The following morning, Brian was surprised to find Nick on the couch, eating cereal from the box and watching cartoons.

After the eventful night, he had gone to bed close to four in the morning. Brian had never been one to sleep much, so after barely three hours of restful sleep he was awake at seven thirty on a Saturday.

“Have you been up for a while?” he asked, hovering in the doorway.

Nick shook his head slowly. “Daddy pushed me out of the bed.”

“Ouch. He likes to hog the bed, huh?” Brian tried not to laugh at the memory of Justin kicking him in the middle of the night. Of course, he had never accomplished the task to send him out of the bed, but Nick was smaller.

Brian left the child to eat his choice of breakfast while he went to make coffee.

Once Brian had a steaming cup in his hand, he joined Nick on the couch.

They watched cartoons in silence, but Brian could tell Nick wanted to say something. He kept peeking at the adult next to him.

It was so uncanny, how similar Nick was to when Justin used to do the same in the beginning of their relationship, when he didn’t know how to broach some subject.

Brian decided to find out what was upsetting the child. “What’s up, little guy?”

“Are we really going to move somewhere new? I like it here.”

“That’s your dad’s decision, but he might stay here.”

Their chat from a few hours ago gave Brian hope that everything was going to be okay between them. It would be a slow process, and he was ready to go at Justin’s pace.

“I still don’t understand what happened…not much. Pappy is gone forever and we came here. Daddy cries a lot and doesn’t like you.” Nick met his eyes. “He got upset when I told him I like you and I want to stay here,” he explained.

“It’s more complicated than us liking…or not each other.”

“Do you like Daddy?”

Brian wasn’t sure what Nick meant by that, what he expected to hear. “Yeah,” he answered, keeping it simple.

“Like, like him?” Nick insisted, putting the box on the couch and turning his full attention on Brian.

“What’s with all these questions?”

“Maybe you can convince him to stay here with you.” Nick chewed on his lips. “I wasn’t s’pposed to listen in, but Daddy and Pappy were really loud. They had many fights about a guy named Brian. I guess that’s you.”

Brian was shocked to hear Nick was aware of his daddies fights, especially the topic of their arguments.

“Daddy sometimes told me stories about his life here in Pittsburgh. He showed me a picture of you and him. I figured you were friends. Daddy only told me he moved to New York for his career.”

“Nick, like I said, it’s more complicated. Yes, I’ve known your dad for years. People change…especially when they don’t see each other often.”

“So you’re not friends anymore? I can see you like him.”

Brian chuckled. Only Justin's kid would be so adamant to make peace between them, even play matchmaker.

“And it won’t upset you if…hypothetically I date your dad?” Brian refrained from sounding mocking. Because he was serious, if he had Nick’s blessing, he would try harder than before to get back in Justin's good graces.

“Hy…phoet…thickally,” Nick repeated slowly, unsure.

“It means in theory…what if…”

“Oh.” Nick nodded seriously. “I won’t be upset. I want Daddy happy. I saw how happy you both were in his pictures. And since we came here, Daddy seems—”

Brian didn’t get to find out how Nick thought Justin was since their return to Pittsburgh because his phone rang. He picked it from the table, scowling at Michael’s name. As always, perfect timing to interrupt his important conversations.

“Hey, Mikey.”

“Good morning. I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“No, you know me.” Brian sipped from his coffee, ignoring his need for a smoke. His cigarettes were in his room, and he wasn’t ready to use Nick to fetch them for him. “What’s up?”

“Ben and I were wondering if you wanted to come over for dinner later.”

It wasn’t the first time Michael had invited him over for dinner, but it was the first time since Justin's return.

“In case you forgot, I have guests and my foot is in a cast.”

“Guests,” Michael scoffed. “The invitation extends to Justin and his son, of course! You’ll sit on the rocker.”

That was Brian's favorite seating spot in Michael’s backyard. He had gotten the same model of his back porch. “You drive a hard bargain. I’ll tell Justin when he wakes up.”

“Great. It will be just us, so don’t worry about Ma being nosy about your life.”

“No, that will be you,” Brian muttered. “What time do you want us?”

“Six? Is that okay?”

“Sure. See you.” Brian placed the phone between him and Nick on the couch.

The child was once again engrossed in the cartoons playing, but Brian didn’t like them. He decided to adventure upstairs to get his cigarettes.

Brian had never missed his loft more since his injury which disabled him from going up and down the stairs. It was more of a challenge to go up than down.

Inside his room, he grabbed the small box and the lighter. Brian was back in the hallway when he heard a groan of pain from the guest bedroom, and he went inside without knocking.

Justin had a towel in his hands, which he hastily tied around his waist, but his butt had been on display long enough for Brian to see an ugly bruise. He immediately knew it was there because of his volatile reaction when he had shoved Justin down the stairs.

“It doesn’t hurt,” Justin said emphatically.

“Yeah, right. I just heard you groaning in pain.”

“Yeah, I stubbed my toe on the foot of the bed.” He winced, pointing to his red toe. “Did you just wake up?”

“No. You’re a terrible nurse. I had to go downstairs on my own, and just now I came back to get my smokes.”

Justin rolled his eyes, but there was no malice in them for the first time in days. “When are you out of it?” He nodded to the cast.

“On Monday if I have a say in this.”

“Don’t you have an appointment? You need to make one,” he explained.

“I’ll just ask for the doctor on call to take it off. Anyway, we’re going to have dinner with Mikey and Ben, so no Babylon tonight, dear.”

Justin winced, sitting at the foot of the bed. “I still can’t believe what I did last night.”

“You needed to relax, and I have to say that your trip to Babylon did the trick.” Brian laughed at his own pun, making Justin scowl.

“Are you sure about us staying here? I couldn’t fall asleep right away when I came to bed. It would be counterproductive to uproot Nick again from a place he feels comfortable in, from the place I have enlisted for his school as his home.”

“Justin, you can stay for as long as you want.” Brian walked closer, sitting next to him. “Maybe you’ll even stop sharing a bed with Nick. He complained to me about how you kicked him off the bed.”

“Shit. I guess he needs his own room. I could take the other guest bedroom,” Justin said thoughtfully.

“Or, you could move into the master bedroom,” he hinted at what he desired the most.

“I’m not kicking you out of your room.”

Brian took one of Justin's hands, meeting his blown pupils. He could see a hint of hope in them. “As long as you don’t kick me out of the bed during the night…we can share.”

Justin sighed loudly, which was more than he had done in the past when Brian had hinted at them getting back together.

“Baby steps. I fooled myself I could keep you away, but it’s impossible. Just…give me some time, please.”

“As long as you want. We have to learn how to live together again, without shouting at each other. I believe Nick has heard enough fighting between his dad and the person they lived with.”

Justin's eyes widened, then sorrow filled them. “He told you that?”

“He mentioned he heard your arguing with Ian about me. I feel special.”

“Fuck. I told you. I don’t want to remember those times. Did Nick say anything else?” Justin asked, worried.

Brian laughed. “He’s been trying to hook us up all morning.”

“What,” Justin choked on his spit.

“Justin, even a child can see it.”

“It…needs more time,” he said softly. “Let me get dressed and I’ll help you downstairs.”

Brian remained on the bed while Justin went to the bathroom with a handful of clothes. It was laughable after everything that had trespassed between them in the past.

Justin returned not long later and pulled Brian up. “I want to talk about this.”

“Not now. But we will,” Brian promised.

Justin wrapped an arm around Brian’s waist, guiding him out of the room and down the stairs carefully. He took Brian to the couch, leaning over to ruffle his son’s hair.

“Morning, kiddo.”

“Morning, Daddy.” Nick threw him a blinding smile.

“There’s coffee in the pot,” Brian said, placing a cigarette between his lips.

Justin plucked it before Brian could lit it up. “Not in front of Nick.” He left the room with the smokes.

“These things kill,” Nick said seriously.

It was most likely something he had heard it at Justin, though of what Brian knew, Justin smoked, too.

“I’m aware. Did your cartoons end?” Brian noticed Nick had switched to Animal Planet.

Nick shrugged, fixing his dad with his eyes when Justin rejoined them. Justin sat on Nick’s other side, helping himself with a handful of cereal from his son’s box. He threw them in his mouth, managing to put half of them on his chest, which he proceeded to pick off meticulously.

“I have a question,” Nick said seriously.

“Shoot,” Justin said, distracted, chasing a stray cereal.

Brian realized it would take him centuries to get re-used to Justin's messy behavior.

“Why are there no gay cartoon characters?” Nick sounded genuinely confused.

Unfortunately, Justin had chosen to take a gulp of coffee right before his son’s question came, which made him choke and drench his shirt in his drink.

Brian was just as surprised by Nick’s inquiry, though he had to admit the child had a point.

Justin cleared his throat several times, before turning his attention on Nick. He opened his mouth, but eventually he closed it, unable to come up with a solid explanation.

“Is it because of the hermaphobes?”

“Homophobes,” Justin said with a chuckle. “Honestly, I have no idea, Nick.”

“Well, it’s stupid. There should be gay cartoon characters.”

“Let’s continue this conversation when you’re older. I’m going to change my shirt,” Justin added, disappearing from the room.

“What do you think, Brian?” Nick turned to him.

“Television is for straight people. They don’t advertise gay as a lifestyle.”

Nick pursed his lips. “That’s silly.”