Brian woke first and lay there holding Justin until his bladder was screaming for relief.  Gently he released his hold on his partner and went to the bathroom.  After finishing his morning routine he made his way into the living room and located his phone.

"Hello Brian.  How was Babylon?"  Jennifer was sitting at the kitchen table as she enjoyed reading the paper and drinking her morning cup of coffee.  She was glad to hear from Brian but was slightly surprised to hear from him this early in the day. 

"Jennifer, I don't think I would have ever envisioned the day when you asked me about my night at Babylon.  My, how things have changed."

"Brian...."

"Fine. The trip was fine, perhaps better than fine.  Justin has remembered that he's an artist."  Brian walked around to the kitchen and opened the fridge, pulling out his Guava juice. 

Jennifer shook her hand into a fist and shot it up in the air in a victory pose.  "That's wonderful.  You must be thrilled; he remembers being an artist and that you two are together," she paused to take a deep breath before asking, "so when will he be going back?"

Brian took a drink of his juice and sat down on the bar stool.  "I'm not sure.  He still doesn't remember the accident."

"What do you mean, Brian?  How does the accident relate to whether Justin can return to New York?  As a mother I certainly want to protect him, but accidents can happen anywhere."  She frowned and took another sip of her coffee as she continued the conversation. "You brought him home because he was vulnerable. That's not the case anymore."

"True.  His memories have returned, well at least the important ones.  Although, there's still the little issue of him working in the restaurant."

"Yes. But I thought that was because he didn't remember that he painted.  He did work in a restaurant.  What the hell is going on!!" she said, hearing the hesitation in Brian's voice, this getting her ire up.

"Your son decided that working in a restaurant was insufficient to pay his bills so he became a "birthday stripper" to make more money.  Seems that it allowed him more time to work on his painting while giving him sufficient money to live," Brian said, making no attempt at hiding his disdain.

The silence on the phone was difficult for both parties.  "A stripper...  Are you sure?" she asked.  She wanted to ask a million questions, but she understood Brian and his reticence to talk, and didn't want to push her "son in law".   She was thankful he had shared this much with her.

"Unfortunately, yes.  I had the distinct displeasure of seeing him perform."

Jennifer gasped and put her hand to her mouth.  "You saw him?  How? When? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Seems that he was the <b>entertainment</b>  at a birthday party I was invited to by one of my clients. Remember how you couldn't figure out why he was taking a cab?  Well, I saw him at the party, but didn't want to discuss the issue there, so he promised to take a cab to my hotel as soon as he was finished. We still had the weekend to spend together and we were both eager to see each other.  I hadn't seen him in 2 weeks."

"I'm sorry, Brian."  Jennifer said as she blocked out a picture that was trying to form in her mind of Justin stripping.  She would not allow her mind to envision such an act.  "But you didn't get to talk.  He was in the accident," she said, quietly, the full impact of the accident's significance coming to the forefront.

"Yes."

"And he remembered all this from going to Babylon?"

"He had a flashback when he saw the go-go dancers.  It all came back to him last night when we came home."  Brian pinched the bridge of his nose, a small headache threatening to cause havoc with his morning.

"Thank you for telling me."  Jennifer shook her head in acknowledgement.  Her heart went out to both men; having a better understanding of Brian's reluctance to let Justin return to New York and Justin's predicament.  "I know this must be hard for you.  But at least, he has most of his memories back.  Where is he?  I imagine he doesn't know that you're talking to me."

"Sleeping.  He's exhausted.  Don't expect us to be around for dinner tonight.  He's supposed to go with Daphne for lunch this afternoon.  I think that might be a good idea.  We have a lot to sort out, but ...."

"I'm here whenever you need me.  Thank you for taking care of him." She attempted to assure him with her words of support.

"I'm his partner, Jennifer.  That's what partners do.  I could strangle him right now, but I won't.  The little twat doesn't seem to understand the meaning of ask for help.  He can be quite stubborn."

Jennifer chuckled at Brian's loving, but annoyed comments. That was her son, she knew very well the turmoil his stubbornness and determination could cause. She would gladly take care of Justin and never let him live anywhere else, but she was glad that she didn't have to see Justin's ups and downs.

"Thank you for calling Brian. I can't say this enough, but I'm very glad he has you. Please call me if you need anything else." Jennifer hung up the phone and walked to the fridge to pull out the eggs for breakfast.  Her life was beginning to resemble normality again and she could return to worrying about Molly, and her teenage angst.  Molly would be turning 18 in a few weeks and Brian had volunteered to take her to Babylon.  She wondered exactly what went on at the popular dance club if it resulted in Justin remembering the events leading up to the accident. She had a hard time forming the words, even in her mind, of Justin as an entertainer and concentrated on making a perfect omelet for Molly.    

Brian said his goodbyes and hung up the phone and decided that the Guava juice would not cut it this morning.  He needed more substantial food.  Quietly he went to the bedroom and grabbed a pair of jeans and a button down shirt, his wallet and cell phone along with his car keys and walked out the door.  He drove to Affogato and ordered his favorite low fat latte, a hot chocolate for Justin (knowing the twats preference for sweets) and 4 Blueberry Scones.  He and Justin often went there when he was in town as Justin enjoyed seeing the local artist's work that hung in the establishment.

After making his way back to the Loft, Brian put the bag on the island and checked on Justin, who was still sleeping soundly in their bed.  Walking to his computer, he booted it up and signed in to his email account from Kinnetik.  He'd been reading for at least a half hour when he heard rustling from the bedroom.  He had three emails to finish reading and judged that he probably had time to at least open them before Justin made his way to the living room.  Justin took a while to wake up in the morning and unlike Brian, was incoherent for at least the first thirty minutes after awakening.  He finished answering the last email when he felt Justin's presence by his computer.  Looking up, he smiled at Justin and signed off from the program.

"Morning, sleepy head.  There are blueberry scones and a hot chocolate on the island."  Brian pointed to the island and watched Justin walk towards them.  He always did like that view and today was no different.  Thinking about other men viewing Justin did not make him happy but he couldn't change anything, just needed to address the future.

Justin took out the scones and placed them on a plate.  "These are good.  Are these from Affogatto's?  I love that place, but they are expensive. You know, starving artist and all."  The minute he said the words, he regretted them and quickly looked down at his plate as if there was a feast there instead of a simple scone.

Brian sat in the adjacent stool and took a bite of his scone as well.  "They are good."  Brian's absence of additional comments made Justin uneasy and he did not look at his partner until he finished his breakfast.  "I'm going to get dressed."

"Justin...."

He'd started to walk toward the bedroom, but turned around when Brian called his name. 

"Come out here when you're done.  We've got to talk."

"Okay."  Justin walked to the bedroom and found a pair of cargo pants and a t-shirt and returned to the living area where he sat on the couch.  He waited for Brian to join him but when he didn't he figured he's start the conversation.  "I'm sorry."

"Sorry's bullshit Justin.  Yeah, I know we talked about that just a few days ago, but in this instance, the sentiment is real.  Saying your sorry doesn't change the facts.  If only you had asked me for the money, you wouldn't have been stripping and then ...."  He left the scenario unfinished, both men knowing the end result. 

"I know.  I should have said something, but I didn't want to ask for money.  I know you would have given it to me, but I ...."

The buzzer rang, announcing a visitor and this time Justin was more thankful than ever to be interrupted. 

Brian pressed the buzzer.  "Who is it?"

"It's me Daphne.  I know I was supposed to pick up Justin at his mom's, but I thought I'd come here and see how you were doing before I went there. Can I come up?"

"I'll buzz you."

Brian looked at Justin and said, "Your fag hag comes to the rescue again.  Go eat your lunch with Daphne but we will be finishing this conversation later."

"Brian..."

"Justin,"  Brian said as he pinched the bridge of his nose, the headache starting to pound.  "Go.  Run along and have some juicy talks with Ms. Chanders.  I have work to do and I think I'll go in to Kinnetik this afternoon."

Brian let Daphne into the Loft when the elevator reached his floor.  "Justin just woke up so I haven't had a chance to take him to Mother Taylor's.  He's all yours,"  Brian said with a sweeping gesture of his hand. 

Daphne looked at Justin and then at Brian and saw the tension between the two men.  She knew better than to ask as theirs was a complicated relationship even in the best of times.  "Any time I should have him back or should I take him to his mom's?"

Justin fumed at the way Brian was acting, and that Daphne was going along with it (at least Daphne had an excuse),  "Hey!" he said, looking at  Brian with his most angry stare.  "I'm right here.  You may be mad at me, but I'm still right here."

"Uh, hey guys.  I can come back another time.  Seems that you two are in the middle of something," she said, feeling caught between them.

"That's okay Daphne.  Let me gather my stuff and we'll leave.  I'll tell you all about it over lunch."  Justin went to the bedroom and put on his socks and shoes and gathered his messenger bag.  "Let's go."  He walked over to Brian, not sure what his reaction would be.

Brian's face softened, he wasn't mad at Justin, only mad at the situation. Ever since Justin went to New York, actually ever since that stupid article that said Justin should be in New York. Brian leaned down and bestowed a kiss on Justin's lips, no tongue, but still lingering and sweet.

"Later," he said.

Justin smiled at the familiar word and knew that Brian was okay and more importantly that they were okay.  "Later," he said and he opened the door allowing Daphne to walk out before he followed her.

They traveled in the elevator in silence and it wasn't until they reached her car that she couldn't wait any longer.  "What was that about?  You guys were staring daggers at each other."

"He's mad.  I remembered a lot last night including the fact that I'd been stripping to earn money in New York.  Evidently Brian was at a birthday party that I was the "entertainment" for and he was not happy," Justin said as he opened the car door and placed his messenger bag in the back.

"Jesus Justin.  Tell me you are exaggerating.  You were not stripping for money?" Daphne asked as she put the key in the ignition.

Justin put on his seat belt and said, "Well yeah,.... I was."  He looked at his best friend, silently pleading for her understanding and to be nonjudgmental of his actions.  "I needed the money.  I couldn't pay my bills and paint and since I was in New York to paint, I needed something.  Jake told me about this company, really legit - he dances for them too and I tried it.  It's easy money and I have time to paint."

"Justin.  I can't believe you would do that.  I mean, didn't you learn your lesson with the Sap?  Why didn't you ask Brian for the money?  He would have given it to you."  She stared at him with a look of confusion on her face, and waited for an answer. "Justin.  You really were stripping?"

"Yeah," Justin said when he saw Daphne's face.  He looked out the window of the car, understanding his friend would most likely not be as nonjudgmental as he'd hoped.

"Where we going?  I was thinking of a new vegan restaurant on the edge of Liberty Avenue,"  Daphne asked, choosing to ignore the imminent discussion.  She didn't want to talk in front of Brian's Loft.  Instead, she backed out of the parking space and merged into traffic. 

"Whatever.  I'm not really hungry." Justin slumped in the seat as he felt a feeling of dread come over him.  He'd hoped Daphne would be on his side, but now it appeared she didn't support his solution either.

"Justin Taylor you will be eating lunch," she said in a stern voice.

"I just finished eating two scones.  Remember, Brian said I just got up," 

Taking a breath, Daphne felt her ire coming down as she realized she didn't have to lecture her best friend.  "Okay.  Why don't we go to the mall first?  I want to look for some frames for some pictures I'm going to hang in my office.  By the way, I open my office in two weeks and I fully expect that you will be there to help celebrate."

"The mall it is.  And... Well, I can't really say where I'll be in two weeks, but I will try to be there."

"Justin Taylor, there is no try.  You will be there!!!"

"Okay, I'll be there."

"Good, that's settled.  Now on to the mall."  She signaled to get on the highway and surreptitiously watched Justin out of the corner of her eye for several minutes before starting the conversation up again.

"So, explain to me why you didn't ask Brian for the money?"

"He's been helping me for years and this year I decided that if I couldn't do this on my own, I needed to come home.  I didn't want to admit failure so I figured this was a good solution.  I could have time to paint, support myself and see if I could really do this.  If not, I would come home a failure and I wanted Brian to be proud of me."  Justin looked out the window as he recited his explanation.  He was thankful that they were in a car and he didn't have to look into her face to explain his thoughts.

"I see.  So after two years you decided it was time."

"Yeah I guess."

"How long were you doing the stripping?  And did you paint?  At least tell me you got some painting done."  Daphne signaled to get off the highway and took the ramp to the mall.  She drove to a parking spot close to the office supply store and turned off the car.  She undid her seatbelt and looked at Justin.  "Don't lie to me, Justin.  I've known you forever and I can see the lies in your eyes."

"I was working for about 2 months and I had a lot of time to paint.  I finally had enough paintings to show my agent.  So, yeah, dancing gave me the time I needed to paint."

"Now what are you going to do?"

"I don't know.  I can't go back to stripping - Brian would kill me.  But if I don't do that, I can't paint.  I'm screwed."  Justin turned toward his best friend and reached out to her for a hug.  "What am I going to do, Daph?"

Daphne hugged him back and squeezed his torso.  "Well first thing we're going to do is find my frames and then we're going to eat some awesome veggie lasagna.  While we do that, we will figure out a way for this to work."

"Really?  You have a solution?"  Justin asked hopefully.

"I don't have a solution, but I have some thoughts.  We'll talk at lunch."

Justin let go of Daphne and reached for the door.  "Thank you, Daph.  I owe you."

"Pay me with your attendance at my opening.  That will be thanks enough.  Now let's go get my frames and then eat lunch.  I know you aren't hungry but I am,"  She said as she dropped the keys in her purse.

Justin smiled for the first time that morning and realized he had great friends.

TBC