So baby, come light me up and baby I'll let you on it
A little bit dangerous, but baby, that's how I want it
A little less conversation and a little more touch my body
'Cause I'm so into you, into you, into you

--"Into You," Ariana Grande (2016)

Elaine Greene-Kinney: We just got home and you're not here. You need to get home NOW and feed your damned dog.

Brandon read the Hangouts message from his mother and winced. He was twenty-one years old, about to start his senior year of college, and she still talked to him like he was a child. The worst part was that he was scared of her. The woman was a maneater, hence her being forty-five years old and on husband number four, and quite an intimidating woman. She always had an emotional detachment to her only child, letting nannies do the hard work while he was growing up. Regardless, Brandon constantly sought his mother's approval and cherished the rare times she expressed even an ounce of pride or love for him.

He typed out his standard reply when his mother demanded his presence.

Brandon Greene: I'll be right there.

He paid the check at the steakhouse where he and Drew had gone for dinner, telling the young man that he had to go home.

"Uh... can I text you?" Drew asked him, as if he were a lovesick tween.

Brandon spent the day with Drew so he wouldn't have to go home and face the inevitable confrontation with Brian. Drew was a decent lay, sure, but Brandon had no interest in seeing him again, especially since he was only taking Brian's sloppy seconds by fucking him.

"Give me your number," Brandon said.

He would probably give Drew's number to Emmett, imagining the two of them getting along well together.

Since he had driven them to dinner, Brandon dropped Drew back at his apartment, begrudgingly giving him a kiss goodbye. He then drove across town to Fox Chapel and parked in the driveway, relieved that Brian's Mustang wasn't there.

Brandon opened the front door, where Rocco greeted him.

"Hey, buddy," he said to the dog, giving him a scratch behind his ears before heading toward the kitchen. He gave Rocco a big scoop of food, which the dog happily devoured.

Minus the dog's chewing, the house was eerily quiet. Brandon looked around the lower level, finding no one there. He walked upstairs, slowing his footsteps when he got to the landing.

Finally, he heard voices coming from Elaine and Jack's bedroom. Brandon peeked into their open doorway.

"Hello, Mother," he said, finding Elaine unpacking one of her suitcases.

The woman met his eyes, a look of scorn on her face in spite of her botox treatments. She pointed in the direction of Brandon's bedroom.

"Your room, now," Elaine ordered.

Brandon hung his head. "Yes, Ma'am."

He went into his room and sat down on his bed, quietly waiting for his mother. She walked in a minute later, followed by her new husband.

"So... ‘The Ice King'?" Elaine asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Brian wrote that," was the only thing that Brandon could think to say.

"Yes, I know," his mother replied, her voice dripping with derision. "Is it true?"

Brandon thought for a few moments. "Um... which part?"

"How you've stolen money from me? How you've snuck into my purse and taken cash out of my wallet?"

Of all the sordid tales in Brian's journal entry about him, that part was one of the least objectionable since as far as Brandon knew, every kid had taken money from their parents at least once in their lives.

"Oh... uh, yeah," Brandon confessed, the tone of his voice evident that he didn't think it was a big deal.

"Why?" Elaine asked. "You've gotten a generous allowance every month, practically since you could walk. If you needed more, you could have just asked me! If there was something special you wanted... I mean, there have been plenty of times that you've said, ‘Mother, there are these cool shoes I like,' or ‘I need a new backpack,' or whatever it may have been, and I've given you the money to buy it. Why would you take money from me behind my back?"

Brandon shrugged. "Just... for the fun of it, I guess?"

"This woman has given you everything you've ever asked for, for your entire life," Jack said to him.

"How the fuck would you know? You weren't there! You're not my father!"

"Hey!" Elaine yelled, never having heard her son talk back to someone so disrespectfully. "You don't talk to him like that! Apologize, right now."

"I'm sorry, Jack," Brandon said, obviously not meaning it.

Elaine sighed, closing her eyes. "I spent our entire flight home thinking about what I should do with you. I can't believe that the child I raised-"

"Oh, you raised me?" Brandon interrupted. "You mean, the child your nannies raised?"

Elaine's mouth dropped open, but she knew it was true. "I just can't believe that you could be so cruel to people. Were all of those stories true? How you've used boys for sex, time after time? How you... Christ, that altar boy at Nana's funeral? How could you do that?"

Brandon looked directly at Jack. "I was just trying to keep up with Brian, fucking every attractive guy - gay, straight, or undecided - in town."

Jack rolled in his lips and looked away, Brandon obviously hitting a nerve. Having a gay son had always been a sore spot, even though Brian had never officially come out to him. It was well known in their social group that Brian was a fag, a very promiscuous one at that. Jack had first heard the rumors way back when Brian was only fourteen, with the word being that he was having sex with a male golf trainer at the country club.

Elaine sighed again. "Well, I already talked to Brian. I called him yesterday, after I read his... whatever it was, about you."

She didn't elaborate on their conversation.

"As far as you, young man," his mother continued. "You have exactly twenty-four hours to pack up your things and get the hell out of my house, and take that nasty dog with you."

"What?" Brandon said, shocked. "Mother... I'm sorry, okay? It was wrong for me to steal from you. It was very immature and unnecessary for me to do that. I don't know exactly how much I took from you over the years, but I'll pay you back. How much do you want? Just name an amount, whatever you think is fair."

"This isn't about the money, Brandon. This is about the disrespect you've shown me, by stealing from me. I admit, I wasn't always the best mother to you and I'll have to live with that. But I refuse to live with you any longer."

"I move back into the dorms in a few weeks," Brandon said, tears in his eyes. "Please, just-"

"No. I don't care where you go, but you're not welcome in my home," Elaine replied, refusing to budge.

Brandon's face cracked as he began to openly weep. "Mother, I have nowhere to go. I can't move back into the dorm until next month. I... I don't have any money. I always spend everything you give me each month for my car, clothes, food, and... other things."

"Like drugs?" Jack asked.

"Well, that's all gone, too," Elaine informed him. "I'm not paying for you to wine and dine your little boyfriends anymore. I'm also not paying for you to keep putting poison into your body. I searched your room when we got home and found your drugs - the marijuana in your sock drawer, what I'm guessing is cocaine in your nightstand, the liquor bottles under your bed, the pills, the rolling papers, the pipes..."

"You're throwing me out and cutting me off?" Brandon asked, hardly able to breathe.

"Yes, the gravy train stops here. Your final year at CMU is paid up, including your dorm and meal plan, but if you still want to go to graduate school next year, you're on your own. Maybe your father will help you, but I don't see that happening. Get a part-time job... I'm sure McDonald's is hiring."

Brandon thought he was going to vomit. He wouldn't even walk into a McDonald's to use the restroom, let alone think about working at one.

"What about Brian? Look in his room, you'll find a pharmacy in there, too! Why am I being treated like I'm the only bad guy in this house? You should have seen the party he threw here last night! There were beer kegs, boys smoking pot, having sex all over the place-"

"You don't need to worry about Brian, I'll deal with him later," Jack said.

Brandon turned to his step-father. "And you! Why don't you tell her how you're broke? How you lost everything but your company when Joan divorced you. Tell Mother how you only married her for her money!"

Both men looked to Elaine after hearing her sigh.

"I know about Jack's money problems, Brandon. Hell, everyone knows he lost half of his property to Joan. She brags about it to everyone at the club."

"Yeah? Well..." Brandon said, frantically looking between Elaine and Jack. "What about his gambling, huh? Brian told me that the money Jack did have left, he lost playing poker. Did you know that, Mother?"

"I love Jack and he loves me," Elaine informed her son. "I know that he didn't marry me for my money; he wouldn't have signed the prenup if this marriage was only about money. The advertising company is doing very well, and soon Jack will personally be solvent again. I'm surprised that he even married me, since I don't have the best track record..."

Jack put his arm around his new wife's shoulders. "Hopefully, the fourth time will be the charm."

Elaine smiled and gave Jack a kiss.

Brandon rubbed his wet face, having nothing else. He wondered if Brian knew the truth, that he had absolutely nothing to lose if he hadn't successfully completed the terms of their bet.

Brandon could hardly believe that everything had come to bite him in the ass like this.

He couldn't stand watching Elaine and Jack being all lovey-dovey together, so he got up and walked out of his room. He gave Rocco a pat on the head before getting into his car and leaving.

Justin was sitting on Ted's couch/his current bed, watching a YouTube video on his laptop. It was a compilation of cats squeezing themselves into boxes, which would normally have him in stitches, but he couldn't even crack a smile.

"What's wrong, Baby?" Emmett said as he took a seat next to Justin. He looked over at the laptop screen, chuckling as he watched a cat jump into a tall, narrow box and get stuck.

"Nothing," Justin mumbled.

"Brian?" Emmett asked.

Justin paused the video and sighed. "I just don't know whether I can trust him again or not. He even told me that I shouldn't trust him. I really want to be with him, but I can't deal with the games."

"Well, trust me, Honey, with Brian Kinney, what you see is what you get. He's an asshole, but he doesn't play around when it comes to sex. If he wants you, he'll have you."

"He already had me, just like he's had every other fag in town," Justin said.

"I saw the two of you dancing together at the party the other night. I've seen him dance with plenty of guys before at Babylon, and he's never danced with a guy the way he danced with you. The way he held you and looked into your eyes... you're obviously special to him."

Justin sighed again before pressing the space bar on his laptop, for the video to resume.

Emmett got up from the couch and walked into Ted's bedroom. The man was flipping through the channels on his TV, which was on the dresser opposite the bed.

"You watch live TV?"

Ted shrugged. "It's summer, there aren't any good shows on right now."

"The new season of Game of Thrones starts next week," Emmett said as he laid down next to Ted.

"I don't watch that."

Emmett gasped dramatically. "You... what? Oh, my God, I'm seriously rethinking our relationship right now."

Ted laughed. "I already pay for regular cable, Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Hulu. I'm not paying for premium channels, too."

"And I thought I knew you... Anyway, we need to do something to help Justin. He's torn up about Brian, it's so sad to see a cutie like him frown."

"That guy is an asshole and Justin's better off without him. He'll meet plenty of guys his age at school, guys better for him than Brian Fucking Kinney."

"He wants Brian, not some little boy who doesn't know his ass from his dick," Emmett said sternly. "It's not up to us to decide who's good for who, it's-"

"Who's good for whom," Ted corrected.

Emmett ignored him and continued. "It's up to Justin who he wants to be with. I've only known the kid for a few days, but I think he's a sweet boy. We should help him, Teddy."

"We?" Ted asked.

"Yes, we."

Emmett opened his Facebook Messenger app on his phone and sent a message to Brian.

Emmett Honeycutt: Hey, asshole.

Brian replied a few seconds later.

Brian Kinney: What do you want, fruit cup?

Emmett Honeycutt: Well, that depends. Now that Justin is out of your bed, have your done your typical Brian Kinney thing and jumped into the next warm ass?

Brian Kinney: Not that it's any of your business, but no. I'm between asses at the moment.

Emmett Honeycutt: That's good, because your previous warm ass is currently sitting on Teddy's couch.

Nearly a full minute passed before Brian's reply popped onto the screen.

Brian Kinney: So?

Emmett Honeycutt: I just thought you'd want to know. The three of us are about to go to Woody's for a drink. Maybe we'll see you there?

Emmett watched a few minutes of Friends, the episode where they imagine how different their lives would be if Rachel had married Barry, if Ross was still married to Carol, etc.

By the time the commercial break came and Brian still hadn't replied, Emmett stood up and walked over to Ted's closet. He found maybe the only stylish shirt in his lover's boring wardrobe and tossed it over to him, along with a pair of jeans.

"We're going out for drinks," Emmett said.

"It's Sunday evening, I have to go in for my internship tomorrow at eight," Ted replied in a whiny tone.

"Fine, maybe Justin and I will go without you," Emmett said as he put his shoes on. "And maybe we'll meet a couple of hot guys, and-"

"Alright, alright," Ted grumbled as he started changing into the outfit that Emmett picked out for him.

Emmett kissed Ted on his forehead before walking into the living room, finding Justin still slumped on the couch and frowning at his laptop.

"Have you ever been to Woody's?" Emmett asked.

Justin shook his head, his eyes still on the screen.

Emmett helped himself to one of Justin's suitcases on the floor. "Well, we're going. They have half-priced margaritas until midnight. I'd bet you like strawberry the best."

Justin finally looked at him. "I'm really not in the mood to go out."

Emmett picked out a tight black t-shirt and some distressed jeans. "Every guy in the joint will be looking at you in this, Baby."

He put Justin's outfit on the sofa cushion next to him.

"Get dressed and I'll do your hair," Emmett said, smiling down at him.

Justin didn't have the energy to argue with him.