Hi, don't know if you're still accepting crackship requests, but I saw that Cassidy/Ed/Ricky pic you reblogged and I have ~feelings~. Can I please request some of that? Thank you!
Sorry it took so long, Nonnie!! Hopefully you see this!!
Read on Ao3
“How is he?”
Cassidy glances up from the book she has perched against her legs in front of her, and looks first towards the sleeping Ricky beside her, then to Ed standing in the doorway.
“His fever broke about an hour ago,” she answers quietly, reaching over and laying a hand over Ricky’s forehead. He’s warm now, but not overtly so. It’s nothing like the one hundred-and-two degree fever he’d had when they’d all woken up that morning. “He hasn’t eaten much today.”
“I imagine not,” Ed says thoughtfully, stepping fully into the room. He walks over to their closet, loosening his tie as he goes and tugging it over his head to hang it up. “Thank you again for taking the day off for him.” He unbuttons his vest, glancing guiltily over towards the bed. “I would if I could—“
“Hush,” Cassidy interrupts, though not unkindly. “We both understand the part you play. I’m never going to hold your work against you, and neither will he.” She picks her hand back up and uses it to gesture to Ricky to emphasise her point. “So stop beating yourself up over nothing and come join us.”
Ed looks, for a moment, like he’s going to say something else… But ultimately, he keeps his mouth shut. Instead, he nods once, jerkily, and continues to shimmy out of his suit.
Cassidy marks her place in her book before shutting it gently and laying it down on the nightstand beside the bed. As she settles back down, Ricky shifts beside her and then makes a pitiful groaning sound.
Half-naked, Ed immediately turns to look at them. Cassidy is only vaguely aware of his gaze, though; her attention is more focused on Ricky than anything else around her.
“Ricky?” she murmurs, and he groans once more, eyelids fluttering. It feels like it takes an eternity before his eyes fall open and stay that way, and even longer for him to focus his gaze upon her instead of roaming the ceiling with uncertainty. “Hey there, baby. Welcome back to the land of the living. How’re you feeling?”
“Awful,” Ricky mutters. He clears his throat with a wince. “My mouth feels like I licked a cactus.”
Despite herself, Cassidy lets out a huff of laughter. “You did throw up twice today,” she points out. “But your fever hasn’t come back yet, at least.”
Ed slides into bed on the other side of Ricky, now fully dressed in his night clothes. “Cassidy’s been playing nurse for you all day,” he adds, leaning over to press his lips to Ricky’s forehead.
Cassidy’s lips upturn into a fond smile at the way Ricky’s eyes fall closed again at the kiss.
“I can get you some water, if you think you can keep it down?” she offers. One of Ricky’s hands, the one that’s closest to her, reaches out weakly in her direction. She takes it immediately, and slots her fingers in against his. “Mm… I’m guessing that’s a no?”
“I can get it,” Ed offers, but before he can move away, Ricky finds one of his hands with his free one, too. Ed stares at their fingers for a moment, and Cassidy can see him doing the thing that he always does, the thing where he’s surprised that they want him here, where he’s shocked that he’s a part of this.
She can’t ever fault him for it, not really, even though it makes her sad. She can’t deny that she has her own insecurities, her own doubts and fears about their relationship. How could she possibly blame Ed for his?
They are so broken, all three of them. They are finding ways to fix themselves, separately and together, but the healing… It never comes as quickly as any of them would like.
“Oh,” Ed says. When he looks up at Cassidy —because Ricky’s eyes are still closed— she offers him a soft smile and then mouths we love you slowly enough for him to understand it. She can see the second it hits him; his face flushes the way it always does when they talk about their feelings openly, and he casts his gaze back down towards Ricky to avoid continuing to meet Cassidy’s.
That’s okay. He knows it, and that’s what matters.
“Stay with me?” Ricky finally says. His voice is barely above a whisper; it’s obvious that despite the lack of a fever, he still doesn’t feel very well. Cassidy squeezes his hand reassuringly, but it’s Ed who answers first.
“We’ll be here,” he says softly. “You’re in good hands.”
“Couldn’t ask for anyone better,” Ricky replies, yawning halfway through the sentence. He squeezes Cassidy’s hand back lightly and then tugs both her and Ed’s hands up onto his chest, holding onto them both the entire way and keeping them trapped there once he’s relaxed again.
Within minutes, Ricky is asleep again, his chest rising and falling steadily. It isn’t quite enough movement to jostle the clasped hands atop it, thankfully. And above him, his partners settle carefully around him, their bodies curling towards him to offer him comfort and support while he rests.
Cassidy offers a tired smile to Ed over Ricky’s sleeping form once they’re both comfortable. “Thank you,” she says in a low voice, quietly enough to keep from disturbing Ricky.
Ed looks a little taken aback. “For…?” he asks, matching her volume.
“For being here.”
“…you don’t need to thank me for that.” Ed pauses, but he looks like he has more to say, so Cassidy doesn’t interrupt. Sure enough, he continues after a moment of thought. “I love you both, very much. So much that it surprises me sometimes. I would do anything for you.” He smiles wryly, even though his face has once again taken on a pink hue. “Lying with him while he’s sick is only the tip of the iceberg of the things I would do for him. For either of you.”
If they were closer, Cassidy would reach out and touch him. Or kiss him. Or… something. As it is, with Ricky asleep between them, it’s all she can do to try to convey how much she cares with a single look.
Ed offers her a genuine smile— it’s small, but most of his smiles usually are. “You should get some rest, too,” he tells her. “I know you have to be exhausted.”
Unfortunately, he’s right. Cassidy can feel herself growing more sleepy by the second, with the warmth of the bed and the warmth of Ricky beside her seeping into her bones. And as much as she wants to stay awake to make sure that Ricky is okay… She trusts Ed. He’ll wake her if Ricky’s fever comes back, or if something else happens. And he can handle any minor emergencies that come his way.
“I am,” she admits. She snuggles into Ricky’s side, who doesn’t even budge at all at the feeling of movement beside him. “Wake me in a few hours, even if he’s still asleep? I’ll heat up some leftovers for dinner.”
“I can heat up leftovers,” Ed protests.
“Ed…”
He huffs a laugh. “Alright, alright, fine. I’ll wake you in a couple hours. Now go to sleep.”
Cassidy gives a hum of assent and closes her eyes. She falls asleep with a smile still on her lips to the sound of Ricky’s steady breathing beside her, and the feeling that she is —despite everything— in love and loved in return.