Daphne was hanging up her dress as Troy entered her room. He watched her pajama-clad form flit to and fro, reorganizing her existence, the bun on top of her head bouncing with every determined step she took. He shook his head, suppressing a laugh while marveling at her efficiency. Daphne Chanders was nothing if not orderly and near obsessive about keeping it.

"You're sure it's okay if I sleep in here...with you?" Troy asked giving her one last chance to relegate him to the couch in the den. "I mean with all of your added guests, it might get a little uncomfortable for you."

Daphne laughed. "Or is it that it will be uncomfortable for you? Well let me ask, do you snore?"

"No."

"Do you hog the covers? Or kick unsuspecting people out of bed with your long legs and big feet?"

Troy laughed at her. "No I do not and you know I would look pretty funny being my height with small feet."

"I guess you would," she responded laughingly but sobered. "Need I remind you that we've fallen asleep together before, Troy so really what's the big deal? We're friends and colleagues. We'll be sharing a bed unless you'd like to sleep on the floor. Besides I used to have slumber parties with Justin regularly from the time we were five. This isn't much different."

"But Justin is a gay man. I am decidedly not gay."

She laughed. "I'm well aware of that but if you'd like we could tell them that you are. If that's not an option stop being a big ass baby and get into bed. Besides, I'm not sure I should be left on my own tonight. I may be tempted to pull a Norman Bates on the psycho down the hall and his husband be damned."

"Well that wouldn't be a good idea, Daph. I'd have to help you hide the body."

"Great. We could be partners in crime with silly nicknames only we would be the surgical Bonnie and Clyde."

He looked at her smirking, strangely liking the idea of being her partner in crime- of the legal kind anyway. He was so happy he'd found an instant friend in her.With their lives as trauma surgeons it was difficult to form and build lasting relationships; someone always felt neglected. So making lasting friendships was not easy. It was nice to have someone to talk about work with who didn't look at him like he'd grown another head but it was nice just to laugh with someone cool like Daphne.

"By the way, you looked really nice tonight. It was nice to see you out of scrubs and sweats," Troy said and Daphne blushed at the compliment nodding her head One of the things he liked about her most was that unless it was work related she was uncomfortable accepting compliments. It was weird to him because she was beautiful. He found her sudden shyness at the oddest times completely adorable.

They pulled back the covers and settled in, putting the pillows in a sitting position since neither was ready to go to sleep.

"I'm sorry you had to see Justin and Brian like you did tonight. I mean after the ceremony, which was absolutely beautiful. Brian swears up and down that he doesn't have a romantic bone in his body but after tonight's display, he quite dispelled the myth that he doesn't have a heart. Justin had never told me of their first conversation fifteen years ago."

Troy shrugged. "They sure dispelled myths about gay boys not using their fists to fight." He blushed at the unintentional comment but Daphne's laughter put him at ease immediately. He guessed being friends with Justin Taylor she was exposed to far more than the average straight woman. Just looking at Brian and Justin interact would give that opinion. "Maybe you can answer something for me, Daph. What exactly sparked that whole thing? I mean from the bits and pieces I gathered, Michael is the best friend and Ethan is the ex-boyfriend of who?"

"How to explain all of this...okay so here it is the absolute truth of it all. You know about the start of Brian and Justin's relationship and the fact that everyone was against it but the biggest mouth against it was Michael Novotny's. He was Brian's best friend and somehow thought that he should have a say in who Brian dated or in Brian's case didn't date. Michael has carried a torch for Brian since they met in high school but Brian would never do him. I have my own reasons and belief for why Michael was never an option for Brian."

"And they are?" He was genuinely curious as to her thoughts.

"Michael is too weak for the like of Brian Kinney," she said bluntly. "With the things that Brian and Justin have been through, Michael would have either went crazy- although I'm not sure his fool ass isn't far from it now- or curled up into a ball and died. For one thing he would have expected monogamy. Brian wouldn't have been ready to give that and there is no guarantee that he is now but Justin doesn't have a problem with it. He did back when he was feeling a little unsure of himself after the bashing and he wasn't quite sure where he stood with Brian. That's where Ethan Gold came into play. He said all the things Justin needed to hear; things Brian chose to show him rather than say. Michael had befriended Justin while making the Rage comics-"

"Wait. Michael and Justin are the creators of the comic Rage. You're serious?"

"Yeah. I'm a bit surprised that a hetero such as yourself would know about it much less read it," Daphne said truthfully.

"The sex notwithstanding, the stories were damn good and the artwork was phenomenal."

"The artwork was all Justin. As far as the stories are concerned, they should be good since all good fiction is based on real life. All you have to do is re-read them to know the full core of Brian and Justin's relationship. Although there were villains and such, even they were based quite a bit on Brian and Justin. For example, Icetina was Rage's nemesis who used a ray gun on him. Brian was going through treatment for testicular cancer at the time. The episode where JT is giving Rage a blow job on the cover, was done just after Brian and Justin had gotten back together. In fact, the very first issue was Justin's personal story about the bashing. He and Brian had just finished dancing and were down in the parking garage. When Justin left Brian, Chris took the opportunity to hit him upside the head with a baseball bat; Brian had seen the whole thing. Very little of the storyline was embellished a bit for entertainment purposes. I always suspected there was more to Chris' attack on Justin than just disgust."

Then she went on to tell him of the events leading up to the prom and the fateful night that had nearly killed her best friend and landed Justin in a coma for three weeks followed by countless hours of rehab.

After a small bit of silence, lost within her own memories of that traumatic time, she went on, "It wasn't until later that we discovered Brian had been there every night, watching over Justin. We had all misjudged him in our own way, thinking that he'd just moved onto his next conquest. But that was how both Brian and Justin handled things...they used fucking as pain management along with booze. Yet it was always within their control. And what was most important between them- the intimacy they shared, which had nothing to do with sex- was kept away from the prying and judging eyes of those who were supposed to know them best. I only knew as much as I did because even though Michael pretended to want to be close to Justin, outside of Brian I was the one he trusted most. To Justin, Michael had the keys to the holy grail that was Brian Kinney. But then that wasn't true either; Justin was, only he didn't know it at the time.

"Anyway, Michael knew that Justin's self-esteem wasn't where it normally was, because his ‘perfection' was marred by his hand. He was feeling vulnerable about keeping the interests of the most perfect man he'd ever met. Mel and Lindz took Justin to a violin recital at the Gay and Lesbian Center, and that's how he and Ethan met. Because I know Justin almost as well as I know Brian, I know that Justin fought the urge as long as he could to do anything with Ethan besides just be his friend. It was Ethan who basically pursued Justin, saying all the right things equipped with flowers and music and other bullshit."

"You don't sound impressed," Troy said with a smirk on his face.

"I hated the bastard and I made no secret of telling Justin that either. I was very vocal, especially when he asked Justin to hide their relationship for the sake of his career. In part, I could understand because he was in the public eye. But Brian and Justin were always, always true to who they were. Brian would never have asked Justin to deny who he is, career be damned. Michael saw Justin kissing Ethan on the street corner. Ordinarily, it wouldn't have been thought about twice, except that it was Michael who saw it and used it as his opportunity to break them up.

"Michael couldn't wait to tell Brian only the parts of the story that served him. He didn't mention anything of how Justin felt when Brian had to cancel their long-awaited trip to Vermont, because the company Brian was working for had gotten taken over by a larger company and Brian had to fight to keep his job. He didn't mention Justin's feeling less than worthy of Brian, nor his need for reassurance. The important thing to Michael was that Justin had cheated on Brian. Sure they could fuck whomever they wanted, but they had a "No kissing" rule which Justin broke. The night of the launch party for Rage, Justin had made his choice. It was Brian, at least it was until Justin saw him in the backroom of Babylon with his dick up pseudo-Rage's ass. Justin thought that it was the one night Brian could have chosen to just be with him. Ethan showed up with his brand of bullshit, and because Justin was hurt, he went with Ethan. When Brian and Justin's eyes met just before Justin walked out, you could literally feel the heartbreak between the both of them. Although I couldn't stand the asshole, Ethan served a very important lesson for Justin. He taught Justin what the adage: Actions speak louder than words, really met. Ethan lied and cheated while he was away in Harrisburg for one night. At Ethan's agent's request, Justin was not to be there. Justin borrowed my car and drove there planning on surprising Ethan and saw him making what ultimately turned out to be a fuck date. Justin questioned him about it and everything probably would have been fine, except the guy tracked Ethan down and showed up at their door with a dozen red roses."

"Who knew that tonight's ceremony had so many twists and turns to get them there. Looking at the two of them, they are so well-aware of each other. They moved together as easily as liquid and nothing feels forced."

"That's because nothing is. They were meant to be since their first meeting even though both of them fought like a son-of-a-bitch against it at different times. Originally Justin pursued Brian, persistently and pridefully. He knew he was meant to be with Brian Kinney even at seventeen. Then while Justin was amassing his fortune, they were on even footing for awhile, until there was another bump in their road- a very significant one- which caused Justin to have doubts about his judgment. Brian fought like hell for Justin, even as he kept withdrawing into himself. Brian still doesn't know or understand why that happened."

"But you do," Troy stated.

Daphne nodded her head and her eyes welled with quick tears, which she wiped instantly away. "You have no idea how hard it is to know what went wrong and have to sit silent and watch your two best friends struggle through it...one for a solid reason and the other completely in the dark; to think that he did something wrong when it wasn't his fault. As quiet as kept, Brian is the most honest person I've ever met and the most kind-hearted. He doesn't show that to everyone. There are only a privileged few of us- Justin of course, Debbie, Justin's mom, myself and his son, Gus. For the most part, the rest of them catch glimpses here and there. But if they really knew Brian that way, they would take advantage of him. Contrary to Michael's unfounded and unwarranted allegations, Justin never did. If there was anything business related between them, Justin had it written in a contract which he and Brian signed. Brian would have been happy to give Justin anything he wanted, but Justin needed it to be a loan for his own self-worth. Brian understood that. What you saw tonight from Justin was fifteen years of pent-up anger and frustration; for Brian it was fourteen years of anger at Justin being hurt, and the fact that the perisistent little shit insists on trying to goad Brian. Ethan is an arrogant asshole. Brian is too, but his arrogance is completely warranted whereas Ethan is just plain annoying and pretentious."

Troy chuckled. "So Brian finally got a hold of Ethan's lying, cheating ass and Justin finally got a hold of Michael's. Honestly, I thought we were going to have two murders to cover up."

"Trust me, we would have had Drew and Ben not grabbed Brian up. Same for Michael. I had only seen Justin in a fight a few times. But although he is careful of his right hand, nothing stops that left hook. I almost can't wait to see how bad it is. Hey I know it's mean to say but damn it, it was well-deserved. I probably would have done it my damn self if Justin didn't. But what got me was how fast Justin moved to get to Michael. He was always lithe and fast but, damn! He was like a freight train. Yikes!"

Troy chortled, "The way Michael was knocked on his ass was funny as hell. I could barely contain my laughter. When he looked up, I was expecting him to begin shouting, ‘Yo, Adrianne."

Daphne laughed and elbowed him in the ribs. "Go to sleep, Fool. It's your turn to cook breakfast and since we have extra guests you have your work cut out for you.

They each turned out the bedside lamps, snuggled in with Daphne's head on Troy's shoulder and promptly fell asleep.