They didn’t even make it out of the south before all hell broke loose.

“Who the fuck ever heard of tornados in winter?” Brian snapped.

“Umm…everyone.”

“Shut up. Let’s hope this place isn’t full.”

Brian looked at the hotel, it was the only one he would consider staying at. He’d rather die than to stay in a anything less than a five-star luxury hotel. He parked under the awning and ran inside.

“Please tell me you have two rooms left.” The parking lot was near full which wasn’t great.

“We have one room left. But it’s a King-sized suite with a terrace.”

“I’ll take it.”

Brian signed the paperwork and grabbed the keycard and headed out to the car.

“Got us a room.”

“Do they allow dogs?”

“How the fuck should I know. Just sneak him in.”

“Why Mr. Kinney, that’s against the rules. I never knew you were a rebel.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

The wind started to pick up more and the rain was coming down hard. They were on the second floor, but it was accessible from the back entrance. Justin hid the little rat under his coat as they made their way into the building.

Justin was cold and wet by the time they got into the room. He wanted to strip down and take a shower but had no clothes. That was when he noticed the bathrobe.

“I’ve never been in a hotel that had bathrobes.”

“It’s the only way to live. We’re both cold and wet, I suggest we shower together before the lighting starts.”

“Deal.” Justin was very ok with his body and anyway Brian had already seen him naked.

Justin put Harry on the ground and the little guy started to explore.

In the bathroom that was bigger than Justin’s first and only apartment. They stripped down.

“Shut the door. I don’t want the little demon to come in here and bit anything hanging on me.”

“Think a lot of yourself, don’t you? He’s very small.”

Brian rolled his eyes. “Just close it.”

“Alright but he’s going to cry, he doesn’t like to be alone.”

Justin thought that Brian would try something in the shower, but he quickly washed and got out. Justin wondered if he had done something to piss off the older man. Once out of the shower and wrapped up in the robe Justin could really look at the suite. It was gorgeous. He had never been in a hotel room that had its own living room. Not only that it had a terrace, not that they were going to make use of it. Justin just hoped the storm didn’t throw the table and chairs into the glass door.

He picked up Harry and walked into the room with the television and sat down, grabbing the remote. It had been forever since he chilled out on a couch and just watched television. Brian came in dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt, he sat down beside Justin. Harry growled lightly but didn’t do anything more.

“I called your sister; she knows we’re being held up by the storm.”

“Oh, I forgot.” He really needed to work on his out of sight out of mind way of thinking.

Brian shrugged and grabbed the remote out of his hands. Justin grabbed Harry and moved him while he laid out on the couch resting his legs on Brian’s. Soon an old movie was playing that Justin actually knew.

“I know this movie, A Place in the Sun. When my grandmother had me for the summers, we would watch movies. This one was one of her favorites. She knew almost everything that you could about the actors.”

“It goes to show you, it doesn’t matter how much talent you have, if you don’t have a pretty face you won’t get anywhere. Look where just having talent got Montgomery Clift.”

“People act like he was a troll after the accident, he wasn’t. He was still hot.”

“Doesn’t matter what anyone says, if you think your damaged, then you are. End of story.”

“Is that what you see when you see yourself? Damaged?”

Brian looked at him but didn’t say anything for a long moment. “I was beaten down and just plain beaten by my father my whole childhood. My mother drank so she wouldn’t care if her kids were beaten. Long after my dad died my mother found out I was gay. Not in any normal way. No, she found out when my bitch of a sister accused me of molesting her teenage son. My mother so easily bought the idea that gay was just the same as a child molester.”

“Oh my god. What happened?”

“I spent a fortune on legal fees. It looked like the judge was believing their story until Peter, the least evil of my two nephews was asked if I ever touched him. He folded under the pressure and told the judge everything, that John got mad that I busted him stealing. Still to this day some people remember, and I get hostile looks. Once that label is on you, you can never wash it away.”

Justin felt awful, he hugged Harry and looked towards the television. “I caused the death of my little brother.”

“What?”

“I was five and Walter was three. My grandmother was sick, so she went to take care of her. She worried that we would get her sicker with our dirty little germs. She told me to take care of Walter, I promised her I would. We had a babysitter while our dad was at work. I don’t remember much about her, but she didn’t like us to bother her. She was older, maybe in her sixties.

"Walter was always getting into trouble, always getting into things. My memories from that time are fuzzy, I was little myself. I just remember I told him to stop being a baby because he lost Gus, my bear that my father had given him because he said I was too big for it. I remember being mad about that. He wanted me to help him look for it. I refused. I went to play. After a little while I realized he wasn’t bugging me like he usually did. I went looking for him.

“We had a pool; my dad was always forgetting to lock the gate around it and my mom would yell at him. I went out back and saw the gate open, I went to see if he had gone in there looking for the bear. He was floating face down in the shallow end. I ran inside and got Mrs. Yates. She pulled him out, called the ambulance and tried to revive him. It was too late though, he was gone.

“I don’t remember much after that; it was just really sad. I knew my mom blamed me, I promised to look after him. I was mad that he always got all the attention. I caused his death. I’m the reason he died.”

“You were five, it wasn’t on you. I can’t even say it was on the babysitter because accidents happen, but I don’t know, she could have been neglectful. Is this why you can’t stay in Pittsburgh or any place?”

“No, it’s not that. I just can’t stand to look at them and he’s not there because of me.”

“Your brother died and that’s tragic, but it wasn’t your fault. And fuck your parents for letting you think it was for thirty-five years that it was your fault. I have a guess this is what you’ve been running from all your life. Why Molly doesn’t have a close relationship with you. You’re scared of losing her too. Caleb must terrify you.”

“Let’s talk about something else now, k?”

Looking at Justin he didn’t have much left to give so he agreed. The storm was now full blown outside; it was still daylight not that you could tell the sky was so dark. Justin grabbed the remote and clicked over until he found a local news channel. It had the radar up, showing the storm closing in on them.

“I like the rain; it washes all the bad away.”

Brian didn’t correct him that too much rain washed everything away. “I’ve never been a fan of the rain. It’s hell on my hair and clothes.”

Justin laughed weakly. “You are such a princess.”

“That’s prince to you.”

Justin laughed again and then sighed. “I hope this hotel has a good generator.”

“Why?”

“Power will probably be knocked out.”

“How do you know?”

“Not my first tornado. Not even my first this year.”

Brian decided to bring up something that he had been thinking about.

“I have a proposition for you.”

“Oh really?” Justin said as he petted Harry lazily watching the weather report.

“Yes, I know you have no plans to settle down and get a house and all that.”

“Correct.”

“But what if you just had a home. A home that had a room for Caleb and a place for you.”

“Huh?” Justin asked looking at Brian. He looked drained but Brian went on.

“What if you lived with me? My house isn’t big, but it has another room that can be turned into a child’s room. Then when you need a place to go, you can come home.”

“But I-

“But what?”

“I’ll mess it up. I mess everything up. One day you’ll see that. I can’t do that to you.”

“If you can’t do it for yourself, do it for Caleb. I also have a pretty nice backyard for the rat.”

Justin laughed. “Can I think about it?”

“Of course. You want to see if they are serving room service?”

“Sure.”