Brian spent most of the night after putting Gus to bed dealing with the fact that he wanted to beat the shit out of Lindsay for attacking Justin. Drew wandered into the pool house after dealing with his team and talking to his parents. He almost walked out when Brian seemed to want to be alone, only to have Brian wave him to a seat.

“How’d it go?” Brian asked him.

“Do you really care, or are you trying to get your mind off something?” Drew asked.

“Both. Lindsay turned into a shrew tonight and made it sound like Justin was usurping her place in my life when all I was doing was offering to give them time to deal with Lindsay cheating on Mel.” Brian told him.

“He did. I mean, I don’t really know you guys except what Emmett has told me about you. Only, the one thing I got was that Lindsay resents how little of your life you include her in. I have a feeling she probably resents Justin for having everything she couldn’t have with you. Emmett made it sound like the only thing that kept Lindsay from becoming as bad as Michael is, was that she knows she wasn’t ever going to be in the running with you.” Drew told him.

“I couldn’t forgive her for what she did to Gus’ life; which she said and is true. She thinks I’m still punishing her for practically exploding Gus’ life to the media, but I don’t care enough anymore to punish her. What I do care about is making sure no one hurts Justin or Gus, and the fact that once again her family is involved in hurting my family.” Brian told him.

“I’m sure she used that Justin’s more of a threat then she is to Gus,” Emmett said, bringing drinks with him.

“Of course. Anything to avoid telling Mel she fucked up. And she wanted Gus around to avoid talking about it.” Brian replied, knowing exactly what Lindsay had been doing.

“Nothing new for Lindsay, but how’s Mel taking it?” Emmett asked, concerned for Mel.

“She wasn’t packing and leaving, which I sort of expected since that’s how the two of them normally deal with everything,” Brian answered.

“If they’d only figure out that sometimes it’s just fucking, then they’d stop treating it like it meant more than it did. From the look on your face, I’m assuming it didn’t go well when you offered to give Lindsay and Mel time to deal with everything.” Justin said.

“Nope. Instead, it turned into Lindsay acting like I should be pissed at you for everything wrong in her life, and the fact that you spend more time taking care of our son than she does. Apparently, Mel decided to explain to Lindsay the real reason she backed out of having another kid for her to leave with bodyguards while she shopped or seemed to want to dump Gus off on you, instead of dealing with the fact that being a parent means being one.” Brian told him, surprising Emmett with the fact that Brian didn’t protect Justin from what went on with Lindsay.

“I really didn’t care, since I liked spending time with Gus. But Mel shouldn’t have even bothered to go through the whole thing if she hadn’t really wanted to,” Justin told him.

“I think she did until you came along, and she saw how Lindsay took advantage of you,” Brian told him.

“Still, she shouldn’t have set up the appointments if she wasn’t sure,” Justin told him.

“I’m surprised your defending Lindsay, after what Brian said.” Drew told him.

“I just don’t see the point in letting it go as far as going to the doctor if you don’t really know what you want. Now, what is it that Corey told me you wanted to tell me about Collier and Michael?” Justin asked, looking at Brian.

“Lindsay’s parents are inviting Collier and Michael to their events. Nothing we need to worry about since we’ll be deciding on whether to buy an island.” Brian replied.

“Do you know if Collier’s family are being included?” Justin asked.

“No. Just that Corey’s guy overheard Nancy including Collier and Michael,” Brian answered.

“My mother and father plan to contact Collier’s parents and explain things, and plan to make it clear they aren’t going to let them keep it quiet if Collier comes near Gus or me again,” Justin told him.

“Mommy and Daddy aren’t worried about me?” Brian teased, pretending to pout.

“Only that you’d actually kill the fucker. Which they would prefer you not do since they don’t want to visit you in jail. Which apparently they would do anyway since they love you so much.” Justin told him.

“My parents want to meet you,” Drew said to Emmett when Justin and Brian kept teasing each other.

“Are they upset about us?” Emmett asked.

“No. Actually, they’re disappointed in me for feeling like I couldn’t trust them with the truth. Plus they like Sierra, and I had to reassure them she still planned to be in our lives. Once they heard she pretty much loves you too, they wanted to meet you.” Drew told him.  

“Hopefully they won’t be disappointed you’re stuck with a rocker instead of Betty homemaker,” Emmett told him.

“Something Sierra never wanted to be anyway. Although she did say if we ever wanted a baby for ourselves she’d be willing to help us.” Drew told him.

“You want that with me?” Emmett asked.

“One day. I want it all with you.” Drew told him.

“If I ever act like that, cut my dick off.” Brian joked happy Emmett had found someone who wanted all the things he’s always wanted.

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

Blake started a fire in the living room. He was hoping Ben’s night went well since he admitted Sean interested him. He’d been waiting since he got here to be alone with Ted, and once again he’d ended up on a call with another band wanting to change not just companies, but their manager as well. Blake understood why. Ted didn’t fuck over his clients. Instead, he went out of his way to help them. While Blake could sympathize, they were infringing on his time with Ted. Ted came out of the bedroom, mouthing ‘sorry’ as he listened to the guy on the phone. Blake, on the other hand, decided to give Ted a reason to hang up.

Ted paced back and forth, talking about arrangements to sit down and discuss what it would take to get Ted to agree to take on the band known for being every manager’s nightmare when it came to living up to the rockstar image. Something Ted wouldn’t deal with and the original manager got tired of dealing with. The difference was Ted wouldn’t kiss their asses and had no problem telling them no, while everyone else was too busy being yes men because the band was hot right now. Which they were finding out since Ted wouldn’t drop everything to get a signed contract from them. Then Ted hung up mid-sentence, forgetting everything but a naked and very aroused Blake standing in front of him.

“So I take it Blind Dementia has nothing on me naked and willing,” Blake smirked, pulling off Ted’s shirt.

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

Ben was used to people bending over backward, forward, and pretty much any way he asked to get his attention, which meant Sean’s lack of doing any of that was really doing it for Ben. Sean wasn’t impressed when they went through the VIP entrance of Babylon, or the fact that men were eyeing Ben, hoping to get five minutes in the backroom and bragging rights. Instead, Sean treated Ben like any other guy, with the exception of showing Ben how he moved perfectly with him. He also didn’t pay any attention to other guys flirting with him in order to make Ben jealous. It was novel to Ben to have a guy who didn’t cling or use him to show off. Sean hadn’t been excited about going out together in public, only because Ben wasn’t just some empty-headed rockstar. Which was all anyone else could see about him, but Ben really wanted to come to the club and convinced Sean to join him.

Ben went to get some water for both of them, as Sean went to use the bathroom. They planned to leave and go get a late night snack together and maybe more if Sean agreed to it. Sean decided to invited Ben to stay the night, even though he’d been the one wanting to take things slow. Sean planned to tell Ben to stay the night as he washed his hands and headed back to where he was waiting for him. Ben was standing there arguing with a guy Sean knew and looked one step away from wanting to kick the guy’s ass. When Ben saw Sean coming towards him he shoved the guy out of his way and grabbed Sean’s hand and headed straight for the door. 

“Want to tell me what’s going on?” Sean asked.

“I really didn’t want to ruin our night together when the guy didn’t understand we are together,” Ben told him.

“If they believed anything about us being together, it would mean the end to their hopes to bag you,” Sean told him, teasing Ben.

“He wanted a chance to bag you,” Ben told him.

“What?” Sean asked.

“Apparently he wasn’t happy that you were wasting your time with me and wanted me to go find another pilot to fuck with. Who knew, apparently there are pilot groupies too.” Ben told him, managing to calm down.

“I only care if pilots do it for you,” Sean told him.

“Sean does it for me, you being a pilot is just a bonus for me,” Ben told him.

“Want to see how Sean does it to you?” Sean asked him, running when Ben took off to catch the cab waiting.

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

Justin woke up wondering where Brian disappeared to when it was still the middle of the night. It didn’t take long for him to find Brian. He was sitting in Gus’ room staring at him.

“Are you okay?” Justin asked, yawning.

“Do you want more kids?” Brian asked.

“Someday maybe, why?” Justin asked.

“We never talked about it,” Brian answered.

“What about you, do you want to be a father again?” Justin asked.

“He’s one of the best things in my life, but at the same time I worry about what his future will be like, having me for a father,” Brian told him.

“Pretty great, because you love him, and will do everything in your power to make it great for him,” Justin told him.

“I wanted him to grow up in a loving home,” Brian commented, pulling Justin to sit down.

“You're worried about Mel and Lindsay?” Justin asked.

“If they end up breaking up, then yes I’m worried, because Mel is the one I trust with Gus,” Brian told him.

“If it comes to that, I’ll support you in whatever you decided we need to do for Gus,” Justin told him.

“I don’t get why Lindsay can’t write them off,” Brian told him.

“The way you did with your family? Brian, there’s a big difference in your family and hers.” Justin told him, continuing when Brian glared at him. “What you dealt with freed you, because you knew what they were doing to you was wrong. Lindsay, on the other hand, likely got pats on the head when she performed correctly, and presents for doing what they wanted, treats for good behavior. If she didn’t do what they wanted, the only thing she dealt with was disapproval, and the door open for her to get back in their good graces. Something your family never did for you.” 

“You think it excuses her?” Brian asked.

“No, it doesn’t, but you wanted to know why she couldn’t do what you could. She doesn’t get that she’s being abused, without the shit you dealt with. I don’t excuse her for not protecting Gus, the same way she doesn’t want me excused for the same thing.” Justin told him.

“It wasn’t the same. You didn’t know that Collier was deranged. Lindsay does know that about her family.” Brian told him.

“How about we go back to bed, and I help you turn off your thoughts,” Justin said, pulling Brian up, planning on having a talk with Lindsay in the morning.