Justin woke up with a start. He could see through the tiny crack between the curtain and the edge of the bay window that the sun hadn't started to peek out yet. He was wrapped tightly in Brian's arms with his butt firmly planted against his husband's crotch. Brian was obviously still in deep sleep since he didn't have his usual magnificent early morning woody pressing insistently against Justin's still firm bubble butt. The blond, who was sporting his own morning woody, had no desire to leave the comfort or warmth that Brian was providing but he knew it was probably time to get moving. A quick glance at the clock on the side table confirmed his suspicions.

Justin decided he'd give Brian a little extra snooze time and get some steaming coffee ready to ease their morning chores. Check out time was at 11:00 a.m. but it was barely after six so they had plenty of time. Half their things were already packed and the rest shouldn't take even an hour to complete. They would all have plenty of time for one last look around and a hearty brunch before boarding the plane for their one o'clock flight home.

Justin carefully moved Brian's hold on his torso, making sure not to wake his lover, and slid quietly off the bed. The cool morning air made his skin shiver and he made a quick beeline to the bathroom in order to relieve himself. He made the decision to wait for Brian to rouse himself in order to have one last shower together with him. Showering had been a favorite activity to share with Brian for over seventeen years now. He suspected it always would be. Ten minutes later, he was standing in the sparkling kitchen and preparing the first pot of coffee for the morning. He decided he'd check on the young members of their group even though he was sure they were too exhausted from all their adventures to be up and about this early.

Justin headed for the girls room first. The door was slightly ajar so he decided not to knock and wake them up. He moved the door just enough to see the rounded lumps of the girls in their beds, their heads buried deep in the covers. Justin smiled to himself. He marvelled again at how much fun he was having with JR around all the time. She reminded him a lot of his baby sister, Molly. They hadn't always gotten along perfectly when younger but they were now very good friends. She had married her college sweetheart a few years back and was now living in California but they still chatted often. JR was full of life, just like Molly had been, and Justin loved that about her. He knew that her constant chatter got on Brian's nerves sometimes but Justin had no real problem with it.

Justin decided to give the girls another hour and slowly pulled the door closed. Next stop was the boys’ room. He took the stairs to the loft bedroom on tiptoe, wanting to avoid waking them too if they were still asleep. He approached the closed door and tapped on it ever so lightly. The lack of a response gave him hope that they were still in dreamland. They needed it after the harrowing time they had the day before. Justin opened the door just a tiny crack. He quietly pushed it open a tiny bit more so that the beds would come into view. The first thing Justin noticed was that the bed closest to the door was not only empty, but stripped to the mattress too. Justin felt one second of alarm until realizing almost at the same time that the second bed was much too full to be holding a single person. Justin stood in the door frame with his jaw on the floor. This definitely required a closer exam. Justin tiptoed ever so quietly to the side of the twin bed. The thick covers were pulled almost to the top of both boys’ shoulders but there was no mistaking that the muscular arm of Jason was draped over Gus' slender body from behind and that Jason's short thick fingers were laced securely with Gus' long artist's fingers. Justin couldn't tell if the boys were naked beneath the covers but the sight of two pairs of jockeys on the floor next to the bed bore witness to the probable answer.

The teens were breathing deep and steady with what could only be called smiles on their faces. Justin suddenly had the need to get out without waking them. He needed to think...digest what he had just seen...talk to Brian. When the hell did this happen? Why in the hell didn't he or Brian notice it before? The questions swirled in his mind like a windstorm. And what in the fucking hell were they to do about this thing? How would they handle it? Brian...that's what he needed, and right now! With that thought in mind, Justin headed down the stairs twice as quickly as he went up them.

**********************************************

"Brian? Brian, wake up!"

Justin started shaking his husband for all he was worth. He knew he should stay calm but he wasn't feeling calm at the moment. It wasn't that he was upset or angry about his discovery....it was that he was confused and unsure what to do or how to handle things. He knew from bitter experience that the wrong words or actions could cause a lot of harm. Brian had barely stirred.

"Brian!" he all but shouted at the slowly rousing form. "Wake up! We've got to talk. We've got a problem. Wake up, damn it!" Justin yanked the warm blanket off violently and threw it to the floor.

"Wha...What the fuck?! Damn, Justin, what the hell has got your balls in a twist?" Brian grumbled, a little pissed at the unceremonious way he had been jerked awake.

Brian opened his eyes more fully and his protests died in his throat. One look at Justin's face and he knew his favorite blond was well and truly bothered by something important. Brian's protective antennae started quivering. He was fully awake in seconds. He pulled a pacing Justin down on the bed and wrapped his arms around the shaking man.

"What's going on, Sunshine? You look like you've seen the ghost of dead fathers. What has got you so worked up?"

"I don't know how to tell you this, Bri."

"I suggest just saying it, kiddo," Brian interrupted.

Justin squared his shoulders and sat back from Brian, looking him straight in the face.

"I saw something this morning and we have to talk about it."

"Okay...?"

"No, listen. Just let me get this out. First off, I went to check on the kids. I thought I'd give them more time to sleep if they weren't already up. The girls were out like a light and doing fine. I then went upstairs to check on the boys..." Justin paused.

"Aaaand?" Brian asked, getting impatient.

"And," Justin continued. "And they were sound asleep too."

"Yes?" Brian's voice rose a little. He was getting tired of Justin's hesitations. "Get to the point, please!"

"The point is that they were sound asleep in the same bed and cuddling...and I don't mean 'I'm cold' cuddling, I'm mean 'I want you' cuddling!"

"Are you sure?" Brian sounded skeptical.

"Their underpants were on the floor next to the bed and the other bed had been stripped of everything. They were holding hands, for fuck's sake. And Jason had his face buried against Gus' back with his lips right on him. Yeah, I'd say I was pretty sure."

"Oh Geez, how the hell did this happen?"

"Oh I don't know? Maybe your son is as queer as his good old dad and he just happened to find another gay boy to become best friends with and one thing led to another and....."

"I get it, I get it!"

Justin took a moment to compose his next thoughts. And then..."Well now that you get it...'Dad'....how are we going to handle this…‘cause I haven't a clue."

"Very carefully!" Brian responded. Then he paused for a second as if something had just dawned on him.

"That's MY boy!" Brian suddenly laughed. "Who'd have thunk it? I must really be rusty with my gaydar." He punched Justin in the shoulder. "It's all your fault, Sunshine! You've taken me off the prowl and I've lost my touch."

Justin leaned over and placed a big fat smooch on his hubby. "Oh, you haven't lost it, Mr. Kinney. You've just put it to better use"

Brian reached over and grabbed his lover by the shoulders and pulled Justin down on top of him. Justin started squirming to get loose but Brian held on and forced the smiling blond down to his lips. A few minutes of lip lock accompanied with tongue dancing and Brian finally released his prey with a hearty laugh.

"You mean for this," he asked, pointing down to their growing cocks.

Justin grinned, slapped Brian's hand away, and jumped off of Brian to stand in front of him. He did his best to place a serious look on his face. It amazed him how Brian could still get his motor revving even under serious circumstances.

"Brian...cut it out. This is serious. The boys will be up soon and we need to decide how to handle this. And don't forget that we have the girls to deal with too. We don't have the slightest idea how much they know and I have the feeling it isn't too much. Not the way that JR flirts with Jason every time they're in the same room together."

Brian realized that Justin was right, as usual, and now was not the time to indulge in a morning romp. He reluctantly sat up. After a bit more discussion, they decided they needed a nice hot shower and then they could figure out what to do over coffee. If what they suspected had actually happened last night, they were pretty certain the boys would not be up too soon. It was still really early. Fifteen minutes and a hurried shower later, the two men sat at the dining room table with hot steaming mugs of coffee and a pot standing nearby.Justin started out by giving another detailed description of what he had witnessed. Then the two men started thinking back to as many meetings with both boys together as they could recall. They were looking for clues desperately that they might have missed to try and figure out how long this thing had been going on. For the life of them they couldn't think of a single incident that seemed intimate or secretive. After lots of back and forth discussion they finally decided that neither of them was that blind. They were almost one hundred percent certain that this trip was the beginning of something special between their son and his best friend. If that was true, and they prayed it was, then it wasn't too late to have 'the talk' with Gus and Jason. They made up their mind that this was something that needed to be worked on in the familiarity of home surroundings so they would table confronting the boys until they were all back in the Pitts. They also wanted to make sure that the girls were no where near when they did. This was a delicate issue and it was most definitely a boys only, need to know basis discussion. They would bring in the Tyler parents only after hearing what Gus and Jason had to say for themselves.

******************************************

Gus felt the weight of Jason's muscular arm draped over his stomach and felt his hand holding on before he had even come fully awake. A huge smile started to spread over his face as the memory of the night before rushed back. But with that also came a sudden fear. What if this was just a fluke? What if Jason would wake up and hate himself for what he'd done...they'd done?

Gus started to squirm, trying to loosen Jason's hold on him. The movement was all that was needed to rouse Jason. He blinked his eyes open and saw the pale skin of his best friend's back inches away from his face. He felt Gus trying to pull away and instinctively tightened his hold on the slender boy. He placed a soft kiss between Gus' shoulder blades. Gus jerked forward, loosening his friend’s hold on him. He sat up quickly swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He sat there with his back to Jason and his head down.

Jason sat up next to the visibly shaken youth. He placed his arm around Gus and pulled him against his chest. Gus hesitated for only a split second and then settled against Jason's body. After a moment, Jason spoke up.

"Are you alright, Gee?"

Gus wasn't sure what to say. He began hesitantly, "I....I think so. I'm sorry, Jase! I don't know what came over me. Please don't be mad!" Gus was almost wailing by this time.Jason pulled Gus closer. He ran his free hand through Gus' soft hair. "Shhhh. It's okay. Everything's going to be okay. Why would I be mad at you ,Gee. Nothing happened here that I didn't want. I...I thought you did too." He pulled Gus' face up to look him square in the eye. "Was I wrong, Gee? Are you sorry about what happened? Were you?"

Gus was too confused to answer right away. Jason took his hesitancy to mean that he did have some regrets. It hurt like a motherfucker. He had been so sure that Gus knew what he wanted and he wanted him. Now he wasn't so sure. He let Gus go and stood up, looking for his shorts. He pulled them on quickly, suddenly feeling very naked. Gus continued to sit on the edge of the bed feeling very chilled all of a sudden without Jason's arm around him. He was scared. What had he said? Why was Jason acting so cold all of a sudden? Had he been wrong about Jason's feelings last night.

Jason continued to gather up his clothing. He started for the door and then turned before exiting it. He looked at Gus, looking much smaller than he really was on the edge of the bed. All he wanted to do was run over and gather his friend in his arms and assure him that everything would be alright. He wanted to kiss him again and feel those things he had felt last night. He felt a surge of emotion as he thought of being with Gus. But instead he quietly said, "I'm going to take a shower. I'll meet you downstairs, okay?"

"Okay," Gus whispered back. He felt very close to tears.

"Gee? It's going to be okay. We'll talk about this later. We're still friends...right?"

Gus looked up. "Always, Jase!" he answered hopefully.

Jason stepped out of the room, leaving Gus behind more confused than ever. Last night, he'd never been happier in his whole life. He had never felt so connected to another human being. Today he was unsure of everything. If he lost Jason's friendship, Gus was sure that he'd never feel right about anything again. He really didn't know how to put a name to it, but Gus knew that Jason meant the world to him. He'd do anything, be anything Jason wanted to make him happy. Gus straightened up his shoulders. He just had to get through today. Tonight they'd be back home. They'd work this thing out there. He wasn't giving up his relationship with Jason without a fight. That he knew without a doubt. All they had to do was get back home.

To be continued..........