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One of the most beautiful things to come from Realization has been watching your boys at their happiest.
It had been almost a year since you brought Eddie and Volt into their humanity, and quite an eventful one, at that.
After the Breaker Box 2.0 fiasco, the development of High Voltage Realty, your full departure from Valdivian, and the rather intimate discoveries that the three of you had made together since they left your house, you had all settled into something of a routine.
The boys, by nature of their new careers, lived in the heart of the city to attract as much foot traffic and word-of-mouth as they could. Realty made unconventional hours the norm, but there was one rule that existed between the three of you.
During the week, you worked diligently to keep your separate houses in order, but once five o’clock hit every Friday? They were yours until Monday.
The arrangement worked wonders for the three of you. Of course, you called and texted at least every other day when you were apart- you’re positive that the boys would be very upset if they went longer than that without hearing from you-, but the weekend was when you went from being someone’s realtors and virtual assistant to being yourselves. The stresses of the week easily melted away in each other’s arms, relaxing under the roof that held you all for so many years. You would often find yourself curled up against Volt’s chest with Eddie sliding in beside you, an arm thrown over Volt’s shoulders and a hand resting with light pressure on your thigh, as if you needed reassurance that he was there with both of you. Even better were the days when your triad found itself out on the town, dancing close at a club that one of you would inevitably determine did not compare to The Breaker Box or chatting mindlessly about the boys’ most recent project or the event you were helping your boss plan for the end of the year over a new restaurant one of you wanted to try. For forty-eight uninterrupted hours every week, nothing mattered but you and your boys.
This week was different, though.
You were in the middle of pulling on the soft sweater you got in Mateo’s most recent care package when a knock sounded from your door. You spared a glance into your office on the way down the stairs to answer it, thinking that you might have lost track of the days and a former object was supposed to visit today. Nothing.
Opening the door, you were thrilled to see a familiar mop of black hair and warm- albeit tired- eyes looking back at you.
“Eddie! What are you doing here? I didn’t know you were coming over today!” You chirped happily, wrapping your arms around his neck in a hug as he slid an arm around your waist and tugged you close. You liked to ensure that you treasured every moment with either of the boys from the breaker box, and didn’t pull away now until you felt a sweet kiss pressed to your temple.
“I know, livewire, but I’m on a covert mission today.” He spoke, words muffled softly in your hair. Grinning at the idea of some form of quest- you had to admit, you really missed running around the house for your friends and lovers-, you tugged him into the house and over to the couch.
“Alright, spy-man, what’s the mission? And where’s our old man?” Eddie let out a breath of a laugh at the teasing nickname you had given to Volt after an unfortunate incident involving a woman on the street assuming he was her grandfather from behind due to the man’s gray-white hair. Volt had been in a crisis about it for days after. He shook his head at the memory and smiled at you, reaching up to cup your cheek.
For a moment, Eddie just looked at you, running his thumb gently over your cheekbone. When you quirked an eyebrow at the behavior, he gave another soft, short laugh.
“In a second, c’m’ere.” Eddie pulled you easily into him, his lips meeting yours in the gentle way he usually reserved for lazy moments between the three of you, when he knew he had all the time in the world with you. It was impossible to resist smiling into the kiss, and you slipped a hand to the back of his neck to keep him close for a moment longer. When he pulled away, he was still grinning, and broke the contact with one quick, final press to your lips.
“Okay, you’re starting to freak me out with how smiley you are today. What is going on?” You teased, not leaving the close proximity you had entered during your kiss.
“I’m just... a really lucky guy, you know? You, Volt, what we have, it’s really special...,” His hand drifted from its spot on your arm down to lace your hand with his, “and I think I want to propose to Volt.”
You felt like your eyes were going to pop out of your head. Any time you had thought about your future with the pair, you knew that a marriage between them would happen sooner or later, you had just always imagined having this conversation with Volt. You felt your expression break into an uncontrollable grin as you tackled Eddie into a hug, hearing him ‘oomph’ softly at the reaction.
“This is the best news ever! Oh my god, we have to make it perfect. What have you thought of already?” When you pulled away from the contact enough to look at him, you found Eddie’s eyes searching yours intently, as if hunting for something secret, “Am I missing something? Is it not the best news ever?”
“No, no! I’m...I’m glad you’re excited. I’ll admit I was a bit...” He turned his head to the side, his nose crinkling in the way it did when he was having a hard time putting his thoughts into words.
“Hey, get out of your head, just say what you’re thinking.”
Eddie cast a look up to you and sighed, pulling the hand not currently twined with yours to scratch at the back of his head anxiously.
“I thought maybe...you’d think me wanting to propose to Volt would...mean something negative about us. About the three of us together. That's why I wanted to talk to you about it.” He was refusing to meet your eyes now- and although you admired the progress he’d made in talking about his feelings- that simply wouldn’t do.
You took his chin between your thumb and forefinger, turning his head to meet yours straight-on.
“I am very excited to help you propose to Volt, if you’ll have me. I know you love me, I know Volt loves me, I know I love you both, but what I know more than all of that,” You grinned at the way his lips parted slightly as he looked at you, that sweet, secret look that you and Volt knew meant he was being reminded of how well you all worked together, “and what I have known for quite a long time, is that if only one set of us is able to get married, I would happily give that to you and Volt. And will love you all the same.”
Eddie made no immediate move to speak or even react. He kept entirely still, his gray eyes the only slightest hint that he was still present as they flicked over your expression. Then, with the speed of his former object, his hands were pressed to either side of your face and his lips were on yours. He kissed you urgently now, the previous sweetness of your reunion gone in exchange for this show of the place you held in his heart. You hadn’t expected such an emotional conversation today, but were grateful nonetheless for the opportunity to have quality grounding time for your and Eddie’s side of your relationship, and were incredibly excited for your partners. Eddie’s lips left yours, electing to pepper a line of kisses connecting your lips and collarbone. He left teasing bites every few kisses, returning to some every so often in a way that you knew meant you’d be walking away from this conversation with your favorite form of battle scars.
“As much as I love the attention, did you want to get back to talking about the very big and important event for you and Volt?” You teased, knowing very well that letting Eddie get much further would completely derail the purpose of him coming to the house in the first place.
Eddie heaved a sigh, his forehead pressed against your neck as he detached from it.
“I’ll be back for you later,” He pressed one last peck to a specific spot on your neck, “I think I want to do it in Berlin. Volt’s been talking about wanting to go, and it’s beautiful in the fall...it’d make it special.”
“I think that’s a wonderful plan. Do you have a date?”
You’re met with silence from Eddie, and can’t help the fond chuckle that escapes you at the embarrassed face he pulls in response.
“Alright, so we have to pick a date. And probably a more specific location? Set you up with a fancy dinner somewhere, and maybe a museum trip or outing for beforehand?” You felt yourself slowly drifting into what could only be described as your ultimate wheelhouse. Having spent the last few months as a virtual assistant, planning and scheduling had become your everyday adventure, and it gave you such a thrill to be able to apply it to the people you loved most.
As you continued to rattle off details, eventually dragging a begrudging Eddie by his collar over to the office to actually start putting plans in place for the trip,
“I’m glad one of us knows what to do here.” Eddie trailed off, leaning back against your bookshelf as you typed away on the computer. There was a slightly off sort of tone in the way he spoke, though. Something that had you stopping immediately and whipping around to him.
“Eddie, are you…nervous?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You are. Why?”
Eddie scoffed, turning away so that his eyes no longer met yours.
“You do know that there’s absolutely no way Volt says no, right? You could drop down on one knee in the middle of the sidewalk and he’d still be ecstatic.”
When it became clear that Eddie was absolutely not going to be answering this line of questioning with anything more than annoyed grumbles- you gave him a pass this time with the openness you had shared earlier- you turned back to the desktop, having sorted all of the information and planning steps into one folder that he could use to easily finalize all of the tickets and reservations on his own time. You couldn’t help it, the thought of your partners getting engaged was making you just the slightest bit giddy. Even now, you could picture the way the leaves would be in peak color in Tiergarten, and how the flowers of the rose garden you had found in it would frame the moment so beautifully for your boys.
The more you pieced together plans for the event though, the more you couldn’t help but miss Volt. Thinking of the things he would love to do or see on the trip set an ache in your bones, the familiar feeling reminding you that it was a Wednesday, your least favorite day of the week. This was usually the point where the effect of the time spent with Volt and Eddie from the weekend began to dissipate, leaving you typically feeling the heavy weight of the fact that your partners were so far away for most of the week. The feeling triggered a quick thought that hadn’t yet crossed your mind since Eddie’s arrival.
“Where does Volt think you are right now? No way he wouldn’t tag along to come out here.” You asked over your shoulder.
“Looking at a property.”
You hummed at that, not loving the concept of lying to your partner but understanding why this particular meeting had to be kept under wraps.
“Okay, I just sent you the planning folder. It’s called ‘Owner’s Manuals’, so I figure that will keep Volt from getting nosy. All of it is based on the idea that your trip will be from October 17th to 19th.”
Eddie’s eyebrows furrowed at the statement, painting an expression on his face that you had rarely seen since his days in your breaker box.
“That‘s a weekend?”
You nodded, cocking your head at the question. You thought it would be obvious that for the boys to have a vacation that didn’t overlap with their work, it would need to be outside of work hours.
“I don’t love the idea of missing time with you, livewire,” Eddie stepped away from the bookshelf to approach you in your desk chair, placing a gentle hand on your neck so that his thumb could caress your cheek, “Even for something so important.”
“I know, but I can’t come with you or it’ll be obvious that it’s an important trip,” You couldn’t resist leaning into Eddie’s palm, “and I’d never forgive myself for ruining the surprise.”
“You know, spark, it’s times like these when I think you might be too good for me.” He smirked at the thought- leaning close to lay kisses on your jawline- and hummed appreciatively at a certain spot on your neck you were now positive was home to a bruise. Eddie muttered something that sounded suspiciously like ‘told you I’d be back’ before diving in with bites and kisses in the exact places he knew made your heart beat a mile a minute.
“How long does Volt think you’ll be gone?”
“‘nother hour at least.”
“Perfect.”
Covert mission objective completed, you laced your fingers with Eddie’s and yanked him towards the bedroom. And if the clothes you both shed found temporary homes on the stairs, well, at least you didn’t have to apologize to Stella for it anymore.
***
That weekend found your boys in their usual places. Having spent the previous night wrapped in one another, drinking Eddie and Volt in like an oasis in the desert, you now found yourself in one of your personal favorite positions. The morning sun slipped through the gap in your curtains, casting a long stripe of sunlight onto the bed and illuminating small strips of you and your lovers’ tangled limbs. Waking up like this was always a dream.
In this particular dream scenario, Volt’s chest was pressed firmly against your back, an arm thrown over your waist while he snored softly. The noise had a way of soothing you, oddly enough, and was slightly quieted today where his nose was buried in your neck. Eddie kept himself snuggled tightly against you as well, the two of you being chest-to-chest made it much easier for him to both reach across you and lay a hand on Volt’s hip.
You cracked a smile at the memory of you asking them for a Volt-Eddie sandwich when you first got together, and just how frequently they had been happy to oblige you ever since.
Even though the men were no longer literal embodiments of electricity, they were still certainly filled to the brim with an energy that mimicked the intensity of lightning. The way that energy dialed to a steady hum was part of what made these quiet moments with them so special. It was a hum that was reserved entirely for each other, for you. One that was slowly turned up as Volt’s arm tightened around your waist, signalling his wake.
“Morning, spark.” He grumbled softly in your ear, trailing soft, lazy kisses up and down your neck. His hand splayed wide against your stomach, bringing you against him so closely that you feared you would combine into one person. Volt’s morning voice had a way of making you melt, his usually refined and precise charm buried under a veil of gruffness and pure admiration of his partners. You leaned into his contact now with a noise of contentment, earning a quick but possessive grip from him as his hand drifted to your hip.
“This is exactly why I wish we didn’t have to leave you behind on our little trip, darling,” Although the statement was affectionate, you couldn’t help but catch the genuine dejection laced in his words. Selfishly, your heart warmed at the reminder of how deep Volt’s feelings ran, “our spark, our light...how can we possibly be apart from you for so long?”
Since Eddie’s impromptu visit, he had clearly discussed the Berlin vacation with Volt, considering the latter had arrived in your home for your usual weekend reveling in the concept of the upcoming adventure. You had put up a relatively good front at the news, eagerly asking questions about what the pair had planned for the trip, when they were leaving, anything to throw Volt off the fact that you had been involved.
“You’ll have a wonderful time, even if I’m not there. I’m excited to see all the pictures when you get back!”
“It will certainly be beautiful...simply would be made more so by your presence.”
“Volt,” Eddie’s groan sounded from where he had found himself tucked under your chin, “‘s too early for flirting.”
Volt gasped playfully at the notion, “Never! In fact, you are looking quite ravishing this morning as well, dear Eddie.”
“I’m not falling for that.”
A smirk toyed on your lips as an idea formed, and you gently took Eddie’s chin in your hand to direct his eyes to yours. As expected, they fluttered open, piercing you with the steely gaze you loved so dearly. You hooded your eyes, schooling your voice into something akin to a whine.
“Eddie...”
If the way the man in question’s eyes widened ever-so-slightly was any indication, you had successfully proved him wrong. If the way he tugged you out of Volt’s grip and bracketed you under his arms was any more so, you were going to get exactly what you wanted. The three of you dissolved into gentle kisses and reverent touches, leaving you silently agreeing with Volt’s point that the two weeks you would be without them would be the hardest you’d have to endure in quite a long time.
***
Before you knew it, October 17th had arrived, and your boys were off to Berlin.
If all went according to plan, Eddie would be proposing tonight, and the pair would get to spend the rest of the weekend in affianced bliss. Although the thought brought what was definitely a goofy grin to your face, it also came with a serious case of missing them already. The distance was not something that you had realized would have as much of an effect on you as it did. Although Volt and Eddie lived in the city, it wasn’t much of a journey from their apartment to your house, and sometimes it still felt as though they were here, under this roof, just a flight of stairs away.
It hadn’t quite hit you so hard, how empty the house had become over the last year. You took a brief reprieve from your reminiscing of the hundred souls that used to call your house ‘home’ to check the calendar in your office. A small part of you hoped for a visit from a former object scheduled for this week, but the hope was swiftly extinguished as you noted that your next commitment wasn’t until the 27th, when Maggie would be stopping by while she was in town for her book tour.
You did your best to not let the memories of your once-bustling house get to you, but as you waited for news from your partners on the couch that used to be Koa with the blanket that was once Mateo wrapped over your legs, the TV that called you their MVP last year didn’t look quite as colorful as it once was.
Time seemed to slip by. Suddenly it was the afternoon, and your phone was buzzing on the coffee table madly. Jolting at the sudden noise in your otherwise quiet house, you grabbed the device, feeling your breath catch at the video chat request from Volt. You sat up at the speed of light, clicking the ‘accept’ button with the mental note to be nonchalant until one of them said something about the proposal.
Volt’s face popped onto your screen, radiating pure joy and energy as familiar laughter and the soft sound of water rushing close-by echoed through his microphone off-screen. He was turned away at first, calling over his shoulder “I’m waiting for them to answ- livewire!”
“My love! How is Berlin?” You asked cheerfully, knowing damn well where he was based on the stone pillars behind him.
“Oh, it has been absolutely lovely! Especially because of this little detail that someone seems to have conspired on!” Volt raised his hand to the camera, and as soon as you saw the smallest glimpse of the sleek, black band on his finger, you allowed yourself to feel the moment completely, letting out what could only be described as a squeal.
“Sorry for keeping it a secret, darling, I didn’t want to spoil the surprise!” You called out, grinning at your partners as Eddie slung an arm over Volt’s shoulder to be within view of the camera, “Congratulations, my loves! Now, let me see that ring, Eddie wouldn’t show me!”
The ring in question was absolutely gorgeous. The black outside masked what- as could be seen when Volt slipped it off to show you- was a wooden interior. Eddie filled in that it was made from a board out of the first property they renovated, and his matching one was in his suitcase back at their hotel. What really hit your heart, though, was what had been carved into the wood of the band. Pressed against each other were three distinct lightning bolts.
When Volt showed you that detail, you visibly paused, jaw dropping open just slightly as you processed the implication of it all. That would be a conversation for when your boys got back home, but for now, you used the cuff of your sweater to wipe the tears that were threatening to fall from your eyes and smiled at your partners with all the love in the world.
“It’s beautiful. I can’t wait to see it in person.”
“And we cannot wait to see our beautiful current when we return.” Volt answered finally.
“We love you, livewire.” Eddie chimed in.
“I love you both, so much.” And with that, they were gone. You collapsed into the couch, unable to wipe the grin from your lips or the image of the ring’s engraving from your mind. In the same moment as they dedicated themselves to each other, they had felt the need to call you, see you, hear you. Their livewire. Their spark. Their current. Theirs.
Well, that suited you just fine.
You don’t know when you fell asleep, but when you were brought back to the waking world from your spot on the couch, it had to be the early morning based on the way the light was coming through the windows. It took you a moment to place what exactly it was that had woken you up in the first place, then you heard it; the sound of a knock on the door.
You quickly ran your hands through your hair and adjusted your clothes as you dashed to the door, knowing that- unfortunately for whoever was on the other side- you probably looked like an absolute mess; crumpled and wrinkled and a little bit sore from sleeping on the couch. Finally pulling open the door, you found-
“Eddie? Volt?” You asked incredulously. For all your worry about your current state, you couldn’t say much more for your partners as they slipped into the house. Eddie’s hair was uncharacteristically fluffed and frizzy, and Volt seemed to have adopted Eddie’s under-eye bags. Both sets of their clothes were generally rumpled, and they tugged their suitcases close behind them, “What are you doing here, you’re not supposed to be back until Sunday night?”
Volt cracked as much as he could of his electric smile at the question- clearly fighting some amount of exhaustion-, stepping away from his luggage to wrap you in a tight embrace. “I told you I didn’t like the idea of leaving you behind on this trip.” He murmured into your ear, pressing a sweet kiss to your cheek.
Eddie closed the door behind them, pacing over to lay a hand on Volt’s shoulder as the pair looked down at you, his eyes giving nothing away this time but their usual steel.
“After Volt said yes, we had a...conversation.”
“And we came to some very important conclusions.”
You could feel your heart hammering in your chest at the direction this seemed to be going. Your anxious mind provided the unhelpful thought that this could very well be the moment that they decided to continue their relationship without you in the picture, and you squeezed your eyes shut for the briefest moment to expel the thought. The boys exchanged a glance that you had come to understand to be them silently communicating, and Volt reached into his pocket.
When he opened his palm to you, resting on it was a small metal key. Taking it in your own hand, you could see that hanging off of it was a keychain in the shape of a four-pointed star. You knew better than that, though. It wasn’t a star at all, but a spark.
As you opened your mouth to question the item, Eddie produced his phone for you to look at, the screen showing a High Voltage listing that you were very familiar with; one that you had toured with Eddie months ago. It looked different now, clearly having gone through Eddie’s signature renovations, and was somehow even more incredible than when you saw it in its previous state. A sweet colonial home that sat across from the local park, within commuting distance of the boys’ city office and with space for two offices. You remember calling it the perfect house.
“It’s ours, livewire. I finished fixing it up last week.” Eddie provided.
“We know that you, that we, have a lot of memories in this house. But we also know that we,” Volt spared a glance at Eddie as he spoke before returning his gaze firmly to you, “don’t want to spend another moment away from you if we can help it.”
Your brain was having a difficult time restarting after the revelation. The idea that they had found and made a house for you was enough to turn your entire being to jelly, but it wasn’t what stuck out to you most. It was something in what Volt had said before that didn’t quite line up yet.
“You said you came to some conclusions last night?”
It was difficult to miss the way their cheeks almost simultaneously dusted pink at the question and another loaded look was shared between them.
“Truthfully, spark, it was more like I caught up with Eddie on the conclusion.” Volt admitted sheepishly.
“When we got back to the hotel last night, we were obviously excited about being engaged, but, uh-” Eddie turned his eyes to the ground, allowing Volt to pick up the remainder of the explanation.
“But we realized that as happy as it made us, it felt...incomplete.” Volt reached down, lacing his fingers with Eddie’s in one hand as the other extended to you, Eddie mirroring the action so that each of them held one of your hands lightly in their own. Then, in an act that you’re certain could have caused your heart to stop beating right then and there, they knelt before you, eyes hopeful and adoring as they gazed up at you.
“We know what the law says, that only one piece of our beautiful puzzle will ever be recognized, legally at least.”
“But since that’s utter bullshit-”
“Eddie,” Volt warned, “ But we don’t want anything that we can’t also share with you, livewire. You are everything to us, and if you’ll have us, we would love to be able to call you our fiancé as well. And to have you be with us in the home that the three of us will make together every day.”
The tears that you had kept from spilling during their call flowed easily now, as you nodded at your boys and fell to your knees to wrap your arms around them. As you choked out sweet murmurs of ‘yes’, ‘of course’, and ‘I love you’ over and over, you missed Eddie reaching into his own pocket and producing a third copy of the ring that they shared. It slipped easily onto your finger, and you had never felt as whole as you did in that moment.
“We love you so much, our spark.” Eddie whispered to you as he and Volt pulled out of your grip enough to look you in the eyes. Volt gingerly separated his hand from Eddie’s to wipe away the tear marks from your cheeks, replacing their stains with kisses lovingly placed on each cheek before finding their destination on your lips. When you parted, Eddie was right there, pulling you into him like all that mattered in the world right now was you and Volt. As the kiss ended, you took a moment to examine the ring on your finger, the weight it carried being a pleasant addition, and the connection it represented between you and your breaker box boys lighting up your heart.
“I don’t know about you two, but I think that such an important milestone needs to be properly celebrated.” You teased lightly, flicking your eyes to the bedroom and back to them.
“Quite bold of you, livewire, but I must say I agree. Eddie?” You and Volt looked to Eddie to see him already gazing back at the both of you with a familiar hunger in his eyes. Faster than you knew what to do with, he had taken your hand in one of his and Volt’s in the other, and the three of you were headed up the stairs, their luggage abandoned in the hallway.
“I think he agrees!” You called out with a laugh. Eddie scoffed playfully at the comment.
“Can’t hear you, livewire. Too busy taking my fiancés to bed.”
As Volt’s laughter echoed after you, that notion was just as easy to say ‘yes’ to.