This story is set in the fictional world of Gilead (from the Handmaid's Tale). Don't worry if you don't know anything about that world, I will explain before the first chapter. 

Five years after Justin has fled Gilead he receives an unexpected call that will change his life forever.

In this story Justin is with Ethan (I know, don't kill me! I promise it won't be like that forever and I promise that Ethan is not the bad guy here!). They didn't meet in season 2, in this story they only met after Justin had fled Gilead. 

This story is finished and will be updated once a week!

Brian and Jusitn’s marriage was short-lived.  After three years of being a couple and one year of marriage, Justin left and ended up in Seattle.  Now, three years later when Justin arrives two days early they end up up sharing it for a couple days.  Can they work out their differences or will they both find the resolution they needed to live their own lives?

Brian and Justin have come to the agreement that they are not boyfriends but Justin is the man he wants to wake up with more than once.   When Daphne asks Justin to join her in NYC investigating the apartment James Dean lived in, he joined her. There were rumors the place was haunted and they were getting a chance to work with a team that had a TV show. 

Brian thinks it is silly and tries to get Justin to stay and isn’t happy when Justin chooses time with Daphne over a weekend with him and two other guys he lined up.

I hope you enjoy this short story that moves from Pittsburgh to NYC and back again in a handful of chapters.

Justin Taylor graduated from art school with a graphic design degree.  While his partner Steven finished school, he was working for a small advertising firm.  He had applied for the city's biggest advertising company, Kinnetik, but after meetint the owner decided he prefered to make less money at the small agency than work with the arrogent prick, Brian Kinney.

But sometimes fate has a mind of its own.

At first, no one knew what to do, and it seemed like we changed direction every few hours. Could we still go to work, as long as we kept our distance, or should we stay home? Should we stay three feet apart, or six? Should we wear masks, or were we okay to go without them?

Now, we’ve gone for almost a month hardly ever leaving the apartment, and the last time we went out for more than a quick errand was the day we helped Gus pack his things and move out of his dorm at NYU mid-semester. And I’m still not sure anyone truly knows what to do. But we’re all doing the best we can. For right now, that’s all we can do.

***

Brian, Justin, and Gus quarantine together in New York, trying to stay grounded amid the chaos and uncertainty.

Justin and Brian have just announced their pregnancy to the family, much to the joy of many, and the aggravation of a few. Celebrate their ups and downs, their joys and sorrows and surprises, as they make their way through the last five months of pregnancy and their first days of being fathers.

It is 2015, Brian and Justin have been together for 15 years, some of the years happier than most. But now they are finally at peace and ready to move onto the next stage of their lives...yes the Stud and Sunshine are getting married! However, the spectre of the prom still haunts them. Brian has never stopped searching for whoever attacked his Sunshine, the police never bothered after Brian couldn't identify the attacker. But now they can finally close that horrible chapter, as they now know who tried to kill Justin. 

So can Michael talk his way out of this?

Banner credit goes to Midgardsnake

Everything was perfect.

Brian and I were finally together in New York, making both of our dreams come true. I was working from a spacious, comfortable studio in SoHo, and the first show of my return to the city was scheduled for the following weekend. Brian was out with a real estate broker, looking at potential office spaces for the soon-to-be New York expansion of Kinnetik. We had wedding rings on our fingers, having finally tied the knot a few years before, in front of all of our family and friends in Pittsburgh.

Our lives were full of new and exciting opportunities, both professionally and personally. I felt like everything was falling into place in a nice, neat, orderly fashion, one piece after another.

Then, I had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And the puzzle that was my life -- so carefully and painstakingly assembled over the years -- was picked up and thrown to the ground, scattering the pieces everywhere.

And everything wasn’t so perfect anymore.

Brian and Justin made plans.  They were going to travel for the first six months of the year ending up celebrating Brian's 60th birthday in Australia.  While they are away, the family continues to grow and expand.  Nothing can bring down the Taylor- Kinney empire, can it?

SYNOPSIS:

Michael returns from Portland as a man on a mission. How is he going to respond when he finds out just how much things have changed? And will he finally figure out that it’s time to design his own life, instead of trying to plan Brian’s?

It’s decision time… and not only for Michael.

Again, a MAJOR shoutout goes to Lorie, who is helping me to endure the Committee of Whine and Coo at constant war in my head. And also to Cathy Sunderland (BritinManor) and Deb Tanner for the bunnies that is inspiring the continuation of this series. All of you ladies are AAAAaaa-MAZING!

*COMPLETE*

HAPPY READING, Y'ALL!

It’s funny how life works sometimes -- in cycles, repeating the same themes in different ways with different situations. Leaving it up to us to recognize a familiar situation and call on our past experience to get through it. But sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees.

***

Justin decides to make a huge transition in his career, but things are not always what they seem.

How will Mercury being in retrograde affect everyone? And what happens when secret plans are revealed?  

**Part of a series of the same name, being done through a series of one-shots, short stories and novelettes.**

As always, Lorie, thanks for being my sanity.

**COMPLETED**

HAPPY READING EVERYONE! 

Brian told Justin to get some friends his age – what if the kiss Michael saw was misconstrued? What if miscommunication was only the start of it all? Just how far does the butterfly effect go?