All About Us

When the whole relationship between Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, and Eloise Turner had started, none of them had been sure how long it was going to last. It had started as the three of them having some fun. They were young, dumb, and ready to make mistakes. In theory, it wasn't something that should have lasted this long. They should have let go of each other years ago. It would have been the smart thing to do. It would have been the easy thing to do.

But Eloise had quickly learned that when it came to Mike and Jeff, things were never easy. When they found something they wanted, they held on for dear life. No matter how many times she had tried to just walk out and leave them in the past, they always found a way to pull her right back in. And as mad as she would be at the time, she could never stay too mad at them. It was that persistence that made her think that they could do this. That they could make things between the three of them work.

It had been at first when they had decided to try and make things work between the three of them. It was obvious that Jeff and Mike would both be dating Eloise and she would be dating both of them. But would they be dating each other? Was that something that they even wanted? Would this whole relationship even last if they didn’t date each other? Fooling around was one thing, but this was a relationship. It was something much bigger than having sex while they were drunk.

Eventually they had managed to work it out. At home, or in private, Mike and Jeff were fine with admitting they were dating each other. (Though they would never, ever say they were boyfriends.) And in public, when they told people about the relationship they tended to leave that part out. They never denied that they were together, but they never confirmed it either. People already gave them weird looks when they found out tat they were dating the same girl. They could only imagine what people would think if they said they were dating as well.

And things were good for them. They all brought something to the relationship that made it work. Eloise knew when Mike and Jeff just wanted to be alone after a lose or a bad game or if they were frustrated with how things were going for the team. She also knew when they needed someone to rant to. (This especially came in handy when they were mad at each other.) Jeff was the comic relief, cracking joke after joke when things got a little too tense or one of them was really stressing out. Mike was mister reliable, making sure that they were never late or make sure that they weren’t cheating on their diets. (This was mainly for Jeff, who thought everyday was a cheat day and it wasn’t hurting anyone if Mike didn’t tell on him.)

Of course things weren’t all sunshine and roses. They argued just like every other couple did. Eloise hated when Mike pulled his passive-aggressive bullshit and that Jeff would leave dirty laundry all over the house. Jeff hated when Mike tried to lecture him about how he was playing and what he could do better and how Eloise would yell at him for leaving his clothes everything, but left all her little crafting projects everywhere. (They even had a closet full of craft projects she was never going to finish, but said she would.) Then there was Mike who hated that there were times when Jeff didn’t take things as seriously as he did and when Eloise tended to push things that he would just rather drop.

It wasn’t a perfect relationship and there were people out there who didn’t understand it, but it was theirs. They were happy and that was the most important thing. They loved each other and nothing was ever going to change that.