#Alex Browning X Todd Waggner X Redaer

[bisexual-horror-fan]

"Perfect Pretender." Alex Browning X Todd Waggner X AFAB! Reader.

Okay! So I posted this giftset a while ago and I have always held this idea and headcanon that this convo could be read as Tod’s dad catching him and Alex hooking up and then keeping them apart because he is a homophobe, the pair try to make plans when things calm down again. Thinking more about this I thought, wait. Wait. Them, but also, why not someone else? The idea of a polyam ship was born, the reader in this is Tod’s beard/cover to get his dad off his back. So! Fake dating and fluff, I don’t have a poly ship name for em yet so let’s go!

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Rating. SFW. Length. 2.9K. Alex Browning X Todd Waggner X AFAB! Reader. She/Her Pronouns. Warnings: Polyamory. Established Relationship. Homophobia. Fake Dating. Reader Is So Sweet And Supportive. Kissing. Pining. Longing. The Birth Of A New Triad. FLUFF.

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Tod and Alex became friends in the third grade. They were those kinda of friends that were kind of insufferably inseparable for a long time. You would see one without the other on the rare occasion and it would create a visceral reaction of just feeling wrong, causing whomever to jokingly ask, “Where’s your other half?” 

So when the shift happened between them, from friends to more than that, it just made way too much sense but still, the times are the times and the town is small and they are sure that it wouldn’t be a good look to be caught. So they had to keep it a secret, it wouldn’t always have to be, but for now it did, it was hard, brought its own challenges, especially when Tod’s dad started to get suspicious of how much time they spent together while he was seemingly not dating anyone. 

“I’m just focusing on my studies.” Was Tod’s excuse and his dad would fire back with, “Your grades aren’t good enough for me to buy that.”

Tod was never a great liar. “Besides that, you’re young, school isn’t everything, go on a few dates, it won’t kill you.” 

And thus a new problem was created that needed to be solved, quickly. If Tod’s dad keeps sniffing around there is a good chance that he might discover what has really been going on and neither Tod, nor Alex, wanted to deal with that fallout or that mess. 

You knew the pair of them and had for a while, not as long as they had known each other, obviously, but still a long while. You found out their little secret without meaning to, stumbled upon them when they hadn’t been expecting it, finding them in a rather compromising position, they of course freaked out, begged you not to tell and you told them that you would never dream of it. Their nerves weren’t so easily forgotten and you understood, you weren’t hurt by it, you know that they trusted you but still if this got out it could be life ending, so, you made sure to be extra considerate, especially since you totally got their position. You admitted that you were very much not straight yourself, and explained your attraction to multiple genders. 

The shock painted their faces and Tod spoke up first. “You…You didn’t have to tell us that.” 

You shrugged with a relaxed expression, “I know I didn’t. But I wanted to, honestly I had been wanting to for a while and this seemed like a twofer, get that info out and put you both at ease.”

The duo shared a look and Alex said, “I think you are way too cool to be hanging out with us.” 

You scoffed and rolled your eyes, “As if. I’m still totally lame, I just like dick and pussy.” 

“See even the way you say it, so unbothered! How is that not cool?” Tod asked and you rolled your eyes, “I don’t really give a fuck about what’s cool.”

“And that right there is what cool is.” Alex asserted and you laughed with a raise of your hands. “Okay, so I’m cool, sue me.” 

Later on Tod shared his predicament with his father, how he was suspicious and on his back about not dating and after expressing that you were sorry his dad was such an invasive dick and listening to him some more, the talk turned to other things. That night while in bed, thinking over Tod and Alex’s situation the idea struck you like lightning and the next day you told them all about it.

“Date me.” You say easily as you sit down across from them at the coffee shop you all met up at before class. Alex almost choked on his three cream and two sugar coffee and Tod asked with a very confused expression, brows so high they almost disappeared into his hair, “What?” 

“I said, date me.” You say again, as if they were stupid for not grasping what you were driving at immediately. “I say again, what?” Tod asked and you expound. “If you date me, then your dad will get off your back!”

“But I’m with-” Tod looked around, not wanting to even whisper it out loud in public, once convinced no one was actively listening, his eyes shifted over to Alex with a hum that pitched up and down, as if to make the sound of Alex’s name without actually saying it. 

“I know that! So we would just pretend to date, for like appearances! Then no one would ever suspect anything is off, I can be your cover, and then you dad won’t even think twice about any time you spend with Alex.” You say confidently. 

The two are stunned. They had never thought of this but it would make everything easier. A nervous look is passed between them. “And you’d be okay with that?” 

“Of course I would be or I wouldn’t offer! We hang out all the time already, it makes too much sense and I’d be more than happy to help keep your old man off your case.” 

“Can we have some time to talk it over?” Alex asked and you told them, “Of course, no rush and if you decide not to, we can come up with another plan, alright?”

“Okay yeah this definitely decides it, you are way too fucking cool for us.” Tod sighed and Alex got up, “I’m buying your coffee, come up and order.”

You knew he wouldn’t take no for an answer so you got up and let him treat you to your favourite drink and a baked good. 

It took three days for them to get back to you but they do and they tell you that they super appreciated it and wanted to go through with it. “Amazing! This is gonna make your life so much easier, I’m so happy you are down to let me help you out.” 

You talked it through and it was decided, the first part of it was easy enough, Tod getting ready to go out and upon leaving his dad asked where he was going and with a shy kind of grin Tod said, “A date.”

“Really?” His dad seemed impressed and Tod said, “Yeah really, I took your advice to heart, no reason not to, right? I should be out having fun.” 

His dad was pleased and none the wiser. Tod was able to go out to Alex’s place and fully relax, the next day he thanked you but soon, the claims of dates weren’t enough. 

His dad wanted to meet you, Tod had been giving him small amounts of info but now that led to him needing to take this further. So he brought you by for dinner and introduced you to his family. You played the part of girlfriend perfectly, his parents seemed totally taken with you, his brother liked you and Tod was especially grateful. After dinner was done he was taking you home, “You are too good!”

“C’mon, are you really that shocked? You saw me in the spring play.” You teased and he said, “Yeah I did but this was on another level, you were a revelation, I am pretty sure my dad is like in love with you, and my mom can be kinda stand off-ish but you won em over so quick.” 

“I’m just that good.” You sigh with a smile and Tod said, “I mean it, I cannot thank you enough.” 

“Least I can do for one of my best friends.” You tell him and you reach out, take his hand he lets you, it is a moment of casual friendly affection but the action of it makes Tod’s heart beat a hair harder in a way he hadn’t anticipated but he pushed it down, writing it off as nothing. 

Now that the folks had met you, the illusion had to be upped, you had to come by more and keep up the act and you did so easily. A lot of the time Alex was there too, you providing the aforementioned cover, allowing them to have the closeness they craved without the headache. 

As this arrangement drags on however, there are small moments of escalation out of necessity. Unintentional but they are there all the same. Once Tod’s dad is watching you and him say good-bye, so, naturally, you have to play the part and you kiss Tod, other times his dad comes in while you are watching tv and it’d be weird for you to not have his arm around your shoulder, and other little things like this keep happening. The times of easy physical affection and casual intimacy continue, almost in anticipation of an audience, a precaution, a “just in case” but this makes you all realise that, fuck, this feels right?

There isn’t weirdness or jealousy, the dates being the three of you feels natural and correct. You started doing what you did with Tod but with Alex too, it started as a big joke, Alex acted like he was upset and offended one afternoon after you kissed Tod good-bye out of habit. Your response? You put your hands on either side of Alex’s face and dragged him in and kissed him to shut him up. It worked and you skipped off to head home and then it never kind of stopped, just everything you did with Tod, you did with Alex too, like you were expanding and extending the joke but also wanted him to feel included. 

A distinct fact you were completely oblivious to, was that Alex and Tod were not completely gay or that all this closeness, extra time spent together, and fake dating had given them both a pants busting crush on you. They wondered what this meant, how to navigate this, if there was anything to be done? 

Tod was always better about saying stuff straight and not being afraid to broach difficult topics with a shocking amount of candour. He initiates the conversation, “So what are we going to do about her?”

“What do you mean?” Alex asked with a sideways glance to his boyfriend, “I mean the fact that we are both clearly falling for her.” 

“Falling for-?” Alex slammed his magazine closed, but by virtue of it being a magazine, slamming it isn’t really effective in the way slamming a book is, it is comical. Tod stiffles his laugh upon seeing the harsh expression Alex takes on, moving quickly, he is sitting side saddle on the couch, one hand on the back of it, the other on his own knee he insists, “Why do you think I, you, uhm, fuck, we are falling for her?”

“Because we are? Like c’mon man I’m not fucking stupid here.” Tod says around a breathless laugh with a shake of his head, Alex jumps to defend himself, “I didn’t say you were!”

“You didn’t say, but you implied plenty.” Tod fires back and before Alex can do much more than pout he says, "I see it Alex. I know you better than anybody and I pay attention. I see it in how you look at her, how you joke around with her, touch her in less and less casual ways. You fuckin' light up when she does that 'joke' and kisses you good-bye like you are her pretend boyfriend too. And I can tell you something else too."

"What's that?" Alex asked, his body language was tense, nervous, extremely on edge. 

“I want that too. You aren’t alone. I have been thinking it too and I think I’ve been thinkin’ it even longer than you.” Tod admits and Alex asks, “Seriously?”

“Yes! I don’t think I want her to just be my pretend girlfriend. I think…I think I want her to be my actual girlfriend and I think you want that too.” Tod said firmly and Alex asked, “But what about us?”

“What about us? Why does ‘us’ have to stop? Why can't it be us and her all like-” His fingers tangle together in front of his stomach as he finishes his thought, eyes dropping down, “-together?” 

The silence hangs heavy and Alex breaks it. “That’s an…That’s an option?”

“Why can’t it be?” Tod said with a shrug, Alex looks at him. Tod looks back, hand reaches out and takes his. 

“What if she doesn’t want us?” Alex asks quietly and his best friend responds, “You think she is that good an actor?”

Alex quietly repeats that joke you like to tell, “Well you saw her in the spring play-” The half smile on his face is very endearing, Tod returns it with a fond roll of his eyes, “Yeah she’s a great actor but not that great. We can’t BOTH be imagining what is going on here man, no way. There is something here and I think it is worth talkin’ to her about.”

“So we know?” Alex offered up and Tod nodded, “Yeah, exactly, no wondering, then we will know.” 

“And you aren’t jealous?” Tod responds quickly, “Nope. Are you?”

“God no. Seeing you with her ‘dating’ makes me…Happy. Seeing how you are with her makes me happy.” 

“Same here.” Tod confirmed. 

Alex sighed heavily, throwing his hands up, “Okay!”

“You mean it?” Came the excited reply and the blonde admits, “Yeah, what do we have to lose?” 

They didn’t do it right away. They took some time and thought about if this is what they really wanted. While agreed upon, they hadn’t picked a time they were going to really talk to you about it seriously. It just kind of happens. One afternoon, at Alex’s for once, away from the prying eyes of Tod’s dad, you were all hanging out. You were supposed to be doing some studying, finals were coming up, but instead you said you couldn’t study without a snack so you convinced them to bake cookies before you all hit the books. 

The radio was on, you were creaming together butter and sugar, Tod was holding the bowl as you mixed, something that was unnecessary but it gave him the excuse to be closer to you as you both badly sang along to the music while Alex watched. 

He didn’t want to keep pretending. One song finished, some ad came on and he spoke up, cleared his throat, said your name and grabbed your attention. You looked over to him and with that big smile you asked, “Yeah?”

“We…We have something we were thinking about talking to you about.” Alex met Tod’s gaze. Tod was behind you and his eyes went wide, immediately picking up what he were planning. “Oh sure, shoot.”

Alex nods nervously and continues, “We’ve really loved all the time we have been spending together.”

You jumped in, saying happily as you agreed, “Me too! Who knew being a beard and fake dating could be so fucking fun?” 

They both shared another look and Tod cut in after a forced cough, “About that…While it’s been great. But what if the dating we are doing isn’t quite so…Fake?”

You stopped mixing, you turned and looked up at Tod and then to Alex, “What are you saying?” 

Tod sighs, hand rubbing over the back of his neck, “We want to date you for real.”

Alex chimes in, “Both of us.”

To say you are stunned is an understatement. You stutter out, “But…What…What about you?” 

“What about us?” Alex asked and you clarified, “What about your relationship?”

Alex says carefully and slowly, “Yeah about that, we would wanna stay together but just be together with you. Just…All of us dating-” 

Tod finishes the thought, “-Together.” 

You drop the whisk and say, “Holy shit thank fucking God.”

“What?” The pair ask in unison and you spill your guts, “I have been falling for you both so fucking hard for a while! I have been trying to keep it on the down low because you are both together and I thought you were both totally gay and I knew you were relying on me to be your cover and just, I cannot believe that you’ve both been wanting me too-”

Alex cuts in, stepping closer, “Wait, wait, shit, you have been pining after us too?”

“Yes! That is exactly what I am saying!” You exclaimed and Tod laughs, “How fucking clueless are we?” 

“Sooo…Are we seriously going to try this?” You asked and Alex said with a point, “I mean..We’ve already been dating technically, haven’t we?”

“Yeah, Alex is right.” You suppose he was. Just placing this label on it and being open and honest with your feelings would be the only real change. You were already outwardly and publicly dating Tod. You would have to hide the fact you were dating Alex but Tod and him were already having to hide that themselves. This was fine, more than worth it, once outta this small town you are sure you will all be able to be open and live how you want more publicly. Perhaps for now this would be okay, some secrets are fun to keep. 

“What is our first for real date going to be?” You asked and Alex said, “Can’t this be it?”

“Oh wow, real romantic. A study date? C’mon man, put some effort in.” Tod jokes and Alex scoffs, “You plan a date then!” 

As they playfully argue and you resume work on the cookie dough you think that this is all going to work out just fine.