Warnings: Slash (Stone Cold Steve Austin/Dean Ambrose), Mild Slash (Stone Cold Steve Austin/CM Punk), Smut, Mild Profanity, AU.

Date three. A date that Steve hadn't been expecting, but he has. It's a date he's no idea why he has. He's not complaining, just confused. He lied to Phil. Phil knows he lied to him, but he still invited him on date three. The big date, the nice suit date, the sit down in a fancy restaurant and talk date.

Flitting around his apartment, making his clothes look nice, making himself look nice, is how Steve spends the day. He'd half expected Phil to text him again to tell him it's off, but no texts come. He'd half expected Dean to show up, and try to further talk him out of it, but there's no knocks on the door. All day Steve's alone, working himself into a more, and more confused state. He's no idea how tonight will go, no idea why he's even been granted tonight. He has been though, and the only way he's going to find anything out is by going to Phil's place.

Steve hovers nervously outside of Phil's apartment. He hopes that the reason he's here is that Dean has been putting in a good word for him, because he knows he needs all the help he can get there. He can't imagine that Phil has a very good opinion of him right now. Phil knows he's lied at least twice. The truth is Steve's lied a few more times than that, but he doesn't think Phil needs to know about them. Although, that is the problem. Steve wants to have a relationship with Phil, but he doesn't want how much of a self-centred asshole he is to be obvious to Phil. Steve's no saint. In truth he's not changed all that much from when he was younger, and sticking his dick in any hole that'd take him. It takes far more courage than he'd willingly admit to knock on Phil's door. It's answered by a harried, but surprisingly happy looking Phil, who's still wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. Not exactly the outfit Steve had been expecting, seeing as he's dressed in a suit.

"Sit down. I need to get changed." Phil vanishes into a room, leaving Steve alone with his little dog. He takes a seat on the couch, patting the cushion beside him for the dog to take the hint. It hops up beside him, and levels Steve with an unimpressed look.

"I know I fucked up, buddy. I don't need to be judged by a dog." Steve mutters, looking around the room. Nothing's changed since he was there last, but he'd not really expected it to have. It would be more of a surprise if it wasn't the same.

"His name's Larry." Phil emerges from what Steve supposes is his bedroom.

"I remember." Steve manages to force out. The words had had to fight their way past the compliment that's still on the tip of his tongue. Phil looks good in a suit. The kind of good that makes Steve wish the evening was going to end with them falling into bed together. It's not going to happen, in fact Steve'll surprised if he makes it through tonight without Phil punching him, but it's a glorious thought.

"Oh..." Phil smiles awkwardly, and for a second Steve's confused by the almost look of disappointment on his face. "Shall we?" Phil gestures to the door. Steve stands, and ruffles the little dog's ears.

"You look good in a suit, Phil." Steve says it quietly, so quietly Phil could ignore it easily, but he doesn't. He turns to Steve with a blushing smile, and a slight nod.

"Thank you. I'd say the same back, but I think you already know that." Phil opens his door, and ushers Steve out. "We're taking my car, by the way... I'll run you back for yours, unless you wanna drive yourself."

"Sounds fine to me." Steve follows Phil down the stairs, considering what to say to break the silence that falls over them. "Phil?" Steve asks when they're halfway down the stairs. He gets a vague hmm in response, and Steve considers what he wants to say next carefully. He wants to know what they're doing here. He wants to know if he stands a chance, he wants to know if this is Phil's way of getting revenge for being lied to. "Why are we doing this?" Being blunt feels like the best course of action. Phil pauses on the stairs, and glances back at Steve. He meets his eyes for what feels like hours, but was only seconds. He says nothing, then keeps walking. No answer isn't encouraging, but it is what Steve deserves. Whatever the reason for Phil having this date, it's not Steve's place to ask. Phil will tell him when he wants to, and Steve as no grounds for complaint. Phil opens his car, and holds the passenger door open for Steve. It takes him a surprisingly long time to get into the driver's seat.

"We're doing this, because I wanted you to be different, Steve." Phil says with a soft sigh when he finally sits down, and starts the car. "I know I shouldn't be doing this, but I wanted you to be different so badly that before we've even gotten anywhere, I'm giving you a second chance." This should be where Steve says something, but he can't think of a single thing that's worth saying in response to that. Phil makes a painfully good point, and Steve has nothing to come back at him with.

"Thank you." He mutters. Phil nods once, and keeps driving.

"We're here." Phil parks out front of a swanky looking building, and takes a deep breath. "Before we go in, I want to ask you something."

"Anything." Steve turns from the restaurant to look at him, but Phil's still turned away. Whatever Phil asks, Steve's decided he'll answer honestly. He owes Phil that at the very least.

"Since you met me, how many people have you had sex with?" Phil won't look at him, his gaze trained on something in the middle distance.

"I don't know." Steve answers honestly, because he genuinely has no idea. He doesn't keep track of these things. It's a lot more than Phil would like, he knows that much though.

"Alright... Let's make this easier, in the last week?" Phil doesn't sound happy, his lips pressed into a thin line.

"Two... Dean, and some guy at a bar." Steve can feel the urge to justify his actions creeping up on him, but he stamps it down. Phil won't be impressed with his attempts at mitigating them, so there's no point in trying to explain the whys of Steve's sleeping around.

"Why didn't you tell me the truth?" Phil's not looked away once from where he's staring, and as much as Steve would like him to, it's almost easier to be honest when he's not under scrutiny from Phil.

"Because..." Steve starts, but the words to finish don't come to him. He turns his attention to where Phil's staring. There's someone approaching the restaurant. Someone Steve thinks he recognises. "Because, I like you... As high school as that sounds, it's true. I want to get closer to you, and I reckoned that telling you what you wanted to hear would work better than the truth."

"Hmm..." Phil nods absently, and takes another deep breath, exhaling it slowly through his nose. "Tell me the truth, Steve, because I don't appreciate being lied to, not anymore." Phil gets out of the car, and goes around to open Steve's door. "C'mon." He leads them inside the restaurant, where Phil gives his name to the greeter, and they're shown to a table set with three chairs.

"Why are there-"

"Hey cowboy." Steve had thought that maybe the figure making their way to the restaurant was Dean, but he'd not expected it to be. Once more, Steve is left completely in the dark as to what's going on. "You okay, Punkerino?" Dean sits down, and reaches across the table to take one of Phil's hands. "Sit down, cowboy." Dean toes Steve's chair out further, and smirks up at him.

"Please, Steve... Take a seat." Phil takes his hand back from Dean, and offers Steve a slight smile. Steve sits down heavily, and stares fixedly at the tablecloth. He's not had any idea what's happening since fucking Dean yesterday, and this isn't helping matters any.

"What's going on?" He asks eventually, hoping one or both of them will explain something to him. "Are you two... I mean... I don't-"

"Your menus, gentlemen." Their waiter interrupts to list off the specials, and takes drinks orders before leaving them in peace once more.

"I've met Dean before... I didn't recognise him, but we've met." Phil says whilst hiding behind his menu. "You remember I told you a little about my last ex?" Steve nods, and Phil sets the menu down, his expression sombre. "He's not the worst of them..." Dean absently grabs Phil's hand once more, his thumb moving over the back of it while he reads the menu. "The one before him. It was a really bad break-up." Phil finishes lamely, and Dean sets the menu down, levelling him with a look.

"Where did you meet Dean?" It's almost a non sequitur, but Steve thinks that the two are very much linked. Steve can makes guesses at where they met, but he needs to hear Phil say it, and then he's going to need to know what the hell was going on with Dean at the time. Once he's understood that, he can start working on understanding what's going on now.

"Ah... Okay... The really bad ex..." Phil takes a deep breath, and starts talking. "He beat the shit out of me. A lot. I met Dean in a shelter. He'd run away from home, and I was hiding from my ex. He was this scruffy, scared kid, and we became friends, then I left. We didn't keep in touch. I wanted to forget all about everything. I moved away from Chicago, I did everything I could to get myself back together, and was doing okay, when I met the last ex. It was a bad idea from the word go. Finally we broke up, then Colt told me my old ex had left my city, so I came home." Phil almost doesn't pause for breath between words. It sounded like he wanted to get the full explanation out before he changed his mind. Steve sits very still, not knowing what to say. It's not a story he'd been expecting, but not much of anything is what he's been expecting as of late. Dean's words about Phil and he being broken come back to him, and stares at them both thoughtfully. Dean's still holding Phil's hand, still reading the menu, providing a quiet support that Steve wouldn't think Dean capable of. Phil's barely moved, his eyes focussed on Steve's face, clearly willing him to say something, anything to let Phil know what he's thinking. Steve reaches over the table, and takes Phil's other hand.

"I've never hit a partner... I've been in plenty of bar fights, but I've never hit someone I love. I've never run away from home, either." Steve glances over at Dean. Dean's head snaps up from the menu at that, his eyes wide and confused. Phil smiles at Steve, and twists his hand, twining his fingers with Steve's.

"What? I don't get what all the smiling's about." Dean grumbles, and tries to pull his hand back from Phil's grasp. He holds tight, not letting Dean slip his hand free. "Punk."

"What's with the nicknames, Dean?" Steve asks suddenly, and Dean seems to forget about trying to free himself from Phil's grasp.

"Phil's nickname is Punk... Ask anyone." Dean sounds oddly defensive. "I've made up my mind about what I want... Have you even looked at the menu, cowboy?" Dean changes the subject artlessly. Steve rolls his eyes, and scoots closer to Dean, looking at the menu on the table in front of him. Phil moves closer too, sandwiching Dean between them.

"I'm having the fish... I don't eat-"

"I know." Steve cuts in before Phil can finish his statement about not eating meat. "You want some steak, Deano?" Steve smirks at Dean, who looks torn between comfortable, and awkward. He's almost wearing his lazy sexy smirk, but it keeps being chased off by a softer, sweet smile. "Maybe some sausage?" Dean starts laughing, and it takes Phil a moment to join in.

"Steak works for me. I've had my fill of sausage for the week." Dean manages to make his smirk stick this time, and Steve can feel his ears burning. "We getting dessert?"

"Yes." Phil's finger is hovering over the dessert section of the menu, tapping between two of them, trying to decide.

"That one." Dean makes the choice for him, and Phil rolls his eyes. The waiter chooses that moment to make his reappearance with their drinks. He takes their orders quickly, and is once more gone. By unspoken consensus both Phil and Steve retreat to their own spots around the table. The silence that hangs over them is heavy, but Steve doesn't think it's his place to break it. He's certain that either Phil or Dean should. He thinks that he almost knows what's potentially going on here, and he's not sure how he feels about it. He'd been angling for a relationship with Phil, but Dean might be right when he says that Phil's not the one Steve's looking for. There's definitely more to Phil than the ex that beat him. There's the more recent ex he'd mentioned to Steve, and who knows what else. Phil's a lot more broken than Steve had ever assumed, but so is Dean. Steve had just pegged him as some young guy getting his rocks off, but it seems there's a lot more to him than meets the eye.

When their food arrives, somehow they manage to have a fun night. It's the strangest, but best date Steve's been on in a while. Dean's sharp irreverence, and crude jokes play off of Phil's more considered, and cutting sense of humour. They balance each other out well, which should have made Steve feel like a third wheel, but he doesn't. He feels like he fits as neatly as the third side of a triangle. He's never considered being in a three man relationship before, but this dinner has him seriously considering one with the two men sitting with him.

"So... We're doing this again?" He asks once the waiter's left the check. Steve's already decided he's paying, and has snatched up the little wallet the check came in.

"What? Eating? I'd hope so..." Phil smirks, but he's looking nervously between Dean, and Steve. "It was good. We should do this again."

"I... Yeah, yeah, okay." Dean nods, his eyes darting around the restaurant, avoiding both Phil's and Steve entirely.

"Dean, if this makes you uncomfortable..." Phil takes his hand, and trails off. Dean finally looks at him, and then he meets Steve's eyes. The expression on Dean's face is earnestly timid. He's afraid, blatantly terrified even.

"I... What is this?" He looks annoyed that he'd asked so quietly, but Steve has to admit, he'd like an answer to that question too. Phil smiles brightly, and lays his hands on the table, palms up. Immediately Steve takes Phil's hand, turning it over gently, and cradling it in his own.

"This is whatever you want or need it to be. You two have a connection, but I know Steve is interested in me... I'm interested in him too, but then there's you, Dean." Dean tentatively rests his hand in Phil's.

"One person can hurt you so much, and you're willing to risk two?" Dean scoffs. Phil shrugs, and squeezes Dean's fingers lightly.

"Only if we're all in this together. I'm not a common goal, making this work is the goal." Phil sounds sincere, and Steve reaches out to Dean, offering him his hand.

"I feel like we should be summoning spirits or something." Steve laughs, earning chuckles from both Phil and Dean. "I'm up for trying this out... We're going to need to hash out the details, but I'm up for trying if you both are." Steve doesn't finish the rest of that sentence, because there is more of it. If Dean's not up for trying this out, then Steve's taking a step back from them both, leaving the city if he has to. He's caused Phil, and most likely Dean too, enough pain.

"Okay. We try." Dean takes Steve's hand, and smirks at him. That lazy, sexy smirk that makes Steve's cock twitch. "I guess we're going to have to put off any further trips to stationery closets for a while." He laughs, and Phil rolls his eyes.

"I don't mind... Just keep the noise down, and before you say anything I'm never having sex at work." Dean barks a laugh at him, and Steve shakes his head at them both.

"I'm paying this. Tomorrow we can work all this out, there's a nice little coffee shop near the office that opens at six." Steve leaves the table to settle the bill. He takes a glance back at it whilst he waits for his bank to process the payment. Phil and Dean are locked in conversation. Phil suddenly looks up from it, and smiles at Steve, his sweet, soft smile that contrasts perfectly with Dean's lazy, sexy smirk. This can work. Steve tells himself as he walks back to his boys. The strings that bind them together aren't tight enough yet, but in time Steve's certain they'll be plenty attached.

Thank you to those who reviewed: Moiself, Guest, Kataiyida and Brokenspell77.

This little tale is now at an end, I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for the faves, follows, and reviews.