I took a couple of weeks off from Kinnetik, letting Teddy and Cynthia in charge. I took these days to put everything in order: spend more time with my Sonny Boy, check everything with the doctors and prepare the new loft for when Sunshine is going to come.

Combining my old one with the one above was a great idea. On the bottom level I had space for a spacious living room, a section for a dinning "room", just next to the kitchen- completely equipped for Justin to cook to his heart contempt. The best was that everything was out in the open, no walls dividing each section. Just my style!

Upstairs, I had a small place to work, next to the open library. Small because I won't work at home, this place was to spend with my family. Just for when I had to do something urgent, that really needed my attention. Our, Justin's and mine, bedroom was spacious with its own bathroom and walk in closet- much to my delight! Nearby, there was Gus' room. I had to make a hole in one of the walls, so it could be connected to the bathroom next to it.

One of my favorite parts of my first home was the nicknamed by me: "wall of fame". It was the wall of the stairs, where I placed Justin's paintings. From the two artworks I was obsessed with, from my Sunshine's show, I used the one that showed Pittsburgh and New York for the waiting room in Kinnetik and the one from the light post is in the center of the "Wall of Fame".

Then, I took my time dividing the projects Justin sent me, for Pratt that his teachers deemed good enough to be presented at the art show at the end of the year- only the best students were chosen, and my lover had his own place since year one! The choice of which painting would stay at home and which go to decorate Kinnetik was easy, the ones that portray the gang would stay at the loft and the rest in Kinnetik.

In a more personal matter, the gang was taken, my change much better than a few months ago. If I was surprised when Mel made me snap out of my moping and win Justin back, I couldn't believe when it was she the one that talk some sense into Lindsay. Nowadays I hear no complaints from her about the lack of spare key for my place.

Mickey was each day taking more responsibilities and making us all proud of his progress. He sold the comic I gave for his birthday once, the bidding war over it was 'epic'- or at least that's what he said- which left him with a lot of money to start his own comic shop. But he didn't leave things like they used to be in Buzzy's shop, he asked Ted and me for help to bust his shop. He's not doing that bad, for a comic shop that just started. For once, he is not demanding me to do the job for him and even though he whines when things don't go his way, his shrink is rationalizing with him- something we all thought impossible- and convincing him not to give up and try one more time.

Also, the sessions with the shrink were good for Mickey. He no longer comes to my place unnoticed and doesn't call me as much as before. For any person the times he calls me would seem obsessive, but in comparison to Mickey level he was much better. He even stood up to Debbie and told her to back off a bit, that we were already adults and that she had to stop treating us as if we were still fourteen years old.

That sent the whole Liberty Avenue in chaos, rumors everywhere you went. It also almost splits our family, especially when Debbie started blaming me-as always- about Michael's change of character. Luckily, that police officer, she started seeing made her see things differently and calmed things down a bit.

However, things stirred up again when Mickey started dating that professor that was positive. Debbie didn't like it at all and made a big fuss, but we all knew that it wasn't prejudiced. She was just afraid of losing her son like she lost her brother, it took a while- and Mother Taylor's help- but she finally understood that she was going to lose him anyways if she continued this way. She still hasn't accepted Ben 100%, but when she found out that he came with a son- a grandchild for her- she started to warm up to him.

It seems that the professor adopted a street boy who was abused by his mother and pimped to men, for money for her drugs. If you asked me that Hunter was lucky to have landed with both of them. As a gift for them, I promised them to pay for Hunter's sessions with Alex. Something that I wished someone would have done for me, it would have resolved a lot of problems early on. It seems that they hadn't thought of that and thanked me, after trying to convince me that it wasn't necessary. But this was something I wanted to do, and a help to their relationship. Because this time there was a chance for it to work, for Mickey to finally fall in love with someone else.

"This place looks amazing!" a voice exclaimed, snapping me out of my train of thoughts.

I turned around rapidly and locked gazes with my breathtaking lover. Before I knew it, he had leaped into my arms and was kissing me with all his might. One thing led to the other and we ended up having sex all over the new loft, it also gave me the chance to show him around. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.

"It's good to be back" he murmured against my chest, once we finally stopped breeding like bunnies and were laying on our bed.

"It's good to have you back" I replied.

"You really changed, before you would have rather cut your tongue than being caught saying that" he told... no, praised me.

"You too. Now you are more independent and can stand on your own two feet, without depending on me or Mother Taylor" I praised back, caressing the sun pendant that he was wearing.

"I only take it off when I shower or am painting" he told me, when he noticed my fixation on the gift I had given him.

"Good" I replied satisfied and a bit smug, if I had to be honest.

"Brian... about your... what did the doctors say?" my usually confident Sunshine was stuttering, unsure of himself and how to act in this situation.

"We'll talk about it later" I told him firmly, leaving no place for objection "Let's enjoy this now"

"Yes, sir, yes" he joked back, lamely, but earned a chuckle from me "We are back together and that's all it matters"

If he only knew how right he was. I thought to myself, happy, but at the same time sad. If he only knew...