very closely at him as he forces himself to power on. “That was why. I know that you’re probably not going to want to be around me, and that’s okay! I- I understand that this was a lot. Just- I need you to know that this has nothing to do with P’Pob moving on. I- I realized I was falling in love with the two of you after the first year of P’Pob being gone. I just, I never thought it would happen, so I let myself hold onto the hope of P’Pob. I just, I know that’s not what I want any more is all.” 

Leon goes quiet as soon as everything’s out. The weight is off his chest, his mind is silent, aside from the reminder that he’s never going to be able to show his face around them again after this mess. He looks at them, their dark eyes widening, probably because of his stuttering, but understanding seems to be washing over them. Leon’s not sure what to do now that he’s said what he needed to say, not sure how to deal with this silence that’s suffocating.

“So, you’re saying that you’re in love with the both of us.” The words are framed as a sentence, but the uplift in Nam’s voice argues that it’s a question.

“Ye- Yes I am.” replies Leon quietly, uncertain of where this is going to go now.

“So, while we’ve been freaking out that you wouldn’t possibly fall for both of us, you went and fell for both of us. Wow, we really got lucky here, babe.” says Tho and Leon feels like his entire world just turned upside down because, what ?

“I’m sorry… What?” asks Leon with wide eyes as he looks between them, Tho's smirking while Nam’s just grinning.

“Oh, right, you were expecting a rejection. Well, that’s not happening. Actually, why were you expecting a rejection anyways?” asks Nam and now Leon’s really confused, these men are giving him whiplash.

“What do you mean...? Neither of you have ever, ever showed any signs of feeling that way towards me. What do you mean why was I expecting a rejection? Because you two don’t feel that way for me!” exclaims Leon as he stands and looks at them, hands in his hair.

“Leon.” starts Tho but he falters as he can’t help but chuckle, and Leon pouts at the teasing. “No, don’t pout like that. Little Lion, I’m not laughing at you, I just. We’ve been showing how we feel this entire time. All the movie nights, dragging you out to the arcade, to the coffee shops, restaurants, the park, the dinners with the lights and soft music… We’ve been trying to romance you this whole time!”

“You- What?!” exclaims Leon seriously because was he really the dense one here? All this time, and he could’ve had them… But he was the blind one? “Wait, seriously? I thought I interrupted your dates when you had the lights and that, I thought… You’re kidding.”

“He’s not. Leon, we’ve been trying to show that you fit with us. You- I can’t believe you didn’t realize that we’ve been showing you we love you this whole time. You never interrupted our dates, everything we’ve done has included you purposely, to show that we want you.” Nam sounds exasperated, and Leon just can’t believe this is real.

“Okay, so let me get this straight. I freaked out last night because I thought you mentioning me getting back with P’Pob meant that you two weren’t interested. But this entire time you’ve basically been trying to date me, and I didn’t realize it. When did our lives turn into a drama?” asks Leon as he lays it out, the information sinking in pretty easily considering how freaked out he was before he came in here early.

“Pretty much. But- You really do want us both?” asks Nam a bit nervously.

“Considering how much I beat myself up for falling for both of you, before you told all of us that you were together, I’d say that’s not even a question.” replies Leon with a soft chuckle but he could see the insecurity in Nam’s eyes, so he explained. “Both of you made me the happiest person in the world, through all of this, despite how awful I was that first year. I mean, you’re the reasons that I laughed, that I left my house, that I managed to do all of this, without you two, Leo and Fiat never would’ve got me to leave my room.”

Nam grins, eyes lighting up in happiness, but Leon’s suddenly tackled back against the couch by Tho. He laughs at the way Tho squeezes him, arms wrapped around his back, and Leon hugs Tho back just as tightly.

“I’m so happy that you can be ours now.” says Tho into his neck, and Leon feels a shiver go down his spine.

“Will you be ours now that we know you feel the same way? We would really like you to be our boyfriend.” says Nam as he comes over to sit next to Leon, hugging the both of them carefully because of the awkward position.

“I’d love that.” replies Leon with a grin as he moves an arm to wrap around Nam as well.

Leon presses a short, soft kiss to Nam’s cheek, pressing another one to Tho’s hair because that’s all he can see now that Tho’s adjusted to hug Nam as well. He melts happily into this warmth of his boyfriends because he finally can.

Chapter Text

Leon, Tho, and Nam decided that instead of going to lunch, they were going to sprawl on Nam’s bed and take a much needed nap. Leon felt emotionally exhausted after all was said and done, so the nap was an executive decision he made because he just couldn’t. But they wouldn’t let him go home so that they could go to lunch, so their executive decision was for all three of them to forgo lunch and just take a nap instead.

“I should probably message mom, she’s bound to be curious about whether everything went well or not.” says Leon softly, tiredly as he lays between Nam and Tho.

“Are you wanting to tell everyone separately or together?” asks Nam curiously and Leon hadn’t thought that far.

“I really hadn’t thought that far, I was just going to tell her that I was taking a nap and wouldn’t answer in a while probably.” replies Leon with a shrug as he lets his head loll to look at Nam.

“They’re all going to be curious when we don’t show up to lunch or answer their questions about how this all went.” says Tho softly as he rolls to lay an arm over Leon, fingers resting against Nam’s arm.

“Well, why don’t we just put them in a group chat and tell them that we’re together, and we’ll deal with them all later because we’re napping?” asks Leon as he throws out the idea because he really doesn’t want to deal with their friends and family when he could be napping with his two babies.

“You know what, that may be the best idea we can think of with our tired minds, great job little lion. Let’s do that. I’ll make the chat. Tho, you can name the chat, and Leon, you can send the message. How about that?” asks Nam as he pulls out his phone from his pocket.

“Yeah, sure, let’s do that.” replies Tho with a grin and Leon is concerned with what he’s got planned.

“Hey, if my mom’s going in that chat, you better keep it pg.” says Leon as he nudges Tho with his elbow gently enough to grab his attention.

“How about Little Lion Is Ours? I think that’s a perfect group chat name, cause you’re ours.” replies Tho cheekily and a blush settles on Leon’s cheeks, and he covers his face with a hand.

“You are embarrassing.” whines Leon into his hand and he feels their chuckles. “Come on, let’s get this done, I’m ready to sleep.”

“Alright, I got the chat created, let’s do this so our little lion can get some rest here.” says Nam as he sets his phone on his side table before rolling over to lay an arm over Leon, arm going over Tho as well.

Tho pulls out his phone, naming the group chat, and Leon types out the message as he does that. After he finishes with naming the group chat, he taps his phone against Nam’s arm until he shifts and lays Tho’s phone next to his own on his side table.

“How does, ‘we’re dating, and now we’re napping. Thank you and goodbye.’ sound?” asks Leon as he tries to decide if that’s enough or not.

“Honestly? I don’t know how else we’d do it, so that should work fine.” says Nam with a shrug as he presses closer to Leon.

“I’m not really sure what else we could say either, so yeah, that works.” adds Tho and Leon whines at the unhelpfulness that his sleepy boyfriends are exuding right now.

                                                   Little Lion is Ours

     Leon: Mom, they’re your sons too now… Everyone else, Tho and Nam are mines, and now we’re napping. So, thank you and goodbye.

Leon moves to put his phone back in his pocket, but Nam stops him before he can slip his hand under their arms.

“I’ll just set it with ours, that way it won’t wake you up when they inevitably blow the chat up.” says Nam softly, and Leon watches as Nam shuts the ringer off before rolling to lay his phone on the table as well.

“Nap time babies, stop talking.” mumbles Tho into Leon’s arm, and Leon can’t help but agree with him.

They curl up even closer, Nam pulling the comforter up, from where it was shoved to the end of the bed, to cover them up before sleep can take them. Leon’s laying on his back, Nam curled on his right, nose being tickled by Leon’s hair, while Tho is curled on his left, head moving so it’s tucked in the crook of Leon’s neck, cold nose pressing against the warm skin there. Sleep takes them pretty easily as they melt together into the warm comfort surrounding them in Nam’s bedroom. They were blissfully unaware of the messages piling into the group chat, lost in the land of dreams while surrounded by each other.

                                                    Little Lion Is Ours

      Leon: Mom, they’re your sons too now… Everyone else, Tho and Nam are mines, and now we’re napping. So, thank you and goodbye.

      Mom: Welcome to the family Nam and Tho, you’re now my sons!

      Aek: Well, I was wondering when you were going to tell us.

      Fiat: It’s about TIME! 

      Anda: Well, this is a wonderful surprise. Congratulations to you three!

      Natsu: Woah, I didn’t know this was happening. I’m happy for you three though!

      Leo: Congratulations little brother, glad that you three worked this mess out.