Brian wasn’t happy to be on a plane back to Pittsburgh, but Justin was going and where Justin went Brian would follow, along with Brett, Conner, and Blake. Which meant Brandon needed to talk to Ted sooner rather than later. Justin’s sister called to let him know there was a small fire, her words, that took out the entire living area of the warehouse they owned. Justin talked to the fire marshal who let him know the cause of the fire was a result of faulty wiring and not Molly’s blowtorch. Now Justin and Molly would need to find someplace else to stay until the warehouse was up to code again. Justin debated whether or not it was worth redoing the living space at the warehouse when Molly seemed to want to move in with her boyfriend instead and just use the warehouse as a studio. 

Listening to Justin and Molly’s conversation had Brian debating with himself for the rest of the flight to Pittsburgh about offering Justin a place to stay instead of his mother’s house. Which was where Molly was planning on staying while they hired a contractor to get the warehouse up to code. Brian made a call to Cynthia, which pretty much meant all that was left was to talk to Justin. 

“Do you really want to stay at your mother’s house?” Brian asked.

“At least until I find a place to live, it’ll work.” Justin told him.

“Why not stay with me until you do?” Brian asked.

“Are you sure you want that?” Justin asked, wanting to say yes.

“We’ve spent the last week practically living together and we haven’t wanted to kill each other yet.” Brian joked.

“Just tear each other’s clothes off, while you resist, saying we’re going to get to know each other first,” Justin complained.

“I’ll quit resisting if you take me up on my offer.” Brian promised.

“I think that’s called blackmail. I have to do what you want in order to get what I want… You know what, never mind... if you naked and willing come out of this, count me in.” Justin told him, kissing the smirk off Brian’s face.

“I’m starting to get jealous.” Connor joked at the two lovebirds, hoping to see Blake smile, instead of the wary look he’d had since the moment they got on the plane.

Brandon smiled at Cynthia as he headed to Ted’s office, wondering why Brian asked him to talk to Ted. While Ted had always been okay with Brandon, they’d never really talked about anything personal with each other. Brian had been the one to ask Brandon to see if he could find out anything about Blake, without telling Ted Brian asked him to. Ted smiled when Brandon walked in, waving him to a chair as he finished a call.

“Heard from Brian?” Ted asked, not sure why Brandon was in his office.

“He and Justin are on their way back since the warehouse Justin lives in caught on fire,” Brandon told him, trying to figure out how to tell Ted about Blake.

“Is Molly okay and does Justin need any help with the insurance claims?” Ted asked, showing Brandon why Brian liked Ted.

“From what I got to see last night it was contained to the kitchen and the living area. I’m sure Justin would be happy to let you help him, but that’s not why I stopped by to see you.” Brandon told him.

“Why are you here then?” Ted asked.

“To tell you that Brian is bringing more than Justin back later today. He wanted me to tell you, to give you time to decide on what you want to do with the information… and I thought I had at least another week to tell you, but they're coming back sooner than I thought. Plus I’m not really sure if I’m the one who should be telling you this, but Brian told me it was better not to include Emmett since he’s not exactly sure how he would react to the news.” Brandon rambled.

“I might die of old age before you tell me if you don’t just spit it out,” Ted told him, dryly.

“Shit, you sound like Brian, you know,” Brandon told him.

“And you're still stalling. Nothing could be that bad.” Ted assured him.

“It’s not bad really. I mean, if I loved someone, seeing them again should be a good thing right? I’d rather know they were alive than live without knowing what happened.” Brandon told him.

“He’s bringing Blake here?” Ted asked, putting together everything Brandon said.

“Blake wanted to come and see you. Brian didn’t force him to come.” Brandon told him.

“Is he...?” Ted asked.

“From what Brian said, it looks like he’s cleaned up his life, and apparently is friends with Justin and Connor. I’m not sure how they became friends so you’ll have to ask him, but at least you can now.” Brandon answered.

“I need to get back to work,” Ted told him, leaving Brandon confused as to what Ted wanted. 

“If you don’t want to see him, you don’t have to.” Brandon told him. 

“Now you sound like Emmett,” Ted commented. 

“I just don’t want you to feel pressured into doing something if your not ready for it. I could have told you sooner but I wasn't really sure if I should be the one to tell you since I'm not really one of your friends.” Brandon told him. 

“Only because you haven't acted like you wanted to get to know me or Emmett. Which isn't all your fault, since we haven't exactly been inviting you out with us. It wasn’t because we didn't want you around, it was that you didn’t seem like you wanted us to get closer to you.” Ted told him. 

“It’s hard to let people in because it hurts more when you find out they don’t want you there. My whole life was like that until I met Brian and Justin,” Brandon told him.

“While I don’t know Justin at all, I do know your brother. One thing I can tell you is that even when he would act like he didn’t give a shit, he always did, about everyone in his life. I have a feeling it’s what makes it harder for both of you to let people in, when all you both have dealt with is being hurt by the people who should have loved you the most. It’s why I’m sitting here acting like seeing Blake isn’t what I’ve wanted since he disappeared. Because if all he wants is closure, I’m not sure if I want to see him.” Ted told him.

“Why are you telling me this?” Brandon asked.

“Because it’s what friends do, they share what bothers them and hope the other friend has words of wisdom they can ignore.” Ted joked.

“If I ever really loved someone it wouldn’t matter why they came. I’d make sure they never had a reason to walk away again.” Brandon told him.

“I hope I meet the guy you fall in love with because he’s in for one hell of a life with you,” Ted told him.

“Which is all I want for Brian and for you,” Brandon told him, figuring out that Brian did have good friends in his life.

“Do me a favor, keep Emmett distracted until after I see Blake. I don’t want Emmett thinking he has to protect me from the one person I did fall in love with.” Ted asked Brandon.

Cynthia stopped Brandon on his way out and handed him three keys and a paper that had a code for Brian’s alarm. “He said it was time only people who understood what those keys are for have them. I have one and you keep one, apparently Justin Taylor is getting one too, which means I need to know all about the man Brian went to California to see.” She requested, thrilled for her boss.

“He’s everything no one would expect Brian to want,” Brandon told her.

“In other words, the opposite of the guys he tricked with, which makes sense to me,” Cynthia told him.

“Why would that make sense?” Brandon asked.

“If you don’t want to fall in love you don’t fuck anyone who could make you want to. So logically, Brian would stay away from anyone that could change his mind.” She told him.

“Which explains absolutely nothing other than women really do have strange logic.” Brandon teased.

“Justin is everything Brian seemed to run from, and now is running to, which means strange or not, I’m right. The fact that the key in your hand is for Justin, puts him in a category no one has ever reached in Brian’s life. Cynthia commented.

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

Justin wasn’t sure how his mother was going to react to him moving in with Brian since she’d been ready to castrate the man after what she heard at the diner. Brian assured him that Brandon managed to explain everything and Mother Taylor wasn’t waiting with a scalpel at the door. Brett, Connor, and Blake all decided to go to the hotel they were staying at and let Brian get to know Jen without everyone getting in the way. 

“Are we going in?” Brian asked when Justin stared at his mother’s door.

“Do you really think we’re at the ‘meet the mom’ phase?” Justin asked.

“I think it’s going to happen. Why not just get it done. If she doesn’t approve, then we deal with it and move on.” Brian answered.

“I want her to like you since I want us to work,” Justin told him, yelping when Jen knocked on the window of the car.

“Are you planning on hiding out here all day or am I going to meet Brian?” She asked, smiling at Brian.

“He seems to think you still want my balls for the bet,” Brian told her.

“Right now I just hope you won. Since it would mean my son found a life outside of work and his delinquent sister.” Jen said, laughing when Justin glared at her.

“At least the fire wasn’t her fault, or the fault of the piles of crap you swear will kill us one day,” Justin mumbled, getting out of the car.

“Which I’m forever grateful for, and the fact that the fire marshal let her know said piles need to be dealt with too,” Jen told him.

“Actually I think he was hoping that by agreeing with you, he’d get a date,” Molly told them when they got to the kitchen.

“He was not,” Jen replied.

“The guy was practically undressing you, which was sort of weird since he’s like Brian’s age,” Molly commented.

“Is he hot?” Brian asked Jen.

“I didn’t really notice… but even if I did he’s not as interested as Molly is implying.” Jen told him.

“Or you just don’t want to admit that you still have it.” Justin teased her.

“Which doesn’t matter since I’m not going to be seeing him again. Plus I’m more interested in getting to know Brian.” Jen told him, kissing her son’s cheek.

“Brian and I talked about it and I’m going to stay with him until I find a new place,“ Justin told her.

“I can get listings for you since I’m doing it for Dean and Molly too. Do you want a house or an apartment?” Jen asked him.

“A house makes more sense since I’d rather own than rent something,” Justin answered.

“It’s a big commitment.” Jen reminded Justin.

“Just make sure it has a big yard, Gus will need room to play as he gets older,” Brian told Justin.

“Sounds like the house isn’t the only commitment you’ll be getting,” Molly said, smirking at Justin.