shelter dog eliot is spending his first night in his new home with parker and hardison and he can’t sleep. which feels so ridiculous because how many times has he slept at a stranger’s house???? and he’s always been fine. yeah, well. turns out that it’s different when it’s real. turns out it’s different when it’s home. so here he is on the far side of the bed by the door, stiff as a board and completely awake while hardison murmurs in his sleep behind him and parker snores behind hardison. they’d both kept a polite amount of distance from him when they got into bed, which had kind of broken his heart because he’d wanted cuddles sooooo bad but he wasn’t sure if he could have them so soon, even if there was a precedent given the way they’d been snuggled up on the couch earlier after dinner; little did he know that hardison and parker had had a Very Serious Talk earlier about letting eliot have his space and not smothering him because they didn’t wanna make him skittish and send him running off (this was mostly hardison telling parker this while parker was looking at him with the biggest saddest wettest kitten eyes because she just wants eliot cuddles so bad, why can’t she have eliot cuddles????? and hardison was like i know baby i know, i want ’em too, but we’ve gotta let him come to us so he doesn’t get scared. just like i did with you, right??? and that’s true—hardison did do that with her, which she’s always appreciated. so she’d finally sighed and said okay, i get it, and hardison had given her a kiss and told her she was very brave and it’d all be worth it in the end).
so anyway here they are and here eliot is with his heart aching because hardison feels so close but also so very far, and he knows he could turn over but he feels like he can’t. he doesn’t want to ask for too much. and anyway shouldn’t he have had enough already???? this whole evening has been more than a dream. parker had hovered around him even closer than usual while he made dinner for the three of them, and then they all played footsie under the table while they ate, and then parker and hardison had sandwiched him on the couch while they watched a movie that eliot hardly took in a second of because he was too busy feeling dizzy over the fact that this is his life now, apparently. he’s parker and hardison’s now. and they’re his. just doesn’t seem possible. but somehow it is, and they were on the couch, and now they’re in bed together, and hardison’s mumbling something about dragons and eliot feels shifting behind him and then there’s a groan and—
oh. hardison’s arm has come to flop over his waist. the suddenness of it startles him, and he must startle hard enough to wake hardison because there’s a snuffling sound followed by a “wha’s— oh, damn. sorry, man.” and then that’s followed by a thin “oh, hey” when eliot suddenly rolls onto his other side and collides directly with hardison’s chest. his head tucks under hardison’s chin and his breath hiccups both with the shock of how warm hardison is and also the shock of his own boldness. that was— maybe he shouldn’t have done that. that was impulsive. he should’ve kept his cool. this was dumb, this was stupid, he’s too clingy, he—
and then hardison sighs with what sounds like contentment. and his arm settles more heavily over his waist. and hardison murmurs “c’mere, baby.” and that’s it: eliot’s gone. he sighs himself and he just melts into hardison’s embrace, and when hardison gives him a sleep-clumsy kiss to the top of his head and hums deep in his chest and tugs him in closer he very nearly shivers. this is right where he’s supposed to be; he knows it deep in his bones. how many hours have they been in bed now?? and he waited this long to make this happen???? he’s the world’s biggest dumbass. because this? this is heaven.
and it only gets better when—without even any prompting—the body behind him and hardison stirs, and parker clambers over both of them to come and snug up against his back. her arms wind around him and her face tucks into the nape of his neck, and she makes a sound almost like the way a cat will mrrp when its happy. and that makes the corners of eliot’s eyes sting. because it’s just crazy, isn’t it??? he’s got his favorite people. he’s held. he’s home. he’s home. more home than he’s ever been before. and now there won’t ever come another day where he lives alone, because he’ll always have these two. they’re not going anywhere. they’ve opened up the door and promised him he can stay, so stay he will. and right in their arms at that. because that’s home. he’s home.
at that thought, he finally drifts off, and he sleeps all through the night.
