Chapter 6

After another three days of hiding away in Justin's loft, the younger man had finally been able to convince Brian that it was time to leave the security of their home and to go and meet some of Justin's friends.

It hadn't been an easy feat and Justin could understand where Brian's trepidation was coming from, but he really wanted the older man to meet the people that had become his new family in recent years. He wanted Brian to meet the woman that had taken him in and had given him a home and job when he had needed both so desperately or the alternative would have been to end up homeless. He wanted Brian to meet the friend he was working with on the comic that had made it possible for him to start his own company and he also wanted Brian to meet the cop and lawyer that had helped him track down Brian's former owner and get him away from Sapperstein.

Justin knew that his friends didn't care about Brian being a slave. He knew that they would treat him fairly and judge him for himself and not his status as a slave. His friends were all very involved in the anti-slavery movement as was Justin and they had known for years that he had been in love with a slave. Hell, they had all supported and even helped him in his quest to find Brian and get him back. Yet it had taken Brian a long time to believe what Justin had said about his friends. He had been a slave long enough to know how people treated them. How they treated slaves worse than animals. He himself had been tortured and violated just because he was a slave and they could do it without risking punishment. Why should Justin's friends be any different?

Then he had listened to all the tales Justin had told him about his newfound family, had listened to the description of these people and he had grown more and more curious. They sounded nice and he was intrigued to find out if there really could be people like the ones Justin had been describing for days now.

In the end Brian had agreed to meet them, having expected that Justin would invite them over to the loft. He had not counted on Justin actually insisting that they would go out and meet said friends somewhere else.

“Brian, it will be okay,” Justin said quietly as he looked at the clearly nervous brunet that had by now pulled down the sleeves on his shirt several times in an attempt to cover the tattoo on his right hand that identified him as a slave and would forever mark him as someone else's possession.

“No, I... if people see it,” Brian started to say, once again trying to pull down his right sleeve even further. “They will know.”

“Let them. It doesn't matter,” Justin replied, his voice defiant in its tone. He walked over to the taller man and wrapped his arms around his waist, leaning his head against the strong chest of his boyfriend. “It won't matter where we're going. Trust me, Brian.”

“It always matters,” Brian whispered, for now letting go of his sleeve and wrapping his arms around the smaller man.

“Liberty Avenue is the most anti-slavery place you can find in Pittsburgh. And the diner we'll be going to – it's run by the president of LAAS. She wouldn't allow any negative comments about slaves in her presence.”

“Justin,” Brian sighed, ready to tell the younger man that he was naïve if he believed that nobody would care about Brian's status and his slave tattoo. Just as he was about to voice his opinion, Justin's lips covered his, effectively shutting him up.

“I know it's hard for you, but... can you please just try and trust me on this, Brian?” Justin looked up at Brian from shining blue eyes after their kiss had ended. “I wouldn't take you there if I wasn't sure that it was okay. I would never do anything to hurt you or... put you in an awkward position. Believe me, please.”

Brian stayed quiet for the longest time, thinking about something he could reply. When nothing sensible came to his mind, he finally gave in and just nodded. Maybe Justin was right. Maybe it would be okay. Maybe this place and his friends were different. After all Justin seemed more than convinced of that. And if not, well, it wasn't as if Brian would be surprised and it wasn't as if he had never heard bad comments about him being a slave before. He would deal, just like he had always done before.

Justin's face broke out into a huge smile when he saw Brian nod and knew that he had won. “You won't regret this. I promise!”

With that the younger man pulled the brunet after him as he headed for the door to his loft. They took the elevator down to the ground floor and when they left the building, Justin stepped onto Brian's right side, taking the man's right hand in his own, effectively hiding any view of the offending tattoo on his hand. Justin felt how Brian immediately felt less tense and he knew he had done the right thing by that little display of affection.

Together they walked to the diner on Liberty Avenue which was only a couple of blocks from Justin's home and Brian took in the surroundings and what he was seeing. It had been years since he had seen anything but Sapperstein's estate and he was surprised by how raunchy and revealing some of the shop displays on Liberty Avenue were. More than once he stopped in front of a window display with his jaw hanging low and his eyes wide as a bug's. Justin was beyond amused but knew better than to say anything. After all it wasn't Brian's fault that he had never been to Liberty Avenue before and didn't know what it was like. And it wouldn't do to remind the man now that Justin had finally convinced him that this was a safe place for him.

When they arrived at the diner a couple of minutes later, Brian stopped dead in his tracks. This couldn't be, could it? He eyed the diner from wide eyes, slowly shaking his head as if to bring himself back from some kind of stupor.

Justin frowned, not having expected that reaction. After all it was just a simple diner and they had seen way worse as far as revealing displays were concerned when they had walked over.

“Are you okay, Brian?” The younger man asked with obvious concern in his voice. When Brian didn't react to his question at all, Justin squeezed his hand, trying to make the man look at him. “Brian?”

“I...,” Brian shook his head once more in obvious disbelief, then slowly turned to Justin. “I know this place.”

“You do?”

“I... have been here before,” the older man replied quietly, his eyes never leaving the sign above the door that said “Liberty Diner”.

“You have? When?”

“Long ago... when... before I was sold... I... a friend's mother used to work here and... we would sometimes come here after school and she would give us free food and drinks.”

“Really? Here?”

“Yeah...,” Brian smiled, obviously remembering some visits to this diner.

“But... why didn't you say that you knew the diner?” Justin frowned at the older man. He had told him he wanted to take him to the Liberty Diner.

“I... I honestly didn't remember until I saw the sign and the building. Yes, you mentioned a diner on Liberty Avenue, but... there could be several, right? It's one long street.”

Justin nodded, having to admit that Brian had a point. Liberty Avenue was long and there were several diners, Justin knew he had seen some of them before.

“Maybe your friend's mother still works here? What's her name?” Justin asked, going through the waitresses working at the diner in his head, trying to figure out if that could be true.

Just as Brian was about to reply, the door was opened from inside and a loud, boisterous red-head made her way over.

“Sunshine! Why are you standing outside? Come inside! I want to meet that hunky boyfriend of yours,” she said as she was popping the gum in her mouth, then held her hand to her chest after she had given Brian the first real look.

“OH MY GOD!” She gasped, clasping her hands together, her face full of shock and disbelief. “Brian? Brian Kinney? Is that you?”

Brian's eyes had widened in total disbelief as well and Justin could only stare from his boyfriend to his surrogate mother and back as Brian wore the same shocked expression on his face that she had.

“Mrs Novotny?” Brian asked in obvious disbelief.

“It's Debbie. I told you that a long time ago. God, I can't believe it's really you!”

“Wait... you two know each other?” Justin felt utterly confused by what was happening right before him. How did Debbie know Brian? And Brian seemed to know her as well? From where?

“Why didn't you tell me your Brian was named Brian Kinney?” Debbie glared at the blond, before walking over to Brian and engulfing him in a tight hug that made the man gasp for his breath.

Brian felt utterly surprised by this show of affection, but in the end just hugged her back. He hadn't expected to ever see her again. Not after his parents had sold him away.

After what felt like an eternity, Justin interrupted them, reminding them that he was still there and had no idea what had just happened. “How do you know each other?” He asked, by now absolutely sure that Brian and Debbie knew each other.

“This is the boy I have told you about. Michael's best friend,” Debbie just said quietly, never letting go of Brian's arm which she was still holding onto as if he would disappear the moment she let go.

“Brian is Michael's friend from school?” Justin frowned, wondering why they had never made that connection before.

He remembered the stories that Debbie had told him about how she had gotten involved in the anti-slavery movement. She had told him about Michael's best friend from school having been sold into slavery by his own parents and how utterly disgusted she had been at the time. How the boy had been smart, athletic and had come from a poor family. How his parents had been good for nothing drunks and had sold him into slavery without a single thought about his well-being. How they couldn't stand the idea of him one day being more successful than themselves and had rather sold him to make money off him than to be happy for him. How she had tried to find the boy and get him back from the slave traders his parents had sold him to. How she had begged with the boy's parents to make them see the error of their ways, how she had run into closed door after closed door and how there had been nothing she could do for him and how in the end she had been so angry and frustrated that she had channeled her anger into a protest group and how that had been the beginning of LAAS.

Now that he knew the whole story, Justin finally connected the dots. Yes, he was sure that at one point or another the name Brian had been mentioned by Debbie and Michael in connection to Michael's friend, but Justin had never ever thought it possible that it would have been his Brian. After all Brian was a pretty common name for a male.

And now here he stood and it turned out that his boyfriend had been Michael's best friend and the boy that had gotten Debbie into the anti-slavery movement. Small world.

“Michael?” Brian asked, having picked up on his old friend's name. “How is he?”

“He's the friend I started the comic with,” Justin explained, still not able to grasp that they had been talking about the same Brian all these years when Justin had refered to his boyfriend and Michael to his long lost friend from school. How come they had never mentioned a last name? Justin wasn't sure why, but for some reason that had never come up...

“God, Michael will be so happy when he sees you! He has missed you all these years and we've been so worried about you, honey,” Debbie said sincerely, grabbing Brian by his arm and pulling him into the diner. “Sit down, you need fattening up. You're way too thin. Let me get you something decent to eat and then you'll tell me everything.”

Brian felt too surprised to say anything, much like Justin and they both followed Debbie into the diner without another word. She pushed Brian into an empty booth, sitting down next to him, making Justin sit across from Brian on the other side of the booth.

She totally ignored the man's protests when she decided to get him the Liberty Special, a heart attack inducing Double Cheeseburger with Fries, Onion Rings and a milkshake.

Once she moved away, Justin couldn't help but laugh when he saw Brian's expression. “You realise she won't let you leave before you have eaten all of it, right?”

“Just like old times,” Brian muttered, looking from Justin to where Debbie was busily talking to the cook and back. “She... she always complained about me being too thin and having to feed me.”

“You are thin,” Justin pointed out, but then stopped when he saw Brian's face. He knew that many slave owners liked to keep their slaves on strict diets so they wouldn't put on any weight and he guessed that might have been the same for Brian.

“Just do as she wants and make her happy. I've come to realise that's the easiest way to deal with her,” the blond ended, reaching his hand onto the table, waiting for Brian to put his own hand into it, so he could gently squeeze it in a supportive gesture.

They sat in quiet, both hanging on to their own thoughts about what had just happened, Justin squeezing the bigger hand in his every once in a while to show Brian that he was there for him.

After a couple of minutes Debbie came back with two plates full of food and put them down in front of the boys. “Eat this! You both need it!”

“Debbie,” Justin started, but stopped when he saw the expression on her face. He knew that she was going to go all motherly on him and Brian and while he had never particularly minded, he wasn't so sure how Brian would feel about that. He could see the tension returning to the older man the longer they sat together like that.

“Sunshine, just shut it and eat!” She popped the gum in her mouth and turned to Brian when she heard his quiet voice.

“Sunshine?”

“Have you seen that smile of his? He can light up the whole fucking city with one of those blinding smiles,” she explained and Brian had to admit that the name was more than fitting for Justin, who was now hiding his face behind his hands.

“Debbie, please...”

“What? It's true!”

“She is right,” Brian said quietly, smiling at Justin from under his lashes.

“God, not you as well,” Justin mumbled, before he decided to start eating. That double cheeseburger looked fucking delicious and he could really do with some comfort food right now.

Brian continued smiling at Justin and now let go of his hand so he could eat as well, giving it one last squeeze before letting go.

“How are you, Brian? Has Sunshine here been taking good care of you?”

Brian nodded, as he grabbed a fry and dipped it into some ketchup. “The best.”

“You two must have been fucking like rabbits!” She cackled madly, looking from one man to the other as they both blushed. “HA, I knew it.”

“Debbie, don't make me regret having taken Brian here to meet you.”

“He knows me. He's heard worse from me.”

“That is actually true,” Brian nodded. “Once she caught me and Michael … well...”

“Well what?” Justin asked, his interest now piqued. He wanted to hear about Brian and Michael's friendship now that he knew that they were friends.

“Jerking off,” Debbie helpfully supplied. “To... what was his name? That guy from Dirty Dancing?”

“Patrick Swayze?” Justin asked, having a hard time containing his laughter. “You were jerking off to Patrick Swayze with Michael?”

“Well... we were young and... he was hot,” Brian defended, having blushed an adorable shade of red.

“He is so old,” Justin exclaimed.

“Well, he wasn't back then,” Brian just gave back, before concentrating on his food once more.

“Anyway, I caught them jerking off to this magazine and they were so embarrassed when I walked in on them...,” Debbie continued the story, sounding more than amused.

“And even more after you have left the room and told us to jerk off each other instead of ourselves as that would be more fun.”

Justin burst out laughing, nearly spitting out the coke he had just been drinking. “You didn't?” He asked in disbelief as he looked at the red-head.

“Of course, I did. I just wanted to point them in the right direction. They looked absolutely clueless.”

Now Justin laughed even harder and Brian hid his face behind his hand. Without having noticed, he had used his right hand and Debbie's eyes landed on the slave tattoo on his hand.

She gently grabbed his hand, pulling it closer and looked at the tattoo. The atmosphere in their booth immediately changed. “Oh honey... I was so worried about you... All these years... I... I prayed and prayed that you would be okay.”

“I am... I am now,” Brian said quietly, looking at her from sincere eyes and then turning a loving gaze on Justin. “I will be.”

Justin could only nod, his throat unable to form any words at that moment.

“Yeah, you will be. We'll make sure of that,” Debbie said with conviction, holding Brian's hand tightly in her own. She then looked from Brian to Justin and back. “You will come to dinner tonight. No excuses! Michael will be so excited when he finds out. And you have to meet Carl.”

“Debbie,” Justin started, not liking that she would just order them around like that. He knew she had always been like that, but he was worried how Brian might feel about that. Thankfully the brunet seemed okay with what Debbie had said.

“Carl?” He only asked, not even reacting to the dinner invitation.

“My husband.”

“You have a husband?” Brian smiled at her, remembering how Michael used to tell him that for as long as he could remember his mother had always been a single mother and had never dated. And now she had a husband.

“Yeah, he's a cop. He helped Justin find you,” she proudly announced. “And you have to meet Ben. Michael's husband. You will like him, I am sure.”

“Michael is married as well?” Brian's eyes widened. He suddenly realised that almost 20 years had passed since he had last seen Debbie and Michael and apparently a lot had happened to them as well, not just to him.

“Yes, to a professor,” Debbie couldn't hide the pride in her voice. “He works at CMU.”

“He's the one I told you about. Who helped me with my applications for PIFA and loans,” Justin added.

Brian nodded, taking all that in.

“You will come, won't you? God, there is so much we have to talk about. So much to catch up on,” Debbie exclaimed when she was interrupted by her colleague Kiki, who reminded her that there were customers that needed serving. “Honey, it's so good to see you again. God, I am so happy that Sunshine here has found you. I have to go back to work now, but... I'll see you tonight, right?”

Brian eyed her for the longest time and then his gaze wandered to meet Justin's as if seeking his approval. When Justin only shrugged to indicate that it was Brian's decision and he would go along with whatever Brian decided, Brian eyed her for the longest time before he finally nodded. “Yes, you will.”

“Oh honey... God... I'll make your favourite. And Michael... Oh my god, wait till he sees you,” Debbie exclaimed once more, then left red lipstick kisses on both Brian's and Justin's cheek and moved away to return to work.

“That was surreal,” Justin finally said when he found his voice again.

“I... I am sorry. I shouldn't have...,” Brian started, his voice suddenly sounding very apologetic which made Justin frown.

“Brian?”

“I shouldn't have just agreed to her invitation... I... you should have made that choice.”

“Stop it!” Justin immediately said, with slightly more force than he had intended which made Brian flinch in reaction. The younger man cursed himself and leaned over the table, running his hand across the older man's cheek.

“Brian and Justin. Remember? Just Brian and Justin... Equals! It was your decision and you made it. Nothing to be sorry about,” he said with conviction, hoping that he would get through to Brian.

After years of other people having made decisions for Brian, after years of never having had a choice, Justin couldn't blame the older man for feeling weird about making decisions on his own, but Justin swore to himself once more that he would help Brian overcome his past. He would help Brian to be as happy as he could be and deserved to be.

Justin slowly leaned in and kissed Brian gently, hoping to reach the man that way. When their kiss ended, Justin saw Brian nod in response and knew that he had gotten through to him. At least for now.

They finished their lunch in a comfortable silence and then returned to the loft, both happy that the visit to the diner had gone better than anticipated.

Justin hoped that knowing that Debbie and Michael were old friends of Brian's would help the slave to realise that Justin's friends really didn't care about his status as a slave and would like him for who he was, just as Justin loved him for the person he was.