JUSTIN

‘I hate this! I hate them! How could they do this to Brian? How can they claim to love him when all they do is hurt and manipulate him? Can’t they see how much he suffers because of them? I know my husband very well and right now he wants to pretend that he’s fine. So I let him. I know he will fall apart later, probably sometime during the night when everyone - except for me - is asleep. Only then will he allow the tears to fall, only then he will voice everything he keeps inside. Brian is the man I love and I want to protect him. Right now I would trade my soul to the devil if I could take his pain away. No matter what Lindsay and Michael do, a part of Brian will always cherish and love them. But this betrayal will leave scars, hidden in his heart. Those are the worst kind of scars. To help him heal, my own feelings regarding his former best friends will have to take a backseat.’

Justin let out a deep sigh. He had seen how focused, yet nervous Brian had been all day. The two people he had considered his best friends would be arrested today for wanting to kill Brian’s husband. Nobody could get away from a situation like that unscathered. And he knew that Brian would be going through a lot of emotions and need him.

But the artist also knew that Brian wouldn’t be the only one suffering from Lindsay and Michael’s actions. Gus and Jenny would each lose their parent. Gus would still have Mel and Brian but Jenny? She’d only have Mel, her mom. Justin was worried how those happenings today would ultimately affect the children.

He was brought out of his musings by the ringing of the phone. Justin saw Brian get up to take the call. He watched his husband’s shoulders slump and soon he began to shake uncontrollably. Justin looked at Emmett and Drew, asking them with his blue eyes to give them some privacy.

“Ems and I will go home. Don’t hesitate to call us if you need us. No matter the time. We’ll be there for you guys.” The football player promised Justin speaking in a quiet voice. Justin nodded and gave them a small smile of gratitude.

He watched their friends leave the house when Brian’s broken words reached his ears.

“It’s over.” And Justin knew that the arrest had took place but it wasn’t over for Brian and the family. It had only just begun.

MEL’S HOUSE

MELANIE

‘I look at my beautiful children. I will do everything in my power to make sure that neither Lindsay nor Michael will ever be able to hurt them. I haven’t told them yet what happened. Justin and Brian will come later so the three of us can explain everything.

Why wasn’t I enough for Lindsay? Why wasn’t Ben enough for Michael? Why do they feel the need to chase a man that only ever wanted their friendship? Why did they marry Ben and I if they wanted Brian? Being a placeholder or consolation prize, I… I hate it. And Ben does probably, too. Neither of us is perfect. Ben has had his own fair share of issues, not just his HIV. And so did I. My jealousy and insecurity are my flaws. But did our flaws and weaknesses give Lindsay and Michael the right to treat us, their spouses, so badly and disrespectfully? Didn’t Ben and I try to do everything to make them happy, to fulfill all of their wishes? I know for a fact that Ben didn’t take Michael’s wishes into consideration only once time and that was when they adopted Hunter. I saw the passion in Ben’s eyes. He wanted this young man to be their son. But Michael didn’t. Sure, he said the right words at the right time but his eyes betrayed his words. I think he knew that Ben would have put Hunter first, leaving Michael to adopt the young man. Michael wouldn’t have risked losing Ben so he did what his husband wanted for once.’

“Momma, I’m thirsty.” Jenny’s little voice interrupted her thoughts and Mel wanted to slap herself. Gus and Jenny were rather smart children and they always knew when something was wrong.

“Of course honey. I’m sorry for not bringing you some juice earlier. I was so engrossed with a case that I didn’t think of that.” Mel smiled at her beautiful daughter, hating the lie but not wanting to explain the situation yet.

Mel and Brian had asked Ben to be there too since he’s Jenny’s father, too but the professor wanted to make sure that Hunter would be alright. The young man only had Ben while Jenny had the support of her two uncles and her momma.

“Momma can we go to the park when it stops raining?” Gus asked and Mel just then realized that it had started to rain at some point.

“I can’t promise that, Gus. Your dads will come later.” Mel told her son and saw the excitement in his eyes. No doubt that Gus loved Brian and Justin equally. Well, okay maybe Brian a little bit more but for the first time Mel didn’t feel anger or jealousy at that realisation.

“We can play with them, Jenny.” Gus told his little sister and Jenny became excited, too.

Mel watched her two children chatter excitedly about what they wanted to play later. Shaking her head a little, she got up to get some juice and glasses from the kitchen. When she was back, Gus and Jenny both took their time to finish their glasses, enjoying the taste of strawberries from their juice. Justin had delivered fresh juices to their house every second day. Those fresh juices were more expensive than the normal juices from the grocery shop. With Lindsay and her exaggerated spending out of the picture, Mel might be able to afford those juices and other fresher vegetables and fruits herself.

The ringing of her phone interrupted her musings. Although Mel knew what this call would mean, she still dreaded to pick up and listen.

“Melanie Marcus speaking.” Mel answered professionally. She tried to stop the tears from falling as soon as she heard Carl’s voice. The detective was informing her about the arrest. Lindsay and Michael would be questioned later that day. But Mel knew there was nothing they could say to excuse any of their actions. Her marriage to Lindsay was over.

DREW’S CAR

“Have you noticed how quiet Brian was? I could feel my heart breaking for him and Mel. Am I a bad person for wanting to punch Linds and Michael so badly?” Emmett asked his lover.

“No Ems, you’re not a bad person and you never will be. You might be having those feelings but you wouldn’t act on them even if you had the chance. You’re not violent, passionate yes absolutely. But never would you allow yourself to stoop so low.” Drew explained.

Emmett sighed deeply, hurt and worried for his friends. Drew was right tho. He wouldn’t really punch either of the two idiots. In his fantasy yes, he allowed himself to slap them silly. No, to beat them repeatedly for hurting their children and partners so badly.

“I just hope they will call if they need us. I want them to know that they can depend on us. I never thought that Brian would be the one who needed to be protected from them. Always thought it was the other way around. But now that I see the dynamics between the three of them with clear eyes I know different. Brian is suffering, Drew. Ben and Mel, too. And once Gus and Jenny understand what is happening they will suffer. It breaks my heart, Drew.” Emmett sobbed and his lover’s heart felt the pain. “They had everything… great, supportive partners that loved them. Beautiful children who are smart and kind. A huge family and group of friends. How could Lindsay and Michael throw that away just like that? They didn’t had to fight as hard as Ted and Blake for example. The drugs almost killed them individually and their love, too. And look at them now. They’re sober, have cleaned up their lives and found happiness together. But Lindsay and Michael couldn’t appreciate what they had, no they had to leave the land of reality. But for what? Brian was never theirs. I don’t understand it, not even sure I want to.”

“Oh Ems.” Drew whispered sadly.

BRUCKNER HOUSE

‘I hold him. That’s all I can do now. Hold him while he’s trying to come to terms with Michael’s actions. Lindsay’s of course, too but she wasn’t his parent. Michael was his other dad, or at least he was supposed to be. I tried my best to make MY son understand that nothing will change concerning me. I’ll be his father until the day I die. Hunter will always have my support in everything he aspires to be and do. His sobbing breaks my heart. Michael destroyed the little family we had all on his own without thinking about his children. Jenny and Hunter were never important enough for him to leave Brian alone. I thought having a family with me would make Michael see that Brian is really just his friend. And unlike Michael, Brian is a true friend. Honest and supportive. Even though he used to act at times like he doesn’t care. I know that he did, always. Finding love changes a person. Michael spent less time with the gang when we met at first. Emmett and Ted did the same when they met Drew and Blake. And although Michael wasn’t very happy about it, he more or less accepted it. But not with Brian. Any normal person grows with each year and experience. That’s the way life goes. Brian wasn’t in the same space mentally and physically when he was fourteen. And when he met Justin he grew up a lot more than anyone else in the gang because he was too scared to do that before. Fear and loneliness can do that to a person. After I got my diagnosis I went through the same emotions as Brian did, only I managed to get myself out of that funk. Brian never did. Whenever he tried, Lindsay and Michael tried to stop that. He was Brian Fucking Kinney, the Stud of Liberty Avenue. I think they both knew somewhere deep inside that Brian would never want either of them as lovers so they tried to keep him emotionally shunned. It made it so that nobody really had the chance to get close to him. Except for Justin. Before Lindsay and Michael came up with that stupid plan to get rid of Justin, Brian was happy. I could see it in his body language, his eyes, his actions and words. But since it wasn’t with Lindsay or Michael, they had to try to destroy his happiness. But Justin refused to let go of his man. I have never seen a man so proud and so ready to fight for another person. It makes me wish for a love like that for myself someday.’

Ben had been deep in thought while holding his son close to let him mourn the loss of a father that never really was one. The ringing of the bell brought him out of his musings and he let Hunter go to see who was there.

“David, Hank… what are… what brings you here today? Were we meeting today?” Ben wondered confused yet a bit happy to see them.

“No we weren’t. I called Ted earlier to set up a meeting you know. To go through the numbers. He told us about the arrest today. Hank and I were worried and wanting to see you and Hunter. Are you two… okay?” David asked tenderly.

“Yeah… no… I… Shit!” Ben cursed. “No, we’re not okay. They’ve been arrested and we’re trying to cope with it.” The professor admitted.

“Can we come in? Dad and I are good listeners.” Hank asked. Although he wouldn’t compare the loss of his mother to their own loss, he wanted to help his friends. He liked Hunter a lot. And he also liked Ben and hoped that his father and the professor could become real friends. The young boy knew his father needed friends that weren’t too concerned with monetary things.

“Yeah, come on in.” Hunter said with a small smile. He was glad to see Hank and David.

The four of them sat down in the living room to talk about their respective futures.