Brian stretched, waking up from his first night in his new home, then he got out of bed pulling on his lounge pants. He checked the security device that Cynthia had insisted he install, noticing that Emmett had entered the building. At that moment he was one of the few that were authorized for entry.
He made his way down the stairs having left the sliding doors open making it one big space to find a cup of coffee, fixed the way he liked it and a plate with a large green apple waiting for him. He grabbed a small paring knife and began peeling the apple while Emmett was fluttering around, rearranging furniture.
Brian was just cutting into the apple when the doorbell rang, and he looked quizzically at Emmett, wondering if he was expecting help. Emmett's return look however, was just as puzzled. Brian shrugged his shoulders and picked up a remote control and turned on the TV. On the screen were Michael and some hunk that wasn't Ben.
"What's Michael doing here? And who's the hunk?" Emmett asked.
"Don't know and don't care. You can find out. I'm going to work out." Brian suggested going up the stairs.
Emmett frowned. The exercise room was downstairs so why was Brian heading upstairs for the master suite. Emmett shook his head and flounced down the stairway. Michael's continual hitting of the doorbell was giving him a headache. He opened the door and found himself pushed aside as Michael and his friend barged in.
"Where's Brian?" Michael asked. Then he shouted. "Briaaan!"
"Hello to you too, Michael," Emmett said as he shut the door and locked it. "Why are you here? The party's not until tonight."
"I know that. I figure Brian's going to be uptight about tonight and as his best friend I brought someone to help him relax. Derek, Emmett. Emmett, Derek. Is Brian upstairs?" Michael hurriedly explained before bounding up the stairs.
Emmett swiftly got in front of Michael before he got to the first landing. "Michael, you know no one gets to see the new place until tonight." He smiled over Michael's shoulder at Derek. Emmett herded the two men to the door, practically pushing them out. "So why don't you and your friend leave. I'll be sure to let Brian know you stopped by."
As he closed the door he was certain he heard Derek say as he closed the door. "Don't go thinking I'm giving you back any money."
"You didn't do anything to earn it," Mikey whined.
"Not my fault."
Emmett had to chuckle at that. Since when did Brian Kinney have to pay for it? He trotted back up stairs and started on making more canapés. Once he had several racks in the oven he picked up the remote control, mainly because he liked using the security system. He flicked through the channels until he located Brian in the workout room. Emmett shook his head. How had he gotten down there without Emmett seeing him?
Emmett eventually made his way downstairs and into the exercise room.
Brian was on the treadmill, earplugs in his ears. He pulled them out when he spotted him but didn't slow down. "What the fuck did Mikey want?"
"He bought you a guy."
Brian looked at him strangely. "You mean brought."
Emmett shook his head, his eyes dancing. "No. Bought, as in paid for."
Brian's eyes went wide, then he turned off the treadmill and burst out laughing. When you think about it, it was humorous, Brian Kinney having to pay to get laid; only Michael would think of such a ridiculous notion. Brian got some weights and moved to a bench, where he started working on his biceps.
While Brian had lost some weight during all this mess, but with the help of a gym bunny during the move of the home gym, who gave him some tips, he would soon be well on his way back to his original body definition.
"Honeycutt, was there anything else?" Brian asked bringing Emmett out of his lustful gaze.
"Just wanted to let you know I'm going home to change. I'll be back in time to set the food out. And don't call me Honeycutt."
"No need to leave. Check out Gus' room."
Emmett's eyebrows rose and he raced out the room and up the stairs. Sliding the dark wood doors to the side he entered Gus' domain for the first time. There hanging on a hook was an Armani suit in a color that Brian would never be caught dead in. Emmett was unaware that Armani was making suits in red or was it maroon?
Not only was there a suit, but a shirt, tie, underwear, socks and shoes. Brian had thought of everything. Emmett entered the attached bath, where he found a basket with his name on it. The basket held all the items he would need, deodorant, shaving cream, razor and more. It was these random acts of kindness that caused Emmett to see that Brian Kinney wasn't the selfish, narcissistic man that Michael had led him to believe all these years.
He took a shower, then he returned into the bedroom and finished dressing. Emmett adjusted his tie and sighed. Here he was in a room that any teenager would love and he couldn't help but wonder if Gus would ever get to see his room. As far as he knew Gus hadn't been back to Pittsburgh in years.
He and Brian might not be 'best friends', more like ships that passed each other in the night, but Emmett was learning to respect him for his honesty and his no-nonsense attitude. If every once in awhile he got the man to smile, he considered it a win.
Emmett took one last look at his preparations before welcoming Ted and Cynthia who were hosting this little wingding. It was decided that Ted would stay downstairs, letting people in and Cynthia would be on the main level.
Michael, Ben, Hunter and Deb arrived early, Michael kept asking where Brian was. Truthfully Emmett had no idea. He'd gone into Gus' room to check the security on the TV in there rather than using the one in the living area. It showed that no one was in the exercise room anymore.
Thirty minutes after the party started Brian came down the stairs dressed in a classic dark grey Canali. It looked like it was made just for him, and probably was. Michael looked like he was about to rush to him, so Em took up a platter of hors d'oeuvres and blocked him while asking what Michael wanted to drink.
Cynthia did the same for Deb who looked very nice in a black sparkling outfit. Emmett came over and offered her a glass of Champagne while complimenting her on her attire.
Debbie laughed her boisterous laugh. "Oh, this old thing? It's just something I had in my
closet."
Carl almost choked on his drink. Once Deb was turned away, he confided to Emmett. "It came in the mail yesterday. If I didn't know better I'd think the master had a hand in it." He smiled and nodded his head toward Brian who was off being social with a few of his clients.
Everyone seemed to be having a good time and Emmett kept an eagle eye on Michael. At first Michael appeared to be pouting, not a good look on him, and eventually he marched up to Emmett and asked why Brian was avoiding him.
"Honey, he's not ignoring you. He has people he has to talk to. Clients," Emmett lied.
"When do we get the grand tour?" Deb asked snapping her gum.
Emmett brightened. "Allow me." He showed them the fairly nice sized living area with its walnut bookshelves, leaving out the fact that TV slid up from the base of the cabinets, then the dining area that could seat twelve easily and his pride and joy, the kitchen and the nicely done half bath. Every surface held canapés and or drinks of every type. Chairs were scattered around the room.
"I know that there's more to this place than that. What's behind that wall?" Debbie insisted on knowing.
"Sorry, Deb, but that's not on the tour tonight." Brian slipped up behind them.
"We're family. We have a right to see," Deb argued.
Michael brightened considerably in agreement. Just before he could latch on to Brian, Cynthia showed up and pulled Brian away. That left Michael with a disgruntled look on his face.
As much as Emmett wanted to hang around and make sure Deb and Michael had a good time, after all they didn't exactly fit in with this crowd, he couldn't because he was playing host and needed to make sure the food didn't run out. He was disconcerted to look over at them and see a malicious smile on Michael's face.
He followed Michael's line of sight and saw Teddy coming up the stairs with what had to be the last of the invited guests, and right behind them was Justin. That was a surprise because, to the best of his knowledge, Justin had not been on the guest list. Not because he wasn't wanted there, but because no one had a current address for him, not even his mother.
Emmett had never been privy to what happened to Brian and Justin after Justin left for New York. He only knew this could not be good. It was only then that he noticed that the guest with Ted was Jennifer Taylor. Now things made sense, well except the look on Michael's face.
Excusing himself, Emmett rushed over to greet Justin and his mother.
"Jennifer, you look lovely. Justin, Sweetie, how nice to see you." Em didn't want to come right out and ask why Justin was here.
Jennifer smiled while Justin looked uncomfortable.
"Thank you, Emmett. You look pretty spiffy yourself," Jennifer said as Emmett led the way to the food and drinks.
Justin looked nervous. "I hope its okay, Michael insisted I come."
Emmett and Ted exchanged looks, then cast their gazes at Michael, who now had a self-satisfied smirk on his face. "Oh did he now?" Emmett murmured.
Nobody had any idea of what caused the parting of way of the two men, and Justin's name just gradually faded away. Brian never said anything, Michael, however, was quite vocal. Now looking back on it, Emmett had to wonder just how much of what Michael fed them was actually true.
Emmett's eyes swept the room looking for Brian, he had no idea what Brian's reaction would be. He figured the best he could do to help was to head Michael off.
QAF
Brian was having a great time. He was very proud of his new home and he knew he had Emmett to thank for it. There wasn't as much money in the budget for finishes as he would have liked, but he'd long since learned that spending money just to spend it wasn't the way to go. Emmett had been happy to do the research and find the best items at a reasonable price. Rather than saying thank you, which would have been simple, Brian bought him a suit he knew Emmett would love and on the rare occasion introduced him to men to spice up his love life.
Everyone he talked to so far had nothing but nice things to say about his new home and he, in turn, gave credit where credit was due. When he came across Jennifer, she was just as complementary, even to admitting that she'd had her doubts when he purchased the property. "You'll be happy to know that I've had your house appraised and you've doubled your investment."
Brian was indeed happy to hear that. As it was, everything was going good for him right now.
Jennifer was sipping her champagne when she spotted Michael over in a corner with Debbie and Ben. "Oh, I must go thank Michael."
Brian's mind went blank. "Why?" he asked.
"It's been years since I've seen Justin. If Michael hadn't insisted he come to see your new home there's no telling how long it would be before I saw him." She was off before he could ask anything more.
He looked around the crowded room and spotted Justin on the far side with Emmett and Ted. Brian had never been one to communicate his feelings and when things had started to go wrong he'd pulled back on e-mailing Justin while he was in New York. When the few e-mails he sent were returned as undeliverable he'd taken the hint. Now Justin was here, and there was one thing for certain, his fashion sense still hadn't improved. He currently sported an ill fitting suit and looked like he needed a haircut.
The crowd parted automatically as Brian headed for Justin, while a mixture of emotions flowed through him, but he managed to keep everything off his face. He stopped in front of the only man he'd ever loved and waited.
"Hey," Justin said while looking uneasy.
Brian returned the response. "Hey."
"Michael invited Justin. Wasn't that nice of him?" Emmett said to Brian by way of greeting.
Brian's eyebrows rose when he looked at Emmett, that seemed strange. Emmett nodded his agreement then disappeared into the crowd. If Michael knew how to get in touch with Justin, why had he never mentioned it? Brian wondered. Then he realized that he had never let anyone in on what he was feeling during that time. Brian thought about everything he could say to Justin and went with, "Have you had a chance to see the place?"
Justin looked a little less uneasy, so Brian led him to Emmett's pride and joy, the kitchen, stopping on the way to let Justin sample some of Em's culinary delights. They walked side by side around the room, stopping and talking to other guests. Out of the corner of his eye, Brian noticed that Emmett was doing his best to block Mikey from following.
They stop for a moment to talk to Deb. As usual she was rather loud and popped Brian on the back of his head. "Don't fuck it up," she demanded.
Justin looked at Brian and moved closer to ask as they walked away. "What did she mean by that?"
Brian shrugged. He explained how Debbie, Michael and Lindsay had all insisted that Justin was his responsibility from day one because he'd fucked Justin.
Justin turned red. "I was never your responsibility. I just wanted...more than you were willing to give."
Brian would have to think about that, his memory was that he'd been willing to give Justin whatever he wanted.
Justin was finally relaxing a little and showing sincere interest in the work that had been done. They had just made it back to the staircase when Brian decided he wanted Justin to see what he'd done with the rest of his home. Something he hadn't wanted to do with Mikey.
It was easy keeping track of Michael. Emmett was always near him and that red suit made him standout across the room. He flicked the switch and the wall began to slide open while he ushered Justin through. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mikey pushing people aside trying to get to him as he slipped through the door and it began sliding shut behind him.
Justin had a strange look on his face as he studied the room and Brian had to ask, "What do you think?"
"It's not exactly you."
Brian had to admit this room did not fit his usual design sense. But it was what the plans had called for and Emmett had a terrible time finding the components to complete the design found on the plans. One corner of the room was multileveled with a single bed on a platform. A step down there was a desk area, and circular steps brought you back to the floor. Underneath was all the storage a boy would need. When it came to colors, Brian had debated something subtle, Em suggested red and blue. Cynthia thought red, white and blue was a bit much. That was when Ted threw in sunshine yellow.
"It's for Gus." Brian rolled his eyes.
For the first time that night Justin smiled his sunshine smile. "I knew that. He's going to love this. He must be almost ten now. It's been so long since I've seen him."
Brian held back a sigh. It had been ages since he'd seen his son. He thought his sonny boy would like the room, but with boys you never knew.
He had no desire to feel sorry for himself. This was no time for reflection on what could have been. He wanted to see what Justin thought about his master suite. Nobody had seen it yet, not even Emmett. The stairs to the third floor had been replaced with a circular stairway, with the brass pole running down the center.
The room was considerably smaller than Gus's. It was pretty much all windows except for one wall. The flooring was rich wood; the ceiling was faulted and intricately molded with the same dark wood as the floor. Hanging from the ceiling was a king-sized swinging bed, covered with an oriental duvet in a rich red.
"Wow!" was all that Justin could say.
"Care to try it out?" Brian asked without thinking about how that question might be taken. He felt Justin stiffen.
His life had changed drastically since he last saw Justin, so what he did next might seem uncharacteristic for him. He picked Justin up and tossed him onto the bed. Then again maybe not.
"What the fuck, Brian!" The bed began swinging and a startled Justin held on for dear life. Eventually he relaxed enough to lay back and enjoy the ride. "It's like floating on a cloud. I bet sex is incredible."
Brian rolled his lips in. He wasn't about to admit that his new bed had not seen any action yet, and it wasn't that he was opposed to having sex with Justin, but after all this time he knew that they couldn't just jump back into the sack.
"How do you get out of this fucker?" Justin asked almost in panic. He managed to roll until he fell over the edge of the bed.
Brian managed to catch him, but he couldn't help but laugh. It felt good; he couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed.
"Don't laugh at me." Justin was angry and he managed to pull himself up by a cord hanging from the ceiling. All of a sudden water started pouring down from the ceiling. It was the first time that Justin noticed the tub in one corner of the room. "You have a tub in your bedroom?"
Brian shrugged. It was a strange placement to be sure, but the room wasn't very big to begin with and closing off more of the room would have made it that much smaller. All in all he was happy with the arrangement.
The room that fitted the toilet and sink was roomier because of it. These he showed Justin along with the wall of closets at the other end of the room. There was not a great deal in those closets and Brian was surprisingly content with that.
Justin seemed impressed, which at this point was all Brian wanted. He headed toward the stairs when Brian pulled him over to the pole that ran from the ceiling and through a hole in the floor.
Justin looked at the pole, and then at Brian. "You're kidding."
"This was a firehouse," Brian informed him, before grabbing the pole and sliding down. When he reached the bottom, he looked up and called. "Come on."
Justin reluctantly gripped the pole and slid through a tube down to the main floor. He let go of the pole and looked around. It was a well thought out workout space. One wall was mirrored from top to bottom.
He pushed on several more panels which opened up to storage. One of the walls was fitted with a TV/stereo system. With a grin, Brian pushed on a panel and the mirror opened out revealing a shower, sink, and toilet.
From there they made their way to the first floor entry. Under the stairway to the second floor was even more space, currently empty. They were standing at the foot of the stairway when a group of Brian's guests appeared making their way down. Among them was Justin's mother, Jennifer. She looked nervously back over her shoulder before saying, "Brian, the place looks fantastic. Justin do you need a ride?"
Several other of the guest were leaving echoing Jennifer's praise, thanking Brian for inviting them and seemed to be in a hurry to leave. Justin, ever the wasp, thanked Brian for showing him around and followed his mother out.
Brian frowned, and glanced at his watch which indicated that it was still early. Why were people leaving? He went up the stairs, stopping every once in awhile to accept congratulations on his new home. Once he reached the top he heard screeching at the doorway to his private area.
"Brian, you asshole, what the fuck do you think you're doing? You have a lot of nerve fucking Sunshine while you have guests," Deb's voice loudly proclaimed.
"Deb, could you please keep it down?" Emmett pleaded, his eyes worried as he saw people leaving in droves. Carl, too was trying to calm Deb down but she wasn't having any of it.
"Brian should be out here with his guest, not locked up getting his needs met."
"Yeah," her son agreed loudly while his husband tried to shut him up. He shrugged off Ben's concern and went back to banging on the door. "Brian, get your ass out here."
Brian walked up behind them and asked, " What's wrong?"
Debbie turned around and brought her hands to her chest. "My god, what are you doing sneaking up on a person and scaring them the fuck to death."
"Brian, where the fuck were you?" Mikey whined.
Cynthia and Ted came up to each side of Brian. "We're sorry, Brian. We tried to shut them up," Ted muttered.
It wasn't easy to tell that Brian was disturbed that his party was ruined by his supposed 'best friend' and his mother. But Emmett knew that Brian had to be hurting. That was all it took for him to take charge and escort Michael and Deb, who complained loudly the whole time, down the stairs with Carl and Ben's help, leaving Ted and Cynthia to console Brian.
What should have been a happy day for Brian was no longer. All the guests had made their escape leaving drinks and food in their wake. Brian's pride in his new home was forever spoilt.