HOLD THAT SUCKER DOWN
Justin sat at the police precinct and looked up when the investigating detective came out of a door.
"Can I see him?", he asked jumping up out of the seat.
"You again? Look lad, I've told you before, we haven't finished with him"
Justin sounded desperate, "But Brad's lying!"
The detective looked at him, "Oh? Were you there Mr...?"
"Taylor...", Justin informed then shook his head because the detective was still waiting for an answer, "No...I wasn't there"
The detective nodded towards the exit, "Go home...your friend Mr Kinney will be here for quite some time...or as long as I see fit"
Justin felt deflated. For now, there was just nothing more he could say or do that would help Brian. Defeated he backed off and headed for the exit.
Xxxxxx
Brian meanwhile, sat in the police cell with a dirty toilet for company. He stood up and clung to the bars as an officer rolled by the row of cells. It was sure a noisy night. The phone was ringing non-stop there was shouts, cries and sobs.
"Hey you...I just need to talk to somebody"
The cop stopped and looked back at him through the bars, "There's a lot to get through...you're just have to wait your turn"
"Fuck!", seethed Brian in sheer frustration and he rattled the bars. The police officer was in his face, "Quit rattling the bars or I'll charge you"
Brian splayed his hands and was off the bars. He stared out the officer and he walked off. Brian sighed and sat back down with his head in his hands.
Xxxxx
As Justin left the police precinct the sun was coming up. He saw Brad puffing on a cigarette watching him. Justin marched straight over to him, "Hey! What the fuck do you think you are doing?"
Brad had to laugh, Justin's angry face was amusing him, "Kinney pissing his pants in there, huh?"
"What's wrong with you? You get Brian arrested while your nephew is lying in the hospital?"
Brad dismissed what Justin said like he flicked away his cigarette end, "he's no nephew of mine"
Justin raised his eyebrows at him, "Oh? So you are prepared to be an outcast? What about your brother? Don't you even care about him?"
Brad tore his gaze away from Justin and shook his head, "Course I care! Fuck!"
Justin could see he had cracked the course, he lowered his voice, "drop the charges"
Brad wasn't ready to bite, he looked at him and frowned, "What the fuck for? Your fag boyfriend tried to choke me"
Justin laughed at him, "You really believe he would have killed you? You don't know him at all"
Brad watched as two cops walked by then answered him, and YOU do? Like the day he tried to drown me"
Justin didn't know how to react to that, or that it was even true, "What?"
Brad could see he had clearly taken Justin unawares, "Yeah...back in high school...he tried to drown me at the lake"
Even if this WAS the truth, there had to be a reason to it. Brian wouldn't harm anyone intentionally.
"And why was that? Of course YOU didn't do anything do provoke him, I suppose...", and he knew that he must have done.
Brad threw him a glare, "FUCK YOU"
Justin followed him across to the car lot where Brad had parked his car, "No...I bet it was YOUR fault last night wasn't it? YOU provoked HIM like you did back at the lake that day...I bet I'm right, huh?"
Brad stepped up to his car and swung around, "You think you are so smart"
Justin was smug, "Smarter than YOU...", he waved a hand at him, "...and look at you, Brian tried to choke you? There isn't even a mark on you!"
"He did", Brad insisted.
"Your word against his"
"I have witnesses"
Justin laughed, "Do you? Josh? Nathan? Do you think they will be on YOUR side...do you?"
Brad shoved the key into the car lock, "FUCK YOU"
Justin grabbed his arm to stop him getting into the car, "DROP THE CHARGES...He's got you by the balls...nobody saw nothing"
"and what if I don't?"
Justin looked at him head on, "then I might have to inform the cops about my car...how the brake cable was cut..."
Brad wasn't too phased by the threat, "There's no proof"
Justin sounded confident in his tone, "Oh no? Are you prepared to take the risk? The cops will still have to investigate...I'm sure the cops will go through that ramshackle home of yours...uncovering all the things you might not want to come out..."
Xxxxx
Nathan was still feeling groggy after his surgery. Josh was on hand as Nathan had dozed off again and woke up, "Where's my Dad?"
Josh reassured him, "I told him to go grab a cup of coffee...you okay?"
Nathan tried to lift his head from the pillow but he felt heavy, "Still groggy I guess..."
"Have they told you anything?"
Nathan shook his head, "I was still half asleep when they spoke to Dad...I think it's all to early for them to say...", he blinked, "...where's Brian?"
Josh looked disappointed, "Where's Brian? Jeez...what is it with that guy?"
"He's not here is he?"
Josh sighed, "He was...look...Nathan...can I ask you something? Do you love him? Brian I mean?"
Nathan took his time to answer, "I sure dream about him a lot...but...I don't know...I don't think so...what is love anyway? I've never felt it...have you?"
Josh didn't want to answer that.
Nathan carried on, "I mean...when I first met him...my heart would race...I couldn't stop thinking about him...and then, when we kissed...it was like..."
"Like what?"
"Like nothing else mattered...", he looked directly up at Josh, "...you know what...if I wanted him, I would have got him...I couldn't care less if he was with someone"
Josh urged him on, "so what stopped you?"
Nathan was honest, "meeting Justin...at first HE was just a name...a somebody else...I had no qualms about stealing Brian away from him...how shitty is that, huh?"
Josh took a few seconds to answer, "You can't help the way you feel"
Nathan frowned at him, "Huh?"
Josh wanted to tell him...but, "It doesn't matter...I brought you some magazines"
GGGGGGG
INTERLUDE:
The bed was empty. Not slept in. Mrs Peterson knocked on the door, "Gus? It's time to get up...the school bus will be here soon"
No answer.
She knocked again, "Gus...will you answer your grandmother please...", she went to open it, but the door was locked...
GGGGGGGGGG
Later in the diner.
"And they let you go?"
Debbie stared back at Brian over the counter.
"Yeah...thanks to Justin"
Justin laughed off the praise, "I keep saying...I'm not just a pretty face"
Debbie laughed too, "So where is this Brad now?"
Justin waved a hand, "he's free...although he was worried about wasting police time and threatened with a fine"
Brian broke into a smile as he thought about that, "That I would have gladly of paid"
"What? What the hell for?", asked Debbie bewildered by that statement.
Brian was still smiling at her, "because...I'm such a nice person"
Justin leaned on the counter with his chin on his arm, "Hey I wonder how Nathan's surgery went?"
Brian grabbed his phone from his pocket and shook his head, "My cells dead"
Justin was looking at his, " and nothing on mine"
Debbie cleaned the counter off thinking about Brad, "I'm not sure if it's a good thing...Brad sounds like trouble, and trouble with a capital T might I add"
Brian dismissed her with a wave of the hand, "Relax, Brad's finished...now, just give me that coffee, that stuff they served me up at the cop shop is beginning to rot my insides "
Justin turned, "We should stop by the hospital on the way home...to see how Nathan is"
Brian drank a mouthful of his coffee and looked at him, "Yeah...we should"
GGGGGGGGG
INTERLUDE:
The bedroom door had been forced by Mr Peterson. No Gus. The window was open. Gus's things were gone.
"I can't get hold of Brian...anyway, we don't know he has even gone there", cried Mrs Peterson putting down the phone.
Mr Peterson sat in the grand living room, "Where the hell else would he head too?"
"I want to call the police..."
Mr Peterson shook his head, "Not yet...lets just see if he's gone to Brian first"
GGGGGGGGGGG
At the hospital, Rhona could see the worried look on her husbands face, "he is going to be alright?"
Patrick clung to the poly-carton of machine coffee, "I don't know...they are doing more tests on him tomorrow"
Rhona didn't like to say it, but these things had to be said, "And what happens to us, if he is crippled?"
Patrick looked up at her sharply, "For God sake's Rhona!"
Rhona wasn't letting it go, "We have to face the facts Pat...if Nathan is crippled, he can't do his job at the garage...Jake is too expensive...there IS NO other answer..."
Patrick knew exactly where this conversation was heading, "NO"
"YES, Pat...I'll call Brad later...he is our ONLY saving Grace in this mess"
Patrick grabbed her arm, "HE caused THIS! Brad is WHY Nathan's in here!"
Rhona remained calm, "Pat, you have ONLY heard one side of the story...I'm pretty sure this is all just a nasty accident...and by the looks of things Nathan is probably to blame too, if not MORE...I'm taking charge, I'm calling Brad and then at least we'll have some straight answers..."
She walked off. Patrick crushed the poly-carton of cold coffee and it fell to the floor.
Xxxxx
Nathan laid back on the hospital bed. He looked glum until his eyes lit up by sight of Brian in the doorway with Justin behind him.
"Brian..."
Brian came forward with a winning smile, "Hey buddy...how's it hanging? How's things?"
Nathan pulled a deep sigh, "not good"
Brian frowned, "the surgery not do any good?"
Nathan shrugged, "I still can't move my legs...the doctors are doing more tests on me tomorrow"
Justin came to the opposite side and looked at him, "can't you FEEL anything?"
Nathan shrugged at him, "Just...MAYBE...a sorta tingling sensation"
Brian was hot on the positive, "then THAT could only be a good thing...feeling a tingling sensation is better than feeling nothing at all, huh?"
Nathan tried to sound upbeat, but it was hard work, "I hope so"
Justin caught a whiff off Brian, "Jeez Brian! You stink!"
Brian made a play of surprise, "Oh is that ME? I do so apologize, but I seem to be STILL wearing the same attire I put on yesterday morning"
Justin laughed and shoved him towards the door, "Go and grab us some coffees..."
Brian was about to, when he stopped in the doorway and turned, "What did your last slave die of?"
"He hasn't...yet"
Brian smirked and was off. Nathan watched him go too, and looked at Justin, "He looks kinda like crap"
Justin sat down, "So would you if you ended up holed in a police cell for six hours"
Nathan knew what that meant, "Brad?"
Justin confirmed it with a nod, "yep...but I managed to get him to drop the charges"
Nathan was relieved, "that's good...jeez that Brad...I HATE HIM"
Justin chuckled and looked up, "That's too bad...he's STILL your Uncle"
Nathan shook his head on the pillow, "He's NO Uncle of mine...not after all this..."
Justin looked around him and saw the car magazines on the side, and then realized whom might have bought them, "Hey...where's Josh?"
Nathan screwed his face up, "He just went home"
"Huh?"
Nathan shrugged, "Yeah...he was acting kinda weird anyways"
Justin licked his lips, "like how?"
Nathan didn't want to really talk about this...not to Justin anyway for obvious reasons, "Like...like...like questioning me if I STILL love Brian"
Justin wasn't phased, "and do you?"
Nathan met Justin's eyes, "not anymore...not like that...it was a phase, you know, after me and him kissed...SORRY"
Justin shook his head, "No...it's SO okay...I would have kissed him too"
Nathan smiled, "Well...Josh said all that and then...something about feelings and cut...he was gone"
Justin stood up, "HIS feelings...?"
"Huh?"
Justin looked down at him, "you MUST know!"
Nathan was none the wiser, "Know what? Justin what are you getting at?"
Justin grabbed his arm, "the way HE feels about YOU...you talk about feelings...like it or not, JOSH has feelings for YOU..."
Xxxxx
The police had just left the Peterson house. As Mrs Peterson closed the door, she turned to her husband, "what is they don't find him...oh GOD what's happened to him?"
"He was unhappy I guess...I don't know WHY? HE had ALL he needed here..."
"lets hope he's with Brian...the police said they were on there way round to his place..."
((...And somewhere in a gas station hundreds of miles away, a gruff bearded man was scrubbing clean his truck...))
XXXXXX