“Can you stop sucking face for two seconds?”

I pulled away from Justin and turned to find Patrick, standing in the kitchen doorway. “You talking to me? I thought you were mad at me for not giving you money for who knows what the fuck now.”

Patrick bristled. “It's with a good cause! But I'm rethinking the whole thing.”

“How much did you want?” Justin jumped to offer money. He'd faint if he heard the amount.

“Only a thousand,” Patrick answered, perking up a little.

I caught Justin's wide eyes, rolling mine and waving my hand. “Only a thousand, like we grow money on trees.”

Justin pulled Patrick to a chair. “Are you in some kind of trouble? Why do you need so much?”

I hadn't thought about him being in trouble. I guessed he wanted a new whim of his satisfied.

“I don't have a nice suit.”

And my fear had been revealed. “Why do you even need a nice suit? Are you getting hitched?” I laughed.

Patrick glared at me, before seeking solace in Justin. “I have my prom in a month!”

I swear I didn't mean to drop the cup of coffee from my hand, but it slipped through my fingers. My eyes stayed on Justin, who'd become rigid.

Fuck!

We should have told the kids speaking about prom was taboo.

Patrick eyed our reactions dubiously. “Is any of you going to help?”

I cleared my throat loudly. “We'll talk about this tonight when you come home.”

“Fine,” he muttered, shuffling out of the kitchen and screaming for Ruby to get her ass downstairs.

Justin slumped in a chair, his hands shaking horribly.

I overstepped the broken cup, going by his side and squeezing his shoulder. “We have to tell him...something.”

“I can't,” he rasped out. “He can't know. Please.” His glassy eyes pleaded me.

“Okay, then. I'll talk to him about this and try to give him a reasonable amount of money to go buy a suit.”

“Good.”

“We're leaving!” Patrick shouted from the hallway, before the front door slammed shut.

“Why didn't we think of this? I mean, when Gus had his, he didn't make such a fuss,” Justin went on in a small voice.

“Because Lindsay prepared him. She told him prom was a delicate subject with us.”

Tears threatened to spill from Justin's eyes as he gazed at me. “I hate not being able to enjoy this with my own children. I hate having you deal with this alone, but I have no idea what to tell them. Patrick will have questions...questions I can't answer.”

“Don't worry, Sunshine. I'll deal with this.” I dropped a kiss on his forehead.

oOo

Only a few days later, I got a call from the principal of Patrick's school. She propositioned for us to help chaperone the fucking prom when some parents who'd promised to help became engaged otherwise. I didn't promise anything until I talked with Justin.

At home, I found only Ruby, eating pizza and watching TV.

“Where's dada and your brother?”

“Pat dragged Dada shopping for his suit.”

Fuck. I fucking told Patrick to stop pestering Justin.

They return around nine in the evening. Patrick was the proud owner of the newest Hugo Boss suit, and Justin looked about to have a nervous breakdown.

When we were in bed that night, I brought up the dreaded subject.

“How come he corrupted you to go shopping with him?”

“He called you, but Cynthia answered and said you were in a meeting,” Justin muttered.

“Oh, that's right.”

“Next time, you better keep your phone near. It's worse to shop with him than it is to shop with you!”

“What kind of queer are you?”

“One that hates shopping!”

“Anyway, Mrs. Stevens called me. She wants us to be chaperons at prom.”

Justin turned his head to me, and I could see his pupils dilated even though the room was dark.

“I told her I had to talk to you then I'd answer.”

“Oh, what the fuck. Sure.”

“You sure about that?” I grabbed his hand, squeezing.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“You know Patrick is going to hate us?” I chuckled.

“Did we ever embarrass him?”

“Us? Never.”

We burst out laughing, knowing how many times we'd embarrassed the poor kid over the years. It was never intentional.

oOo

As prom drew nearer, I told Patrick that no matter what questions he had, he should address them to me and leave Justin alone. For once, he listened to me. Even though he drove me nuts with questions about my prom and how it was in my time, because I was ancient, I answered everything patiently.

I still wasn't sure about both of us going to chaperone.

Justin seemed fine, but I could tell he was fighting old demons and spending more time than usual locked in his studio.

The night before we had to go to Patrick's prom, I went into Justin's studio to ask him if he wanted some tea. I seized the opportunity to go into the studio when he had a bathroom break.

What I found in there froze me. There was a big easel in the middle of the room and on it was a large canvas. The thing painted was nightmare inducing.

“What are you doing here?” Justin's scared voice asked from behind me. I heard the door closing and the lock turning. “There was a reason why I didn't show you!”

“Where did you find it?” A shiver ran down my spine as I stared at the silk scarf lying on the floor a few feet away from the easel.

“In your home office, in that box you keep hidden, or so you think.”

“How do you even know about that box?”

“I saw you a few years ago putting there Ruby's first fallen tooth. For safe keep.”

“Aren't you a smart twat?” I sneered. “Why did you paint this? Why are you doing this?”

“I thought I'd feel better. I sort of do. Are you mad?”

“Mad?” I gaped at him. “I never wanted you to see that scarf again.”

“Well, I did. I even touched it. I still don't remember shit. I never will.” He shrugged, picking the still bloodied scarf and putting it around his neck. “Last night when I didn't come to bed, I stayed here with this and tried to remember something. As crazy as it may sound, I want to remember. You and Daphne speak so wonderfully of that time.”

“Justin.” My voice cracked. I stepped closer, wincing as I touched the fucking scarf for the first time in decades. I slid it off his neck, letting it fall at our feet. “Justin,” I whispered, brushing the back of my hand to his cheek. “It doesn't matter. Stop stressing about this. I'm actually grateful you don't remember.”

His eyes cut to mine, widening.

“I'm afraid of what might come back,” I admitted.

“Us dancing, having the floor to ourselves on the lamest song ever.”

I chuckled, bending to nudge his nose. “But don't forget who's taking you home and in whose arms you're gonna be...”

“So darling save the last dance for me.” He grinned widely.

“Baby don't you know I love you so? Can't you feel it when we touch?”

He wrapped his arms around my neck, swaying. “I will never, never let you go. I love you oh so much.”

“If he asks if you're all alone, can he take you home? You must tell him no.”

Justin giggled, kissing me slowly. “How weird are we that we know the lyrics to this song?”

“As many times as we listened to it, I'd be worried if we didn't know the lyrics,” I joked.

Justin combed his fingers through my hair. “Do you think they'll play it at Patrick's prom?”

“I doubt it. They'd play new shit that we don't like.”

“Music these days.” He shuddered. “Anyway...” He turned to look at the painting. “Honestly, do you like it?”

“It's all right.”

“Not awesome? Breathtaking? Exquisite?”

I avoided looking at it, keeping my eyes on Justin's. “You want the truth? I hate what it represents. It might be your only painting that I don't ever want to see again.”

Justin gasped, swatting my shoulder. “I think it's my best work!” After a few moments, he sighed. “Here I wanted to frame it and place it in our room. But I guess I'll sell it.”

“NO! Don't you fucking dare show anyone this!”

“Jeez.”

“And I hope you were joking about hanging it in our room.”

“It will go in the storage along with all the others.” He was clearly upset.

“Justin, this is a piece of us. I don't want anyone to see this. You can do anything you want with it, as long as I don't see it for the next three hundred years if possible.”

“Okay, okay. You weren't supposed to see it anyway,” he reminded me gently.

“Yeah, my bad. Let's head to bed. We have a busy day ahead tomorrow.”

oOo

“This isn't as boring as I predicted,” I said after a couple of hours into the prom.

The adults attending were placed strategically near the tables and close to the large groups so the students wouldn't attempt to drink alcohol.

Patrick stayed on the other side of the room with Kyle. Whenever our eyes met, he scowled.

“It's okay.” Justin nodded, sipping from his Dr. Pepper.

I kept my eyes on him in case anything triggered memories. Nothing so far. “Will you be okay? I have to piss.”

He rolled his eyes. “If you don't hurry, I might run away with my new fan,” he teased, nodding to the guy cruising him.

“Shut the fuck up! I still can't believe he mistook you as a student.”

Justin smirked, touching his cheek. “It's my natural good looks, dear.”

Huffing, I left him snorting in his drink, while I went in search of the bathroom. The hotel had a small ballroom, but the soundproofing was amazing. The second I stepped out the room, my ears started ringing with how quiet it was.

It took me a while to find the men's room, and on my way back, I found the DJ who was coming back from having a smoke. An idea came to me, and I thought I'd indulge Justin and give him the dance he wanted to remember. The DJ promised to play the song I requested.

The dance floor had animated while I was gone, and I made a detour to Patrick on my way to Justin.

“Having fun?” I elbowed him, finding him laughing hysterically with Kyle.

“You should go rescue Dada. That's the fourth guy hitting on him.”

“Say what?” I narrowed my eyes across the room where Justin was smiling politely at a twink.

I strolled toward him. He caught my eye as I was coming through a group of people. For a second, he closed his eyes, shaking his head, then opened them, gazing at me lovingly.

I took his hand, pulling him close, kissing his lips. “I leave you alone for a few minutes and you catch all the hot twinks?”

“They seriously thought I attended their school and we never met.”

I was about to protest when I heard the DJ had listened to me.

Justin gasped, keeping his eyes on mine. I hadn't seen that shade of raw blue in years.

I pulled him away from the refreshments table, swaying slowly.

“I promise you won't forget this one.” I kissed his temple.

Even though I was supposed to lead, after a few moments, Justin was the one leading, his eyes closed. I had the creepiest feeling when I remembered doing exactly the same moves too many years ago. Toward the end of the song, I regained the lead of the dance and when I dipped him low, his eyes flew open.

Fuck no.

I could see it in his panicked eyes, in the horror on his face—he remembered.

I pulled him out of the room and outside the hotel. Justin slumped on the boarder where the cabs usually pulled up. He bent over, his head between his knees.

I had no fucking clue what to do, what to say, how to react. So I sat next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

He took a shuddering breath, before looking at me. “I've never had such a strong sense of déjà-vu.”

I stroked his arm, still unsure what I could say. I had no idea how much he remembered.

“You always told me how wonderful we were when we danced. You never told me how beautiful you were. You never told me that you looked at me with so much love, how full of love the kiss we shared was, how awfully romantic was the whole thing.”

“Ridiculously romantic,” I said automatically.

“I was so happy when I saw you there, when we danced.” He sighed heavily. “I can't believe it came back now of all times.”

“I feared it might come back now.”

Justin laughed nervously. “It may sound silly, but I want to glue this to my brain. If I lose this again...”

“You won't,” I vowed. After a while of holding him tightly, I cleared my throat. “Anything else?”

“Uh?”

“Do you remember anything else?”

“You mean Hobbs? No. Just us dancing.”

I sagged with relief. “So now you know we were all right.”

“We were fucking perfect! I can't wait to tell Daphne!”