Justin's errands in town had him arriving at the diner close to six in the evening.

After visiting the gallery, he decided to go to Michael’s store and kill some time. They got talking, and when Ben came to ask if Michael was ready to head home, Justin realized he had completely forgotten to pick Nick from school. A phone call to Brian let him know he had Nick, and they were waiting for him at the diner.

Michael and Ben accompanied Justin, much to Justin's chagrin. He knew Michael tagged along only to see him interacting with Brian. Something had stopped Justin from confessing to Michael that he and Brian were working on rebuilding their relationship.

“Daddy, you made it,” Nick exclaimed when Justin stepped into the diner. Several heads turned to see who the child’s father was.

But being in the center of the attention was the least of Justin's worries. Nick seemed to be alone at the back booth. Brian was nowhere in sight.

“Hey, buddy. Is Brian around?” Justin asked.

Nick pointed to the bathroom in time for Justin to see a twink leaving that room in tears. He even told the guy headed inside that the lavatory was out of commission.

Justin wasn’t sure if he should cheer the fact that Brian wasn’t turning into a monk, or strangle him for leaving Nick all alone while he went to get his rocks off in the bathroom.

“I thought he had more tact,” Michael commented, sitting across Nick.

Just then Brian stormed out, cursing at the guy who had entered the bathroom despite the twink’s warning. He stopped abruptly when he saw Justin, then he continued to the door, keeping his phone pressed to his ear.

“What was that?” Ben asked, clearly confused.

“Something’s wrong,” Justin said slowly, watching Brian out the window.

He silently berated himself for entertaining the thought of Brian fucking some guy in there while he was supposed to keep an eye on Nick. Justin knew Brian better than that.

“Brian said many bad words, before he went to the bathroom. I think he was hiding from me to be able to curse,” Nick offered.

“We’ll find out what happened when he’s done. Did you greet our friends?” Justin finally sat next to his son, but kept his eyes on Brian. He was clearly shouting in the phone, and everyone gave him a wide berth as they passed him on the street.

Michael waved at Nick, while Ben asked about his day.

Justin was trying to figure out if Brian had even ordered anything, when Brian joined them. He looked ready to spit fire.

“We need a babysitter. I have to be at Babylon and you’re coming with me.”

“Uh, what happened? I could ask Mom, but I think she’s working late.”

“Or you could ask my mom,” Michael pointed out.

“That’s not a bad idea.” Brian smiled at his friend.

“Yeah, she did offer to help us…Let me call her,” Justin said, pulling his phone out.

“No time for a phone call. If you come by the club, be sure to be on your best behavior,” Brian told Michael and Ben.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Michael laughed.

“The inspection planned for next week decided to come early. I know there were still several maintenance issues scheduled to be repaired on Monday. Just my fucking luck. They want to see it on a Friday night in all its glory.” Brian rolled his eyes.

“Then maybe we shouldn’t be there,” Ben said quietly.

“A pair of Stepford husbands is exactly what I need. You could outshine the usual crowd with your good behavior. Come on. They arrive at eight.” Brian urged Justin to get a move.

Justin had forgotten how it was to be thrown into action because during his former relationships with Brian, he was used to expect the unexpected. With Ethan, they had everything planned out to the dot weeks in advance, and to take important decisions, they discussed everything in details.

“What are you worried about?” Justin dared to ask once when they were in the car.

“You know what. I have to track the drug dealers and send them to Poppers. And I need Tom to be extra careful with the fake IDs and twinks sneaking into the club.”

“I thought Tom did a superb job at keeping away twinks. I hear he sends them all to Boytoy.”

Brian laughed, managing to relax a tad. Only Justin could make him laugh when he was so stressed he was ready to snap.

They parked in front of Debbie’s house, and walked to the door.

Carl was the one to answer, and Justin was surprised, though it shouldn’t be such a shock. Carl lived there, too.

“Hello, guys! Deb, you have visitors,” he called over his shoulder.

Debbie arrived in the hallway, just as Justin crouched to Nick’s level, about to explain he had to stay with their friend. It would be the first time he left him with a stranger. At least, someone Nick considered a stranger.

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Nick mumbled, pouting.

“We are going to be busy for a few hours. You’re safe with Debbie and Carl. They are our friends. You’ve met Debbie before.”

Justin could hear Brian explaining their emergency to Debbie, but he was focused on calming Nick’s nerves.

“How soon will you be back?” Nick inquired.

Justin glanced up at Brian, and as he had expected, it would be an overnight thing. Brian only had to press his lips tightly for Justin to understand his unspoken answer.

“Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Nick gasped, tears pooling into his eyes. “Like when you and Pappy were busy and I stayed with Jesse?”

“Exactly.” Justin beamed, because he hadn’t thought of that association. He stood, keeping a hand on his son’s shoulder. “I’m sorry to drop this on your head, Deb.”

“Don’t worry, Sunshine. I’d love to get to know your Little Sunshine better.”

“He didn’t eat, because when we got to the diner, I got the phone call,” Brian added.

“No need to worry. You two go and have fun!”

“As if,” Brian muttered under his breath. “We’ll be back tomorrow to get you, kiddo,” he told Nick.

“Bye,” Nick mumbled, shuffling further into the house.

“We’ll do something fun when we pick you up. Maybe go to the zoo?” Justin suggested, desperate to not leave with Nick upset.

“Cool.”

“Come on, Justin,” Brian said softly. “He’ll be fine. You’ll see that he’ll befriend Deb and then it will be difficult to take him back home.”

Justin laughed, walking along Brian to the Jeep.

“We didn’t leave him with others much. Just when one of us had a show or a concert out of the city or that run deep into the night, but then again we often took him with us.”

“He has to befriend Deb, because this might happen again.”

Justin buckled his seatbelt once they got in the car. “I could stay home with him.”

“So you’d rather stay home than have some fun? It won’t happen every night, but lately I’m at Babylon when I have business. You know, blending business with pleasure.”

“How lovely.” Justin rolled his eyes. “I could use some fun.”

Brian met his eyes, sucking in his lips. “And then maybe we could continue where we left off this morning.”

Heat enveloped Justin’s body as he remembered their shower. He could vividly remember Brian’s hand stroking him to completion, the way Brian kissed his shoulder, the way he breathed on Justin’s neck.

When they arrived at Babylon, Brian led Justin inside with a hand on the small of his back.

Tom, the security guy, was by the bar with Ted.

“I thought you wouldn’t make it.” Ted hurried to Brian. “Hi, Justin.”

“Hey,” Justin said in greeting.

“Where’s Mitch? I swear, I’ll rip him a new one if he isn’t here for the inspection,” Brian thundered.

“He’ll be here soon. He was on his way out of town,” Ted explained.

“Tell Mitch to come to my office when he graces us with his presence,” Brian told the bartender. He nudged Justin up the metal stairs into his office.

“Not to sound rude, but why is Justin here?”

“I thought the inspectors would love to see both owners involved in this visit,” Brian answered sarcastically.

“Oh, right.” Ted shot Justin a sheepish look.

Justin grimaced, clearly remembering how Brian had berated him for his thoughtless decision to marry Ethan when he owned half of everything that Brian did. They had never discussed this once their relationship was over.

“As my accountant, I’m disappointed you didn’t make the connection. As your friend, I’m not surprised.”

Brian shuffled through some papers in a drawer. He also had a list with most of the lines ticked off.

“Did you get a hold of the maintenance team to check that light? I’ve been exchanging emails with some brainless person from their company since January. I expect the light to fall in the middle of the dance floor before they decide to come and repair it.”

“I couldn’t. They’re not answering the phone.”

“Can’t you find another repairing company?” Justin suggested.

“No. I have a contract with these guys. Actually they were tied to Babylon when I bought it out.”

“Shit. That’s bad.”

“Tell me about it. They were prompt and we’ve worked superbly in the past. I mean, they helped rebuild this place from ashes. The manager was changed last year, and since then everything has gone to shit.”

“Talking about the maintenance team?” Mitch asked, entering Brian's office.

“I know you were on your way to tan your ass, but that can wait. Any word from them?”

“Actually, I met with Bobby in front of the club. Tom didn’t want to let him in.”

Brian groaned. “Finally! Where is he?”

“Fixing the light,” Mitch answered.

Brian hurried out of his office with his manager in toe.

“Never a quiet moment, huh?” Justin wondered.

“Does Brian ever sleep? I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him rest.” Ted shook his head.

“He sleeps, but he’s up at the crack of dawn no matter how late we get in bed. On extremely rare mornings, like today, I am up before him…with a couple of minutes only, but still first,” Justin explained, somewhat proud of managing to wake up before Brian.

Ted frowned, confusion marring his features. “How do you know that? I mean, you don’t sleep in the same room anymore.”

Justin grimaced at his slip. “Same bed even,” he said softly. “We decided to try again.”

“Took your sweet time to make up your minds. We had this bet but I think everyone lost.”

“Why am I not surprised? If I had caved to all the memories and having Brian back under the same roof, we would have been back together since my return.” Justin sighed loudly. “But my dignity and self-preservation kept me from jumping Brian.”

“So, you’re back together now?”

“You can say that.” Justin's phone ringing loudly interrupted his chat with Ted. He was amused to see Brian was calling. “What?”

“Find a mop or the cleaning guy. There’s crusted cum all over the Backroom floor.”

Justin couldn’t help but laugh at Brian's crises. “You realize that if the place is too clean, that may be suspect.”

“Shut up and find someone or something to clean this mess.” Brian hung up.

“Could you point me to the cleaning supply room? Apparently there’s cum on the Backroom floor. Go, figure.”

Ted chuckled, leading Justin to the cleaning stuff room. They even found the guy hired to keep the club clean. He was armed with a cloth and a mop, on his way to the Backroom.

#

By the time the inspection arrived, there was no trace of drug dealers or underage guys in the club, and every corner was sparkling.

For eight-thirty on a Friday, there was a decent amount of guys on the dancefloor.

Brian played host until the men said they would mingle. That was Justin's cue to get Brian to relax.

“What are you doing?” Brian demanded, when Justin pulled him between the dancing bodies.

“Dancing.” Justin wrapped his arms around Brian's neck, smiling.

It felt like an eternity had passed since they had been together at Babylon having fun, yet it felt like no time had passed since Justin had danced with Brian there.

“As much as I would love to do this, we have an inspection.” Brian titled his head, squinting at the shiny globes above them. “I hope that light is fixed.”

“Brian, relax,” Justin groaned, combing his fingers through Brian's hair. “Nothing you can do or say will change these people’s minds. If they want to close the club, they’ll find a way. But something tells me they enjoy it here.” He nodded to one of the men from the inspection team dancing close to a half-naked man.

Brian stared at the scene unfolding, hoping the inspector wouldn’t find fault in that man dancing without his shirt.