Tommy exhaled, tension leaking out of him in a slow breath. “Work.”
Chase nodded like that explained everything.
“Okay,” he said simply.
No fixing.
No interrogation.
Just acknowledgment.
Chase’s hand settled lightly at Tommy’s waist this time, thumb tracing one slow circle through the fabric of his shirt.
Grounding.
Tommy felt his heartbeat slow almost immediately.
“You’re home,” Chase added quietly.
The words landed deeper than they should have.
Tommy leaned back into him slightly before he even thought about it.
Across the room, Logan watched the exchange, expression warm rather than distant, like seeing it reassured him instead of threatening him.
Six months ago, Tommy might have worried about that.
Now he understood something different.
Care didn’t divide.
It multiplied.
Tommy locked his phone and set it face-down on the counter.
“It can wait,” he said.
Logan grinned. “Healthy boundaries. I’m proud.”
“Don’t ruin the moment,” Tommy muttered, but he was smiling again as he returned to the table.
Chase squeezed his hand once before letting go.
Easy.
Natural.
Like they’d always known how to do this.
Tommy sat back down between them, shoulders brushing both at once, warmth surrounding him from either side.
For a long moment, nothing important happened.
They talked. They laughed. Logan stole the last pancake and denied it confidently. Chase called him out. Tommy declared himself betrayed by both of them.
Ordinary things.
And somewhere in the middle of the noise and sunlight and overlapping voices, Tommy realized he hadn’t felt like background noise in a very long time.
