Brian groggily stood to his feet after what was the worst night's sleep of his entire life. He couldn't attribute his lack of sleep to insomnia, clubbing, or even dreams of the gorgeous Justin Taylor - even though, under ordinary circumstances, they would all be plausible. His night had been anything but ordinary. Last night he had waited until all activity had ceased before he found a bench secluded enough to hide himself on, finding as much sleep as he could knowing that he could be discovered at any moment. What would he have said had he been found? It wasn't as if he could say - ‘I can't check in until precisely 10:16 a.m. tomorrow, since that was the time I checked in when I was originally in both the hotel and this time.' No. That would make him one step closer to being locked up and away from the blond beauty he had traveled so far to find.

Seeing that it was almost time, Brian stepped up to the front desk, ready to sign himself in as he had read in the dusty registration book at this precise time, date, and year. He dragged a hand through his hair, in his former life knowing he would have thought this to be the height of insane... something so ludicrous he wouldn't even contemplate writing a play about. Yet, he was here. This was real. More important than that - Justin was real. His heart raced just thinking about the blond. Brian knew it wasn't going to be easy getting closer to the young man. As much as he felt Justin's returned interest in him, he was still resistant. After what he had witnessed following his arrival, Brian believed Justin only needed to find separation from those who unfavorably influenced him. Brian was more than happy to supply that separation.

After a stressful few minutes, Brian found himself all signed in, panic immediately setting in when the desk clerk tried to assign him the wrong room. Almost instantly, another clerk came up behind him stating the wrong room had been given to him. Brian released a deep sigh of relief. That was too close to suit him. The wrong room could throw this transference and reconnection with Justin totally off. He was about to leave the front desk and go to his room, when the clerk called him back.

"Mr. Kinney?" the clerk waited for him to return to the desk, his hand extending another set of keys. "These were left for you at the desk this morning. I was informed they are the keys for a recently purchased automobile."

Brian smiled. He had almost forgotten about the new car. His planning in acquiring the ‘37 Ford Coupe seemed even more prudent now. The vehicle would be very extravagant in this time. Not only should it impress Justin... it also supplied him the means to assure that separation he needed regarding Justin and his ever-present father. Brian decided things were definitely looking up now. He pocketed the keys, thanking him graciously for the assistance. "Thank you. I think I'll just take this beauty out for a ride."

The clerk smiled in envy, none of them had missed the arrival of that particular piece of machinery. "Enjoy your day, Sir."

Nodding, Brian began to veer off in the direction of Justin's suite of rooms, before thinking better of that idea. It was morning. Justin probably wouldn't be in his room... along with the fact, it would lead to another run-in with Craig Taylor. He really didn't want to start the day with that man. Brian already knew it was Justin's routine to go for a walk alone by the water after each of his meals. If he hurried, he just might find him there again. This time, Brian planned for the outcome to be entirely different. He just needed to get Justin to spend the day with him. Once they were alone, Brian knew the reputed Kinney charm would handle the rest. He had never wanted that charm to work to his advantage more than he did with Justin.

Justin sat on the bench, thankful for his morning ritual of solitude... never more so than today. As he looked out at the beautiful lake, Justin could see nothing. His mind was in another place... a place where he knew he shouldn't be revisiting - undoubtedly in one his father would find great disapproval. This was his private time... and he didn't care in this instant. He would drown in the memory of the stranger's hazel eyes... a man that Justin couldn't quite view as a stranger, although he had no idea why he felt this way. He couldn't deny wanting to see the man again... even hoping to see him again. The fact that the man named Brian brought desires back to life that he had long been repressing, filled him with both excitement and dismay. Justin knew he had to fight those cravings. Doing anything else would both jeopardize his career, but destroy his family. No matter what - he couldn't let his father down.

Lost in his thoughts, Justin looked up in surprise when he sensed he was no longer alone. It was him. Brian Kinney. Somehow he'd known he would find him. Despite how unsettling the man was to him, Justin could admit to himself he was glad to see him. Justin blushed slightly, before greeting him, "Good morning, Mr. Kinney."

Brian stood immobile, unable to do anything more than visually drink him in. So heart-achingly beautiful, Brian thought. He simply had to have him. More than that, he had to keep him. Brian didn't care if it resulted in being in this time or the future - they had to be together. He cleared his throat, his voice coming out raspy when he asked, "May I sit with you?"

"Of course." Justin looked around uncertainly, more than aware of how isolated the two of them were here. "I should go inside soon."

Taking a seat on the bench far closer to Justin than necessity and propriety dictated, Brian implored, "Please don't do that. In fact, I was hoping you'd have the afternoon free."

"Free?" Justin asked, looking at the mesmerizing man curiously.

Nodding, Brian began to explain. "I purchased a new car before my arrival. It was delivered this morning. I was hoping we could go for a drive... explore the island and whatever else we find to interest us." Brian tried to keep the desire from his voice. The last thing he wanted to do was to push Justin in the opposite direction. He was already so skittish as it was... sending him running away from him was the worst possible turn of events. "Unless, of course, you have rehearsals today."

"No, actually, I don't." Justin bit his tongue realizing that had been his easy out. "I had an early meeting with my costume designer... but that was my only commitment for the day."

"Then you can spend the day with me..." Brian prompted, standing to his feet as he waited for Justin to do the same.

Justin looked away from the fierce, penetrating eyes that seemed to stare into his very soul. "I- I shouldn't. We really don't know each other, Sir. And I know my father wouldn't approve."

"First of all, my name is Brian. I would be pleased if you used it. Secondly, I really want to know you, Justin Taylor... and I think if you're honest - you'd admit to feeling the same. Regarding your father, I think you are more than old enough to make your own choices. Am I wrong?"

"No, you're not wrong... you just don't understand my father. I can't forget his commitment to my career. He's lived his life around making me successful. I owe him a great deal."

Brian bit his tongue, in a studied effort to force himself from issuing a quick retort. He didn't doubt that Craig Taylor used Justin's devotion to control him... to make him feel beholden to him. Although he hadn't watched a performance yet, Brian had the feeling Justin had immense talent. Justin would be successful with or without the guidance of his controlling father. "I'm sure you do... but what harm can a day cause?" Brian looked at him with a mixture of yearning and deep intensity. "Please, Justin. Spend the day with me. I promise to bring you back, the moment you ask."

"Alright. I'll go with you." Justin allowed himself to be led away from his spot at the lake and off in the direction of the hotel... his eyes widening in a mixture of admiration and surprise at the only vehicle that he thought could belong to this man. His jaw dropped down, as he pointed to the sparkling red car. "I-is that your car, Brian?"

A low chuckle resounded. "That's my car, Justin. This is certainly a sad day."

"Sad? How do you mean?" Justin asked.

"A man is more enamored of my car than of me..." Brian returned tongue-in-cheek, watching Justin closely to determine if the blond beauty had noticed his choice of words. He wasn't certain how things were in this time... but he couldn't imagine that a gay man was so out and proud.

Justin flushed, before he stammered nervously, "Well... obviously you are very successful."

Brian curled his lips under, moving to open the door for Justin, elated in the knowledge that Justin had understood what he had been saying... and wasn't running away from it. Justin was as physically aware of him as he was of him. He would use this time today to strengthen that. "I get by. Shall we go, Justin?"

Justin looked back toward the hotel, biting at his lip in confusion. "I- I should probably tell someone I'm going. My family will worry."

Oh no, you don't, Brian thought. I didn't get this far to let your father take you away again. "That's not necessary, Justin. The hotel staff knows I own this car... they will see us leave. Trust me and come with me, Justin. Please."

Justin looked into Brian's smoldering eyes. For once he was going to do what he wanted to do... and what he wanted most was to go with Brian. "I might not know you very well... but I do want to. I'll go with you."

"I warned you, Taylor! Now, look what you've caused!" Ethan Gold began to hyperventilate in his rage. "They have connected in the same way - again!" Ethan began to grind his teeth in fury. He had listened to Justin ramble on for years about this meeting... about this man, wasting his life away, and never giving him a chance to love him. Finally, he had found the means to transport himself back in time - to a time where he had never existed, all for Justin's father to fuck everything up.

"What would you have me do, Gold? Hunt them down and drag them back like animals?" Craig shook with a rage that equaled the man that had proclaimed his abilities to stop this tragedy. Apparently, this man knew nothing and had just told him what he wanted to hear solely to have an inside track to his son. "Justin is a legal adult. There is nothing I can do."

"I told you that Kinney needed to be dealt with before yesterday's date. You had one simple task - keep them apart until I could put my plan in motion!" Ethan's eyes were wild with jealous rage as he watched the extravagant car pulling away from the hotel.

Craig paced back and forth, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. "It doesn't matter. I can deal with Brian Kinney. Justin will get hurt... but he'll get over it."

"You moron!" Ethan exploded. "You can't remember because you haven't seen it yet... but I explained all of this. If Justin falls in love with Brian Kinney - which due to my calculations of when Justin's career and love of life fell apart, it stems back to this weekend; he WILL self-destruct when he loses that man."

"This is all your fault! I didn't know it was him until you arrived last night and told me his name. There is nothing we can do now." Craig's head hung low in resignation, his dismay on multiple levels. Not only did he live in the fear of Justin throwing everything away that they'd worked for his entire life over this man - but now, he had to accept the unthinkable... the unacceptable in this time; his beloved son, the star, was indeed a lover of men. Did it really matter if his world fell apart? Perhaps his son would be better off being non-existent in his life.

Ethan glared hatefully at the father of the man that had been his sole obsession from the first photo he'd ever seen of him. "You are so wrong, Taylor. There is something I can do. I will end this when they return. Not only will I end it... I will be here to pick up the pieces of Justin's shattered heart as I wasn't when it happened the first time."

Craig shrugged in his indifference. "Do what you like. It doesn't matter any longer. My son is queer. He's all but dead to me now."

"You are such an ignorant fool. Such a life is more than acceptable in my time. I'll take care of this. Kinney won't be able to ever come back here again..."

Contemptuously, Craig muttered, "It will never be acceptable to me!" He watched as Ethan began to walk away, calling out to him mockingly, "Better hope you handle it before Kinney figures out your secret."

"Secret?" Ethan queried, his back tensing... instinctively knowing what Craig Taylor had to say.

"Indeed. You didn't exist in this time, remember? Now it has become apparent that Kinney did. He seems to be a smart man, not to mention successful. Should he put that together, it shouldn't be too hard for him to dispatch you." Craig looked at him coldly, finding him as repugnant as he presently found his son and Brian Kinney. "Something to keep in mind, isn't it?"

Ethan kept on walking, knowing he needed to lay low for a while and plan his next move. He didn't like Craig's attitude... nor his reminders. He hadn't forgotten that he was an outsider here. That could threaten him. Kinney couldn't discover that he had visited this time on another day and time. That it had been his doing that pulled Brian decades into the future, severing him from his young lover.

Brian Kinney couldn't live long enough to put everything together. Yes. That was it. A maniacal smile curved his lips. Brian Kinney would die... and Justin wouldn't lose him to time taking him this time. Justin wouldn't live his life in limbo waiting for his lover to return. Justin would watch Brian die. Then, he would pick up the pieces. Justin would be his... just as he always should have been.

TBC