Leda decided to do this interview differently. This time she didn’t sit them down and ask questions. They’d been shouted enough questions since coming home. She wanted them to relax since part of the idea was to take pictures of them without posing them. She understood what Ted was asking of her, and it came through in almost every picture she took. It wasn’t just Brian and Justin, it was all the men in the room. Although with Brian and Justin it was more natural since they’d been together longer. Emmett was thrilled when she suggested the interview be less formal, and more like old friends. 

Leda observed the guys as they were relaxing and somehow managing to ignore the circus outside the house. She’d seen the bullshit that met them when they returned from their vacation. They’d been lucky in that no one knew they’d flown in, but that luck ran out when they’d driven to the house. It took security to get them through the gates at the house, and it left her thankful that she could never be like the bloodsuckers sitting outside the gate. Even though she was invited into their private domain, she wasn’t happy that one of her fellow journalists had taken it upon himself to make them prisoners in their homes. 

Mel had shown up to see Brian, and after emerging from the meeting took off with Molly, without doing more than hugging the rest of the guys before leaving, silent about what she had come there for. Leda could see everyone was curious but didn’t question Brian or Justin about why Mel had been here. Likely assuming as she did that it was about Lindsay. Leda wasn’t a fan of Lindsay, but she could say so far it looked like Lindsay was really seeing her problems were of her own making because of jealousy. It impressed Leda that Lindsay wasn’t asking anyone to help her smooth her path with Brian, saying if he stayed angry at her, she deserved it and more for not being the friend he’d been to her all their lives. 

Now sitting at the table while Drew’s mother and Emmett were making lunch, Leda started taking photos for the article she was going to write. She planned to talk to Corey later and tell him about Brandon being the one who had caused the crap outside the gate. Shaking her head she lined up a shot of the whole room, pausing a second when she noticed that over in the corner Brian and Justin were looking at each other as if no one else was in the room with them. Even with Ted giving her permission to photograph all the guys, she felt like she was recording private moments Brian and Justin shouldn’t have to give up just because Brian was famous. 

“It’s like they don’t even notice anyone but themselves,” Blake said, standing next to Leda.

“I can’t imagine what it must be like for all of you, everyone wanting to know things they wouldn’t want people to see about themselves,” Leda told him.

“It’s the cost of what we do,” Emmett shrugged.

“And who are you guys to complain when it made you rich?” Leda said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at something most people would say about their situation.

“I don’t understand why their private life should be anyone’s business. I for one would love for Bellwether to have someone pull apart his life and print everything he’s ever done. I doubt he’d look any better than Emmett does in the crap he prints about Emmett's life before my son,” Will, Drew’s dad, told them.

“I just don’t get why he’s targeting Emmett,” Becca added.

“Because he thinks Emmett’s the one who outed ‘Mr. Social Conscious’.” Ted told her.

“I didn’t. He seems to forget the forty other men in the room that night. Part of the reason he blames me because I brought Michael, who pretty much told everyone he saw that Bellwether was at the party and what he was doing,” Emmett told them.

“Explain that,” Drew asked Emmett.

“Yes, please. I don’t remember that,” Brian said, looking at Ted and Emmett.

“You were busy getting married that weekend, so I’d volunteered to deal with Michael for you,” Emmett told him.

“Which meant I was volunteered to suffer along with Emmett, which I now forgive him for since he did it for you,” Ted teased.

“Anyway… we were sort of at loose ends when a guy whispered about a private party. I didn’t ask since it was something to do other than sitting in the diner listening to Michael whine about how Brian should have included him in anything he planned to do. We got there, walked around and figured out what the party really was, then left after Michael practically shouted what was obviously going on like a tattle-tailing toddler. Bellwether acted like ME being there was the reason he lost the people who used to live by his words. It didn’t matter that he was a hypocrite, just that he was caught being one,” Emmett told them, snickering at the memory.

“Yeah, he was all about how ‘morally upstanding’ he was,” Leda said, snapping pictures.

“In his books, he is, but that’s where it ends,” Ted commented.

“So this attack on you is because he blames you for his actions or Michael for opening his mouth?” Leda asked.

“The party was by invitation only, which means normally Michael wouldn’t have been invited. I brought him, so as far as Bellwether was concerned I fucked up his life. It would have been someone else's fault if it wasn’t mine. It’s what Bellwether and Michael have in common, blaming everyone else for what they did,” Emmett told them.

“I get that from him too, but why leave Brian alone and not you? I ask only because he could print the truth about Brian’s life before and there’s nothing he could sue him over,” Leda said, knowing there were always ways to work around anything.

“It’s not that I care how it affects me, and there isn’t really anything he could print about Brian that would hurt either his or Justin’s careers. By printing the shit he does about me, it could change the way Drew’s team accepts him after hearing the kind of person I was when I was younger and single,” Emmett explained to her.

“If my teammates choose to form an opinion about you without getting to know you than they aren’t the people I thought they were,” Drew told him.

“Well said,” Becca commented.

“He’s picking and choosing some of the worst examples of my wilder days. I should have listened when Brian told me to be careful since we were no longer just two guys from Pittsburgh,” Emmett said, thinking now that what Brian said made sense.

“I’ll remind you again, you were young, single, and at the top of your career. Nothing you did should have any effect on your life now,” Becca told him.

“If Deb were here she’d say the same thing, granted with a few saucy words mixed in.” Ted teased, to get Emmett to smile.

“Hopefully she isn’t dealing with more crap from Michael,” Emmett said, knowing he needed to call and check on her.

“We could go, since everywhere you go means having to plan it out,” Will told them.

“Thanks Will, I just don’t want her to feel left out,” Emmett said, smiling at him.

“How are you two feeling now that Drew is out?” Leda asked.

“Just as happy as I’d be if he’d married Siera, because he loved her the way he loves Emmett. I don’t care who my children marry just that they love the person they marry. What I’m not happy about is people sitting in judgement as if they have nothing in their lives that shows them as less than stellar. Emmett’s past doesn’t matter to me or Will, it’s that he’ll love our son,” Becca told her.

“It’s what has me willing to talk to you right now. Bellwether wants to write things not caring what it does to me or my family. Since that’s the way he wants to be I don’t have a problem with making sure anything I know about his life is an open book, the way he wants to make my life,” Emmett told her.

“Anything you want to add?” Leda asked Brian and Justin.

“I feel exactly the same way about my marriage to Justin as Emmett does about his life,” Brian told her, kissing Justin.

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

Lindsay felt like she was finally finding a life outside of all the things she deemed important. She missed Gus, but she also figured out that part of the reason she got jealous of everything Brian had was that unlike Brian and Mel, she’d never succeeded at anything she did. Which wasn’t their fault but hers for giving up every time. That was her in a nutshell; if it got hard, Lindsay Peterson gave up. Hell, if she hadn’t gotten pregnant the first time, she’d have likely have given up that too. She’d spent years trying to win the approval of her parents. Letting go of more important things that she could have spent years trying to own and been happy with, versus the approval that she’d never get.

Lindsay was on her way to meet with Jen and Deb, who had invited her to help them with the benefit that was turning Lynette's wedding into the event not to attend. Only, Lindsay wasn’t doing it to screw with her sister but because they weren’t asking her for any reason other than to spend time with her. Jen made the effort, telling Lindsay that Gus needed to know his mother was part of the rest of the family. Lindsay knew Brian was still wary of her motives, but she would prove to him she was changing and let him decide if she was worth trying to find a way back to them being friends again. Lindsay stopped when she heard Jen talking on the phone, and for a minute started to feel the walls closing in on her.

“Molly, Dad and I are both proud that you want to give Brian and Justin a child. I know we were hesitant, but it’s only because we wanted to make sure you were doing it for the right reasons,” Jen said, smiling until she realized Lindsay had heard her. “I have to go Sweetheart.”

“Are you okay?” Jen said, coming over where Lindsay was standing looking pale.

“They’re having a baby?” Lindsay asked.

Jen blew out a breath, knowing she’d fucked up, since they hadn’t wanted anyone to know.

“Is that a problem?” Jen asked, since she couldn’t go back and change that Lindsay knew.

“I guess it’s just a shock, but a good one,” Lindsay assured her.

“It doesn’t mean Gus means any less to them. They just want a child that they don’t have to share with anyone,” Jen told her.

“Brian’s a great father, and Justin’s been wonderful to Gus, so it makes sense they want to do it again,” Lindsay told her, not willing to act like a jealous bitch.

“You’re also a great mother, and Gus is lucky to be raised by both you and Mel,” Jen told her, putting her arm around her. “I just need you to promise me that until they tell everyone that you keep it a secret for them.” 

“Does Mel know?” Lindsay asked.

“She’s Brian’s lawyer, so yes, she does,” Jen told her, ready to defend Mel if Lindsay got angry.

“It’s just, I don’t have a problem not telling anyone else, but I don’t want her to find out I knew and didn’t tell her,” Lindsay told her.

“Just don’t be angry if she can’t tell you what she knows,” Jen told her.

“It’s probably killing her to have to keep all Brian’s secrets,” Lindsay laughed, following Jen in.

Lindsay’s good mood stayed the rest of the day, and she decided to make dinner for Mel since they would still be Gus free for the night. She hummed while wandering around the store, picking up what she needed, liking the fact she was able to let go of the sting she first felt at hearing Brian was planning to have another child, while she and Mel were putting it on hold. Lindsay knew she needed to work on being the kind of mother Gus needed before trying to bring another child into their lives. She and Mel needed to work on their marriage too, so in the end, waiting wasn’t wrong for them.

Lindsay turned down the snack aisle, groaning as she saw Michael standing there. She was hoping to get away without dealing with him, but he saw her before she could get away.

“I guess you got thrown to the wolves too,” Michael said, catching up to her.

“Why do you say that?” Lindsay asked.

“From what I heard you weren’t included in the vacation with everyone else. Hell, they even took your kid and left you behind,” Michael told her, hoping she’d do what she usually did when Brian discluded her. 

Lindsay stared at Michael, and suddenly realized he’d done this to her for years. Made her feel left out, which in turn made her do stupid shit that hurt her and Mel as well as her friendship with Brian and Emmett. Only now, Michael was on the outside himself, and she’d learned her lesson about her own actions.

“I’m not likely to be invited to most things. Brian isn’t any happier with me than with you,” Lindsay told him.

“I doubt he’s happy with the fucking blond he married either,” Michael bitched.

“Or that you're hanging out with the asshole that’s been stalking Justin,” Lindsay told him.

“I didn’t really think that one through. The asshole blew threw all my money and I’m stuck with him until Ma gets over the bullshit she’s pissed about. I thought I could make some money but the fucking NDA has me by the balls, which Mel seems to enjoy reminding me about. I think it’s bullshit that we get punished because Ted treated us like we were the problem. Shit, he and Mel could barely stand Brian and now they act like they’re better friends than we were,” Michael told her.

Lindsay thought about it and realized that in the end Mel and Ted were better friends to Brian than she and Michael ever were, but she wasn’t planning on telling him that since it would defeat whatever purpose Michael came up with for talking to her.

“I guess now that Brian pays the bills they have to kiss his ass,” Lindsay said, playing along.

“You’re right, but it doesn’t mean you and I have to play along with it. It’s time that Brian does right by both you and me,” Michael told her, keeping the smirk off his face, thinking that he still had Lindsay’s number.

“It doesn’t matter, because he’s not willing to listen to either of us anymore,” Lindsay told him.

“He would if we could get him alone. And we could get Collier to deal with the blond issue for us,” Michael told her.

“Collier hasn’t impressed me,” Lindsay told him.

“Give him time and he’ll clear our way to Brian, but we need you to help too,” Michael told her, ready to take back his place beside Brian.

“You and Collier want my help?” Lindsay asked.

“I want your help. Collier will see I’m right when you do what I ask,” Michael told her.

“What do you think I can do?” Lindsay asked.

“Get us the codes to the fortress. We can take it from there,” Michael told her.

“Are you forgetting Corey and company, or are you once again just going to bumble through?” Lindsay asked.

“I’m not stupid. Shit, they won’t even be there for what I plan,” Michael grumbled. “So, do your part and I’ll make sure Brian gives you the life you cream your britches over,” Michael told her, walking off like Lindsay already agreed.

Lindsay looked at her phone, debated, and made the call to see what Corey thought.