You would have thought things in Justin's life would get easier.  Michael hadn't been pushed off Mt. Kinney and Brian wasn't feeling distressed because Michael no longer talked to him.   Brian and Justin were getting along great, except for when Mikey would get all needy.  Even though he had his own boyfriend, he felt the need to belittle Justin.  One thing was he never did it in front of Brian, the two-face ...  Justin on the other hand debated informing Brian on Michael, but like last time decided not to.  That didn't stop him from firing back when Michael got in his face.  When Michael went to Brian and complained, Justin pretended not to know what Michael was talking about and crossed examined him in such a way that Brian got the picture of what happened. 

Brian pulled Justin aside, while Mikey watched with a smirk on his face.

"Look I know Mikey means a lot to you and I'm not asking for much.  Just to be able to tell him to stuff it when he starts in on me.  That's all I ask," Justin said in his defense.

"Michael, let yourself out."  Brian looked deep into Justin's eyes.  He waited until he heard the loft door close.  "Do you know how hot it is hearing your take on Mikey?"

"You're... not mad?"  Justin asked tentatively. 

Brian backed him onto the sofa.  "Oh, I'm mad all right.  I think someone needs a spanking."

Justin perked up.  But he decided to play it up.  "Oh, no, sir.  Please don't spank me."

Brian soon had him stripped and over his lap, then the spanking began.  Justin cock began to harden which excited Brian so much that he picked Justin up and carried him to the bedroom to have his way with him.

Sated and satisfied, they lay in the bed with Justin tracing circles on Brian's pec.

"Fuck him," Brian said.

Justin picked up his head wondering what Brian was on about.

"We'll let Michael think what he wants.  I'm not going to explain myself."  Brian said to the ceiling.  "That okay with you?"

Justin just smiled.

Of course, Michael wasn't going to let it go and called Brian the next day, guilting him into going to Woody's.  It had been decided that keeping Mikey and Justin apart was in their best interest.

Justin stayed at the loft and did some sketching, coming up with artwork to go with several ads that Brian was working on.

When Brian came home, he hopped on the bed and pulled out a toke.  One lift of Justin's brow was all that was needed to get Brian to talk.

"He did nothing but complain."

"About me?"  Justin asked, pretty sure of what Brian's answer would be.

"Nope.  About Doc Dave."  Brian blew smoke rings in the air before sharing with Justin.  "They've moved in together and Mikey decided that his stuff would look great in the living room."

"What stuff?"  Justin asked taking a hit.

"You know, maybe you don't.  Mikey has a bunch of comic-related items.  Toys and a big, and I mean a big poster of Captain Astro."  Brian took back his weed.  "Anyway, when Mikey got home from work, they were all gone."  Brian giggled.  "Dave had taken them all up and put them away."

"Michael must have been pissed."

Brian nodded.  "And to top things all off, Ted was complaining about Emmett joining this group.  See the Light or something.  They are trying to turn Emmett straight."

Justin's mouth dropped open.  He vaguely remembered that time and he was pretty sure it didn't last.  But he's not about to let it go on for as long as it had.  The thing was that Emmett had been listening to Michael complain about Brian and he sort of agreed with Michael.  Now Justin had to sit down with Emmett and explain truth from fiction.

But first, he needed to find out why Emmett was doing what he was doing.  If only he knew why he'd done it the first time.  But this whole episode hadn't even made a blip on his radar.  Justin invited him to lunch, someplace other than the diner for some gossip.

Emmett seemed a little surprised at where he finds himself at this time in his life.  He explained how Ted had ended up seeing a doctor when he found out that he'd had unprotected sex with a guy who had HIV.  In support, he'd taken the test with Ted.  It was when he got a call from the doctor asking him to call his office that he started to worry.  It was a weekend, and he was unable to get in touch with the doctor.  He'd prayed to say he'd never have sex again as he pleaded with God to please let the results be negative.    Luckily, his test had been negative, the doctor only wanted to let him know that his check had come back for non-sufficient funds.

Justin's jaw dropped open.  "Emmett, you don't seem happy."

There were tears in Emmett's eyes.  "I'm not."