Chapter 11

“You must be the famous Brian Kinney,” a young woman with curly dark hair greeted him enthusiastically when she opened the door to the Kinnetik suite after Brian had knocked a few seconds ago.

“Daphne, I assume?” Brian raised an eyebrow as he took in her appearance. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and her hair was tied in a messy bun. Not at all what he had expected when he thought of a young princess.

“That would be me,” Daphne smiled, then took a step back, welcoming Brian into the suite. “Come in. Justin is just giving Lizzie her bath. They should be out in a few minutes.”

Brian nodded, then followed her towards the sofa in the room. When she sat down, he did so as well.

“Can I offer you anything? A beer, something else?” She offered once they were seated and nodded when Brian just shook his head.

“I am good. I just wanted to come by and see if everything was okay here. With the suite and all...”

“We really can't thank you enough for letting us stay here. It was such a good idea to get out of New York. I was so happy when Jus suggested it,” Daphne said and Brian could see by the expression on her face that she really meant it.

“I thought there might be less media attention here than in New York,” Brian shrugged.

“Oh, definitely. And especially since no one knows that we're staying here. We were even able to take Lizzie to Point State Park earlier, which was really the first time in days that she was able to go outside. She was so happy to be able to just run around.”

Brian saw how Daphne's eyes lit up when she talked about her daughter.

“Yeah, Justin mentioned that it was really hard on her in New York,” Brian said, not quite sure what else to say. He didn't want to make it sound like Justin had shared too much private information with him.

“Yeah, poor munchkin. She doesn't understand why we can't just go to the playground or the park like we used to. How do you explain something like this to a 2-year-old?”

Brian nodded, then couldn't help but say. “You don't seem angry though.”

“Angry?” Daphne looked confused. “I am not sure I understand.”

“Some people might be angry with Justin for bringing this situation on them. Or with the press for hounding them like they did with your family.”

Daphne shrugged, her face and voice taking on a serious note. “None of this is Justin's fault. He never asked for any of this. And there is no one angrier with himself than he is. He doesn't need me to be angry with him as well. And really? What for? I've known him since we were in kindergarten together. I knew that he was gay before he did. He didn't have a choice in this... I am just glad he finally got this weight off his shoulders and once things calm down, which I am sure they will, he can finally live his life the way he wants to. As for the media...,” she now took a deep breath, “they're really just trying to do their job, trying to make a living.”

“At your expense,” Brian threw in at that point and Daphne nodded.

“Yeah, true, but... getting angry about it won't change how the system works. We'll ride this out and then hopefully in a couple of days or weeks things will calm down.”

“I am glad that you're not making this harder for Justin than it needs to be,” Brian said honestly, meeting her gaze head on.

“He is my best friend. I am here to support him. It's what I have always done,” she said and her voice sounded absolutely sincere.

“You're a good friend.”

“I am his best friend. If he wasn't gay, we might have gotten married for real, but I always knew and still loved him. Platonically, as my friend. Just like I know that he loves me with all his heart. And most importantly, we both love Lizzie. That's all that matters right now,” she said, once again smiling widely.

Brian nodded. A silence then settled over the room, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. It lasted for about a minute, before Daphne turned to Brian again and looked at him inquiringly.

“As his best friend, it's also my duty to make sure that no one takes advantage of him or that he doesn't get hurt. So, you know that I have to ask this: What are your intentions here?”

Brian's eyes widened and he took a deep breath before he asked. “My intentions?”

“Yes, what are you hoping to achieve by letting us stay in your suite?” Daphne clarified.

“I am just trying to help,” Brian said, though it sounded wrong even to his own ears. “I know that he's... that you're all going through a hard time right now, so I just wanted to help in whatever way I can.”

Daphne then stood up and walked over to the window, looking out at the skyline of Pittsburgh. Her voice was deadly serious when she spoke next. “And now for the honest answer? We both know that's not really it... what are you hoping to achieve by inviting us here?”

She then turned around and looked at Brian, holding his gaze.

Brian took a deep breath, realizing that he had just met another person who had looked right through him. Damn, he really needed to work on his poker face.

“I hope that I can show Justin that I am sorry for what happened last year... for how I reacted and... that maybe we can start over again.”

“Start over again?” Daphne still looked right at Brian, as if trying to read his mind to get the answers that she was waiting for.

“I care about him,” Brian admitted, not sure why he was admitting this to a woman he had only met a few minutes ago when he hadn't even admitted it to his family and friends. “Maybe more than care about him... I... I want to know that he's doing okay and I want to see him smile again. I want to be the one that makes him smile and... I hope that maybe... one day... we can pick things up where we left.”

“A relationship?” Daphne asked, raising an eyebrow. “You don't do relationships.”

She said it with absolute surety and Brian wondered how much Justin had told her about their previous relationship.

“I was told that I do with Justin... and I would like to try again,” he admitted, holding her gaze, hoping that she would see the sincerity in his eyes.

“You hurt him,” she then said, her voice not bitter or angry, just stating a fact. “You ending things like that hurt him... And I can tell you now, that I won't let you hurt him again. You broke his heart when you didn't even allow him to explain... I won't let you do that to him again.”

Brian watched her and knew that she meant it. She would protect Justin if it was the last thing she did. She really was a good friend to him.

“I don't intend to hurt him,” he therefore replied truthfully. “I know that I overreacted and I am sorry. I never meant to hurt him and... I never want to again. I want to be the one that makes him smile, not cry.”

At that point they were interrupted by the bedroom door being opened and Justin walking into the room with a small girl in his arms that was dressed in her pajamas and laughing about something he had just said to her.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw Brian in the room. “Brian...,” he breathed out, then turned to the girl in his arms who had stared at the strange man as well and was now hiding her head in his shoulder. “Hey, that's my friend Brian. He's the man that invited us to come here, so we could go to the park here. Why don't you say hi to Brian?”

For a second Lizzie seemed to contemplate what her father had said, then turned to Brian with a shy expression on her face. “Hi B'ian,” she said quietly, clearly struggling with the r in his name.

“Hi Lizzie,” Brian replied, smiling warmly at the girl in Justin's arms. “Your mommy and daddy have told me so much about you. It's nice to meet you.”

Justin further walked into the room with Lizzie, glad when Daphne came over and took her daughter from his arms.

Lizzie immediately snuggled into her arms and Daphne held her close. She watched the way Brian and Justin were staring at each other, not saying anything.

“Why don't I get this little one into bed? It's already past her bedtime and she's clearly tired,” she suggested and Justin nodded, turning towards his daughter to give her a goodnight kiss and to tell her that he loved her.

Before Daphne left the room with Lizzie, she turned back to Justin and said in a voice loud enough for Brian to hear as well. “I like him. And you're right, he's damn sexy.”

With that she disappeared into the bedroom, leaving Justin to look after her open-mouthed.

“She's quite the character,” Brian said after a while, when it was clear that Justin wasn't going to say anything.

“She is,” he just said slowly, before he walked further into the room and stopped at the other end of the couch that Brian was sitting on. “I wasn't expecting you to come here,” he admitted honestly as he sat down on the armrest.

“I wanted to see if you were okay... if everything was okay here... with the suite and all,” Brian shrugged nonchalantly.

“The suite is great. We can't thank you enough for organizing this for us. We were able to take Lizzie to the park earlier. It did her the world of good,” Justin said, now sounding honestly happy.

“Yeah, Daphne said so. I am glad it helped,” Brian replied honestly.

“It really did,” Justin nodded. “We were so worried about her. It will be good for her to be able to go out again, to have some sense of normality.”

Brian nodded. “Hopefully things will start to quiet down in a couple of days.”

Justin snorted. “I've been hoping that for a week now...Doesn't look like it.”

“You're the first royal to come out as gay. That makes you special... The novelty hasn't worn off yet,” Brian said quietly, knowing that it was true.

“I never asked for any of this,” Justin sighed in response. “I never wanted to be special... hell, I never wanted to be the first royal to come out... I never even wanted to be a royal...”

Brian watched the younger man and could see how tense he was. “Are you okay?”

“Do I look okay to you?” Justin scoffed in response.

“No, you don't,” Brian said honestly, getting up and walking over to where Justin was sitting on the armrest. “I wish there was something else I could do to make this any easier on you,” he said as he sat down on the edge of the table, looking into Justin's troubled eyes.

“You already did more than enough,” the younger man responded quietly. “More than I could have ever asked of you...”

Brian stared at Justin for the longest time and he wondered if this was the right time to tell Justin what he had just told Daphne, but looking at the dejected man across from him, Brian knew that now was not the right time to lay his feelings and intentions on Justin as well. He was clearly struggling with what was going on in his life right now, it was obvious what an enormous toll the last few weeks had taken on Justin and Brian couldn't bring himself to add to that by declaring his true intentions now. So he thought better of it and said the following instead. “I am here, Justin. I am here to help. To help you, to help Daphne and Lizzie. Whatever you need, just let me know, okay?”

Justin's eyes met Brian's and Brian could see that the younger man was close to crying. He didn't say anything and just nodded in reply.

“I am here, Justin,” Brian repeated, before he took the younger man into a tight embrace. “I just want to help in whatever way I can.”

“Thank you, Brian,” Justin now responded, hugging Brian back.

They stayed in that embrace for what felt like an eternity but was probably only minutes.

Justin was the first to pull back and he ran a hand over his face before he met Brian's concerned eyes. “I am a mess right now... I am sorry.”

“Don't apologize!” Brian said sternly. “Everyone would be in your situation. You will be fine, Justin... I know you will be.”

“I wish I was as optimistic,” Justin sighed.

“If you can't be, I'll just have to be optimistic enough for both of us,” Brian then announced, never breaking eye contact with the younger man. “You'll be fine. Trust me, okay?”

For the longest time there was no reaction from Justin, but then he finally nodded. For now it would have to do. Brian knew that Rome wasn't built in a day and he knew that he would have to be patient if he wanted to win Justin back. And he would be.