TED

I got to work and gathered my paperwork to go over with Brian. I figured it was better to act like nothing happened last night. Blake wanted to talk to Justin and see if we could help Brian out. All of us, except for Michael, felt like shit about what happened last night. We had assumed that Justin was coming with Brian last night, and didn’t know what to think when Brian showed up alone. 

When I got to Brian’s office, Cynthia looked frazzled. That scared the shit out of me, since Cynthia always has everything under control. 

“Ted, have you heard from Brian? I called his phone and got Michael,” She tells me.

“He isn’t in his office?” I ask.

“No. And he hasn’t called or left any messages about where he is. His schedule is clear for the day, so it’s not like he has to be here, but you know him, he never misses work,” She tells me.

“Shit, it’s probably because Justin broke it off last night,” I tell her.

“How did that happen?” She asks.

“Michael threw a surprise party for Brian, then took Brian’s phone without him knowing, and invited Justin to come. Then he got Brian to dance with another guy who was practically humping Brian’s leg when Justin walked in. I don’t get why Brian stayed in the first place, everyone could tell he didn’t want to be there. When Justin showed up it was clear he didn’t like what he was seeing and took off. Brian left pissed after he threw his phone at Michael,” I tell her.

“Even if Brian was pissed he’d still be here. Not that the rest of us would want to be here with him,” She tells me.

“I’ll go see if he’s at home. Call me if he shows up,” I tell her.

Brian wasn’t at his loft or the diner. Michael and Ben were sitting in a booth and when I walked in. Michael looked up, then frowned at me when I came through the door. Brian’s phone was sitting on the table and I took it, before Michael could keep it as a way to get Brian to talk to him.

“Have you seen him?” Michael asks quietly.

“No. But right now even if I did know where he was I wouldn't tell you,” I tell him. 

“I made a mistake, can you just let it go. Mel's already jumped all over my ass, I don't need it from you too,” He tells me, whispering.

“You mean you don't want your mother to find out. Since she hasn't been letting Brian take the blame for your shit lately,” Ben tells him. 

“It wasn’t like Brian couldn’t have walked off when Jason danced with him if he was so committed to Justin. How is it my fault Justin saw what he did?” Michael asks.

“Oh, I don’t know. Could it be because you texted Justin to come before you dragged Jason over to Brian?” Emmett asks sarcastically. “Before you try to say you didn't mean for Justin to see that, I saw you texting on Brian’s phone. I also saw you smirking after you put it in your pocket. I knew I should've checked what you were doing, but unfortunately for Brian, I didn’t,” He tells Michael.

“I don’t get it, why do something like that?” I ask. 

“That's something I want to know. I thought you got over this thing with Brian, but maybe it's wishful thinking on my part,” Ben says, getting up and walking out.

“Ben, I love you,” Michael says, running after him.

“What was that about?” Deb asks, coming over to us.

“I'm surprised you didn't come over here to find out before,” Emmett tells her.

“When they came in, Ben gave me the ‘stay out of it’ look. So to respect Ben, I did. It's something Carl and I talked about. If I want to be able to tell Michael my relationship was none of his business then I needed to respect them the same way. Now you're here, you can tell me what's going on,” She tells us.

“Michael apparently decided not to respect Brian and Justin’s relationship last night. Justin broke it off with Brian last night after seeing the floor show Michael provided,” Emmett tells her, before I can stop him.

“He's never going to learn to leave Brian alone. Hopefully he'll figure out Ben isn't going to put up with it,” I tell her. 

“Ben doesn’t help any more than I do sometimes. He lets Michael get away with things too,” She tells me. 

“He might normally, but not when he thinks Michael is still hung up on Brian, which was implied when he left a minute ago,” I tell her. 

“For once we all need to stay out of it. Brian is probably hurt enough and doesn't need anyone trying to get him to let Michael off,” Emmett tells her.

 “I could talk to Justin and tell him that my son's an idiot,” Deb tells us. 

“Let Blake try first, he's had past experience with the shit Michael does. If Justin doesn’t listen to him, then you're up,” I tell her, because my daughter isn't going to be happy if Dr Taylor isn’t.

JUSTIN 

Watching Brian sleep, I started to wonder about him. He always seems so self assured and in control, but last night he was different than the man I've gotten to know. I couldn’t imagine what it took for him to come to me, after I all but told him to get out of my life.

He sat there as if he expected me to reject him. It was why I climbed up there, because he sat there like he wasn’t allowed to come inside the walls. What kind of life would make someone like that. He gave me a clue when I asked about his family, but I have a feeling there's more to it than them just hating that he's gay. It's hard to know what to ask him, since I never again wanted to see the look he had when I asked about his father.

My father's a dick, but he wasn't always. There were times when I could tell he tried to get me, but couldn't get past the fact that my life wasn’t going to be with a wife and two kids. It got to be impossible when he married his new wife, because she's even worse than my father about homosexuality. In the end it was easier to just pretend we weren’t related to each other. Which is all kinds of fun when they come to functions that I attend with my mom. My stepmother, Brenda, didn’t get welcomed into the WASP nest, because unlike my mom, she didn't come from the right social background. I know it pisses my Dad off when the same people who treated my mother like shit, walk off when he and Brenda show up. I only go with Mom so Brenda doesn’t bother her. Which is the worst I deal with when it comes to my family. But after the little bit I heard from Brian last night, it makes me think it's nothing in comparison to his family.

“What are you thinking about?” Brian asks, leaning over me.

“That my mom is going to love you,” I tell him. 

“What about her son…? Forget I said that,” He tells me, laying back down.

“Why?” I ask. Knowing I looked surprised by the question.

“Do you want to get something to eat?” He asks, avoiding answering me.

“Brian, I want to say yes, I love you, but I also think we haven't known each other that long. I can say I think about you pretty much every minute of the day. What happened last night bothered me more than normal, which, in the past, had never been a problem with other relationships. You're different than the person I thought you were,” I tell him, realizing what I was saying sounded pretty much like I loved him. “Maybe I'm just scared of how much you mean to me,” I tell him. 

“Why are you scared of us?” He asks. 

“Before you, it didn’t feel like I'd be losing part of me if it was over,” I tell him.

“Like I felt last night. I've always been afraid of the idea of depending on anyone, but with you, it's different. Last night I denied it to Lindsay and Mel, but instead of saying fuck it, I came here, because in denying it… I was lying to myself. I love you.” He tells me. 

BRIAN 

It's never easy putting yourself out there, but for once I found someone worth letting in. Justin stared at me, not saying anything when I poured out my heart to him. He started to say something, but Gwen opened the door. Justin pushed me down on the bed and threw the covers over me as Gwen came in, rubbing her eyes.

“Daddy, I'm hungry,” She tells him.

“Let me get dressed and I'll start breakfast,” He tells her.

“Okay. Is he going to eat with us?” Gwen asks.

“Who?” Justin asks, grabbing my hand when I ran it up his thigh.

“Brian. Duh,” She tells him, proving Gus is rubbing off on her.

“I'm sure he's hungry too, but you need to get dressed and wait for us,” He tells her.

“Just hurry, because you hate it when I'm late for school,” She tells him, leaving.

“The princess has spoken,” I tell him, crawling over him.

“Aren't you going to be late too?” He asks, pointing at the time.

“I'm taking the day off. Want to join me?” He asks. 

“Let me make sure Mary can get the other doctors to cover for me. Then I can spend the day with the birthday boy,” He tells me, getting up to get dressed. He held out his hand. “I love you too.” He tells me. 

GUS

Jenny told me Bine was sad and when I came down for breakfast I heard Mom and Mama talking about my dad. They didn’t realize I was standing there and kept talking about something Michael did that had Justin breaking up with my dad. I wanted to find Michael and yell at him, because my dad didn’t need him getting in the way. Everyone always said Michael means well, but it's just hard to believe when most of the problems revolve around Michael. Prime example; Jenny. No one does anything right unless it's Michael. I mean, I know he loves Jenny, but it's like he tries too hard, as if he's competing for ‘father of the year’. I still remember the snit he had when Jenny’s first words were Mommy. He sat around for days trying to get Jenny to say Daddy, but smiled when she yelled, “Bine”, instead. What's weird to me is that he loves Ben, yet thinks being my dad's best friend is somehow more important. I smiled when I heard Mama saying she jumped on Michael for my dad. 

I left them in the kitchen and went to call my dad. I wanted to help him make up for whatever Michael did that made Justin break up with him.

“Uncle Ted?” I ask, when he answered Dad's phone.

“Have you seen your dad?” He asks. 

“I was calling his phone, so what do you think?” I ask sarcastically, which I ruined when I laughed.

“If you do, let him know I have his phone, Mr Kinney,” He tells me, laughing.

I called my partner in crime, but got my dad instead. “Is everything okay?” I ask. 

“It's fine Sonny Boy,” He tells me. 

“Mom and Mama were talking and said you and Justin broke up,” I tell him. 

“We worked it out, but do me a favor and don't tell anyone,” He tells me. 

“Sure, if you want me to. Uncle Ted has your phone. I think he's worried that he can’t find you,” I tell him. 

“Do me a favor and call him, let him know I'm taking the day off,” He tells me. 

“Are you going to pick me up today?” I ask. 

“I'll be there,” He tells me, hanging up. 

I brought my bag that I take with me when I stay with my dad to the table. Mama smiled, saying I needed to be extra nice to my dad this weekend.

“Mama, are you okay?” I ask.

“I can be nice about your father,” She tells me, rolling her eyes, when Mom and I laugh.