This whole thing was going to blow up in his face, he just knew it. Brian didn’t do this kind of trick. In fact, any kind of trick had been off the table since Justin got back from New York last Christmas. When Gus had called him and told him about his April Fools day trick, Justin was less than enthused about it. Gus was only eleven, so he didn’t have a wide array of ideas but this one had to be the very bottom. Brian was going to kill them all.

The paint he covered Brian’s brand-new leather couch with was washable, not only that the oils wouldn’t mess with the leather. Justin wasn’t sure he’d live long enough for the rest of the joke before Brian killed him.

Just as he was ‘fixing up’ the kitchen, he heard the keys in the door. They lived in the loft during the weekdays, it just made it easier to get from work and back at a decent time for Brian. Justin quickly ran to the bedroom and hid in the closet. The irony was not lost on him. Justin listened to Brian slid open the door. He waited for some kind of sign from Brian.

“What the fuck!?!” Brian yelled. It was followed by a strange sound, it took a minute to place it. It was the sound of hitting. He knew he couldn’t open the closet because if he moved, Brian would see him through the obscure glass door. From what he could make out from the angle, it looked like Brian was hitting and kicking the couch. Finally, he stopped, taking out something.

“I need you over here now,” pause “I think Justin found out about Rico. It wasn’t even that good of a blowjob. Not worth the trouble, this is why I didn’t tell Justin in the first place. I knew he’d be a drama queen.”

Justin’s blood started to boil. He never expected Brian to stop tricking, Brian was the one to say he was done with it. Justin made him promise that there would be no cheating, if he wanted to fuck someone else, he just had to tell him. After what Justin had done with Ethan sometimes, he wondered if Brian would ever do the same…a kind of revenge.

“I’ll meet you outside, I need to find Rico to see if he was the one to tell Justin.”

It had to be Michael he was talking to; the others were just as much his friends as Brian’s. Rico? Rico was a moron. He worked for Brian, Justin was surprised he made it to work everyday and not chase after a bag being carried away in the wind. He was also ugly, but he was younger than Justin. He was barely twenty-five. It was sickening just thinking about. He wondered how it happened.

The door jerked him out of his reverie. Brian was gone, meaning Justin could get out of the closet now. His heart was shattered. There was no reason to stay, none at all. He thought he and Brian changed, that they both grew while apart. It was now he saw how wrong it was. Just as he stepped out of the closet another thought occurred to him. It was about Rico. A long-ago conversation he had with he younger man. Rico was only attracted to a very certain kind of person. He only dated, fucked, loved and spent intimate time with drag queens. Brian was very far from his type. That meant Brian would have to be the one to come on to Rico and Rico would think his job rested on it. Both things were laughably absurd. That meant only one thing. He was being had. Even if Brian were in the wrong the couch he would have been pissed him off if he hadn’t already known about it, same with the trashed kitchen. That meant there was a double agent involved. Gus.

Well, if they thought they were going to get one over on him, they were in for a shock. Grabbing his own phone, he made his own call. This had to be something Brian wouldn’t see coming. Gus set him up, but Justin knew the true mastermind, it had Brian Kinney written all over it.

Brian laughed as he got into Michael’s car.

“So, I take it he fell for it?” Michael asked.

“Hook, line and sinker. I could see him through the glass door, he sucks at hide and seek.”

“Are you sure he’ll go to the office?”

“Of course, he has keys to my office, he’ll want to get Rico’s address.”

“Isn’t it a bit mean to make him think you were with someone else? I know he’s not innocent in the cheating thing, but I thought you two got over that.”

Brian sighed. “I did. It’s all for a good cause, Mikey. When he shows up at ‘Rico’s’, he’ll get a surprise.”

“There are better ways to surprise him with his dream trip.”

“This just isn’t his dream trip, Mikey, this is his dream. He’s been refusing to do this tour because we would be apart for too long. Do you know how much trouble I went had to set this all up? First, I had to get everything sorted so I could be gone for six months. Then I had to convince Lindsay and Mel that this would be an experience of a lifetime for Gus. I had to get all the materials and everything I need to homeschool him while we travel. For the next six months I’ll have both Justin and Gus full-time. My son will see and learn incredible things that only people dream of, my partner will live the dream he’s been putting off for years. His name will be world known. Yes, its sneaking and a little mean but he’ll be happy in the end. That’s all that matters.”

He couldn’t wait to see Justin’s face when he walked through the doors of the house, he rented for their going away party.

“I’m surprised you called me,” Ethan said as Justin slid into his car.

“You’re going to help me, you owe me.”

“Did you even tell Brian that we were on a talking basis again?” Ethan huffed.

“I wouldn’t go as far as saying we’re on a talking basis. I would say that you got drunk and tried to fight a giant. You’re lucky I was there, he would have broken you hand.”

About a year after he moved to New York he was in a club with some friends. He overheard a familiar voice shouting. Curiosity got the better of him and he followed it. It turned out the bartender had cut Ethan off and he was harassing him to get more. The bouncer, a huge mountain of a man, had Ethan’s right hand, his dominant hand, in his powerful fist. Justin could see the fear in Ethan’s eyes when he knew the man was going to injure his hand. A broken hand is one thing, but this man was crushing his hand, Justin had to stop it. After asking the man twice to let go of Ethan’s hand. He did the only think he could think of. He kicked him in the shin.

They were both banned from the club, but they weren’t arrested. They had on video of the bouncer going too far and trying to injure Ethan after it was clear he wasn’t a threat. They had exchanged numbers because Ethan told him that if he ever needed anything, he owed him. Justin knew Ethan was in town because they still had some friends in common.

“So why are you and Brian having a joke war?”

“It’s April Fools.”

“And you always do something?”

“No, in fact this is the first time. I don’t know why he’s started this but I’m going to win.” His competitive nature coming out.

“So, you want him to see me and hurt him?”

“God no, I would never hurt him like that again, even for a joke. If I time this right no one will know it’s you and you’ll be gone before anyone knows better.”

“Alright, but I still this is stupid and very dangerous. You could break something you back, leg or worse…your hand.”

“It’s the best I can come up with he’ll expect me to go to the office to get Rico’s address.”

“So, you’re sure he’s going to be at the office? If you’re wrong you’ve potentially injured yourself for no reason. Are you positive he didn’t cheat?”

“I’m sure he’s at the office and I’m sure he didn’t cheat. While Brian hates lies, he loves winning. He would have started something just to win. It wouldn’t be fair if I wasn’t playing so he had Gus call and set it all up. It’s devilishly brilliant when you think about it. Alright, we’re close the office. Remember as soon as I’m out of the car you speed away, don’t look back and don’t come back.”

“Fine. I still think this is the stupidest thing you’ve ever done.”

Ethan pulled in the parking lot of Kinnetik and as soon as he goes down to about twenty miles an hour, Justin opened the door and threw himself out. His body hit the ground…hard. All the air was knocked out of him. He heard the car tires squeal and knew that Ethan had listened to him. It was only a matter of time before Brian came rushing out, then Justin would jump and yell April Fool’s day. His vision started to dim a bit, he wasn’t worried. Brian would be out soon.

“Shouldn’t he be here by now?” Mel asked.

They all were in the house, Jennifer had decorated it with all the places the tour involved. Teeny, Justin’s agent, she was a take-no-prisoners kind of woman. She had been after Justin to do this since he signed.

“He should,” Brian agreed. It had been an hour and a half since he left Justin hidden at the loft.

Brian’s cell started to ring, he sighed when he saw it was Justin. He hated it when Justin didn’t act like he thought he would, he didn’t like to be wrong.

“Justin, where the hell are you?”

“Brian?” a vaguely familiar voice said.

“Who the hell is this? Where is Justin?” he demanded. Everyone in the room had their attention on him now.

“It’s Ethan…Ethan Gold. Do you remember me?”

Brian had to remind himself how to breath. So many thoughts crossed his mind. Was Justin cheating on him again with Ethan? Was he using this as a way to leave him again? Why was Ethan calling him?

Wait…why was Ethan calling him?

“Where’s Justin?” he asked, ignoring Ethan’s asinine question.

“He’s on his way to the hospital.”

“What? Why? What happened?”

“I think it would be easier to tell you in person.”

Brian’s blood ran cold. It had to be a joke, it had to be. This was Justin’s idea of a funny joke. He’d make sure to yell at him enough he never thinks this is funny again.

“Very funny, put Justin on the phone. If he’s mad at me that’s one thing but this is a sick joke.”

“It’s not a joke. God, I wish it was. I can’t believe I agreed to it. It was a stupid joke, I knew it was a bad idea.”

“Tell me what happened now?” His voice left no room for argument.

“Justin figured out you were playing a trick on him. He wanted to play a better one on you. Since yours had to do with cheating he wanted to one up you and make you think he owed money to some people. After you berated him for being stupid, he would tell you it was a joke. It was Justin’s idea that he falls out of my car and you’d rush out there after seeing it and he’d tell you about owing the money. It didn’t happen like that, he fell wrong. I was supposed to leave, and I did but I couldn’t stop worrying. I went back, he was passed out on the pavement. I called the ambulance and now I’m following them to Saint Benedicks.”

The next bit was a bit of a haze, he guessed he told the group because they all ended up in the hospital’s waiting room. It was a few hours later that someone finally came out to see them.

“Is someone here of Justin Taylor?” a kind looking woman in green scrubs asked.

She looked taken aback when almost everyone in the waiting room stood up. Even Ian was still there, even though Brian told him he wasn’t needed. He excused Justin’s idiocy because sometimes Justin didn’t think things through right, it was a part of his brain damage. It really started showing these last few years, but Ethan had no excuse like that.

“Are any of you family” she asked gently.

“We all are,” Debbie said, her face still wet with tears.

“I’m his mother,” Jennifer said, clearly wanting to get this over with.

“Your son is fine. He had the wind knocked out of him, panicked and passed out. We’re sending him for an MRI because of his history but that’s only because of that. It’s to eliminate any worry. It’ll take a while before he can be sent but he was worried his family would be here and scared.”

Brian felt like he could breathe again for the first time. “Can we see him?”

“Are you family?”

“He’s his fiancé and his medical power of attorney, he has ever right to see him,” Jennifer said, her voice steel.

“Alright but just the two of you and only for a little while. He’ll be released after the test so there’s no reason to get him a room upstairs.”

Brian followed the woman and Jennifer. He was doing everything to not want to yell at Justin for being so stupid. What was he thinking?

She opened a door and lead them in. There were two beds, the closer one was an old man. She opened the curtain and Justin was laying in the bed, looking pale…well, paler than usual.

“Justin, what were you thinking?” Jennifer asked as she rushed to him.

“I’m sorry, Mom. It made sense when I was planning it. Ethan tried to talk me out of it, I thought he was being weird about it. I guess I was the wrong one.”

“You think?” Brian couldn’t help but say.

“I really just wanted to win the prank war,” Justin said, it had to sound lame even to him.

“Prank war? Do you hear yourself? Once in eleven years I play a prank on you and you go off the rails like this. What else would you do to win…jump off a building? How stupid are you? Did you really think you would win by making me think you were attacked and THROWN out of a car? I don’t even know you right now.”

“It made sense at the time. I’m kind of fuzzy on why now though.” He looked worn, really worn. Jennifer was giving Brian the evil eye. He needed to get out of here before he said something he’d regret.

“Are you taking him home with you, Jen?” he asked.

He tried not to see how Justin’s face fell. He needed to get away for a while, he knew it.

“Sure, I’ll call you when he gets released.”

Brian nodded and left the room.

Justin pretended to be asleep when his mom came back into the room. He didn’t know where she went but didn’t care. His heart was broken. Why had the idea sounded good at the time? Brian was right, it was cruel. Nothing made sense right now. He could feel one of his headaches coming on. They used to be a lot just after the bashing but then they were few and far between. The last few years though they had picked up. He hadn’t even told Brian or his mom about them.

“Honey, they are coming to take you for your MRI, you can stop faking being asleep.”

Opening his eyes, he looked at her. “How did you know?”

“You used to do the same thing when you wanted your father to carry you to bed when you were little. You always had the same tell.”

“Which is?”

“Your eyes move over your eyelids.”

“Oh.”

They came and go him, he tried not to feel too claustrophobic in the MRI machine. At least he didn’t pass out again. He was back in the room before too long which was good because he really was tired. Really tired. It felt like he could sleep for a week.

Jennifer watched his son sleep, doing her best not to shake him awake and yell at him. How could he do that to them. Brian had planned the trip of a lifetime for Justin, they would be leaving Saturday morning, two days away. Now she didn’t know if that would happen because Brian was so mad.

Just as she pulled her phone out to call Tucker when the door was opened back up, a new doctor walked in. This one was a hard-faced woman with sharp cheekbones.

“I’m Dr. Hollis, with neuro.”

Her heart studdered and she thought it stopped when the woman said brain aneurism.

“That means surgery, right?” she asked.

“No, that’s only for ruptured ones. Lots of people live healthy and happy lives with them. It’s only when they rupture is when it’s bad.” She continued saying a lot of big words that Jennifer would have to google later.

“What does that mean?”

“Reduce stress, don’t smoke, don’t lift anything and cut back on caffeine. Reduce anything that raises blood pressure.”

Justin had woken up when the doctor came in but had been silent. “Is that why I’m acting different?” he asked her.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m doing stupid stuff, stuff I never would before. Like jumping out of a moving car.”

The doctor’s face did some odd twitching. “You jumped out of a moving car?”

“Yes.”

“No, the aneurism isn’t to blame, sorry. Your prior damage could explain it. Personality changes sometimes have a hibernation period. But I don’t think it’s really that much of a problem. From now on you’re going to take your health seriously, right?”

“Right. What caused it?”

“Many things can but I believe it was the trauma you suffered years ago. It must have been too small to catch on the scans. I’ll see you in the morning before you’re discharged. You need to be watched for a for a few more hours. Then we’ll set up an appointment.”

“I need to make a call,” Jennifer told her son before rushing out the door. Brian need to get here before Justin started to freak out.

His phone rang again, and he ignored it again. It was Jennifer, he really didn’t want to speak to Justin or about Justin. It was one thing to know that Justin’s brain sometimes sent the wrong message or made him do stupid things. It was another to condone these acts, he could have gotten himself killed.

The phone started going off again, making it five times in a few minutes. Something was wrong, Jen wouldn’t be trying to desperately reach him knowing he needed time.

“What Jennifer?” he snapped.

“You need to come back now. Justin needs you, please.”

“Fine, I’ll be there soon.”

He could never really say no to Justin or stay away from him. One stupid mistake eleven years ago and that was all she wrote. The drive back to the hospital was quiet, he left the radio off. There was almost no traffic on the street because it was early in the morning now, only a little past two in the morning.

After a little bit of a run-in with the receptionist, he was let in to see Justin. He was still in the same room as before. When he walked in, he knew he had missed something big. Justin was on the bed, rocking back and forth.

“You need to stay calm, this isn’t good for your blood pressure,” Jennifer said.

“Stay calm! How can I stay calm when I have a ticking timebomb in my head?”

“What’s going on?” he asked. Both Justin and Jennifer’s eyes locked on him. They hadn’t noticed he had walked in the opened door.

“I-I can’t,” Justin said, curling into himself.

Brian wasn’t really the tender moments person, but he could see Justin was melting down. He’d never been able to let him drown in his own emotions. He was across the room, sitting on the end of the bed pulling Justin into his arms.

“Justin has a unruptured brain aneurysm,” Jennifer said, her face void of emotion.

“What? What does that mean?”

“It means I’ll have this thing in my head. A ticking timebomb waiting for the moment to burst and cause me to have stoke or worse. I know Mom, she’s been over there on her phone looking it up. Her face no matter how much she tries to hide means what she found isn’t good.”

“That’s not true, Justin. Lots of people never know they have one. It never ruptures. You’ll be fine, I know you. You’re active, you don’t have high blood pressure. You don’t smoke. I think the heaviest lifting you do is your easels. Baby, this is not a death sentence.”

“Is it from the stunt tonight?”

“No, the doctor thinks it was another gift from Chris Hobbs, like he hadn’t given me enough already,” Justin sobbed burying his face in Brian’s shoulder.

Hatred of Chris Hobbs came over him again. It was never far from his mind, the hate. The absolute unyielding hate. Couldn’t the ghost of Chris Hobbs just leave Justin alone for one moment. But no, he was always there. There when Justin’s hand shakes uncontrollably from overuse. There when he can’t walk into a parking garage. There when he can’t watch Gus play baseball. Now he would always be there, waiting for the moment to attack Justin all over again, this time from inside.

Justin fell asleep in his arms, he looked over at Jennifer.

“What happens now?”

“He’ll have to get a neurologist again. Take medication, be stress free or close to it. I looked up if he could fly with it, it’s not on the no-fly list.”

“You can’t be serious. We can’t go on the tour now.”

“Brian, this is all my motherly instincts pushed aside. As much as I want to bubble wrap him, I can’t. If he hadn’t of done this stupid stunt we wouldn’t have known about his aneurysm. He deserves this, don’t let Chris take it away from him too.”

Brian wanted to argue but she was right. How many trips had they been on that Justin already had this in him? Was it fair to just stop everything because of this? He would be able to postpone the trip long enough to get Justin an appointment with the best neurologist in Philadelphia.

Justin was silent on their way home. They weren’t headed to the loft but the house in West Virginia. Brian had almost sold it years ago, but he kept it, for that Justin was grateful. He couldn’t be in the city right now, too much on his mind…in his mind.

Once they were home, he shut himself in his studio. This wasn’t the time to talk to Brian, he couldn’t do it. In his heart he knew he should leave him. He couldn’t saddle him with this. If it ruptures and he has a stoke there’s no telling the damage it could do. He couldn’t do that to Brian. It wasn’t right or fair. Brian had already spent too much of his life taking care of him.  

“Justin, I need to talk to you,” Brian said through the door.

“I don’t want to talk.”

“Please, don’t shut me out.”

Justin swung open the door, spoiling for a fight. “That’s rich coming from you. You literally threw me out of the loft when I tried to help you.”

Brian sighed. “You know why I did that, we don’t have to talk about it.”

“No because that was something that you did. Perfect Brian, who overcame cancer and opened a thriving Ad Agency at the same time. Why do these things happen to me? What did I do in my prior life to deserve this? I shouldn’t have bothered with getting Kip to back down. Or John. It probably wasn’t needed you would have come out smelling like roses anyway.”

Brian took a step back. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing, it doesn’t matter…nothing matters.”

“No, tell me. What about Kip and John?”

“I had Kip blow me before I turned eighteen. Told him I would tell my dad if he didn’t drop the suit against you. You already know about John.”

“Yeah, only what Deb told me. Why did you do those things for me?”

“You hate lies. I wasn’t about to let your life be ruined by them.”

Brian stepped into the room, not giving Justin the chance to shut him out again.

“Get out,” Justin said, it sounded weak even to himself.

“Just listen to me and then I’ll leave.”

Justin didn’t want to know what kind of sacrifices to demon gods that Brian did to get him into Dr. Khara a few days after the ER. When he called, they said they could get him in a few months away. Dr. Khara wasn’t ecstatic about their travel plans but he didn’t forbid it. Justin’s prescription was in three-month supplies and he could refill overseas.

Their flight was tomorrow morning, as long as everything went according to plan. And it looked like it was. He couldn’t believe they were doing this, really doing this. The doctor had also given him something for anxiety, telling him to make sure to take it before each flight. That was a little worrying, but he didn’t want to dwell on it.

They left the doctor’s office with more info than they really could handle. It was decided that after the tour he would come back to Pittsburgh and have surgery. Something called a microsurgical clipping. It seemed the best thing for him given the scans the doctor ran.

“Can you believe we leave tomorrow? Gus couldn’t sleep last night, kept remembering things he wanted to pack,” Justin said as they drove back home.

“I can believe it, I’m paying the bill remember,” Brian said off-handedly. That bothered Justin a little bit, but he pushed it away, he wanted to make the best of what was supposed to be a good time.

The goodbye party went fine if not a little docile. Justin was sure it was because most of them didn’t think he should be going. But they thankfully kept their opinions to themselves tonight, Brian’s orders he was sure.

Their first stop was Stockholm after a layover in New York. He had shipped his work already, it should be at the art house by the time they get there. His agent was meeting him there, she was a bit scary if he did say himself.

“Can we go to the ABBA museum?” Gus asked as they taxied on the runway.

“No,” Brian said, his face pained.

“Why not?” Gus asked.

“We’re not that gay,” Brian answered.

The gentleman behind Justin’s seat broke out laughing before replying no one was that gay.

“We’ll get to do lots of things, we’re going to be there for a week,” Justin told him. After that they were off to Scotland.

Brian was so tired he thought his brain would just shut off. They had been travelling for three months and Justin was still healthy. He had made so many contacts that it was daunting. His paintings had taken a little darker theme, reminding him of those he did after his bashing. One was new though, it was one he refused to sell no matter how much was offered. When Brian first saw it, he considered setting it on fire. It was a it was a portrait of Chris Hobbs, a halo wrapped around his head, he was smiling serenely. The name of the painting was True. It’s scared Brian when he saw it. Chris was made into some kind of angelic creature, he knew how Justin worked. It meant there was a second painting to go with it, one that he wasn’t allowed to see. One day he hoped to see it, maybe after True was gone.

They were in Bristol, England now. Gus and Justin had gone on a bus tour while Brian graded the latest of Gus’ work. Homeschooling had been a lot harder than he thought it would be. Gus would try and get out of work and he would have to be strict.

His phone rang just as he was thinking of taking a nap. The caller ID said it was Gus, probably going to talk about wanting something or other.

“Whatever it is Gus no,” he said as he answered the phone.

“Dad, Justin’s grabbing his head saying it hurts really bad.”

“Where are you?”

“Blaise Castle House Museum,” Gus said worriedly.

“I’ll call for help, you stay where you are. Tell Justin I’ll meet you at the hospital. Stay will him.”

Gus was well versed on what to tell paramedics if this day ever came. He just wished he had went with them today, it was too much pressure on a little boy. They knew the risk, but the benefits were worth it, at least that’s what he told himself. Justin could have had the clipping by now if he hadn’t talked him out of it. This stupid trip, it was a fool’s mission after he was diagnosed. If Justin’s brain was more damaged now because of him, he would never forgive himself.

Gus was crying in A&E when he arrived. “Dad, they won’t let me see him. I’m sorry, he said he wasn’t feeling well, but I begged him to take me out after lunch. I didn’t know. I didn’t know he was really hurt I thought he was just tired. I’m sorry,” his son sobbed, throwing himself at Brian.

“It’s not your fault. Justin probably had no idea what was happening, if he did, he would have never put you in this position.” He wrapped his arm around his son and lead him to the receptionist. “My partner was brought in, Justin Taylor. I think his aneurysm ruptured.”

She did some clicking on the keyboard and looked back up at him. “He was taken up to neuro, the paramedics were told by your little boy on the way.” He had also told them, but it looked like that wasn’t relayed in the moment, he thanked whoever was listening that Gus was with him. The faster they knew what was wrong the better.

“Can we go up?”

“Yes,” she said, then telling them where to find the neuro waiting room.

A surely man greeted them when they got off the elevator. “I’m looking for my partner Justin Taylor,” he said to the man.

“No children under twelve,” he said with a strong Scottish accent. He probably wouldn’t have known if it wasn’t for their time there.

“He is twelve,” Brian lied. “Please, I need to see him.”

“Doctor is with him now, he’s being prepped for theatre.”

“Why would he be going to a theatre?” Gus asked.

“It’s what they call surgery, Gus,” he told him gently.

“Go on now but be prepared for Doc to kick you out,” he said, pointing them in the right direction.

An average height red-headed woman was with Justin when he arrived. Justin wasn’t awake, he didn’t know if that was a good thing or bad.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded.

“I’m his partner, this is our son. Can you tell me what happened?”

“We just sent him for an MRI, his aneurysm ruptured.”

“Will he be alright?” he asked.

“If you let me do my job and stop this nattering.”

“She’s not really a people person,” the nurse they hadn’t noticed until now said. He was a tall, gangly man of about thirty.

“That will be enough Nurse Cramer. Right, I’m off,” the doctor said before striding off.

The nurse had left him with the paperwork. Filling out insurance stuff, glad he thought to make sure he had traveler’s health insurance on the company plan. All Justin’s prior surgeries, allergies and vaxxes. He felt completely useless, not a feeling he liked.

His head hurt, it felt like he was under water. Struggling to come to the surface was harder than he would think.

“Justin?” a familiar, quiet voice asked.

Opening his eyes, he locked on familiar, beautiful hazel eyes. “Brian.”

He started to try and sit up but was stopped by Brian. “Calm down, you need to stay laying down.”

“What happened?”

“Your aneurysm ruptured.”

“My what?”

“Your aneurysm.”

“I don’t understand. Are my mom and dad here? You better leave before they see you,” he said with a bit of panic. He didn’t know what Brian was talking about, but his parents would kill him if they found him there.

“Your dad?”

“He can’t find out about us. I know, there is no us but please, I don’t want him to yell. I don’t think my head could take it. My throat is really dry. Can I have water?”

“Sure, I’ll go get the nurse. Just one thing, what’s the last you remember?”

“You came to see my art at the art show. Everyone saw your picture. I think Michael was going to faint.”

“Justin, are you talking about the art show at the GLC?”

“Of course, where else?”

“I’ll go get the water,” Brian said.

“What do you mean it could be permeant?” Brian did his best to keep his cool.

“I told you the surgery didn’t go according to plan. He had more damage than I was expecting.”

“I listed his medical history.”

“I know and I had scans of his initial injury and latest scan sent to me. But there are some things that can’t been seen on a scan. Things I wouldn’t know until I opened him up. We couldn’t do the Endovascular Coiling like I planned. The Artery Occlusion and Bypass was our only recourse. So far, our tests don’t suggest a stroke, that’s promising.”

“He thinks he’s seventeen years old.”

“There are worse things,” she snipped before her face softened some. “Mr. Kinney, I know the brain, I know how to fix it, if possible. But the thing his, the brain is a wonderous organ, but a very mysterious one sometimes. It doesn’t always react the way one would think. My professional opinion, he will get his memory back. But he will probably have some type of short-term memory problems.”

“How do I explain to him the baby he keeps asking about is eleven years old?”

She didn’t have an answer for that. He would also have to explain why they were in Britain. There was no way he could do this on his own. During surgery he had called Jennifer and Lindsay, he knew he couldn’t take care of Gus right now. Lindsay and JR were sick with the flu, but Mel was alright and should be flying over right now. Jennifer and Molly too. How does he explain to Justin his bratty little sister is a young woman now? None of this would make sense to him.

“Can I see Justin now?” Gus asked, bringing Brian around.

“Wait outside the room, I need to prepare him first.”

Gus nodded. He had heard the conversation with the doctor, he knew what was going on.

Justin was asleep when he went in, so he waved Gus in and they sat by his bedside. Justin slept for hours, Brian had ordered food to be delivered for Gus, he let Gus meet the delivery person downstairs.

“Brian?” Justin’s murmured.

“Hey, thought you were going to sleep the day away,” Brian said lightly.

“Why does my head hurt?”

“You had surgery.”

“Oh. So, we’re in the hospital?”

“Yes.”

“Is mom on her way?”

“Yes.” He didn’t stay she was coming from another continent.

“I was thinking about us. I know, I know, there is no us. But listen, I was thinking about college before I fell asleep. I think I’m going to go out-of-state. Maybe the west coast. What do you think?”

“Let’s not worry about that now.”

“You know I’m going to get a tattoo for my birthday. BK & JT FOREVA.”

“That’s a terrible idea.”

“Oh yeah. Maybe just a dragon with fire coming out of his nose.”

“Justin.”

“Or a cat with ‘Just hang in there’ over it.”

“Justin.”

“What about a turtle without it’s shell. Think of the scandal.”

“Would you shut the fuck up!” Brian said, losing his temper with Justin’s damaged and drug addled brain.

“I bet you could find a hot doctor to have your wicked way,” Justin said, not listening to Brian.

“I don’t what a hot doctor.”

“Oh, I guess looks don’t matter much with he scrubs,” Justin said, giggling.

“You’re high.”

“Am I? I bet I could fly out the window?”

“Settle down, there will be no flying for you.”

“Shouldn’t my mom be here by now?”

“She’s on her way.”

“Tell me something about yourself. Something that you don’t want to tell me. It’s the best time, I bet because I’m all woshy in my head I won’t remember.”

“I don’t think…”

“PLEASE!”

“You have the ability to destroy me.”

“Wow, that’s deep. I thought I was just the trick that wouldn’t go away.”

“You haven’t been that for a long time.”

“What do you mean?”

Brian stood up and walked to the door of the room. “I need to check on something.”

“How is Gus?”

“He’s fine.” He needed to check on him and make sure he knew what was going on.

“Good. Oh, Brian.”

“What?” He just wanted out of there to take a breath.

“I win.”

“What?” Brian turned away from the door and back to Justin, his eyes crystal clear and a wicked smile on his face. “You knew?”

“Yeah, since I woke up from the surgery. I don’t remember the aneurysm rupturing but I do remember the last eleven years.”

“You son-of-a-bitch. Do you know I was trying to think of a way to explain to our son how to take you not knowing who he was? How could you do this?”

“Why do you think I told you now. I would never hurt Gus.”

“What about me? What about hurting me?”

“Collateral damage. I take back my apology about the car thing. It was an awesome prank. I’m different than I was eleven years ago. I’m different than I was five years ago. My brain doesn’t work the way you expect it. But I’m not broken, it’s taken years for me to realize that. Different not bad. Yeah, sometimes I get enthralled by home shopping and buy you a waterproof briefcase. I’ll think of jumping out of a car to win a prank war. I’ll wake up from brain surgery and pretend I don’t remember eleven years. But when I was less uncontrolled, I did bad things too, you did too.

“You threw me out of the loft physically. You beat be down emotionally when it suited you to make yourself feel better. You brought tricks into the loft knowing I was there to rub them in my face. You got me a hustler for my birthday when I just wanted you to say anything nice to me. You wanted me to know that the RAGE party was all about you by fucking Rage. You gave me everything I ever wanted then took it away and told me I was wasting my talent not leaving you. I’m not perfect, you’re not perfect, no one is but I can accept that from you. Can you accept me?”

Everything he said was the truth, he had hurt Justin countless times and he could count the times Justin did on his fingers. “I’ll always accept you. Warts and all.”

“God let’s hope not. I don’t want to look like my Aunt Frieda too much. Go get Gus, I miss him. Oh, one more thing. I am getting a Yosemite Sam tattoo. He reminds me of a guy I was with in New York.”

Brian just shook his head, tattoo or not he would accept Justin. But next year he was getting him back for this trick, next year would be epic. Maybe different wasn’t bad, just a new part of their life together.